a copy here

ISSUE NO. 10
JULY 2013
WRITTEN AND PRODUCED BY THE CHILDREN OF PRIORY SCHOOL
THE GREAT OUTDOORS
This year has really been a very
exciting one for Reception with
lots of changes.
One of the main changes we
have made has been the amount
of time we spend in our outdoor
area. We have started doing
‘continuous provision’, which
means that we can choose
where we can go during activity
time.
We really enjoy working
outdoors with our teachers and
teaching assistants. Over the
past term we have been looking
forward to watching our seeds
grow. We bought our seeds
on our trip to Dorney Garden
Centre. We then planted them
in our class gardening patches.
They have needed watering
when it has not rained and now
they are growing really well.
The potatoes planted by RN and
RK are nearly ready for digging
up. RW are looking forward to
picking our peas when they are
ready. RE are wondering what to
cook with their beetroot when it
has grown!
All of us have loved using our
bike track. We have used it with 2
and 3 wheeled bikes, cars, space
hoppers and even skateboards.
We have had to make sure that
we take turns with our friends
and watch where we are driving!
space room.
The waffle blocks have been
well used and we have turned
them into houses, rockets, cars
and speed boats. We have had
fun using our imagination to
turn them into different things.
We have also loved making
adventurous assault courses
with the community blocks. We
have helped each other tackle
the assault courses safely.
We use the outdoor area in
all weathers and even went
out there in the snow. Miss
Mijatovich kindly bought us all
waterproof jackets and trousers
so we don’t get our clothes wet
in the rain!
Some of our other favourite
activities outdoors have been;
our sand and mud kitchen, our
big sandpit, the puppet show, the
water tray with boats, pipettes
and tubing, and our new crates
and guttering.
Painting outside with paint
and also mud has been fun
and we loved spraying our
huge whiteboard with coloured
We have even been learning
about road safety and are
being good at crossing the road
without others knocking us over!
Our sheds outside have been
turned into a car garage, a car
wash, a reading area and a
1
water and drawing on it with
bath crayons. We also practice
writing words and sentences on
it.
We really love being outside
whatever the weather!
By Reception
10th EDITION
What’s inside
this issue?
page 3 Divine Design Days
page 4 Splurged!
page 8 The Write Stuff!
page 10 Zoo-tastic!
page 13 Buttery Fun
page 17 Walls that Work
page 21 Learning is Exciting
page 23 Sunshine & Shadows
Priory Matters 10th Edition
MRS JACQUELINE LAVER
HEADTEACHER AT PRIORY SCHOOL
Dear Parents
Welcome to our latest edition of Priory Matters and thank you
to all of the children and staff who have contributed this year.
This has been a very busy year with many challenges and I
would like to thank all parents and staff who have continued
to support our school.
Our building program is vast and everyone has worked
really hard to ensure that school life continues with as little
disruption as possible. We are all very excited about returning
in September to lovely new buildings and a positive start for
Priory School.
Mrs J Laver
Headteacher
Priory School
Orchard Avenue, Slough, Berkshire, SL1 6HE Tel: +44 (0)1628 600300 Fax: +44(0)1628 666 917
OUR JOURNALISTS’ CLUB
Mrs East and Mr McDonnell
would like to thank all the
children in the Journalists’
Club for all their hard work
and dedication in producing the
magazine.
The children had great fun
writing and editing the articles
and designing the layout of the
pages. We hope you enjoy reading
about what your children have
been doing in school this year.
We would like to thank Salli
Griffith, who has designed Priory
Matters for us again this year, for
coming in to school to support
us with the production. We would
also like to thank all the teachers
for their lovely articles and
photographs.
It has been a pleasure to work
with you all and we hope you all
enjoyed producing this fabulous
10th edition of Priory Matters as
much as we did!
This year’s journalists were:
Megan Tomasso, Zayna Mahmood,
Mahim Kashif, Ruchira Ankireddy,
Daniel Garcia Ben, Sameer
Maman, Shourya Gupta, Humairah
Khokhar, Shayla Powell, Andrea
Pabellano, Humaira Ellahi, Asmaa
Tanveer, Tegan Larkins, Finley
Gilzene, Aryan Agrawal
2
Priory Matters 10th Edition
DIVINE DESIGN DAYS
We have had two fantastic DT
days in Year 4 this year. Firstly
we had a pizza making day
during our Roman topic in CLC.
We got to design a logo,
packaging and choose our
favourite toppings! We made
yummy pizzas. The bases were
pitta breads that we sprinkled with
cheese and other scrumptious
toppings such as pineapple,
tomatoes, peppers, sweetcorn
and oregano. The lesson was great
because we could try new things.
Before we made our pizzas, we
collected data on the children’s
favourite toppings so that we
could see which ones were the
most popular! This day was also
extra special because it was
‘Dads in School Day’, so we had
dads, granddads and even uncles
getting messy making pizzas
and designing their own pizza
company logo. We think some of
them enjoyed it more than the
children!
Our second DT day was last
half term as part of our topic
about The Fighting Temeraire.
We learnt about Lord Nelson
and The Battle of Trafalgar and
after getting inspiration from our
visit to the HMS Victory, we were
able to design and make our own
sailing ships. There was a lot to
do during the day and it was jam
packed with fun activities. Firstly
we learnt about the different parts
of a sailing boat and how they help
it move and float. The main parts
of a sailing boat are the mast, hull,
mainsail and keel and all of these
parts help to keep the boat upright
and moving as the wind catches
the sails and pushes it along. After
we had learnt about how a sailing
boat works, we had to carry out
our own investigation to see which
type of material would be best to
build the hull of our boat and how
much cargo it would hold. Edward
and Rhys made their prototypes
out of tin foil and their boats
managed to hold 32 Unifix cubes!
After we had tested different
materials we got to design and
make our boats – this was the best
part! We both made our boats out
of tin foil but made them unique
by having our own designs on the
sails. Some of the parts of the
making were very fiddly we had
to glue, cut and Sellotape all the
different parts carefully and make
sure they were sturdy and ready to
be tested.
Finally we tested our boats in
water. We had to place them in a
tray of water and check to see if
they floated, stayed upright and
could carry cargo. Chineme’s
stayed afloat, but mine capsized
after it tried to carry too much
cargo!
At the end of the day we had our
sailing boat to take home and also
a project that we could put in our
CLC folders to show everything we
did that day. We took lots of photos
to help us remember how much
fun it was!
We really love our DT lessons
because we get to try so many
new things and be really creative.
It gives us a chance to get really
messy and have fun experimenting
and designing products. DT is one
of our favourite subjects and we
hope you have enjoyed reading
about all the fun things we have
been doing in Year 4 this year.
By Lauren Moody and
Chineme Edwards
THESE FEET ARE
MADE FOR WALKING
Three words…WALK TO SCHOOL! It is the best way of getting fit. This
initiative was started by Mrs James in the office, encouraging us to
get some air into our lungs and to get our bodies working to make us
ready for school in the mornings.
We walk to school as much
as possible and, not only is it
enjoyable, it gives us a great
reward! Every month we get our
very own WOW badge when we
make a good effort to walk to
school. We asked Mrs James what
she thought about the badges and
she said that she really adored the
badges because they are really
colourful and fun to have a treat
that the children can wear.
Not only do we get a badge but
the people who walk to school
every day get a certificate too!
We asked Safiyya Hamza, who
is in Year 5, about how she felt
about winning the certificate and
she said, “I feel very pleased with
myself for walking to school every
day.”
Then we asked another pupil
who won the certificate and she
3
said that she loved seeing other
people walking as well as getting
lots of exercise on the way.
The recent winners, 5B, won
the walk to school trophy and their
teacher Mr Barclay said, “I am
very proud of my class winning the
walk to school trophy because it is
important for fitness and gives you
a chance to look around you and it
is difficult to do that in the car.”
In conclusion, walking to school
is a great way of getting fit, a good
way to talk to friends and people
around you and also of getting a
nice badge. We feel the same as
Mr Barclay and Mrs James about
walking to school because it’s fun
and enjoyable.
