Bablake Junior Year 6 Girls’ Excel at Sport!
Simba DIARY DATES SEPTEMBER Wednesday 4th AUTUMN TERM BEGINS Tuesday 17th Yr 3 trip to Chadworth Year 6 Parent Information Evening 4.30 OCTOBER Tuesday 1st Yr 3 Parents Information Evening 4.30 Thursday 3rd Year 4 Parents Information Evening 4.30 Wednesday 9th Book Fayre commences Thursday 10th Yr 5 Parents Information Evening 4.30 Friday 11th House Cross Country
The Year 6 girls at Bablake Junior School have enjoyed an astonishingly successful year of sport. Across the year they have won tournaments and competitions in all the sports they play, culminating in their victory in the plate competition at last week’s Rugby School Rounder’s Tournament. All of the Year 6 girls have had the chance to play in the teams. The sporting year started with a thrilling victory in the netball tournament in October at King Henry VIII’s. This team played sensational netball to win all the games in their section. They then defeated King Henry VIII in the semi-final to qualify for the final against a formidable Edgbaston team, a game they then won 4-2.
mud, to win the Coventry Schools Cross Country Competition at Keresley Grange. Over 20 teams took part and the girls, supported in their endeavours by one or two younger members of the school, won both the A and B Team Events. Earlier this term they won the Coventry School’s Relay Competition and the Joe O’Brien cross country event at Ernesford Grange. The girls began the hockey season by winning the Tournament at Tudor Grange before being selected to represent Warwickshire after success in the county competition. They went to the Midlands Tournament where they put up a strong fight, only narrowly missing out on a place in the finals through goal difference.
In February the girls ran with great determination, despite the rain and The
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rounders this term and at the end of May they won the plate event at the Rugby School Competition. Throughout the year the girls have won nearly all of their inter-school fixtures, and are now getting ready to concentrate on other aspects of school life – particularly the Year 6 play and the end of year celebrations. Looking back, the girls can positively reflect upon great endeavour and much success. Their coaches have worked hard and Mrs Reed, the Head of Girl’s Games, is thrilled by their attitude and determination, “The girls achieve so much because they play all sports with great effort and always support each other. Every one of them has contributed to the team’s successes. They are a great group of girls!”
HALF TERM HOLIDAY Monday 21st to Friday 1st NOVEMBER Saturday 9th Open Morning 9.30 - 12.30 Monday 11th Parents Evening 4.00 Tuesday 12th Parents Evening 4.00 Wednesday 13th Individual Photographs Saturday 30th Christmas Fayre DECEMBER Monday 2nd Grades completed Wednesday 18 Carol Service at Coventry Cathedral 7.00 Tuesday 17 Year 3&4 Nativity at Bablake Theatre 5.00 Thursday 19 Short Reports to Parents TERMS ENDS 11.40
Bablake Junior and Pre Prep Pupils Raise the Roof for Birmingham Children’s Hospital! Pupils at Bablake Junior School and Pre Prep have raised over £4300 for Birmingham Children’s Hospital. A cheque was recently presented to Justine Cleary from the hospital’s fundraising team. The Children raised the funds through a sponsored sing which was a great success, led by Mrs Mason, one of the the school’s Music Teachers. Combining her interest in the needs of children and her passion for singing, Mrs Mason was inspired by George Halstead, who is well on the way in his recovery from Leukaemia, and his cousin Grace Hollis who was very moved by George’s experience. They were overwhelmed by everyone’s generosity and hope the money will go towards equipping the new ward. Mrs Cleary was very grateful and thanked everyone at the school for all their efforts.
BABLAKE JUNIOR SCHOOL In the picture are George, Grace, Mrs Mason, Justine Cleary from Birmingham SUMMER 2013 Children’s hospital and the Year 2 pupils at Bablake Pre Prep.
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Year 6 had the opportunity of going to Calshot. We all found it great, and all thought that it was the best residential trip we had been on since we had been at the junior school. Although we enjoyed all of the activities for different reasons, we all had different favourite activities. In the climbing, many students conquered their fear of heights and climbed to the top. Despite the wind and cold, we had fun kayaking and learnt some skills that we would never forget. The indoor ski slope provided an easy way to practise basic skiing skills and more advanced skiers could have a go at the higher and more challenging slopes. We were lucky enough to try out cycling in a Velodrome; there are only 4 of these in the UK! It was brilliant that everyone got on so well and we all learnt a huge amount about team work through the activities and sharing dorm rooms. Many memories were created that will stay with us for many years to come!
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Rounders Update
Year 4 Visit to Naul’s Mill Park
Despite the cancellation and abandonment of some fixtures due to the unpredictable nature of our weather, teams across all age groups have recorded impressive victories.
