4MW’s Class Assembly:    We enjoyed a wonderful assembly on Thursday 12^th December, by 4MW and they shared what an amazing amount of learning that they have participated in this term. They shared their knowledge of the digestive system in Science, their understanding of the volcanic eruption and its effect on Pompeii (in History). They also shared their amazing knowledge of facts they can work out if they know just one number sentence - so if they know the answer to 6 x 7, they also know division facts as well as fractions1 The children were very proud of their assembly, especially because they created it themselves. Well done 4MW! 

 

Hatton Trip:        Our Early Years children enjoyed a wonderful day out at Hatton Adventure world on Thursday 12^th December. Throughout their day, they enjoyed feeding the sheep and goats, holding guinea pigs and exploring the reptiles. They then explored the farm and pretended to be farmers driving tractors; they also tested out the zip line. They made reindeer food ready for Christmas Eve and took a walk through the enchanted forest with 3D glasses changing the lights to different festive characters. They then got to meet Father Christmas himself, once the Elves helped to wake him up! Father Christmas gave the children a magic golden key for his toy shop to choose a gift. They finished off the day with some funfair rides and soft play. The Hatton staff were extremely impressed because all of the children showed impeccable behaviour and were a real reflection of Moat House. Thank you to all of the parents and volunteers who joined the children (and staff) for a wonderfully festive day. 

 

Key Stage 1 Christmas Show:          Year 1 and 2 performed their festive show called Hey Ewe! On Wednesday 11^th and Thursday 12^th December to a very proud audience of parents and family. There were the traditional characters including Mary, Joseph, wise men and shepherds, and the children did brilliantly to learn their lines, as well as a variety of songs with actions. 

 

Christmas Lunch: On Wednesday 11^th December, we all got into the festive spirit and enjoyed a delicious Christmas lunch. The children enjoyed wearing their Christmas jumpers whilst eating traditional turkey, vegetables and roast potatoes. They even enjoyed Christmas tree shaped chocolate ice creams for pudding.

 

Stone Age Day:   On Wednesday 12^th December, our Year 3 children celebrated the end of their Stone Age History topic with a themed day. They took part in six different activities across the day which included; shortbread biscuit making (and cutting into the shape of sarsen stones, used to build Stonehenge), creating pictures of Stonehenge and cave drawings, creating paper mache stone necklaces (similar to those that archaeologists have discovered), using drama and dance to act out scenes from the Stone Age and to finish off, they were taught about fire lighting during the Stone Age. The children thoroughly enjoyed their day.

 

Parents’ Evening: On Tuesday 10^th and Wednesday 11^th December, we held our Autumn term parents’ evening. We hope that you found the information about your child’s progress and attainment useful and that you were given tips and guidance, as to how you can help your child at home.

 

Rocksteady Concert: On Tuesday 10^th December, we enjoyed hearing how our Moat House rock bands have been progressing, as a result of their weekly music lessons with Sophie, from Rocksteady. The children showed off their developing talent with different musical instruments including guitars and drums and there was even a Christmas theme with some bands who had learnt Jingle Bells and Last Christmas.

Christmas Fayre:        On Monday 2^nd December, our Christmas Fayre was a resounding success and Santa’s grotto was a particular hit with children big and small! Each class had the challenge to run their own stall with a prize being awarded to the stall which raised the most money. We would like to thank you for your support, as well as your donations and we will let you know of the total amount raised in a future newsletter.

 

Belgrade Theatre Visit: Year 3 have been busy ticking off activities from our '45 things to do before leaving Moat House'. They went on a trip to the Belgrade Theatre to watch Dick Whittington on Friday 29^th November. Mr Adey was tasked with joining the cast of the show and had a starring role as 'Rat Man'. His dance moves were incredible. Then, our wonderful Miss Lane was taken onto the stage and helped the characters bake a cake. Unfortunately for her, most of it ended up on her face and top! The children danced, laughed, sung, booed and cheered their way through the show and a great time was had by all.

Year 1 Soft Play:  On Thursday 28^th November Year 1 enjoyed a visit to Bermuda Soft Play. This is one of the ‘45 things to do before you leave Moat House’ and now all of Year 1 can tick this one off the list! All of the children had great fun running around, playing indoor football and going down the steep slides. The children enjoyed the coach journey and even practised their songs on the way back to school! 

 

Time to Talk:      Year 6 participated in a workshop called ‘Time to Talk’ on Wednesday 27^th November. This involved learning the skills needed to be good communicators, including listening and sharing ideas without being too forceful. The children then had the opportunity to use these skills to debate whether certain scenarios were safe or unsafe.

