More photos from our Tregoyd House residential

Waterlooville Trip cut short due to accident

The first of the two Waterlooville visits was brought to a halt today by an unfortunate accident to Hayden.

It appears that he fainted and in falling to the ground, Hayden hurt his head. As he was very dazed and in shock, Mr Mullard dialed 999. The paramedic arrived in less than five minutes and an ambulance shortly afterwards. Hayden was taken to the QA accompanied by Mr Mullard and his mum met them there.

Fortunately, Hayden made a quick recovery and after a short sleep and three X-rays, he was discharged.

We hope Hayden enjoys showing everyone his bruises when he comes back to school!

Jacob's Ladder at Tregoyd

A Tregoyd Birthday!

Fishing at Tregoyd

The climbing wall at Tregoyd

The Hike from Tregoyd House

Canoeing on the River Wye at Tregoyd

Clibing at Tregoyd

Quad Bikes at Tregoyd House

Kate and Seth

Played by Georgia and Ethan

Jason and Seth

Played by David and Ethan.

Layla

Played by Ellen.

Kate and Seth

Played by Georgia and Ethan

Kate and Layla

Played by Amber and Zoe.

Kate and Layla

Played by Georgia and Zoe

Jason and Layla

Played by David and Zoe

Miss Evans

Played by Robyn Garrard.

Layla's girls

Played by Samantha, Lacey, Zoe and Charlie.

Blake, Andy and Tom

Played by Alfie, Ben and Sam.

After the Perfomances

After our performances we received several letters of congratulation. Here are two.

Actors in rehearsal

The animators

The making of the animated films

The Animation Workshops

We were very pleased to work once more with Helen Hewitt. Helen, our artist in residence for four days, worked with four groups of children to help them create animated films about Barn Owls, Orangutans and two films to explore the characters of Seth and Layla.

These films will be posted to the blog soon.

"Layla" and "Kate" in rehearsal

The Cast

Cast

Kate Georgia Caine & Amber Bettles-Hall
Seth Ethan Dallas
Jason David Sparrow
Layla Zoe Robinson and Ellen Porter

Blake Alfie Baker
Andy Sam Atherton
Tom Ben Cross

Ruby Charlie Cunningham
Erin Lacey Hewitt
Kelly Samantha Arend

Miss Evans, teacher Robyn Garrard

Vanessa, Kate’s mum Georgia Moore

Maria, Seth’s mum Jenny-May Pocock
Scot, Seth’s Dad Adam Schofield

Layla’s mum, Karen Jade Steel
Karen’s bloke, Brian David Farndell

Victoria, Jason’s mum Kiera Easen
Dave, Jason’s Dad Matt Burfoot

Nant y Moch staff:
Rob Jake Holland
Sarah Chloe Barnes

Layla’s brother, Shane Kyle Eyres

Jason’s sister, Suzy Sophie Bridger
Lucy Wright

Mr Henderson, head teacher Alex Calton
Teachers
Mrs Kendal Maia Lewis
Mr Smith Jorge Sandford
Mrs Hood Kirsten Davies

Rescue workers Blake McQuilken
Eliza Wilkinson
Maia Lewis

Michael's interview with Fraser

Are you enjoying the Yr 6 Production?
Yes and I’m looking forward to seeing it.

What character would you want to be and why?
Jason, because he is a good character.

What are you doing for the Production?
I am doing tickets and animations.

Animations, what do you do in that?
Draw features of faces with white pencils, cut them out and arrange them before we take photos..

How many photos have your group taken?
Over 1200!

Wow!!!!!!!

Mr Mullard explains the idea of the Y6 Production

From a recent letter to parents:

Unlike most Junior Schools, our Y6 Production is not a unit of work unrelated to the curriculum and designed solely to allow the children to end their time in junior school on “a high”. We hope our production does this, of course, but we require it to do far more and this is because the production is an essential part of our Y6 curriculum.

The production is the outcome of the final Integrated Learning Unit of the year called Making Sense of it All and I have attached the plans for this work to this letter. The unit of work challenge pupils to confront and explore difficult changes in personal relationships, both fictional and real-life, so that they can reflect more effectively upon their own circumstances and beliefs.

This allows us to examine the way different faiths make sense of the purpose of life and the significance of death. The children are encouraged to express their thoughts in a variety of ways.