By Finley Gilzene and
Areeb Akhtar
Priory Matters 10th Edition
SPLURGED!
Bugsy Malone is an American British gangster film for children. It is about the rivalry of two gangster
gangs, when the leader of one gang gets the latest new splurge gun it’s a must have for the opposing
gang.
To be able to have a successful
production many things were
needed. First of all, the songs
which are featured in the movie
had to be learnt and remembered
by all of the Year 6 children. The
auditions were next and it was a
very anxious thing for the children
to do. We had to sing the first
verse of Fat Sam’s Grand Slam
which is the first song we sing in
our production along with Bugsy
Malone.
Casting was a challenge for
all the Year 6 teachers, since they
needed to choose the children
that are perfect for the parts. We
spoke to the children who played
all the main roles and they all
said that they were shocked and
excited to have been given a main
part. Bugsy Malone was played
by Pranav Talluri and Cameron
Rai; Blousey Brown was played
by Snigdha Trivedi and Nikita
Santucci; Fat Sam (the owner
of Fats Sam’s Grand Slam) was
played by Louis Bellinger and
Gurdev Tumber; Dandy Dan (Fat
Sam’s rival enemy) was played by
Nihal Bilku and Usmaan Aslam;
Tallulah (Fat Sam’s girlfriend)
was played by Jasmine Porter and
Lori Atkinson; Fizzy (Fat Sam’s
cleaner) was played by Ronnie
Peplow and Rehan Hafeez.
We interviewed some of the
think I would get the main part
because of my lack of quality
singing. Well I was quite calm but I
was a bit nervous in case I messed
up,” said Cameron.
“I was very excited and so
happy. I was surprised and
overwhelmed. I thought I wasn’t
going to get the part, but I really
cast.
How do you feel about getting
one of the main parts in our
production? Did you think you
would get one of the main parts?
How did you feel while doing the
production?
“I was very excited about
getting the part of Bugsy. I didn’t
4
wanted to be Blousey. Nervous but
excited,” Nikita said.
“At first I felt a bit nervous
but excited however after the
rehearsals confidence took over
nervousness. I thought I would
because I felt confident about
my audition but I didn’t think I
would be Bugsy Malone. Most
people thought I would be very
nervous but for rehearsals and
even our final performance I was
exhilarated,” said Pranav.
“I was ecstatic when I got the
role of Blousey. I never thought
I could have been Blousey
because she was never my type
of character. I felt really nervous
because I thought I could have
ruined my songs which would
have ruined the whole show and
singing was never my strong
point,” Snigdha said.
“Happy and excited. I thought
I would be Tallulah because I was
loud and really wanted the part
and I tried my hardest. I felt like
I was Tallulah for real,” said Lori.
“Amazing it was quite shocking
because I never thought I would
get one of the main parts. I thought
I was loud enough and I was the
right person to be Tallulah. I felt
quite honoured to be a main part
because loads of people wanted
to be a main character.,” Jasmine
said. And Gurdev said, “Well when
I found out I was very happy.
Finding out that I was a main part
was amazing. I wasn’t too sure
Priory Matters 10th Edition
because at my auditions I felt like
I didn’t do the best because my
nerves got the better side of me. I
felt nervous but relieved because I
was the main part of the play and
production a success. Patience
was essential when rehearsing
for the production. The script was
added to and changed along the
way. Each day we all learn different
I never thought it would happen.”
Scripts were then handed to
all the children to learn their
lines and the songs. Hard work
and time were put in to make the
FURRY FRIENDS
During the first autumn half term we were looking at a painting
of Peter Rabbit based on the story written by Beatrix Potter. We
thoroughly enjoyed reading the story of Peter Rabbit and based our
Literacy, CLC and Science lessons on this book. We learned all about
a rabbit’s habitat and how it differs to a human’s habitat.
Then we used the book We’re
Going on a Bear Hunt to create
our own version of the story called
We’re Going on a Rabbit Hunt.
After discussing our route we were
really excited about looking for
Peter and we were lucky enough
to find his mischievous cousin
Benjamin Bunny in Priory School!
As we had so much fun on our
hunt we decided we should visit
Mr McGregor’s garden and found
footprints near his vegetable plot.
We knew we needed to investigate
to find out who had been stealing
all of his vegetables! So we put our
maths skills to the test and we had
to measure all of the footprints
which helped us crack the case!
After learning all about what
rabbits need to survive in Science,
Miss Adams brought in her pet
rabbits, Noah and Jack, for a day
for us to look after. We needed
to make sure we cared for them
by feeding them hay, vegetables
and making sure they had enough
water at all times. We even
cleaned out their cage to make
sure they were comfortable and
clean at all times. Everyone took
turns at holding Noah and Jack,
which made them feel really safe
and loved as they were a little bit
nervous about their visit.
As a class we decided this
was a really good opportunity to
complete some fun art activities
and learn some tricky techniques.
We learned how to sketch an
object and used this skill to draw
a sketch of our favourite rabbit.
Jack and Noah really behaved
themselves and managed to stay
still so we could draw them in
our sketch books. After that we
used watercolours to paint our
sketches and learned all about
how it is important to use the right
amount of water to create darker
and lighter colours. We needed to
make sure to look closely at the
rabbits to see what colours and
pattern they were so we could
include this in our painting. We
were really proud of our drawings
and how we worked as a class to
look after Jack and Noah for the
day. We were sad to say goodbye to
them and hope that they will come
back to visit really soon!
Year 1
5
ways to improve our production.
Two full weeks was taken to
rehearse the entire performance
and make it as picture-perfect as
it can be. Everyone was nervous,
especially people who had a big
role. One of the most important
parts of the Year 6 production
is the set layout and design and
props. Mrs Glister and Mr Reith
(husband of Mrs Reith) helped
the Year 6 teachers. Soon the
performance nights were right
around the corner.
The night came and we were
all in our stunning costumes
and about to enter the stage.
The parents started taking their
seats and we were all saying good
luck and getting the props ready.
The band, Mrs Shaw (piano),
Mr Swaddling (saxophone and
clarinet), Mr Lazenbury (keyboard)
and Mr Waugh (drums), were
brilliant.
The Year 6 production is one of
the most memorable things that
all children will remember of their
primary school life. Bugsy Malone
turned out to be spectacular
performance and all the teachers
and parents were very proud of us.
By Zayna Mahmood and
Andrea Pabellano
Charlie Day 4N
Victoria Omotayo Nursery
Kacey Ho 5R
Alana Burnett-Thomas RWG
Ethan Jhalli 6B
Mason Richardson 4N
6
Squirrels Class
Kayla Barlow Year 1
Autaum Letton Nursery
Arjun Punj Year 1
Mahim Kashif 6Y
THE
Ariadne Year 3
GALLERY
7
Priory Matters 10th Edition
THE WRITE STUFF
On the 14th of January, fourteen very lucky children got to go all the way to Yorkshire
and live in a grand house once owned by Ted Hughes.
Before a long journey we were
buzzing with excitement. We
loaded our luggage onto the back
of the minibus, took our seats and
got ready for a long journey. It was
snowing heavily and we were really
cold. After travelling for several
hours, finally we reached the top
of the snowy hill and trudged down
the slippery slope and went inside
the house. We were welcomed
warmly by the Arvon staff, who
gave us refreshments and showed
us to our rooms. Our rooms were
very clean, warm and neat. After
dinner, we had our first session
with
well-known
children’s
authors Gillian Cross and Steve
Voake which was packed with fun.
We had to try and remember the
first thing that had ever happened
we finished of our stories that we
liked from the talk we had with
Gillian and Steve earlier that day.
Later we went to the barn and
read or wrote. We also played word
games with Mrs. Craven and had
squash and biscuits. We hoped
that dinner was delicious; however
we doubted that, as the boys were
cooking that day.
