Simba - Issue 43

Issue 43 | Summer 2021

News from Bablake Junior and Pre Prep School

Face Everything and Rise

I

believe that this has been the headline that has dominated every aspect of this year.

What a year it has been!

Our community has redefined the meaning of hard work, determination, perseverance, reliance, and community spirit.

The underlying factor highlighted this year has been the power of positivity; not only does positivity empower a mindset of confidence and creativity, but also opportunism. I have found that it is reliant upon the power of choice, every moment of every day. The option not to allow the negativity associated with a circumstance to dominate daily thought and action. It is this ingredient that positions us to find hope even in the darkest of times.

As I reflect on this year, I consider the words that Nelson Mandela once said, “It always seems impossible until it is done.” I am

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incredibly proud of how we have navigated our way through the waves of the challenge this year. I would like to commend the individuals who have contributed to our success: our fantastic staff and fabulous pupils. None of which could have been achieved without the ongoing support of our parents.

Looking ahead, I cannot help but be filled with optimism for what lies ahead. A year that will be filled with normality, where simple pleasures like visiting a theme park or a theatre might be something that we enjoy as we once did.

Summer has finally arrived, the perfect time to recharge. From everyone here at Bablake Junior School, we hope that you enjoy a relaxing and well-deserved holiday.

Mr Lorrian Holder Headmaster

Kindergarten Kindergarten children have enjoyed the weather this term.

One of our favourite things is having our snacks out in the orchard so that we can explore the wildlife and investigate the different plants around the grounds. It’s relaxing to be able to sit outside and learn together.

Reception HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW? Our topic work on Growing was fantastic fun, but very wet. Of course this added to the excitement! The children took part in lots of planting activities and digging to prepare our f lower and vegetable gardens.

They planted a variety of f lowers and many different vegetables – peas, tomatoes, runner beans, spinach, courgettes, and even strawberries. The children have loved watching the plants grow from seed to produce, and are keen to sample the fruits of their labour. The children have gained so much from having first-hand experience of how plants grow. A super learning experience!

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year 1

Under The Sea

LIBRARY

Our topic this term has been Under The Sea and we have been very busy with it!

With restrictions beginning to ease, we have been able to go the library this term in Year 1. We have loved spending time with lots of new books and taking stories home to read.

Some of us have even extended our knowledge of sea creatures by selecting non-fiction texts to take home.

We have learnt about the oceans (and have a favourite catchy song to help us remember them – sorry parents!).

We have enjoyed looking at lots of different sea creatures and learning about which zone of the ocean they live in. We saw some pictures of some incredible animals that live in the depths of the ocean (the blobfish and angler fish were our favourites).

Art has also followed our Under The Sea theme, and we have loved showing off our creative talents.

We have used watercolours, paints, collaging, chalk, and oil pastels to create some lovely effects. We have also created a Submarine Porthole project out of paper plates. First of all we designed them, then took a couple of weeks to turn our designs into reality.

I love reading the different blurbs to work out which book looks exciting and then taking that story home to read.

Fleur

I enjoyed following instructions to “ make a paper squid.”

Nancy

“I loved making submarine portholes.”

Arya

“I liked watching videos of sea animals.”

Ada

“I love going to the art room to make Under The Sea things!”

Charlie

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year 2

Memories

My special memory is meeting my best friends here at Bablake and seeing all our lovely teachers each and every day. eat and I’m lucky to The Pre Prep has been gr l friends.We’ve had have met such wonderfu lots of giggles together! e best and I have School trips have been th ys that we have had loved the special theme da in school.

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I’ve enjoyed toasting marshmallows at Forest School, they were delicious!

Things they’re

looking forward too at the Junior School

lly looking I’m especia having my forward to p desk! own open u

I can’t wa

it to join

Chess Clu

b!

I really looking forward to meeting my new teachers and making new friends.

I’m so excited about try ing out new sports at the Junior Scho ol and competing in fixtures.

I will really miss the Pr e Prep but the Junior School is going to be a new exciting adventure for us all!

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School News Chickens moving in at The Grange Welcome back Potato, Nugget, Neeachu and Alisa!

We have four new additions this term, the chicks that we hatched in school earlier this year have returned as full grown hens and will be staying in their new home at The Grange.

Nugget is the adventurous one, always trying to escape. Potato is the blond one likes to have her own space. Neeachu loves caulif lower and watercress and Alisa is the biggest one, who is also the calm and most friendly one.

