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Fauna & Flora Cake Sale - May 2022
Our children continually amaze us! Just yesterday, a group of year six boys asked to do a cake sale after school in aid of Fauna & Flora. In our Eco Squad meetings, we have been discussing the importance of protecting and saving our bees. Luca, a member in the Squad, is especially passionate about looking after our bees and has inspired us all with his wealth of knowledge. A great cake stall, well done boys! And your cakes tasted delicous!
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Ukraine Cake Sale
A big thank you to our year five and six girls who, (steered by Libby C), held a cake sale after school in March in aid of Ukraine. We are incredibly proud of the girls who all baked cakes over a weekend for the sale. An amazing £182.50 was raised and Alice and Libby C both raided their money boxes to make the total up to £200. Great citizenship skills girls.
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Triathlon Superstars
What superstars Louis, Harry, Adam and Ewan are for completing their triathlon on Tuesday. Before completing the triathlon, they set up a Just Giving Page as they wanted to raise money for the school as a way of saying 'Thank You' for their time at the school. They smashed their £200 target and have raised £595 for the school. Super proud of the children for using our school values in such a special way. We will using the money to buy something sporty for the school.
https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/chrishally6triathlon
Thank you boys!
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School Council & Eco Squad Litter Picking Stint
Following discussions about litter in the community, our Eco Squad and School Council took part in a Litter Pick before school.
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Cookie Stall School Fundraiser
Congratulations to Hatty and Poppy for their homemade cookie sale that they did last weekend. They raised an incredible £89.20 for the school. Many thanks girls, you are superstars and you have both been awarded Citizenship school value awards. Well Done girls!
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Star Count: a lockdown-friendly stargazing activity
'We think that dark and starry skies are a special part of our countryside. Nothing beats looking upwards to see velvety blackness, with twinkling constellations as far as the eye can see.
Our buildings and streetlights emit light, though, and this can affect our view of truly dark skies. We want to make sure that we can all enjoy starlit nights, and we need your help in measuring what effect light is having on our views of the galaxy.
What is Star Count?
The best way to see how many stars we can all see in the sky is… to count them! So we’re asking people from all across the country to become citizen scientists and look heavenwards from home for one night. Join in by choosing a clear night between 6-14 February 2021, looking up at the constellation of Orion and letting us know how many stars you can spot.
Click on the link to submit your results:
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Half Term Eco Activities
The School Council and Eco Squad have decided to pick just two weekly actiities instead of two. For half term, they have voted for a milk/juice carton birdhouse and a wormery.
Birdhouse
If you need instructions, click on the link below:
https://www.homedepot.com/c/ah/how-to-make-a-milk-carton-bird-house/9ba683603be9fa5395fab901e44ed176
Wormery
Click on the link for instructions: https://www.science-sparks.com/make-your-own-wormery/ or read the instructions below.
- Collect some worms from the garden. Look in the compost heap, under stones in damp places or dig a hole.
- Cut the top ¼ off the bottle, to make a lid. Make a slit in the side of the lid so that the top can close over the bottom part.
- Fill the bottle with alternating layers of sand, soil, sand, compost, sand etc. Spray each layer with water so that it is damp.
- Add a few worms to the top of the bottle and watch them burrow down. Then add the ‘food’ to the top. Wash hands well after handling worms and compost.
- Wrap the black cardboard around the bottle to make it dark. Worms do not like light and it will encourage them to burrow around the outside of the bottle so they can be observed.
- Place the wormery in a warm place. Remove the cardboard for observation periods and record findings. Check that the contents are damp and that there is food available for the worms.
- After 1 week, release the worms back into the garden.
Do not feed worms citrus fruits or onions.
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Litter Picking
A big thank you to Angela, Jess and George who collected 3 bags of litter on a walk from Duddenhoe End to Chrishall. The children were very proud of their achievement and what it meant for the environment. They were very surprised at how much litter there was. As a school we must explore how we persuade everyone in the community to not drop their litter.