The next day, we found out that
due to the weather forecast, we
had to leave early, on Thursday
rather than Friday. We were all
really excited to meet Gareth
Jones, the author of Constable
Toop and Ninja Meercats. After
breakfast, followed by a freaky
power cut, we had our lesson with
Gillian and Steve. We learnt about
creating characters in our minds
by answering questions about
them with a partner. After that we
to us and write a short paragraph
about it. After our tiring day we
retired to our rooms, talked to our
friends and fell asleep.
The following day, we woke
up at about 6:15am. We had a
selection of breakfasts to choose
from in the kitchen; most of us
took tea or coffee, cereal and toast.
Afterwards we talked to Steve and
Gillian about how you write your
own story, using a selection of
objects that were given to us. The
objects were: a feather, a lipstick,
a cookie cutter, some matches, a
shell, a postcard, a leaf, an Aztec
styled wallet, a necklace, a mirror
and a bracelet.
Then we went to a village on
the mountain and we went to
see Sylvia’s grave and we had
a snowball fight on the way!
When we returned to the house
our gloves were sodden and we
warmed up. For an hour or so
8
had muffins and juice and then
we had our second lesson with
Gillian. Then we had lunch and
went to the barn. We did videoing,
reading and writing. It was so
peaceful, well some of the time.
Ruchira entertained us by doing
her ‘sketch’. By the time it was
over, everyone was in stitches!
Louis fell asleep on the sofa whilst
reading a book, Cameron was
writing a story about a character
he had created yesterday, Lucy
was writing a story about a girl in
a care home and Josh was typing
lyrics for his song ‘Arvon Style’.
Gareth P. Jones arrived and played
a ukulele. He took out a book and
read a paragraph aloud and we
had to choose the ending to it.
After that we had a sing along to a
spooky song that he had made up.
It was late and the girls went back
to the main building and packed
for the journey home.
It was our last day and
everybody was glum as we didn’t
want to go. We soon cheered up
after everyone got to choose their
favourite piece of acting or writing
to read out. We read out poems,
did sketches and told stories.
Then we got our suitcases and
walked up the high hill and took
our places in the mini bus. It took
six hours to get back home and
we met our parents at school. It
had been an amazing experience
and we would love to go again.
Everyone would like to thank Mr.
Menmuir for fundraising and
reducing the cost of our trip.
By Ruchira Ankireddy, Humaira
Ellahi and Mahim Kashif
Priory Matters 10th Edition
This has been a very busy year
for the children in 2SW and in
May we finally moved into our
new classroom on the Key Stage
1 playground.
Watching the classroom being
built was great fun because we loved
seeing the huge cranes, diggers
and JCBs. It was very interesting to
see the JCBs digging up the ground
and the water pipes being put in
place. The pipes squirted lots of
water everywhere, washing all
the insects away. Every time the
lorries started moving, we raced
across the playground so we could
see clearly what was happening.
ON THE MOVE
happy because it was a brand
new room and we were the first
class to use it. When it was being
built we thought it might be a
bit too small, but we need not
have worried. It was such a large
room. It was much bigger than we
expected and we were all amazed
by the size of it. There was much
more room for us to use than in
our first classroom. The walls
were a dazzling white colour and
We all loved watching them.
While the classroom was being
built we desperately wanted to go
inside and see what it was like.
We were really looking forward to
moving in, but we had to wait for
a long time until it was actually
ready for us.
When we entered the classroom
for the first time, we felt quite
nervous and shy but also
extremely excited. We were very
everything was so fresh. We could
not believe our eyes because there
were so many windows and the
room was so full of light. We were
also really happy to be near the
other Year 2 classes again.
We are all delighted with
our classroom and we think it
is beautiful. We feel very lucky
indeed because it is brand new
and it is perfect!
By 2SW
NEW BEGINNINGS AT PRIORY
This year there has been lots of building work which has changed Priory. There is still some work to be
done, but once it is over Priory School will be a bigger and better school. Although it is noisy at times, a
new building has been created on the Key Stage 2 playground. We’re all very excited about it!
Although the new classrooms
will allow more children to come
to our school, there are a few
disadvantages, as it cuts down on
the amount of nature and the view
from our beautiful reading garden
is blocked.
A pupil in Year 5 called Lucy
said, “I think there are too many
trucks near the exits and too many
cars in the car park.”
“The building work leaves
children inquisitive and intrigued
because they want to know how
the school will be transformed,”
said Sameer Maman, Year 6.
The staff car park has some
development of the school.
During this period of time, we have
lost some space in the playgrounds
because of all this building work.
Gradually our playground is returning
back to how it was before. Soon our
playgrounds will be free and we will
be busy running around and making
new friends.
Soon the end of the building will
come and our newly built school
will look clean and fresh! We are
looking forward to our lovely new
buildings.
work going on beside it, so there
is very little space, but lots of
cars. Fences have been put up
where the building works are
happening, for example, near the
new classrooms which are inside
the Key Stage 2 playground.
However Priory School is
excited about the construction
coming to an end, as lots of new
friends will be made and there
will be the wonderful scent of
freshness around the school.
Maybe it will be the most brilliant
day of the year. New, modern
classrooms are being built,
which is very important for the
By Shourya Gupta
and Asmaa Tanveer
9
Priory Matters 10th Edition
ZOO-TASTIC!
This year students in SNR have learnt lots of things about their
environment, but the most exciting topic has been learning about
wild animals.
The children were very interested
and motivated to learn about
bears, elephants, zebras, giraffes,
rhinoceroses and monkeys. They
wanted to find out where these
First of all, we looked for
information in books we found in
the library and read lots of stories.
I’m sure you are all familiar with
Rod Campbell’s book called Dear
Zoo. After reading that we decided
that we needed to go and check
out whether the elephant is really
that big or the lion is as fierce as in
the book. What about the giraffe?
How does it reach leaves on trees?
Is it short or tall? Exciting…
The day finally came. The
minibus
filled
with
petrol,
lunchboxes filled with goodies, we
were ready to go. We were heading
to Whipsnade Zoo!
It took a long time on the
motorway, then on another road,
then another before we finally got
to see the signs for the zoo. We
quickly parked the minibus and
headed off to see the grizzly bears
that were just about to have their
morning snacks. Their fur seemed
to be very soft and fluffy. They
were happy to eat fruits as snacks
and drink water.
Our next stop was to meet
the rhinoceros. As we were
approaching his enclosure we
heard stamping, grunting and
animals live; how big or small they
are; what patterns they have on
their skins; what they like to eat;
how they play, sleep or walk; and
what sounds do they make?
crunching sounds. What is he
doing? Is he asleep or awake?
How lucky we were because
the rhinoceros was awake and, not
only awake, but walking around
and having his breakfast. Adults
and children alike were astonished
at how enormous he was!
It was hard to leave him behind,
but there was so much more to
see: cheetahs, gazelles, buffaloes,
giraffes, wallabies, flamingos.
No one even noticed that it was
lunchtime.
Then we heard another
interesting whistling sound. Of
course! The little steam engine
was calling us to get on board and
see even more of this fascinating
place. Although the wind nearly
blew us out of the wagon, we
loved the ride because we spotted
other animals; zebras, llamas,
elephants and camels!
Sadly, after this it was time
to get back to school. As we were
saying good-bye to all the wild
animals we had seen, the heavens
opened and rain started to pour
down on the windscreen. It had
been a fantastic day!
By SNR
MUD, MUD, GLORIOUS MUD!
This year in the Nursery, we have been focusing on taking our
learning outdoors. One really successful way in which we did this
was by opening our very own mud kitchen.
It instantly became a huge
hit with the children and we had
huge support from parents who
contributed to the utensils we
use. We provided the children with
pots, saucepans, measuring tools,
wooden spoons, mud, sand and
water. The opportunities the mud
kitchen has provided have been
endless. By pushing the boundaries
we have allowed the young children
in the Nursery to access the outdoors
in an elemental and meaningful
way. It has allowed children to
engage in a variety of actions such
as filling, pouring, transferring,
mixing, stirring, whisking, handling,
moulding, splashing, splatting
and scooping. It has also provided
a range of potential experiences
such as sorting, cooking, creating,
testing, experimenting, naming and
decorating. The children ask on
a daily basis, “Is the mud kitchen
open today?”, which is proof of what
a success it has been.