The U9A Team have won all three matches so far this season; the first against a strong Croft team, the second against Crackley Hall and the third against KHPS. The U9B team saw their first game succumb to bad weather but enjoyed victory in their second The U11 A & B team players have emerged victorious game against KHPS, the final score was 10-8. against teams from Arnold Lodge, Crackley Hall, Crescent, Eversfield and KHPS. Congratulations News update! The Under 9 Girls won the Croft also to the ‘A’ team on their success against tough Tournament on Tuesday 25th June! P 4, W 4. opposition in the Plate Competition at Rugby School. Mrs Reed & Miss Summers The U10 A Team have secured victories against teams from Eversfield, Kingsley Prep and KHPS, and narrowly lost by ½ rounder to a combined Year 6 & 7 Team from Arnold Lodge. The U10B Team have won all 3 matches, recording a fine 18 ½ –16 ½ defeat of Arnold Lodge ‘A’ Team.
As part of our work on ‘Our Local Environment’ in Geography, Year 4 visited Naul’s Mill Park, adjacent to school. We carried out environmental quality analysis in three areas. We listened carefully, drew soundscapes and wrote down descriptive words. On return to school, our groups looked at the positive and negative things that we had seen.
Designing a Boat in Year 4
Year 6 Science Day On the 7th June 2013, the Year 6’s were lucky enough to have Ezra Gaura’s parents, Dr Brusey and Professor Gaura, who are computer scientists at Coventry University come to school. They came in to talk to us about Sensing. There were many different activities linking to Sensing. There were several different stations each with different topics. Station 1 was about measuring your heart beat when resting, doing light activity and heavy activity. We were on a bike and had to keep riding to test our heart rate. At times though it could be inaccurate as the hand that had the sensor on would cause your heart rate to drop if you held on too hard. Station 2 was about testing how much CO2 was in your house when the windows were open and closed. Someone also bounced on a trampoline for 2 minutes and we measured how much CO2 was in their breath. Then we did lots of different experiments with CO2.
Year 4 were asked to design a boat over the Easter Holidays. This followed on from our work on water and air resistance in Science. After several heats, Eleanor won, with Tom second, and Lily third in 4L.
Station 3 was about balancing on a board when having sensors on your body in places such as your arm, wrist, thigh, calf and then your chest. We then tested how much you rely on the whole of your arm especially on the wrist when throwing a ball against the wall.
Traffic Survey at the Gates!
4L wrote a letter to thank everyone at the Gurdwara Nanak Parkash for the Sikh Temple Visit. Two of the paragraphs are below:
The final station was about electricity and we tested how many watts were in different devices. We also tested which device have the highest amount of watts, such as lamps and hairdryers etc. After that we then worked out how much it would cost to boil a kettle when making tea throughout the week and year. The kettle had used the greatest number of watts; the average amount a month to have tea was £7.30 and a year was £87.60.
On arrival, Arjan remembered that we took off our shoes, as well as Tanaka knowing that it is very important to cover our heads too. Emma said this was because it was a tradition and a sign of respect in this religious place.
After everyone had finished a station, there was an activity to do with robots and everybody enjoyed it. It was very technical and you had to be quick but also good at directions and careful. The winner of the competition was Alex Hyde in 6S who completed the task in 54 seconds. By Jauvan Sangha 6S Some quotes about this day from people in 6S and 6N: Maryam Kazmi: I thought it was really fun and a great way to learn about Science.
Sikh Temple Visit
Miss Love’s Maths set conducted a traffic survey linking our work in Maths and Geography. In groups, we posed a question to investigate. After collecting our data as a tally, we had to decide how to present our information.
Jonathon Yardley: It was awesome. I most enjoyed the balancing.
Hockey
We found our visit very welcoming, inspiring and extremely interesting. Thank you once again for letting us visit your Gurdwara and taking the time to share your beliefs with us.
Bablake Pupils Blow their way to Success! Bablake School was recently awarded the Arts Mark by the English Art Council in recognition of the opportunities that exist at the school for Arts involvement. The Woodwind tutorial group has been part of this and a great success, bringing together younger woodwind players from the Junior School with their more experienced colleagues from the Senior School. Everyone learned a great deal from this collaboration and enjoyed the experience.
Musical Tea The weather cleared and the sun shone for our ‘Musical tea’ in the courtyard. Many parents joined us to hear some fabulous music and everyone enjoyed playing outside. The choir sang beautifully and the brass group entertained as ever. The soloists and groups were a joy. The tea worked well and this event is certainly something we would like to try again.
Bablake Junior Pupils Shine at the Nuneaton Festival Hattie Morris won the singing competition and Charlotte Merry the Trumpet Solo at the Nuneaton Festival of Music and Drama. They both enjoyed the experience, Charlotte so much so that she also entered the recorder section and poetry recitals, coming a close second in both. What talented young ladies! In the picture are Hattie and Charlotte with their trophies.
