Warden Hill Primary School Cheltenham

Events

Day at Bournside School

On Monday 11th July, instead of a day at Warden Hill, Year 5 had all their lessons at Bournside School.

They had five different lessons ranging from learning Mandarin to drama.

The science lesson was very exciting as the children were learning how the colours get into fireworks. To do this, they had to light Bunsen burners and test splints, which had been dipped in different solutions to see the colour they created when put in the flame.

In English, they wrote and performed a whole class poem based on happiness and they had a go at writing in Chinese and Mandarin.

A fabulous day was had by all and they walked back to Warden Hill buzzing with excitement.

Bird Hides

In the summer term year 5 have designed and made their own model bird hides.

First, they drew their own bespoke design. Then, they carefully measured and sawed wood to create a frame structure. Finally, they added sides, using either waterproof fabric, lolly pop sticks or cardboard. They tested their final product in the nature area.

CHaOS!

Our year 5 and year 4 children took part in a science workshop run by Cambridge Hands-On Science (CHaOS), a student-run organisation at Cambridge University.

They are a STEM outreach group organised by undergraduate and graduate students from the university, including a past pupil who is now studying for his PHD at Cambridge University.

Their aim is to enthuse young people about science and increase their interest in the subject, hopefully encouraging them to consider pursuing it to a higher level by giving them a chance to have a go at a range of experiments involving biology, chemistry, physics, engineering, medicine and maths.

Our children had an amazing time exploring the hands-on activities. It certainly was an inspirational session for our children.

CHaOSscience.org.uk

Year 2: Nature in Art Trip

Year 2 went to Nature in Art on a school trip and we made clay bugs, wire butterflies and did a sculpture trail. My favourite sculpture was the Whale Tail. We also did pond dipping and I found a bloodworm. We were really luck because we saw Rosalind Wise who is an artist. We saw her giant painting ‘The Cycle of Flowers’ and it was very colourful. What a magnificent sight!

by Josie

A few weeks ago, Year 2 went on a school trip to Nature in Art. We did lots of amazing activities. First, we made beautiful beetle and butterfly clay sculptures. Then, it was time to go out and do our sculpture hunt and my favourite sculpture was the Golden Eagle because it looked so beautiful and shiny. After that, my group explored the pond and did some pond dipping. I caught lots of blood worms. Finally, we saw lots of beautiful paintings created by Rosalind Wise and we were very lucky because we saw Rosalind in real life and we were able to ask her questions. What an amazing trip it was!

by Noora

School Council On-Site Visit

This term’s school council members donned helmets and hi-vis jackets to be taken on a visit to the new school by the site manager. They were able to see first-hand the layout and how far the building programme is coming on.

‘I was surprised by how much they have already done, said Alex (Year 5). Cameron (Year 4) thought the windows were really big.

‘I was excited to see how the hall looked,’ announced Archie (Year 4). The group were able to work out where all the classrooms were as well as going up one of the set of stairs.

‘I like the idea of having a glass floor to look down,’ declared Chloe (Year 3) when we were shown this upstairs.

The signed steels seemed to really interest the group. ‘I was fascinated to see them actually up, said Thomas (Year 3).

Next year, School Council will be able to go on another visit with the new members.

Forest School

The last few sessions of forest school this academic year have been with our Reception children who have been making the most of our wonderfully jungly site.

Children are naturally inquisitive and forest school affords them such a wonderful opportunity to explore and be part of the natural world on a really close up basis, to touch it, smell it and listen to it. It also affords them a wonderful chance to slow down a little and just “be” for a while (this usually seems to happen up trees) and you can almost feel it doing them good.

Mud and water have inevitably been a big feature whilst it has been so warm, and as a year group they have specialised in squishy squashy mud balls. Watching them create mud baths for the unsuspecting dinosaurs is a delight, and in the children’s imaginations at least, they are clearly all around us and roaring as loud as ever. As adults forest school is a great opportunity to stand back and watch the children learning as they play, such as when they oh-so-carefully pour water from one container to another so as not to waste a drop.

Whilst the snails keep a low profile when it’s hot there are plenty of other insects about and shield bugs, woodlice and hoverflies in particular are everywhere. Stepping back and listening to the children’s interactions with them and about them is fascinating, and watching them pass a ladybird between them shows just how gentle they can be.

Have wonderful summer and if you can make time for your children to just to be outside without laid on activities or adult input. Feeling at home in nature gives children the opportunity to really relax and be themselves. Give them a bucket full of water and a trowel and time to play and they will be much the happier.

We didn’t realise we were making memories, we just knew we were having fun.

Winnie the Pooh

Reception inspired by Sir David Attenborough

In Reception, we have enjoyed learning about Sir David Attenborough and what an inspiration he is in helping to look after our planet. We created posters illustrating what we could do to help look after our local environment and were thrilled with the results. We were ever so proud of our work that we decided to send these posters to Sir David himself and are delighted to have received a letter from him, acknowledging and appreciating all of the children’s work and care for the planet.

Eco Schools Flag

On Wednesday 13 July all Eco Warriors gathered together to raise our new Eco Schools flag.

The eco leaders, Mrs Catchpole and Mrs Taylor helped us to raise the eco flag to show that our school is eco friendly.

We have worked hard this year to earn our flag and we felt extremely ecstatic and proud.

Summer Reading

To promote our Online Summer Reading Platform, our fabulous School Council members (from years 2-5) visited every Key Stage 1 class to read them a story from this resource.

Each class choose the story that they wanted to listen to.

Visiting each classroom, it was heart-warming to see and listen to how well our children interacted with the younger years, read with great intonation and enthusiasm, as well as seeing all of our Key Stage 1 children listening with great intent.

Thank you so much everyone – you are all just incredible.

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