“I am making chocolate
cupcakes, I need two big spoons
of chocolate, then I mix it until it is
soft,” said Khaliya Taylor (NGA).
“Look, if I mix this mud with
this sand it makes it lumpy,” said
Lauren Watt (NBA).
“I need three spoons of mud, 1,
2, 3 and one more makes four!” said
Ava-Mae Hewitt (NGP).
“My cupcakes are ready. They
need to go in the oven for ten
minutes,” said Evie Clarke (NBP).
Nursery
10
Priory Matters 10th Edition
DADS AND
On Friday 7th December, we had
a day when dads had permission
to come to school and do fun and
enjoyable activities with their
child.
In Year 3 we had a Design
Technology day because we know
the dads enjoy building and making
things and being creative with their
children. We had been learning
about the Ancient Greek myth of
Theseus and the Minotaur and our
design project was to design and
make a mask of Ariadne or the
Minotaur.
We started off by creating a mood
board with the things we were going
to stick on our masks such as wool,
beads, feathers and sequins and
used colours we thought matched
with the two characters. We then
sketched over the templates of the
masks in our sketch books so we
could try out different designs. Our
dads helped us to colour in what we
wanted the decoration of our masks
to look like.
The dads helped us make the
masks and we discovered what
textures would be good for the
features and they helped us to pick
the right materials. It was tricky to
get the materials to stay stuck in
the right place! We evaluated the
materials as we were making the
mask and sometimes we found
another material that looked even
better. We learned it was part of the
design process and something that
real designers do.
DISGUISES
and what we would do differently.
It really made us think about our
work.
It turned out to be a brilliant day
After we made our masks,
we evaluated them by answering
some questions about what we
had enjoyed, what we had learnt
MARATHON
MAN
When we interviewed Mr Bond
about his amazing run for a
cancer charity, we found out a
few interesting points about his
relationship with Clic.
First we found out that he ran
the London Marathon with his
girlfriend Justine and that a lot of
his supporting family cheered him
on. He saw Big Ben and Houses of
Parliament, the London Eye and he
also saw the fantastic Shard and
Cutty Sark.
Mr Bond jogged 26.2 miles but
unfortunately at 18 miles he had
to stop because he hurt his knee.
After that, he huffed and puffed and
he blew the finishing line away!
Generously Clic rewarded him with a
t-shirt and a letter saying thank you
by Tegan Larkins and Megan Knight
for raising so much money for the
charity. Best of all he got a medal to
remind him of his amazing run.
Last of all Mr Bond met the
m&m family. The delicious smell
of pure chocolate filled his nostrils
and he was so tempted to go inside
and breathe in the heavenly scent.
He also really wanted to buy a
souvenir for his class so they could
treasure it forever and ever!
We also had a fundraising week
at school so we could raise some
money for the charity Clic and here
is what we did:
We got face tags and had a
scrummy yummy cake sale! Mr
Bond was extremely happy when he
found out that from the fundraising
week we raised £1,637! Including
what he raised when he ran the
11
for us and the dads and we hope for
it to be even better next year.
Cami Ho and James Hepburn 3JM
marathon, the total was £5,862!
Mr Bond was very lucky. Mr Bond’s
favourite fundraising activity was
‘beat the goalie’ because everyone
had a chance to win a special prize.
Sonny in Year 5 and Morgan in Year 6
were the fantastic goalies. Everyone
was very proud of them. And we are
all very proud of Mr Bond for his
amazing fundraising marathon run.
Well done Mr Bond!
Priory Matters 10th Edition
OUT & ABOUT
This year, Year 6 were fortunate enough to venture off on some outstanding school trips. We went to the cinema, Burnham Beeches, the
Baptist Church and later on in the year, we will even be going to Little Canada in the Isle of Wight. Some children also went on a gifted writers’
trip to Arvon.
THE CINEMA
hard work as well as good fun!
On the 16th of October, Year 6
made their way to the cinema to
watch a new release, Brave. This
was something that we all looked
forward to.
The movie was about a young
sovereign not wanting to follow her
mother’s footsteps and become a
stereotypical princess. Her mother,
on the other hand, wanted her to be a
perfect supporting role to the soonto-be-prince, her husband. Merida,
the young monarch, had other plans
however. She used a magical potion
to change her mother’s mind, but
instead it changed her mother into
a monstrous beast.
But luck was on her side and
she changed her back just before
the spell became permanent. In
the end, both mother and daughter
made compromises to create a
happy ending. Everyone loved the
movie because it gave a strong
moral: to be brave.
After the trip, in English we
studied the characters of Brave,
their mindsets and made setting
descriptions from the film. So it as
BURNHAM BEECHES
By Pranav Talluri 6Y
enjoying the view on the way back
to school.
By Mahim Kashif 6Y
THE BAPTIST CHURCH
On October 17th, Year 6 ventured off
into Burnham Beeches to explore.
This trip was linked to our study of
the natural world and how people
can affect the environment.
We travelled by minibus, arriving
to see a grey, thundery sky. Despite
the weather, we went on and strolled
through a quiet, bleak area, mostly
taken up by a wide lake covered
with water lilies. Mr Gardner took
us over a bridge which then led
us to the other side where we saw
a group of ponies neighing and
trotting around. It was fascinating
as well as awe-inspiring to see the
nature and wildlife there even after
so many years of rich history.
After that we went to a vast open
field and ate our lunch and then we
played. Later we walked through a
thicket until we reached a wooden
bridge. The bridge was narrow, but
long, and we ambled long until we
reached the end.
Then we took a short walk to the
minibus and lazily relaxed while
By Zayna Mahmood 6Y
On the 5th December, Year 6 went
to the Baptist Church in Cippenham,
to learn about the festival of
Christmas. It was a short distance
so we walked there. When we
reached the church we learnt about
the story of Christmas.
Then half of us went to the
cookery room to make our own
mince pies while the rest of us
got booklets and had to find out
information that had been stuck
around the room. Then we swapped
activities. When both the classes
made their little treats we learnt
and sang a rap to fix the story in our
minds.
On the 6th March we went
once again to the Baptist Church
to celebrate another Christian
festival, Easter. This time we
made scrumptious biscuits and
we re-enacted the Easter story.
The baptists demonstrated what
Baptism is and told us that it
12
purifies the body and the mind. We
learnt that Easter wasn’t just about
the Easter Bunny or his eggs, it was
about resurrection and rebirth.
We really enjoyed both trips; they
helped us to understand the beliefs
of Christianity.
FUTURE TRIP TO THE
ISLE OF WIGHT
By Sameer Maman 6Y
On the 19th July, Year 6 will be going
on an enjoyable and unforgettable
trip to the Isle of Wight - a 4 day
and 3 night stop at Little Canada.
After all of their devotion to their
studies, this trip is not only a break
from their hard work and a treat, but
also an opportunity to learn about
teamwork and challenge.
We will travel by coach and ferry
to arrive at our destination on the
Isle of Wight. Here are some of the
activities that we will participate in:
tree climbing, zip wiring, canoeing,
and many more.
As well as having an exhilarating
experience at Little Canada, the
children are allowed to choose who
they wish to share a cabin with.
BUTTERY
Priory Matters 10th Edition
FUN
This half term, Year 1 have been looking at a painting by Marc Chagall
called I and the Village and studying a focus book called Farmer
Duck. We have been learning all about farms and the types of things
that hardworking farmers have to do.
We talked a lot about how it must
have been really exhausting to have
been a farmer long ago because
there were no machines to help
the farmers to all of the difficult
jobs like milking the cows, making
the butter, ploughing the fields and
harvesting the crops.
