WELCOME BACK

Maple Class

Yr 1 have settled brilliantly back into school and have bene working hard on their new topic. We have looked at objects from the last 100 years and spent time ordering some funny photos of Mrs Atkins on a timeline. We also went into the woods and made our very own journey sticks.

YR had their first full day at school on Friday and they spent the day exploring the new environment. They have worked alongside the Y1 children and have managed to create a car cleaning company as well as build houses, become businessmen and made flower umbrellas. 

Rowan

Rowan class had a wonderful time collecting natural materials in different hues of green , using their creativity to turn them into sea creatures; resulting in a spotty octopus and a Merfish!

Aspen

Predicting and Painting!

What a great start to Year 5!

This week, we have been improving our ability to make accurate predictions in English and Guided Reading. Through the use of clues in both pictures and words, we were able to discuss and write our ideas on what could happen in our new texts: The Willow Pattern and The Dam. 

In art this week we have mixing primary colours to create tones, shades and tints. With this new knowledge, we will be examining how artists use these in their pictures.

R2L

This week in R2L our target has been "I can understand why there are rules!" The children have shown a fabulous understanding of why we have rules: to keep us safe; to keep others safe; to be fair; to be organised. This was actively practised when the children needed to follow the road signs whilst riding their scooters, as well as playing other games with clear rules. Children also needed to be able to understand the rules when handling Bubbles and Oreo so that the guinea pigs felt safe and calm.

R2L also welcomed Mrs Lee into the team. Mrs Lee will be working alongside Mrs Mason, Mrs Brown and Mrs Barton; the children have really helped to welcome Mrs Lee into the school community.

All of the children have been successful in their classes this week and have produced some top class work!

Well done team R2L

Our Very Busy Week

Maple

Maple class have been really enjoying embarking on their first English learning journey. We have been using the book Beegu as our inspiration and we have been writing letters in role as Beegu to special people in Beegu's life. They have crafted some amazing writing. 

Rowan

Bamboo Tamboo!

This week, Rowan class performed in a music concert to their parents. With their Bamboo Tamboo's, they played eight wonderful pieces of music. They all kept to the correct rhythm and tempo, and they also sang a well-known Bob Marley song. We all thought you were outstanding! 

Sycamore

This week, Year 4 chose their very best piece of writing over the whole year. They took their time over this to publish them very carefully and I think you’ll agree they look great! 

Year 6

The children in Year 6 have been incredibly busy this week. As well as performing in ‘Pirates of the Curry Bean’, they have also been on a school trip to Cameron’s Cottage in the New Forest and taken part in Enterprise day!

At Cameron’s Cottage the children learnt all about the flora, fauna and creatures that live in the forest from an expert naturalist from Winchester College. They enjoyed building dens and catching and identifying insects with very large nets.

Below are just some of the amazing pictures from our trip.

Pictures from Enterprise day.

Pictures from the play

Reading Festival

Reading Festival

On Monday the children enjoyed a day full of activities based on the book - ‘Leon and the place between’. We were lucky enough to welcome Juggling Jake, who taught the children a range of circus skills, including diablos and the tightrope. The children also use the grounds to make woodland circus theme structures and tried their hand at graffiti. Thank you to all the staff for their help in making this such a great day.

Rowan

To conclude our learning on life cycles, we drew and painted each stage of a Painted Lady's life cycle.  We were able to choose between oil pastels or water colours- many of us chose water colours. 

R2L

This week in R2L, our target has been "I can work as part of a team!" We have looked at the qualities necessary to be a good team player and we have enjoyed lots of team building activities, such as, building the tallest tower out of spaghetti and marshmallows as well as team games. We have even designed and made our own team R2L T shirts which we wore during the R2L Olympics! We identified that the four necessary qualities to being a good team player are: the ability to stop and think; the ability to listen; to have confidence in ourselves and each other; to always be kind and encouraging. We also enjoyed the amazing Reading festival and discovered that we have some very talented children with some awesome circus skills!

Year 5 and 6

Year 5 and 6 have been busy practising for the school play, 'Pirates of the curry bean.' Year 5 have been earning about growing and changing in PHSE. To show how much they have learnt, they worked in teams to complete a written relay race!

Celebrating Excellence

Our Excellent children

Performing arts are flourishing at Stanmore primary with our wonderful school ensemble performing on Wednesday evening , the school choir singing beautifully at Winchester Cathedral last week and the Stanmore squad overall winners in the Matilda dance concept show at the Theatre Royal on Sunday.