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Charity Run
This week we paid our tributes to Sir Captain Tom Moore and we all remember and be inspired by his achievements and wise words: ‘For all those finding it difficult, the sun will shine on you again, and the clouds will go away: tomorrow is another day.’ Inspired by Sir Captain Tom Moore, Josh and his football team are running 2K every day to raise money for the NHS. We all wish you lots of luck Josh and we are all very proud of you.
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Litter Pick
Well Done to Grace, Margaux and Felix for their litter picking work last weekend.
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Another week of lockdown eco-friendly activities
Make a mini garden pond for garden creatures
Upcycle plastic pots to make some fun plant pots
Plant some seeds
Use an empty pringle pot/kitchen roll to make a pencil/pen holder
Make some ice ornaments
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RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch
Good luck to everyone taking part in this weekend's Big Garden Birdwatch.
Take a look at some of the wonderful posters made by children in the School Council and Eco Squad teams.
/essex/primary/chrishall/arenas/citizenship/web/rspbbirdwatchweekendposters.pdf
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This week's top 5 lockdown eco-friendly activities
The School Council and Eco Squad have voted for the following 5 eco friendly activities to do. Let us know how you get on. Have fun!
1. Go for a family walk.
2. Use an empty egg box to make a flower canvas/card for someone.
3. Paint some old keys and make a wind chime.
4. Go on a litter pick.
5. Make a mini bug hotel.
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British Values
As part of our school British Values work, each class has found out about a role model from the armed services. Throughout the school, we have explored the following role models: Rick Jolly (Royal Navy Surgeon), William Robinson Clarke (the first black pilot to fly for Britain), Edith Cavell (British Nurse who saved soldiers from both sides), Sir Captain Tom Moore (former British Army Officer) and Jack (currently in the army). Discussion was had around whether we thought the role models had used any of our school values.
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Children In Need Day
On Friday we took part in Children In Need Day, with children coming into school in their own clothes in exchange for a £1 donation. Each class filled a Pudsey template with their collected coins. Throughout the day, we explored how the money raised by Children In Need is used and the impact that this has on children's lives. We also linked our own school values with the work that Children In Need does.
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School Council's 'Great Chrishall Bake Off'
Congratulations to our School Council for their first fund raising event which has raised £90 for their chosen charity for this term - Guide Dogs for the Blind.
/essex/primary/chrishall/arenas/citizenship/web/greatchrishallbakeoff-schoolcouncil.pdf
We had lots and lots of wonderful cake entries and it was a difficult decision to pick a winner, however it was Wilf, Ru and Isaac's chocolate church cake that was our favourite. The family will be presented with 'Nadiya's Bake me a Story' recipe book. Congratulations boys!
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Remembrance Assembly
This week we came together to for a very special Remembrance Assembly. Over half term, children were asked to make poppies for a poppy tower that we wanted to create at the church. Along with those made over the holidays, we held a poppy workshop on Monday at school and then our wonderful parents magically created our poppy tower ...
After we sang 'Peace Perfect Peace' in our class 'Bubbles', Charlie and Poppy read the following from Micah chapter 4: In days to come the mountain where the temple stands will be the highest one of all, towering above all the hills. Many nations will come streaming to it and their people will say, 'Let us go up the Hill to the Lord, to the temple of Israel's God. For he will teach us what he wants us to do; we will walk in the paths he has chosen. For the Lord's teaching comes from Jerusalem; from Zion he speaks to his people.'
He will settle disputes among the nations, among the great powers near and far. They will hammer their swords into ploughs and their spears into pruning knives. Nations will never again go to war, never prepare for battle again. Everyone will live in peace among his own vineyards and fig trees, and no one will make him afraid. The Lord Almighty has promised this.
Mrs Dyer and Blake read:
They shall grow not old as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning.
We will remember them.
We will remember them.
