Friday 2nd December

Introduction

Boot Camp
Last weekend Sophia (Benji, Class 1) and I attended a meeting organised by The New Schools Network.  New Schools Network is independent of the government.  It was billed as a ‘boot camp’, so as you can imagine I went along with a somewhat heavy heart, and concern about giving up precious weekend (family) time.The meeting was designed for all schools that are considering putting in an application for Free School status.  Each workshop addressed a different section of the application form. I was truly taken aback by the number of groups attending, their passion and vision for the projects that they were proposing and the sheer variety of proposals for Free Schools. There was someone who wanted to open a virtual school, several teams wishing to start schools that would provide for children from nursery through to sixth form, a number of groups with small schools in mind etc. Some were there because their first round application had been unsuccessful, and others were there because they had been successful and were now looking to open another school.  I had expected an emphasis on ‘standards’, ‘discipline’, ‘uniformity’ and ‘skills for work’. In fact many groups were proposing schools that promote diversity, social and emotional intelligence and skills for life.Everyone present was prepared to share their vision and support others.  They were all passionate, committed and determined with boundless energy to make their vision a reality.  I felt uplifted at the thought that Lewes New School has the opportunity to spread its wings.  I came away feeling part of a groundswell movement that could radically change the face of education.  It was an empowering and exciting weekend.  I will never again judge a course by its title!
Linda

Later Years update
In Later years this week we have been continuing with our Science projects: trying to find out how propulsion is affected by different factors; beginning our full scale models of different animal habitats (still very hush hush, so can’t say too much!) ; and looking at the bodies, movement and characteristics of different animals through making clay models.In art and design we have been continuing with individual projects as well as designing and making a treasure hunt for the Winter Fair and decorations for our Christmas tree. This had led to some interesting questions about how to make cuboids and designing nets of shapes in Maths work. We have also been designing surveys in both writing and maths work and how these can be represented using venn diagrams and other data handling formats.In Writing we have been re-drafting our writing projects to get our work edited and published in time for the end of term. Work includes poetry (Lola and Holly), stories within different genres including Science fiction (‘Ghost Riders’ by Moses and Luca), adventure (‘The Penguin in the arctic circle’- Aakesh), columns from fictional newspapers, a story about social life (Alfie) as well as fairytales.In French we have been learning how to introduce ourselves, names, ages, our likes and dislikes, as well as revising our knowledge of colours, numbers and the alphabet. We’re even trying to learn a french carol!We have also been busy signing up to and organising the ‘Cabaret’ element of the ‘Carols and Cabaret’ gathering for the end of term as well as singing lots of festive songs in our classrooms!
Anne-Marie

The Space Group and their rockets

Early Years update
Since last week’s interest in the Titanic, I happened to visit Belfast at the weekend (where the Titanic was built) and found a DVD all about the shipwreck exploration of the Titanic as well as first hand accounts from survivors.  We found this really interesting and lots of questions arose from it.  Some of the children used the puddles that have been in abundance in the school playground, to float boats and explore sinking and floating.  This led to a challenge to test the capacity of different boats, so we used measuring cylinders to pour out different amounts of water into the boats.  We have also been talking about Advent and the different things we do in each of our families to prepare for the Christmas celebrations.  Some of us chose to make Advent calendars and some enjoyed decorating and creating our own Christmas decorations, including pinecones which we also experimented with by putting some on radiators to see what happened.  We are definitely starting to feel very festive here!
Lydia

Nursery update
Some members of the group have been focused on the construction of dragon tracks and spaceships in the outside area while others have worked on the redevelopment of the role play area.We have been preparing refreshments for our coffee morning.  This time we opted for the savoury option of pizza and popcorn.  Alongside this has been the first rumblings of Christmas activities, with Louisa, Ella and Rowan.S acting out the nativity and Finn suggesting that, “We could make Christmas trees to go on the Christmas tree!
Amanda