Well done year 6
All your hard work!
A big well done to our year 6 children this year. They have worked incredibly hard over their time at Stanmore Primary School and they had the opportunity to show everyone how great they are by sitting their SATS this week. Their attitudes were fantastic and we were all very proud of you.
Thank you to our amazing kitchen staff, who provided year 6 with a delicious pre SATS breakfast every morning.

R2L
This week in R2L we have been working on saying good things about ourselves. We recognised that sometimes, it can be easier to say negative things about ourselves than positive things. We learnt that by celebrating each one of our unique skills and talents that not only did it make us feel happier and more confident, but our happy mood made other people feel positive too!
Maple
We have continued exploring our local environment, creating messy maps of our route to school, as well as building places we may see along our route. Maple class have also enjoyed identifying the varied wildlife within our school grounds and utilising it to make journey sticks and to support our writing.









Rowan
This week Rowan class have begun to use Oxford Reading Buddy, a brilliant way of getting more reading opportunities in our week. They have been learning alongside it the key skills of logging in, typing and persistence when technology goes wrong! Importantly, they can access this at home and continue to read their books at home and take the quizzes. This is a great way to engage your children in reading using technology.
Birch
Children in Birch Class are enjoying their athletics unit, especially when the weather is dry! This week, they have been learning to run at different speeds, accelerate and decelerate when indicated, and to be able to change direction when running at speed. Look out for them on Sports Day!
The children have been exploring how Rome was ruled. They explored the idea of Kingdoms, Republics and Empires and used this knowledge to sort statements about the benefits and challenges of each one.
Sycamore
In our PE lesson this week, we played football. First learning and practising skills like how to trap the ball and pass with some accuracy and then we enjoyed our first football match on the field in the sunshine! Let’s hope it continues.
Aspen
The children in Aspen class have been researching and presenting the risk, effects and legislation around legal and illegal drugs. They thought carefully of the role medication has in our lives, as well the importance of staying safe.
Year 6
After a busy week of SATS where the children worked incredibly hard, Year 6 used their afternoons to investigate how to build strong bridges in DT using a range of materials and triangles. They then tested their bridges to see how many marbles it would hold -one team even managed 50! The children also investigated how birds used their beaks to pick up food in Science, comparing thin, pointed beaks (tweezers) and larger rounded beaks (tongs)!









Outdoor learning and Lighthouses.
Our Lighthouse
Last week, we waved goodbye to our 'Little Lights' lighthouse. We will next see it somewhere in Southampton on the 'Light the South' trail! Congratulations to the children whose amazing sea birds were featured at the top of the lighthouse, and huge thanks to Mrs Pain for her incredible work in bringing all of your artwork together.
Be sure to follow the trail and see all the children’s hard work on display. Also keep a look out for some fun fundraising activities coming up soon.


R2L
In R2L the children learn about resilience by building Lego creations using only one colour! Not an easy task.



Maple
It has been a beautiful week of sunshine so we have taken full advantage of the outdoors to support us in our learning. We have explored the school grounds and worked as a team to create messy maps of our environment. Maple Class have also explored capacity through water play and have used the language of taller/shorter/longer than when comparing objects found in nature. We have continued to plant flowers to decorate our developing outdoor space, as well as examining plants closely when creating impressive observational drawings and leaf rubbings.











Rowan
Mysterious Microhabitats
This week in science the children have been learning about invertebrates and the microhabitats that they live in. They explored the school and discovered several microhabitats including under rocks, logs and pots and even in the cracks in tree trunks. They even tallied all the invertebrates they found. We found woodlice, worms, spiders, ants and even centipedes!




Birch
Birch Class have started a new unit of work in English, based on the book, 'Botanicum'. Today, they have been learning to use dictionaries to find the definitions of specific topic words that they will be able to use in their writing. Children in Birch Class are also delighted to have finished constructing their greenhouses as part of their DT project. They are proud to announce that they are being used and are currently housing an array of seeds including sunflowers and cucumbers.
Aspen
In Aspen we have been exploring the use of tempo in music and looking at how to create sounds in different ways. We have also been continuing our French lessons and explaining where we live.





Year 6
In PSHE the children have been exploring friendships in preparation for secondary school - well done Sam, Molly and Victoriia. Year 6 have also been working incredibly hard in their Maths and they have been using different partners to encourage the use of mathematical language.








