This week’s WOTWC (Word of the Week Challenge!) is…excruciating. This is an adjective that means extremely painful. For example: I broke my toe and the pain was excruciating! Can you use this word in another sentence? Leave a comment below.
In assembly we discussed top tips for keeping cool in this hot, sunny weather. The children had some great ideas including:
Drink plenty of water.
Take breaks in the shade.
Put suncream on in the morning.
Don’t wear jumpers or coats but do wear a sunhat.
Can you leave a comment with any more top tips below. ..?
No new word of the week this week as I didn’t blog about the last one! So, you have an extra week to use illusion in conversation and your writing. Can you leave a comment below with an example sentence?
An illusion (noun) is something that is not what it seems to be. Illusions happen when a person’s eyes, ears, or sense of touch are deceived, or tricked, in some way.
For example: Mr Poyton’s wizard hat created the illusion that he was much taller than he really was!
In our assemblies today we talked about how we can face our fears by showing our school value of passion. If we are having fun, we forget our worries! Of course, we also have trusted adults around us to help us and keep us safe. At Grangewaters, children in Year 5 & 6 felt confident and brave enough to do daring things like climbing because they had expert adults helping them and because they were so busy enjoying themselves!
When we feel worried about making mistakes in our learning we can remember there is always help close by. But if you enjoy your learning, it gives you the confidence to take risks and overcome a challenge.
In Key Stage 2 ‘s assembly we also watched a video about an amazing 95 year old man who parachuted into battle on D Day in World War II, 75 years ago. This week he is going to parachute on to that beach in France again! This time he won’t be scared. He will enjoy it as it is important to him that we honour the memory of his friends who sadly died in battle.
What fear will you face this week or this term? How will you overcome your worries and succeed? What can you do to help others?
What a week! It was a short half term but everyone has earned a rest!
Our rounders team (see photo above) made us very proud in a local tournament. They are are through to the Chelmsford finals and if they win again they could enter the County stage of the tournament!
Year 5&6 children returned from our residential trip, tired but buzzing from a week of adventure. See some photos here.
Children have been publishing their best writing for display and wow, it is impressive stuff. Read this extract, from David in Year 2…In a sandy, blustery desert grows a weird and scary plant. It is gloomy and slimy. It was so terrible and frightening. How does it grow? What shiny spikes it has! Suddenly a powerful, purple bird popped out of the plant and it was bright and beautiful. Unexpectedly, the creature flapped its wings so fast that made a sandstorm…
Children have been working very hard to improve in all areas of learning and prove to themselves what they can achieve when they put their mind to it.. Check out this handwriting from Mason in Year 3 and compare it to his efforts from just a month before.
Back to it in June! Let’s see how much learning and achievement we can squeeze into the final weeks of the school year!
This week’s word is an adjective that means being careful and watching for possible danger or difficulties.
vigilant
For example: The lifeguard at the swimming pool had to be very vigilant as they watched the swimmers.
Well done to Year 6 for the teamwork, positivity and resilience they showed during ‘SATS week’. These assessment activities are an opportunity for children to show what they have learnt and if they have just tried their very best, give themselves the confidence to start secondary school in September. They did themselves, their families and the school extremely proud.
Year 6’s perseverance inspired me to share the following poem in assembly. Thanks to the Year 6 girls who read it out…
Don’t Quit -by Edgar Albert Guest
When things go wrong, as they sometimes will, when the road you’re trudging seems all uphill, when the funds are low and the debts are high, and you want to smile but you have to sigh, when care is pressing you down a bit – rest if you must, but don’t you quit.
Life is strange with its twists and turns. As everyone of us sometimes learns. And many a fellow turns about when he might have won had he stuck it out. Don’t give up though the pace seems slow – you may succeed with another blow.
Often the struggler has given up when he might have captured the victor’s cup; and he learned too late when the night came down, how close he was to the golden crown.
Success is failure turned inside out – the silver tint of the clouds of doubt, and when you never can tell how close you are, it may be near when it seems afar; so stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit – it’s when things seem worst, you must not quit.
This is an adjective that mean feeling or expressing great happiness and triumph. For example… Many jubilant pupils shouted with joy when the house team winner was announced.
Can you use jubilantcorrectly in a sentence this week, perhaps in a comment below…?
Of course, we can’t feel jubilant all the time. In today’s KS2 assembly we talked about ‘mental health’. It’s very normal to feel worried, sad or angry. Life can be challenging and we need resilience. Dealing with negative emotions like fear or anger doesn’t necessarily mean we have a problem with our mental health. Our feelings are what make us human! But is is important to talk through our emotions with a trusted adult so we can understand our thoughts and feelings and they don’t stay in our head for too long or make it difficult for us to live our lives. Asking for help and talking helps us have good mental health, as will exercise, sleep, a good diet and even having fun!
We watched the 3rd and 4th videos on this Newsround webpage in case you want to watch again with family and discuss at home: https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/44074706
In our Tuesday assemblies this week we heard Mr Pearson’s motivation for running the London Marathon this weekend. He isn’t running all that way for a medal or to get on TV and whilst it is great to raise money for charity, that’s not that main reason for taking on such a big challenge either. Mr P has put in the training because he ENJOYS running and achieving something special after hard work will make him feel proud.
I asked children what they are working hard on right now and what will motivate them to keep going during this final term of the year. Here are some of the children’s answers…no one said it was just for Dojo points or a treat…
“I’m working hard on my 4x tables because I want to move on to my 6s”.
“I’m working hard on my reading because I want to enjoy more books”.
“I’m working hard on my writing because I want to be better at it”.
“I’m working hard on catching a ball because exercise is important”.
“I’m working hard towards my SATs because I want to do the best I can and then do well in high school”.
“I’m working hard on fractions because I’ve learnt a lot and want to learn more”.
Here is the poem video we watched. Ungirt means loose and free. The poet talks about running for the pure LOVE of it. He couldn’t live without it and he doesn’t need a prize.
The message of this poem could relate to any passion that requires hard work. There is no greater prize that the pride you feel when you challenge yourself.
Leave a comment below explaining your goals and motivations.
This week’s new word of the week, suggested by a teacher and chosen by the children is…
incandescent
This word is an adjective that can describe an object that is glowing with light because it is hot, like a light bulb. But it can also describe a person who is so full of happy emotions, it’s almost like they are glowing!
So, for example…
The incandescent lava flowed down the volcano.
or
The pupil was incandescent with pride when he showed his writing to Mr Poyton and they compared it to work from September.
That last one is a true story! See below. What amazing progress!
