Today, the children were using iPads to play a matching pairs game in maths. The children demonstrated how much progress they have made in their PSED skills since September. There was beautiful sharing, taking turns and team work going on. Well done team!
It’s been a busy week at St John’s – please have a look at our class pages to stay up-to-date with our latest activities.
We also welcome a new starter to Dragonfly class this week: welcome Tilley, we hear you have made a great start to your time at St John’s, we’re so glad you’ve joined us!
In Bumblebees, James achieved Star of the Week:
Acorn Awards (earning House Points with two pupils chosen per class; awarded by teachers for class-based work / learning attitudes):
Raffle ticket winners (awarded by staff for lining-up or behaviour around school)
Happy birthday to Mrs Young this weekend!
The RSPB Big Garden Bird Watch
Eco-Team spoke to all the children about the Big Garden Bird Watch which is happening this weekend. More details can be found here:
Owl Class had a fantastic focus day in school on Wednesday with Kat and Sue From Widget Workshops who bombarded us with their expertise, hands-on activities and (much to the delight of the class) Virtual Reality headsets! By the end of the day, we had expanded our knowledge of Egyptology significantly but also relished the opportunity to write hieroglyphics in inks, explore timelines, play Egyptian games, mummify each other and then get a realistic feel for the pyramids, the Valley of the Kings and a close-up look at artefacts through the VR headsets. It was jam-packed!
Kat and Sue were fantastic – we thank them both for such a great day full of resources to explore and extend our learning of Egyptology.
In Art this week we have been learning how to weave!
Our first job was to join two pieces of paper together without using glue, we soon realised if we folded the paper it would stay joined together. We folded our pieces of paper to make caterpillars!
Our next job was to start weaving. We had to make our own paper looms and be very careful where and how far we were cutting our paper. Then we wove pieces of paper in and out of our looms. We had to take our time and be very careful to go in and out of all the holes in our looms. We all tried really hard and managed to do it!
We are very excited to see the progress that is being made on our new adventure playground area – it is keeping us entertained at breaktimes as we see what the workmen are busy doing next! The play area is being built using funds raised by the fantastic ‘Friends of St John’s’ team.
The area should be ready for opening in February…watch this space!
This week at forest school, the children made some eco friendly firelighters. They melted down old candles that had been donated to the school by people in the village on the campfire to start with and then wrapped some string around a dried pine cone. When that was all done, the children carefully dipped their pine cone into the melted wax. They’ve all been put to dry until we go to forest school next week but we can’t wait to put them to good use on our campfire next week!
This week in Bumblebees we are learning all about India. Today the children tried some Indian food for their snack. They tried Poppadoms, Naan Bread, Vegetable Samosas, Pakoras and Coconut Milk. The children loved the taste of the food and most of them asked for seconds!
Lottie – ‘I liked the coconut milk, I will ask my mummy to get me some from the shop’
Tommy S – ‘I like coconut’
Laith – ‘I liked the big massive crisp because it was yummy yummy in my tummy’
Tommy M – ‘I didn’t like the food today because it was spicy’
James – ‘I liked the bread the best, it had raisins in it !’
Jasmine – ‘I liked all of it’
Cody – ‘I liked the bread because it was yummy’
Oakley – ‘I liked the Naan Bread and the Poppadoms because they tasted nice’
Nancy – ‘I ate the bread and the coconut milk, we have coconut milk at home’
Following our work about China last week, today we learnt the story of the Chinese Zodiac. The children all really enjoyed listening to the story and finding out which year they were born in. At the end of the story, we discussed the ways that we could help the cat to cross the river. The children all came up with some fantastic ideas! We were so proud of how they all worked together to make their ideas. Their personal and social skills have come so far since September.
In Rabbits we are thinking about ‘Who is Jewish and how do they live?’. Over the past few weeks we have been learning about what is important to Jewish people. Today we have been learning about Mezuzahs. We learnt that a mezuzah is a small box that is placed on the door frame of Jewish homes. Inside the box is a scroll with special words from the Torah. Jewish people touch the mezuzah every time they pass the door to remind them that God is always with them.
We thought about special words that we would like to remember everyday. We had some lovely ideas, such as ‘Be a good friend all the time’, ‘Be positive’ and ‘Never Give up’. We have displayed them on our classroom door so we can see them every time we come in and out of class.
We had LOTS to celebrate in our Celebration Assembly this week – well done everyone!
Acorn Awards (earning House Points with two pupils chosen per class; awarded by teachers for class-based work / learning attitudes):
In Bumblebees, Cody achieved Star of the Week:
Congratulations to Sebastien for showing our school value of ‘perseverance’ in his maths lessons too.
Raffle ticket winners (awarded by staff for lining-up or behaviour around school)
Grade 1 Violin
We were very proud to see Arthur receive his certificate for Grade 1 Violin. He explained to us what he had to do to achieve it and how he practises. Well done Arthur, keep up the dedicated attitude towards music.
A special deed
It has come to our attention that one member of our school made a particularly special gesture over Christmas. Freddie (Year 5 Owls) received a Christmas gift of money (£50!) from a relative – but he chose to donate all of this money to the Food Bank! We are so very proud of Freddie for making such kind and thoughtful choices; he has been recommended for a Headteacher’s Award for this act of kindness. Well done Freddie – what an inspiration!
Sportshall Athletics
On Tuesday, a team of athletes attended the Corbet School for their annual Sportshall Athletics Event.
Overall, we were very proud to come 3rd (out of 8 schools). Our Girls Squad finished 4th – an impressive result considering our team were Y4, 5 and 6 girls facing squads of Year 6! Meanwhile, we are delighted to announce the Boys Squad finished 2nd! This means they qualify for the North Shropshire Finals Event later in Spring – well done boys!
A special mention to Charlie who confidently took part as a Year 4 – she was not daunted by racing against older girls.
Also to Mia who won BOTH of her fielding events (javelin and chest push!), Elliot who won his long jump competition and Arthur who won the vertical high jump.
GO TEAM RUYTON!
Church Street
Ruyton XI Towns
Shrewsbury
Shropshire
SY4 1LA
