Being a good photographer requires technical ability, patience and concentration, and attention to detail. We think Tyler displays all of these skills. We are proud to present some of his latest shots.
This week in KS2 we have introduced our new topic 'Frozen Kingdom'. We have all been really excited to learn about our new topic and have been researching things we may be looking at over this half-term.
Group 2 have introduced their new guided reading book 'Kaspar Prince of Cats' by Michael Morpurgo and have been developing their knowledge of the front cover of a book. We have learnt lots of key words including author, illustrator and blurb. We have also been using some fantastic prediction skills to try guess what the book will be about. Using the ideas we came up with, we recreated the front cover for the book. We made some great informed conclusions that the book may be to do with the Titanic. We are all really excited to learn about the Titanic and are fascinated by the oceanographers who have researched it. The blurb also implied that The Savoy Hotel would be a setting in the book. When we researched The Savoy Hotel we found out it would cost more than £2000 per night! We couldn't believe how expensive it is!
As well as discovering more about our new topic, we have been working hard down on the Farm to clear the stream. It is really important we do this to protect the wildlife we have in the woods and to prevent flooding. We have used some fantastic teamwork skills and considered the safety around working with water as well.
As you can see, it's been a really busy week and we are excited to learn lots of new skills and knowledge over the half term.
It’s been a productive and positive week for our KS4 students. It’s also been a team building week with all our Group 9 students taking part in some games, sports and even making flapjacks together. Our Group 9 Einsteins have been working on their knowledge of factors in maths. Half way through the week we were able to move onto finding the highest common factor between larger numbers. We have also been looking at recognising prime numbers and real life reasoning questions in preparation for our end of term maths quiz. In Science, KS4 have been looking at speed and braking distance. We have been calculating the braking distance at different speeds, to see who has the quickest reaction we took part in a practical test. You can test how quick reaction by clicking on this link: https://www.justpark.com/creative/reaction-time-test/
English has included a number of comprehension activities; including reading an extract from The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. We have also continued focusing on the Shakespearean play Macbeth. During a Careers lesson we looked at local colleges and the entry requirements for the courses our group are interested in taking.
We are really looking forward to our Magic and Mystery day and seeing everybody's costumes.
Welcome back to a new school year. Here in Key Stage 2, we have had a fantastic start to the new year. We have been extremely busy getting back into our learning routines and welcoming new pupils. Everyone has been kind and caring to help our new starters settle in and we have loved seeing new friendships form.
Our new topic in Key Stage 2 is 'Off with her head'. We have dug deep into Tudor history to find out about Henry VIII and his wives and used fantastic independent research skills to expand our knowledge. We have even had a visit from Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn who had a debate about whether Henry VIII was right to have beheaded Anne Boleyn!
We have also been celebrating the Jewish New Year - Rosh Hashanah, which took place between 18th and 20th September. We loved trying honey and apple – traditional foods that are eaten over the period. Although we didn’t expect it to be tasty, we loved the taste and enjoyed eating whilst considering what apple and honey represent for the Jewish community.
Enrichment has also begun and pupils' have enjoyed getting to grips with the new scooters we have in school. Patience and resilience have been key to learning how to use them safely. We are all really excited to have the new scooters and can’t wait to use them during our reward time on a Friday as well.
Students and staff have been making the most of the sunshine and have enjoyed the outdoors: playing football, making use of our school bikes and most recently using our new KS4 outside bench whilst taking part in some general knowledge quizzes. Did you know that a snail can sleep for up to three years AND there are 366 dimples on a golf ball. We have been learning all kinds of random knowledge and there have certainly been some interesting conversations generated as a result.
We are also extremely lucky to have been able to visit our farm this week. The farm animals have been cared for by KS4, ensuring that all the animals have had enough food and water in this heat!
A talking point across both onsite and offsite students has been life after lock down. We have been discussing the restrictions that are to be lifted on the 4th July. Everyone seems to be looking forward to the barbers and hairdressers opening again. Some have been waiting for a haircut since February so there's no surprise that we’re all looking forward to them opening soon.
The offsite students have been working on their core work alongside a photography task. Students have been asked to take some photos of the blue skies. There’s certainly been some amazing opportunities for this with the weather being so lovely. We have also learnt that JNA has some amazing photographers.
