Sunday 30 June 2013

Handball

Mon 1st
8 50am Pre-Prep Assembly
4-5 Rehearsals
WHOLE SCHOOL PHOTOGRAPH
Tue 2nd
9-10am Years 1 and 2 Swimming Gala
Year 3 swimming cancelled
Wed 3rd
8 45 - 4 30 Year 1 trip to Conkers
Kindergarten and Transition visiting main school for the day
6pm Meeting for Parents of Transition Children at Main School
1pm Year 6 Handball at Sherwood Academy
Thu 4th
Fri 5th
County Final for Gedling Schools High 5 Netball League
9.30-2.30 Pre-Prep visit to Brackenhurst


Year 6 are having a handball session this week at Sherwood Academy.  This will be the first time they have played handball.  Watch the video below to understand the rules of the game.



Jokes of the week

What do you call a man who forgets to put his underpants on ?
Nicholas !
What do you call a man with a tree growing out of his head ?
Ed-Wood !
What do you call a woman with a sheep on her head ?
Baa-Baa-Ra !
What do you call a man who wears tissue paper trousers ?
 Russell !
What do you call a nun with a washing machine on her head ?
Sister Matic !

Why did the man with a pony tail go to see his doctor ?
He was a little hoarse !

Quiz of the week

Who are the current handball olympic champions for men and women?


Sunday 23 June 2013

Sports Week

Mon 24th
SPORTS WEEK
Sports Day
8 50am Year 5 assembly
NO REHEARSAL
Tue 25th
10 15-2 30 Year 3 Tudor Trip
Year One Scottish Day
12.30pm Gedling High 5 Final - Carlton Academy
Wed 26th
ISA U11 Rounders
U11 Boys Cricket Tournament - Old Vicarage
Thu 27th
2pm Kindergarten Sports Day
9.15am Assembly with NED show for 45mins
Fri 28th
1.30pm SportForYou North Event
9-11am Years 3 4 5 & 6 Swimming Gala - Southwell Leisure Centre


The NED Show, produced by All for KIDZ®, is an elementary school assembly program promoting positive attitudes, better behavior & academic achievement in school. Our character education assembly is based on the acronym NED - Never give up, Encourage others, Do your best. This year, we'll perform for 6,000 schools worldwide. We can bring the assembly to you at no cost!

 
 
 
Quiz of the week
How many Scottish Islands are they?

Jokes of the week
What is twenty metres long, ugly, and sings 'Scotland The Brave'?
The Loch Ness Songster.
What followed the Loch Ness Monster?
A whopping big tail.
What did the Loch Ness Monster say to his friend?
Long time no sea.
What do you call a Scottish sea monster who hangs people?
The Loch Noose Monster.
What do you get if you cross a fashion designer with a sea monster?
The Loch Dress Monster.

Thursday 20 June 2013

Cranedale 2013 Day 4



Cranedale 2013 Day 4
Because of the tides at Flamborough, breakfast was earlier this morning. A 7.45am saw a few bleary eyes but the children still managed to get through a mountain of food.  Extra toast, croissant and cereal were eaten by most of the children.  Lewis ate a croissant with so much jam it was in danger of toppling off the table.
Today we headed to the beach.  The weather forecast was O.K with the chance of rain in the afternoon.  However, Anushka teased the rain gods by wearing a t-shirt which had the slogan “It’s the weather for ducks”. 
Flamborough Head is a site of geographical significance.  It has examples of arches, stacks, stumps, caves and a wave cut platform.  These have been formed by a variety of different methods of coastal erosion.  It also contains rock pools.  Hiding inside the rock pools are a variety of crabs which the children are desperate to catch.  Lois proved to be a bit of a wimp as far as crabs go.  She managed to hold the dead edible crab we found but drew the line at a live one.  Victoria was the “crab whisperer” of the group and provided many different examples for the group to observe. 
After an enjoyable couple of hours on the beach, the tide finally won the battle and we retreated, like King Canute, back to the car park.  It was time for lunch.  Sadly, Tatziana couldn’t be persuaded that there was jam in either French fries or gingerbread so it was basic rations for Mr Britten today L
After lunch, we had a walk down the cliff edge to search for a dinosaur.  Due to a quirk of nature, part of the coast takes the form of a dinosaur.  He has been named “Flamboroughsaurus”.  The children completed a field sketch of the dinosaur and we had the pleasure of over-hearing a member of the public comment on the children’s impeccable behaviour.


