In Reception, the children are going on an exciting journey around the world through an exploration of stories and dances from different cultures.
Our first adventures took us to Africa, as we learned a traditional style dance inspired by the story of Handa’s Hen, which is set in Kenya. The children performed their hen dance in a circle around the chicken coop, scattering the seed, pecking, flapping their wings and scratching the earth with their feet, while trying to maintain a steady beat and move with the music, before creeping away as the hen hunt began. We all searched high and low to find the missing hen, then used our imagination as well as our bodies to transform ourselves into some of the animals Handa encounters on her way, such as fluttery butterflies, stripy mice, jumpy crickets and even spoonbills. Our budding dancers had tremendous fun and they can barely wait to find out where the next adventure takes them!
EWA SLOCZYNSKA
DIPLODOCUS CLASS TEACHER
‘If you would like the once in a lifetime opportunity to come to the MIT campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, then this is your chance! This year, we are asking students to submit a short video which asks you to complete this following statement: If I were an innovator at MIT, I would.. The videos should last between 90 seconds and 3 minutes’… – this is a message I found in the TBS newsletter in March 2024.
The Max Box Project was an excellent opportunity for Year 9 students to engage in a hands-on task that not only reinforced their understanding of mathematical concepts such as volume, nets, and algebraic modeling but also promoted critical meta-cognitive skills. The task, which involved determining the maximum volume of an open box made from a 20 cm x 20 cm square, required students to think deeply, plan, reflect, and adjust their approach as they progressed. This end-of-unit project encouraged self-awareness of their learning processes while fostering essential problem-solving skills.