We are all so proud of our amazing children

Maple

Maple Class have been amazing this week and have become experts in Victorian schooling. They got into groups and created a poster and a presentation about a certain aspect of Victorian school, such as 'punishment', 'equipment', 'the school day', and 'the classroom'. They were amazing and presented their posters and information to the whole class. They spoke clearly and with confidence about their expert area. 

Birch

Birch Class have been continuing their work on 'Light and Shadows' and this week, have focused on shadows. We explored how shadows are made, how they can move and change and then went outside to explore making shadows ourselves. Luckily, the sun shone for us!

Sycamore

This week, Sycamore have been enjoying the more creative side to the curriculum. From designing computer programmes, to lino printing in the style of William Morris. This has encapsulated the breadth of the word 'creativity'. 

Year 5 and 6

Year 5 and 6 have been busy practising the end of term production. In maths we have been learning all about negative numbers and using figurative language to describe the cave where prisoner 42 has been held for over 1000 years.

In addition, the children have progressed even further in their swimming this week and their confidence and persistence whilst they have been in the water, has been recognised by their swimming coaches, with many children progressing to more advanced swimming groups this week. 

Our Amazing Choir, Marvellous Mathematicians and Fantastic Runners

Stanmore Choir

This week the children of Stanmore Choir showcased their amazing singing at Winchester Cathedral. They all looked incredible smart and we are so proud of their singing, their attitude and their resilience. Well done everyone.

Maths Wizards

Several of our children attended a Maths competition earlier in the year at Winchester College and this week we were able to celebrate their accomplishments. We are so proud of how well everyone did, and also what excellent representatives they were for the school. Well done everyone.

Results were:

Arlo - GOLD

Daniel - GOLD

Thomas - GOLD

Laura - SILVER

Toby - SILVER

Running Club

This morning a brand new club started and we were delighted to welcome so many children. If your child wants to join,we have increased the number of spaces, so please sign up on Arbor.

Rowan

Cut, Stitch and Join.

This week, we have been looking at the British significant designer: Cath Kidston.  We looked at her famous use of pattern (floral, spotted and London themed) and how her products fasten. With a paper pattern, we created a bag tag, which we joined using a variety of ways: glue, tape or staples.  We will be sewing our own bag tags next, using a range of fabrics and embellishments to personalise them. 

Birch

In Birch Class, we have been continuing with our cricket lessons and this week, have been learning the 'Long Barrier'. The children quickly mastered this skill and used it in an adapted game, focusing on stopping and throwing the ball. 

In art, we have been learning about botanical artists and taking inspiration from their work to create a detailed study of a geranium. The children concentrated so well to focus in on the tiny details of the leaves - fantastic!

Sycamore

This week in Sycamore Class, we have been completing a research project for our science unit on electricity. We were learning about lightbulbs, asking questions such as: 

Who invented the lightbulb? 

What is incandescent light? 

What is an LED? 

Year 5/6

Oak class have enjoyed French lessons with the French master from Winchester College. This week they were learning to talk about their pets with an entertaining game called ' Stealing Sentences.'

Year 5 and 6 have been inspired by ' Who let the Gods out' by Maz Evans to write crime reports. Unfortuantely, the teachers were making alien soup and added too much salt. The children had to work out how to separate the substances so they could start again making the soup!

A Paralympian comes to visit

Paralympian

Today the children at Stanmore Primary School welcommed an actual Paralympian to our school! Luke served in the RAF for 8 years as a Senior Aircraftman. In 1996 he was in a motorbike crash which left him paralysed from the chest down. Luke competed in the 2016 Invictus Games in Orlando and specialises in rowing and hand-cycling.

Catkins

This week we have been focusing on seaside habitats! We have explored rockpools and have created our own rockpool habitats for creatures such as sea urchins and starfish. We have investigated molluscs and crustaceans, finding out that their hard outer shell protects them. In maths, we have continued to consolidate skills such as subitising, counting and recognition of number whilst learning about sharing and grouping! We are proud of Catkins continuing to try their best despite the heat!

Maple

Maple class have had an amazing week. They have complemented their phonics screening check this week and all the children have done fantastically well. I am constantly proud of their achivements, progress and effort. We also had our roleplay Victorian Lesson this week which the children absolutely loved. I played the role as the mean 'Mr Hardiman', a Victorian teacher we learnt about previously, and the children had to follow Victorian classroom rules. 

