Reading Workshop
On Wednesday 7th February we held two special reading events for our parents...
On Wednesday 7th February we held two special reading events for our parents...
Last week, lots of our parents went back to school to learn all about how we teach maths at Southbourne Juniors!
We already have visitors to our meadow with the arrival of a baby hedgehog!
Hockey Team play in Havant Tournament!
Our harvest celebrations this year have focused on people's rights to food.
Last week Year 6 had a fantastic time on the Isle of Wight...
As part of our whole school topic, 'Discovering Southbourne', we have also been out and about this term getting to know our local surroundings in more detail. Year 6 focused on housing; in particular the new development by Seaward Properties on the A259.
At the start of the topic we were given a guided tour of the site and an explanation of how plans are developed. We even got the chance to measure out the dimensions of the first house to be built. The following week, we all visited the Weald and Downland Museum at Singleton to investigate how house building has changed over the centuries.
Back in school, Year 6 have been very busy in science and design technology. Firstly, have investigated insulation as we need to keep our houses warm. Our main focus has been on developing our own model housing development. Once the planning stage was completed we then got on with the building process. Everybody constructed a wooden framed house and then designed a garden: raised flower beds, swimming pools and even decking was evident. Once the houses were completed we arranged our own housing estate in the hall and invited everybody to come and see our finished development.
In maths we have worked out the cost of fencing an estate as well as drawing our own plans. Finally, in English we wrote stories about an old abandoned house: this gave us the opportunity to use all our writing skills that we had been taught in Year 6.
The whole school outdoor learning topic, 'Discovering Southbourne', started off quite dramatically in Year 4, with an ‘official’ letter from Southern Network! This letter informed the children that half of their school playing field was being appropriated to build a car park for Southbourne train station. What ensued covered drama, debates and persuasive writing, all in an attempt to make sure Southern Network change their plans.
In Maths, the children measured car parking spaces and debated as to whether trucks and small cars should pay the same car parking fees and whether large and small cars should have the same size parking space. They also looked at the pricing of car parking and solved mathematical problems in relation to this.
Within the STEM topic, we have also looked at transport and roads. The children conducted a survey on Main Road, Southbourne, and tallied how many vehicles use the road over a 10 minute period. The children then presented this data in bar graphs and pictograms.
We enjoyed a great day at Amberley Museum where the focus of learning was on road surfaces and specifically tamac. If the new car park at the station was to get the go ahead, then the children had to research and investigate which surface was the most suitable for the parking spaces. We travelled to Amberley via train, which for some children was their first experience.
As part of this technology and engineering project the children looked at the possibility of a footbridge over Southbourne train station. This led to looking at how bridges are made, which materials are best suited for bridges and why bridges do not fall down?
It has been a fantastic experience donning the hi viz jackets and exploring our local area with a specific objective in mind.
We would like to say a huge well done to the children, who have really embraced this outdoor learning topic and behaved particularly well when discovering and exploring Southbourne.
During our whole school topic, 'Discovering Southbourne', we in year 5 have been discovering how healthy Southbourne is. Year 5 focused on health and fitness when we visited Bourne Leisure centre, and specifically whether we could create fitness equipment for our school grounds that all children could use.
As part of a technology and engineering project the children have looked at different fitness equipment that could be used around the school grounds to keep people healthy. They have designed and built prototypes working with a range of materials before evaluating their effectiveness.
In science they have been gaining an understanding of microbes and how some microbes are useful, for example; yeast, and some microbes are harmful, for example; the flu virus. The children favourite experiment was the great yeast race. During this experiment they tested to see which conditions were best for microbes to grow. In addition, children were given the opportunity to to explore the Tesco store and discover how microbes impact how they have to organise their store.
This project has been enjoyed by all children and staff alike. It has been a great opportunity to explore our local area and further afield as well as see what makes people healthy and how we can best stay healthy.
We had a fantastic sports day for all involved- parents and children. Every child tried hard for their team and threw themselves into every activity they were challenged with. Although it was close, our previous winners (Laura Trott House) were finally defeated by Jessica Ennis-Hill House. Come along next year and find out if they can retain their crown.
On Thursday 8th June, Southbourne Junior School participated in a Chichester District Athletics Competition. They competed against other schools around the Chichester area from Barnham to West Witterings. It was a West Sussex West Quad Athletics competition, which involves: a 75m sprint, 600m, a vortex distance throw, and a standing long jump.
After winning their area competition the children then went on to compete for the school and West sussex against schools around Sussex at the ‘Sussex School Games’ in Crawley in July. It was a great day where the children: sprinted faster, jumped longer, threw further and puffed harder than they ever had done before. They showed great sportsmanship and a 'never give up' attitude- well done to them all.
Southbourne Juniors and infants held a sponsored walk to raise money for our joint charity 'Melon Mission'. Every penny of the money raised by our families will go directly to the building and resourcing of the new school in Kenya. Mrs Partridge (Infant Headteacher) will be visiting the school again in October half term to teach and deliver the shoes from our 'Sole Mates Appeal' we have been collecting for the children all year. Mrs Partridge will give an assembly to all pupils on her return. A huge thank you to all our families for the support they have shown.