We hope your week has been as lovely as ours has.
Take care and keep safe!
After all that sunshine, the rain finally made an appearance. However, pupils both on and off site have not let it stop them enjoying the outdoors and using it as a classroom. Outdoor learning opportunities have always been an important and enjoyable part of the school day but this week was different.
School has acquired a very old tractor. It is a ‘ Wheel Horse’. It is 42 years old and has become our restoration project. Originally, this tractor was made in Belgium and then imported into England. It is going to be a great restoration project. The boys have already started to work on it, learning how the engine works and familiarising themselves with new tools too. Have a look online and see if you can find out more about their history.
We are lucky to have our school sited in such a rural area and this week pupils have taken advantage of exploring it . They even found some tadpoles!
The farm animals have been cared for well and Joey the cat has joined in too supervising the children and waiting, not always patiently for his food. He doesn’t quite understand social distancing!!! A barbecue and game of rounders completed the week on Friday as the sun came out. A nice end to a good week.
Also on Friday online assemblies reinforced the link between home and school. There were some great new haircuts! Pupils have been able to use their outdoor areas too and have been getting plenty of exercise.
We are proud of the effort everyone is making with the home learning and we like hearing about your week when we visit. SeeSaw is full of some great examples of work too.
Keep safe and well.
As always, we have been extremely busy at Joseph Norton. Pupils and staff have been working together to make the best of lockdown, making each other smile and reminding each other to stay positive. There has been so much happening in school and off site. We couldn't be prouder of our pupils' efforts to continue their learning in so many different ways.
In Key Stage 2 we have had a reading challenge competition. Children have been excited to join in and determined to continue to develop their reading skills at home. Children have enjoyed showing staff and their peers what book they are reading and have inspired others to join in too. Staff are overwhelmed with how much effort pupils have been putting into online learning. SeeSaw has been an incredible place for children to demonstrate their capabilities, whilst catching up with friends and staff and encouraging each other to try something new. We have had tomato growing, toe nail painting and colouring competitions! Although we have loved being able to communicate in this way, we can't wait to be back together and continue to thrive in our school environment.
In Key Stage 4 we have been celebrating Victory in Europe Day. Pupils came together via Zoom for an online assembly and enjoyed speaking to different staff in school as well as catching up with their friends. One pupil created a VE day window display, we are so proud of them and delighted that they could put smiles on the faces of those who walked by. We also discussed Mental Health Awareness week, which will be taking place next week and planned ways to show everyone that they are staying positive during this time. We can't wait to see what they get up to! The boys are excited to do the same next week and are going to encourage even more of their friends to join.
On site, we have been extremely busy. We have continued to make sure all the animals on the Farm are fed and happy, including our snakes. We then spent time considering other animals in nature that sometimes go unnoticed and used amazing team work to make bird feeders with orange skins. We have already seen a young family of blue tits! Children prepared their own BBQ lunch including apple slaw, corn on the cob and baked potato to accompany the meat and enjoyed relaxing in the sunshine! To complete the week, pupils participated in a ‘Why don’t you’ activity session, creating crosswords, mystery objects and puzzle books that they could do at home to keep them busy. We are so proud of amazing teamwork and cooperation we have seen from the onsite team this week.
We hope to see you all soon, stay safe.
This week on the school site, we have loved working with our peers, enjoying the freedom to build on previous activities and sharing our learning and games with staff. We have especially loved having Simon to show us different games and having the opportunity to play with others who we do not normally play with at school. Friendships have become very strong, we have shared experiences and stories that have been great to hear. Learning in our new groups is good fun and we have helped each other to succeed and progress. Mark has kept us all entertained and has lots of funny stories, jokes and riddles to share.
Off site, JNA learners have made outstanding progress and there have been some amazing examples of home learning. KS2 have been doing lots of reading and have shared this on SeeSaw. The Gratefulness Hand-prints have shown us that there is still lots of things to be grateful for during the lock-down, a sunny days is a great example, let’s hope the sun and warm weather continues.
In KS3, we have seen some amazing dens and physical activities taking place in the garden. There are some fantastic pieces of writing, learning about birds, forces and key maths skills. I am really looking forward to seeing what people’s home bakes look like!