We then listened to the last post ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDS3TxtGaQ0
.... and during our two minute silence we watched a video of our poppy tower
Beatrice, our youngest child and Kylie, our eldest child lay our school wreath and the war memorial.
Angus read the Kohima Epitaph ...
When you go home tell them of us and say, For your tomorrow we gave our today.
Josh, Izzy and William then read 'Flanders Fields'
Bonnie, Eleni, Ferris and Hamish read a prayer with Mrs Stratton
... and we remembered those in Chrishall who have died in the service of our country:
Robert Samuel Brand
George Cranwell
Harry Easter
Thomas Enos Green
Charles Healey
Eustace Hooper
Herbert Margham
Leonard Arthur Rogers
Time was given at the end of the assembly to have our own time to reflect. For this, we played 'Make me a channel of your peace' - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihhvm6eLWZI
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Harvest Celebrations
More than ever, with us all having to deal with the impact that COVID is having on our lives and the changes that we’ve had to put into place at school, it is so important that we do take the time to appreciate and be grateful for everything that we do have in our world. With this in mind, we therefore decided to theme our harvest celebrations on ‘All Things Beautiful’. In an assembly I talked to the children about Cecil Frances Alexander, a very famous lady who has written over 400 hymns, including the popular hymn ‘All things bright and beautiful’. After sharing a video with the children about a community from Cecil’s village in Ireland, who came together to create a garden in celebration of her life, we were inspired to create our own gardens and decided to theme then around the famous hymn ‘All things bright and beautiful’. With the help of ‘Golden Wonder’ crisps, I have explored the meaning of ‘wonder’ with the children. A definition I shared was ‘a feeling of amazement and admiration, caused by something beautiful, remarkable or unfamiliar’. During our harvest preparations and celebrations, children were encouraged to think about our beautiful world and the things and people that are ‘wonderful’ in our lives and I suggested that it would be great if we could all make a conscious effort to practise having ‘golden wonder’ moments every day! The beautiful gardens made were shared at our harvest assembly. Each class had focused their garden on a verse from the hymn and class poems and prayers were written in response to children’s ideas and thoughts that were generated in class discussions throughout their harvest work. Our pre-school children also sung a lovely autumn song and I know were in awe of seeing the older children in the school on the screen. The learning journey that the children have been on has been amazing and our assembly was a real culmination of the learning undertaken and showcased how well our children have adapted to performing in a virtual way. A special thanks to Jon Wayper, who joined us to give a blessing and prayer at the end.
1. Each little flower that opens, Each little bird that sings, He made their glowing colours, He made their tiny wings.
2. The purple headed mountains, The river running by, The sunset and the morning, That brightens up the sky.
3. The cold wind in the winter, The pleasant summer sun, The ripe fruits in the garden, He made them every one.
4. The tall trees in the greenwood, The meadows where we play, The rushes by the water, To gather every day.
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Our New School Council Recruits
Meet our new School Council for this academic year! With their enthusiasm and exciting ideas, I am sure they are going to prove to be a great team. Our first meeting entailed discussing the roles and deciding who was going to take them on.
Chair: William
Vice Chair: Fleur
Secretary: Izzy
Treasurer: Libby
Publicity Officers: Mia, Hattie, Daisy and Hatty
After discussing rules, we talked about charities that we might want to raise money for. Guide Dogs UK, Sign2Sing, Teenage UK Cancer, Fair Share Aid and Air Ambulances were the ones that were interested in. We had a vote and the decision was made to have 3 charities - one a term. Guide Dogs UK, NHS and Fair Share Aid are the elected charities.
We will be using this blog to keep a log of what we're up to!
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Remembrance: Spiritual, Moral, Social & Cultural
This year, we decided to theme our SMSC (Spiritual, Moral, Social & Cultural) work on Remembrance. At the end of our SMSC themed day, our sharing assembly was used to share our work. The work has now been beautifully displayed on our communal SMSC display board.