The hens will be a great way for the children to learn about animals, where food comes from, and the life-cycle. The children are also looking forward to helping take care of them and learning new skills.

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WORLD BOOK DAY 2021 We all know how important reading is, so we decided to extend World Book Day and celebrated all week long. So many fabulous activities took place in different year groups across the school, such as sharing favourite books, author and illustrator interviews, building reading dens, creating recipes and even dressing up as book characters. As a whole school, we explored The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse by Charlie Mackesy and the beautiful, profound messages and illustrations in it.

We ref lected on the themes of friendship, kindness, positivity, vulnerability and hope in uncertain times and created our very own messages and drawings, in the same style.

Phoebe’s Cricket Success Phoebe, Year 4, was very proud to compete with the Corley Cricket Club U10s in a weekend tournament this term.

She is normally part of the U9 group, so it was a great achievement to be asked to join the group above. They won the tournament and she has a wonderful, shiny medal to show for her efforts – well done Phoebe!

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School News Kruger Challenge awards Elliot, Year 5, and his brother James, Year 3, received medals for completing the Kruger Park Virtual Fitness Challenge through 256 miles of South African landscapes – great work, boys!

CHARLIE’S CHELTENHAM RACE Bablake Junior pupil, Charlie, and his pony, Rupert, recently raced for the first time at Cheltenham!

Charlie was very lucky that The Pony Club was able to run their annual race meeting at the prestigious Cheltenham Racecourse. The race they entered was for ponies 138cm tall and under and Charlie and Rupert came 6th out of 12.

They were really pleased with the result and were happy to have had their first chance at a real race.

HANSON BOX ESSAY RUNNER UP AWARD Darcey, Year 5, was a runner up in this year’s Hanson Box Essay competition. The topic of the essay was around inventions of the 20th and 21st centuries. In her essay she wrote about the radio being the most important invention of the 20th century. For the 21st century she said the touchscreen was at the top of her list because advances in touchscreen technology have supported the popularity of other forms of technology.

When we asked Darcey how she felt when she found out that she had won she said, “I thought my heart was about to explode!”

She was so happy about the result and really enjoyed writing the essay.

Early Cricket talent spotted!

Two Bablake Junior pupils were selected for the Warwickshire County Cricket U10 winter squad – an amazing achievement for them both at such a young age. Anay, Year 5, and Manam, Year 3, were able to show their great skills at trials earlier in the year.

The county selection process involved several rounds, the first of which had more than 100 children from all over Warwickshire, all of whom had come through a similar local club nomination process. At the end of the first round, the original group was whittled down to about 50% of its original size. This was followed by another (final) selection round - a lengthy process, but well worth the wait for both boys.

Training has continued throughout the term and they have a busy summer schedule ahead of them – good luck, boys!

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CORONAVIRUS

Artwork Exploring the idea of a virus through art was exciting and thought provoking.

Our Year 5 children discussed their experiences and their thoughts whilst working, being experimental with inks, clay and weaving. Lots of techniques were used and there were different materials and new experiences to enjoy. Our viruses are spiky, crown like, complicated, and beautiful; the sparkle reminds us of the delicacy of the virus and how it travels, the weaving reminds us of how connected we all are during this time.

Charity Heroes Challenge Year 2 pupils and teachers took part in a 10 mile Heroes Challenge throughout May, raising money for Zoe’s Place Baby Hospice. We were amazed and very proud of their determination and stamina throughout the month. They raised over £1000 for this incredible charity. Thank you to the School Council for organising this amazing event!

UP UP AND AWAY… We had a great day dressing as Superheroes for Comic Relief and raised over £1000 across the Pre Prep and Junior School. There were lots of smiles and lots of cake, a SUPER day all around!

Save the Planet, Save our Future A group of Year 5 pupils organised their own ‘Save the Planet’ assembly to raise awareness of pollution. They held a raff le to support WWF and raised over £100 through their efforts – well done!

ST GEORGE’S DAY Pupils who are Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, Rainbows, Brownies and Girl Guides were invited to celebrate St. George’s day by wearing their uniform. We had a great group of members proudly showing their Unit Colours!

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year 3

ROMAN DAY We enjoyed another fantastic Roman Day. The rain held off and we made it out for some legionnaire training and battle formations. We even had some sword fights!

PLANT DAY This term we have been studying plants in Science and the children have shown great enthusiasm for the practical and investigation tasks that we have been doing. We spent the day planning and setting up an investigation looking at the needs of runner bean plants and what happens when seeds do not get what they need. We spent the afternoon looking closely at the parts of a f lower and working hard on our scrapbooks.

