On Monday afternoons this half term, Y2W have been enjoying music lessons playing the glockenspiel with Mr Bird. They have been learning about rhythm, while playing keys and chords.
The Primary Science Teaching Trust are launching an exciting competition for primary school children aged 4 – 11. They would like children to use their imaginations to design a beautiful object that could be made from glass, which they think would also be useful in a primary science classroom.
Children can draw or paint their designs to show how it will look beautiful and annotate it to explain how the object or any specific features will make it useful for a primary science classroom.
It is an excellent opportunity for the children to showcase their wonderful imaginations and creativity. If your child would like to take part, they can submit their designs at home using the link provided or they can bring them to school where we can submit them. Entries must be submitted by 7th October.
Aretha Louise Franklin was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. She was known as the “Queen of Soul”. Aretha Franklin released 112 charted singles and is the most charted female artist in history. She has sold over 75 million records worldwide, making her one of the biggest-selling music artists of all time.
Aretha Franklin’s Music:
- 1967- I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Loved You)- Her first ever single.
- 1967- (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman- Many of Aretha’s songs are about the suffering and unhappiness inside relationships but this one was all about rejoicing in the beauty of love.
- 1967- Respect- Originally written by Otis Reading in 1985, Aretha went on to make this her own and possibly her most recognised song.
- 1968- Say a Little Prayer- Cover version of the original which became one
of her most famous songs. It is about a women’s concern for someone who has gone to the Vietnam War. - 1968- Think- A song about female and ethnic empowerment.
- 1972- Amazing Grace- Aretha releases a live gospel album, selling over 2 million copies.
Interesting Facts about Aretha Franklin!
- Aretha Franklin is not a fan of flying. After in-flight turbulence during one of her
flights in 1982, she decided she’d stop flying altogether. - She was the first women to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
- She also received a Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Listen to some of Aretha Franklin’s Music!
A huge thank you to all of our parents and carers for their support at our summer Stay and Play events! The children’s summer song performance was excellent and it was great fun to be able to celebrate your child’s success in Reception with you there. Class of 2022 you have been SUPERSTARS!
Reception have been super busy making amazing dreamcatchers! The children have been discussing what their dreams for Year 1 are. They have thought of some amazing things they would like to achieve when they come back to school in September.
Y3 enjoyed a trek through Castle Eden forest focusing on similarities and differences between the tropical and UK forest – although at 26 degrees it was nearly as hot as a tropical forest!
Firstly we all went on a walk to look at lots of different trees, plants and woodland animals. We then moved onto a hunt for cards with different continents around the world and matched them up with different rainforests and climate descriptions. We finally moved deeper into the forest where we learnt life skills on survival in the rainforest! We enjoyed building our own dens and learning how to peg and tie ropes and sticks together! We had an amazing day!
This term’s Musician is Sir Elton John. With over 300 million records sold, Elton John is one of the best-selling music artists in the world. Elton John is an English singer, pianist and composer who is famously nicknamed ‘The Rocket Man’ after his 1972 hit single.
Elton John’s Music:
Elton John’s music stands out from many other artists of the time because he was a classically trained pianist who loved rock’n’roll. His piano parts are very difficult to play. Often they run counter to the vocal melodies, which go over the top, to allow for Elton’s famous flourishes, and this means that his melodies are very rarely doubled in the piano part.
Billy Elliot-
The musical “Billy Elliot” opened at the Victoria Palace Theatre. Elton John composed the music for this show. It won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 2008 and continues to run on Broadway
The Lion King-
Elton John wrote the score to this famous Disney film which is now also one of London’s most famous musicals. The film was remade in 2019 with a brand-new song from Elton.
Elton John’s Famous Songs:
Your Song- 1970 (he wrote this song at 17)
Crocodile Rock- 1972
Rocket Man- 1972 (Not long after man landed on the moon, the song captured the excitement of the time)
Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me- 1974 (Was a major hit twice as he sang a live duet with George Michael which also topped the charts in 1991)
I’m Still Standing- 1983 (A song about resilience about surviving a tough private life and surviving a changing music scene)
The Circle of Life- 1994 (Elton’s soundtrack to The Lion King became the bestselling film score of all time)
Football Fact!
Having supported Watford since growing up locally, Elton John became the club’s chairman and director in 1976.
Listen to some of Elton John’s music!
The children in Y2M have been working extremely hard this half term and the staff are all so impressed with their excellent effort, especially when completing the KS1 SATS. To celebrate the end of the SATS we had a little extra ‘golden’ morning of fun, we got to enjoy the sunshine and play outside, the children were even treated to an ice pop!
We had lots of fun after SATS preparing for our Jubilee celebrations. We loved welcoming our parents into class to help us decorate our Jubilee T-shirts. A huge thank you to everyone for attending and for all your hard work, we have some very talented parents and children of course! We were so excited to share our special song for The Queen with you as well. We hope you enjoyed it.
Check out the amazing artwork year 4 produced after learning about the Ancient Egyptians. They used paper straws and paint to create their own death masks inspired by that of Tutankhamun. They also used clay and metallic paint to create scarab beetles. The Ancient Egyptians believed they were symbols of wisdom and could be used as amulets for good luck.
Year 3 enjoyed decorating their t-shirts with their adults to celebrate the upcoming Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. We had so much fun creating our own designs- our t-shirts included lots of crowns, jewels, Union Jack flags, stamps and even the Queen’s Corgi! We gave our adults a special treat by singing a song we have been learning in school called ‘Here’s to the Queen’- it sounded fantastic! Take a look at our creative jubilee designs…