Moving on to secondary school may be a very challenging time for many children and our transition work is an important part of the unit, allowing us to help the children see it as an exciting opportunity. The unit also allows us to further develop relationship education, the effects of peer group pressure and to promote opportunities for the children to reflect upon the sort of person they want to be.

Each year, different additional themes are explored for example, last year it was street children and this year it is the theme of sustainability as reflected in daily decisions with both local and global environmental consequences. These themes have been explored at great length in our English curriculum in Exploratory Talk, Reading and Writing activities and also in the recent homework tasks.

The production is essentially a play with dance. The playscript has been written by over twenty children working with myself in after-school sessions which started in February. The storyline shows children making sense of a web of challenging relationships in their lives and it highlights our chosen issues of sustainability in what we hope becomes a gripping adventure story. This year the production will also include animated films which will be created by the children working with an “artist in residence”. The dances are created from the children’s own ideas.

The production is not just about the performers on stage. We firmly believe that all pupils should have a strong sense of ownership of the work and there are many ways in which those that do not wish to take a prominent role can contribute. These include stage design, face painting and costumes, logistical work to do with invitations, ticketing and programme design. Many prefer to be involved with the technical side of the performance and there are roles in lighting and audio-visual presentation. Just as with the performing roles, these and many more tasks promote teamwork skills and provide opportunities for the children to work independently.
In addition to this, there are many other activities taking place alongside tasks more closely related to the performance. Maths, French, English, DT and ICT work is still actively pursued.

This schools Integrated Learning Units have been very highly praised by inspectors and our Making Sense of it All unit is often identified as an exceptional showcase of cross curricular work which offers real depth and challenge to the pupils. The quality of the children’s acting and dance has been described as outstanding by visitors from local secondary schools and a county inspector for English has even asked to be invited to a performance!

As you can probably tell, we are very proud of our Y6 curriculum and its final manifestation in the Y6 production. In recent years, it has been a wonderful experience for the pupils and one I am sure many of them will remember for a very long time. We very much look forward to sharing the children’s work with parents and guests in a few weeks time.

What are the dances ?

Monkey Man
Orang-utans have fun and show their serious side too.

Layla
Layla struts her stuff with her girls. They think she’s so cool . . . just don’t mess with her if you know what’s good for you.

La luna en Tu Mirada
Ghostly Barn Owls sweep and float.

Drive Back
Blake and the others won’t leave him alone so Seth hates it here and wants away.

Back to Black
Layla faces the truth – she hates her life or is it herself?

American Beauty
Kate’s nightmare: Barn Owls and Orangs are in big trouble.

Superstition
Seth is a thief . . . isn’t he? They crowd around to accuse him.

Michael's interview with Mrs B about the dances

I interviewed Mrs Branscombe about the dances.

“Are you enjoying teaching some of the dancing this year?” we asked

“I’m loving leading the dancing. They are really enthusiastic.” She replied.

Our next question was, “How is the dancing going?”

She replied, “The moves are more or less completed.” She explained. “We just need to practise the timings. There is one more dance to plan.”

A few words from Michael

Yr 6 Production Update:

The Production is now only weeks away. We can’t wait!
The actors are practising everyday and I have been in to watch some of the rehearsal and it looks good.

Every child in yr 6 has to do something for the Production. Some are designing sets, props and tickets. We are all very busy!

Coming soon ………………………….. interviews with some of the cast.

Mulberry the barn owl visits Y6

Our Y6 production this year has sustainability as an important theme. The story involves both orangutans and barn owls and the Hawk Conservancy Trust visited us this week so that we could learn more about barn owls. Amazingly, our visitor, called Paul, has spent 6 months working on orangutan projects in Borneo in Indonesia and he was able to tell us about the problems facing both species.

The Hawk Conservancy Trust is based in Andover and they are cloesely involved in projects which hope to safeguard barn owls and to increase their numbers in this country. Their website is well worth a look at:

http://www.hawk-conservancy.org/

The script is finished!

This week, the last two scenes of A Tangled Web were completed. We started work on 6 March and over the weeks, 23 pupils have been staying behind after school writing the 23 scenes of the playscript.

Be prepared . . . . at 91 pages, it's the longest of all the plays that have been written by Y6 in the last 4 years. But don't worry - you won't need your sleeping bag because this story is very exciting and you will be on the edge of your seats as the story approaches its climax.

