Message from the Head of School
I recently learned that the famous children’s author Michael Rosen had been seriously ill in hospital for seven weeks with Covid-19. I have always enjoyed reading his books to children at school and within my own family. One of my trusted favourites is “We’re going on a bear hunt.”
If you don’t know the book, it is a story about a family that go on an adventure looking for a bear. The family come across all sorts of situations which some might describe as “adverse”; depending on your outlook on life! They encounter long, wavy grass, thick, oozy mud, a deep, dark forest where they stumble and trip, a swirling, whirling snow storm and the list goes on.
However, what is really important is that although these situations might be seen as setbacks in their quest to find the bear, this family are undeterred and they realise that they “can’t go over it, they can’t go under it, they have to go through it”. Many of our community may have been adversely affected by this terrible virus and we want to send our best thoughts, wishes and prayers to anyone affected.
It is certainly a most difficult time; for some, very painful and sad and we should all remember that there is no shame in feeling this way, it is an appropriate response.
However, my hope is that ultimately we will become more resilient as a result of this situation, if we follow the advice of the family on the bear hunt and take hope and courage from their words; that indeed … “we can’t get under it, we can’t get over it, we have to go through it!” Please remember though, that the family got through it together; look out for each other and help one another safely where you can.
With very best wishes,
Kelly Martin
Pugwash Nursery Home Learning & Rejoiners
The children who have returned to nursery have adjusted amazingly well to the new ‘normal’. They have all settled back in so well and are happy to be back and ready to do more learning.
We have had a busy few weeks and have been enjoying spending lots of time learning out in the garden, we have planted some tomato and runner bean plants that we have been looking after. James has been giving us some gardening tips as he started his own vegetable growing project during lock down which has been very successful.
The children have shown a huge interest in bugs and minibeasts so we have had lots of fun learning about these. We enjoyed reading and listening to the stories, “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”, “What the Ladybird Heard” and “The first Day at Bug School”. We then made our own bug houses for the bugs we found on our bug hunt. We also made butterfly and ladybird wings and then the children pretended to fly!
Those children that are starting school are very excited and have been talking about whether they are a Minnow or a Sardine, they have been sharing with the group what they are most excited about, including meeting their new teachers and playing on the big play ground.
Year 1 Home Learning & Re-joiners
Year 1 have been very busy learning at home and in their bubbles at school. Their work has included scavenger hunts, baking, creating an amazing rainbow science experiment and taking part in sports day!
Year 2 Home Learning
It has been lovely for Sea Turtles and Lobsters to return to school. Not only have we welcomed some of year 2 children back, but there are also some year R, 1 and 3 in our bubbles, so our learning is even more diverse and wide-ranging than ever!
Our topic this term has been all about minibeasts and their habitats. We had tadpoles in class just before lockdown. It was lovely that one of our children continued to look after some others and keep the class up-to-date with their progress before they were released back to the pond. As lockdown restrictions eased it gave the children a great opportunity to look for life in micro-habitats by looking in rock pools and going crabbing.
In school the children continued the topic by having snail races (ensuring they took great care of the snails). It appears snails have yet to understand the concept of racing, but it was great fun to look at them in detail!
Year 3 Home Learning
Year 3 have been very busy, both at home and at school. Their fabulous work has included creating beautiful pictures, finding out more about bugs and where they sleep, learning to play chess, making jam and amazing cakes and taking part in the sports day.
Year 4 Home Learning
This term Stingrays have been super busy! Their termly topic, ‘I Am Warrior’ is about the Romans and the children have been making bread using a traditional Roman recipe. Their maths focus has been ‘angles’ and they have been busy trying to find angles around them.
In the Orcas class the children have been learning a lot about nature and the world around them. They have been planting seeds and are now seeing the results, they have even found squid eggs on Winchelsea Beach! They have been learning about the Romans in Britain this term and have made use of the excellent weather to create mosaics.
Last week was sports week and everyone had great fun in their bubbles at school and at home taking part in all of the events. Well done to the winning teams and individuals. Children also had a sports themed week with their work designing their own Olympic logos. Well done for all your hard work!
Year 5 Home Learning
It has been another fantastic term with year 5’s study on the ancient Egyptians. Everyone has been amazed at some of the things they have found out. Megan has produced a wonderful pyramid using cardboard to create a strong structure and enlightened everyone’s knowledge of the weird and wonderful cures they practised on themselves.
Emma used her drawing skills to create a self-portrait in the style of Cleopatra using many different features of ancient Egypt , whilst Mimi sketched and coloured a canopic jar which was used to store your organs! A gory time indeed!
Year 6 Home Learning
Year 6 have settled back into the new school routines well. Aside from the daily numeracy and literacy lessons, outdoor learning has been a big hit with lessons such as photography, gardening and ‘forest school.’ This also involved befriending a very tame robin and discovering a Poplar Hawk Moth. We had a thoroughly enjoyable home & school sports day and were lucky that the weather stayed fine until just before the end!
Children have been continuing to send in work from home, with lots of work on Darwin’s life, theories and animals.
Image Credits: Rye Primary School .