Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.

• Y6 HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT TRIP

  Fri 12 Jan 2024 Y6

  On Monday, Y6 went to the Houses of Parliament. We went into the House of Lords. We weren't actually allowed to sit because only the Baronesses and Lords are allowed to sit down. When the House of Lords closed, sniffer dogs came in to make sure everything was safe for the first debate. Did you know a debate was once held for 12 hours?

  ‘I learnt lots of facts that I didn't know about the Houses of Parliament and it was way bigger than I  expected.’ - Dior

  ‘The first place we went to was the King's entrance, where    only the King can go inside. The next place we went to was the House of Lords, where  only Lords and Baronesses and the King are allowed to sit. Especially, the King is not allowed in the House of Commons - the last king that went in there was beheaded!’ - Jaian

  ‘There are about 800 Lords and Baronesses who debate in the House of Lords. We also went to the Central Lobby, which is the centre of the Parliament building. The House of Commons was more ordinary and where voting happens in separate rooms.’ - Matthew

  ‘In the House of Lords, there was a throne where the King sits to give his speech. The chairs in there were red. In the House of Commons, the chairs are green.’ - Yanna

  ‘Going to the Houses of Parliament was good because we got to meet our MP, Fleur Anderson, at the end of our visit. We had to wear special headsets so we could hear what our guide was telling us.’ - Dalia

   

  

• NURSERY AND RECEPTION NATIVITY

  Fri 08 Dec 2023

  EYFS have had so much fun practising our nativity. This week we performed our Nativity in front of Year 6, Year 1 and Year 2.

   

  ‘I play a king and I liked performing’ Liam—Reception

   

  ‘I felt happy when I performed’ Gracie—Reception

   

  ‘I liked singing all the songs’  Lena—Reception

   

  

• Y6 ONLINE POETRY WORKSHOP WITH JOSHUA SEIGAL

  Fri 01 Dec 2023 Y6

  On Wednesday morning, Y6 joined an online poetry workshop with the award-winning poet, Joshua Seigal. We have a copy of his latest book, Who Let the Words Out? in class and have been enjoying his poems.

  Joshua was such a great talker and he challenged us to write our own poems - a love letter to our favourite healthy food. Have a look at some of our finished poems below!

  One of his books is called I Don’t Like Poetry - you can see from the children’s comments below that this is certainly not the case in Y6 Redwoods!

  ‘Joshua was great fun because he was letting the children interact so much and his poems would make a child’s day, as they make us laugh.’ - Jaian

  ‘It was really fun and his poems are really funny. He showed us his cat called Bluebell. We then did a fun activity, writing our own poem about our favourite healthy food.’ - Matthew ‘He was not boring because he was being really funny, telling us jokes, reading his poems and showing us his cat Bluebell.’ - Alexander R

   

  

• Y5 TRIP TO BUDDHAPADIPA TEMPLE

  Fri 24 Nov 2023

  On Thursday, the Year 5 class had the wonderful opportunity to visit the Buddhapadipa Temple in Wimbledon as part of their RE studies. Students were able to look around the temple grounds and received an         educational talk from the monks about the history ofB uddhism and the temple, as well as what the daily life of a monk was like. Students were also able to participate in a meditation session that they found calming and relaxing. 

   

  

• Author visit

  Fri 24 Nov 2023

  'Kamapala Chukwuka has written a few books and she read Ama’s gift to us. I enjoyed it.’ Wilf—Y3

  ‘We made bracelets out of Ankara material. The colours and pattern of the material make people happy.’   Lily—Y3

  ‘It was very fun making the bracelets, I now have a beautiful bracelet to wear.’ Katie—Y3

  ‘It was really funny dancing with Kamapala.’ Zalan—Y3

   

  

• Planting with Mr RV

  Fri 24 Nov 2023

  ‘I learnt that tulips originate from Turkey.’ Rafael—Y4

  ‘I liked how Mr RV taught us new facts about bulbs such as that tulips only live for two weeks.’ Sophia—Y4

  ‘It was fun planting with other people and a nice surprise to see Mr RV.’ Efe—Y4

  ‘It was super fun planting daffodil bulbs with Mr RV.’ Harry F—Y3

  ‘Mr RV informed us that the bulb was actually a part of the daffodil stem.’ Azima—Y3

  ‘It was nice being with Mr RV again.’ Esther—Y3

   

  

• Remembrance

  Fri 10 Nov 2023 Year 3 & Year 6

  This week, we have been discussing what war is and the  impact that it can have on a nation and internationally. In our many discussions, we explored the power of being able to speak about our differences, negotiating and the different ways we can resolve issues in our control. We learnt about why we celebrate Remembrance Day, the meaning of the different poppy colours and in table groups we created prayers—Y3

   

   

  This week, Y6 Redwoods have been thinking about Remembrance.

  We extended our reflections beyond our RE sessions to make them cross-curricular. We used our DT skills to cut out and sew a poppy. These were then made into a wreath.

  We combined our English and Art skills to create blackout poetry, using the famous poem For the Fallen as the basis.

  ‘It is important to remember because they died to save people’s lives.’ - Kene Y6

  ‘It is important to remember because we are honouring the people who fought for our country’.  - Dior Y6

  The poppy is a symbol for those who fought and died or were injured in war.’ - Georgia Y6

  ‘The tradition of two minutes’ silence started in 1919. We have the silence at 11am on November 11th.’ - AmeliaY6

   

  

• LUBAINA HIMID INSPIRED ART IN Y3

  Fri 10 Nov 2023 Year 3

  In Year 3 this week, we learnt about Lubaina Himid. We explored what inspires her (nature and her home country, Zanzibar) and her  accomplishments. Lubaina's colourful work made us think about how celebrating life may mean different things to different people. We created pieces which illustrate what celebrating life means to us as individuals and challenged ourselves to create our on African patterns.

   

  

• Y4 TRIP TO THE V&A MUSEUM

  Tue 31 Oct 2023 Year 4

  On Tuesday, Year 4 went to the Victoria and Albert museum for a workshop called 'Pattern, Shape and Me' which was based mainly in the Islamic Middle East galleries. The workshop linked RE (Islam) and how mathematical knowledge is helpful for design. In the learning centre and galleries we spotted and explored animals, symbols, signs, shapes and symmetry and then designed a tile to represent ourselves using our favourite colours and repeated or tessellated patterns. We then reflected our tile in two mirrors to make a tile panel. In the afternoon we took our sketch books to the galleries to sketch our favourite designs.

  'It was really cool to see how when you bunch up (repeat) a pattern it can look really pretty.' - Jemima

  'I loved the part when we made our own tiles and seeing them reflected in the two mirrors to make a tile panel.' - Wilf

  'I loved the details and patterns that we saw in the museum.' - Kamran

  'Jenny showed us the ceramic panels and how four tiles put together make a picture when each corner matches up. It was fun to design our own panels.' - Annie

   

  

• BLACK HISTORY MONTH

  Mon 23 Oct 2023 Year 5 & 6

  This week, Year 5 and 6 have been studying the art of Lynette Yiadom-Boakye as a part of Black History Month, who uniquely creates her art based on her own memory and imagination, instead of a model or photo. Students watched videos where she discusses her process of creating art and her influences, then created a collage based on one of her artworks, using old magazines and newspapers.