St Thomas More Catholic Primary School Message from Mr Finlay Summer Newsletter 2012 Good news may not sell newspapers. But it is great to read when it is written by our children about their experiences. I do hope that you enjoy reading their reports as much as I did. We look forward to the development of this new venture which helps to support and showcase the writing talents of our children. Utopia was a book written by St Thomas More In 1516. The word utopia comes from the Greek language, it is a word used to describe an ideal community or society. We would value your views and any support you may be able to offer to ensure that Utopia, our pupil newsletter, develops to meet the interests of its readers. Forthcoming events 18 May Y1 Environmental Centre 21 May Y6 cricket 25 May Y5 Sharing Assembly 28 May Y6 cricket 30 May School Journey meeting 1 June Y4 Sharing Assembly 1 June Diamond Jubilee Party 4-11 June Half term 12 June First day after break Coming soon Thank you for your support School Cycling club Mr P Finlay Headteacher
Reception St Francis During the spring term the Reception Class hosted a Grandparents Tea Party. This was an event as part of their PSE subject People Who Help Us. The children invited their grandparents to join us in the school hall where the tea party was held. They brought in their favourite cakes, biscuits and sandwiches to share with their guests and four year 6 children helped to serve tea and coffee. The Reception children put on a performance for their visitors which finished in the traditional way a rendition of Spring Chicken. No Tea Party would be complete without it!
Year 1 St Joseph At the beginning of the school year we explored our local area as part of our geography unit. We found lots of attractive features, such as flowers, trees and wildlife but also unattractive features such as graffiti and smelly bins! A few weeks later we went to the Maritime Museum. We got to meet an actual pirate and explored the museum for treasure to put into our chests! As part of Black History Month, we were taught the basic skills of African drumming. It was very loud but fun too! In history, we were learning about toys from the past and visited the Museum of Childhood. The amount of toys there, was unbelievable! We played with a range of old toys from the 1950s and the 1970s and we went on a toy hunt. We learnt lots about toys from the past and how they are different from today. Recently, we were taught a cheerleading dance. It was exciting and we learnt some cool moves!
Year 2 St Theresa GYMNASTIC OLYMPIC FINALS - SPRING 2012 On the 22 nd March 2012, Year 2 took part in the Gymnastic Olympic Finals. There were seven Olympic Teams, Africa, England, Ireland, Italy, France, Nigeria and Greece. Each team had been practising a routine to perform prior the Finals, using the skills we had learnt in gymnastics. All the teams performed their routines on the performance platform in front of the whole class. The other teams judged the team s performance using score cards. Our routines included a starting position, a balance, travelling, a roll and finally a finishing position. The winning team were Italy, second was Africa and third was France, all teams received a certificate for taking part and the winning team got a medal. It was a really great day and we learnt lots of new skills. CULTURE DAY Year 2 enjoyed their Culture Day celebration on the 28 th March 2012. The children dressed in national costumes and brought in food, money and music from around the world. During the morning we shared our knowledge of the different cultures that we had connections with and later on we tasted the different foods from around the world. It was a really enjoyable day, especially the tasting of all the delicious food, from different countries.
Year 3 St Martin In November 2011, we went to Lullingstone Roman Villa; it was our first school trip in year three. We got there by coach. When we entered we saw a ruined ancient roman mansion, we saw lots of ancient roman artefacts and ruins. Some of us wore some rich and poor ancient roman clothes when we got upstairs. Afterwards we made some amazingly good mosaics. Then we watched a video about ancient roman people who lived in the past. We also saw what they made. On Thursday 12 th of January our class went to Hall place we got on the coach at 9:45 then when we were all on the coach and seated we were ready to go it took the coach 15 minutes to get to hall place. When we got to hall place we got put in a little classroom then we met some people called Annie and Helen, Annie told us about what we were going to do that day. Once Annie was finished talking we all went to the Tudor house. First we went into the great hall and they told us what the great hall was used for. After that we went into the Tudor paler and Annie told us about Tudor fashion she got two girls to come up and two boys to come up as well they were Shaun, Eli, Hannah, and Caitlin, the girls came up first and the boys after. They got dressed up as a Tudor. Hannah, and Eli was poor Caitlin and Shaun was rich. After we went back into the great hall and we dressed up as a Tudor I was a poor Tudor. Then we were taught a Tudor dance it was two steps to the side and back then jump and clap..
