This week, children in Key Stage 2 were excited to present their PE learning in our end of term showcase event. Older children participated in a Gymnastics Show while children in Years 3 and 4 participated in a 4-on-4 Basketball Tournament. This was the second of two such showcase events this term and we were very pleased that is was again well supported and praised by parents.  We’d like to say a big thank you to Adina and all the staff at Graceway Sports Centre for the use of their amazing facilities, which have enabled the children to learn and improve so much this term!

[Read more…]

The Year 3 and 4 enjoyed their visit to the movies the other day to see the animated version of Dr Seuss’ fabulous book ‘The Lorax’. In recognition of this wonderful author, (and to assist us with our fraction work – what fraction of the hat is red?) we all made hats using the famous Dr Seuss stripy hat logo to get into the swing of things.

We all thoroughly enjoyed reading the book and watching the film.  In the next school term, we will be using the story as a foundation for lots of other activities  – from exploring the Local Environment, Pollution Issues and Conservation to writing a persuasive text.

In year 1 we have been reading and retelling the story of ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ in Spanish. Our Hungry Caterpillar speaks only Spanish, so we needed to learn how to talk about all the different foods he eats on his journey. We also had to learn how to listen carefully for the cues that told us when to deliver our lines in the story, and how to make sure our Spanish pronunciation is the best it can be. Cries of “¡aún tengo hambre!” were ringing out from Pelican Class while we prepared our story. Watch our video to see if you can work out what it means!

Four girls from Year 3 have been busy during their recess time creating a hip hop dance, which they have named ‘JKKS – The Dance’.  It was so creative, I just had to video it and share it with you all!  The girls say that they were inspired by their PE gymnastics lessons, their weekend ‘hip hop’ dance lessons and by watching some of the older children creating dance routines.  The complex dance has been choreographed and performed with no music, so don’t panic if you hear no sound coming from your computer! As they danced, the children counted out beats of 8 in their head to keep time and to move in unison. Well done ‘Funky Four’ – it’s fabulous – you should be very proud of your group effort!  We look forward to further new dances from ‘The Funky Four’ and hope to share other children’s dance videos in the near future.

Children in Flamingo Class have been learning about how real historians find out about life in the past. We wondered how is it possible to know how Romans cleaned themselves. Or whether it is actually possible to know what a Roman kitchen looked like? Does anyone really understand how and why people celebrated Roman gods?

As part of our Theme Week activities, parents were invited to join us in undertaking a real archaeological dig, so that we might discover how all this is possible. One morning, we all set about finding evidence of a previously undiscovered Roman settlement right here in Provo!
[Read more…]

The children in Years 3-6 have been excited to try their hand at another fantastic sport this half term! We were delighted to offer a course of Rugby ‘taster’ sessions when we received the offer of coaching from the Turks and Caicos Islands Rugby Football Union!

These sessions have focused on the key skills of passing, movement and game-play. Some children, who already participate in the TCIRFU’s clubs, were keen to show off their skills in the sport, while others were excited by the challenge of something new!

We will watch this space and look forward to seeing our students developing a good understanding of another exciting team sport.

[Read more…]

Friday afternoon in the ‘stocks’ at Ports of Call was very busy.  The Year 3 Dolphins had committed many a crime in their Tudor Life. Cutting purses full of money from the rich.. stealing bread from the bakers in the market place..stealing vegetables and herbs from the farmers fields…pick-pocketing a golden watch from the land owner up the lane…stealing a chicken from their neighbour… What a ghastly lot!

“But we were hungry and poor and could not get work” they howled. All their suffering however was rewarded by a delicious ice-cream treat from the nearby parlour – yummy!

A big thank you to all those parents who participated in the ‘stock experience’.  With the Turks and Caicos thought to be discovered by the Europeans during Tudor times, it was a great way to link our topic to our local environment.

[Read more…]

Have you ever fancied yourself as a spy? In order to be a proper spy you will need to know how to read and write secret messages.  In this experiment, Year 5 learned how to create them.

In the process they learned that iodine can check for the presence of starch and Vitamin C. In a bowl we mixed one tablespoon of cornstarch and a tablespoon of water.  Using this mixture, we took a toothpick and wrote a secret message on a piece of paper.   We waited for our message to dry to see the results.   It was barely visible on the paper.   Then we dipped our paper into an iodine mixture to reveal the secret message.  “Happy Birthday” appeared in dark purple.  It was no longer a secret and a nice surprise for the birthday boy in our class. This proved our theory that iodine reacts with the starch creating a dark purple message.  The white paper also turned a lighter purple, due to the small amount of starch it already contains.

In order to make the message disappear again, we would just add lemon juice.  When lemon juice is painted over top of the writing, the Vitamin C in the juice reacts with the iodine to make a new colourless compound and the writing disappears.

Year 5 have completed their first course in how to become a Spy.   Who says Science has to be boring?