We also had our athletics day today where we had a special visit from a Paralympian. 

Rowan

Rowan's Class Pets have arrived!

A special box arrived this week: four black, wriggly caterpillar's ( much to Mrs Kempsons disgust). To ensure that Year 2 have a secure understanding of how a life cycle works, we are going to be observing our new friends over the next coming weeks and note down what we see. Already, they have doubled in size, and are extreme climbers. Many of us think that they will become pupa's within in the next few weeks, and then transform into fluttering butterflies. 

Birch Class

Children in Birch Class are loving their current English unit which is inspired by the beautiful book, 'Botanicum'. They will be writing their own version of an encyclopedia entry next week, but this week, enjoyed working in the outdoor classroom to identify some of the features of an encyclopedia entry.

Sycamore

We are so proud of the children in Year 4 who have taken part in the Multiplication Tables Check. This is for all Year 4 children nationally, to check their quick times tables knowledge. We don't know the results yet, but they have worked very hard using their keys to success in order to learn and revise their times tables knowledge. Well done! 

Sycamore Class have produced some excellent pieces of writing advising someone on how to create a high quality narrative text. We have been working on using a range of fronted adverbials, as well a different sentence structures. 

Year 5 and 6

In Year 5 and 6 the children have been testing the thermal qualities of various materials to keep the teachers mug of tea warm in the morning! They have also written some detailed newspaper reports about a tragic crime in which an innocent fly became lunch for a hungry spider.

A week of Forest School fun

Our Stanmore Swimmers

Children from year 4 and 5 represented the school brilliantly this week in the pool. They not only practised twice at Kings, but then attended a swimming gala against other schools. They were a credit to themselves. A big thank you to parents who supported the children today, and for Miss Kelly and Mr Firth, who have worked incredibly hard to make sure this event could take place.

Maple Class

This week Maple class got the opportunity to go to Forest School. They absolutely loved the experience. They got to roast marshmallows over the fire and made smores. They got to go on the slackline and rope swing. They used the mud kitchen to make some delicious meals and some children created a bug hotel. Other played in the hammock and had a rest while enjoying the beautiful weather. They are already looking forward to going again! 

Rowan Class

To finish off our RE unit on Special Books, we created our own Torahs. Inside our Torahs, we wrote a rule that we need to follow at school, we even looked at how it would look if we were to write it in Hebrew.

 We looked at a real Torah, and saw images of Arks, which the name for the ornamental chamber where the special book is kept.

Birch

In maths this week, Year 3 have started a new unit on shape. Today, we have been exploring right angles and using our Pac Man style angle eaters to find examples of them in our classroom. The children were excited to find many examples of right angles as well as angles that are not right angles. I wonder how many objects you have at home that have a right angle? 

Sycamore

This week Sycamore Class have been learning about electricity and making circuits. We had explored how to make a complete circuit and then we needed to correct lots of circuits that weren’t working. 

Year 5 and 6

Year 5 and 6 have enjoyed a sunny session in Forest school: toasting marshmallows over a campfire, whittling and building dens. Continuing with our study of The spider and the fly poem, we have written letters to other insects warning them to avoid the spider's charms in case they end up at dinner!

Year 6 have been superstar writers over the last couple of weeks and we are all incredible proud of them

Stanmore's love of nature and art

Catkins

This half term Catkins have been learning about animals! We started the topic off by looking at our pets and animals who help us! We were introduced to Tom and Toby who explained the importance of guide dogs! We then explored animals and different ways we can categorise them! We have learned the terms: mammal, reptile, bird, carnivore, herbivore and omnivore! Our last focus on this topic has been habitats and the environment. Catkins have learned all about rainforests, deserts and polar habitats, how animals are suited to these places and how we take care of our environment! The children then created their very own animal and have been creating their own habitats!

Maple

Maple class began to learn about a new artist this week called James Rizzi, an American pop artist. They looked at his art and then created pieces based on his style. There were some amazing results. 

Birch

Birch Class had a wonderful time in Forest School on Thursday.  The weather was excellent which added to our enjoyment! Activities included whittling, making sun catchers, the mud kitchen, den building , the slack line , hammock and much more! Of course, no Forest School experience would be complete without a toasted marshmallow and biscuit.

