As part of science, design & technology J2 have been studying the strength of 2D and 3D shapes. Their challenge was to build a bridge made from paper and art straws. It was to span 30cm and carry as much as possible. They discovered triangles and cylinders were extremely strong. Abby F won the class challenge. Her bridge took 1.6kg before it gave out!
Mrs Roach judges the challenge!
Abby starts to load her bridge
Today J3 went to Poulton to see the archaeological dig. We were shown round by Mr. Mike Emery and we saw archaeologists at work. They have a reconstructed henge with silver birch posts, a partly completed round house, a partly excavated chapel complete with bones (and a skull!), a dugout canoe and lots of artifacts and information in the museum. It was absolutely fascinating and we want to go again next year to see what else they have found and reconstructed. They are a charity and are probably much better at “archaeologising” than fund raising but they make visitors very welcome (they prefer you to contact them first) and are very appreciative of any donations. Their website is www.poultonproject.org
For more photos click here.
Kate Muddiman, our Kindergarten Leader is one of the few people in the Chester area to be awarded the status of Early Years Professional by the University of Lancaster. The Early Years Professional Status (EYPS) is a new role that recognises effective leadership of practice within an Early Years setting.
In order to be accepted onto the course, Kate needed to demonstrate her commitment to improve early years practice, as well as gaining a number of qualifications including an Honours Degree.
This status recognises Kate’s excellence in leadership skills across a range of national graduate-level standards associated with working with children from birth to five years. It aims to raise the quality of Early Years provision and the Government aims to have an Early Years Professional in every Early Years setting by 2010.
Congratulations to Kate on her achievement!
This story was also printed in the Chronicle as seen below. Click on the image to see it full size.
Over the summer the Firs invested in the Knowledge Box primary learning platform from Pearson. Our teachers can now easily search for IT based resources across the whole curriculum and incorporate them into the lessons using the interactive whiteboards. No more searching for that CD-ROM!
Even better our teachers can plan lessons from home using the external link. This is available from the following URL http://81.149.219.173:9000/ Sign in using the same user name and password as you use at the Firs. Please note: In order to use Knowledge Box you must have the latest versions of Flash, Java and Real Player installed on your PC at home. In order to do this go to the following link and install the programs. http://www.uk.knowledgebox.com/index.phtml?d=28363 Happy knowledgeboxing!
The plan for the future is that pupils will also be able to log-in to our Knowledge Box to do homework.
“Outstandingly well educated” is how inspectors described the pupils at the school. The Independent Schools Inspectorate visited the school earlier this year. Teaching at the school was described as “of outstanding quality” as was the pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. The youngsters were also praised for their behavior and discipline. Headmistress, Mrs Denton said “we were all delighted to receive such a good report that reflects the hard work of our staff and pupils, recognises our Christian ethos and praises the strength of our relationships with our parents”.
The Independent School Inspectorate inspects schools according to a framework which has been agreed with OFSTED and the DfES.
