This Is Your Gorseland School Life by Gorseland Primary School

THIS IS YOUR^LIFE

Archery aOn a Friday evening, Mr Weatherby organises an archery club. In archery we have competitions against the children that have moved up to the High School. We are now teaching the Year 5. We are teaching them all we have learned. Setting up the range: putting the curtains up, putting the targets on the stands, putting the ground quivers on the shooting line and stringing the bows. One of the best things about archery club, is that we get to learn as we go along â&#x20AC;&#x201C; there is not too much talking from Mr Weatherby! It means we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to remember too many things at one time. And there are lots of things to remember. The Club has also taught at other schools (KHS and Chantry), and children in our SSC and from St.Christopher PRU. It is brilliant that we have the opportunity to learn archery at our school. It is another activity very few schools get the chance due.

Football club takes place on a Wednesday lunch time. Both girls and boys take part and it is run by Mr Fenn and Mr Sampson. Each week we normally have a certain thing to work on so that we are all ready for the competitions. So far the boys have been to two competitions, unfortunately we have not won either of them, but at least they took part and enjoyed themselves. The girls have only had one game so far. It is the first girlsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; football team we have ever had at Gorseland.

This is the football team we are all very proud of being part of it and always work are hardest in training.

This is Mr Fenn, he runs football club with Mr Sampson and makes sure all of the participants are all trained up in each of the football positions.

Cross Country and Athletics achievements

Since Mrs Seaborne has been head teacher, Gorseland has performed to a high standard, resulting in us receiving many running and athletics achievements. Mr Guite and Mrs Rose run running and athletics club on a Tuesday and Friday lunch time which is open for anybody in Years 4, 5 and 6. We go to many sporting competitions and all the competitors are very determined which always pays of as we have won 4 cross-country awards along with 2 athletics shields which both contain many wins from Gorseland, obviously! Last year Years Five and Six took part in an athletics tournament Quad Kids which led Gorseland to another victory for the Year 6 team. Later in the year the Year 6 participants went to a Quad Kids final which took place at Bury St Edmunds and you could never guess who won , Gorseland and was announced the finest sports primary school in Suffolk: what an achievement! One of the best achievements Gorseland has ever achieved is for the Sports School of the Year which we are all very proud of. This is the School collecting the trophy.

JUMP UP TO NETBALL! Firstly, Netball club is a fun club for year six, since you get to play in different positions, such as: centre, goal attack, goal shooter, goal keeper, goal defence, time keeper and scorer. It takes place in the school’s M.U.G.A. (multi use games area) every Wednesday after school for an hour. It is run by Mrs Rose and Mrs Fitzgerald. At netball there are rules you have to follow, these are very simple, these will come up later. Lots of people have joined this club as it`s a sport that many people enjoy. We warm up first by side stepping, skipping and jogging. After that, we stretch our triceps, biceps, ham strings and deltoids. (Upper arm, back of leg, shoulder).

Blue team trying to score. People in Netball Club. The rules you have to follow in High 5 Netball are that you are not allowed to move your feet when you have the ball, however you can pivot. If the ball goes over the line, the other team receives the ball. The positions you can play in have certain places you can go, so if you are playing in centre you can only go in the three thirds but not the semi circles. Goal attack, goal shooter, goalkeeper and goal defence can only play in one semi-circle and two thirds. To summarise, netball is a club that is enjoyed in Year 6. Here are some quotes about netball club: “It is so fun and it is challenging to remember all the positions.” - Safie

Reception 2011

SSC 2011

Year 1 2011

Year 2 2011

Year 3 2011

Year 4 2011

Year 5 2011

Year 6 2011

Running to victory Gorseland’s year’s 4s, 5s and 6s shine in cross country for the school despite rainy sunny or sunny conditions. Lots of children were taking part in the Chantry park competition for Gorseland School. We found many achievements despite the muddy conditions of the track. All the children were looking forward to the race but because of the rain children doubted if the race was still going to be on. Mr Guite and Mrs Rose have been training children to get ready for competitions.. Fortunately, Alex in the year 5 girl’s category came 3rd and Ben in the year 5 boys category came 9th, also Jasmine. C 5th in the year 6 girl’s category. And in the final race, the year 6 boy’s category, Daniel came 4th. Jasmine said, “I felt proud to represent the school and happy that I did it, but I wouldn’t have chosen to do it in the conditions that we did it in.” Molly said,” I did it because it is fun and healthy and exciting to go out of school to race against other people I don’t know.” Jasmine c said, “It was hard because there were about 150 people in each race.”

Year 6 have been doing tag rugby with Mr Fen and the Year 6 teachers in PE. When there was an opportunity to take part in the first tag rugby competition for Gorseland, they jumped at it. Each school played five matches and we won 3 out of the five so unfortunately we did not get into the final, however we are still proud of what we have achieved, and had lots of fun.

