Wonder Days and Theme Weeks
A Night At The Opera
Parents returned encouraged after an inspiring Assembly with soprano Gemma Turner to hear stunning renditions from Greatest Showman to classics such as Nissum Dorma. This follows Mrs Massey's Leaders for Impact training via The Royal Opera House and a determination to enrich our cultural capital for our community. By popular request Gemma sang let it Go from Frozen with bubble accompaniment!
Global Explorers Week included Mini Marines, Teddies dressed as explorers and journeys to Kingfisher Island for snacks around a fire pit, all to inspire writing and dovetail into our Eco Curriculum.
Graphic Designer from Lion King shows how Creativity and technology can work side by side.
Well done Young Cultural Ambassadors for planning a day to recognise Women in History and their impact. From Mary Seacole and Rosa Parks to Amy Winehouse, all were celebrated and researched to inspire writing and to reinforce non stereotypical role models
'Just One Steve', not 2 Steves, but Steve Skidmore amazed and inspired children to write and kept over 160 members of our Howe Dell Family enthralled.
Reach For The Stars Week, celebrated Howe Dell being 70 and heading for new heights in challenge and aspiration. We designed kites, climbed, did archery and dance workshops and dressed up as 'When I grow up I want to be...' The week ended with a birthday cake by Nanny Lisa and parties!
From staff dressed as ladies who lunch to active workshops to underpin our 'reach for the stars' strapline. A wonderful week was had by all.
Creativity Week - Self Evaluation results
Creativity Week with an African theme inspires our imaginations and extends all of our horizons
Celebrating Nature on our Doorstep: WILD WONDER captured in photographs, by a member of staff with her family on our Family Dusk Walk, a child over a weekend and our whole school through Iain Green photographic inspiration
Farm to Fork Week looked at sustainable food miles, included an onsite farm, plus parents and business involvement. We raised understanding of what Fair Trade means.
Dress up for Farm to Fork Week as an animal or person from a farm, a fruit or vegetable or a symbol of weather. We even made our living whole School rainbow!
Skipping Workshops to Inspire Healthy, Active Playtimes during the WInter Months. This is possible due to Sports Premium Grant!
Maths Week
Thank you to everyone (and especially those parents who gave up their time to come into school to tell us about their jobs) for making Maths Week such a wonderful success. Lots of positive experiences, collaboration and challenges contributed to a really engaging themed week that was celebrated in our sharing assembly.
Below is the link to the hands-up survey undertaken by the children at the end of the week, which includes lots of positive feedback and some lovely comments.
Maths Week Celebration
Friday's assembly was used to celebrate all the brilliant and wonderful things that went on in Maths Week: from the Quantum Theatre Company; to the carousel activities; and onto the Brain Blaster Puzzle Challenge; not forgetting the parents who came in to give us an insight into how important Maths is in the world of jobs.
Thank you to everyone for making the week such a success.
Brain Blaster Challenge
The Happy Puzzle Company have been challenging the children all day with a Brain Blaster challenge - judging from the engagement, amount of activity, conversation levels and the number of smiles and arms in the air, it has been a thoroughly enjoyable challenge.
Maths Carousel
The children have had great fun during Maths week, not least on the carousel activities, which were wide-ranging in terms of experiences and yet very challenging with a great emphasis on teamwork:
Maths Week
Monday 2nd October marks the start of Maths Week. Children from Year 1 to Year 6 will experience The Adventure Of The Missing Number with the Quantum Theatre Company on Monday and children from Year 2 upwards will enjoy Brain Blaster puzzle workshops with the Happy Puzzle Company on Thursday. All of the children in the school will participate in a Maths Carousel and Friday provides everyone with the opportunity to dress up with the Wear-A-Pattern-To-School day.
Contributions have been requested for children in Year 1 upwards to help us cover the costs of the events.
If you are a parent whose job involves Maths in any way and you can spare some time to come into school to talk about it please let your child's class teacher know and they will organise a mutually convenient time.