A farewell week for chicks and lighthouses
Maple class
Maple class have been observing their chicks rapid growth and have adored being able to hold them! We have also been engaging hands-on with our Plant Parts project by enhancing our outdoor areas with the planting of seeds and the addition of flowers. Year R have certainly been entertained by becoming their teachers - the glasses seem somewhat familiar!









Rowan
The children in Rowan class have been working hard on their fractions this week, using a range of concrete resources and visual representations to support hem with their learning. They have also been germinating plants - we can’t wait to see what they manage to grow.











Birch
We are learning to play rounders in PE this half term in Birch Class. I am delighted to see so many talented batters, bowlers, backstops and fielders!
Sycamore
Sycamore Class have been working hard on decimals in maths. As a final activity in the unit, we played a game, matching tenths and hundredths written as decimals and fractions as well as a pictorial representation
Aspen
Aspen class have continued their physical activities this week with Bikeability. The children have worked really hard at their cycling skills and it has been great to see so many of them practising their skills safely on the road.





Year 6
Year 6 have been working hard on their writing this week based on the book ‘Letters from the Lighthouse’. They have also been practising their cricket skills with out Activ me 360 coaches.
What an eggcellent week!
Maple
Maple class have been very excited about the chicks we have been hatching in our classroom this week. We have acted out the hatching process to help us discuss and celebrate new life, as well as thinking carefully about how we will take care of them. Seeing new life as a sign of spring, we have also explored the school grounds to find other signs of the season. From our spring hunt, we have created leaf rubbings, created observational drawings of flowers and crafted our own chicks.









Rowan
This week Rowan class have been continuing with their PE unit, hit, catch, run. They practiced some key skills of throwing and catching, which developed into playing a game of tennis using their hand as a bat with their partner. At the end they got out the tennis rackets and in pairs, acted as a bowler and a hitter, to practice hitting the ball back using the racket and running to catch the ball after. They had a great time and were really excited to see how far the ball could go when they hit it with the tennis racket!
Birch
Birch Clas had a wonderful trip to Fishbourne Roman Palace on Tuesday, to kick off their new topic, 'Emperors and Empires'. We enjoyed a lively workshop where they became Roman children, learning how to spin, make mosaics, write in Latin and use a wax tablet. We explored the marvellous museum and mosaics, and even found a skeleton!
Sycamore
It has taken a lot of resilience and perseverance to finish our Bankura horses (highly decorated Indian-inspired clay horses). Here’s just a few tasters of what they look like!
Also, we’ve started our electricity topic in science. Sycamore Class had lots of fun thinking about how circuits are made and they experimented to find out if they could make a working circuit.
Bikeability at Stanmore Primary School
Please see the link below for a presentation for bikeability at Stanmore primary School.
A great start to the Summer Term
Stanmore 30 books
Annabelle in Yr2 has become our first Reading Champion by reading the Key Stage 1 top 10 books and earning her 10 stars by completing the activities.
Well done Annabelle.

Maple
Maple Class have returned from the Easter holidays with a spring in their step. They have grown in confidence during Phonics, being keen to share their ideas, which has been reflected in some fantastic sentence writing! Both Year R and Year 1 have been exploring various resources and structures to support them in building numbers 10-20 or writing number fact families for numbers within 20.







Rowan
The children in Rowan class have continued to explore flowers this week using the medium of clay. They had to use several important skills such as rolling the clay out, attaching two pieces of clay using cross hatching and clay slip and then scoring the clay to create a pattern. They showed their resilience throughout the process and created some wonderful designs.






Sycamore
Sycamore Class have enjoyed a very artistic week. The children have created artistic Bankura horses made out of clay and are starting to create William Morris inspired printing. Check back next week to see more progress!
Aspen
Year 5 have started their ancient Greece topic. We have been learning about the Greek myth - Midas and his golden Touch in Guided Reading and have also started our new English book called "Who let the Gods out" which required the children to describe the evil character in the form of a press release. In our Topic lessons, we are learning how the geography of Greece influenced the rise of the City States (polis).


Year 6
Year 6 started their new text this week - Letters from the Lighthouse. We looked at old papers and ration cards from WWII and discussed what it must have been like to live through times where air raid shelters and blackout curtains needed to be used. We have also been practising our Rounders skills in PE lessons.



