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

• Year 1 Food Festival!

  Thu 18 Nov 2021

  To celebrate our topic 'Festivals', Year 1 celebrated with a Food Festival! We tried lots of food that originates from different countries in the world such as India, China, Spain, Italy and more. Some of the foods would be eaten at the festivals we have been learning about this term! The children had a chance to look at some of the food and festivals books we have been enjoying as well as find countries on the maps, have a dance to some music from other cultures and share what they have enjoyed in their learning so far. It was a brilliant morning and the children were so enthusiastic (and brave) to try lots of food. It was also lovely to see the children reflecting on their learning this half term.

  

• Year 1 Library visit

  Tue 16 Nov 2021

  On Tuesday Year 1 enjoyed a visit to Chineham Library. Whilst there, they were shown around the library; the librarians explained how to find different books and showed us all the other activities that were available at the library. Year 1 explored the library by going on a treasure hunt. They successfully found different Fiction and Non-fiction books. The Librarians read us a lovely story and the children had time to read different books too. The Year 1 team were very impressed how well mannered and respectful Year 1 were whilst in the library. 

   

   

  

• Year 3 Victorian Play in a Day

  Mon 15 Nov 2021

  Today, Year 3 had a visit from Treehouse Theatre and took part in their 'Play in a Day'. The children were split into four different groups for four different scenes. They learnt about what life was like for different Victorian children, who worked long hours in dangerous jobs, until there was educational reform with the help of people such as Lord Shaftesbury. 

   

  The children showed such enthusiasm and courage when standing on stage in front of their year group and teachers. They worked hard to listen to Ben's direction and acting tips and quickly learnt their lines before the performance. 

   

  There are definitely some budding actors in Year 3. Take a look at some of the pictures to see what the children got up to!

  

• Remembrance 2021 at GBP

  Thu 11 Nov 2021 Ms Rogers

   

  Today we held our Remembrance in our courtyard as GBP remembered but before this our children made poppies and we made our own small poppy field - we hope our school community  will notice that some of our children included words of reflection too. 

  During our gathering in the courtyard to pay our respects, I said that this special day, the 11^th November is where millions of people across the world stop, reflect and say thank you. I explained why people wear a poppy as a special symbol. The paper poppies we wear on Remembrance Day are meant to represent the real poppies that grew in the battlefields of the First World War. After the battle of Somme in the First World War Soldiers returned to see the trenches covered in bright red poppies. I explained that on Remembrance Day we remember people who have suffered and died in wars and conflicts all over the world as well as thank those that are serving our country and other countries now too.  

  I also mentioned people continue to suffer the consequences of fighting and terror in many parts of our world. We will remember with thanks and sorrow those whose lives, in world wars and conflicts past and present, have been given and taken away.

   

  I shared a short reading which is part of a longer poem by Robert Laurence Binyon (1869-1943)

  “They shall not grow old as we who are left grow old. Age shall not weary them nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we shall remember them.”

  Our whole school joined in and said:

  We will remember them.

   

  I explained that the First World War ended at 11 0’ clock during the morning on 11th November 1918 and this started a tradition of stopping, reflecting and staying silent at this time each year so that we can remember.

   

  We then began our silence signalled by Zac and Lorenzo playing their trumpet followed by a recording of the ‘Last Post’. Our whole school was respectful during this time and the completion of the silence was signalled by the playing of the ‘Reveille’. 

   

  Thank you boys for the part you played and thank you Miss Lyddon for lowering our special Remembrance flag during the minutes silence. 

   

  I want to share with you all that your children were amazingly respectful throughout and we feel proud that we were all joining in something really special.

   

  Our school council will be attending the Basingstoke Remembrance Parade on Sunday with Miss Khan, Mrs Franklin and Ms Rogers where our Chair and Vice Chair of the School Council will lay a wreath from all of the pupils at GBP. 

   

  

• Year 5 - Hampshire Illustrated Book Awards

  Wed 10 Nov 2021 Mrs Osborne

  Year 5 are taking part in the Hampshire Illustrated Book Awards. They will look at six different picture books, aimed at older readers, and judge them under the criteria of: picture power, picture position and picture pleasure. All six books are fantastic, so it’ll be a difficult choice for them!

   

  
   “I like the way today’s book included some of our school values and important messages. I loved the pictures too. I can’t wait to read the rest of the stories.” Ivy.

   

  “It was great being able to read books I haven’t read before.” Francesca.

   

  “I liked listening to the story today and loved the pictures because they were colourful and bright.” Harley.

   

  “I loved how bright and bold the pictures were in today’s book. I wonder if the rest will be like that?” Amelia.

