News list
The annualÌýRSPB'sÌý'Big Garden Birdwatch'Ìýreturned on 29 to 31 January 2021. Children across the school were encouraged to take part and theyÌýfound out how to spot the best birds in their garden with a handyÌýRSPBÌýbirdwatch guide and recording sheet.Ìý2021 marks theÌý42ndÌýRSPBÌý'Big Garden Birdwatch', which sawÌýkeen birdwatchers across the UK join the largest garden wildlife citizen science project by spending one hour tracking the birds they sawÌýin their gardens. During that time, across the UK hundreds of thousands of people volunteered their time. Last year, over 500,000 birds were counted by
Pupils across the school have been markingÌýChildren’s Mental Health Week with the theme ‘Express Yourself’. Children’s Mental Health Week was created to highlight how important children and young people’s mental health is. Throughout the week, teachers have discussed with the children healthy ways of expressing themselves and reinforcing how self-expression can help boost feelings of well-being. OnÌý3 February the school ran a ‘Dress to Express Yourself' dayÌýwhere children could dress in a colourful way to express how they are feeling or wear their clothes inside out to show how what we see
Twenty four hundred years ago, Plato, one of history’s most famous thinkers, said life is like being chained up in a cave forced to watch shadows flitting across a stonewall. In Form 6’s Thursday Afternoon Philosophy sessions, they unscrambled the symbolism behind the philosopher’s words in his ‘Allegory of the Cave’, and created their own cave models.
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Mindfulness continues to be used across the school as a way of slowing thinking down, bringing attention to the present moment and reducing stress. As part of the Mindfulness in Schools Project (MiSP), ‘.breathe’ sessions began for Form 4 at the start of the Michaelmas term. This is a continuation of the ‘Paws b’ programme which Form 2 participate in and pre-empts the ‘.b’ sessions in Form 6.’
Children at Byron House have learnedÌýabout Swiss sculptor,ÌýAlbertoÌýGiacometti,Ìýin their remote learning Art lessons and have studied the artist's bronze figures. After sketching stick men, the children considered how we position our bodies for different movements and how body language can convey varying emotions. The children used kitchen foilÌýto create elongated figureÌýsculptures with the help of a pre-recorded introduction and explanation from their Art teacher.
Forms 3 and 4 have been studying the work of Cornish artist and fisherman, Alfred Wallis. Having watched a clip from local gallery, Kettle’s Yard'sÌý‘Alfred Wallis Rediscovered’, the children were encouraged to paint using memories of their own seaside holidays and how they too could use recycled materials as Wallis had, such as leftover wood and paint from boat building.
As part of their online English sessions, Form 3 have been studying free verse poetry and have extended this to writing their own. Free verse is an open form of poetry than tends to follow the rhythm of natural speech. Free verse does not typically use consistentÌýmetreÌýpatterns,ÌýrhymeÌýschemes, or any musical pattern and because it has no set meter, poems written in free verse can have lines of any length, from a single word to much longer.ÌýForm 3 looked at clips of the poets JosephÌýCoelhoÌýreading his poem,Ìý‘Cards Dealt’Ìýand Michael Rose readingÌý‘Chocolate Cake’.
T1s have been investigating both 2D and 3D shapes in Maths during their remote learning sessions. They have learnt how to recognise, name and describe the properties of shapes and have played matching games and enjoyed practical shape investigations to help consolidate their understanding. Ìý
A whole afternoon is dedicated each week to the teaching of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) topicsÌýfor Form 2 and further cross-curricular opportunities at Senior House. The bridge design and build project in the Michaelmas term demonstrated the success of this focusedÌýapproach with Bridge Designer computer-based engineering, testing the strength of materials investigation and research, construction and testing of the children's individual bridges.
As part of T2’s remote learning they were set a challenge to research a famous building or landmark around the world and create a model ofÌýit from materials they had at home, recycled objects, construction toys, Lego or anything they felt was suitable. The children created, amongst others, theÌýSydney Opera House, Eiffel Tower, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament and the Great Wall of China.