Another Super Week!

We have had another great week in St. Clare's Class!

On Wednesday, we visited the LifeBus. We had an interesting lesson and learned lots more about our bodies and the importance and dangers associated with how we treat them. We learned about drugs, smoking and alcohol and how they can be harmful to us. To end the session, we spent some time considering how to make the right choices and how to say 'No,' when we need to. It was a fascinating session and we came away with a greater knowledge about how to stay safe and well.

On Thursday, we had a fantastic trip to the Dulwich Picture Gallery. We worked with Jo, a professional artist, in the workshop to design and make our own World War One medals.

Firstly, we designed the symmetrical ribbons, using wax pastels and inks. We used this resist technique to make the ribbons look old and worn.

Next, we designed and made the tiles to print our medals.

Then, we applied the metallic printing ink.

We used the printing press to create our final images.

On Friday, after our marvellous performance in our assembly, we neared the end of our class novel; The Silver Donkey, and wrote some fantastic pieces to show how we think the book will end.

We also enjoyed analysing a poem about conscription and discussing the emotions involved for those left behind in the Great War.

In the afternoon, after another excellent P4C session, we spent some time writing Christmas letters and cards to our Post Pals. They have been posted off this weekend, so we hope that they will arrive soon to put smiles on the faces of some children who will be in hospital, or very unwell, over Christmas.

Next week, we have a very busy festive week!

Monday: Your last swimming session- don't forget your kit!
Tuesday: All of Upper School will be going to St. Thomas More for the Advent mass.
Wednesday: Christmas lunch!
Thursday: We will be watching the Key Stage 1 Nativity Play and we'll write our list to go up for the class Christmas party (food and drink!)
Friday: In the afternoon, we will be heading to church again for the Christmas Carol Concert.

The following week:
Monday: Our class Christmas Party!
Tuesday: CARE awards assembly, possibly Toy Day and the last day of term! School will close at 2pm.

A Wonderful Week!

 

We have had a fantastic week, with two trips! We are truly becoming experts on World War 1 in Year 5!

On Wednesday, we visited the Remembering 1916 exhibition at Whitgift School in Croydon. We had a brilliant day and learned so much.

On Thursday, we started to put together our presentations about particular artefacts that we saw. We even had the opportunity to handle some of the objects- and try on some helmets!

On Thursday afternoon, we edited and completed our WW1 Silent Movies. They are all ready for their grand unveiling at the World Premiere next Friday morning at 9am.

Today, Year 5 visited the Imperial War Museum. We now know so much about World War One, we could each write our own book!

Next week is another busy week. On Wednesday, we will visit the LifeBus at church (11- 12:30 if any parents could help to walk us over the road) and on Thursday, we will be visiting Dulwich Picture Gallery for a fantastic WW1-themed art workshop. On Friday, it's our class assembly! The world premiere of 'Silly Soldiers', 'The Useless Soldiers', 'Catch That Rat!' and 'The Clown Soldier'.

An Invitation and a Sneak Preview!

On Friday 9th December, you are invited to the world premiere of four wonderful silent movies, filmed in 1919 by the St. Clare's Film Company and inspired by World War One.

Here, we can see a few sneak preview shots of the filming in process. We do hope you will be able to join us at 9am for this special event!

Brake! Road Safety Awareness Week

Last week, we focused on the importance of Road Safety. We found out about the Brake! pledge and discussed how we can be safe not only when crossing roads, but also when travelling in a vehicle.

You can make the pledge here- and ask your parents and carers to sign the pledge too!

http://www.roadsafetyweek.org.uk/pledge

We made these fantastic posters to show the difference between Brake's vision for the world, with quiet, unpolluted and safe roads, and the opposite- if current trends were to continue.

Remembrance

Source: Chris Holley

On Friday, we remembered all those who had died or been affected by war. This year, the Royal British Legion wanted us to remember not only those who died in World Wars One and Two, but also those affected by wars since then and even today.

We had a special service at 10:45am, ending with a two minute silence and reflection at 11:00am. Can you remember why we hold our silence at exactly 11:00?

In the week before the service, we made poppy artwork and a wreath to offer in memory of the victims of war. Children from every class offered their wreath during the service. It was very special, moving and sombre.

A Very Special Visitor

Yesterday, we had the privilege of meeting Ms Helen Hayes MP. Ms Hayes is the MP for our constituency. She met with the School Council, then spent a long time talking to Years 5 and 6. We asked all sorts of questions and she told us many interesting things about her life as an MP and about politics in general.

All of the adults were very impressed by the questions that were asked in this session. We could see how well-informed you all are about world events and about politics in the UK and beyond. Well done!

Some of the interesting questions raised were:
1. As an MP, you have a broader view of British politics. How do you think Brexit will affect the country?
2. How did the death of Jo Cox MP affect the Labour party?
3. As you argued to remain in the EU, do you ever feel scared of people with strong opinions about Brexit?
4. Do you think Donald Trump will be a good President of the United States?
5. What effect do you think the result of the presidential election will have on Britain?
6. How do your children feel about you being an MP?

We were all very impressed by your maturity in the question and answer session and by the level of discussions Ms Hayes MP was able to have with you.

After Ms Hayes MP had left, we were keen to write to her. Here are some excellent examples of the letters we have written to post to her:

Inventors' Workshop

Yesterday, we reached the grand finale of our Inventors topic. We had spent the week designing and writing about our inventions and it was finally time to make the prototypes.

Here we are hard at work inventing (and pictures of just a few of the fabulous final creations):