This week’s newsletter for Rossall Nursery, Pre-Prep and Prep School.
Dear All,
Parents Lunch
I was delighted to attend the English Curriculum Evening alongside many of the parents on Monday. The event was designed to provide an insight into the English curriculum, classroom activities, and strategies that can be used to support your child’s language development. Our class teachers were on hand to lead the workshops, answer any questions, and offer valuable tips for fostering a love of reading and writing. Thank you to all of you who attended and went ‘back to school’ for the evening. A similar Mathematics event will take place in the summer term.
Our intrepid Year 2 explorers set off to Clitheroe Castle on Monday. They embarked on a historical adventure with plenty of hands-on experiences that helped bring history to life. Pupils explored the castle, learning about its rich heritage, whilst engaging in the interactive activities. Whilst the weather was not too kind, meaning most of the sessions were held indoors, I know that they got a great deal out of the learning beyond the confines of the classroom experience.
Congratulations to Valencia and Sophia for the part they played in The Grand Theatre Brochure Launch earlier this week. The children both took part in an incredible performance from Bugsy Malone. It is clear that the future of the Broadway Academy, as well as our School productions, will continue to go from strength to strength.
Elmer Day provided an opportunity to celebrate the vibrant world of Elmer the Patchwork Elephant. Children were encouraged to wear bright colours and patterns to commemorate Elmer’s cheerful spirit and to raise money for our very own Rossall Rose Society, as well as Brian House. There were plenty of creative activities and storytelling sessions taking place throughout the day, supporting a love for literature. The children have also been designing and decorating an Elmer sculpture, based around a theme of 180 years of Rossall; we look forward to sharing our design with you very soon!
The week culminated in a Movie Night with hot dogs, drinks, fairy lights, bean bags and a movie in the Performing Arts Studio. I know that the children have all enjoyed a memorable day, raised a substantial amount for charitable causes, whilst also embedding a love of books.
Our very own Da Vinci Academy is back tomorrow! A highlight of our academic calendar, allows Year 4 and 5 pupils from both Rossall and the surrounding area, to take part in a variety of fantastic exciting taster activities and the opportunity to explore our beautiful campus through tours from current Rossallians. Following the launch, the Academy will run on certain Saturdays across the calendar year and will involve a mixture of fun sessions spanning Astronomy, Mathematics, Design Technology, Science, and new for 2024, Lego Coding and Classics! It is not too late to sign up for this wonderful opportunity.
Have a fantastic weekend.
Mr M Turner
Headmaster of Preparatory School & Nursery
Half Term Buses
Broadway Saturday Academy Taster Sessions
Places are available at Rossall’s Broadway Academy of Performing Arts on a Saturday.
Pupils aged 7 to 18 train in dance, drama, and singing during term time, working towards showcases and productions. This summer the Academy will perform Disney’s Frozen, and lead roles are still available.
If your child wants to try it out before committing to the programme a taster for the Academy is free.
To find out more and book a taster session click here.
BBC Story Writing Competition
Congratulations to Monty, Skyla and Caitlin who have progressed to the next round of the BBC’s ‘500 Words’ story writing competition. Well done to everyone who participated.
Year 6
What did one deoxygenated blood cell say to the other?
We’re all in vain!
In science lessons, we have jumped through hoops (literally) to understand how the heart works, transformed into vampires to drink blood, and none of our efforts were in vain! We acted as blood droplets to track the journey of blood through the different chambers of the heart, to and from the lungs and around the body. To learn what blood consists of, we made blood cocktails with fruit juice (plasma), marshmallows (white blood cells), raspberries (red blood cells) and sprinkles (platelets). Rest assured no vampires were actually disturbed during our learning! In addition, we learnt about the blood vessels that carry blood around our bodies and the differences between them.
Our Geography lessons have focused on climate this week. We have used our knowledge of statistics to interpret rainfall and temperature graphs, which aided our comparisons of climate zones across North America.
We have continued enjoying our class text ‘Holes’ in English lessons. After delving into the fascinating tale of Kate Barlow for our news report, our curiosity took us on a wild ride through the annals of Wild West history. Intrigued by the outlaw’s daring exploits, we embarked on a research journey to uncover the stories of other notorious figures from the era. From Jesse James to Billy the Kid, our quest for knowledge led us down dusty trails and into the heart of lawless legends.
Maths this week has seen us revisit our learning on fractions. We have consolidated prior learning and applied this to learning new skills – like using common denominators to order a set of tricky fractions. During Elmer Day, we enjoyed using mathematical patterns to create artwork. We even introduced some simple algebra to describe patterns. Who knew that maths could be so creative?
Rossall Rotation this week saw Mrs Roberts and Mr Rund organise a trip to the RNLI station in Fleetwood. We learned about what the RNLI does, how busy they are (we can’t believe they are volunteers!) and we were blown away by tales of some of the daring rescues they have made. We are very grateful to have such an important and life-saving service so close to us.
