Archive for year: 2019

‘1001 Science Journeys from Alchemy to Chemistry’ event

The Year 5 children had an amazing day at the Royal Society of Chemistry where they watched a live show about the famous Jabir ibn Hayyan and his successor, Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi, who developed new ways of classifying substances and organising chemical knowledge.  They then took part in 4 different workshops where they got the opportunity to make soap, test liquids to classify if they are alkaline or acidic amongst others. The children left feeling excited and inspired by how amazing Science can be.

During Maths Week, KS1 used their knowledge of various mathematical concepts to create gingerbread bears to sell in the food fair. They also enjoyed playing maths games with their friends and being able to apply their learning to real-life situations.

As part of Maths week, ‘Maths is everywhere,’ Year 3 & 4 learnt about ‘Data Handling.’ Their lessons revolved around real life Maths based activities where they conducted a survey on sweets and collected and gathered data from around the school, to find out which sweets were most popular amongst the students and which were least favoured. They then converted the data into tally charts and bar graphs.  They used their knowledge of collecting and handling data by participating in the school fair in which they engaged in making sweet cones to sell. This also gave them the opportunity to experience market research and profit margins. 

Each class worked on a topic for Maths week. As a result of the learning, each class produced different food items to be sold in the food fair. Early years made fruit kebabs, Yr 1 and 2 made ginger bread cookies, Year 3 and 4 made sweet cones and Yr 5 and 6 made pizza. We had a great turn out and sold everything! A very well done to all that were involved.

Year 5 & 6 had a fantastic time at the William Morris Gallery, learning about creating patterns through block printing as the famous British artist William Morris from Walthamstow once did. In DT the children have been exploring textiles and patterns which has enabled them to now create their own patterns on accessories as part of their topic.

The Year 3 & 4  took part in a nature walk in Swedenborg Gardens with a local organisation (Nature and US). The children had a short talk with the leaders and then began their walk. They discovered various insects such as ladybirds, spiders and worms. They found out that all male spiders die in the winter but most females survive! They also observed various plants such as goose grass and dandelions. The children also used magnifying glasses to examine the small hairs on the leaves.  They were excited to see wild lettuce and wild carrots, spotted different birds and learnt which nest belong to which bird.  Overall, the trip was a great success and the children were able to make links  with their science topic.

The Early Years foundation stage had  special visitors, the owls from the Kent owls academy. We had an exciting time observing them fly silently in our classroom. We learnt many interesting facts about them, and we also had a chance to hold them and feel them too!too.Have a look.

This term we have been encouraging children to become confident public speakers. Every Friday, The boys  and girls in upper key stage 2 have the opportunity to take part in performing the Kuthba (For public proclaiming in the Islamic tradition) for the boys, and Naseeha  (Giving advice )for the girls.

Children are encouraged to plan and write down what they want to share with the congregation. They have to work on projecting their voices and getting their message across with clarity. We are pleased to say that this kind of public speaking has made a positive impact on the confidence of the children and we hope to continue to support this initiative.

We have been encouraging the upper and lower KS 2 boys to perform the Adhaan (Call to pray) at Dhuhur time.  This practice has really made an impact on the confidence  of these boys as they have had to stand in front of everyone and perform the Adhaan in Arabic using the correct techniques of pronunciation . We have seen  so much enthusiasm amongst the boys  who want to have a go and participate.

We ended the week with an amazing assembly where children from each class presented their pioneering personality. The children highlighted key facts about the lives of these special people and show cased their fantastic art work . Well done to all the children for putting so much effort into this week.