Summer

Eco Day - a great success!!

On Thursday 16 June, all the children took part in a day devoted to learning about environmental issues. The children arrived at school dressed in green or an eco-friendly costume ranging from a wind turbine to a recycled ball gown!

The day began with an assembly where the children were able to parade in their costumes for all the school to see, the most creative winning an eco friendly prize. Throughout the school, children took part in eco-activities including the children in Nursery who made music from materials that can be recycled. Children in Early Years enjoyed the story “Michael Recycle” and made posters and created junk models – inspired by the book. In Key Stage One, the children learnt why bees are essential in the process of pollination and how they are key to not only our survival but the survival of our animals too. The children made posters explaining how we can help the bees in our gardens and created paper flowers while they discussed which parts of the flower a bee visits and why. In Middle School, the children prepared and planted some vegetables in a mini allotment, made scarecrows (to frighten away the rabbits), researched how far our food travels, created recycling robots from junk and designed posters on the small steps we can make to be eco-friendly. In Senior School, Year 8 researched off shore wind turbines and enjoyed creating clothing items from plastic bags and then modelled their designs in our assembly at the end of the day. Year 6 looked at the environmental impact of the proposal to build 59 houses on Halterworth Lane.

Eco Day culminated in an assembly where the children shared the things they had learnt or created during the day. The children are all very aware of the “3 Rs” (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) and Eco Day enabled them to learn new ways in which they can help the environment – one small step at a time. Joseph Rachman from 2W stated, “On Green Day in Year 2 we were learning about bees and how they help us live by pollinating different flowers. I learnt quite a lot about bees and how important they are to us and to the world!” George McMenemy from 7W said, “It was a great day because the whole school came together as one community, gaining environmental awareness.” Oscar Self, from class 3P, commented, "That was a great day! I wish we could do that every day!"

 

Mount Kilimanjaro Charity Climb

Mrs Alison Streather, our year 4 teaching assistant, took part in an expedition to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, in Tanzania, at the end of  August. The trip was organised by the radio station Wave 105 in order to raise money for the Cash for Kids charity, which helps support disadvantaged children in the Portsmouth and Southampton areas. 11 people took part in the climb and raised the magnificent sum of just over £50,000 for the charity. Mrs Streather herself raised over £4,500.

The ascent took the volunteers 6 days, walking through the night on the 6th day in order to reach the summit at daybreak.

“Reaching the summit was amazing, it was unbelievable to think how high you were as when you fly into Tanzania you fly in lower than the summit itself.” said Mrs Streather. She also told us how the local people were so friendly and helpful, making the experience truly special.

We would like to congratulate Mrs Streather and the rest of the Wave 105 climbing team on their wonderful achievement. Not only did they participate in something most of us can only dream of, but they raised an enormous amount of money for a good cause at the same time.