The children were then taken to Bempton Cliffs.  This is a RSPB protected area which is home to thousands of nesting seabirds.  The top of the class, as far a seabirds go, is the puffin.  Lois was quick to spot a pair of nesting puffins.  This upset some of the “old-school” twitchers who had spent hours looking for puffins with little success.  All children had a pair of binoculars to observe the movements of the birds and spent a good hour completely engrossed in the comings and goings.  After all that bird watching, refreshment was required.  Fortunately, the RSPB shop had a large selection of ice creams and their foresight was rewarded with 18 eager customers.  Pip demonstrated a unique method of eating an ice cream and Jessie started a debate about the “5 second rule” in regards to ice cream.
Evening meal was tomato soup, roast pork, roast potatoes, carrots, peas, apple sauce, gravy, chocolate sponge and thick cream.
The evening’s entertainment was “owl pellets”.  This basically involves digging around in owl poop discovering the teeth and bones of a variety of different prey.  Alannah and Pip have a future career in dentistry.  They were able to locate a mouse’s skull, find the jaw and extract some teeth.  There was, however, disappointment when they were told that the tooth fairy doesn’t care much for mice teeth.
Tomorrow is the last day of the holiday.  The children will be taking part in the survival game.  It’s a bit like “The Hunger Games” and is great fun. 

Wednesday 19 June 2013

Cranedale 2013 Day 3



Cranedale 2013 Day 3
Breakfast was a hearty meal of bacon, sausage, toast, beans, egg, hash browns and cereal.  With all that inside us we were off to the Yorkshire Moors.
Famous for its heather and grouse, the moors are a 45 minute drive from the centre along some winding roads.  We were fortunate not to see any of the breakfast again especially from Pip and Tatziana who had seconds.
On arrival, George was unimpressed – “This can’t be it, it’s in the middle of nowhere!”  The others were far more enthusiastic and couldn’t wait to go and meet the local sheep. 
The first part of the day involved walking down a dry stream bed in search of water.  Many notable events happened on the way down.
Victoria discovered an ancient use for moss – toilet paper.
A dead mole was found.  Mr Britten reminisced about an old pair of moleskin trousers he had once owned.  “How many moles did you kill to make them?” enquired Jessie P.
A snake was spotted by Lois basking on a rock.  It was an adder and was quite photogenic.
Amelia found a variety of different ways of getting down – walking, running, crawling and sliding down on your bottom.  All methods were captured by Alannah’s camera.
The children learned a new term – “The wild wee”
Rohan discovered something else he was allergic to – carrying kit bags.
When we reached the bottom of the valley it was time for lunch.  A variety of sandwiches, cake and hula hoops.  Tatziana found what she thought was jam in her cake and Mr Britten gladly accepted his second slice of cherry cake!  The children took turns, after lunch, experiencing the delights of a “Wild Wee” but drew the line at using the moss.
The children then carried out a river study.  They measured the temperature, water depth and speed.  The speed of the river is worked out using a tape measure, stop watch, calculator and dog biscuit.  “Don’t worry about the dog biscuit – it’s biodegradable!”  A sample of the wildlife in the stream was collected and classified using tree diagrams and pictures.  Screams of delight could be heard when Lewis and Katie discovered some mating water shrimps.  Bernie, our tutor, quietened the hysteria – “He’s just protecting her from the current!”  Interestingly, after being discovered by 16 screaming children the shrimps went their separate ways!
The walk back to the minibus was steep and challenging.  Several rests were taken on the way to look at an old burial site and the remains of an ancient settlement.  Before setting off back we had a game of foxes and grouses.  A lot of the learning at Cranedale uses games to help children learn key concepts in a fun way.  This game involves three foxes (Cameron, Katie and Lewis) hunting down twelve grouse.  The grouse made it difficult by hiding behind the heather.  Pink hoodies were not the best attire and Jessie P, Amelia and Victoria were easy prey for the foxes.  Everyone had a turn being a fox until it was time to go back to the centre.  There are an awful lot of sun tanned faces after a brilliant day when temperatures hit 26 degrees.
Evening meal was vegetable soup, ham and tomato quiche, chips, salad, jam sponge and custard.  Victoria commented that Mr Britten was right – “The food is excellent”