KS4 are marching through important learning and have demonstrated super higher-level maths, analysis of key texts and very interesting science learning. It is great to see detailed answers that are written with thought and care. I cannot wait to hear about endangered species investigations next week.
Although school is not following the normal day, we have seen amazing interactions between students and staff at their homes, there has also been hundreds of communications between staff and parents.
We hope you have a great weekend and the weather is as good as it has been!
Hi everyone,
Before I start I’d just like to say on behalf of all the staff, we miss you all and can’t wait to gain some normality again in these strange and often trying times. Everyone is handling things really well. Our students are now engaging in virtual learning, using either MyMaths or SeeSaw and work is also being hand delivered by our hard working and dedicated staff.
Rhys has made the most of his time and is out on his bike keeping fit, enjoying the amazing views around where he lives. Ashley has used his time to develop his skills cooking and is doing an amazing job.
Just before we broke up for the Easter holidays, it was Team B’s (B for brilliant) time to shine. During the week we had lots of fun and educational activities. We began our mornings by having breakfast and simply catching up with each other. Once we had eaten lots of breakfast, we were ready to seize the day and began by completing our academic work. It was then time to help out on our farm. We were all given a responsibility by Rob our farm manager and as per usual our students were amazing, each ensuring they had completed their given job. These included:
They let the chickens out and then checked for eggs, boxing these up if they found any, then feeding and watering them.
Making sure our farm pigs were happy by feeding and watering them, giving them a treat when Rob wasn’t looking :)
Checking the goats were fed and watered, walking the friendly one around the school site.
And we cant forget our farm cat Joey, and even if we had, he wouldn’t have let us leave without giving him his well deserved food, all that farm guarding is hard work don’t you know!
After farm we then had a PE lesson. Scott led the students, helping them burn off the excess energy left over from their hearty breakfast. Then probably everyone’s favourite time of the day, lunch time. A gorgeous lunch prepared onsite by our amazing cooking staff Lindsay and Stephen. After lunch the pupils got to choose an activity and they chose hide and seek tag, which I have to say staff enjoyed too!
This was our daily routine which I have to say we all enjoyed it immensely, the days flew by. To celebrate the end of an amazing week and to celebrate Easter we set up an Easter egg hunt. The eggs were hidden around the school site and the students were unleashed. They set off like they had rockets strapped to their backs, some choosing to team up and some deciding to hunt solo. Each and every one of us went home very happy and with several Easter eggs each, this brought our amazing week to an end.
Miss you all,
Amanda
What an exciting week we have had in Group 1 - from tigers to prime numbers!
This term the Topic is ‘Paws, Claws and Whiskers’.
In English we have been reading ‘ The Tiger who came to tea’ by Judith Kerr. Group 1 have discussed the book in detail and we have completed work around this theme including making out own tea of sandwiches, an advert for helping save tigers in the wild and making masks for a drama project next week.
Down on the farm everyone participated in making a fire and brewing some tea after the animals had been cared for and fed. It was a cold and frosty morning and after kindling was collected, a fire was stoked and tea brewed. A very welcome reward for hard work.
Group 1 love cars!- This week also saw a donation of more cars for Group 1 to enjoy. Everyone appreciated this especially Callum who tested their speed rates on the ramp that the class had made for this purpose. Thanks Hannah you made their week!
It has been a great start to this half- term!
Over this half term group 2 have been doing lots of practical maths and have been collaborating together. When children work together and collaborate, more learning is able to take place. Children are engaged and eager to help each other. We have been very impressed with how this group of year 6 boys have been able to work so well together in maths. The learning environment has been fun and inclusive and everybody has worked hard together to support each other.
A fabulous half term of maths !
This term in Group 5 we have a had a specific focus on improving and developing our literacy skills and the pride we take in our work. Alongside reading the fictional novel ‘Holes’ we have looked at persuasive and descriptive writing as well as writing informal letters to people we know.
The students’ effort and focus has been outstanding and each and every one has worked on the presentation of their work. Using peer feedback and work buddies we have also worked alongside each other to strengthen our friendships and trust in the classroom.