We knew we wanted to get hands
on and make things in Year 1, so we
decided to explore how butter would
have been made a long time ago,
with no machinery there to help
us. It was a good job we are all very
strong and we like working together
as a team because we needed our
muscles in this history lesson. First
we poured some double cream
into some containers and placed a
sterilised marble in the bottom to
act as our butter churn. We then
shook and shook the containers,
churning the cream as we went. To
make it more fun we worked in table
groups and had a class competition
to see who could churn the cream
into butter the fastest.
After a lot of shaking and careful
churning, we began to see the
cream change from a watery liquid
into a solid. You could even separate
the buttermilk from the butter. We
knew that this meant that we had
succeeded in making our very own
butter. Our teachers helped us to
open the containers carefully and
straight away we smelt the delicious
creamy butter. We then had to strain
the butter from the buttermilk. This
part was very tricky so our teachers
helped us. The butter smelt
extremely delicious, but we couldn’t
let all that butter go to waste. We
thought it would be a good idea to
spread the butter on plain crackers
and have a little taste. It was the
yummiest thing we had ever tasted;
a truly scrumptious treat!
After we had tasted the butter,
we all talked about how hard it must
have been to make things like this
from scratch every day. We even
watched a video of inside a real
butter factory to see how the modern
day machines make butter. The
machines were gigantic and they
certainly churned the butter a lot
faster than we ever could, even with
all of the class helping each other.
We all think it would be great fun
13
to be a farmer, but now we realise
that it isn’t an easy job to have at
all. We are glad to have experienced
this as we are preparing ourselves
for our school trip to Rushall Farm.
When we go, we will be able to
find out about how all of the crops
are planted and harvested. Did you
know, they even make the barley for
Robinson’s fruit juice?
We are very excited about our
visit as we already feel like fully
fledged farmers! We are going to be
able to ride on a tractor trailer and
sit inside a huge combine harvester.
We now know that these machines
help to make the farmers’ difficult
jobs just a little bit easier and we
feel very grateful for all of the
delicious foods grown here in the
UK and all over the world.
Year 1
Priory Matters 10th Edition
WHO ARE YOU?
As part of the literacy unit of work on biographies and autobiographies, Judith (Aleque’s mum), kindly
agreed to come and talk to the children about her early life in Uganda, Africa. The children listened
intently and asked some fabulous questions to find out more intriguing details about her childhood. They
found it fascinating when they compared their lives with her life.
always checked they were listening
by asking lots of questions about the
stories and the characters in them.
Conclusion
At the age of twenty, Judith came
to England to study law. Moving
to England was very difficult for
her because she didn’t find the
people very friendly. Also, the food
JUDITH NKINI’S LIFE
a biography
By Nimrta Multani
Introduction
Judith lived as a child in Kampala,
Uganda. Growing up in Africa was
very different to growing up in
England.
School
Some of Judith’s friends walked a
mile to school. In schools in poor
areas or in the countryside, the
children had to walk bare footed
because their family could not
afford shoes. Judith had shoes and
felt very lucky. Her mum was the
head teacher of another school and
she was very strict with how she
expected the children to behave.
One of Judith’s main memories
of school is how much she loved
reading books and she still loves
books as an adult. She also
remembers that the children had to
speak in English every day of every
week at school to improve their
writing and speaking.
Punishments
Judith’s life at school was
sometimes hard because there
were lots of punishments. One of
the punishments was to wear a top
made out of sack cloth if anyone
was naughty. If she lost her school
bag, she was not allowed a new
one and she would have to use
a carrier bag for the rest of the
year for all her books and pencil
case. This punishment was to
a little village outside of town. It
was a special time for her because
her grandmother used to sit her
brothers and sisters by a campfire
and tell them exciting stories. She
encourage children to look after
their belongings.
Grandmother
During the holidays, Judith used
to stay with her grandmother in
PRIORY FRIENDS
Priory Friends is a registered charity, made up of parents and
staff that help to support our school by organising really exciting
fundraisers. When we interviewed Priory Friends about the changes
that are going on and the events that they have created we found out
some interesting information and here they are.
We had the very successful
Christmas Fair which was very
entertaining for everyone and we
got to experience lots of different
skills and fun activities. There
were stalls selling books, toys and
teddies; a raffle with really cool
prizes like an iPad; guess the name
of the teddy; and make your own
pomanders. This got us all into a
real Christmas spirit!
They are also trying to bring
back the wildlife and our lovely
school pond with lots of creatures
and flowers. To make our school
better and to support our local ecosystem this will make the world a
better place and help us to breathe
in better air.
Priory Friends thought that it
would be fun to plan a romantic
Valentines disco which had games,
scrumptious sweets and rock’n’roll
music for us to go crazy to! Even
Mrs Jefcut came and had a little bit
of a boogie! Also the younger years
did not miss out because Priory
14
in England tasted different to the
food in Uganda and it took her a
long time to get used to it. She now
works for the council.
Friends organised a separate disco
for KS1 because they are so kind
and generous.
For Easter, Priory Friends
organised an Easter egg raffle.
Children in every class throughout
the school had an opportunity to
win a delicious prize. Third prize
was a small egg, second prize was
a regular sized Easter egg and first
prize was a humongous gift basket
with loads of scrummy treats.
On May 23rd Priory Friends
organised a cake sale in the hall
to raise money for the school. Lots
of children brought in treats from
home and parents and pupils made
loads of charming and mouthwatering cakes and biscuits to sell.
We all want to say a big thank
you to Priory Friends for everything
they do for our school.
Megan Knight and
Tegan Larkins!
Priory Matters 10th Edition
SEE HOW THEY GROW
In the Spring term, the focus
book for the Reception classes
was Titch so the children learnt
lots about how things grow. As
well as reading the story and
other stories about growing,
like Jack and the Beanstalk,
and doing lots of activities about
growth in school, the teachers
decided to take the children
to The Walled Garden garden
centre by Dorney Court.
The children went in small
groups and travelled in the
minibus. They pointed out many
signs of spring on the way,
such as blossom on the trees
along Huntercombe Lane and
snowdrops at the entrance to the
garden centre.
Each group had £5 to spend
and the children were able to
choose what they spent the
money on. A few of the groups
bought seed potatoes or other
vegetables, such as radishes and
beans. Several groups decided to
buy flowers – tulips and hyacinths
ride around the grounds on a little
tractor.
Finally, each group had to pay
for their shopping. Some of the
children knew the names of the
coins they were given as change.
The staff in the garden centre said
that they were very impressed
that the children knew so much
about growing things and told the
children to bring their mummies,
daddies, grannies, granddads,
aunties or uncles because they
have a café that sells drinks and
delicious cakes. They could smell
lovely food smells coming from
the kitchen as they left. There is
also a play area for children and
sometimes they have special
events there, such as reindeer at
Christmas and even plays in the
walled garden.
in pots, or seeds of all different
kinds. Prabhjit Singh (RE) said
he wanted to buy ‘purple flowers’
and was delighted to find a tray of
purple pansies.
‘I liked going to the garden
centre. I loved the purple flowers
and all the tractors,’ said
Savannah Douglas (RE).
One of the ladies that works
there talked to the children about
why she was watering and dead
heading the flowers. The children
learnt that the wind can dry out
the plants, even when it is not very
sunny.
‘I learnt how to grow plants,’
said Violet Sheehan (RE). ‘I learnt
to water them.’
One of the best parts of the visit
was when the children walked to
the end of the walled garden to
look at the chickens. They were
very surprised to find the chickens
eating spaghetti for lunch! They
were also surprised that the
building with walls made of glass
was called a greenhouse – but it
was not green! After this, some
of the children got the chance to
15
Anthony Born (RE) said, ‘I went
with all of my family. I played with
the tractors. Mummy was looking
around.’
Back at school, the other
teachers were preparing the
garden for planting. They filled
each section with compost and
some of the children raked it
over to make sure there were no
hard lumps. The children had fun
planting the seeds and the flowers
and watching the potatoes sprout.
They are remembering to water
them and some of the plants are
really tall now.
The reception children enjoyed
their visit to the garden centre and
some of them have already taken
their families to see the plants and
the chickens too, of course.
