Wonderstruck Rocket Show
JUNIOR SCHOOL
STEAM Week
W
e teach with ambition and rigour to enable all pupils to achieve exceptional academic outcomes in a supportive environment in which they are valued as individuals and can develop their interests and talents to the full. This year we developed a concept-based approach for Foundation Subjects which encourages in-depth learning about main ideas such as ‘Population Growth’ and ‘Leaders’ in a way that is aspirational and promotes intellectual curiosity.
World Book Day First School
Exhibition Saturday
Dance Squad
“Pupils’ ‘intellectual character’ is constantly stimulated …and risk-taking is genuinely encouraged”. The Good Schools Guide 2020
A modern foreign language is now being taught to the First School girls as well as all the Lower School girls. The librarian devised a Reading Map as a new resource for choosing books that further encourages wide reading. This is modelled closely on the London Underground, with Tube lines representing different genres and stations representing different books within each genre. It has helped to promote book talk and motivates young readers to read for pleasure. We have been working towards the Gold History Association Quality Mark. This has prompted a number of initiatives including a new History Club, a ‘meanwhile elsewhere’ element to topics in the curriculum which broadens global understanding, a Historical Fiction Writing Competition and a new prominently placed History notice board to promote curiosity and provide topical information. We are also working with Aylward and our School Archives to prepare a Lottery Heritage Fund bid. This will disseminate knowledge about the School and the local area and provide wider community access to the fascinating materials in our archives.
The Junior School Council organised a range of activities to raise money for this year’s Canonaid charities. These included a Science Quiz for Auditory Verbal UK, as well as Swahili Bingo Game for the Fursa Trust, who support children living in the slum areas of Nairobi. They also organised an ‘Environmental Day’ encouraging pupils to stay away from screens during lockdown and to appreciate the environment around them. Kindness initiatives included ‘Friendship Fridays’, baking, writing cards and making gifts for residents of local care homes and donating books to a local charity that aims for every child in London to have a personal book collection.
Our STEAM focus week introduced the science of flying to the girls. All Lower School girls visited the RAF Museum, worked with expert visitors and subject specialists during a series of workshops about flight and the aviation industry. The girls worked in vertically grouped teams to design their own aerodynamic flying machines which were tested using a launcher in a grand finale. We also welcomed back four ONLs to talk to the Lower School girls about exciting careers in the STEAM industries. The First School girls took part in a Leonardo de Vinci-inspired workshop, learning about his works and inventions. A spectacular Wonderstruck rocket show ignited curiosity about the world of science and the week culminated with a Flight Mixer Day, in which girls collaborated to build parachutes, catapults and flying machines. 16