Maths Week - 2nd - 6th October 2017
Circus Wonder Day, to launch the use of play equipment by Sports Leaders and the arrival of a REAL Circus at the end of the Week. Whole School Assembly started the day, with workshops for Reception, Y1 and Y2.
Circus Assembly
Juggling one to five balls at once! This launched our Circus Wonder Day and reaffirmed our focus on building resilience in all of us.
Where In The World Week, another opportunity to inspire writing for real purposes including replies to letters from overseas, vitual reality Google Earth workshops, mapping skills and introduction to the Arctic from an explorer, a Carousel of mixed age learning opportunities and chance for Y4 to pond dip with pupils from Southfields Special School.
No themed week would be complete without the inclusion of a Dress Up Day! This time, children dressed as a monument or food from overseas, or in traditional dress representing their culture or a nationality. The variety of home made and highly creative costumes were the best ever!
Pet Day as requested via Archie through our Suggestion Box with visiting animals, an Assembly including photos and Nurture Dog with pet headlines, cake sale and dog themed biscuits from our School cooks.
World Book Day 2017
World Book Day
Dare to Aspire: George Fouche teacher, ex rugby player, and Inspiring Speaker acknowledged life' can throw a curve ball' but to' kick it out of the park' and follow your dreams.
What did our KS2 pupils take away from our 'Dare To Aspire' Wonder Day?
Children's Council - Parents Survey
Think Outside The Box Week really did have an impact on learning!
Please take a look at our children's feedback, parents' comments collated by our Children's Council to follow.
What was shared via Twitter this week? Join the 180 parents who follow us... and rember there is also a PSA Face Book to keep you up to date too!
Feedback from Think Outside the Box Week
Dress Up Day: When I grow up I want to be...
Whole School PowerPoint Celebrating Opportunities Available in Think Outside The Box Week
Think Outside the Box Week including Science Boffins, Stomp Dancing, a Giant Egg Challenge, Puppet Workshops and peer to Peer Carousels, All to Inspire Writing
Our Living Learning World Week
HIP, HIP, HOORAY for the Queen Day! A day of tradition to celebrate a sense of being proud of our community and a day for our Nation. Trooping of the Colour enabled every child to celebrate and record their own personal history and inheritance in a diverse Britain
Hip Hip Hooray for the Queen Day! Friday 10th June 2016
Our Living Learning World Week Timetable - 16th-20th May 2016
Photography Workshop seeing green sandpipers, 4 little egrets and finding a deer skull with Iain Green, wild life photographer
What were the outcomes from our Space and Time Travel Themed Week?
Just look at the models arising from Home Learning with a Space and Time Travel focus, all part of our themed week wwhich inspired writing and creativity.
Dressing up on a theme of Space and Time Travel Week including staff and pupils. The aim as always was to inspire writing.
Bedtime stories with John Kirk made a great evening of family entertainment for 80 people as part of engaging whole families in learning new stories
Space and Time Travel Week takes off, including a mysterious visitor from a Galaxy far, far away: previously and X Wing Fighter John Chapman, author of Johnnie Rocket, Winston Nzinga, returning for a third time and entrancing audiences with story and songs from around the globe... and our own Storm Trooper!
Pet Day inspires writing in different genres and raises money for Guide Dogs for the Blind. It was inspired by pupils writing to Mrs Massey, after them experiencing the loss of a pet and seeking comfort from our Remembrance Garden
PowerPoint showing outcomes of Pet Day. Please see displays and class pages as well as children's books for writing arising from this Wonder Day
Maths Enrichment Day - The Miscalculation of Cap'n Half-Inch
Monday saw Quantum Theatre come to Howe Dell to present a play based around the four number operations and fractions to groups of Year 1&2 children and Year 3&4 children. Feedback from both the children and staff was fantastic and overwhelmingly positive with staff saying that the children "were exposed to concepts they had not seen before, which was great" and praised the production for its fun element but also "great visuals".