Sycamore

In Sycamore class this week we have been starting our DT project on printing. It has taken lots of persistence and resilience as Lino cutting is very tricky! Here’s some photos of the link cutting, check back after half term to see the printing! 

Year 5 and 6

In year 5, the children have been caught up in a spider's web this week, as they have used their imaginations to re-create the scene and used the power of persuasion, as the spider to persuade the fly to join their webs, in line with our new text, the poem 'The Spider and the Fly.' Over the course of the week, they have explored key features of poetry and have used their critiquing skills to evaluate a varied range of poetry. 

Our engaging curriculum

Maple

Maple class went on an invertebrate hunt around the school this week. We looked in forest areas, under rocks, logs, and under leaves. We found several invertebrates including woodlice, centipedes, spiders, and snails. We decided as a class to keep woodlice as pets in our class habitat. We gathered a selection of woodlice, placed them in the habitat, and then observed them. We then devised questions we wanted to find the answer to.

Rowan

To support our final outcome: writing a diary as Paddington, we recreated an afternoon tea scene. We dressed up as the Queen or a butler and used drama to identify verbs. With the verbs, we looked at the tenses and sorted them into past and present tense. 

Rowan Class thoroughly enjoyed afternoon tea, and we even had a biscuit to eat.

Birch

We have just started our new unit in PE and are learning to play Tag Rugby. Our first lesson consisted of learning to use the 'tags' and to work as attackers or defenders to develop our moving and footwork skills. The children demonstrated some excellent skills, especially in the skill development section of the lesson, where they used speedy footwork to doge between the cones, holding a ball.

Sycamore

This week, we finished the last section of our ‘Discover Arts Award’. Vanessa came back to work with us on our final project. If we are successful, we will be able to take our work and the certificates home soon! 

Year 5 and 6

In yr5/6 the children have been busy writing their outcome pieces in English, which have been thriller narratives based on the short clip ‘Francis’ and they are full of suspense and anticipation for the reader. 

In art and design, the children have been using paper folding techniques including quilling, paper folding and decoupage, to create some very intricate artworks. 

Oak class have also been devising and conducting fair test to investigate which solids are soluble. They discovered that soluble solids appeared to disappear ( dissolve) in the water.

Our Amazing Year 6

Year 6

Our year 6 children showed all our keys to success this week as they took part in their SATS. Every single child came in for every test and we were so proud of the way they focussed and showed their very best selves. Well done Year 6.

Thank you to Mandy for our delicious breakfasts; to Mr Foard for helping us by setting up the hall every week; to the FOS for the delicious ice cream and hoodies and to all the staff and children who helped make the week as stress free as possible.

R2L

This week in R2L, we have been thinking about saying good things about ourselves. We all agreed that it is important to notice and recognise our strengths because when we say good things about ourselves it makes us, and other people, feel happy.

We have spent a great deal of time thinking about things that we can do and also the power of the word yet - the skills that we can't do yet! We have enjoyed fun activities such as trying handstands, cartwheels and clicking our fingers as well arts and crafts. On Wednesday, we decided that the power of unkind words that we say to ourselves can make us feel like rubbish! After a litter pick of the school grounds, we decided that none of us were rubbish and all had  a wide varieties of skills and talents.

ROWAN

A few months ago, we wrote letters to David Attenborough in character as Clem- the main character in a book called Clem and the Crab. We told him that we were worried about the plastic in the oceans, and how angry we are with how people are treating our planet. 

This week, David Attenborough replied, and we were extremely thrilled. Mrs Kempson was even more excited as he wrote her name! He thanked us for writing and was extremely grateful. Writing can be so powerful.

BIRCH

To continue with our work in science on plant nutrition and reproduction, Birch Class investigated the size of ivy leaves growing in the sun and the shade. The children predicted which group they thought would be larger and gave their reasons why. Next, they used rulers to measure the width of each leaf and recorded this data on a tally chart. They created bar charts to represent the data and from this, drew conclusions. Great scientific skills

SYCAMORE

We have been looking at perspective in art and have created these beautiful landscapes showing the beauty in the natural world. Having looked at a range of landscapes by different artists, we had to create our own using them as our inspiration. 

ELM

As well as completing their SATS, year 6 have started their new text - The Spider and The Fly. As a hook they made their own sider web and then used persuasive language to try and lure a fly onto their web. We were amazed at how hard spiders have to work to get their food.