‘We had an amazing two days at Ilam Hall in Derbyshire for this year’s music camp. On Monday we practised in our instrument groups, had music reading classes and did ‘call and response’ across Ilam Hall grounds.  The day finished with a night walk, followed by hot chocolate.

After breakfast on day two we went back to our guitar and flute groups to practise. Before lunch we did musical orienteering. A final rehearsal after lunch prepared us for the grand performance later that afternoon.

The children worked so hard and gained so much musical knowledge. They also made new friendships and loved the Derbyshire countryside!’

Our recent trip to Beeston Locks has left us buzzing with excitement!  We explored the history of this magnificent canal, uncovering tales of its role in transporting coal and lace.

We compared the canal to the River Trent and Amazon River, discussing how the canal is a man-made marvel, while the River Trent flows and Amazon River flow naturally.

Later on, we conducted a survey to observe and record the different types of people and transport passing us by on the busy canal and canal path. From cheerful boaters to cyclists whizzing through. The sheer diversity reminded us how active and vibrant our local area is.

Calling all Shakespeare enthusiasts! Our brilliant Year 3 and 4 children have outdone themselves yet again! They recently took part in the prestigious ‘Schools Massive’ project, where they performed excerpts from the timeless classic, Romeo and Juliet!

We are absolutely thrilled to announce that out of numerous schools, we were selected as one of only six to participate in this incredible project! And what’s more, they showcased their talents on the renowned Playhouse Stage – one of the biggest in the country!

We couldn’t be prouder of our students! Their commitment and passion for the arts are truly remarkable. This experience has not only deepened their love for Shakespeare but also provided them with invaluable skills in storytelling and performance.

Class 3 and 4 had a very inspiring afternoon on Wednesday meeting Alison and Richard. As part of the ‘Inspiring Futures’ project, Alison and Richard came to talk to us about their careers. Alison works for the NHS and Richard works for the Environment Agency in flood management. What will class 3 and 4 do in the future?

We had special visitors at our school on Thursday afternoon – the Mental Health Support Team! They had an incredible discussion with our children about the different emotions they will experience as they grow up and gave them helpful tips on how to handle them.

Exciting news – our students had an unforgettable day at the zoo, getting up-close and personal with rainforest animals! From majestic tigers to colourful butterflies, we explored the exotic world of the rainforest and discovered the wonders of nature.

Not only did we have fun, but we also gained valuable knowledge about conservation and sustainability, and why palm oil can cause problems for rainforest life.

Into University is paving the way for future career choices at Southwold!

We recently had the pleasure of hosting Into University in Year 4, where they had a discussion about different careers with students. The focus was on product design, civil engineering and palaeontology.

What a great first day hooking children into our project question ‘Why should we care about the rainforest?’
The children made a monkey from their handprint; created an origami frog; used feathers to create a piece of parrot art; and have created a rainforest in a jar!

Over 1,400 young people from Nottingham (including the Year 4 Southwold children) performed an excerpt from the rarely performed masterpiece, The Trojans, by French composer Berlioz. Pupils from 31 primary schools across Nottingham city took part in this incredibly inspiring and unique concert at Nottingham Albert Hall alongside the Robin Hood Youth Orchestra. A brilliant day!

Parents enjoyed travelling back in time to the Stone Age. The children shared their Beaker pots and how they used the clay coiling method. Using their art skills they taught parents how to blend with chalk and pastels.  Working together, families created amazing pieces of art.

In our English lessons, children are learning how to write an effective story with a moral. We are using the story of Aladdin as inspiration.

Children chose their own setting of where they wanted their main character to get trapped (rather than a cave). We used high level vocabulary for the stories, using lots of different adjectives and phrases around a picture of their setting, in relation to the five senses.

Children now have lots of great ideas for what their main character might hear, see, touch, smell and taste, whilst they are trapped in their scary location.

For children to gain a good understanding of how the digestive system works, we created it practically.