Reception
Priory Matters 10th Edition
OUR
GROWTH
MINDSET
One of the first things we learned about in Year 4 was the importance of a growth mindset. A mind-set is
the way that you think and a growth mind-set is a very positive way of thinking.
A growth mind-set is when you
do these four things: Concentrate,
Have A Go, Don’t Give Up and Love
Learning. When you have a growth
mindset you are always thinking
about growth and improving. You are
always looking for a new challenge
and you are not scared of failure.
In fact, we learned that making
will be persistent. This means that
you keep on going, even when you
find something hard. We watched a
video about a famous athlete called
Derek Redmond who got injured
during the most important race of
his life. However, instead of giving
up, he limped all the way around the
track and his father helped carry
mistakes is actually a good thing!
Did you know that the world’s best
female figure skater has fallen on
the ice during practice more than
10,000 times? That shows you
that, if you really want to be good
at something, you have to make
some mistakes along the way! If
you have a growth mindset you
16
him past the finish line. The whole
stadium was cheering because he
showed courage and a great growth
mindset.
The opposite of a growth
mindset is a fixed mindset. This
is a negative, stroppy attitude. An
example of a fixed mindset is when
you have finished a test but can’t be
bothered to check. You keep saying,
“Oh, I finished before everyone else.
Aren’t I clever? I don’t need to check.
I am the best!” If you gave a person
with a fixed mindset a choice of an
easy test or a hard test, they would
probably choose the easy one
because they want to look clever
and are afraid of making mistakes.
They think that mistakes mean
they are stupid. But a person with
a growth mindset likes mistakes
because they actually just mean you
are learning, which is great!
Did you know that an American
lady called Carol Dweck has done
many tests and studies which show
that people with a growth mindset
tend to be much more happy and
successful that people with a fixed
mindset?
In conclusion, the amazing
mental technique of a growth
mindset is important because if you
have this way of thinking, life will
be so much easier. We passionately
believe that having a growth mindset
can help you to do your very best!
By Anisa Mughal and
Maryam Malik, 4V
Priory Matters 10th Edition
WALLS THAT WORK!
In superb Year 4, which has
very kind children and teachers
in it, we use working walls to
help us with marvellous Maths
methods and different styles
of writing in English. They are
extremely useful because they
help children to understand
important topics.
We write on flip chart paper and
add examples of work and success
criteria that helps us know what to
do and which order to do it in. The
great thing about our working walls
is that they are always changing.
We normally change our working
walls when we start a new topic and
we use them throughout the topic
to help us with questions that our
smart teachers fire at us. Although
we have mainly used working walls
In December last year, we had a
Christmas party for all the Year
2s. It was so much fun! In fact,
we had three rooms of fun! One
room was the disco; one room
was for food and drinks; and the
other room was for movies and
games. It was amazing!
How was the music?
The music was great and we loved
all the songs too. People were
really dancing a lot and even the
teachers danced too and they
looked funny!
There was music by Michael
Jackson, Gangnam style, Justin
Bieber and loads of cool singers!
What was the food and drink like?
The food was absolutely delicious!
It was so yummy and there was
We asked Miss Sheikh, who is a
very caring teacher in Year 4, about
what she thought about working
walls. She said, “I think working
walls are a great way to show what
we are learning and also help us to
remember all the exciting things
we are covering in Year 4. I really
enjoy using them, especially when
the children spot my mistakes, and
when they come up with the Steps
to Success!”
Examples of the things on our
working walls are:
Super Hero Stuart’s Guide
to Perimeter - this helped us to
remember the difference between
area and perimeter, which we
sometimes get stuck on.
Dynamic Dylan’s Devastatingly
Good Guide to Parenthesis - we
refer to this in class almost every
day to help us to put commas into
in English and Maths this year, we
think that we could use them for all
of the subjects because they help
you to remember important pieces
of information and are really fun.
Here are what some of the
children and teachers in Year 4 say
about working walls:
“When you are stuck on a hard
English or Maths question, the
working walls and flipcharts help
you tremendously. I have used these
lots in Year 4 and can’t wait to use
them in Year 5 again,” said Jasmine
Thethi (4S).
“A saying on our working wall is,
‘Don’t cry because you did it wrong,
be happy that you tried your best’.
This helps us to always remember
that we should try our best in every
lesson and not worry too much if we
sometimes get answers wrong.”
(Honey Stenning 4M)
our sentences. Now we have no
excuses for not using commas
and sneaking a little bit more
information into our sentences.
Meghna’s Mega Guide to
Match Reports - this helped us to
remember the features of match
reports, so when we had to write
our own one on Upstairs United v
Downstairs City, we knew exactly
what we had to do!
Overall, using working walls in
our lessons means that we learn so
much more and don’t forget topics
so easily. If you’re around in Year 4,
pop in and come and ask us about
what we’re learning about…we’re
sure we will use our working walls
to help us answer this question!
By Leia Humphries
and Stuart Dibble 4S
MERRY CHRISTMAS
EVERYBODY
because we were all so thirsty
from all the dancing.
so much of it we couldn’t believe
our eyes! There were sandwiches,
chocolates, sausage rolls and
lots of delicious finger food. The
cakes were amazing too. We had
cupcakes, muffins and chocolate
cake. Yum!
There were also lots of drinks.
We had cola, lemonade and
Capri Sun. We all drank so much
What was the quiet room like?
The quiet room wasn’t used much
because everyone loved the disco
so much. Some people were
in there and they were playing
Madagascar and a few other
movies. There were a few games
on the tables too that we could
17
play if we wanted some time away
from the disco.
The party was the best time
we had in Year 2 because it was
so much fun and all the teachers
were having fun with us too! We
were like grown-ups going to a
disco! I hope that we can always
have one every year.
By Elle Gealy 2P
WHERE...
So who went where?
Match the names to
the numbers
1................
2................
1
Ms Mijatovich
The most exciting place I have
ever visited is Japan. This was my
most memorable holiday because
I overcame a big fear and climbed
a very scary rock face to reach the
top of my first mountain! Japan is an
amazing country there is so much to
see and it is all different.
3................
4................
5................
6................
7................
Mr Amod
10
My favourite place is New York. I like
New York because it is a vibrant city
full of art and theatre. Times Square
simply rocks.
8................
4
9................
10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Mr Bond
12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Miss Ali
I like Istanbul in Turkey. There’s lots
to see; lots of different mosques.
The weather is really lovely and the
people are really friendly.
This picture was taken at The Bayon
Temple in Cambodia. This place
took my breath away. There are lots
of huge temples around this area,
dating back to the late 12th century,
but this was my personal favourite.
It’s famous for its huge carved stone
faces which jut out across many towers.
12
Last summer my wish came true and
I spent two weeks exploring Alaska.
The coastal areas were cool and wet,
but inland the temperatures reached
twenty-eight degrees. Here I am
beside the trans-Alaska oil pipeline.
It is 1300 km long and crosses frozen
tundra, boreal forest and 800 rivers
and streams.
5
The unfinished cathedral by Goudy
in Barcelona, La Sagrada Familia, is
just beautiful. It took a long time to
walk to the top and was quite scary
looking down over Barcelona from
the very top, but it was well worth
the walk.
Miss Adams
Mrs Neale
Last year I went on holiday to Biarritz
with my sister. It was the first time
we had been on holiday together for
about 15 years so it was very special!
We had a lovely, lazy time on the
beach, eating a lot and visiting some
really beautiful places. Here I am
enjoying the magnificent sunshine!
I love Sydney, Australia because
that’s where they film Home and
Away and I love surfing. I’ve stood on
Palm Beach where they film Home
and Away.
Answers
1 Mr Amod. 2 Miss Weston. 3 Ms Mijatovich. 4 Mr McDonnell. 5 Mrs Neale. 6 Miss Adams
7 Mrs Parvez. 8 Mr Rowley. 9 Miss Murray. 10 Mrs East. 11 Mr Bond. 12 Miss Ali.
Miss Weston
Mrs East
18
2
Mr McDonnell
Mr Rowley
I first travelled to India in 1989. I spent six months
travelling around this extraordinary country. When I
was in Delhi my friend suggested we go to Agra to visit
the Taj Mahal. It may be popular and crowded, but it is
also the most breathtaking building I have ever seen. A
monument of one man’s love for his wife. You can never
tire of staring at it.