 

Year 6 Athletics:  On Wednesday 27^th November, some Year 6 children participated in an athletics competition against other schools from Coventry. The children took part in a range of events, including: relay races, javelin, long jump, triple jump and speed bounce. The children performed fantastically and managed to win lots of the events, including the six lap relay race, which was won with an exceptional performance by Panashe and Munirah! Overall, the children finished in third place! Not only were they amazing at the events, they also demonstrated brilliant sportsmanship throughout the day and were very good at cheering on their team mates. Well done Year 6.

 

Castle Wood Connections:  On Monday 25^th November, representatives from the School Council visited our neighbours, Castle Wood to discuss ideas for working together this academic year. One of our ideas is to jointly raise money for Myton Hospice nurses, who do a wonderful job of looking after people who are very poorly. We will further discuss this with the rest of the School Council and let you know of our future plans.

 

6CB Assembly:     Year 6 performed a fantastic assembly all about the human circulatory system on Friday 22^nd November. We learned from them that there are four main components of the blood – plasma, red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets – that all have an important part in how the circulatory system works to keep us alive and healthy. The children also showed off their marvellous sewing skills, modelling their 1970s inspired T-shirts that they have created. Well done, 6CB! An amazing assembly!

 

Nursery Trip to the Transport Museum:        Our Nursery children went to the Transport Museum on Wednesday 20^th November, many of them being joined by their parents. The children have been learning about different types of transport and enjoyed looking at how vehicles have changed over time. They also enjoyed their journey of leaving school, waiting for and travelling on a bus. While at the Transport Museum, the children had an opportunity to hands-on explore forces and how things work using different objects. The Transport Museum offers this session free every Wednesday to all Coventry families, as well as a Saturday session building cars for older children. Just take along your CV card to join these sessions for free!

 

Year 4 author workshop:    On Wednesday 20^th November, Year 4 took part in a Waterstones author workshop with Alex T. Smith who illustrated and wrote his most recently published book 'Murder by Narwhal'. Alex T. Smith explained the inspiration for his latest book and introduced the children to each character. After this, he read an extract of his book which the children are excited to continue reading as a class novel! The workshop ended with a Q&A with the author and the children were fascinated to learn more about the publishing process. He gave the children some helpful advice about the editing and revising process which was fantastic. The children thoroughly enjoyed the workshop and it really inspired them with their own writing too!

 

 

Year 6 Energy Summit:     On Tuesday 19^th November, some Year 6 children attended 'The Youth Energy Summit' at the CBS Arena. Throughout the day, they explored the energy crisis through discussions, performances, interactive workshops and exhibitions. The main learning focus was through arts-based workshops, which used arts approaches and physical theatre techniques to help students understand renewable energy technologies, energy conservation strategies and policy advocacy. Although it was quite a mature topic, the children listened thoughtfully and participated fully in all of activities. They will feedback what they learned to the rest of Year 6 so that they can all develop an understating of the energy crisis and make better choices about their energy usage.

 

Design Technology:           As part of the Design Technology curriculum, Year 2 made and baked their own pizzas in the week beginning November 18th. As well as making their own dough, they got creative with their toppings and used peppers, sweetcorn, chicken, ham and even the rather unusual option of carrots! In the week starting November 11th, Year 6 upcycled plain white T shirts by creating 1970s themed felt designs which they then sewed onto their T shirts, using three different stitches. The children have all thoroughly enjoyed their learning in Design and Technology over the last couple of weeks!

 

 

 

 

 

 

More Football Success:     On Wednesday 13^th November, the football team played a friendly match against Henley Green Primary School. Max (the captain) managed to score two early goals and it finished a very comfortable 6:0. Our goalkeeper (Ezekiel) did brilliantly to keep a clean sheet. Well done Moat House!

 

Racing Driver Interview:   On Wednesday 13^th November, we were visited by a real life racing driver – Kevin Hansen from Veloce. Eight of our children (Munirah, Marafi, Milosz, Joshua (Year 6), Maci, Jan (Year 5), Marley J and Michal (Year 4) had the amazing opportunity to meet Kevin and ask him questions about his life and career. This was all captured on film and will be published on their You Tube channel. The children thoroughly enjoyed the experience and were fantastic representatives for Moat House.

 

Children in Need: Thank you to everyone who participated in helping to raise money for Children in Need by coming to school wearing their pyjamas on Friday 15^th November, in exchange for £1 or purchasing merchandise.

 

Anti-Bullying Week:         Anti-Bullying Week is an annual UK event, which aims to raise awareness of bullying of children and young people, in schools and elsewhere, and to highlight ways of preventing and responding to it. The theme this year is "Choose Respect" and the importance of treating people how we would like to be treated ourselves. We started our week (on 12^th November) with 'Odd Socks Day' and continued to discuss the difference between unkind behaviour and bullying. The children were reminded that bullying is intentional repeated acts, which target the same individual.