Red Class Mail Art

Mrs Elliott recently worked with pupils in Red Class to do some Mail Art, using mono-printing techniques to produce hearts and envelopes.

They were sent to Mail Artist Rebecca Guyver who has posted them on her blog.

Wolsey Studio Trip

This morning children from reception and Year 1 visited the Wolsey Studio to watch the Little Angel Theatre's production of The Magician's Daughter...

The rain won't stop, it's drip, drip, dropping all the time.  Isabella just wants to go out and play but there's a storm raging, and now it is time for bed. Her mother Miranda tells amazing stories of her time on an island, with her father Prospero and the comical creatures Ariel and Caliban.  So, Isabella makes a plan to stop the rain by using Prospero's magic staff … if only she could get to the island and find it…

The children took full part in the show, singing along and responding to prompts - they found Caliban's attempts to pronounce 'Isabella' particularly amusing!. A great show was completed with the opportunity for the children to meet the puppets at the end.

Chinese New Year - Kung Hei Fat Choy!

This morning we waved goodbye to the Rabbit and welcomed the Year of the Dragon! During a whole school assembly, the story behind Chinese New Year was told and then re-created in Red Class.

Chinese New Year is the most important of the Chinese holidays, and is a time of feasting, celebration, fireworks and gift-giving. It is a 15-day holiday, beginning on the first day of a new moon and ending with the full moon on the day of the Lantern Festival.

The Chinese calendar is based on the lunar year, so the date of Chinese New Year changes every year. The Chinese calendar follows a 12-year pattern with each year named after an animal. There are various stories which explain this. The simplest is that Buddha (or the Jade Emperor) invited all of the animals to join him for a New Year celebration, but only 12 animals turned up. To reward the animals that did come, Buddha named a year after each of them in the order that they arrived, starting with the Rat, followed by the Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat (or Sheep), Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig.

Another version is...

A very long time ago, the Jade Emperor, who ruled the heavens of China, sent a message to all the animals asking them to come together so that he could give each of them a year, which would make it easier for the people of China to keep track of time. The cat and the rat were good friends and decided to travel to meet the Jade Emperor together.

When it came time to leave, however, the cat was taking a nap. The rat, realising that he would have to use all his cunning to be noticed by the Jade Emperor, left his friend sleeping, and set off on his own. This is why there is no year named after the cat, and also why cats have hated rats ever since.

When the rat arrived, the Jade Emperor welcomed him and the other animals and told them that they should all take part in a swimming race. Once again, the rat realised that he would have to be very clever if he wanted to win the race. He found the largest, strongest animal, which was the ox, and pleaded with him to let him ride on its head. The ox was kind and strong, and agreed that they would swim across together. The rat travelled safely across the river on the ox’s back, but, just before they reached the other side, climbed over the ox's head, jumped onto land, and reached the finish line first. The rat had proved its cunning, and the
Jade Emperor named the first year after the rat and the second year after the ox.

Depending on the year you are born, you are believed to have the various character traits of that year's animal. Mr Pearce was born in the Year of the Ox! Can you find out what year you were born in?

Red Class Trip - 'PENGUIN'

This morning, Red Class visited the Wolsey Studio in Ipswich to see a performance of 'Penguin' by Long Nose Puppets. The show was based on the book by Polly Dunbar where a young boy (Ben) receives a penguin as a present.
Unfortunately, nothing seems to make the penguin talk - even some audience participation in singing, blowing 'raspberries' and pulling silly faces didn't help!
The children had a great time interacting with the puppets, which they got to meet at the end of the show.
There were gasps when Ben was eaten by a passing lion, followed by laughter when the penguin bit the lion on the nose and made him 'cough up' Ben.
Read Class, you were fantastic - we hope that you enjoyed the show as much as the adults!

A Trip to the Vets!

This afternoon, as part of their topic on animals, Red Class walked up to the Earl Soham Business Park to visit the vets!The children were shown around the reception area where appointments are made. Then, they looked around the preparation area and saw some x-rays and scans. They were also able to see some animals recovering following illness.
The children looked at some of the instruments used in the vets when they try to find out what is wrong with the animals brought to them.
Many thanks to Mr Cloete and his team for making us feel so welcome and giving us a tremendous experience - it really helped to bring our topic to life!

Red Class - SHARE Writing

This morning, Red Class parents joined us for an interesting morning of writing based activities. The support received from parents was fantastic with over 3/4 of parents able to join us. The children took part in phonics sessions, handwriting and letter formation sessions, building up sentences using VCOP and then applying their phonetic knowledge to write a list of ingredients required to make a gingerbread man.

We were delighted with the outcome of the morning's activities and hope that it has given our parents a greater insight into the development of writing at our school.

Red Class @ Jimmy's Farm

Red Class had a thoroughly enjoyable trip to Jimmy's Farm earlier today. They saw a wide range of birds and animals including pigs, cows, sheep, pygmy goats, guinea pigs, chickens and peacocks.
One of the highlights was a visit to the butterfly house where the children were able to see a large variety of beautiful butterflies from around the world.
For many the most memorable event was seeing the pygmy goats playing in the adventure playground and trying to snaffle their packed lunches!

Year 1 FUNdamentals

Year 1 children spent this afternoon at Debenham High School undertaking a range of physical challenges. The emphasis was on participation and enjoyment for all the children in the Debenham High School pyramid.
The sun was out, the sky was blue, and with a slight breeze present the children had a great time learning new skills and challenging themselves. Many thanks to the School Sports Partnership for organising such a lovely afternoon.

Wedding Bliss in Red Class

This afternoon, Red Class celebrated the 'wedding' of two classmates following a whirlwind romance.
The bride looked beautiful in her bespoke wedding gown as she was escorted down the aisle by her rather overwhelmed father, whilst a rather nervy groom forgot his tie and had to borrow a Mr Potato Head one from Mr Pearce.
The congregation included respected members of the community including a fireman, policeman, a viking warrior and a postman whilst Batman was in charge of security.
After the ceremony, superbly orchestrated by a very youthful Reverend, the blushing bride threw her bouquet over her shoulder which was in turn eagerly fought over by the ladies in attendance.
There then followed a splendid banquet which included a rather scrumptious wedding cake. A toast was raised to the happy couple wishing them well for the rest of their lives together. What a fantastic occasion.Back to normal on Tuesday!!!

Maths SHARE Day - Red Class

This morning our first ever 'SHARE' day was held in Red Class. We were delighted with the support received from all parents in setting this up and it was pleasing to see so many able to attend. The main focus was on subtraction with a number of activities set up both inside and out. The children were delighted to have so many adults to share their learning experiences with and we hope that this is the first of many opportunities for parents to fully take part in the classroom experience!

Teddy Bears' Picnic & Punch and Judy

Yesterday saw the last of the induction afternoons for our new Reception intake for September. The current members of Red Class had spent time organising and preparing food for the picnic. new and current children then joined one-another on the field for a fantastic feast.

Later, they were joined by Yellow Class (who have been studying puppet shows and scripts in Literacy) to watch a fantastic Punch and Judy show. The children roared with laughter, booed their loudest and screamed with glee - it was a truly fantastic afternoon.

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Red Class Visit Woodbridge

As part of their project on water, Red Class visited Woodbridge where they observed the comings and goings near the River Deben.

The children watched how the tide affected the water level. They also made some paper boats and sailed them on the boating lake. As well as this, they looked at the tide mill, made some sketches and observed a vast variety of wildlife.

The children had a great day and were absolutely super!