See what it looked like and what the children had to say about it on the PowerPoint below.
Many thanks to all of you who supported the event with your contributions.
Dinosaur and Volcano Wonderday Photos, Feedback and Evaluations
DINOSAUR AND VOLCANO WONDER DAY - Wednesday 10th June 2015
The Science Dome Experience with Photos, Feedback and Evaluations
Year 4.1 - Writing inspired by our own experiences with description focussing on the 5 senses.
Year 5.2 - Short stories inspired by the 2 Steves using descriptive language.
2 STEVES RETURN TO HOWE DELL: ENRICHMENT WORKSHOPS
Aims of the Day
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To inspire real purposes for writing.
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To motivate family learning, encouraging parents to share stories with children.
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To enjoy humour and fun as a way into storytelling.
'2 Steves' visit inspires writing and induces laughter!
Iain Green Wonder Days resulted in photographic workshops for all children and an additional enrichment for some Y4 and 5 at Hatfield House. There was also a Badger Watch for families on the Monday evening. As always, this event was to inspire and enrich writing across the school.
Some of the images from Hatfield House to be published in a book, alongside poetry arising from the visit
Yellow Earth Wonder Days :This arose from Pupil Forum outcomes, asking to learn more about this part of the World and aims to inspire writing from a creative stimulus.
What was the thinking behind this project?
Aims
- To inspire writing from a creative stimulus.
- To use visual art and/or dance as a means of telling a story.
- To learn from the Chinese culture in developing our knowledge of global traditions.
Day 1: Into the World of the Nightingale. In Multi-purpose Hall
Based on the story of The Nightingale by Hans Christian Andersen.
Through a carefully structured workshop the pupils together with the facilitators will recreate the world of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairytale - The Nightingale. Set in China, the children will be taken on an exciting journey encountering different situations and characters including a visit to the Emperor’s Palace. Learn how to greet the Emperor, how to move like an Emperor and how to dance with Chinese fans and water sleeves. An exciting new experiential workshop led by the Yellow Earth education team.
Day 2 : Lights, Screens and Magic:
This workshop introduces Chinese Shadow Puppetry, its history and origins, using examples of traditional Chinese shadow puppets. Then mixing puppetry, Beijing Opera movements and paper cutting, the children make their own “shadow puppets” and perform with them in a traditional Chinese tale.
Maths Week: 23-27 February 2015
"I never knew Maths could be so fun".
"I don't want Maths week to end - can we have another one soon?"
Were just some of the comments we received from the children.
The focus of the week was WORKING MATHEMATICALLY.
Our Maths week started on Monday and Tuesday with each class from Year 1 to Year 6 enjoying an extended PROBLEM SOLVING session in the hall provided by World Of Maths - some of the activities were extremely challenging but all of them were great fun!
Wednesday saw Years 1 to 4 on Mathletics, trying to gain a place on the Mathletics Leader Board. In the afternoon all of the school came together to enjoy and participate in carousel activities.
Magical Maths (who run an After School Club on a Monday) whizzed around every class from Reception upwards on Thursday, which proved to be an enormous success.
Finally, Friday was our Wear-A-Pattern-To-School Day, which resulted in lots of interesting combinations of stipes, spots, checks and colours.
What a GREAT WEEK with loads of WONDERFUL, ENRICHED MATHEMATICAL VOCABULARY!
Maths Week 23-27 February 2015: World Of Maths - Problem Solving
Maths Week 23-27 February 2015: Maths Carousel
Maths Week 23-25 February 2015: Magical Maths visiting each classroom
French Wonder Day 9th February 2015
What is the shared focus for our Wonder Days and Themed Weeks? To inspire us to write from experiences that are real, exciting and memrorable! These happen at least once a term, often far more than this and no Wonder Day is charged to any parent.
All Creatures Great and Small October 2014
