Stroud Valley Community School

Another fun-packed, busy day of activities including swimming and water slides. They are now playing indoor bowls. The sun has come out and they should be pedal-carting a little later.

Here are our soldier puppets that we have spent the week making and using in our whole-school puppet show which was filmed today.

In art this term we have been recreating woodcut ink printing of witchcraft images. The children used a variety of tools to see what created the best impressions and printed some wonderful looking art.

In computing this term we have been learning to make our own animations on Purple Mash, as well as using the ‘stop motion’ app on the ipads. Based on a scene from Robin Hood (part of our ‘Crime & Punishment’ topic) the children planned their animation, made figures out of modelling clay, filmed them and showed them to the class.

In design technology we are learning about food hygiene and preparation and healthy lifestyles as part of our science topic. On our first day back the children prepared a healthy Mexican salad. They used a variety of cutting/chopping techniques, as well as presenting their salads so they look appetising and appealing. They also tried a honey, lime and coriander salad dressing. The children loved the salads and devoured them!

In science today we were learning about how plants can be classified – vascular and non-vascular (ask your child!). We went around the school with i-Pads photographing plants and then researched and identified them back in the classroom.

Last week we had a really informative session with PC Weedon about internet safety. We learnt about what information was safe to search online, what PEGI ratings were and what they meant and lots lots more. PC Weedon will be visiting us again later in the year.

Look what we made. Happy Christmas everyone. See you in 2022.

Mrs Golding asked Emerald Class to accompany them to Capel’s Mill to talk with Stroud Valleys Project about a play area. Emerald Class each buddied up with a child from Amethyst Class and their conversations as they walked were wonderful to hear.

The children had a great night and were exhausted so slept well. Here is an idea of what we have been doing so far today. I will add photos of other groups later today.

Today we have been learning about what South America trades with other countries. The children then turned into traders and their commodities were then subject to rises and falls depending on world events (very topical). There were some excellent conversations about what to trade/keep and why.

We had our first proper school trip in a very long time and it was great. We went to ‘We The Curious’ in Bristol to learn about the digestive system. The workshop was very hands on and the children had to be the teeth, tongue, small intestine etc. We also explored the rest of the museum – always fun and educational.

We had the BEST morning today: with the help of Jimmi from Raptor Aid (a birds of prey charity) Emerald Class dissected owl pellets. We learnt about the plight of Barn Owls and how they hunt. The children found the most incredible collection of mammal/bird bones in the pellets and had to identify them: voles, mice, shrews etc. The tiny and fascinating bone collections have been washed and the children will annotate their findings soon.

We were very fortunate to have the brilliant author Andy Seed visit school and talk to each class. Our talk was all about ‘reading for enjoyment’. He talked about his riddle books and challenged us to answer them, read some ‘Giant Dose of Gross’ animal facts’ and introduced us to the ‘alphabet conversation game’ – it’s so frustrating and addictive (get your child to explain what it’s all about).

What a busy day it has been, sorry about the blurry photos! I will post more later (hopefully less blurry). So far the children have played in the ‘fun house’ soft play centre, played pool/on games consoles, swam and been down the water slides and some have made candles, roller skated or been on the climbing wall. They had a super dinner and pudding and are now playing rounders and football while I type this. Enjoy the peace & quiet parents!

Yesterday we joined Stroud Book Festival virtually. We listened to the brilliant illustrator and author Kate Pankhurst. She has written and illustrated some books about amazing women. She then gave us a tutorial on how to draw. Here is our super work.

The children were lucky enough to watch Jon Seagrove’s ‘End of the Pier Show’ – a puppet show about a refugee mermaid, plastic pollution and much, much more. The children (& adults alike) loved the high energy, thought-provoking show.

We have been learning all about crime and punishment through the ages. Last week we learnt about the rise in robbery, highwaymen holding up the carriages of the rich. We debated about the rights and wrongs of being a highwayman, with some very convincing arguments on both sides.