Eisteddfod 2018 – a celebration of culture and the arts!

Yesterday the whole school enjoyed a joyful celebration of culture and the arts, the annual Eisteddfod. A traditional Welsh talent contest, Eisteddfod has been embraced by Charles Dickens Primary School as a showcase for the many talents of the children and a celebration of diversity, achievement, and simply taking part. Competitions were held throughout the day including poetry, dance, singing, musical performances and so much more. Every child in the school came away entertained, and whilst not every child could win, those that took part left feeling proud of their achievements. It was truly a special day and a big thank you must go to all the staff involved, but an even bigger thank you to children who made it so wonderful!

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Making French friends, enjoying the sea and some French freedom!

Yet another lovely, action-packed day in sunny Hardelot! We started our day in the Le Touquet market where the children purchased a dazzling array of trinkets (and perhaps a few French sweets…).

We then came back to the centre for a delicious picnic lunch in the sun before heading to meet our penpals at the Condette school. There were wonderful cross-cultural conversations, lovely songs and some very fun games.

Next stop: the beach! We were able to enjoy the glorious sunshine with some paddling, sandcastles and beach games. The children loved being by the sea and freezing their toes in the water.

We returned home sun-kissed and happy for another delicious three-course meal and some play in the woods. The children are now sound asleep after another brilliant day. They can’t wait to tell their families about their adventures tomorrow.

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Ocean Literacy – Learning about our Commonwealth Oceans on RV Endeavour – free teaching resources available!

 

This week, pupils from year 6 have taught by the scientists and crew of RV Endeavor and they learnt an unbelievable amount about oceans and the life within them.

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As part of Commonwealth Week, we were invited on board RV Endeavor, the ocean-going fisheries research vessel which is operated by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas).

They learnt just that as human populations increase and the negative effects on the marine environment also increase, never has there been a more crucial time for society to understand the science of our oceans. This knowledge and understanding of our ocean can be termed ’ocean literacy’.

In just two days, they learnt how the ocean and life in the ocean shape the features of Earth and the weather experienced. Pupils also learnt about the diversity of life within the oceans including the Carribean Spiny Lobster ( our favourite).

Most importantly, we learnt that oceans and humans are inextricably linked and there is so much more we can do to protect these amazing and enormous parts of our world!

There are fantastic new teaching resources available for all schools on the TES here

Thank you to everyone at CEFAS for such a brilliant experience.

 

Corn dollies, bread making and French conversation – the first day for Year 5s in France.

What a fun and a sunny first day we’ve had in France! After a heroically early start, we plunged beneath the Channel with great excitement. Before we knew it, we were in belle France.

Our first stop was a wheat farm where we made delicious bread and learnt to weave corn in the traditional way. We had a fabulous crepe lunch (savoury for the main and sweet for dessert!) and enjoyed the fabulous sunshine.

After that, we settled into the Hardelot Centre. This involved the children making their own beds – quite a feat for some! This was followed by a wonderful three-course dinner before playtime in the woods.

The children are now listening to a riveting Mr Huxley story time and will be heading to bed shortly.

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Friendship Week – Big friend, little friend!

Today, as part of our annual Friendship Week every child in the school partnered up with an older/younger child to take part in ‘big friend, little friend’. Children from Year 6 partnered up with Year 2, Year 5 visited Year 1, Year 4 partnered with Nursery children, and Year 3 went to Reception.

The children worked on a range of activities from writing stories about friendship to reading together, making friendship bracelets to playing board games. The children found the experience engaging, educational and socially enriching.

Teachers throughout the school have also been celebrating friendship week by leaving gifts, cards and generally being extra-supportive of their ‘secret friends’, drawn from a ballot. The message, for both adults and children, is that we can and should always try to do more to make the world a friendlier place.

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Penguin Pete – Year 1 and 2 Winter Show

Well done to all the children and adults in Year 1 and 2 for such a super winter show. In a short space of time, children learnt words, dances and songs to bring to life the heartwarming story of a penguin on a journey o meet Santa Claus.

The audience were greatly impressed with the enthusiastic singing, great comic timing and terrific team work. The children exuded joy and impressive levels of confidence and poise.

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Contemporary Dance – Years 5 and 6

 

Children have benefited from weekly dance lessons with contemporary dancer and Rambert educator Delene Gordon. This term’s theme was water linked to learning about the Water Cycle and The River Thames.

The audience were hugely impressed with the level of physical strength and control, the confidence and freedom with which both girls and boys moved and the lyrical musicality. Thank you to our superb dance teachers and well done Year 5 and 6 on another terrific year of dance!

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Angel Express! Our Early Years Winter Show

Well done to all the boys and girls and adults in Little Dorrit and Gargery – last we all enjoyed your confident singing, dancing and clear speaking. Lots of children overcame their nerves and stood proudly in front of a very large audience! Thank you to all the parents who came to watch and who provided such beautiful costumes.

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Fezziwig Class Assembly!

Congratulations to everyone in Fezziwig Class for performing a stunning historical class assembly today. The theme was Sir Francis Drake and his circumnavigation of the globe. A big thank you to the parents for the fantastic costumes and well done to the children for learning their lines so quickly. Also a massive thank you to Miss Alcock for her hard work and wonderful script!

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Tuesday – baking, birding, nursing and herding

The sun has gone down on Tuesday and every day is different on the farm. Today we went birding – with big binoculars and high expectations. We observed from the hide, peering through cameras and saw lots of different birds – more exciting than some of the magpies and feral pigeons we get in central London. We felt inspired to try and encourage a wider range of birds into our school garden.

Later came a visit from the vet – that was interesting! The children’s questions were thoughtful and demonstrated strong levels of analysis and curiosity – some powerful lessons in managing the health and numbers in a herd!

We like to think we might be a bit more self sufficient than we when we left London last Friday. Behold our own pizzas, bread and crumble!

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