Some children played the mouth, and ripped up the bread, representing how the teeth, in our mouth, break up our food. Another group of children then squeezed the pieces of bread down a tube, this represented the oesophagus and how it squeezes the food down into our stomachs. Then some children played the stomach and tipped coke on the bread, to represent the acid that breaks up food up in our stomach.

The children had a lot of fun and learnt a lot about the digestive system!

Year 4 researched early humans in order to create different Top Trump cards to represent the different species of human.  We also tried to grind grains into flour the way it would have been done in Stone Age times.

The children created their own realistic cave paintings. They created the paints from natural ingredients which they collected from outside, and then painted it onto the classroom walls, using their fingers.

A great start to our new term!

As part of local history week Year 3 and 4 visited the Theatre Royal to learn all about its past. They learnt that the first show was called ‘A School for Scandal’ in 1865 and that the theatre only took 6 months to build and cost £15,000!

What a fabulous day Years 3 and 4 had in York! They became archaeologists, digging for artefacts. They also found out about Viking medicine and went around the Jorvik museum to find out about daily life of the Vikings.  The children gained lots from this hands-on experience as well as seeing part of the historical city of York.

In English, Class 4 children were allowed to write on tables!!! We did this to help the children think of all the things they might see, hear, feel and smell in a rainforest, ready for their descriptive piece of writing.

Year 4 absolutely loved taking part in the Great Orchestra Experience this week at Nottingham Albert Hall. What a wonderful experience! Thanks so much as always to Nottingham Music Hub

Class 4 had a super Viking day out in Perlethorpe!

We went there to learn about what life was like in Viking times. We learnt all about how they invaded Britain and how they fought. We even got to wear some of their artefacts. We got to find out what life was like for Viking slaves. We found how cruelly they were treated and had a go at making flour from grain. Something they would do all day. We made Viking jewellery and played a Viking game, with our shields.
In the afternoon we practised making our own Viking houses.

Super trip out!!!

Class 4 took part in a Mighty Maths Mission: Escape Room. They have had to use their maths skills to solve different problems: algebra rune puzzles, coded runes, and dragon coordinates. Great work class 4!

Year 4 had a fabulous session today with Nottingham Music Hub, with flute and guitar players showcasing their new learning to each other so confidently. Well done everybody!

Year 4 have learned about how the Vikings used their shields to protect themselves when invading. We saw how they created a wall with their shields. We trained using our shields and practised creating the ‘tortoise shell’ of protection against arrows from Viking invaders (Mrs Blair throwing foam javelins!!)

In Year 4 we have loved the project hook days and are busy creating an immersive Viking classroom environment! Look at the amazing shields we have designed and made and the figure head for our Viking longship!

Congratulations to our KS2 achievement, behaviour and kindness winners of Autumn Term 2021 – your teachers shared all about your wonderful attitudes and achievements and you should be very proud of yourselves!

Year 4 were Stone Age hunters far from their home caves needing to build themselves some shelter. Great team work, great communication and some interesting designs.

Today we learnt how to carry out a practical scientific enquiry, which involves a comparative and fair test. We did this to learn more about human teeth and which kinds of liquids decay our enamel. We used boiled eggs to represent teeth. We placed one boiled egg in coke, one in water and one in orange juice. The liquid which damages and disintegrates the eggshell the most, must be the liquid which causes the most decay on our teeth.

In Class 4 we learnt about cave art. We decided to make our own cave art and did this through creating our own paints (from natural ingredients) and then applied them to our cave wall – just like in Stone Age times!

In Class 4 we have learnt about the digestive system and all the ways your body processes food once it has been digested.

If you and 3 friends were trapped in a rainforest, how would you survive?

For Design & Technology, Class 4 took inspiration from Katherine Rundell’s ‘The Explorer’ to build mini-dens out of natural materials we foraged from Wollaton Park. We learned about how to make 3D structures stable, and about making strong joins using string.

Year 4 imaginatively planned, practised, performed and evaluated their dance sequences depicting the Norse creation story!