My photograph was taken in Istanbul,
one of the most exciting cities I have
ever visited. In the background is
the Blue Mosque which is one of
the most beautiful buildings I have
ever been in. The city is thousands
of years old and has an incredible
history around it.
3
7
Mrs Parvez
My trip to Pakistan! The one place
that stood out was Baad-Shahi
Mosque. It was beautiful to look at
from a distance where I could see
just how big it was. You could also
see how much detail had gone into
the building itself.
Miss Murray
Here is a photo of me in Cambodia,
it was a memorable trip because I
spent a couple of months teaching
there. I really enjoyed getting to
know the county and its culture and
had lots exciting adventures while I
was there!
9
11
8
6
...IN THE WORLD?
19
Priory Matters 10th Edition
A ROCKING GOOD TIME
‘We will Rock You’ is a fantasy story set in the future when all music is banned. Last year it was also the story chosen for the Year 6 production.
It all started when the Year 6
teachers called us for auditions.
The song that we had to sing was
Bohemian Rhapsody which we had
all learnt in a music lesson with
Mrs Shaw. Once the auditions had
finished we started learning some
Queen songs which we were going
to sing in the production. Tina, who
has also helped us with previous
productions, choreographed our
dances and improved our acting with
the help of another partner, Elisha.
Sophie, who did a singing
workshop with us in Year 5, also
helped with the singing and acting.
Other people were called to do an
acting audition in which they read
out a part from the production.
Slowly but surely our production
Everything had fallen into place
and we then had a chance to add
in new dances and songs to further
improve our production.
Finally our production was
ready to be performed. We showed
our production to Years 1, 3, 4 and
Nursery on Monday, followed by
the parents on Tuesday. Then we
showed Years 2, 5 and Reception on
Wednesday and performed it to the
parents on Thursday.
Mrs Reith commented, “I am
so proud of how hard Year 6 have
worked; it was a brilliant production!”
was coming together.
The day before we found out our
parts we watched a performance of
We Will Rock You at the Dominion
Theatre in London. The costumes,
settings and scenes at the show
gave us ideas for what we could use
when performing our version.
The next day the parts for
the production were announced.
The part of Galileo was given to
Danyal Lee and Ben Ali-Ounich,
Scaramouche to Chloe Connor and
Shauna Smith, Killer Queen was
played by Chloe Davies and Rochelle
Moss, the part of Khashoggi given
to Gurjeeven Athwal and Gina Lee,
Khara to Bilaal Siddique and Taylor
Churchill and finally the part of
Brit was given to Mitchell Gray
and Casey Smyth. Of course they
also cast the GaGa Kids, teachers,
GaGa Girls, Minion Clones and
Bohemians because without these
our production would not have been
as fabulous as it was.
We were given the half term
holiday to learn our lines and by
the end we were almost word
perfect. We started practising
straight away. Sophie worked with
the soloists whilst Tina and Elisha
taught us acting skills to improve
our production they also taught us
dances to go with the songs.
Afterwards, we did a runthrough in which we practised using
the microphones and the lights.
20
Chloe and Ben (Scaramouche
and Galileo) told us,” We loved the
production and thought it was a
once in a life time experience. We
were over the moon that we got the
main parts.”
In conclusion, all of Year 6 loved
putting on and performing the
production together, even though
in some places we could have
increased our volume when singing.
A perfect end to a perfect year.
By Natalia Camenzuli and
Rochelle Moss
Priory Matters 10th Edition
This year Reception have had
a lot of exciting changes, one
of which has been the different
learning zones we can go into.
These zones are the maths and
investigation zone, the physical
development zone, the creative
zone and the communication,
language and literacy zone.
In the maths and investigation
zone children have had chance to
engage in opportunities such as
exploring with the sand and water,
which has been so much fun. We
have carried out so many different
experiments, such as how many
paper clips were needed on our
helicopters to make them come
down faster.
“My favourite experiment was
when we added food colouring to
the milk to see what happened,”
said Zara. “It made a lovely pattern
and I made up my own pattern. I
used lots of different colours.”
Children thoroughly enjoyed
learning about transport; they
explored many different ways in
which cars could travel at different
speeds using different types of
ramps from different heights.
In the physical zone the
children have loved having the
room to promote their physical
development. We have had a
performance area, a disco area
and magic carpet. This term
the children have used their
imaginations and creativity to
travel to different parts of the
world. Lindsay travelled all the
way to South Africa. “I can see all
the wild animals in the jungle.”
The children have really enjoyed
using the big blocks and small
construction to build lots of things
that interest them. A group of boys
made different types of transport
and used the shelves to display
their work. They were really
excited about showing their peers
what they had made. Ranveer said,
“My car is special. It’s superfast
and it’s got wings so it can go in
the water too.”
Lots
of
children
have
really enjoyed going into the
communication, language and
literacy zone. This year we have
had a baby clinic, a vets’ surgery, a
rocket and a boat for the children
to recreate roles relating to the
core books and their experiences.
Talking postcards have been
a super hit with the children.
They recorded their ideas on the
postcards; then they played them
back to write what they said down.
The children have enjoyed using
storyboards to recreate roles and
change elements of well-known
stories.
The creative zone has given the
children different opportunities
to explore with various materials.
The children enjoyed making their
own kites and then testing them
outside on a windy day competing
against each other to see whose
kite could fly the highest. They
have enjoyed using malleable
materials like plasticine, play
dough and clay. The children have
painted with different media water colours, pastels and even
mud. Junk modelling and collage
has been one of the favourite
activities with the children. Face
masks and puppet making has
also been a super hit. But the
overall favourite material they
have used this year is glitter.
By Reception
LEARNING IS
EXCITING
21
Priory Matters 10th Edition
Once they got out of the portal it was obvious that they were in a different
dimension so Eric and George explored the place a bit. After a while they
spotted a village but Eric started to realise that these were no ordinary
villagers for they were made of jelly! Eric and George asked a jelly person
called Jason for food because they were hungry and guess what Jason
gave them? Jelly! Plus Jason let them rest in his house…
The next morning Eric and George heard a boom so they went to the
window and saw suits of armour beating up Jason. They were a little
scared at first but then George spotted two enchanted swords, took both
and gave one to Eric. They both grinned and charged outside to fight!
They decided that their best chance of winning was to get the armour off
the enemy and the best part was that when they did they exploded into
doughnuts!!
A letter of complaint by Hope Allen and Jessica Porter-Yellop 4N
WRITE
RIGHT!
In Year 4 we love writing. We wanted to share some examples of
our work with you and hopefully inspire others to enjoy writing as
much as we do! Here is an example of a poem, a story and a letter
of complaint.
3 Cherry Road
Slough
Berkshire
SL1 6NG
15th April 2013
Dear Miss Smith,
I am writing to tell you about the awful trainers that I received on the 15th
April from Sports Direct. Here are my reasons why.
Firstly, one of my trainers was faded which is not very presentable. I am
unable to wear them because they look hideous. This is not acceptable
for a good shop like yours.
Secondly, I ordered a pair of size 3 shoes but when they arrived they were
a pair of size 5 instead. This was truly disappointing. I had quickly put
them on and gone to Windsor but when I got out of the car, they fell off
because they were so big which caused me to fall over and bump my
delicate head. This made me extremely angry!
In conclusion I will never order from this disgraceful shop again. I would
like a full refund of £65.00 and if not I will write to the council due to
this disappointment. I think you should be ashamed of your company’s
actions.
Yours sincerely
Space – a poem by Rehan Shafi 4N
Miss Allen-Yellop
Space is fun to explore.
You never know if you’ll find more.
Neil Armstrong was first on the moon.
Then he saw Buzz coming soon.
