Winter Grounds Day - Year 6

 Winter Grounds Day was another fantastic affair and the sun shone making it perfect for some hard labour and learning outside.

There were various jobs for us all - from general ones helping to look after our beautiful grounds and some of the expensive equipment within it such as the camera obscura through to sketching and identifying the plants in the Jurassic Bed which links to our science learning on evolution.  So we washed and scrubbed, brushed and carried, picked and sketched.


It was good to see everyone bringing in their outdoor shoes, and this enabled us to make sure everyone could get outside and access all of the activities.

We also helped Year 1 with their learning.  Part of the Year 1 curriculum is to learn about the different habitats around the grounds so a log pile was built using the logs which had been recently left behind by the tree surgeons.  Together with Year 1 we moved all of the logs to inside the Fairy Area and stacked them according to size and shape.   Year 1 really appreciated the help and the muscle power of Year 6!


Miss Moreton helped us with the Jurassic Bed, and we started to look closely at the difference between the leaves of native English trees such as oak, sycamore and horse chestnut, and junipers and pines.  We looked really carefully at the Cycad.  These plants grow very slowly and can live a long time with some specimens being a 1000 years old.  They have changed very little from Jurassic times unlike many other plants - sycamore leaves have five distinct lobes which have become wider over time.  Fossils of Cycads have been found and dated to the Jurassic Period which is  300–325 million years ago.  In particular they were so widespread during the Jurassic Period it is sometimes known as the Age of the Cycads.

A sycamore leaf now on the left.

On the right a fossil of a sycamore leaf which was found in Utah, USA about 60 million years ago.

This fossil was found in Germany

We also compared pine cones in the grounds with fossil pine cones from the Carboniferous period 310 million years ago.







Within our grounds we also have two Gingko biloba trees which are very special indeed.  The Ginkgo or maidenhair tree is the only living species in the division Ginkgophyta, with all others being extinct. It is found in fossils dating back 270 million years.  Unfortunately as it is a deciduous tree it has lost its leaves, but we will be back out there in the spring to study them.  Next week we will be looking at the bark and twigs of some of these plants to help us identify them when they are bare.

Christmas comes to Carleen Nursing Home

It was a huge privilege to accompany a group of Year 6 volunteers on their visit to Carleen Care and Nursing home yesterday. Over 40 children volunteered to give up their morning in order to sing Christmas songs to the residents. The aim of the visit was to spread some Christmas cheer and to encourage our children to have empathy for older people.




Both aims were achieved in abundance! Not only did they sing with gusto, they also spent a long time afterwards chatting. They made genuine connections with the old people and were full of stories afterwards about their conversations.

An impromptu sing song breaks out

One of the ladies came down late and missed the singing, so a small group showed initiative and compassion as they gathered round her chair and sang all the songs she'd missed! Another group was asked to go to the room of a lady who hadn't managed to get down to the lounge. The children were rather disconcerted when she cried throughout their singing until we explained that her tears were tears of joy and were because of her happy memories.

Yet another occasion for our children to discover the true meaning of Christmas - giving to others.

Yr 5 and 6 carol service

            
On Tuesday the 13th of December Years 5 and 6 went to St Mary's Church to sing our wonderful
Christmas carols. By the way I must say we were rather brilliant as we all sang as best as we could, our readers were clear (even though they were nervous), and our poems were really thoughtful. The service was from 10:00 - 10:45 and the parents joined us to celebrate Christmas. Reverend Meredith was really kind and generous and introduced every song we did. He even said we had talent and had worked really hard! VoxRox (our school choir) sang a song too.
It was great to see so many parents parents, and grandparents coming along


Written by Grace Deane 6Na

Now here's one of our poems.

Generosity
First is the moment you drop a penny into an old chipped mug,
First too is the moment a smile breaks out on a beggar's face,
Second is the moment when you give your little brother a football for his birthday,
Second too is the moment you receive a present from your older sister,
Third is the moment you give up your time to sing to the occupancy of a care home to make them smile,
Third too is the moment where a Christmas carol brings joy and love to the lonely heart,
Fourth is the moment you companion someone who has bullied you,
Fourth too is the moment you experience kindness for the first time,
Fifth is the moment you let someone have the last roller coaster ticket that you really wanted,
Fifth too is the moment you realise your dream is going to come true,
Sixth is the moment you give someone a rid to work when they're running late,
Sixth too is the moment when you can take a deep breath and realise you won't be late,
Generosity is the moment you stop being selfish.

