The whole school has a had a wonderful week celebrating The Commonwealth, learning all about the different countries, cultures and traditions of the 53 Commonwealth countries. 

PRE-PREP

Pre-Prep have had a fantastic theme week – embracing a wide variety of exciting activities relating to countries of the Commonwealth. Some of the highlights included tasting home-cooked Indian cuisine; dressing up in traditional outfits, creating artwork, dancing, drumming and much more! Transition learnt all about the Caribbean islands and looked at the different food and customs that are celebrated in Jamaica, Bahamas and Barbados. They collaged pictures and made hats, flags and have done lots of singing and dancing! Great fun has been had by all and they and cannot wait to perform at the Transition Thanksgiving service. 

Year 1 and Year 2 have been tasting Indian food, learning all about Indian traditions, making wonderful African masks and learning about the animals of Tanzania. They have really enjoyed such a fun-filled and educational week.

Mrs Taylor and Miss Morrell
 

PREP

Year 4 have been looking at the Asian countries of the Commonwealth: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei Darussalam and Sri Lanka. Map work, flag investigation, retelling traditional tales, researching endangered animals, exploring food miles, producing travel brochures and art work are just some of the activities that the children have been involved in this week. All their work has gone into their Topic Enrichment books as a lasting memory of our Theme Week.

Mrs James

On Thursday morning 4B treated us to their travel guide of India as part of our Commonwealth theme week. We were introduced to Indian celebrities such as St. Thomas, Mother Theresa and Sachin Tendulkar as well as tasting beautifully prepared Indian food . Thank you to 4Bs very own Indian dance group. Thank you Mrs Barnes and all 4B for your hard work in preparing such an interesting assembly for us. Well done!
 
Chaplain 
 
The children in Year 5 have been learning about the African Member States of the Commonwealth of Nations during Theme week this year. They began with learning all the members’ names, capitals and flags – using both the Internet and Atlas for research.  5D have been studying data sheets of certain countries and producing their own quizzes, whilst pursuing their own independent research on “Nigeria” and presenting this work with their own planning and flair in their scrapbooks.  5B have been looking at the meaning behind African Proverbs, as well as learning to play the ancient strategy game Mancala – believed to be one of the oldest games in the world. This has proved to be great fun – and highly competitive.   5S have researched the meanings of various Adinkra symbols, used extensively in fabrics and pottery among the Ashantis from Ghana. They then each selected one symbol, created a stencil using polystyrene, painted it and printed it. 5A have been learning about the spiritual meaning behind African masks before putting their own creativity to the test and making them!  The children have also watched an African Dance  workshop in the school hall and all the children are looking forward to the Year 5 Kahoot Quiz on the Commonwealth on Friday. It has been an exciting, fun-packed and informative week and the children have really enjoyed it.
 
Year 5 Team 

 

Year 6 have been enthusiastically engaging in a diverse range of activities. From exploring Aboriginal Dreamtime stories to translating articles written in pidgin English. Designing and making a board game or card games has channelled creativity, creating wonderful original works – Viper Voyage, Commonopoly and Queenstown to name a few. Intimidating war cries rose up as learning was taken outside. Forms synchronised powerful poses, stamped, slapped, eye balled and even stuck their tongues out as they mastered the mighty Maori Haka. Up in the Art Room blank canvases were transformed into bold flags using a variety of materials; sadly they couldn’t make all 53.

Miss Green

Here are some thoughts from the Year 6 children about their busy week!

I liked the way the subjects merged – Rebecca

I found it very interesting. I didn’t know what the Commonwealth was but now I do. It was a great experience – Arooj

I liked learning about what makes the Pacific different to the rest of the world – Aryan

I loved Commonwealth Week because of the fun activities – Wilf

I liked how the food at lunchtime was from a different country of the Commonwealth everyday – Sareena

Thank you, Mr Newman, for organising such a wonderful week! Bring on Birmingham 2022!

 
 

 

 

We finished by sharing our week with each other on the final day.

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