More details will follow in the next few days and we hope that you will call in again as work on the production starts in a big way in two weeks time as you will be able to see our day to day progress.

The SATs are over !

We thought we would record some of our thoughts once the SATs were over:

It was OK. Some tests were hard and some were easy. I was nervous but I had fun and I managed.

It was easy. It was weird at the beginning of the week but I got the hang of it.

Stressful and horrible at first but further on in the week I was more comfortable with it. The Science was the easiest.

Some tests were rather challenging but I completed every one. I know I haven't got every question right, but I'm quite pleased with myself.

Annoyed and relieved because all the fuss was for something that wasn't so hard!

I felt nervous before the tests, I felt I was under pressure. It got easier as theweek went on and afterwards I felt relaxed and satisfied with my work.

The SATs were not too hard and there was no pressure on any of us - there was no need to worry.

Boring!!!

Really quite easy.

Very quiet!

Fun, interesting but sometimes a bit boring.

Some thoughts after our visit to the Medina Mosque

I thought it would be like a church but it wasn't.

Their religion is quite similar to ours.

I think that Muslims can appear quite scary, but they are actually very nice people. I think that they are incredible people because some of them were very giving. I do not think that if I were a Muslim, I would be able to wake up at that time in the morning to pray.

The people were very friendly and I feel that they are very good people.

Now that I have been to the mosque, my views have changed totally. Before, I went to the mosque, I didn't really understand the community the Muslims live in. Now I know how different their style they live in is.

I was very shocked that from the age of 10 they have to pray 5 times a day.

I thought it was very different from what I expected it to be. It was not like a church and I thought it would be. It was interesting and I learnt lots of things about the mosque on the trip. I was surprised about what I saw and I enjoyed it.

Now that I have visited the mosque, my feelings have totally changed. Before I went, I didn't understand about Muslims and praying but now I have been I understand.

I think it is a bit unfair that girls have to go to the back of the prayer hall or even go in a separate room.

I did not agree with most of their religious theories but I was amazed how much they believed them. Overall, it was very interesting.

Our visit to the Medina Mosque in Southampton

Y6 have visited the Medina Mosque in Southampton many times and two years ago we were joined by the BBC who filmed us for South Today.

We visited the Mosque this year on 23 and 30 March, with 6T being split for the trips.

We split into small groups to explore the Mosque starting with the prayer hall, the women's room and the wash rooms. We also went into the mortuary, the community centre and another nearby mosque. We had lots of questions to ask the Imam and we watched him as he prepared for prayer in the washroom. Some of the year group also wanted to join in the actions of the Imam as he prayed.

After lunch we watched afternoon prayers and had another opportunity to ask questions. We also visited a supermarket in the local community.

We would like to thank the Imam for his hospitality and all th eparents who helped on this visit and and also the Hillier's trip.

Visit to Hillier's Arboretum

The whole year group visited the Arboretum, near Romsey, on Friday 13 March. We learnt about the way the leaves and flowers of plants are adapted to conditions and the strategies they use to ensure pollination and seed distribution. We were also able to look at adaptation in animals too as Southampton University led a workshop on skulls.

The photos show a horse's skull and one of the activities where we used light meters to investigate the way that plants must be adapted to survive in different conditions.

The other photo shows the rare Leaf-Boy Orchid which originally came from mountain forests in Tibet. It is thought that it was collected by Sir Harold Hillier on an early plant hunting expedition in 1910 and is the only known example of th especies to be seen outside of the Himalayas.

It's started

Work on our end of year production, A Tangled Web, has begun!

Twenty-five writers have signed up to form the writing teams who will create the script of our play. Each writing team has two or three members and each scene of the play is written by a single team in after-school sessions lasting up to 5 pm.

The first two teams started work on 28 February and we finished our first scene tonight, 6 March.

We think the play will be as long as the productions in the last three years - and that means over 75 typed pages and over 20 scenes. Mr Mullard hopes the script will be finished by summer half term so that the actors can start rehearsals as soon as the holiday is over.

Come back later and see how work on the script is progressing. Details about the storyline of the Production will be posted much nearer the time . . . . at the moment it is confidential!

Animation Films

The films, with new music and fantastic sound effects, can now viewed on the internet.