There’s no oxygen in space,
So you’ll need protection for your face.
Buzz was stuck in a crater,
So the rocket had to come back later.
In space it is so dark.
In fact it is darker than dark.
On Earth it is noon,
So Buzz wants to go home soon.
A story set in an imaginary world by Jack Perkins 4N
Once upon a time, there lived a boy called Eric. He had ginger hair, brown
eyes and little freckles. It was a sunny morning in the school holidays, so
Eric and his friend George had decided to explore the local park.
When they arrived at the park, they chose to play on the swings. But after
a while, they noticed something strange…
A red and white portal was swirling round so Eric and George went slowly
towards it and started to touch it. Right at that moment the portal sucked
them in!
22
Sports Direct
Bath Road
Slough
Berkshire
SL1 6SD
SUNSHINE
Priory Matters 10th Edition
& SHADOWS
In the first half of the summer term, Year 1 has been moving their
education forward by learning from a book named Beegu by Alex
Deacon. The story tells us about a small alien that lands on Earth
and has no friends until she meets a group of children in a school who
play with her and are kind to her.
The children showed real
empathy with Beegu and were able
to offer sensible and caring ideas
that would prevent her from being
lonely as part of their personal,
social and emotional education.
In science, we began to learn
about light sources and the children
became very interested in shadows
after we found out that shadows are
made when an object (or a person)
gets between the sun and the
surface of the Earth.
On a rare sunny day the children
were able to go outside and draw
around their partners’ shadows.
They also learnt about the danger of
looking directly at the sun.
As a result of this successful
experiment, we decided it would be
exciting for the children to design
and create their own alien shadow
puppet.
The shadow puppet unit focuses
on the children developing the
knowledge and skills related to
investigating and designing using
a planning process; creating and
developing ideas; safe use of tools,
equipment and materials; and
evaluating their product.
In step one, the children
developed
their
own
ideas
by watching a short film that
demonstrated the good use of a
shadow puppet and were able to
learn that shadow puppets do not
need a lot of decoration as this will
not be seen during a performance.
The children were unconvinced by
this, judging by the large amount of
glitter that decorated the classroom
floor when they reached this part!
They also investigated how to
design their shadow puppet. For the
next stage the children then created
an alien puppet - lots of different
ideas were used and we all enjoyed
looking at the creative templates
each class produced.
We followed up by making the
puppets using a range of materials,
which included the safe use of
scissors.
On a rather grey afternoon at the
end of the half term, the children
eagerly awaited their shadow
puppet show. Owing to the lack
of sunshine, the innovative team
in Year 1 brought in white sheets
to form a backdrop against the
window. Some classes used the
interactive white boards and, hey
presto!, our theatres were in place!
The children formed their own mini
alien scenarios, based on our story
book, working in teams to perform
productions of which they were
immensely proud. In their follow
up evaluations the Year 1 children
all scored the project as 10 out of 10
and claimed ‘they liked all of it’. Well
done Year 1.
The Council is an important
part of our school. They take
great care to make sure that the
pupils of Priory have a voice.
The School Council has worked
hard to make a difference this
year and we are all proud of
their achievements.
friendly and comfortable as possible
for the pupils.
The school council members
feel that they can really make a
difference. They have made an
effort to make sure the school
meets the pupil’s needs and always
ensure that they feedback the
children’s comments. If anyone
would like to share their ideas with
the school council, make sure you
meet up with your class council
representative. That way all of the
children’s wonderful ideas will be
thought about more carefully.
Pupil’s ideas help to make our
school friendly and welcoming! In
4N, O’tega Ayoma mentioned how
we like to have ‘Gorgeous Greeters’
to make visitors feel welcome.
This is an idea that class council
representative Zunaira Khan, 4N,
has fed back at a meeting.
If you are keen to share your ideas
then why not think about becoming
a school council representative
yourself? If you know that you’ve got
a voice to be heard, you could apply
for the honour and responsibility of
being a Priory School Councillor. Of
course, not everyone can be a school
council rep however everyone does
have the right to their point of view.
Important attributes of a school
councillor are: speaking up for your
class mates, making changes and
talking in front of a lot of people
including Mrs Jefcut, Mrs Laver and
important visitors.
Year 1
YOUR VOICE
Firstly, they have shared a lot of
the children’s ideas with Mrs Smythe.
The next step is for Mrs Laver to take
them forward to make this school as
23
Priory Matters 10th Edition
FIT FOR FOOTBALL
Priory School is very successful in many sports, but we are very
enthusiastic about football. Fit for Sport have been selecting a
football team for the school and the squad have great chemistry
and are all friends. These are some of the Year 6 and Year 5 players:
Morgan James, Matthew Powell, Sonny Gardner, Alfie Bishop,
Michael Croker, Lewis Linley, George Beckett, Cameron Rai and
Naseem Dar.
The football team has not got off
to a great start, but we have a great
attitude towards losing as well as
winning because we know Mr
Gallagher and Mr Watts are proud
of us either way. Our number one
supporters are our fans; Mr Bond,
Mrs Reith and Mr Philpott, our TA.
The Fit for Sport teachers have
put in a lot of time and effort to
create a fantastic football team and
now it is our time to show them
what we are made of!! They have
been very supportive towards the
football team.
Throughout the weeks the team
goal for us in that game, but at least
we kept our dignity!
We have played three games and
lost all of our games which might
seem bad for the Priory reputation
and it is really bad for the players
too. We need to start winning more
games and make the coaches proud
as well as the rest of the school.
We have about 24 people on the
football team that play really well in
training and in the match so that’s
what makes us so good. We need to
pick up our game and start winning
more matches or we will be very sad.
When Mr Bond and Mr Van
Terhayden left the football team
as coaches they joined as fans
and Fit for Sport came as our new
coaches. We really enjoyed it when
they became coaches for the school
football team. After a while we got
used to Mr VT & Mr Bond not being
our coaches and we really liked Mr
has improved and new people have
been arriving into the Priory football
team like: James Day, Enrique
Lampart and Daya Ghandial
Our first game was against
Claycots School. We lost 1-0, but
our goalkeeper, Morgan, made a
world class save. He saved the first
shot and dived to make a second
save. Mr Gallagher was astonished
by this amazing save.
In our second game of the
season we played against Western
House School, but sadly we lost our
second game of the season 2-1.
Billy Porter-Bull scored our only
FLY ME
TO THE
MOON
Year 5
Year 2 went to the Science Museum on the 18th March 2013. The
Science Museum is in South Kensington in London. We went there to
find out information about space as it was the topic we were learning
about. We were really excited to go there, especially as we had
enjoyed reading the story The Man in the Moon.
Mrs Jefcut, Miss Barrett, Miss
Purohit, Miss Weller, Mr Menmuir,
Mrs Craven, Miss Rowe, Miss Perry,
Mrs Romero, and Cole’s mum came
with us. We travelled by coach on
the motorway and it felt like we
were travelling for two whole hours.
At the museum, we watched Fly
Me to the Moon in the IMAX which is
a 3D cinema. We were told that the
screen is nearly as big as five double
decker buses! The film was about
Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin and
24
Watts and Mr Gallagher because
they are funny and we get along
well with everybody in the football
and Fit for Sport.
The school football team has
grown over the months as we have
accepted people to join. We need
more teamwork and some more
training that we can corporate into
our game and win more matches
and more trophies. We take pride
in being in the school football team
and have fun doing it!
As a school football player you
take pride in your achievements
and train well. You do not give up
and you push on as a Priory School
football team player and you play
well to your maximum ability.
The team has had some bad and
some amazing games, but we still
push on as a Priory player and never
give up for Priory School.
the first moon landing. We had to
wear 3D glasses and it seemed like
the characters were coming out of
the screen. It was great fun!
Afterwards we were able to
look round the museum. We saw
lots of rockets and an astronaut’s
suit. There was also a real piece of
the moon. We had a fantastic time!
Whenever we look up at the moon
in the night sky, we think about the
first men to land on the moon.
By 2B