Friday Headlines
the weekly newsletter from EHS
Nursery to Year Six Highlights
08 November 2024
It has been a wonderful week in Nursery, Kindergarten and Prep, packed with enthusiam, exploration and enriching experiences. The teachers have shared some of the exciting activities the girls have enjoyed. Don’t forget to take a look at the gallery below for pictures!
Pumpkin Patch
It was wonderful to welcome our Nursery girls back into school and they have loved the opportunity to explore pumpkins in all shapes and sizes. Pumpkin patterns were created using pumpkin seeds, fine and gross motor skills were used to make patterns on the pumpkins and the girls loved the chance to get outside and produce some pumpkin creations. Well done, girls!
Diwali Fireworks
Diwali and bonfire night celebrations have been an interesting focus for Kindergarten. The children enjoyed learning about the festival of light, Diwali, and worked together to create some Rangoli patterns in the tuff tray using small parts. They were proud to have made some diva lamp cards to take home to their families too. On Tuesday, girls experimented with paints and tools to create some fabulous firework pictures, finished off with a sprinkle of glitter to add some extra flare!
Evergreen Explorers
Reception girls took advantage of having the Birmingham Botanical Gardens next door and went on an autumn walk. The very excited Reception girls set off looking for changing seasons first-hand and they were not disappointed. The walk through the Gardens enabled them to collect fallen leaves, acorns and pine cones. Girls were encouraged to describe the textures and colours that they saw, enhancing their observational and language skills, learning new words such as ‘hibernation’ and ‘evergreen’. Their walk ended at the fabulous playground where the girls had a wonderful time with their friends in both classes. Back in the classroom, they wrote sentences about what they had found and the results are now displayed in the classroom on their own ‘autumn tree’.
Window Engineering
Year One were challenged to make a window suitable for a dolls house and the girls had to work as a team to achieve this. First, they had to design and label their window showing which materials they were going to use. They either chose to use, paper straws, lolly sticks or wooden dowels for the frame. They chose laminate or other types of plastic for their window pane, depending whether they wanted an opaque or transparent finish. They then decided on a type of fabric to use to make a blind or curtains. The afternoon culminated with the girls evaluating their design and deciding how they could make it better. They produced some wonderful windows. Well done, girls!
Creative Writing
Year Two pupils created acrostic poems to celebrate the Autumn harvest. They started by learning what an acrostic poem is, then listed words starting with every letter of the word ‘harvest’. They wrote each line of their poem in their Creative Writing books, trying hard to include lots of interesting adjectives. Some wonderful examples included ‘apples crisp and ready to eat’, ‘all the ripe pears are sweet to eat’ and ‘healthy and happy people eating scrumptious fruit and vegetables’. Once completed, the pupils copied their poems onto special paper, ready for inclusion in beautiful class anthologies. The pupils enjoyed becoming poets and sharing their anthologies with members of staff such as Mrs Aston, our academic Deputy Head, who was most impressed with both their creativity and beautiful handwriting.
Girl Power
In History this term, Year Three have been exploring why Boudicca revolted against the Romans in AD 60 after living with them peacefully for 17 years. The girls have loved using role-play to develop a greater understanding of how the Romans viewed women and their role in society. Boudicca defied their views by becoming a leader. She was faced with great injustice, such as the treatment of her daughters and the seizure of her land. These events empowered her to fight back and stand up against injustice and the girls were fascinated to discover how ‘girl power’ was evident in Britain during the time of the Romans.
Pink Poetry
Year Four pupils have been studying a poem called, ‘What is Pink?’ by Christina Rossetti. It has a plethora of different colours and words which rhyme and are linked to an object in the world of the same colour. The girls were tasked with finding their own colour choices, choosing a suitable object and finding a rhyming word too. They wrote out their poems on special paper and produced some beautiful illustrations to accompany the words.
Stretch and Challenge
Year Five started back after half term with a very exciting NRICH Webinar. NRICH are a project who aim to enrich the mathematical experiences of all learners. A carefully designed lesson delivered by their team provided stretch and challenge resources. The girls were challenged to use their problem-solving skills, discuss methods and develop resilience throughout the session, looking at place value and number. All were engaged and keen to solve the puzzles! It was a new style of lesson for the girls and they responded with great enthusiasm. We are looking forward to seeing the methods used independently in lessons going forward.
Hands-On in Year Six
What an incredible day our Year Six pupils had at the Lapworth Museum of Geology! As part of our commitment to learning beyond the classroom, the girls took
part in an enriching workshop on volcanoes and earthquakes, delving into the dramatic forces that shape the Earth. This experience supports and extends our Year Six Geography
curriculum, giving students hands-on insights into tectonic activity and its effects. In addition to the workshop, students had time to explore the museum independently. They
met Rory, the resident Allosaurus fossil, and enjoyed discovering an amazing array of crystals, minerals and fossils. A scavenger hunt added to the fun, challenging them to
apply what they learned by identifying geological wonders throughout the museum. It was an inspiring day filled with curiosity, discovery and hands-on learning that brought
their geography studies to life.
Nursery to Year Six Highlights
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