Follow this link :

http://www.animationforeducation.co.uk/screen/screen.html

Narrative Poem

Daedalus and Icarus

In History, Literacy and Dance/Drama Year 6 have been looking at the Greek myth- Daedalus and Icarus. Daedalus was an Ancient Greek inventor and designer. He designed the labyrinth for King Minos to keep the Minotaur in. For this, Daedalus and his son Icarus were trapped in a tall tower so they wouldn’t tell anyone the way out/in the labyrinth. They both got fed up of being stuck in the tower so they made a plan to escape. They created wings out of bird feathers and candle wax. After months of making the wings were ready and they jumped out of the only window in the tower. Daedalus warned Icarus to not fly near the sun. But he did! The wax on his wings melted and Icarus fell into the sea.
In Drama/Dance we created a dance sequence to tell the story of Daedalus and Icarus. Some of the stages included- Being bored in the tower, having the idea of making the wings, making the wings, jumping out of the window, flying in the air, warning Icarus and Icarus dying.
In Literacy we wrote narrative poems to tell the story of Daedalus and Icarus. We had to use- Powerful adjectives, varying line lengths, alliteration and similes and metaphors. All the finished poems are excellent.

Here are a few examples of our poems-

Daedalus and Icarus

Sitting on the hard cold floor,
Daedalus and Icarus stared blankly.
A tall ghostly tower
Surrounded by crashing sea
Was where they were cruelly imprisoned.
Hidden from the rest of the world.
No escaping
Trapped forever.
Only one small window,
Separates them from the world.
Suddenly Daedalus has a genius brainwave
A plan to escape
Be free.
And do this by creating wings
Out of melted candle wax and birds feathers.
When finally finished
They would jump out of the tiny window.
Setting to work on the wings,
Butterflies crawl and squirm
In the small boys stomach.
Shaky hands grab feathers
And carefully pour hot wax.
Months
And months go by.
And the wings start to take shape
Finally the wings are finished
Feathers litter the hard floor
Hardened wax sticks to their tatty clothes
As the father and son strap on the wings
Anticipation fills the room
Walking nervously to the window
Their key to freedom
They stand on the unstable window
Waiting
Then, the cue to jump,
Gathering all their courage,
Taking deep breaths
They leap off the unsteady window
Daedalus and Icarus,
Father and Son,
Fall,
Falling,
Falling,
Faster,
Faster.
They start to flap their heavy wings
The sharp rocks beneath them
Approaching,
They plummet like a stone,
The violent sea welcoming them,
Gaining control
They glide like birds
Through the cold, clear sky.
Finally, they were free,
Diving and swooping excitedly
No limits
Free
Free as a bird
The endless blue sky welcoming them
Daedalus shouts a warning
At Icarus more than to him,
The small boy
Having to much fun
To listen
“Don’t go near the sun!”
The concerned father shouts
Worried
The hot ball of light
Beckoned the excited boy
To excited to listen,
He flies higher
Higher
Nearer the scorching sun
Then a
Drip,
Drip,
Drip,
Melting was drops from Icarus’ wings
Feathers fall
Realizing what’s happening
Panic strikes his face,
Fear rushes through his body,
Trying helplessly to fly down,
Wind rushes past.
Icarus falls,
Falling at a backbreaking speed
The terrified boys’ world
Breaking down
An ear piercing scream,
Fills the cold air
The poor helpless boy
Plummets to the depths
All Daedalus can do
Is watch in terror
As his son
Falls to the depths
Of the cold
Dark
Sea
Gone forever…..

Snow at School

On Monday the 2nd of February, we got about 5.5cm of snow fall overnight. Only about 63 children turned up at school and only 17 of them where in Year 6. When people started to arrive, some parents took their children home. Everyone was excited about the snow, and we all had great fun throwing snowballs at the teachers!

Some mad people rolled around on the floor and made snow angels! But it was also very cold and we all got hot drinks in the classroom to defrost.

We planned and performed snow experiments to show how long it took for the snow to melt and how to insulate snow to stop it from melting.

The teachers made hot drinks for us all before break to keep us warm.

At break we all went onto the field and went crazy! A few people from other year groups went home at lunchtime but lots of us went out in the fallingsnow to play on the field.

In the afternoon, we will watch a film and take part in the Multi-Skills PE sessions in the hall.

It is a great day and everyone is having great fun!

By Zoe and Samantha