Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.

• Avon Tyrrell - Day 1

  Tue 12 Nov 2024

  We had the most beautiful journey to Avon Tyrrell, through the New Forest. Spotting the ponies along the way. The glorious sunshine was highlighting the beauty of this area of the country and made us very excited for our final destination. First on the agenda was to tell the very excitable children who they would be sharing a room with. After plenty of celebrations and jubilations, the cheering soon came to a pause as the children were required to make their own beds. With a little cooperation and lots of adult help, everyone was able to settle into a cosy bed tonight.

   

  Our afternoon started with a delicious lunch (steak or vegetable pastries with diced potatoes and vegetables) which was swiftly followed by an afternoon jam packed with activities, including: pioneering, mountain biking, the challenge course and abseiling. During the pioneering session, the children built their very own catapults. They had to use some intricate knot styles to secure a selection of poles in place to create giant sized catapults! The children were then able to score points based on the accuracy of their aims.

   

  It was also great to see lots of children getting out of their comfort zone as they cycled through the forest and took on lots of hilly and bumpy terrain - ending on a steep, continuous incline. The perseverance was incredible. Mrs James was so proud of the children who had been feeling slightly 'rusty' with Mountain Biking but pushed themselves further than they thought they could.

   

  After a filling roast chicken dinner or stuffed pepper, we all enjoyed a leisurely night walk where they learnt about the history of Avon Tyrrell and made fresh pine needle tea. We tried hard to keep our torches off to adjust our eye-sight to the darkness. It was remarkable how much you could see. The children have made the absolute most of their first day!

   

  This evening, the children have settled beautifully and are already making all of the adults incredibly proud. Here are a few quotes from the children themselves about their day so far:

   

   “I wasn't sure about Pioneering before I started but it was so much fun! I really enjoyed learning how to make a catapult and competing against others with targets.” Annabelle

   

  “The rooms are so spacious and we worked as a team to make our beds - the duvet covers were a bit of a challenge.” Poppy C

   

  “The lunch was really good - I had loads of chips! Aaryan

   

  At first I was nervous about Mountain Biking but we had a little practise and after that I was perfectly fine. We went down loads of steep hills and turns and at the end there was a huge hill - I nearly made it all the way to the top." Hriday

   

  Keep checking in throughout the week to see what your wonderful children are getting up to. Take a look at a selection of photographs from today, more will be uploaded over the next few days.

  

• Remembrance service

  Mon 11 Nov 2024

  On Sunday two of our School Prefects took part in the Basingstoke Remembrance Service, accompanied by Mrs Franklin and Miss Lyddon. The children laid a remembrance wreath, on behalf of GBP, and were incredibly respectful throughout the service. 

  

• Year 3 Iron Age Day

  Wed 06 Nov 2024 Miss Thomas and Miss Wynne

  Year 3 had a fabulous day learning all about the Iron Age on Wednesday. The day started with Iron Age Matt giving a presentation on the journey from Stone Age to Bronze Age to Iron Age. He brought along lots of artefacts for the children to investigate and we began by labelling how an Iron Age warrior would dress. Some children were able to hold replica shields, spears and swords to imagine what it would have like to have been a person living in this time period and how the Iron Age communities were setup with everyone having a role that could be recognised with their dress.

   

  After break, the hall was split into four areas, which all the children rotated around. One area was furs and skins exploring how they would have been used within Iron Age Houses and clothing.  Some armour was arranged out for the children to dress up and feel to understand the weight of the armour that would have been worn in that period. Children also got to explore how flour was grinded using a quern stone, and explore antlers and leather from different animals.

   

  After lunch warrior training began! The children all got to experience 'sword' and 'spear' training. When they were not doing the training, there were lots of puzzles or spear tip decorations to create. In the classroom, shield making was taking place with each child decorating their own shield in the Iron Age style out of cardboard and tissue paper.

  It was a wonderful day and a great way to capture the children's interest in our new topic this term.

