Independent Writing

Children in Transition, who are only 4 or 5, are beginning to produce their own independent writing and two children in Transition Medway-Gash have been awarded Headmistress Awards for their work as illustrated below.

They both produced excellent worksheets that were based on their study of mammals with a focus of cats. 

The story of the week was Fred the Cat who hid in his house because he was scared of his cat-flap.  Daniel wrote about the cat-flap which bit his tail and Harriet recalled that he hid in the bushes from another cat.

Well done to Harriet and Daniel who have produced fantastic pictures to accompany their first written words.

My Grandad – The World’s Strongest Man
by Sophie, Year 4

Year 4 were asked to write about an interesting old person they knew detailing all the unusual and special things about them.   The following is an excellent report written by Sophie :

My Grandad is called Ronald he is seventy four years old.  He was born in London. He was a twin but sadly his twin brother died when he was born. His family were very poor.  He was the youngest child in a family with fourteen children.  When he was eighteen he joined the army and spent two years in Africa.  He did not like it there.  When he left the army he started weight training.  He was very good at it and he started to enter competitions.  He kept winning.  In fact he won every competition he entered.  In one competition he beat everyone in his group and everyone in the other groups. He broke the world record for weight lifting.  He was in the world record book.

He opened gyms and he made his own weights and trained famous people like Suzanne Dando.  She was a gymnast.  The most famous person he has trained is Arnold Schwarzenegger.  He trained Arnold before he was famous when Arnold was entering a body building contest.

He has been married twice and had four children.  My Dad is the eldest of the children.  He lives with his girlfriend called Jane and he brings me sweets every time he visits.

After their workshop with ‘Neal Zetter’ the poet, Year 6 worked on some poetry together as a group and this is what they came up with!

The prime predator, born to hunt, stalks his prey.
The elegant creature can be extremley fierce.
Large tiger is protected by his warm, white camouflaged underbelly.
Layers of muscle ripple as he proudly prowls.
Razor sharp knives shimmer in the sun.
Powerful paws leave huge craters
In deep, deep snow, his bold frame stands out.
Large, agile predator in the frozen climate.
The cunning, courageous, colourful carnivore repadly attacks with a focused mind.
Crawling quietly like a falling feather.
Graceful hunter proudly patrols his territory.
Colourful killer orange and black planning his kill suddenly strikes.
Moving swifly in large frosty areas, as cold as an Arctic winter.
Blazing flame wandering across the icy plains.

Well done to our year 6 pupils for producing such an imaginative piece of work.

Children in Upper Kindergarten Thomas have been growing a variety of vegetables including sweet corn, beans, pumpkins, tomatoes & courgettes.

Henry & Harry Oliver picked around 5lbs of courgettes and delivered them to Sharon (Chef) who made courgette frittata for lunch. UKT children cooked some in class and had courgette wraps. These were much enjoyed by all. Well done to the pupils for producing these special treats.

The Isle of Struay

Children in year 2 have been studying a geography topic in connection with a fictional island similar to those that appear in the Katie Morag books. The children have been comparing life on a remote Scottish island to life in Epping.

In Mrs. Bragg’s classroom, the children have produced a wonderful map of a bay they have imagined and some of the children’s thoughts are listed below. If I lived on The Isle of Struay, I would like to:

Climb the mountains, because I think there’s a lovely view.
Jump off the cliffs and see if I could make a big splash.
Go fishing because I like eating fish.
Have a paddle every morning.
Got to the beach every day.
Play with the animals at High Farm.
Look for beautiful big shells and hunt for treasure.

In Miss Leeks class, the children have produced a fantastic map showing the aerial view of their island.

Mollie Mae explains how their map works –
This is our map of the Isle of Struay. The letters and numbers help us to find things on the map. We enjoyed making our island and sticking things on it. Katie Morag is in Square B3.

Mrs. Bragg and Miss Leeks would like to thank FOCHS who generously donated over 30 Katie Morag books from their recent wish list. The children have thoroughly enjoyed reading these books and using them for their research.

As a finale to this topic, the children in year 3 visited the year 2 classrooms to listen to the stories that the children have written about more Katie Morag adventures.

