Year 3 (Chestnut and Walnut Tree) - Debating afternoon!

Today, Chestnut and Walnut Tree classes teamed up to do some debating!

As we are writing a persuasive letter to Pandora (from Pandora's box) in our English learning, we thought it would be beneficial to get some practice in before our written work.

Firstly, we explored persuasive speech and how to use hyperbole to convince. To do this, we found a person with the same favourite colour/toy/subject as ourselves and persuaded them that we liked it more than they did. Miss Gillman's and Mrs Gordon's example was great to base ours upon!

After this, we chose a topic to form the basis of our formal debate. School uniforms are a controversial subject amongst us children so we chose that! We split ourselves up into groups and thought of points for and against school uniform. Some of our arguments (both for and against) took into account price, cleanliness, equality and practicality.

It was amazing to hear each other's points of view in a controlled, safe space. We used our school values of Respect, Tolerance, Fairness and Patience to make this a success and were really keen to listen to the oppositions argument! The key speakers were particularly effective in managing the debates.

After debating for a while, we reflected on our learning to see which children were more persuasive: was it the For Team or Against Team? We decided that in the midst of all the debating, it was too difficult to decide one team against the other as we all were effective in persuading each other.

We hope that we get the opportunity to do this again soon!

Chestnut and Walnut.

Bannockburn Bistro at Manor Way

Today's invited guests to our very special Bannockburn Bistro on the Manor Way site

Year 4 - Making Jam Sandwiches

In Year 4 we have been looking at instructional writing. We read a few examples, identified the features and practised giving and following instructions. We realised the importance of the instructions being clear and accurate when our teachers made jam sandwiches, which initially didn't turn out as planned!

We then pretended to act out a set of instructions that our partner had written. If our actions were what our partner wanted us to do, then we could conclude that their instructions were specific and detailed. We had instructions on how to ride a bike, how to plant a seed, how to brush our teeth and even how to plait hair. Can you guess which is which?

Year 1 World Travel Day

In Year One we have been reading 'Turtle, Turtle, Watch Out' by April Pulley Sayre. We learnt that turtles travel the world's oceans. We also learned about how people travel around the world with passports. Each class became a country where turtles are found and children spent time learning in each county: South Africa, Galápagos Islands, Costa Rica and Malaysia.

Achievement Assembly at Manor Way

Congratulations to all the children who were recognised today in our Achievement Assembly. 

London Youth Games - Sitting Volleyball

On Tuesday 25th January, we attended a London Youth Games Sitting Volleyball tournament. Five children from Years 5 and 6 went to Plumcroft Primary School to take part in this exciting event.

We played 6 games in the tournament and came 4th overall! 

The Bannockburn team was also awarded the 'Self-Belief' School Games Value award for their positive attitudes and resilience during the tournament. 

A huge achievement for our first ever sitting volleyball event!

Year 2 - Amazing Arctic Writing

We have been reading The Rainbow Bear by Michael Morpurgo in Year 2.

We decided to plan our own stories based on the text. Firstly, we read the opening, build up and dilemma of the story. Then our teachers taught us the events and resolution to the story using 'Talk for Writing' so we could all become great story tellers! Finally, we edited the story by changing the characters and events to make it our own.

Read some of our fantastic writing below!

Year 4 Stone Age Day

This term Year 4 are learning all about the Stone Age and what better way to celebrate this then by having a Stone Age Day!

As part of this day Year 4 tried different foods that would have been eaten by cavemen. This included berries, leaves and even dried meat!

They also made their own spears and jewelry, understood a day in the life of a cave man and studied prehistoric beasts before hunting for the elusive woolly mammoth.

We had great fun!

Nursery - Reading and Writing 'Stay & Play'

Our parents in nursery were invited to attend our 'Stay & Play' session. The focus for the session was reading and writing skills. 

The children have started to learn a new sound each week. 

There were activities set up across the nursery which showed parents how to support their child's development at home.

Year 1 Juniper Class - Mini Chef

Juniper Tree Class 

Mini Chef Takeaway 

This week Juniper Tree Class have been making a Vegetable Pasta Bake. We have chopped, grated, mixed and cooked all day and then sold the finished product on the High Street playground to our parents. 

We are really proud that we managed to sell all 48 portions!