March 2010 Hi, from the Crossgates Euro-News editing team, to all our friends in Poland, Norway, Finland, Czech Republic and Malta! We have been very busy with our second edition of the newspaper and we are looking forward to reading yours to find out all about your schools. This newspaper, My School, includes a variety of articles such as; our favourite things about school, after school clubs, our school council, best buds, school uniform, school meals, playground games and interviews with some of the staff! We hope you enjoy reading it! Almost everyone in school has participated in the competition How Do I See My School so we have decided to print a winning entry from each class as well as an overall winner. We can t wait to see yours! As you will see, we have kept the Word page, which is, of course, on a school theme and we have also described some of the things we do at Easter. Finally, here is a list of contents: Class 1 Favourites P 2 Class 2 Uniform P 3 Class 3 Playtime P 4 Class 4 Dinners P 5 School Council P 6 Let s Talk P 7 How I See My School P 8, 9 and 10 Class 5 Maths! P 11 Class 6 Places P 12 Class 7 P 13 Class 8 P 14 Pets Corner P 15 Easter Celebrations P 16 1
I love reading Martin the Monkey s Diary when lots of different people have taken him home. Sharing books in the book corner. Playing in the rocket with my friends. Playing in the outdoor area. Playing football with my friends. Being able to play on the whiteboard and computers. Drawing in the Creative Area. Playing with the dolls. Making spaceships with the little Lego. I love printing my pictures on the computer. Being able to take Martin the Monkey home for the weekend. Page 2
Here are some photographs of us in our school uniform. We have blue sweatshirts with the school badge, white polo shirts and navy blue skirts or trousers. In Summer, the girls can wear light blue and white dresses. What we think! I like wearing it because the colour is quite bright. It is smart and the collar looks neat. We like the days when we don t wear school uniform! We would like to choose what to wear! If you wear your own clothes they might get spoilt. What our parents think! Perfect! It is a very good outfit. The children look lovely and smart. It is practical and easier for mums! There is less arguing in the morning! Page 3
We like playing gymnastics. We go onto the grass and do different gym moves like handstands, and cartwheels, Libby, Class 3. We like playing on the monkey bars. We try to see if we can get all the way across. Caitlyn, Class 3 I love playing football. We play the game Knock Out. This is where the last player to score a goal is out. Keelan, Class 3 Every playtime we go to Freddie Fit in the hall. It keeps us fit and we get to dance. Sophie, Class 3 Playing Horses one person is a horse and another is the owner. Hide and seek one person is on while the others have to hide. You count to 30, then you can go and find them. Tig someone is on and they have to try to catch you. We also play rugby and Stuck in the Mud. Stuck in the Mud one person is on and when they catch you, you have to stand like you are stuck in the mud. You can be freed by others running under your arm or your legs. Page 4
Thoughts about School Dinners From Class 4 My favourite school dinner is chips and fish and peas and gravy. I love it when my Mum comes in for dinner too. By Harley My favourite school dinner is sausages and mashed potatoes with beans. It is really chewy and yummy. My Dad likes it too. By Freya. My favourite school dinner is pizza. It is so tasty and cheesy. I love it and so does my Mum. By Lauren. My favourite school dinner is pizza because it is a Margarita pizza and that is my best flavour. My Mum and sister enjoy it too. By Freya Page 5
M A R C H 2 0 1 0 The School Council is a team of people who help to make the school a better place to be. We are elected by class votes after campaigning on why we should be a school councilor. Meetings are on Wednesdays and are held in the library at 1:15pm. At the meetings, we try to put our thoughts into actions. We discuss issues in the school and try to make improvements. Our latest idea was to buy bird feeders for the playground. At Crossgates, we have a number of volunteers, from our oldest children, to be Best Buds. These volunteers look after the other children and they are everyone s best friend. Best Buds learn games to play with the smaller children. To become a Best Bud, you have to write an application letter saying why you think you would be good at the job. Best Buds are very good for the school as they play with the people who have no-one to play with and generally make people feel happier. Page 6
Just a Word about School Can you match the following words with the correct picture? teacher bike drum crayons rubber book football pencil skipping rope ruler calculator computer paints table pencil case school bag To see the answers - hold upside down and read in a mirror Page 7
