Money, Money, Money

It's maths week here at Charsfield and yesterday Jim, Joanne and Janet came along from Ipswich Building Society to help coordinate a money day.

Children from years 2, 3 and 4 were involved and learnt about the origins of money (it all started with a fisherman!), the different currencies around the world, how to save and the fact that money does not grow on trees! 

They played money bingo, money dominoes and made money boxes.  Class 2 teacher Miss Tuckwell said "It was a brilliant way for the children to gain a greater understanding and awareness of money, everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves."

 

Dinosaur Roar!

It was a quiet autumn day in the deepest depths of Norfolk but who could anticipate what might be lurking in the bushes ...
... Class 1 on a day out to the Dinosaur Advenure Park

Class 1 and their new friend!

The children all jumped into the minibus, courtesy of Thomas Mills High School, first thing Tuesday morning and didn't return until late afternoon.

They encountered all sorts of dinosaurs along the trail and were particularly taken by the Brachiosaurus which had a slide to play on a both ends (head and tail!).

Lunch was had next to a T-Rex, who kept the class on their toes with an occasional roar. 

One of the dinosaurs got a little peckish

Hiding in the trees

I'm off!

Summer Concert

Well, we choose to call it the 'Summer Concert' because of the time of year but the idea of having an outdoor event today was completely washed away with the weather.

So, instead a fabulous number of parents 'snuggled' up in Class 2 for an hour of entertainment. There was piano playing, poetry reading, Olympic dancing and a great 'mash' up song from the choir to name but a few.

Our head teacher was in charge of the photos but sorry Mrs Jones, no gold star this time because a couple are a little blurred!!  Here is a collage:

And one of the choir

We went on a French bear hunt and came third!

Huge congratulations to Class 2 who came THIRD in 'Suffolk's Got Multilingual Talent'

They acted out a translation of:

"La chasse à l'ours"

35 schools in Suffolk took part in the competition and just three went through from each region (North, South & West).  The 9 remaining teams met at the Bobby Robson Suite at ITFC on Tuesday 3rd July and ...

 ... our Class 2 came third :-)

Here they are

And here is the prize

Running Round with the Replica!

The children have been involved in carrying a replica Olympic torch around primary schools in the area. 

Yesterday, Earl Soham brought the torch, which had been made by Easton, to Charsfield on a tractor.  Today, 3 children from Charsfield and Mrs Goldsmith took the torch to Dennington on a fire engine which was great fun, if a little bumpy!

Hilltop High Jinx!

Just before half term, Class 3 went on their residential trip to Hilltop in Norfolk.  They had a fantastic week blessed with great weather!!

The children enjoyed good accommodation, delicious food and met every challenge presented to them.  This included high ropes and bridges, a zip wire, a super swing, climbing wall, team tasks, mad hatters tag and archery.  Getting sleep was also a challenge but what started as only a few hours of sleep at the beginning of the week, gradually increased as the week progressed!

 

For senior teacher, Mrs McGeever, this was her 4th and last trip to Hilltop as she retires this summer.  Her particular memories of the week are:

• Ethan falling the crocodile pit
• Children trying to choose ice creams out of 51 flavours ... it took a while
• Laurence keeping his coat on all week, despite the hot temperatures
• Boys scaring themselves with bed time horror stories
• Ted overcoming his fear of heights in order to complete the high bridge challenge

"What a credit the children were to Charsfield School. Staff at Hilltop told me that they look forward to the children of Charsfield staying because they are so friendly, caring, helpful and supportive to each other throughout the week" said Mrs McGeever.

All Aboard!

Whilst Class 3 are off on their residential, Classes 1 & 2 had a lovely sunny day out by the sea.  A day in Lowestoft but not a sandcastle in sight!  Instead trolley buses and trams at the East Anglian Transport Museum.

Mrs Root, Class 1 teacher said "It was an excellent day, the children and staff thoroughly enjoyed themselves. We had a ride on a trolley bus, a tram and a train and the cobbled roads made it very authentic.  We also had to be very alert to road safety because the trolley buses were so quiet".

More photos our our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/charsfieldschool

Never has a corridor been so interesting!

Children often get told off for loitering in corridors but at the moment they have good reason to.  Move aside 'BGT', our bird cam is taking centre stage.