Coventry Literary Festival Inspires Year 3 More than 50 authors and illustrators took part in the city’s second literary festival focusing on children’s literature. The festival included best-selling teen author Celia Rees, who lives in Leamington Spa and Coventry-born Cathy Cassidy and Alex T Smith, a former Bablake pupil. 3P went to see “Grrr! Dinosaurs, Dragons and other Beastie poems” at Moseley Primary School where they watched performance poet James Carter. Inspired by his work we scurried back to school and started scribbling our own poems. Here are few lines from the animal kennings that we wrote: What Am I?
What Am I?
What Am I?
What Am I?
What Am I?
Ground thumper Colossal in size Ice-age dweller
Shadow-maker Bone-breaker Human-biter
Human Hater Mouse Muncher Cave Dweller
Flea flicker Nit picker Banana licker
Voracious eater Bin searcher Amazing smeller
By Anoushka Rajimwale 3P
By Charlie Crinigan 3P
Joe Wynne 3P
By George Halstead 3P
By Liam Thomson 3P
Cricket Report It has been a pleasing year for Cricket and with the sun just about holding out it has meant we have had most of the cricket fixtures being fulfilled. The Under 8’s have made remarkable improvement and they have shown great enthusiasm. They have enjoyed great wins against King Henry VIII and Warwick School with every single boy in Year 3 contributing to these
victories. Well done! The Under 9’s have also played positively this year and have been well captained by Jamie Parnell. The highlight of the season was an away trip to Warwick School where all the boys in Year 4 played in an A or B team match. The A team managed to secure victories against Eversfield and Solihull. The Under 10’s have shown real strength in depth and have been the team in form. They have beaten Eversfield, KGS Worcester, The Croft and had an unbelievable last ball triumph against a very strong Warwick School side. Well done boys! The Under 11’s have had a mixed year and they have shown that when fully focussed they are capable of beating any side. There have been good A team wins against Eversfield and a comprehensive victory against King Henry VIII. The B team also had a very good victory against Bilton Grange. I hope that all of the older boys keep up their cricketing skills as they move on to their senior schools. Mr Benfield
What does Bablake mean? Brilliant teachers helping us in all we do. Amazing lessons helping us to learn about life. Brilliant treats which we enjoy. Lovely friends who help others. Amazing exams which are surprisingly not bad . Keen pupils ready to learn. Excited teachers ready to teach. By Ellen Dewes
Mr Norman and his fish! Year 6 girls have been fantastic at helping look after the fish.
Pre Prep
Kindergarten Enjoy the Outdoors!
Year 2 Meet the Fish at Birmingham Sea Life Centre In response to an exciting day at the Birmingham Sea Life Centre, Year 2 children chose a sea creature to research. They then produced an Information Text on the computer and added pictures from the internet.
Sea horses
Bowmouth Guitar Fish
Sea horses are amazing creatures. They are part of the sygnathidae family. What does the sea horse look like? Sea horses have the head of a tiny horse. The sea horse has interlocking plates on the outside of the body. This covers its spine which is made of bone. All sea horses have no tail fins although they have four others. It had fins at the base of its tail and one behind each cheek. Where do sea horses live? Sea horses are found in temperate and tropical water. Their favourite habitats are coral reefs, sea grass and mangrove forests. How do sea horses look after their babies? Unlike any other living things, the male sea horse has the babies. It has dozens, sometimes hundreds of babies. The female inserts her eggs and the male gives birth.
Bowmouth Guitar Fish are also named as the Ray Shark. It looks like a guitar. What other animals is it related to? Bowmouth Guitar Fish are related to Skates and Rays. They look all spotty, gargantuan and flat. Bowmouth Guitar Fish are broad shaped. They have large fins and they change colour as they get older. Where do they come from? They come from the Indo-West Pacific, the Red Sea and East Africa. It likes to live in muddy and sandy ground. Glossary gargantuan – huge fins – fins are the things on the side of a fish to help it swim. By Libby Stinton
In June, the Kindergarten children had an exciting visit to Ash End House Farm. They had a fantastic time! They held chicks and ducklings, fed a baby goat, had a ride on a pony and joined in with many more exciting activities. A great day was had by all.
Reception Class being Sad at the Playbox Theatre We went on the minibuses to the Playbox Theatre in Warwick. We had a picnic at school for our lunch. A man called Owen helped us to be people from in the stories. We used ourselves to make pictures from the stories Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Peter Pan. We had a great time!
