West Lodge School - What's On

Information Bulletin Summer Term 2012

From the Head...

Welcome back to the Summer Term 2012 at West Lodge. I hope that you had a relaxing and enjoyable Easter holiday. The children have been telling me about various places they have visited and activities they have taken part in. It seems many of them had a busy and active time.

On a personal note I would just like to say a huge thank you to all of you for the many kind messages and cards that you have sent to me and my family.

Mr Cordwell has asked me to pass on his gratitude for making his time at West Lodge so enjoyable and for the overwhelming send off he received.

The building programme is now underway. During the Easter holidays the Crèche and Science room were knocked down and sadly our huge tree in the playground had to be felled due to it becoming a health and safety risk. Now the foundations for the new building are being dug and the children are excitedly watching the diggers in action. We are looking forward to seeing the new building grow.

Mrs Susan Webb

Autumn, Spring and Summer Terms 2011/12 - In School & Out and About

SPRING TERM 2012

Year 6 - High Elms - Wednesday 9 May

Today, Year 6 went to the woodlands and a place called High Elms. We revised and learnt about food chains and food webs and other things. We first played a game were a sticker had been put on our backs. We had to find out what animal name was on it by asking questions. I was Mr Rabbit. Then we had to find our partner e.g Mrs Rabbit, and then the next part of the food chain. That meant we had to find the grass or the foxes.

We then headed in to the woods where we collected soil from 2 different places then we looked at a tree in five different groups and collect things that maybe growing on it or growing round it. After that we had to give the tree a name and some eyes and to make up a story, ours was called Agent Trent.

When we got back we made up a picture of our tree with the soil it was really fun! We did a few other things between it all.

Overall I would say a really fun day out and I would rate it 9/10 because of the rain.

By Dayal M - Year 6

On Wednesday 9th May, years 5 and 6 went to High Elms. We had to collect 2 different types of soil and then separate and investigate them. Then he had to add water to the soil and make a type of mixture that acted as paint. It was based on the tree that you wanted to investigate on and name it and give it a personality. I was with Kurtis, Dervla and Ellie, we named our tree Teresa Green, (trees are green)!

We had stickers put on our backs and I was Mrs Snail, Kurtis was my husband Mr Snail. We split into groups of predator and prey. That's how Kurtis, Dervla. Ellie and I were in the same group. They were the predators and we were the prey. The most fun part of the day was the the painting part.

We had lots of fun and would go back again!!!

By Christopher S - Year 6

Today, Year 5 & 6 went to High Elms. When we arrived and got to the room we were going to work at we all had stickers put on our back; on the stickers it had animals which came from woodlands in England. The aim was to find the other person who had the same animal as you. The way you played was by asking your partner a yes or no question until you worked out what your animal was.

Then we got our boots on and went outside (High Elms was built in a forest) and when we were outside we took two soil samples, one orange coloured and the other a darker one. While we were in the forest we collected leaves and bark and brought it back to our class room at high elms. When we got back we did some tests to see what types of soils we had collected. After that we mixed one of the types of the soil of with water to make paint and then in groups we painted a tree we had with the watery soil and made it realistic with the bark and leaves.

My favourite bit was at the beginning were we had to work out what woodland creature we were.

By Ben B - Year 6

Today, Years 5 and 6, visited High Elms. High Elms is a Science Centre. Year 6 learnt about adaptation, soil and habitats.

My favourite part of the day, was when we got to make some tree pictures. To start off with, we got put into groups, then went outside to look at the soil. Each group dug up some of the soil. Then we picked up a different type of soil.

Next we had to find a tree, in the woodlands, and then we had to measure the girth with our hands, to see how old it was. After, we had to tell all the other groups what are tree was called and we had to use are imagination to make up a story about are particular tree.

Back at the centre, we had to find out what tree we made a story about, by getting a leaf, we found next to the tree. My tree was a Beech Tree, my group then sketched a picture of our tree; we did this from memory. My group found a branch and we pulled of some bark and glued to our picture, which made it look very effective.

