Tuesday 30 April 2013

KS1 Circus day 2013


A taste of what we got up to today. Photos and the children's thoughts to follow.

Sunday 28 April 2013

Y6 – District Tag Rugby

 
On Wednesday 24th April the District Tag Rugby tournament for years 5 and 6 was held at Hertford Rugby Club. In contrast with previous years the weather was warm and sunny - this is possibly a first for this tournament.
 
The Y6 team had seven games in total, with the games being nine-a-side and 10 minutes each. Christchurch brought a squad of 14 to the tournament.
 
The children represented the school admirably, scoring some excellent team tries with the ball being passed around nearly the whole team before a successful score, coupled with some dazzling individual tries. With some strong opposition, Y6 fought through to finish 7th overall.
 
Many thanks to the referees and organisers who put on a splendid event. We wish Morgans and Abel Smith the best of luck as they go on to represent the district at the County competition.
 
**Thank you Mr Marlow who accompanied the year 6 team members
and wrote this blog article**

Sunday 14 April 2013

Circus

 
All the staff in KS1 hope that the children in Potter, Butterworth and Hargreaves had an enjoyable Easter holiday.
 
We look forward to seeing you again on Tuesday 16th April and ready to start our new topic, which is all about the circus.

Monday 8 April 2013

Bug Club

...is back up and running. I have been able to log into my class account
and my daughter into her pupil account.
Happy Reading!
 

Friday 5 April 2013

Latest from Bug Club



Dear Bug Club customer,

We’re sorry that Bug Club continues to be unavailable while we undertake some essential updates to our servers. We are working as fast as we can to make these updates, and hope to have the service up-and-running again during week beginning 8 April.

We are very sorry for the inconvenience we know this is causing. We will be in touch again next week, and will let you know as soon as Bug Club is available again.

Kind Regards
Pearson Digital Support 

Pearson Education Ltd (UK Schools)


 

Big Maths in KS1




After Easter we will be starting a new BIG MATHS…BEAT THAT challenge. As you know, Big Maths was new to us this half term, which is why we have spent the last 5 weeks catching up with the Reception “learn its”  in Year 1 and the Year 1 “learn its”  in Year 2. This has enabled most of the children to learn these sets of number facts and to feel a sense of success in their first half term of the BEAT THAT! challenges.
 
We will now spend the summer term using the age appropriate “learn its” to ensure the children get the opportunity to learn these before moving on in September. In Year 1 there are 17 of these and the children will have 30 seconds to answer the questions and in Year 2 there are 40 and the children will have 90 seconds to answer. We will be looking for accurate answers, as well as correctly formed and orientated numbers.
 
Please try to help your child learn a few new facts each week, in addition to any other maths homework, this will support them with their challenges and help to beat their own best score each and every week. We will also be focusing on a selection each week in class.
 
The actual day of the challenge may vary from class to class. This is due to each class having a different arrangement of staff and because each, also, has timetabled slots elsewhere in the school (P.E, Library, ICT etc). Occasionally it might be necessary for the weekly challenge take place on a different day, depending on what else is taking place in school/class that week.



Year 1 - 30 seconds

 
 
Year 2 - 90 seconds



When the children can answer all questions correctly in the given time, the next challenge is to not only get 100% correct, but to do this is a shorter time. As you can see we have plenty to work on, but rest assured that a recent visitor to Hargreaves class was amazed to see how excited the children were about a "maths test" and she commented on how focused they all were and I can also state they love getting their scores at the end and seeing if they have indeed achieved a personal best.

Thursday 4 April 2013

The Ice Beauty

At the back of school we have an area called Pam's Patch. This is a quiet and peaceful area was design with an African theme. It is a memorial to Pam Brenton, a much loved and missed member of staff, who sadly did several years ago.
 
This winter a huge formation of icicles has been glistening there. Luke, one of our older pupils wrote the following and asked if he could publish it on the Blog. Thank you also to Mrs D'arcy, for taking the photo for Luke and letting him use it here.

 
 
 
Ice can be dangerous, but ice can be a beauty, so very like,
All ice has beauty, but this ice has changed so much it is untrue.
It melts so quickly, it is lucky to be able to see it.
Like I said every piece of ice has its own beauty.
 
by Luke H
 
 

Wednesday 3 April 2013

Bug Club Easter Challenge


As you know, the children at Christ Church enjoy using Bug Club. This is our online system that can be accessed at home or in the classroom. It is where children get the chance  to read e-books, take part in the comprehension activities and gain virtual rewards for their own area of Bug Club. There is also a small maths section to the site, with games that can be played to help consolidate learning.
 
Over Easter we set a whole school Bug Club challenge: Each year group has been asked to complete on online maths game and to read a minimum number of books, reflecting the average length of books for their year group. 
 
Nursery and Reception - 5 books
Years 1 and 2 - 5 books
Years 3 and 4 - 3 books
Years 5 and 6 - 1 book
 
Sadly for us Pearson, the publisher, has had a few problems to solve which have taken loner than expected. This means if you try to log into your account you will be met with a holding page.
 
 
 
Please keep checking back for updates and in the meantime enjoy the rest of the Easter Holidays.
 
 
 


FairTrade Collage


Thank you to all the Year One family and friends who provided us with the wrappers to make this fantastic collage. The children worked together on it during one of our shared sessions.
 
They were responsible for the design and layout and were ably assisted in the sticking by Lucy, a Chauncy student, who was spending the week in school on work experience.
 
The finished art work was given to Rosie Watson to be displayed as part of the fairtrade display in the Library.

Year 3 and 4 RE


During this term Year 3 and 4 have been exploring a programme of study entitled, ‘Why do some people think that Jesus is inspirational?’ 

We began our study by thinking about people we consider to be inspiring - this ranged from authors to sports people to mums and dads. 

We then considered how Jesus is an inspirational figure.  We thought about Jesus as an engaging teacher by the parables he told, as well as having the confidence to spread his message and values to large crowds, especially the Sermon on the Mount.  We have also thought about Jesus as an inspiration to those in need with his healing and the wonder of his miracles.  His life story we have also considered inspiring, especially the events of Holy week. 

On Wednesday 20th March we also had Revd Hookway in to talk to us about how Jesus is a very inspiring figure in his life and how he has been and still is a powerful guide.  The children really enjoyed the talk as well as having time to ask further questions.  We would like to thank Revd Hookway for coming to talk to us at this busy time of year and responding to a range of thought provoking questions.

Here is a picture of our Learning Journey display and a picture from our talk - to follow


Look out for our stained glass window/cross designs in school early next term!

Tuesday 2 April 2013

Easter in Keystage 1

How did you celebrate Easter?
 
In Key stage One we spent the weeks leading up to Easter Sunday learning more about the Easter Story.  We read parts of the story, we watched some parts in The Miracle Maker film, we wrote about the story, we played instruments, we made palm leaves that were displayed in church, we learnt about The last Supper and thought about how Jesus might have felt during this meal and the days that followed. We thought about how Judas, Peter and Jesus felt that evening.
 
We made colour collages to represent some of the feelings that might
have been experienced at the Last Supper.
We also attended the School Church Service and three children, read prayers that had been written as a group and we joined in the songs and played dingbats with John, our Vicar.
 
Can you see the cross in the grass?
Some of us made cards or Easter baskets and took part in an Egg hunt. We hope you had a joyous Easter and enjoyed the celebration with your families.
 

Egg hunt - we had to find three eggs with were different to each other.