The Week in Prep

Reception

When Reception got to their classrooms this morning, they found the doors had been sealed with police tape saying ‘Crime scene – Do not enter’. What could have happened? Mrs Spray phoned the Police, and we were told that it was safe to enter. The girls were keen to help solve the mystery and help the police. Once they had put on their detective badges, they set to work finding the evidence. They found a shawl, false teeth, a pair of glasses, some knitting, some hair rollers and slippers! This could only mean one thing… The Big Bad Wolf must have taken Red Riding Hood’s Granny! Having bagged up the evidence and filled in their police evidence forms, the girls were keen to see if their work would help the police find Granny.

Year 1

Year 1 have been learning all the Antarctic as part of their new topic of ‘Fire and Ice’.  We visited the Antarctic using the VR headsets and experienced the landscape of snow and ice and saw some of the animals that live there, particularly the Emperor Penguins.  We saw what it was like during a snow storm too. We learnt a lot of facts about the Antarctic.  Did you know that the snow is sometimes pink or yellow or green – ask a Year 1 to find out why!

Year 1 had an amazing day visiting  Bird World as part of their Fire and Ice topic and the study of penguins in particular.  We saw the penguins and pelicans being fed and learnt some amazing facts about them.  We also saw so many other birds of different sizes and colours from the toucan with its impressive beak to the long eared owl and noisy macaws! Eating our lunch and having time in the play area were also big features of the day!

Year 2

Year 2 have been rolling up our sleeves and getting creative this week. Decades of research link creativity with the intrinsic motivation to learn. When students are focused on a creative goal, they become more absorbed in their learning and more driven to acquire the skills they need to accomplish it, which is plain to see here.

We delved deeper into our Superpowers using collaboration, focus, resilience, reflectiveness to name but a few, and a huge dollop of joy when we saw our finished results.

First, as a starter we created a rather tasty fruit salad developing our cutting skills and understanding of healthy eating.

Next, we recycled a plastic bottle to make a rather impressive fish to highlight the dangers of plastic in the oceans.

Finally, we adored creating prints of the flowers on our door with lovely Hannah the artist.  She discussed the names of the flowers and taught the girls how to create some fabulous prints which may be framed as a lovely memory of their time in Fernwood House.

Year 3

Y3 have been learning all about the Ancient Egyptians and were lucky enough to go on a trip to the British Museum. We visited all the rooms which showcased all sorts of interesting artefacts such as: sarcophaguses, canopic jars, the Rosetta Stone, mummies and other Ancient Egyptian treasures. Then went into a big lecture theatre to learn about the mummification process as well as learning about how Science and Technology allow us to see inside the mummies without opening and ruining them. Overall a great day with mummies!

Year 3’s Merina has created a Sutton High School collage inspired by the 140th birthday of our school.  She completed this project alongside doing her Open Homework project, the usual daily homework as well as extra-curricular classes. She worked very hard to get it completed in time for the birthday celebrations.

Year 4

Year 4 musicians showed off their musical talents – not to mention their courage, focus and dedication – at the Year 4 informal concert. Parents and teachers enjoyed a wide range of music including traditional songs, piano classics and songs from the shows. Well done, girls!

Year 5

On Monday 22nd January, all of Year 5 went on a wonderful and exciting trip to the Globe Theatre. When we arrived we saw that the Globe was made out of wood and painted to look like different materials. We split into two groups with amazing tour guides and they taught us some magnificent facts e.g. when some actors were performing Henry VII, the play, they set the Globe on fire by a misfiring cannon. We went inside to see the actors on stage warm up their voices. They involved us in it a lot by warming up with us. When we found out the towering height of the Globe (9 metres high), we were really shocked. In the workshops we focused on some lines from ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and played the roles of Tybalt, Capulet, Juliet, Lady Capulet, Montague, Romeo or Lady Montague. We got into partners, acted out the prologue and some of the scenes. We found out different words to help us with the meaning and our tour guide gave us a line each to us and we had to pick out the most important part in the sentence and express that the most. Another group practised duelling and acted out a swordfight.