A large number of Levens runners did the school proud by entering the Dallam Cross Country course. Every single runner tackled the boggy and windy conditions with grit and a determination to finish the course. We were lucky enough to bring home a raft of medals too.
Many thanks to Mrs Mason, Miss Dawson, Ms Jones and especially Mrs Coker for getting everyone into their stride with our Wednesday after school running club.
In dance sessions, Skiddaw have been exploring sequences linked to other areas of the curriculum. We began with contrasting adjectives, inspired by our science work on Materials, such as rigid and flexible or rounded and sharp. Next we took a Maths numbers theme. We have created sequences using a variety of levels, twists and shapes. We have worked by ourselves and worked in partnership mirroring our movements. Every session we have helped each other in our performance by improving our neatness, variety of movements and in communicating well with our partners.
On Thursday lunchtimes, many pupils can be found busy making lovely Hama bead creations at Hama bead club.
We are making great use of the new box of Hama beads that arrived this week – it has 30,000 pieces in! Our first finished items were completed today. It takes lots of patience, concentration and perseverance to do this activity along with really nimble fingers! Well done everyone.
In the week when Theresa May has pledged the Government’s commitment to irradiate all avoidable plastic waste in the UK by 2042, Scafell and Skiddaw came together in our school hall to debate whether plastic bags should be banned from all supermarkets and high street stores. First, we watched a video called ‘plastic seas’ where we learnt some startling facts about the impact of our use of plastic on our environment. Our seas and oceans are overflowing with plastic waste that our marine life is becoming entangled within or is mistaking for food. In some areas the waste is so extensive it is called ‘plastic soup’.
This afternoon, our year 6 experts demonstrated how to debate this issue in the same way topics are debated in the House of Commons with a very strong and expert ‘Mr Speaker’. The only difference was that our children were much more polite, no one fell asleep and the vote at the end was unanimous – The UK Government should ban plastic bags!
We have all enjoyed a wonderful first few days back after the Christmas holidays. Take a look at some of the fun and learning taking place across our school…
Area and perimeter, multiplication arrays, piano lessons, playing together at breaktimes, identifying odd and even numbers, multiplication jigsaws, storytelling, thank you letters to Santa, newspaper reports……
Can you spot any new faces in these photos. We have some new nursery children joining this week and Mrs Haslam has spent today getting to know Bowfell Class.
On Thursday 4th January, in the afternoon, a crane landed a cabin in the playground.
The cabin was transported, in two halves, by trucks. First they put one half onto the block stands and about half an hour later they attached the second half.
The workers were harnessed to the crane to keep them safe. They had to wear hard hats, gloves, high vis jackets, metal toe capped boots, padded tops and pants and waterproof trousers. They used walkie talkies so they didn’t have to shout and so they could communicate to the person in the crane and to each other. The workers had to use metal chains and hooks so then they could attach them to the cabin and lift the cabin into the playground.
The cabin is staying for up to 10 months and we are going to use it as a dining hall canteen for now because the other one is having work done on it. By Skiddaw Class
In our Musical Extravaganza this morning more than a third of the school performed wonderfully on guitar, piano and violin. Family and friends from the whole school gathered to listen with a hushed reverence and sometimes the rhythms inspired a jolly jiggle or air piano movement amongst the youngest in the audience! All the practising was definitely worth it. Keep it up and we do hope you are able to entertain any guests over the holidays with your seasonal tunes. Many thanks to the wonderful instrumental teachers who support all our musicians in school – the magic wouldn’t happen without your patience and encouragement.
On Thursday afternoon, the staff, children and their families contributed to a fabulous Christmas service at our local church. Songs were sung, prayers were read and the Nativity Story was told. Below are some pictures of Scafell class rehearsing for their fantastic performance; after only a few days of being given their lines. Well done Scafell, and well done to the rest of the school for their beautiful singing.
Thank you to Mrs Wadey for her consistent enthusiasm regarding music and singing, to Open The Book for the wonderful costumes they allowed us to borrow, and to everyone who was able to attend. Merry Christmas to you all!
Below is a prayer read by one of our children during our special service:
O Heavenly Father,
We thank you for the food and remember the hungry,
We thank you for our health and remember the sick,
We thank you for our friends and remember the friendless,
We thank you for our freedom and remember the enslaved.
We are grateful for each hand we hold, gathered around this table,
From far and near we travel home, blessed that we are able.
Bless us Lord this Christmas time, with peace and understanding,
Joy that is beyond material possessions, love that knows no boundaries.
Amen.
This week, the children were able to shake hands with our Local MP- Tim Farron, Mr Farron came into school on Thursday to personally thank all of our children for their amazing Christmas Card design competition entries. However, one child in particular received an extra special thank you,
Matthew (Year 5) won 1st Prize in Tim Farron’s Christmas Card Competition. He was chosen from hundreds of students from across South Lakeland who submitted a design. Matthew’s winning design has been reproduced over 40,000 times, and is being delivered to every household in the constituency. See the article here:
https://timfarron.co.uk/en/article/2017/1246522/mp-announces-christmas-card-competition-winner
Tim states that the ‘competition gets harder and harder to judge each year as the standard of entries just keeps going up, but Matthew’s design really stood out’.
‘He did a brilliant job and I am delighted that his work will now be seen and admired by thousands of South Lakes residents’.
Well done to everyone that entered the competition!
Sharing Christmas dinner with all your classmates is an important part of a Levens Christmas experience and this year was delicious indeed. Here are few photos of Skiddaw class (Bowfell and Scafell loved it as much!) – notice the many clean plates and great fun we had with the crackers! Many thanks to Helen and Heather from Dallam and to our wonderful governors and staff who helped in the smooth service too, your support is very much appreciated.