Making Project X Making Project X was fun, exciting and amazing. I was so happy that I was picked to do it. It was definitely hard and challenging but it all paid off. When we started I thought it would be easy but as we moved onto the story boards I found that it was harder than I thought. After we had done the storyboards we started filming and we had to rush around a lot. The hard thing about filming is that fitting people in and not being late for our appointments. Most of the time we were on time but sometimes we were a bit late. I enjoyed making everything to do with Project X happen and I think everyone else in Project X would agree too.

Mrs Taylor has been teaching at Gorseland for 17 years and started the choir 2 years after she came and is still doing it to this day. Many children started in year 5 and finished at the end of year 6. On Thursday the 6th of December the choir and some year 4 took part in one of the Waiting for Christmas concerts and some pupils said â&#x20AC;&#x153;It was very enjoyable and very funâ&#x20AC;?. We sing many different songs and really enjoy them. Mrs Taylor expects high quality and commitment as she gives up her own time for us. Also, every year the choir go and sing in the Christmas Carol Concert and sing elsewhere in the community.

In year 4 you have the opportunity to go to Thorpe woodlands a residential trip for two whole days sharing the 4 trips between 2 year four classes. You travel by coach there and back; you stay for one night, so not much packing. Once you get there the instructors give you a brief overview of Thorpe Woodlands before everyone heads of to their rooms to make their own beds. During your stay you will experience lots of different activities such as rock climbing, canoeing (if itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s warm enough,) stacking crates and lots more. . After a full day of activities all of the pupils go on a night time walk looking for creatures like bats and other creatures which come out at night, after a long walk everybody gathers round the burning campfire where you sing songs together. They provide you with tea, breakfast and lunch everyday finishing with a nice warm mug of hot chocolate before you go to bed. You can pick who you would like to sleep with in a bedroom, however sometimes you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get everybody you want but the teachers do try their best to make everybody happy. In some rooms there are six beds (three bunk beds.) Some other rooms have fewer beds. And the end of the brilliant experience you head back to Gorseland where your parents will meet you

Guitars at Gorseland At Gorseland, with thanks to Mrs Seaborne, we are lucky enough for Year 5 to have guitar lessons as a class. Mr Butcher comes in on a Tuesday to teach Year 5. If you would like to carry on in Year 6, you are able to do that.

What is guitar like in Y5? Guitar in Y5 is like a taster of Y6 guitar if you decide to carry on. You learn the basics like simple chords and the different parts of the guitars. It might sound really boring at first but it gets more interesting once you’ve got into it. Mr Butcher gives you hints and tips about playing the guitar. Y6 will be using the skills they have learned in their Leavers Song.

The songs

Mr Butcher

Mr Butcher loves Elvis Presley songs so you will probably be learning songs by him! Mr Butcher will mainly do songs that some of you might know.

What is Guitar like in Y6? Guitars in Year 6 are just as fun as Year 5. You will be recapping songs you may have learnt in Year 5. After a few lessons you will start to learn about the harder musical terms. Some Year 6s spoke to us. Zoe K in Year 6 said “I really enjoy Guitar because we learn cool songs!”

Mr Butcher Mr Butcher is a very enthusiastic and loves coming into Gorseland and teaching Years 5 and 6. He said “It’s amazing, I love it!”

CAMERAS, MICROPHONES, COSTUMES- WHAT WERE YEAR 6 DOING? Film Week Year 6 had a fantastic week from the 15th of October, from clumsy footballers to evil computer masters, custard pies to super animals- and as if this wasn’t enough, the fuchsiahaired former ballerina Evil Bob - it’s been Film Week for the Year 6 classes. Evil head teachers, suspicious raisins, missing crowns, strange bubbles and even grammar! Here’s more information. Year 6 had laptops, pencils, paper and brains to think of a witty, imaginative plot for a hero story. Although this was a tough challenge, lots of people enjoyed thinking of their own idea for a professionally recorded film, which would be shot around the whole school. Rahul, 6A, has given his opinion: “I thought it was a tough challenge – we had lots of agreements despite disagreements – but in the end we came up with an amusing yet serious story!” Find out more about Rahul’s script in Captain Clumsy, headlined as Hero Saves the Day. Year 6 also had to focus on props and costumes. Some costumes were simple enough, plain home clothes or a cape, but others were much trickier. Props presented another problem, but it was very minor. Just three of the many props were sweets, an Xbox controller and custard pies. All costumes and props were gathered successfully, we are pleased to say. Everyone had the chance to get stuck in and take part in acting, script writing, crewing and everything that a film and camera crew need. Ellie, 6A, says, “It was really fun, especially to be able to hold the boom mic* – but the best part was throwing custard pies in my film Pie Guy**!” All of Year 6 put tremendous effort into making these films the best they could be. But of course, specialist adult help was required. Year 6 send a special thank you to Paul Press and Megan Ingold, who brought in the necessary equipment and experience to make these films. Without them, Film Week would not have been possible. 5 films were made in each class, all of which were successfully edited. Year 6 had a thrilling (but somewhat embarrassing!) afternoon watching 9 of the 10 films, due to the tenth still requiring edits.

