Barley and

Barkway First Schools’

April 2016

Owl Class

Owl class have had lots of fun this half term learning about growth and change. We are very excited as our butterflies should be hatching any day now (fingers crossed it is before the holidays!)

We enjoyed our visit to Thrift Farm. It was a great ‘hands on’ experience for the children to see a working farm in action. The children saw a lamb being born and also fed the orphan lambs in the hospital.

Hedgehog Class

We enjoyed our visit up to the church and up the lane behind school. We collected lots of bits of natural materials for our Easter gardens. We also saw some horses out for a ride, we watched quietly as they went past.

We had a visit from a lady who came from zoo lab. We met lots of different animals and we even got hold some. Amelie was very brave and let the snake slither up her arm.

We have also been learning all about growing and change. Here is our display showing our work on bean plants.

Next term our topic is going to be on journeys. I wonder where we will go next?

Robin Class

Our topic this half term has been “Famous People”.

As part of this work Robin Class were treated to a special visit from Florence Nightingale!

She had come back to tell us her story.

The children were able to find out all about Florence Nightingale, where she lived, when she was born, how old she was and what she did as a job. We found out that Florence Nightingale was a nurse who travelled to the Crimea and improved the standards of hospitals there. She was born in 1820 and died in 1910. The children were able to dress up and act out being part of Scutari Hospital (where Florence was based in Crimea).

After role playing the life and work of Florence Nightingale, the children became time detectives and handled artefacts to identify their use. We had lots of fun and learnt lots about the life of Florence Nightingale.

The Squirrel Class

Our schools received a visit from Year 1 and 2 children of the Essex School in Manor Park, London. Sixty children came for the day, visiting both schools and working alongside their Barley and Barkway partners in a music workshop that led to a superb concert with our Year 1s and 2s in London at the Essex School. Our visitors enjoyed exploring the two villages, with visits kindly arranged by Reverend Ruth to both village churches. The return visit for Barley and Barkway children was equally enjoyable. For our children to see such a large school – there are over 900 pupils and 150 staff – and be part of a very culturally diverse setting for a day will surely prove memorable. We were able to visit the nearby Sri Lankan Hindu Temple which is made largely of ivory. We shall continue to work closely with Essex School sharing different areas of our curriculum.

Barkley’s Dragons Class

This half term we have been very busy; we have taken part in Youth Makes Music, with lots of other schools from Royston. The children enjoyed it so much they wanted to share their experience and so taught the younger children a song.

We have visited Barley’s doctors’ surgery and explored the pharmacy, offices and nurses’ treatment rooms. We were so inspired, 4 children out of a class of 13 decided they would like to be nurses.

For our class assembly, we performed our version of Romeo and Juliet after studying Shakespeare. We also showed our computing expertise when presenting our Transport slideshows.

At Barkway church we performed the story of Easter and sang songs, with lots of parents and visitors, for our Easter service.

We have also took part in Sports Relief by running laps and having fun in street dance.

Diary Dates

Barkway / Barley
Thursday 31st March / 9.15am-Hedgehogs and Barkleys Class assemblies
Friday 1st April / End of term, school finishes at 1.30pm / End of term, school finishes at 1.30pm
Monday 18th April / Inset Day / Inset Day
Tuesday 19th April / Return to school / Return to school
Thursday 21st April / 1.45pm-Concert by Tony Parkinson at Barkway School / 1.45pm-Concert by Tony Parkinson at Barkway School
Wednesday 27th April / 9.30am-Cross Country Event at Edwinstree Yrs 1-4 / 9.30am-Cross Country Event at Edwinstree Yrs 1-4
Friday 29th April / 2-5pm Callum Eveleigh Shield at The Bury, Buntingford / 2-5pm Callum Eveleigh Shield at The Bury, Buntingford
Monday 2nd May / Bank Holiday / Bank Holiday
Wednesday 18th May / Cuffley Camp Yrs 3 & 4 / Cuffley Camp Yrs 3 & 4
Friday 20th May / Return from Cuffley Camp / Return from Cuffley Camp
Monday 23rd May / Walk To School Week / Walk To School Week
Friday 27th May / Maypole afternoon / Maypole afternoon
Monday 30th May-Friday 3rd June / Half Term / Half Term
Monday 6th June / Inset day / Inset day

*Please check the website for updates