How I See My School Page 1 M A R C H 2 0 1 0 Children in every class were asked to express the idea How I See My School through a picture. The entries were judged and a winner chosen from each class. An overall winner was also chosen. You can see the results on the next two pages. Class 1 Charlotte Class 2 Lucy Class 3 Chloe Class 4 Charlie, Lucy, Lauren & Lainie Page 8
How I See My School Page 2 M A R C H 2 0 1 0 Children in every class were asked to express the idea How I See My School through a picture. The entries were judged and a winner chosen from each class. An overall winner was also chosen. You can see the results on the next two pages. Class 5 Mason Class 6 Scott Class 7 Aaron Class 8 Paige Page 9
How I See My School Page 2 M A R C H 2 0 1 0 Children in every class were asked to express the idea How I See My School through a picture. The entries were judged and a winner chosen from each class. An overall winner was also chosen. You can see the results on the next two pages. Our Overall Winner - Robyn of Class 7 Page 10
In Maths I enjoy Shoot the Sheriff because I find it fun and exciting. You play Shoot the Sheriff with two people who stand back to back. The teacher then shouts a maths question. The first person to turn around and say the answer gets to go against the next person. I find the game extremely fun and exciting! In Shoot the Sheriff, you can have your own name, for example, Electric Emily. By Emily, class 5. In Maths, I love the success criteria because it tells what you need to do and gives instructions on how to do it. The great times-table game on the computer is so good because it helps you learn and you get the answer quickly. It is a song with questions and you say the answer. I also like Knockout because you stand behind someone and the teacher shouts out a question and you have to shout out the answer. Who ever says the answer the quickest gets to move around the table and then on to another table. Whoever is last at the end, wins. My favourite game is Shoot the Sheriff where someone shouts the question and you shout the answer. By Will, class 5. I like how Maths can be turned into fun and active games. Moon Maths is where you tap aliens and it improves your reactions. Shoot the Sheriff is where you stand back to back then one person shouts out the times-table answer and the first one to answer wins. Number bonds I really like. If you are doing number bonds to 100, someone shouts out 20 then you have to shout out 80 because it makes 100. We also play a game called Knockout where you go around your table and answer questions. The first person to get round the class wins. By Zak, class 5. In Maths, I really like to use the learning intentions because it helps me to understand what we are doing. My favourite maths game is the timestable DVD. We sing along to different songs about the times-tables. Also I like Moon Maths because it warms up my brain. Moon Maths is a game on the whiteboard where you hit the alien that has the correct answer on its head. If you want to play this game look for it on www.mathszone.co.uk. We also play a game called Shoot the Sheriff. I like that. You can make up names like Magnificent Mason! By Alice, class 5. Page 11
I like because.. Conner likes our brand new library because it is so quiet, even silent! Kay likes to scan the books when she is in there. Drew likes to relax on one of the sofas whilst he learns new facts from the reference books. Our library is a great place to be! Jessica and Kai have chosen one of the art areas as their favourite place because they enjoy making things such as topic folders and models. Vicky s favourite room is the music room where she enjoys blowing her trumpet really hard! Olivia agrees! Trent and Harry like spending time outside where they can play football, cricket and tig with their friends. It is a big area and there is lots of room to run around. Matthew and Amber like the hall because it is used for P.E lessons, performances and for eating their dinner. DELICIOUS! Page 12
At Crossgates there are many different clubs for all ages and interests, - from music to sport, art and ICT! Football Lots of us enjoy playing football. We have an A + B team who play matches against other schools. Steel Band Steel bands first started in the Caribbean islands. We have got a 10 player band. It is good because although we all play our own little bit, it sounds really good when we put it all together. Netball Netball is a game in which teams score by throwing a ball through a high net hanging from a hoop. We also have a team that plays against other schools. Badminton Badminton is a game in which players hit a shuttlecock backwards and forwards over a net. We enjoy playing because it is good fun and we are getting better all the time! Iris Folding Iris Folding is a way of making pictures by folding pieces of paper and arranging them in a certain order. It is fun to see how they turn out in the end. Gymnastics Our younger children go to gymnastics. They like it because they like learning different movements and balances. Whizz Kids Whizz Kids is our ICT Club. We explore the Internet, play games and sometimes help with the Comenius Project.