* boom mic- a fluffy microphone that will pick up all sound in filming area.

Newspaper and radio club, which is run by Mr Weatherby, gives information through writing and speaking. With many listeners and readers, it’s a big hit with everyone at the school. In newspaper and radio club year 5s and 6s work their socks off to produce the Gorseland Times, which is read by the school, their parents and sometimes grandparents. And the Gorseland radio, which is listened to by the whole school while they eat their lunch in the big hall, is also a big hit. Ben Hunt, a Year 5 pupil who goes to the club, said: “It’s really fun because you can make new friends and use the microphones, they’re great!” We asked Mr Weatherby a few questions: How do you run the club to make it so fun? “Well I don’t, the children do everything from deciding what goes in to editing.” What gave you the idea to start the club? “I was looking for a new different challenge that will be relevant to classroom learning, that will be a useful life skill and to boost their confidence.” When will the copies come out? “There should be one each term, so three altogether.” Who can listen and read them? “There will be a copy on the website and one copy for each class.”

Flute Club Flute club is run by Mrs Aldous, who holds the club after school on Tuesdays from 3.30 to 4.00. There are only three people in it, Bryony , Tasker and Maddy . We are all working in the same book, Sally Adams’s Flute Basics. Jovie and I are at about the same level, Bryony a little higher. To join flute club you have to have played recorder before, even if you have given it up now. For flute there is a special blowing technique which is very difficult to master. There are three parts to a flute- head joint, body joint and foot joint. The head joint has the blowing hole, the body joint has most of the keys and the foot joint only has a few keys. At first you just practice with the head joint. There are a few pieces to blow through on the first page, and then you progress to the whole flute. The first notes you learn are B, A and G. Those notes are in the low octave. Sally Adams covers two octaves and three notes of the third octave. When you get to the middle octave, the second note is a D. It has a slightly different fingering to the low D, but E, F, G, A and B have the same fingerings. You have to blow as though you are blowing a fly off your nose! Once you have mastered the high notes, it is very difficult to play the low notes. Sally Adams’s Flute Basics starts at beginner level and progresses to about Grade 2. There are lots of notes in the book, two octaves – the low octave and the middle octave – and then there are three notes with the high octave. Flute club is really fun and challenging; I really enjoy it and don’t want to stop playing flute, even when I leave Gorseland.

Make It Happen East of England Winners 2008

Ipswich Train Station – Irene thought the train would be a canoe hung from ropes that went along rails

Delayed at the underground ‘station shut due to dust of the rails!!’

A tour of the Tower of London

A boat trip from the Tower to Westminster

Tea in the Member’s Dinning Room (drinking from the saucer!)

Make It Happy Team

3 years on and we still get a mention on Wikipedia! To be fair Mrs Seaborne wasn’t on the premises when the daffodil incident occurred but this is what happens when the Headteacher leaves someone else in charge! Other incidents know to only occur when the head leaves the premises include fire alarms going off and ambulances being called. “All Narcissus species contain the alkaloid poison lycorine, mostly in the bulb but also in the leaves.[5][6] On 1 May 2009 a number of schoolchildren fell ill at Gorseland Primary School in Martlesham Heath, Suffolk, England, after a daffodil bulb was added to soup during a cookery class. The bulbs could often be confused with onions, thereby leading to incidents of accidental poisoning.[6]”

Now this may not be a photograph of Gorseland but one of my first memories of Mrs Seaborne was when my husband came to collect me from school one evening. After being sat in Mrs Seaborne’s office with a book (we hadn’t quite finished our meeting), Ricky spent the journey home convinced that he had seen her somewhere before… Trawling through photographs at home, he later came across his year 6 class photo taken at, what was then, Downing Primary School. Not content with teaching him at 10 and 11, Jan then went on to teach him on his SCITT course, many, many years later!

Be Careful…You may just get what you ask for! Earlier this year, Jan held her first ever Parent Governor Elections. As Returning Officer for the count, Jan jokingly requested recognition of her status on this momentous occasion. With a little internet shopping, we delivered in the form of a beautiful sash!

Not always an easy woman to pleaseâ&#x20AC;Ś I always tried to be a dutiful deputy and, knowing Janâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s love of stationary (not to mention her rule of never writing in her diary in anything other than pencil), I took every opportunity to fulfil her pencil requirements. One particular day, I left for a meeting happy in the knowledge that, just the week before, I had presented her with yet another handful of pencils (which just happened to find themselves in my possession after a conference). Imagine my surprise when, half way through the meeting, I received this email:

Nicky, I do hope you have gone to a superior pencil establishment this afternoon. I have had 2 major disappointments this afternoon - 1 thrown away because of broken lead and 1 with a crumbly rubber. Please ensure in future you choose venues more carefully. Thank you. Some people are just never satisfied!