Year 5
Our educational trip to Turton Tower has inspired the children to carry out an impressive range of Tudor tasks from poetry and paintings to making Tudor houses and portraits of Tudor royalty. This fascinating dynasty of English history is so engaging for the children, and they have loved carrying out fact finding missions on the Kings and Queens to share their amazing findings with their classmates.
Our Science unit on the properties of materials has led us to carry out practical investigations using thermometers to determine insulators and conductors, as well as begin our ‘Boat Float Challenge’ to investigate buoyancy. The vessels passed the first test of floating, but Lego was the first to sink when cargo was added. With a week to go, it looks like plastic bottles are the way forward in naval technology.
We certainly love a team challenge in Year 5, and whether it’s in Science, English Comprehension, Maths, or the weekly Condon Challenge, the enthusiasm that the class shows and support for one another is admirable. Well done for another outstanding week!
Year 4
An exciting week of learning in Year 4 this week.
In Topic, we have focused on who Boudicca was and why she led a rebellion. We learnt a lot about the Celtic Queen and explored Cassius Dio’s written extract to draw our portraits of her. Moving on, we investigated the story of the rebellion, the treatment of Boudicca and her daughters by the Romans and the confiscations of her wealth and Iceni land. We concluded by comparing and contrasting different perspectives to the final battle.
Science has taken us to the senior lab again this week to work on our final experiment with the bunsen burners. Mr Hutchinson was impressed with their knowledge of particle formation and properties of the states before moving on to looking at how and at what temperature water changes state. This was a challenging experiment to conduct as each pair read off a thermometer and recorded the time whilst trying to convert it from minutes into seconds without pausing the stopwatch! We all did amazing and thoroughly enjoyed being scientists in the senior school.
In English, we have been completing fantastic letters in the role of Tranio or Livia to their parents. We recapped using our senses to describe the earthquake and volcano eruption. We used an animated video to teleport us back to 24th August 79 AD. Watching Mount Vesuvius destroy the city of Pompeii was frightening and shocking. Having focused on what we could hear and see we also imagined what we could have felt and touched in that scenario. We finally discovered how Tranio and Livia ‘Escaped from Pompeii’, leading us to use that information to start our final piece of writing for this term.
Year 3
This week in Year 3 has been busy and fun!
In English, we finished Stone Age Boy and contemplated whether the story had been a dream or whether it had really happened.
We also continued the Iron Man and we have one exciting chapter left!
In Maths this week we have been doing a new unit on measuring length. We have been learning to convert between metres, centimetres and millimetres, and being accurate when measuring lines and objects.
For our Science this week we got down and dirty! Our next step in learning about rocks was to explore soil. We learnt about the key components that make up soil. We went digging up to create our own sediment jars. After leaving them for two days we could really see the layers in the jars showing us the different ingredients in soil.
In Topic this week we became Stone Age chefs! We learnt about what type of food people would eat in the Stone Age from hunting and gathering and used this to inspire our Stone Age menus.
We also created some Art inspired by Stonehenge! We learnt about this mysterious ancient monument and then created pictures using paint, blending colours and then collage to create a silhouette effect.
Our Rossall Rotation was also related to the Stone Age, and we created our own models of Stone Age homes using natural materials.
A super fun week, ending with our fun Elmer Day and Movie Night, yay!
Year 2
Our trip to Clitheroe Castle has definitely been the highlight of the week.
On Monday the Year 2 children were incredibly excited at the prospect of discovering more about our topic, Castles. After overcoming issues with broken down vehicles and the nasty bypass we arrived at a very wet and misty Clitheroe, but the weather did not dampen the children’s spirits.
Our tour guide Ellie was absolutely fabulous, she told us that Clitheroe Castle was a motte and bailey and that it had been standing for about 1000 years, the class then had the opportunity to build their own. The afternoon was full of learning, we found out all about defending a castle, why they were positioned up high, who introduced them to Britain and so much more!
It was a wonderful way to start our week and I am quite sure the class cannot wait for their next adventure!
Year 1
In Year 1 we are close to finishing our class book ‘The Curious Case of the Missing Mammoth’. We have continued to follow Timothy and Oscar through the museum on the hunt for Teddy, the baby mammoth. We have made missing posters, carefully thinking about our vocabulary and punctuation. We have been through the Flight Floor, learning about the timeline of flying machines. We have also been through the Land of the Dinosaurs and the Extinct and Endangered Animals exhibit. We have not only read the story, but we have found out information about the exhibits shown. We have used this information to write about endangered or extinct animals, thinking carefully about using descriptive language and joining our sentences. There have been some excellent pieces of writing this week.
In Maths we have continued with place value to 20. We have focused on using a number line to estimate and order numbers and to count forwards and backwards. We have also had lots of Maths fun during our Elmer themed Maths day.