Staff Interviews B Y C L A S S 8 In class 8, the children became reporters and interviewed the staff. They asked lots of the questions we all want to know the answers to. Here are some of the best bits. Enjoy reading about the secret lives of some of our teachers. Mr. Whyman (Year 2 and 3 Teacher.) Do you have any hobbies? Mr. Whyman s hobbies include fishing, gardening, listening to music and watching films on his most prized possession - his 42 inch flat screen TV! Who did you look up when you were a child? Mr. Whyman s answer was one of the funniest. He said that he used to look up to everyone as he was small! Where is your favourite place in the world? His favourite place is Florida in America. Mrs. Tonge (Teaching Assistant Year 1 and 2) Who did you look up to when you were a child? Mrs. Tonge used to look up to her Nannie and Popa (which we think are grandma and granddad). Do you have any hobbies? This was one of the most unusual answers we got! Her hobbies include, ebay, going to the gym, reading and shopping. If you weren t a teaching assistant what other job would you like to have? In another life, Mrs. Tonge would have liked to have been either a mid-wife or a forensic scientist. Mr. Ferris (Year 3 and 4 Teacher) What is the best thing about being a teacher? This was one of the best answers we got! He said the best thing was being able to change and shape young lives. What is your most prized possession? Mr. Ferris most prized possession is his family (awwwww!) Who did you look up to when you were a child? He mostly looked up to the Head Teacher and to footballers, as he was an Aston Villa fan from a young age. Mrs. Morrissey (Teaching Assistant Reception) What is the best thing about being a Teaching Assistant? Mrs. Morrissey had another fab answer! The best thing for her is that everyday is different. What is your favourite kind of music and who is your favourite band or singer? Her favourite kind of music is 80 s music and her favourite band is Elbow. Where is your favourite place in the world? One of Mrs. Morrissey s favourite places in the world is Anglesey in Wales. We actually found that the staff are quite cool and there is more to them than we first thought!! Page 14
At Crossgates, we have two gerbils called Milly and Pip. Milly is black and Pip is white. They live in a clear tank next to the art area. It is the job of two people to feed and play with them. Their water has to be refilled daily. They eat a mixture of dried corn, nuts, sunflower seeds and other nutritious food. They exercise regularly in their wheel and they like to nibble on pieces of cardboard! We have several goldfish in school which the children enjoy looking after. They are situated in a tank next to class four. The fish are fed daily on a standard diet of fish flakes. Page 15
Here are some of the things we have been doing at school for Easter: Easter Hat Parade Lots of us enjoyed designing and decorating our own hats, on an Easter theme, with chicks, bunnies, painted eggs, ribbons and flowers. We tried to make them look as bright and colourful as we could! During a special whole school assembly, we sang Easter songs whilst each class took their turn to show off their hats. Easter Egg Hunt This is a game during which decorated eggs or chocolate eggs of various sizes are hidden, by the Easter Bunny, in places for children to find. When the hunt is over, prizes are given to the person who has collected the largest number of eggs. Easter Hampers Every day, some of the older children came to each class with raffle tickets. We could buy them for 20 pence each. On the last day of term, all the tickets were put into a box and three tickets were drawn out. The prizes were hampers which contained Easter eggs, soft toys and games. Easter Nests We love to make little Easter cakes with rice crispies or corn flakes and chocolate. Here s the recipe for you to follow: 1. Melt some chocolate over a bowl of hot water. 2. Gradually stir in some rice crispies or corn flakes until they are coated with the chocolate. 3. Spoon the mixture into small bun cases then put 3 or 4 mini chocolate eggs on the top of each cake. 4. Put the cakes in the fridge to cool. 5. Eat and enjoy! Page 16