  

• Year 2 Great Fire of London workshop

  Mon 08 Nov 2021

  On Friday Year 2 were lucky enough to be visited by Ben from Treehouse Theatre. We went back in time and learnt all about the Great Fire of London. To begin the session, Ben re-enacted the events of Sunday 2nd September 1666. The children were very excited by this and it was interesting to hear the various things that happened when the fire broke out. We then took part in a workshop where we had to pretend to be someone who was alive during the Great Fire. The children chose jobs that they would have had during those times. They had to think carefully about what items they might save from the fire and how they would feel about all those that they had left behind. They then acted out trying to put out the fire, and realised what a tricky job this would have been in 1666. To end the workshop they had to discuss as a team how they could pay the ferry to take them across to the other side of the Thames. Overall the session was a great success and the children gained a great deal of knowledge from it. 

  

• Year 3 Victorian Day

  Mon 08 Nov 2021

  Wow! What an amazing Victorian Day Year 3 have had. The children really got into role as children in a Victorian school, and were surprised to see how in role their adults were too!  To begin, the children lined up in two lines – boys and girls. They had their nails inspected and paid a penny to come to school. A few children did not follow the new school rules and were sent to the Headmistress to be caned or sent to stand in the corner with the dunce’s hat.

   

  The children sang the National Anthem and recited the Lord’s Prayer before moving into learning their spellings and times tables by rote. The children were shocked by the lack of support on offer from their teachers and found the lack of group work and collaboration difficult. We then experienced some Victorian playground games such as marbles, Blind Man’s Bluff, skipping and hopscotch, as well as later taking part in exercise drills (instead of PE).

   

  Whilst the children were learning about the British Empire and the Kings and Queens of Britain, the boys were taken in small groups for gardening and the girls took part in cross stitching. This led to lots of discussion about how boys and girls were treated very differently in Victorian Britain, and whether this was fair!

   

  Well done Year 3. You can look forward to a normal day of friendly faces at school tomorrow.

  

• Year 6 Bikeability Week

  Thu 04 Nov 2021

  What a start to the new half term we’ve had! This week, Year 6 have thoroughly enjoyed taking part in a series of Road Safety proficiency sessions delivered by the Hampshire Bikeability team. We were blessed with good weather as it remained dry all week which meant that the children were able to maximise their time cycling on the road. All children were incredibly polite and respectful to the Bikeability staff and they were impressed with how well the children listened to instructions.

   

  At the beginning of the week, the children learned about some of the essential checks necessary to ensuring their bike was safe before setting off on their journey, including the ABC check – air, breaks and chain. Following on from this, the children learned how to signal, how to perform a U-turn in the road and how to safely exit a junction using the 'Look, Block, Signal' strategy amongst other road safety skills. The children were incredibly sensible and were able to follow clear instructions before practising the manoeuvres themselves. The children will bring home their road cycling proficiency certificate tomorrow and be able to explain all of the different elements that they learned this week. 

   

  Everyone demonstrated excellent perseverance and we feel really proud of how confident the children have become when cycling on the road.

   

  Here are a few quotes from the children:

  "Bikeability week was really good fun. I learnt lots about the different road signs and now feel proud that I can cycle confidently on the road.” Chloe H

  "This week has taught me how to cycle confidently on the road and I now understand how to keep myself safe on the road. It was great fun!” Blake H 

  "The instructors were really clear when helping us to learn about different road manoeuvres. They never made it boring and were really friendly." Leonardo C

   

  Take a look at our pictures to see how much fun we had during our Bikeability sessions.

   

   

  

• Y4 Ancient Greek Topic Launch Day

  Tue 02 Nov 2021

  It is time to begin a new topic in Y4 - The Ancient Greeks! The children got a taster of what is to come as we launched our topic today. 

   

  We started the morning listening to Icarus and Daedalus, the first of many Greek myths that we will explore this half term. We soon realised that myths are very much guided by the morals of the time, prone to being quite harsh and shocking and perhaps do not always have a happy ending. We then spent some time reading up on the Greeks, thinking about what we what to learn about this time in History. The children were very enthusiastic and gained some fantastic knowledge. In the afternoon, we read about the Ancient Greek Gods and Goddesses - what impressive stories they have. From this, we were inspired to refer back to the proportion skills we explored in Art last half term and have a go at drawing one of the Gods ourselves. The results were very impressive. Finally, we enjoyed a Greek inspired food tasting session. We tried figs, goats cheese and honey, pitta and oil and olives. On our upcoming Greek Day, we will be doing some Greek inspired cooking - so watch this space.

   

  A great day was had by all. We are very much looking forward to this topic in Y4 (it is Miss Grove and Miss Hanafin's favourite) and cannot wait to explore our concepts of 'aspiration', 'tradition', and 'democracy'.

  

• Year 3 William Morris printing

  Fri 22 Oct 2021

  Year 3 William Morris printing

  Year 3 have been learning about the Victorian artist, William Morris. Like William Morris, we have taken inspiration from nature to design our own relief poly blocks. We used simple patterns to ensure our repeating patterns were bold and would stand out! The finished pieces were incredible - take a look at the pictures to see how they turned out!