Swans

Charles Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection

by | 1 Jan 2024 | Science, Swans

The Swans have been learning about Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution by Natural Selection. Using different sized tweezers and tongs and a variety of seeds, they had to work out which finch lived on which island. They learnt that the smaller finches with the small beaks fed on small seeds and the ones with […]

Still Life in Swans

by | 1 Jan 2024 | Art & Design, Swans

The Swans have begun their drawing unit: Still Life.  This week we were drawing using charcoals. We looked at how shading can create depth to a drawing as well as proportion and space.  They used white chalk to show the light reflecting off their object. Their work was extremely impressive!

Young Voices 2024

by | 1 Jan 2024 | Extracurricular, Music, News, Owls, Swans, Visits

On Friday 19th January, 20 children from Owls and Swans joined nearly 8,000 children from around the country, at the O2 arena, to take part in the Young Voices concert. The children performed with professional artists, including Urban Strides, Natalie Williams and Nandi Bushell. The children behaved wonderfully, performed flawlessly and were a real credit […]

Wooden Reindeers!

by | 1 Jan 2024 | Design Technology, Forest Schools, Swans

The Swans had a great afternoon outside making their reindeers. They also learned how to strike sparks to create fire. Thank you Mrs Martin for all your help.

Christmas Tree Festival

by | 12 Dec 2023 | Community, Kingfishers, Owls, Swans, Woodpeckers

All the children helped to make a Stratford St Mary Primary School Christmas Tree for the Church’s Christmas Tree Festival. The children created a bauble to decorate the tree and drew a memory from a past Christmas. They also made two green handprints to create the Christmas tree. Miss Cousins put the Christmas tree together […]

Five Gifts for Christmas

by | 12 Dec 2023 | Community, Fundraising, Kingfishers, News, Owls, Swans, Woodpeckers

This term, the children have been talking about kindness, thoughtfulness, sharing, respect and caring and how these values can become an important part of our daily lives.  As a school, we decided to try and spread kindness towards others and asked for some donations for the five gifts of Christmas Appeal.  The children were sent […]

The Boy who Harnessed the Wind

by | 12 Dec 2023 | News, Science, Swans

The Swans have been learning about William Kamkambura and how he harnessed the wind to create electricity for his village in Malawi. They were then set the challenge to create a windmill that could lift a small bucket of marbles! The classroom was full of excitement as they watched their windmills in action!

Afternoon Tea for some Special Visitors

by | 11 Nov 2023 | Design Technology, History, News, Swans, Visitors

The Swans had a lovely time providing a WW2 themed ‘afternoon tea’ for the elderly members of their community. They had really enjoyed sharing information about life in the village during WW2 and wanted to say ‘thank you’ for coming into school and sharing their experiences. We have had an amazing half term learning all […]

Learning about Hinduism

by | 11 Nov 2023 | Religious Education, Swans

The Swans have been learning about the Hindu belief in Atman. The Atman refers to the real person inside an individual. It is made of part of the spirit of Brahman. They Hindus use the saying ‘Namaste’ to greet each other. This translates as ‘The Divine Spirit in me salutes the Divine Spirit in you.’ […]

Food Bank Donation

by | 10 Oct 2023 | Community, Fundraising, Kingfishers, Owls, Swans, Woodpeckers

On Thursday 5th October, we held a Harvest Assembly in the school.  Families were incredibly generous and brought in some non-perishable items which were sent onto the Colchester Food Bank. Thank you all so much for the contributions. The Food Bank was incredibly grateful for the 58.80kg of items donated.  

Henry Moore ‘Shelters’

by | 10 Oct 2023 | Art & Design, History, Swans

The Swans have begun to use the art skills they have learnt in order to create their final pieces based on Henry Moore’s Shelter Drawings.

Henry Moore Shelters

by | 9 Sep 2023 | Art & Design, History, News, Swans

The Swans have been practising creating contour lines in their art work in the style of Henry Moore. His Shelter drawings show people huddled together in the underground stations. The children got into groups of 3 and were photographed in a huddling position. They then used the forward and backward technique, shading techniques and curved […]