Year 4 St Bernadette St. Thomas more rock band On the 25 th of April 2012 St Thomas More Rock Band (Alexandra, Christian, Ellie, Ronnie, David, Femi, Jacob, Andrei, Madeleine, Hannah, Leonardo, Gabriella, Georgina, Leon, Michael and Gabriel) went to the Gallery at Woolwich to play a piece of music called Hippo Blues. We were led by John, Johnny and Jeff, our music teachers. Some of the way we had to walk. As we got closer our hearts went faster and faster. We all were very excited! When we got there, we were introduced to Jeff s manager Lindsey and the other people who were going to perform. We did a run through, as we were finishing I over- heard some girls whispering, they re good, if that s just the practise they will be amazing! We used the trumpets, drums, guitar and piano. We had a snack because we were nervous. Soon after, people started arrive, they had come to listen to us! When the time came to play, we were all very excited, this was our chance to show the singers from Crown Woods what we could do! When we had finished, most of the people were standing and the clapping went on for at least three minutes! After we had played, it was the turn of Crown Woods Gospel Choir. They were led by Jeff s daughter Laura, they gave a great performance, it was so touching! Finally is was time to go back to school. Some may say it was a long night but to us it was worth it. We all had a great time! By Alexandra Kuit and Christian Sarpong On Tuesday 24 th April 2012 our class, St Bernadettes, year four, went to the Environmental Centre our guide, Claire, told us about safety and rules. Not long after we went outside to learn about habitats. We walked to the chicken coup, we saw a goose, some chickens and also some baby chicks. Then we looked under some rocks and stones to find slugs and mini-beasts. After a while we fed the goats, one tried to nibble Mrs Ingram s hair! Soon enough we ran around wildly around bamboo shoots enjoying our free time. Then we went to the garden and the pond, I saw a pond skater. Not long after that we went to the playground, I fell off a log and hurt my thigh. It was very muddy and I fell into a puddle. After lunch we trudged through mucky puddles, ankle deep, and went up a hill. We captured bugs to put in a container. I used a paintbrush, a spoon and held a plastic bowl. We had to make a passport for a mini beast we had found. We used a magnifying glass to look at them closely. I did one for a millipede! At 2.20pm we said goodbye to Claire and we left! It was fun and daring with lots of mud! I learned a lot about habitats. By Karo Agbro
Year 5 St David During our time in Year 5 we have been very busy. Our class have had some amazing opportunities; taking part in sports competition, visiting museums, working with St Thomas More Secondary School, completing our cycling proficiency and much more. Can you believe we still have more to come? This includes singing for the Queen at the re-opening of the Cutty Sark and visiting the Victorian Ragged School Museum. In November we went to the Maritime Museum to learn about pirates. It was great. We met a pirate, well at least someone who was acting like a pirate. We got to see pirate artefacts that we weren t allowed to handle, We had to sit on our hands, so we were not tempted to point or touch, because they were so old. It was obvious everyone had a blast that day. In January we were pleased that we were allowed to go to St Thomas More Secondary and participate in two inspiring projects; making guitar clocks and creating music using Cubase. We enjoyed ourselves using; saws, nails and other brilliant tools as well as composing music on a computer. Our class also had the opportunity to compete in a Tag Rugby Tournament against other Greenwich Schools, this was after just 6 training sessions with Bert, a rugby coach from Charlton Rugby Club. We all worked hard and more importantly as a team. I thought it was really fun and exciting, I even scored a try in under 10 seconds, my team were close to winning the whole tournament! So as you can see our class have been busy learning outside the classroom and we still have more things planned. We are extremely excited and looking forward to singing in front of the Queen at the opening of the Cutty Sark at the end of April. We will be performing a specially composed piece of Jubilee music alongside a huge orchestra. By Year 5. Hot off the press: Singing for the Queen! On Wednesday 25 April we went to sing at the re-opening of the Cutty Sark. Everyone felt really excited. It was the opportunity of a life time and the best day ever. Even though it was raining we all sang with pride. When we got to the Cutty Sark we had to wear special bands to show that we were performers. We climbed on to the stage, everyone was ready to play. The person who was hosting said a few words and then the orchestra started playing. After a few minutes the QUEEN arrived!!!!!!!!! She was introduced by a mass of trumpets. Our big chance had arrived, it was our time to shine!!!!!!!! Finally, the orchestra started to play and I filled my lungs with air. The crowd was cheering as we sang our hearts out. Personally, I think that it was the best day anyone could have had. After the song, we listened to a few speeches and watched the Queen board the Cutty Sark. So a chance of a lifetime, indeed; and we still have some great opportunities to come. By Fergus Smith and Gabriella Davy Ampudia
Year 6 St Patrick Our first class outing in Year 6 was a very special visit to Pizza Express at the O2. We went to create and enjoy our own handmade pizzas! OUR TRIP TO PIZZA EXPRESS When we arrived, we were given a tour of the empty restaurant. The head chef, Remi, showed us the gigantic freezer which held the dough and other crucial ingredients that you need to make pizzas. We were then shown how to make a pizza, we were each given a chunk of dough which we rolled out into circles. When everyone had finished rolling their dough into passable shapes, we were given a choice of toppings. Before long everybody s pizzas were cooking. Sipping at our lemonades, that we had generously been handed, the whole class waited impatiently. We did not have to wait long though and soon we were given our cooked Pizzas; we couldn t wait to return to school to taste them. Arriving back at school, we ravenously hoovered up our pizzas, most of us not waiting to save some for our families. Overall, the experience to make and eat our own delicious pizzas was thrilling. It was one of the most enjoyable school trips of my time in St Thomas More by Meghan Kimani. Year 6's River Trip In the autumn term our class went to the Environmental Centre and the River Shuttle to learn about rivers. Our first task was to measure the speed of the current. After a demonstration it was our turn. We were ready to get soaked! Emily was my partner and we had to go into the river to time how long it took our bottle to flow between two points. I felt something bite my leg! And while I jumped out of the water Emily laughed at me. After a break for lunch, we carried on with the same experiment but in a different deeper part of the river. For our final activity we had to try and find what creatures nets and using identification keys, we worked out what we had found. lived in the river. We gathered them by It was a fun way to learn about rivers and I enjoyed the whole day, though I m still not sure what bit my leg. Do they have sharks in the river shuttle or is Emily a new species of river creature? by Lili Dempsey