Windrush Valley Private School Oxfordshire – news from the school.
Foundation Unit
For many pupils this has been their first taste of Sports Day and we are so proud of them having a go, especially in front of so many people. The current Reception children have been getting excited and prepared for their move to Year 1 in September. This makes way for the Nursery class to welcome new children who will be joining the early years groups in the next academic year at our Teddy Bear’s Picnic. We invite the ‘new’ children and Nursery Class to bring in their favourite cuddly toy on this day, and during the ‘meet n greet’ the children will be creating a masterpiece whilst the parents get to know each other. In other news, In all of the excitement of the week it was lovely to round it off with three beautiful Butterflies emerge from their chrysalis, which the children all found amazing!
Year 1 & Year 2
Pupils in Year 2 have been busy learning about Capacity – Units of Measurement, working with ml and litres. Its has been a fun time. In Year 1 the children have been working on Money – working on recognising notes and coins and Position. Both classes have spent time finishing off work from Curriculum Enrichment when they have had any spare time. All pupils at Windrush valley Private School Oxfordshire have been getting ready for Sports Day and the Swimming Gala.
Year 3
In English we have been looking again at speech marks and enjoyed some creative writing on The Secret Door. Concentrating on including adjectives, similes and good connectives, we wrote some amazing stories with a clear beginning, middle and end. In maths we have been looking at tenths and decimals, using our fraction knowledge to divide into numbers. We’ve also been enjoying some Hit the Button games concentrating on number bonds to 100. In Science, Year 3 had an exciting time designing electric circuits with Mrs Douglas. In art we looked at Rembrandt‘s work, continuing the theme of European artists. They then designed some drawings of their own, using pencil and rubber to create shading.
Year 4
In Maths, Year 4 pupils have been translating shapes. We had to plot and draw the shape using the given co-ordinates then move the shape to its new location. In English we have been learning about the importance of recycling paper and using paragraphs, have created informative posters. In Art, the focus was Coco Chanel and we have looked at a range of her creations. We have been designing and making prototypes of our own hat designs. We are also planning a visit to the Sculpture exhibition at Asthall Leigh to support our learning about European Art.
Year 5
Pupils in Year 5 at Windrush Valley Private School Oxfordshire have been studying the cutting and growing of geranium roots. They successfully created artificial asexual reproduction and cloned a geranium plant. Pupils have also been learning about and comparing insect and amphibian lifecycles. The children also had a trip to the Oxfordshire Museum. This included a Victorian school room where the children received instruction from a very strict Victorian teacher! Activities included chanting times tables, writing spellings and palindromes on a slate and copperplate handwriting using a dip pen and ink. Unfortunately, after the handwriting session, most of the class got the cane for getting ink on 3 or more of their fingers! (Luckily this was just pretend, but the teacher demonstrated to us how hard the strike would have been by hitting the table! Ouch!) Other Victorian punishments that we re-enacted included the dunce’s hat (for getting answers wrong), the backplate (for slouching in your seat) and the finger stocks (for fiddling). Whilst we had fun investigating them, we are very glad such punishments are not used in schools today! We also had a Victorian playtime and enjoyed playing with traditional games such as wooden sticks and hoops, skipping ropes, and spinning tops. Year 5 behaved exceptionally well and as always were a credit to Windrush Valley Private School Oxfordshire.
Year 6
Year 6 are already looking ahead to next academic year – pupils have been visiting their chosen secondary school. We have been talking about the many ways in which secondary school will be different and some of the things to anticipate. We have had some fun with nets, making 3D models and undertook a net challenge; to find as many of the 11 different nets that there are to construct a cube. In English, we have been studying Clockwork by Philip Pullman. This is a story within a story set in medieval Europe where the distinctions between man and machine become blurred.