Following our portrait session on last week’s trip, in Topic we have looked at more famous portraits, experimented with sketching pencils and drawn facial features. We also enjoyed our second visit to Rossall Farm, where we made cheerio bracelets to hang around the school to help provide food for the birds, talked about our favourite farm animals and some of us got to hold the chickens.
Reception
Festivals and celebrations across the world are a way for people to express their beliefs and values and play a significant role in children’s lives across the globe. In the early years, we can use festivals and celebrations as a way to support children in their understanding of the beliefs and values of the people around the world as well as the commonalities that are shared by all cultures and religions.Exposing and teaching our children about the various traditions and cultures from around the world through festivals and celebrations, opens them up to opportunities to experience something new and exciting and nurtures their sense of identity, developing values and beliefs. By explaining to others how they celebrate a festival or taking part in a celebration, a child’s self-confidence and self-esteem is developed, and children’s awareness of, and respect for, others’ beliefs is nurtured.Last Friday was Australia Day which is designated as Australia’s national day. It is a national public holiday across Australia. Australia Day marks the day in 1788 when Captain Arthur Phillip, with the First Fleet, arrived at Sydney Cove and raised the Union Jack, beginning the British colony.Australia Day is celebrated by Henry and his family. Henry confidently presented to the class and told us all about Australia. He showed the class the Australian flag, told us about kangaroos, koalas, the weather and that Australia is a long way away. The children even got to take a pet koala home with them. We read two stories set in Australia and looked at a beautiful bag decorated with Aboriginal art. This inspired the children to create their own paintings this week.Henry celebrated Australia Day at the weekend too, when Henry’s daddy cooked some of his favourite Aussie food and Judy Hopps helped Henry make the fairy bread; an Aussie children’s staple at parties!
If you celebrate any festivals or special traditions at home, we would love your child to share these with the class throughout the school year. This can be through photos, books or artefacts. Celebrations/festivals this month include
Candlemas (2nd), Isra and Mi’raj (6th to 7th), Lunar New Year/Chinese New Year (10th), Shrove Tuesday/Carnival/Pancake Day (13st), Ash Wednesday/Carnival (14th), Valentine’s Day (14th) and Lent (begins on 14th) so, there are lots of opportunities.
Nursery
“An adventure with young people is the best kind and Early Years we have the opportunity to go on the adventure of a lifetime”
This week in the Nursery we have focused on Expressive Arts and Design
This week The Sanderlings have been enjoying national storytelling week by looking at a variety of different stories; stories teach us about the world, they help us relax and escape and they can help develop essential literacy skills. Stories have been used to support the children in word formation when talking about different colours, characters, pictures and about the world. This helps develop the babies’ vocabulary and helps our children to use words to communicate for a range of purposes. Focusing on expressive art and design The Sanderlings have been experimenting with a range of media – tools, materials and whole body movement. The babies have explored shaving foam using cars to make tracks. Using stencils and stamps to make shapes in paint and exploring with their whole body during water play, practising emptying and pouring.
The Sandpipers have been experimenting with different materials, tools and sound through sensory exploration. The children have been using their sense of touch to talk about what objects feel like and have been learning new words such as “fluffy”, “soft”, “sticky” and their imagination to tell the teachers what they have made. The Sandpipers took a trip to our local beach and made marks in the sand to create masterpieces. The children have also been to the sensory room to look at all the different lights, colours, shapes and listen to calming. The children have been making their very own musical instruments to create sounds, the children have been learning the different concepts for fast, slow, loud and quiet sounds.
The Pre-School children have enjoyed taking part in Valentines Day activities. The children have written their name independently inside a card and then pressed the heart cutters into the paint and washing up liquid to create bubble heart prints. The children joined Miss Emsley in the Library to practise writing their names on the whiteboard and practised holding the pen effectively and using the pen to create recognisable letters. The children did amazing! Towards the end of the week the children created their own Chinese lanterns to celebrate Chinese new year and discussed the lucky colour red and that this year is the Chinese year of the Dragon.
Awards
Year 6
6R – Huxley for outstanding contributions during discussions in English, and Savannah for excellent contributions and hard work during Mathematics
6S – Nicholas for his mature approach to taking feedback on board and contributions to the classroom environment, and Sebastian for excellent problem solving in Mathematics
Year 5
The award this week go to Darcy for outstanding effort and progress in Maths and Spencer for outstanding effort and progress in creative writing.
Year 4
Our certificate winners in Year 4 go to Isla and Marcel for participation and dedication in their Maths lessons.
Year 3
Our Year 3 certificates this week go to Rupert for fabulous home learning about our Topic and to Rex for excellent effort in reading and writing.
Year 2
Well done to Yuha and Millie for outstanding enthusiasm and engagement on our class trip.
Year 1
This week’s awards are for Kennedy and Tabitha for fantastic writing in English.
Reception
This week’s certificate of achievement go to Henry and George.
Henry was very knowledgeable and confident when presenting to the class about Australia Day.
George has listened carefully to instructions and produced a fantastic piece of Aboriginal inspired art.
