0208 640 1177 |office@cricketgreen.merton.sch.uk |www.cricketgreen.merton.sch.uk
Every Monday an elite group of students take part in 'Challenger Troop'.Led by military trained personnelthe students have been learning a variety ofskills. Each week they dr d ess in their full camouflage uniforms,army boots and hat and are transported to a different location in South West London to participate in military drills,fitness and stamina exercises and also develop their ability to work as part ofa team. They have already learnt a number ofskills ofbush craft and over the remaining weeks students willbe learning how to build shelters, make fires and survive out in the wilderness...allthese new skills willbe put to the test in an overnight residentialbefore the students are signed offand graduate as fully fledged challenger troopers!
On Tuesday 21st April10 CGS students joined 1,500 others from the London Borough ofMerton to present an astonishing performance titled ‘Music is for Life’at the RoyalAlbert Hall! LocalMerton schools worked with professionalmusicians to write songs to accompany the drama,their thoughts being reflected through a diversity ofmusicmaking and storytelling including a 1,250 voice allage choir,250 strong concert band,jazz orchestra, massed strings,guitars and percussion ensemble,and a wonderful orchestralpiece by Perseid school. The concert finale featured the world premiere ofBackstories,which explores the challenges and joyfulrewards of intergenerationalcommunication through an innovative music and drama commission. Our students sang with alltheir hearts and loved every second ofthis truly specialday -A memory we won’t forget!
Easy Cook is an 8 week programme that focuses on planning,budgeting and cooking healthy meals. The session starts at 1pm and goes on to 3pm when the childr d en join parents to eat the mealparents have cooked. We have had up to 6 parents take up this opportunity and they have made,vegetable kebabs,fruit sticks,banana cake,vegetable curry,chicken nuggets,sweet potato wedges, carrot cake and oat bars which have allbeen enthusiastically devoured by their children! W ho knows what the next 3 weeks willhold!!
The primary children had great fun during our Spring Bonnet parade. They loved walking down the catwalk to funky music,showing the schooltheir fantastic hats that they had made at home. Thank you to allthe mums and dads who supported this -the childr d en felt so proud oftheir achievements.
On April24th,17 Year 10 students from CGS jumped onto two minibuses and headed down to Guilford to embark on a 3 day residentialat Sayers Croft. The weather was absolutely amazing for allthree days.We arrived at lunchtime on the Wednesday,unpacked our bags,made the beds and immediately got stuck into activities that were run by the team at Sayers Croft. We made catapults,conquered challenge zones,ran through mazes,walked through trails blindfolded and built rafts. On Thursday night we spent the evening around a campfire cooking sausages and roasting marshmallows,this was definitely a highlight for both students and staff. We even had two visitors,Mrs Dawson and RachelVickers who came out for the campfire,(and brought amazing fish and chips)Jon played his guitar,we sang songs and befor o e long were allsafely back in the dorms.I’m sure everyone involved slept wellat the weekend.Always a plethora ofgood memories on yet another successful Year 10 residential.Thank you to everyone involved!
W hen children are active in play, they discover things about the world,about how objects move for example,that balls can be rolled, and thrown,and pushed sideways, about where to place their bodies for certain actions,and how they need to move their arms and legs to complete an action. One ofthe most helpfulsensory strategies to assist some children to learn and attend is deep touch or pressure through our muscles and joints.It is very ef e fective in providing both a calming and an alerting effect and rarely over stimulates us;it helps promote a calm-alert state and improves body awareness.There are many ways to provide deep touch/pressure: Deep steady pr p essure over the shoulders (heavy hand on shoulder) or giving your student a soft toy to hug tightly. Playing a game rolling your student up in a blanket like a “hot dog” willalso provide deep pressure that is calming but it will be dependent on whether he/she willtolerate this. Lying on back,have child copy a variety ofslow hand and arm movements. Firm strokes down your child's back either side ofthe spine one hand at a time. Hand exercises – pushing hands together (prayer position), squeezing tight fists & individual fingers,monkey grip,clapping, clicking fingers.