I've been to High Elms lots of times before, but this year was my favourite. We did lots of different things and I enjoyed every minute of it.

By Isabelle M - Year 6

Easter Egg Hunt - 28 March

Each year our Year 6 pupils organise the Easter Egg Hunt for the younger pupis including filling and hiding the Easter Baskets. They then join the Easter Bunny to help the children find their baskets. The following are some of their comments:

'I think that the children really enjoyed the Easter egg hunt and were always smiling.'
Julia B

'It was fun and the little ones really enjoyed it and were very eager to find the baskets.'
Christopher S

'It was really funny because the little children kept on hopping and we had to as well I would love to do it again. '
Bethany D

'I really enjoyed today especially spending time with the little children which we don’t usually get to do and I was very happy with it all that I had a smile on my face at all times.'
Sophie E

'I loved helping the little children find their Easter eggs, it was so much fun.'
Isabelle M

'The Easter egg hunt was so much fun for the children and I and it was so funny when everyone was hopping at the start.'
Riandeep D

'The Easter Hunt was so much fun all the way though the year sixes and nursery children were hopping around. It was so fun.'
Kurtis W

'I really enjoyed taking the younger children around the garden helping them look for their Easter eggs.'
James S

'I found it very enjoyable helping the younger children to find their boxes of Easter eggs and chicks.'
Matthew R

'The Easter egg hunt was very fun we had to hide the baskets and help the younger children look for them it was very fun.'
Rian T

'The Easter hunt was very fun we had to hide the baskets for the little one and then we went outside to find them.'
Olivia B

'I had a great time taking the children round whilst we were hopping and i hope they enjoyed it to.'
Dervla D

'I found it very fun hiding the Easter baskets and then helping the children find them again and it was also very fun because we hopped a lot.'
Dayal M

'I found his hunt very interesting and fun! I really enjoyed it because we worked with little children and had to give them hints to where they were. I found this was the best part of the hunting.'
Kishen P

'The main reason I utterly enjoyed today was when the children found their eggs and the smiles that appeared on their faces.'
Folarin A

'I really enjoyed it and i could tell that the children enjoyed it too as they were laughing and smiling as well as me i would love to do it again.'
Isabella H

'I really enjoyed the Easter Egg Hunt because you could see the little kids were having fun! The funniest part was when we had to hop around with them!'
Aden Q

'I very much enjoyed the egg hunt as you could see the little children’s faces were glowing with laughter, I enjoyed the part where you had to try and find their basket although many eggs fell on the floor.'
Jesmine D

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U10 Silly Socks Netball - 23 March

Our Year 5 netballers travelled to Farringtons today to take part in their Sport Relief Silly Socks tournament. With a bright array of socks, the girls' play improved throughout the afternoon and, despite an injury and the very warm weather, gave their all in every match. There were 7 matches in total and although they didn't win any games, they all enjoyed the afternoon and showed admirable sportsmanship. Thank you very much to the parents who helped with transport and who encouraged and supported the girls throughout the tournament.

U11 Netball Tournament - Colfes - 16 March

Our U11 Netball team travelled to Colfes this afternoon to take part in the end of league tournament. The afternoon started with a match against Babington House which was a close run match but ended in a 1-0 loss to West Lodge. The second match was against Blackheath Prep and although our girls played really well, the final score was the same. The 3^rd match was in the sports hall against Breaside and this time, our efforts paid off and after some excellent defence and marvellous shooting, we won 3-0! After a couple of match breaks, West Lodge then faced Colfes and were defeated 4-0.

In our final match against St Olaves, the girls played amazingly well and ended the afternoon with a 6-2 win! Overall in the tournament, West Lodge came 7^th out of 10 schools and I am really proud of the way the girls played in their last tournament representing West Lodge. Thank you very much to the Mums and Mr Hankin who helped with transport and supported the girls during the afternoon.