Tuesday 18 June 2013

Cranedale 2013 Day 2



Cranedale 2013 Day 2
Breakfast was at 8.15am and the children were all up and ready for the “Full Monty” of bacon, sausage, hash browns, beans and egg.  For those still hungry, there was also a selection of cereals, toast, fruit and juice.
The morning was spent in glorious sunshine at Ruth’s farm.  Ruth is a local farmer who has a mixed farm.  Rapeseed, wheat and barley are grown on the arable land.  English long horned cattle are raised on the other fields at the farm.  The children were given a very honest lesson in cattle rearing.  Victoria learned that cows raised for meat were not named but others were given names according to the year that they were born.  All last year’s cows had names beginning with R.  This year S.  We met Ruby, Rose and Rhubarb in one field and Sky, Silk and Strawberry in another.  Miss V’s favourite was cow number 47329 who was on his way to Marks and Spencer for their speciality meat market.  It was a very informative morning and I’m sure we have all learned a bit more about where our food comes from now.
Lunch was eaten at the farm.  The sandwiches ordered the day before were swiftly eaten by most although Tatziana was disappointed to find jam in her donut.  Mr Britten was less disappointed and gladly accepted Tatziana’s jam filled delight.  Let’s hope that someone finds something to dislike about their Hula Hoops tomorrow.
As part of a government scheme, part of Ruth’s farm is left fallow to allow the land to recover.  Other parts are used to create environment friendly strips of land that encourage insects and keep birds from the precious cash crops.  The children spent time in these areas collecting a variety of different invertebrates.  Sarah was disgusted by the pooters.  They are a method of insect collection that involves sucking the poor little blighters up through a straw.  Another method involved sweeping the ground with a large net and depositing the insects in a tray to observe and classify.  The favourite method of the day was worm charming.  Using a metal rod and a variety of different dance moves, the children attempted to encourage the worms to the surface.  Cameron tried “The Stomp”, Pip tried “Gangnam Style” and Lois had some “Moves like Jagger”.  Unfortunately, the worms were not easily enticed and in the end Jessie P tried to “Kebab” them using the metal rod.
Evening meal was leek soup, pasta bake, salad, garlic bread, fruit salad, cream, cheese, biscuits and grapes.
After all that, the children played games around the centre including a photograph hunt, a mini beast shopping list and a running game which involved performing a variety of actions pretending to be mini-beasts.  Katie’s woodlouse was imaginative, Anushka’s dragonfly creative and Jessica’s slug was a sight to behold. 
Things we found out today:
1.        There is nothing more content than a bull in a field of twenty heifers.
2.       Worms are not fans of modern music.
3.       Not all cows have names.
4.       Buying Rapeseed oil is a very good way of supporting British farming.
Tomorrow we are going up onto the North Yorkshire Moors for the day.  Fingers crossed for good weather as there is little opportunity for shelter.

Monday 17 June 2013

Cranedale 2013 Day 1



Cranedale 2013 Day One
The children arrived at school bright and early and ready for action.  Unfortunately, it began to rain and the children had to move their cases into the dry green portacabin.  Hopefully this will be the only rain we see all week. 
The coach arrived at 9.00am and we happily loaded our cases into the back.  We then experienced the first problem of the week.  The children had obviously packed too much and the cases wouldn’t fit!  Space was required.  The children were moved off the back seat and the cases piled on.  Mr Britten was forced to ride shot gun with the now exhausted and rather sweaty coach driver.
After the trials of the journey to the ski holiday, the trip was relatively pain free.  Only five “Are we there yet?” were heard and no one was sick.  Hurrah!
After arriving and a quick tour of the centre, the children were given a packed lunch.  Ham, cheese, jam, chicken or plain sandwiches with crisps, cake and a variety of fruit.  The children were also introduced to the lunch time system.  This requires selecting their choice from five sandwiches and writing them on a brown paper bag.  It sounds rather strange but it works very well.  George tried, unsuccessfully, to select all five sandwich fillings to make a new mega sandwich but was only allowed one selection.
The afternoon was spent in nearby woodland.  The children were taught a variety of different skills which would enable them to successfully navigate an orienteering course.  After a few initial problems with North and South, the orienteering competition began.  The children worked in pairs and were able to give their team a name.  Rohan and George confidently named their team “the awesomeness” – they finished last, Jessica K and Alannah less confidently named their team “We’re gonna get lost” and they somehow managed to finish fourth.  Eventually, it came down to two teams.  Katie and Annabelle (EBFFs?) and Sarah and Tatziana (The frogs).  The frogs hopped their way around the course and were crowned winners.
Evening meal – Starter – Tomato soup, Main – Beef stew, chicken stew, Yorkshire pudding, carrots and sweet corn, Dessert – Plum crumble and custard, fresh fruit, cheese and biscuits.
The evening was spent in the classroom.  Each child is completing an eco-book and diary.  It’s been a long day and some children looked ready for a good night’s sleep.  We shall see…