  

• Year 3 Stone Age Day

  Mon 21 Oct 2024

  On Monday, Year 3 had a great time dressing up in Stone Age clothing and spending the day carrying out activities that would have been done in prehistoric times. We started the day by preparing the vegetables that would be going into a stew. The children all got an opportunity to chop the vegetables that they would later go on to eat. Once all the prep work was done, we looked at Stone Age settlements and the children had a chance to go out into the woods and build their own dens. The children had a fantastic time out in the woods and time just flew by as they built their own shelter.  Some children had the opportunity to light the fires for the stew as we left it to cook for the morning. After lunch it was time to try the stew, two options of vegetable and meat. The stew was a great success and some children went back for seconds (though there were some who will not be adding it to their meal of choice anytime soon!). With the stew finished, it was time to make Stone Age houses out of clay. Using pinch pot methods and slip the children made their own Stone Age house. There were some amazing creations, and our classrooms now have their own mini Stone Age settlement.  Everyone had a lovely time and it was wonderful to see all the children engaged in their learning. It was tough having to return to present day!

  

• Diwali Celebration Day

  Sat 19 Oct 2024

  On Friday we held a whole school Diwali Celebration Day. It was a great opportunity to learn about the festival and the importance it has to those who celebrate it. Across the school various activities were completed such as Diwali cards, rangoli designs and even some food tasting. Some of our pupils who celebrate Diwali also shared some information about what they do to celebrate with their peers. 

  

• Year R Scooter and Road Safety training!

  Fri 11 Oct 2024

  Rowan and Birch class had an amazing time yesterday as they enjoyed participating in both scooter and road safety training! During scooter training, the children learnt lots of new skills including how to stop and start safely on command, scooching, gliding and weaving! I am sure if you ask them they will happily demonstrate for you! The children listened beautifully and used their spatial awareness and co- ordination skills to navigate their scooter and did an amazing job.

  During road safety training, the children were very sensible throughout, and made sure they listened carefully to instructions at all times, in order to cross the road and paths safely.

  We were super proud of the children's resilience throughout and children and adults alike had lots of fun!

• Year 6 Ada Lovelace STEM workshops

  Thu 10 Oct 2024

  On Tuesday, 6 Year 6 girls attended a STEM workshop run by AWE. The pupils took part in so many interesting and varied workshops run by the AWE ambassadors. The purpose of the workshops was to encourage girls into STEM subjects.
   

  We built paper airplanes and launched them using straws, the group explored how adding fins stabilised the flight journey. We also built electric circuits and used chromatography paper to create flowers which light up. In addition, we built hovercrafts out of CDs, bottle tops and balloons. Then, we made water ‘walk’ using kitchen towel and food colouring. They worked as a team to build the most stable bridge and finally we made lava lamps using oil, water and food colouring. As you can see it was a jam packed, exciting day that captured the pupils’ curiosity. 
   

  Thank you to the AWE team for organising such a fantastic day.

  

• Year 2 Great Fire of London Day

  Fri 04 Oct 2024

  What a super day Year 2 have had to celebrate and continue their learning around their topic- The Great Fire of London! We started the day with a visit from Ben from Tree House Theatre. He became someone from 1666 and acted out the Great Fire of London story from a bakers perspective. We then acted out the story together as a class, using realistic props. It really brought our learning to life! A super fun morning! During the day we also sketched and then made tutor houses. Well done to all of Year 2 for super efforts and super outfits! 

  

• Come Dine With Year 6

  Thu 03 Oct 2024 Mrs Osborne

  As part of their DT learning journey, the Year 6 children have been tasked with researching, making and evaluating a starter, main or dessert. They have had lots of fun in the kitchen and so far, some delicious dishes have been made such as: dough balls, puff pastry pizzas, ratatouille and pasta. We will be cooking puddings next week.

   

  Take a look at the photos to see what they have been up to…

  

• Year 6 girls football tournament and Costello

  Fri 27 Sep 2024 Mrs Gough

  Year 6 girls had the opportunity to visit Costello school today to play some football with other schools led by a PE teacher from Costello. The girls represented our school brilliantly, showing our values both on and off the pitch. Well done!