By Lyla-Rose Garfoot 6Na

Now here's another poem that Lyla-Rose and Niamh Midgeley wrote and was read by Niamh.


Forgiveness
Forgiveness is found in the relief on Noah's face as he gazes upon God's gift of a rainbow.
Forgiveness is found deep within God's wise words.
Forgiveness is found in the reprieve of a condemned prisoner as the judge grants him a pardon.
Forgiveness is found in in the truth of a younger child telling their mum their mistakes.
Forgiveness is found in the burying of the hatchet before the passing of the peace pipe.
Forgiveness is found in the human brain and the realisation of his or her mistakes.
Forgiveness is when anger leaves the heart to make room for love.
Forgiveness is found in 5 letters T.R.U.S.T.


By Niamh Midgeley and Lyla-Rose Garfoot 6Na and 6Nb

Christmas Carol Service - 6NB

Christmas Carol Service - written by Lucy Gilbert 6NB

On Tuesday 13th December Year 5 and  Year 6  went to St  Mary's church to sing Christmas carols. The first song we sang when we got there was Silent Night and we sang the first verse in German .  We then we listened to a reading  from Charles Dickens’ The Christmas Carol read by Max and then a poem written by Lyla on generosity. Next we sung Wind Though the Olive Trees.  VoxRox sung a beautiful version of Gaudette which  means ‘rejoice’ in Latin.  Samuel then read  another reading from The Christmas Carol with the themes of forgiveness and redemption and Niamh read a poem she had written with Mr Wildman about forgiveness. We really enjoyed the service and all the carols that we sung.  It was beautiful near-end to term.  We are singing at Carleen Nursing home Wednesday too!

And here is Niamh and Lyla-Rose's poem...

WHERE IS FORGIVENESS FOUND

Forgiveness is found in the relief on Noah’s face as he gazes upon god’s gift of a rainbow

Forgiveness is found deep within gods wise words

Forgiveness is found in the reprieve of a condemned  prisoner as the judge grants him a pardon

Forgiveness is found in the truth of a young child telling their mum their mistakes

Forgiveness is found in the burying of the hatchet before the passing of the peace pipe

Forgiveness is found in the brain of a being and the realization of human mistakes

Forgiveness is when your anger leaves to make room for love

Forgiveness is found in 5 letters

T.R.U.S.T.

Family Carol Sing

There was a big crowd of us carol singing around Portchester last evening after the fayre. So good to see whole families coming along to sing. The highlights were: watching the children's faces as they signed Away in a Manger for a deaf family; seeing the generosity of people in the Wicor Mill Pub as they contributed to our school charities (once they'd got over the surprise of us singing to them); the thankfulness of an old neighbour of Mrs Pattison who, although 90 and struggling to get about, managed to get to the door and listen to us. Big thank you to Mrs P who provided hot chocolate and mince pies to a crowd much bigger than expected. Thanks to all who made the effort to come along. It was a worthwhile occasion and ,as a bonus, also raised over £60 for our school charities and school music.

Ruth Knight

Year 4 Clarinet Concert

Year 4 gave a clarinet performance this afternoon to show what they have been learning this term in their music lessons.
Both 4W and 4R only started learning in September, so they made a good sound considering how short a time they have been learning. Not only were they playing 5 different notes, but they also were reading them from the written music: quite a skill.
Some Year 5 and 6 children who have been learning clarinet for longer also contributed to the performance.
A big audience of family members came to support them, which was a great encouragement to the children.
Year 4 are already looking forward to beginning lessons on brass instruments next term.

Getting in tune for the concert

5T Winchester Science Centre

5T have been to Winchester Science Centre. It was a fantastic experience, we learnt so much and saw a lot of science come to life before our eyes. The planetarium is incredible, let's hope we put our new knowledge to the test and look out for the stars in the night sky.