Happy Easter - the end of a cracking good term
Eddie the Penguin
Year 3 and 4 put on a fantastic production of Eddie the Penguin Save the World this week. We are so proud of all their hard work and the way they presented themselves to their audience. We may have some future actors and singers in our school! What an excellent performance!
‘Eddie the Penguin saves the world’ demonstrated all of our BEST values and included every single child in year 3 and 4! We are so proud of them, showing commitment to learning their lines and rehearsing. Thank you to you for helping with this at home.
Maple
During our afternoons, we are being encouraged to choose activities with a focus linked to our Maths, Phonics, our story of the week, geography, or the time of year. Maple class have engaged enthusiastically with the opportunities provided, either completing activities/challenges independently or cooperatively with adults and peers. Our favourite activities have been using 3D shapes for construction, deciding what to pack if we were the Littlest Yak, making Easter decorations, and creating routes between London landmarks.
Rowan
This week Rowan class have been appreciating the beauty of flowers. They have been closely observing a variety of flowers, including those around our beautiful school grounds. Using their observational skills, they drew details of the flowers and coloured them as accurately as they could.










Year 5
Year 5 finished their Sow and Grow topic with the making making of their very own soup this week. They have tested the vegetables they wanted to use, practised their chopping skills and even designed their own logos. Well done everyone.
Musicians
Our amazing musicians performed a concert for the school this week. year 3 and 4 were able to showcase their work on the violin and the cellos and our Beyond the Beat musicians wowed everyone with their amazing performances. We are all very proud of them.
Showcasing our engaging curriculum
Maple
In Maple, we have been exploring doubling and odds and evens, using various resources to support our understanding. Year R have also created beautiful Spring themed artwork using different media, whereas Year 1 have experimented with line and shape, applying this when drawing London landmarks from memory.
Rowan
Rowan class have been using floor robots in computing. They have been creating their own algorithms and trying them out on our Bee-Bots. They then created their own maps and used their knowledge to challenge each other to move around their map using an algorithms. They really enjoyed testing out their ideas on the Bee-Bots and showed their resilience and persistence when they had to debug their programme.
Birch
Children in KS2 were treated to a fabulous concert my the MishMash trio, who came into school to perform as part of our exciting and diverse music curriculum. The trio, featuring the flute, clarinet and oboe, played a range of lively classical tunes which were well received by the appreciative audience. In the afternoon, Birch Class participated in a special workshop with Tim, Poppy and Pedro. We are so looking forward to seeing them again at Turner Sims on Monday!
Sycamore
Sycamore Class took part in a brilliant trip to the River Itchen in Winchester. They took part in a pond dipping exercise to answer the question, “How healthy is the River Itchen?” It seems the answer is very healthy as they found more than 100 creatures living on or near to the river! This was an exciting trip to add to our Stanmore Enrichment Curriculum.
Aspen
Aspen have been writing a news article about the invasion of the Bluchers, describing the events from our book called "Boy in the Tower.
Year 6
As a culmination to their learning in French, year 6 took part in a fashion show this week where the children had to introduce each other and describe, in French, what they were all wearing. The children walked the catwalk and tried really hard to pronounce each French word accurately. Thank you to Winchester College for all your support in teaching our year 6 children French.
We also started our new English unit - The Lady of Shallot - and the children started by exploring how rumours are spread and how they can be changed from person to person.
Visitors to school to enrich our curriculum
RE
The whole school took part in RE sessions held by Christchurch this week to enhance their understanding of Easter and Holy Week. The children loved the hands on learning and were really able to show their understanding through their questioning and the activities they took part in.
Maple
Maple Class is blooming with all things spring. We have started to explore books and activities around new life and had the amazing opportunity to be part of a Palm Sunday workshop. We used role play, crafting skills and our dance moves to understand the story of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem. We have also used parts of nature to create weather symbols, paying particular attention to weather that is typical for the season.
Rowan
This week Rowan class had their Listen 2 Me concert to parents. Over the past term they have been learning to play four different notes and twelve different songs off by heart. They achieved an excellent performance and impressed everyone in the audience. They showed their keys to success over the term in their resilience and persistence to learn to play to such a high standard. We are very proud of them.
Sycamore
Sycamore Class had a brilliant visit all about the River Itchen, in preparation for our trip next week. We will be going into Winchester to work out how healthy the River Itchen is. During the visit this week, we had to remember about the water cycle and apply everything we had learnt about the course of a river, from the source to the mouth. We also learned about the habitats near the river and who uses the river and why.
Aspen
This week on DT the children learnt all about different vegetables, how to cut them and even had a taste! There were some mixed opinions but everyone tried something new!