Page 81 - Phonebox Magazine December 2012

SCHOOLS REPORT
Emberton School
Excitement is everywhere at Emberton School as we begin our countdown to Christmas! We have lots of activities planned and are especially looking forward to our Ceramic Bauble Workshop hosted by Chiki Ceramiki, our play “The Wriggly Nativity” and our lovely carol concert in Emberton Church on Thursday 20th December at 2pm, to which everyone is welcome.
We are also very lucky to be going to The Stables theatre to see “The Secret Garden”; and to be having a wonderful Christmas Party at the end of term, both of which are being paid for by the Friends of Emberton School (FOES) who tirelessly fundraise so that we can have special treats like these.
As the Autumn Term continues we have started our topic of ‘Light and Dark’ which began with a drama workshop from Arts1 and is continuing with the children making Diwa lamps and Rangoli patterns to celebrate Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Light. Our Foundation children have also been experimenting with drip painting, in the style of American Abstract Expressionist Jackson Pollock.
Emberton School pupils love the great outdoors, whatever the weather! With Mrs Kirkland our Forest Schools practitioner they have been planting a new woodland copse that includes a Royal Oak donated by the Woodland Trust. They have built shelters, cooked on a campfire and climbed trees, all kitted out in their new all-in-one waterproof coveralls, kindly paid for by FOES. Milton Keynes Play Association also spent an afternoon with us creating a natural outdoor obstacle challenge which delighted the children and did wonders for confidence boosting!
If you would like your child to attend a rural school with small class sizes, contact us on 01234 711518 and we would be delighted to show you around. Application forms for the September 2013 intake are now available from school or on the Milton Keynes Council website.
NEWTON BLOSSOMVI LLE ROALD DAHL DAY Newton Blossomville School
Lovat Hall PreSchool
Before half-term we held our annual harvest festival, all the food kindly donated by parents was put on display and the children’s parents, grandparents and carers came into pre- school to hear the children sing a collection of seasonal songs (including 5 Little Leaves and Farmer Brown).
The staff and children were very proud of their man- size scarecrow which they made as a team! The children painted black crows using hand prints and created spiders to dangle over Mr Scarecrow!
The harvest basket was taken to the Castlemead Care Home by the staff.
Stoke Goldington CE First School
The Learning Ladybirds from Years 1 & 2 at Stoke Goldington CE First School were very excited to use their new Mini Laptops recently researching a fun topic on 'nocturnal animals.'
The children worked in pairs, each choosing a nocturnal animal to study. They Googled facts about each animal and then wrote factsheets and created some fantastic drawings and paintings. From foxes to barn owls, badgers to bats, every child was keen to find out as much as possible about their feathered or furry friends and their antics under the cover of darkness!
The children's web-based fact-finding resulted in a fantastic display board of their work of which all the Learning Ladybirds are very proud!
Newton Blossomville School has settled well into the 2012 academic year and is delighted to welcome all its new pupils. For such a small village school there are lots of wonderful things planned for the upcoming year including theatre trips, puppet shows, science demonstrations and the more low key nature walks to the river, cooking club and pyjama parties!
The school has now secured a new playing field and work is progressing well, it will be ready for the children to explore next spring and will provide a great avenue for outdoor learning.
The year has already got off to a busy start with a visit to the local farm. Mr Will Finn-Kelcey took time to show the children all the farm machinery and this year’s harvest. The highlight of the trip has to be climbing into the huge combine harvester and having a go at driving!
We celebrated Roald Dahl day with all the children and staff dressing up as various characters. We had a whole factory of Oompa Loompa’s and the head was a very convincing Miss Trunchball who kept the children (and staff) in order all day! The cooking club had all the children making giant Willy Wonka style chocolate buttons!!
The children and staff were delighted to have come 3rd in the Milton Keynes sunflower competition and were awarded a huge selection of prizes including bird boxes and gardening equipment which they are already putting to good use in anticipation of next years event!
If you are interested in a friendly village school with small class sizes where children flourish we are open for registrations for next year and will be hosting an open morning on Tuesday 13th November.
NEWTONBLOSSOMVILLE&CHILDRENINNEED
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