The Primary Section Stories – 21/02/2025
Dear Parents and Carers,
We are pleased to announce that we have two new interns in School. Teacher Lix and Teacher Marieko. They will be working with us for two months and we are sure they will add to your child’s experience in school.
On Tuesday 18th Feb we had a visitor in school. His name is Jonny Walker and he spent the day bringing literacy to life. He worked with Classes 4 and 5 on myths and legends and helped them to act out and understand the myths about the Greek gods. The students had a great time, they really engaged with the activities and they learned a lot. With classes 1 to 3 he took the students outside to explore the nonsense poem ‘Jabberwocky’ by Lewis Carroll. This can be a very difficult poem for students to understand but Jonny turned it into an adventure and the students had a really good grasp of it by the end, (and so did the staff!) If your children want to act it out for you, remind them to do it in slow motion! Here is the famous Poem as a reminder.
Jabberwocky
’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
“Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!”
He took his vorpal sword in hand;
Long time the manxome foe he sought—
So rested he by the Tumtum tree
And stood awhile in thought.
And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!
One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.
“And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!”
He chortled in his joy.
’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
Jonny then led staff training after school. It was a great day that we all enjoyed.
Last week we did some work on safeguarding for the students. The programme is called PANTS and helps children to understand that parts of their body are private. The younger classes get to know a friendly dinosaur called ‘pantosaurus’ too.
On Friday 14th Feb we had Friendship Friday in school. The students talked about who they love, kindness and friendship. They produced a beautiful display in the entrance for everyone to see.
On the 19th Feb Class 2 took a trip to the Natural Science Museum in Brussels. This links with their IPC unit ‘Footprints in the past’. First of all they got to be palaeontologists and discover bones in the sand, then they identified all sorts of dinosaur skeletons, together with their sounds and habits. They found out about the Iguanodon skeletons found down a mine in Belgium and had a very impressive time.
On the same day class 4 had an exchange with the Jesode Hatora Beth Jacob School. The girls went to their school and the boys came here. It is always a good experience for the students to see how other people operate. Everyone learnt a lot from the exchange.
Two weeks ago Class 4 presented an excellent assembly. They shared some traditional tales not only from the standard point of view but also from the villain’s perspective. We, the audience, had to decide whether the character was innocent or guilty. This was based around the English theme of persuasive writing and the villains were trying to persuade us of their innocence. It was very entertaining and class 4 showed off their skills well. Well done Class 4 and Ms Louise !
Last week Class 3 presented a wonderful assembly for Friendship Friday and Valentine’s day all about kindness, friendship and love. They shared a play about the Lonely Star, wrote a poem about friendship and kindness at ISBe, they gave us ideas about how to spread kindness and friendship and lit tea lights to show how kindness begets kindness. They finished off with a great song that we could all join in with. Well done Class 3 and Ms Jenny.
Today we had an assembly from Class 2 . It was all about being palaeontologists and the work they have been learning in their IPC unit ‘Footprints in the past’. They had been practising very hard with Ms Irina and it really paid off. They remembered all of their lines and knew so much about dinosaurs and the various eras such a long time ago. They pronounced all the very long words perfectly. It was very impressive. They rounded it off with a song and they sang so well. It was Ms Irina’s first solo assembly so well done to Ms Irina as well.
Today Class 4 had an unforgettable and fun day out on their school trip to the Art and History Museum in Brussels. They started the adventure with an exciting guided tour focussed on Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, where they saw a fascinating miniature model of Rome along with the impressive pillars and columns of Greece. They also had the chance to view mummies from Egypt, bringing history to life with fantastic stories. After soaking in all that history, the class enjoyed a relaxing lunch in a nearby park, making the most of the sunny weather. To finish off the day Class 4 took part in a thrilling scavenger hunt all about the ancient Egyptians, building on their previous learning in class 3. It was a day filled with learning, laughter and sunshine.
I wish you a wonderful weekend and a great week ahead.
Sharon Short
Head of Primary
Safeguarding Lead.