Transition Assembly

Transition Wallman held a class assembly which was about their topic “All Creatures Great and Small”. The children performed a rhyme and some songs about walking through the jungle and the animals they meet along the way. They retold the story of “Elmer the multi coloured Elephant” and the moral of the story is that it is good to be different.

Well done to the children who performed so well and with such confidence and many thanks to Mrs. Wallman, Mrs. Beechey and Mrs. Savill for producing such a heart warming and enjoyable assembly.

Humpty Dumpty Sat on a Wall

Children in Lower Kindergarten have been studying various nursery rhymes and recently learned the story of Humpty Dumpty. They have made models from “Model Magic” - a medium the children used to mould into shape. They added arms and legs made from pipe cleaners and, once dried, they painted Humpty and stuck on some eyes. The children used cereal boxes to create a wall which they painted to look like bricks.

The Humpties were stuck onto the wall and the children discussed why it is a bad idea to play on brick walls (like the one on the school terrace!) They might just fall off and bump their heads rather like Humpty Dumpty!

Children in year 4 have been creating their own postcards. This is a cross curricular exercise for English/Geography and the children have had great fun imagining being on holiday and sending a message home to their loved ones. The postcards are on display in their classrooms but two examples of the excellent work that has been produced are shown below :-

Dear Heidi & Lucy
I am having a great time at the caravan. I went in the new swimming pool and went to the beach. The sun is shimmering and I have sunbathed a lot. I wish you were here. Love from Ellie

Dear Alice,
It is beautiful here in Sydney. The sea is swaying, kangaroos hopping, koalas are hugging. I love it here. I’m glad I bought a house out here. I’ve got to go now. A koala is hugging me. Ha ha. Love from Abbie

The Animals Went In Two By Two

In Upper Kindergarten, the children have been learning about animals.  In Mrs.Quarteer’s class, the children have produced some wonderful pictures of various animals and created a magnificent wall display of Noah’s Ark.  They have learned the story of the ark and even a song – the animals went in two by two, hurrah, hurrah!

Thanks to the expert guidance from Mrs. Quarteer and Mrs. Halls, the children have had a most enjoyable time learning all about their wildlife topic.

Incy Wincy Spiders

In relation to the topic children are studying in year 1, our pupils have been learning about how spiders live and create their webs.  Louisa and Lilli explain below what they have learned :-

We have been studying houses and homes of different kinds.  A spider lives in a web.  The spider makes string from his body to make the web as his house.  The web is sticky so it can catch flies in the wind.  When they are caught, he eats them.  We made some spiders and their webs.  We used brown paper as the fence.  Then we got some tissue paper and screwed it into a ball to make the spider’s head and his body.  We used black paper for the body and tiny bits of red paper for his little eyes.  Then we made a fly which was black with blue tissue paper for wings.  We drew chalk round and round on black paper to make the web.

 Well done to Louisa and Lilli for such a concise report and very impressive works of art.

Rumble In The Jungle

Children in Upper Kindergarten have been studying animals as their topic.  In Miss Thomas’ class, the children have been learning about extinct and wild animals.  They have made African wall hangings out of paper mache (which formed a leather effect background).  The children then framed them with twigs that they had collected from the grounds and then chose a wild animal to feature in the centre, finishing it off with paw print decorations. 

My Diary
(By Sophia, Year 3)

Date : Sunday, 24th October, 1939

It is my birthday and I am getting evacuated.  My mum came with me just today because it is my birthday and she wants to spend time with me.  She is leaving tomorrow but she promised she would visit me in two weeks.  I’m staying with a lady named Mrs. Smiths.  She works at a school and she has put me in her class.  She has a neighbour who has evacuees staying.  They are quite nice.  I really miss my mum and dad.  They are always so kind to me when I’m upset.  I really wish I was back home but at least the food is all right here so its ok here.  My room is bright pink and I love it.  The people looking after me are strict.  They won’t let me wear shoes in the house and I am only allowed out of the house to see my friends for about five minutes.  Mrs. Smiths is coming now so I will put my diary away.  I don’t want them to see what I wrote about them.

Well done to Sophia for composing such an emotive and imaginative diary entry.