In their French learning, the children in Year 4 have been thinking about how to order food as well as handling different amounts of money so, to put this into practise, they opened their very own bakery! As their summer topic is ‘Perfect Planet’, the children decided that half of the profits should be used to support them in school, whereas the other half would be sent to the Ocean Conservation Trust – a charity which they voted for themselves. Well done to all the children who volunteered at the bakery and a massive thank you to everyone who popped along, spoke French and enjoyed a croissant! We raised a fantastic £62!

Year 2 have been ‘full steam ahead’ in their history lessons this half term, learning all about the Titanic. The children are exploring whether the Titanic was a triumph or a tragedy and exploring various sources of information to help them form their conclusions. To support them in their knowledge and understanding, and to enable them to begin to make decisions, we visited the Sea City museum in Southampton yesterday. The children were such fantastic ambassadors for the school; they were so engaged in all the learning experiences that were on offer and behaved beautifully whilst sharing the spaces with another school, and members of the public! Throughout the day, children had a guided tour of the museum and learnt more about the impact of the Titanic on the people of Southampton. They took part in a workshop involving four different activities, one of the favourites being a science investigation into how the watertight compartments flooded. The museum staff were so impressed with the children’s knowledge of the Titanic and praised their sensible and thoughtful questions. Thank you to all the parents who were able to support on this trip, and a huge well done to the children! What a brilliant day we all had!

As a hook to their new geography topic and to enrich their science learning about animals in our local habitat, our Year 5 pupils enjoyed a workshop run by the Wessex Rivers Trust. They learned about some technical vocabulary used to identify and describe different parts of a river and created a huge river model and found out some very interesting facts. Did you know that England has 80% of all the world's chalk streams!

 

We also found out more about the River Itchen, which is one of these precious chalk streams, and about some of the incredible living things that live in our local river. 

It was fantastic to hear the school hall filled with the beautiful sounds of voices and instruments for our summer music concert this term.  There were performances from our school orchestra, choir and a number of solo and duet performances by pupils across Years 5 and 6.  I am sure those attending would agree that there were some incredibly talented and accomplished performances.  Thank you to all of the pupils who performed with such maturity and style reflecting hours of hard work and practise and to the parents and teachers who support and encourage them.

As pupils of a Church of England school, Year 6 are always invited to a special day at Winchester Cathedral last week. This year they explored the theme of Ubuntu, translated as ‘I am because we are’ exploring the concept of humanity. Across the morning children took part in a series of workshops including a calligraphy activity and a tour of the Cathedral. After enjoying a sunny picnic the children attended a service reflecting on their experiences at primary school and the opportunities that lie ahead as they move to their new secondary schools.

 

Well done to all of the children who attended this special day, their involvement in the workshops and service really demonstrated their positive attitudes to learning and support for each other. We will report on a number of other special occasions for our Year 6 pupils over the coming weeks as their time at St Bede comes to an end.

 

The St Bede school choir were invited to sing at an event for the Bishop of Winchester and attended by Chairs of Governors and Head teachers from Church Schools across the Winchester Diocese.  The children sang beautifully and were excellent ambassadors for the school. There were many appreciative comments and compliments from those attending the event. 

 

Thank you to our wonderful choir for your performance and to Miss Scotland, Mrs Lee who lead the choir with such passion and dedication!  Another special thank you is for Miss Alborough for coming and supporting us at the event!

Following their ‘Perfect Planet' topic, Year 4 have been reading the book ‘Red Alert!’ which was a previous winner of the Hampshire Book Awards. The book details some of the world’s most endangered animals and the threats that they face. To raise awareness, the children created some powerful campaign posters made from recycled materials including old travel brochures which were generously donated by travel agents in the local community. A big thank you to Travelbag, Trailfinders and Kuoni. Nothing went to waste as, with the left overs, the children worked in the style of Megan Coyle (a collage artist) to create some amazing animal portraits. In English, they will now write detailed reports to inform others about the dangers facing some of Earth’s most vulnerable creatures!