By Alice Richardson
Maisie Halstead and Amber Bassi
Sea Otters
Starfish
Sea otters are cute little animals. Also sometimes they are a bit mysterious too. Where do sea otters live? They live in the Pacific Ocean near North America. Sea otters sleep at the top of the ocean and strap themselves in sea weed. You normally see them around the coasts of California. What do sea otters eat? Sea otters eat fish, marine invertebrates like crabs, urchins and star fish. They open their food with rocks on their tummies. How do sea otters move? Sea otters often float in kelp in the forests. Did you know? • Sea otters live up to 25 years. • They are the heaviest of the weasel family. • Sea otters can hold their breath for four minutes. • Sea otters live in shallow waters. • Sea otters have the densest fur. By Connie Paterson
Starfish have 5 arms. If one drops off, it will grow back. Where do starfish live? Starfish live in rock pools, coral reefs and in the ocean. What do they look like? They have pincer-like organs, spiny skin and their 5 arms are covered with pincer skin. What do starfish eat? Starfish eat molluscs, oysters and sea snails. How do they eat? Starfish spit out their stomach, then the stomach gets the food and the starfish swallows the stomach. Glossary Coral – a rock that is made in the sea. By Rhea Cherrington
Can You Hear That? In Year 1 we have been learning about Sound and Hearing in Science. We have investigated different ways of making sounds. We made our own musical shakers too.
I liked making my shaker because when I had finished I could pluck, shake and bang it to make sound. I used lots of materials. Sophie Davenport 1F
I enjoyed investigating high and low sounds. I also enjoyed making my musical shaker. It was fun putting the rice inside it. Zaara Syed 1F
We listened to Thalvin play the tabla. He did this by banging it with his hands. Gareth Lewis 1M
Year 3 Highlights
Year 5 Survive in the Wild! I loved the Great Outdoors. It felt better than being cramped in a house. I was a free, natural human. Bethany Clarke It was very interesting to learn the basics of fire-making. The smell was very fresh and distinctive. The flames encouraged me to imagine. Livia Turnock I enjoyed how peaceful and calming it was to lie inside your tent in the morning and listen to the birds. Grace Fisher I preferred sleeping in a shelter because at night I could look up at the stars twinkling in the sky. Ife Olomolaiye Although it was cold in the lake, I enjoyed swimming in it. I was brave and swam out. John-Joseph O’Meara
The highlight of the year for me was all the visits and trips we went on, especially to Stratford to see “The Mouse and His Child”. The rat was the enemy of the mice and when he got blown up he became kind and helpful. Naiya 3F
When it rained at night, the pattering noise on the fabric of the tent made me stay awake. Benjamin Crosby
I enjoyed meeting people and making lots of new friends in both classes. It was great going on trips and I have loved taking part in lessons and writing stories. I liked planting beans and potatoes in Science…. it was fun! Priya 3P
The Highwayman
My highlight of Year 3 was visiting the Safety Centre because we got to make a 999 call to rescue Grandad from a burning house. We learnt how to keep ourselves safe and know what to do if ever we have a problem. Alena 3F My best trip was visiting the Herbert Art Gallery, I liked learning about the silk worm. I found the sculptures, paintings, clay models and sewing machine very interesting. Jaya 3P A highlight for me was when we went to the Transport Museum. My Dad volunteered to come because he is an expert in engineering. Mrs Francis was really glad that he came along to help us all. Bianca 3F In Science I loved doing the materials investigation and working in groups. We had to think of good reasons why we should not make things out of different materials like making a car out of jelly! Esha 3P
Year 3 ‘Testing the Wheels’ at Coventry Transport Museum
I enjoyed being outdoors because it is away from electricity and toys so, instead of playing on my X-Box, I was socialising with my friends. Luke Edmiston
Year 5 have been studying The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes. In response to the poem, they imagined the story from different characters’ viewpoints. Shadows rose, day fell and the moon cast its silver spell. I saddled my horse and galloped into the jewelled night. I was after a prize tonight… Bess by Jhodi Thandi I whistled a gentle tune to the window. I knew who would be waiting there: my bonny sweetheart, Bess. I gave her a ruby ribbon and stroked her hair. I promised to bring her sweet, sweet gold. Bess by Abigale Barnes The night was calm yet bitterly cold. I stood at my window, waiting. Suddenly I saw a shadow then heard the hooves of a horse clattering and clashing in the dark inn yard. There, my love stood in his stirrups. My heart skipped a beat. Bess by Livia Turnock I heard the wind’s breath against the door. A cry of loneliness seemed to ricochet around the walls of my bedroom. I stood there waiting for my future to be broken. Bess by Amelia Shaw I had no choice. I twisted my hands behind me; all the knots held fast. I writhed my hands till my fingers bruised and were wet with either sweat or blood. Such agony. I had to find a way to get hold of the trigger. I told myself, “Don’t give up, never give up”. Bess by Bhavan Amar
Bianca tries out the tricycle
Is it a boy thing?
Sir Sidd cycles sedately
In the coal-black night sky the bright stars twinkle like pearls on a piece of black velvet. People claim to have seen two white ghosts on such a night: one a highwayman, the other a girl with a love knot plaited into her hair. That’s us, the two ghosts are us. Bess by Grace Fisher