On Friday 12th November, Year 3 took part in a Puffin virtual visit with Jacqueline Wilson! We watched a live stream of her talking about her new book, ‘The Primrose Railway Children.’ She told us all about her inspiration and how resilient she needed to be to become an author. Her advice was to keep reading lots and try to write something every single day!
We also heard from illustrator Rachel Dean, who showed us the process of her drawing the main character. We had a go at drawing the characters too!
We are feeling very inspired in Year 3 so hopefully, one day, children will be reading books written by authors who came to Thorndown! Keep your eyes peeled!
Skip2Bfit is an amazing company, which visits schools to teach skipping. We had a wonderful two days last half term, when all classes from Year 1 to Year 6 learned or improved their skipping. The children used a special rope (with a counter on the handle) which, after two minutes, recorded the amount of skips each child had completed.
David, who led the workshop, motivated us all with personal challenges to beat our scores and be resilient. The buzz about school was fantastic as children (and staff) embraced the sessions and were motivated to improve their scores. Children are now continuing to improve their skipping in PE lessons and at break times. If your child wishes to purchase a rope, they can do so on the School Gateway for either £6 or £8. These can be brought into school for break times – but please label them so they don’t get lost. It was hard to take photos as the action was fast and furious… and the snaps were rather blurry!
On Friday 12th November, ten Year 4 children had the privilege of attending the remembrance service at RAF Wyton. It was an incredibly poignant morning where the children witnessed the laying of wreaths, words of reflection and messages of hope. They then got to meet some high ranking officers and visited the memorial garden where lots of remembrance stones painted by Thorndown children are placed. It was a fantastic and emotive morning and the children were a credit to us.
‘I really enjoyed the morning. It was interesting seeing the wreaths being laid, meeting lots of officers and seeing the remembrance stones. I feel very thankful to many of the soldiers who we were remembering.’
Anyone who comes onto the front playground to visit or learn couldn’t have failed to have noticed our wonderful new trim trail. It replaced a rickety trail that was moved from the old school site and was on its last legs.
The children have really enjoyed playing on it and so I must say thank you to FOTS for organising such wonderful events during such interesting times. I’d also like to thank parents for spending money at the events and for the donations you have made, and to key sponsors, such as the Rotary Club whose help pushed us over the line!
On Monday 5th July, a group of our Year 5 pupils went to Cambridge to hunt for our cow.
After waiting a year, the Cows About Cambridge Festival actually happened and a group of Year 5 children went to visit and to see our Captain Moovel in her position. There are 44 incredible decorated cows altogether in the trail.
Apart from our cow, these were some of our favourites: Moomoo-o-Tron III, which was metal and had binocular eyes and carried some aliens, Honey, a nature cow with beautifully painted bees, flowers and golden honeycomb and Doodle Cow, which was covered in really interesting cow facts. There were so many others that we could have talked about too!
We had lovely time sketching and looking at the cows and buildings in Cambridge. The exhibition is on until early September, so don’t miss your chance to visit.
Captain Moovel is on the top floor outside John Lewis. It is very easy to find.
As part of our Year 5 topic from last term, we enjoyed a fantastic day learning about the Vikings. The day started when we were sat in the hall, having no idea of what would happen next. Suddenly a Viking jumped out from the behind the curtain, screaming like a Viking Warrior. First, he scared us and then he sent us into fits of laughter! He told us how he lived like a real Viking and passed around handmade artefacts and weapons that Vikings would have used in daily life. We all got to take part in lots of activities like writing our name in runes and playing lots of games that were really fun.
Thank you to all of the parents for providing the costumes; the children looked fantastic. Great fun was had by the whole of Year 5.
Reception took part in a dance workshop with Mrs Thompson, themed around this term’s topic of Fantasy. The children learnt how to use their bodies to make different shapes and move like fairies, elves, pixies and imps. During the morning, they learnt different actions and put them together to make a fantastic routine. They had so much fun and listened wonderfully to out visiting teacher.
“I liked hiding like a fairy.” Aidan
“I liked doing the twisty shapes.” Molly B
“I liked twirling.” Iris P
During the week beginning 21st June, each year group bubble ran their own mini sports events, which incorporated many of our usual Sports Day events. Again, I am so sorry that you and your families couldn’t attend this year, but I have already pencilled Sports Day for all in next year’s school diary when, hopefully, life will be “normal” again.
Below are a few of the year groups’ thoughts and pictures.
Finley in Year 6 said, “The reason that I enjoyed Sports Day is because everyone was encouraging others to go on and to have fun. The mini game I enjoyed the most has got to be the penalty shootout because it’s a bit of a mind game but also an aim game. I quite enjoyed the Vortex Throw because the sound it makes when it flies through the air is very satisfying”
Year 1 said:
We have had the best morning! Sports Day was so much fun. Owls, Puffins and Camels all worked together, taking part in lots of different events including a relay, target throwing, hurdles and an obstacle course. Of course, we finished with a running race where the children were so excited to cheer for each other. They were very enthusiastic and all so keen to join in. We were incredibly proud of them all! Mrs Browne
“It has been fun!” Edith
“I liked the tunnel on the obstacle course.” Archie
“I liked getting my trophy sticker.” Dua
One of the children in Foundation Stage said, “I loved sports Day, I didn’t want it to finish.”
Another child said, “I won the race!”
Year 3 said:
We had a great time, everyone ran very fast and it wasn’t too hot!
Year 4 have been investigating Egyptians and their artefacts. Emilo studied Tutankhamun’s death mask very carefully, as if he was an archaeologist finding the tomb for the first time.
The golden mask made me very excited. It was like Christmas and I had just unwrapped the best present in the whole world. I was so amazed at the sight because of how it glistened. The colours were bright and blinded me as I looked. The shiny god and reds and vibrant blues made me so amazed at this find. It looks brand new even though it is thousands of years old.
Then I realised the whole entire structure of the mask was made out of gold. Looking at the quality and workmanship of this mask, I knew it was not just a rich person but a royal! I could not wait to see who was underneath it!
Over the last few weeks, Years 2-6 have competed in their termly Interhouse competitions. Each year group focused on the sport/skills which they have been learning about in their PE lessons. As a result, we had competitions in rugby, ball skills and even a ‘Strictly Come Tudor Dancing’ in Year 6!
Teachers have been very impressed with the determination, teamwork and sportsmanship shown in these friendly competitions and I’m pleased to announce the overall winning team is the Yellow Team (Willow)!
Along with this, there has been a STAR PERFORMER chosen from each year group for fantastic contribution to their team and demonstrating our school sport values beautifully.
A huge Thorndown ‘well done!’ to Stanley (Panthers) in Year 2, Reilly in Year 3, Bobby in Year 4, Summer in Year 5 and Elijah in Year 6 for their admirable efforts, attitudes and performances.