We have had the bird box (with camera) for two years but this is the first time a bird has decided to nest.  We believe she is a Great Tit.  Recent events:

• 24 April - eggs are noticed for the first time
• 27 April - we count 8 eggs
• 1st May - the 2 adult birds are seen together
• 8th May - at 8.30am, 3 eggs have hatched and one is in the process of being hatched
• Today 9th May - all eggs seem to have hatched

Unfortunately our mother bird is a little camera shy and you will see from the photos that she could have positioned herself slightly better for optimum camera coverage (Simon Cowell would not approve!).  As the babies grow they will take up more room so hopefully we will get better visuals in the coming days.  We will keep you updated!

Speed Stacking

The first day back after the Easter break and it rained solidly until around 2pm.  Consequently Class 1 were unable to get outside for their PE lesson :-(

Instead they exercised their hand / eye co-ordination and both sides of the brain, as well as working on their team work skills in a variety of speed stacking tasks :-)

Who could create and then dismantle the stacked shape in the fastest time.  Here are some of the designs:

Patriotic Easter Fun

Ellie, from Class 3, decided that her pig Doris needed to get into the jubilee spirit so she enlisted the help of school friend Tilly to undertake some decorating.  The finished article is very impressive and even Doris gave an approving grunt!!

The Sports Relief Mile

So Sunday 25th March was the Sports Relief Mile.  It took place at the Charsfield recreation ground. 

Under starters orders at 10am were Mr Morriston (Chair of Governors), Mrs Thompson (admin assistant), Mrs Jones (Headteacher), Mrs McGeever (Class 3 teacher) and Mrs Turner (midday supervisor) with Jack, Harry and Sam.

Mr Morriston with Jack and Harry ran the route and Mr Morriston would like to believe that he did it under 4 minutes!!  They did however lap Mrs Jones and Mrs McGeever twice ... however, Mrs Turner managed to lap them as well and she was only walking!!  Mrs Thompson pushed the boat out and decided that a 6 mile jog was in order and she finished in an impressive 56 minutes.

At 11am a new draft of enthusiastic milers waited at the starting line and this included many more of our pupils.  Well done to all who took part!

Flowers out of clay

In Class 2 Science this term we have been having a really good look at the parts of a plant. We designed our own and modelled them out of clay.  Here are just a few of them: 

These gorgeous flowers are going home, to be given as presents for Mothering Sunday.  Aren't they lovely!?

Looking for Spring!

As part of their science lesson, Class 3 has been looking at lifecycles.  Today they went outside to 'look for Spring' and we are pleased to announce that Spring has arrived!! 

The boys were particularly excited to find skulls and bones!  They took some great photos in the churchyard and in the fields surrounding the school. 

Here are just a few:

Budding Writers

Just before Christmas, Class 3 entered a writing competition. We had to write a saga in less than 50 words which is much harder than it sounds! We were delighted to hear that 23 of us have had our work chosen for publication.

We will be getting a complimentary copy of the book so you will soon be able to read all our sagas. In the meantime, here are a few to whet your appetite ...

The Voices by Molly
It was dark; you could hear the sounds of the past dead, and the stories that had been told. She was listening too ... She knew what would happen if she didn't obey the voices; the dreadful fate, the eternal darkness ...

The Battle by Ethan
A dark black battlefield. All quiet. Silent. A stampede of warriers, 15000 against 300. All that could be heard was clatter of spears, shields and swords. People dying. Then the battle was over.

The Shadow by Millie
It happened at dusk. He was alone. He saw this dark misty shadow behind the trees. Suddenly it was moving! He couldn't hear himself breathe. It was so quiet; he saw it again. It's running towards him. It's just a blur to him but for us it's different.

A Crushing Life by Florence
He was trapped, in a locked room, without windows but he could hear the slightest of tapping. Was he alone? Suddenly he was hit by a stone, then another, then another, then another. It stopped, his breathing stopped, the door opened ...

Mouth Painting

Did you see the fantastic item on BBCs 'Inside Out' this week? It was about blind artist Sargy Mann.

This term the children in Class 1 have been learning about the body - how it works and sometimes how it doesn't work. In a lesson about disability the children tried painting with their mouths and found it was very difficult, especially trying to keep their hands behind their backs!

Samba Time

As part of their music lessons this term, Class 2 have been having Samba lessons. The photo shows the children playing surdo, tamborim, agogo and the snare drum.

Samba is recognised as a symbol of Brazil.

Wikipedia's definition is:
"The modern samba that emerged at the beginning of the 20th century is basically 2/4 tempo varied with the conscious use of chorus sung to the sound of palms and batucada rhythm, adding one or more parts or stanzas of declaratory verses. Traditionally, the samba is played by strings (cabaquinho and various types of guitar) and various percussion instruments such as tamborim."