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year 4

All things Greek Identifying the year group’s, fascination with the Greek Gods, we all arrived dressed in character as our favourite – the costumes were impressive!

To support our learning in Humanities on The Ancient Greeks, we immersed the children in exciting and memorable activities; the morning consisted of food tasting, theatre mask making and natural wreath creations. In the afternoon, the children worked in small groups to create a performance, having chosen a Greek myth which we had studied in English. At the end of the day, each group performed their play to the year group using their mask creations and wreaths. An enjoyable day was had by all.

I loved that we used our masks that we created as props in our plays.

Making a Greek performance come to life was a lot of fun.

The food tasting was amazing! I loved trying new foods and especially imagining what types of food the Ancient Greeks loved.

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year 5

The Wonders

OF INDIA

In Humanities, Year 5 pupils have been studying India, and have been looking at both natural and man-made structures, learning the story of how the Taj Mahal was built. They then created their own art work of this iconic building.

FOREST SCHOOL FUN All pupils have enjoyed reconnecting with nature at Forest school since their return from lockdown. They thoroughly enjoyed making a fire and enjoying hot drinks and s’mores.

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year 6

Bushcraft The Year 6 Bushcraft trip was a resounding success: although fairly chilly and very muddy, the children relished life in the great outdoors!

Pupils quickly learned how to build their own fires, cook lunch and stay warm. Year 6 grew as a team as they explored new skills in an exciting environment. One of the highlights was undoubtedly the preparing of a whole salmon for the final evening meal; even though Mr Norman’s knife skills were rather poor (he managed to cut his finger!).

I am sure that Year 6 will have fond memories of our campsite and all of the exciting activities which they experienced.

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LIVING IN THE PAST FOR A DAY… Whilst dressed as evacuees from World War II, Year 6 took part in a range of activities as part of their overdue experience day.

During the morning, the children made carrot biscuits, which were “surprisingly tasty,” learned about code breaking and the famous Enigma machine and strutted their stuff on the dance f loor, 1940s style, learning the Lindy Hop. Everyone had a brilliant time and all the evacuees were reunited with their families at home time.

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Sport

sport with many inter-year tournaments and House tournaments, it is refreshing to have some outside competitions taking place in order to return us to our true competitive spirit.

This year the sport provision has been significantly impacted by Covid restrictions. It was incredible to see so many children taking part in online fitness sessions during the second lockdown and it was also great to see mums, dads, grandparents and even and even the odd dog taking part as well. When we were able to return to school, this effort certainly helped us to hit the ground running in PE and Games lessons.

It has been a real pleasure to see fixtures return this term, with cricket and rounders teams visiting our fields and even a few away matches being organised as well. It has been a monumental effort behind the scenes to get this to happen and we owe a huge thank you to the schools we competed against that helped to facilitate this. After a long year of continued

House Competition During the Spring Term our pupils participated in a House rugby and rounders competition.

Year 3 Rugby

Year 4

1st Eliot 2nd Churchill

2 Eliot nd

3rd Nelson

Rounders

1st Churchill and Nelson

We want to say a HUGE thank you to all staff and parents for your patience and support throughout the year to help us ensure that our pupils have had the opportunity to continue their sport. Although fixtures were few, the pupils worked hard to showcase their skills and they were able to develop throughout the year while continuing to feel part of a team. The social aspect of sport is so important as children grow and understand their individual role in helping their teams to improve and strengthen.

We cannot wait to get back to some form of normality next year.

Thanks again everyone and have a great summer!

Mr Benfield and Mrs Haywood

The matches were fiercely contested and our pupils took every opportunity to enjoy the experience of competing again. The Year 6 rugby competition was nothing short of ferocious and each and every boy put their body on the line for their House. It was clear that they had missed real competitive matches!

The results were as follows:

Year 6

Year 5 1st Eliot 2nd Churchill

1st Nelson and Eliot 2nd Churchill

3rd Nelson

1st Nelson

1st Churchill

1st Nelson

1st Nelson

2nd Churchill and Eliot

2nd Eliot

2nd Churchill

2nd Eliot

3rd Nelson

3rd Eliot

3rd Churchill

Bablake Junior School

Bablake Pre Prep

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t 024 7622 1677 e bablakepreprep@bablakejs.co.uk

Coundon Road, Coventry CV1 4AU

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The Grange, Brownshill Green Road, Coventry CV6 2EG

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