Category: Discoverers Class

Friday 13th December 2019 – The Mischievous Elves and Excitable Edgar

Scott Grason-Taylor

This week has been a wonderful one. We are nearing Christmas and with our holidays fast approaching, we have been preparing for the festivities.

We have been visited by seven, rather naughty elves who continue to get up to mischief whilst we’re eating our lunch: they even wrote in Alex’s book! 

In English, we have been writing the story of Excitable Edgar – you may have seen him feature in the latest Waitrose TV advert. However, we have made some changes without our stories, and Edgar sometimes gets up to different things when he accidentally breathes fire! You can watch the advert by clicking the link below: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7QrhfTx0nw

Join us on Tuesday 17th December from 2pm for our reading afternoon. We will be gifting a chosen book to each child and can share these with you, as well as our wonderful Edgar stories. 

 

Goodbye, Mrs Vicar!

Scott Grason-Taylor

On 23rd September, the whole school gathered in St. John’s Church to say goodbye to Mrs Vicar (Reverend Veronica Carolan). Reverend Veronica begins her retirement after many years of faithful service and the school was so pleased to be able to mark this special occasion. The school shared songs, poems, readings and their heartfelt thoughts on Mrs Vicar. See the gallery for a snapshot of the service.

A reading buzz

Scott Grason-Taylor

We are working really hard to promote reading at Sleights. Over the last few days, we have undertaken the huge job of reorganising our whole school library. Every book is now banded, so that every child can choose from a huge range of texts that interest them. We are really excited by this!

The Discoverers were the first class to then create their own classroom book collection using the newly organised texts. The library was a brilliant hive of activity, as children debated titles and battled over blurbs. The children’s genuine interest was so lovely to see and created such a buzz.

We are really excited to now start enjoying the new classroom collection!

Mr Grason

 

A visit from the Islamic Diversity Centre

Scott Grason-Taylor

On Tuesday 9th April, we were really excited to be able to welcome Miriam and Amar from the Islamic Diversity Centre in Newcastle. During the day, the children enjoyed a workshop, in their classes, with Miriam and Amar to learn about the Five Pillars of Islam.

The children asked lots of really thoughtful questions and were incredibly interested and respectful of the Muslim faith. We were also pleased to be able to welcome family members to the workshops, who also shared lots of positive feedback.

Thank you to the Islamic Diversity Centre for helping our children understand and compare about faith different to our own.

Click here to see a copy of the family feedback about the workshop: Islamic Diversity Centre Workshop Evaluation (April 2019)

Chocolate Tasting

Scott Grason-Taylor

18th March 2019

As part of their Design and Technology topic Discoverers have been doing some product investigation.  This afternoon involved chocolate tasting – such a difficult afternoon!!

They investigated the difference in taste between bars with a small amount of Cocoa solids compared to others with less.

Lucas & Ruby

The 85% dark chocolate was revolting compared to the 0% of the white chocolate.

Lilac

I liked tasting all of the different chocolate although I didn’t like the dark chocolate.

Noah

I was surprised that the Milkybar did not contain any Cocoa solids, only Cocoa butter.

Rachael

I liked the 85% chocolate because it was spicy but I didn’t like the 0% Milkybar.

Joshua

I like the 85% chocolate because I don’t really like milky chocolate.

Discoverers were surprised to find out that the dark chocolate was better for them.

World Book Day

Scott Grason-Taylor

Pioneers delved into a selection of new and loved wonderful texts. This week we have been enjoying Dave’s Big Breakfast Blast Off and Dave-two books about a big fat cat and his adventures. It involves animals feeding him too many beans and the inevitable happens and Dave “blasts off” . We had great fun sharing the count down together, painting pictures of Dave and making a story map together. In the afternoon we visited our reading buddies in Discoverers Class. We brought the books and they helped with the big words. To end the day, we went into our new school library to share our last story of the day. Amelia finished the day beautifully by saying that it was the best story ever because it had a happy ending. So lovely.

Happy Reading

Swimming

Scott Grason-Taylor

15th February 2019

Discoverers enjoy going swimming every Friday morning, with Pioneers, and are nearly half way through their swimming sessions.  

The children were eager to get in the water in their first session but had to be split into groups first according to how well they would already swim.  All of the older children swam in the big pool, which took a lot of courage for some of our less confident swimmers.

Discoverers think that the pool is quite cold which helps them to swim faster to keep warm!

The children in the deep end are trying to perfect their strokes.

The children in the middle group are working on putting their heads in the water, learning a breathing technique.

The children in the shallowest part of the big pool are doing lots of activities to develop water confidence, including their ability to float in the water without moving.

Reegan

“Swimming is really fun.”

Max

“Swimming is active and fun.”

Tom

“I’d like to learn some harder strokes.”

Ruby

“I wish we could go swimming every day.”

Mia B

“I like to get dressed quickly to win the tokens.”

Scarlett F

“I don’t like getting in at the beginning because it’s cold.”

Chocolate Day! February 2019

Scott Grason-Taylor

This week began with a launch day to our new writing topic, investigating “How is chocolate made?” The whole school worked in mixed groups during the day to complete a range of activities based on making chocolate. We want our children to be able to write with real purpose and using experiences, so what better way to learn about making chocolate than by doing it!

 

Mrs Hann worked outside with the children on Monday, down in the forest. The groups worked hard to create their own mud chocolate creations, adding different textures and objects to give some added crunch to their recipes! The children hunted around the forest for interesting and unusual objects to add in. It was excellent to see all children of all ages supporting each other in this task.

 

To help our day be a success, we kindly received a donation of chocolate and materials for making our own lollies from Alex at Crofts Chocolates in Scarborough. With Mrs Roe, the children had the very exciting task of using this donation to make their own chocolate lollies. When I visited, each lolly was heaped with sweets and marshmallows, which made them look really delicious!

 

Mrs Walker and Mrs Exelby led the baking efforts on Monday. During the day, each child had the opportunity to create their own chocolate creations. Working together to carefully add the ingredients, mix them together and prepare them for baking was something that everyone enjoyed. If you were able to join us for the café in the hall during the afternoon, I am sure you will agree that they looked delicious!

 

Finally, with Miss Stubbs, the children created their own packaging for their chocolate lollies. After looking carefully at the designs of well-known chocolate brands, the children then came up with their own designs. It was fun to see how the children were using these brands to influence their own, with many adapting well-known chocolate names and designs.

 

At the end of the day, it was great to be able to invite so many families into school to see the children’s efforts from the day and read their stories in our chocolate café. The event was incredibly well attended, with it being said that the cake sale was “like a fair day!” This overwhelming support is amazing. Thank you to everyone!

 

Reading

Scott Grason-Taylor

This week, the children have been enjoying sharing their Chocolate Cake stories. Over the last couple of weeks, the whole school has been inspired by Michael Rosen’s Chocolate Cake poem and have been creating their own versions of the text. Children have also enjoyed writing for purpose and publishing their stories. 

On Thursday afternoon, the Pioneers and Discoverers had a wonderful time sharing and enjoying each other’s stories. It was a special time for everyone.