Remembrance Poetry

Source: Chris Holley

On Friday, we remembered all those who had died or been affected by war. This year, the Royal British Legion wanted us to remember not only those who died in World Wars One and Two, but also those affected by wars since then and even today.

We had a special service at 10:45am, ending with a two minute silence and reflection at 11:00am. Can you remember why we hold our silence at exactly 11:00?

In the week before the service, we made poppy artwork and a wreath to offer in memory of the victims of war. Children from every class offered their wreath during the service. It was very special, moving and sombre.

Some children from St. John's class read their wonderful poems in the service. Lots of classes also wrote beautiful Remembrance poetry, including these lovely examples:

 By St. Francis' Class

 By Elohor, St. John's Class

By Jack G, St. Paul's Class

Your War, Our Fight

We were the living, we are the dead,

Below the crosses our bodies lie,

Upon the blood-red poppies, dropped shells from above,

In our dreams, they still reach for us.

Watching our brothers die, we struggled on,

Drowning for your freedom,

We thought we would be heroes and yet we perished,

Now we lie beneath the mud, on which we fought your war.

We loved, but love no more,

Families weep receiving tragic telegrams,

Those who loved us; love us more.

The poppies grow above our hearts, which hold the Lie they told us,

Dulce et decorum est, pro patria mori.

By, St. Clare’s Class

Competition Time!

Underwater

It's competition time! Two of our editors; Jess and Darcy, have found this fascinating picture. They would like you to write about it. What does it make you think? What does it inspire you to write? They would love to read your stories, poems, descriptions, newspaper reports... whatever you are inspired to write about this picture!

Everyone can enter this competition- from Nursery to Year 6- you can even enter more than one piece of writing!

Please submit your entry to the competition to Mrs Parrott, Jess or Darcy by THURSDAY 1ST DECEMBER.

There will be a prize given to the best piece of writing inspired by this picture in assembly on Friday 2nd December.

Good luck!

Chicks- by our Year 5 Reporters

Thank you to Yasmin and Eri, two of our Year 5 reporters, who have written these fantastic articles about the chicks in Year 5 last half term:

Our Report on Rookesbury Park

Monday
After setting off from school at 10am, we arrived at the centre at 12:30- not bad timing! We settled down to our packed lunches before finding out our rooms and instructors, and beginning to unpack. Then it was off to our first activity- we jumped right into abseiling, which was challenging but great fun! We all went back to wash and change before a delicious dinner and a campfire, where we held a talent show, sang songs and all had great fun! Just time for a quick runaround in the field before getting ready for bed- we all fell straight to sleep after such a tiring first day!

Tuesday
Up bright and early at 7:30, ready for a day of activities. We had a filling English breakfast in the dining hall and met with our instructors by the front lawn to set off to our first session of the day. Raft building, climbing and survival were just some of the activities we took part in, with a few quick breaks in between. We all scrubbed up for dinner, then headed out to the field for a game of Giant Cluedo, where we all had to take part in team challenges to earn points and solve the mystery...

Wednesday
By Wednesday, we had got used to the busy and active lifestyle here at JCA, so we were experts at getting up early, rushing down to the showers and changing in a record time! Wednesday was another action-packed day with more challenging activities- archery, dance and low ropes to name a few. We tucked into our pasta and fruit salad, then made our way to a field to take part in more team-building exercises. What a day, and we all fell straight to sleep.

Thursday
Our whole room was awake by 6:45. We chatted for a while and then got dressed into clothes suitable for our next activity. It was kayaking. I had heard so much about it; how they capsized your boat and splash water into your face. Although we were slightly late, we were still in time for a full English breakfast- delicious!
We got wet- soaked and drenched. Kayaking was amazing. Giulia was in my boat and we capsized at least 7 times! That day we also did orienteering. Each activity was so fun, but kayaking was the best. Tonight we had a disco. It was so much fun to be with our friends and have a great time.
Can't believe that tomorrow is the last day. The week has gone so quickly.

Friday
We did Mini Olympics on Friday morning, and it was the last activity! :( We really didn't want to leave. Mini Olympics was really good- we were split into three groups and did lots of races. We were so sad to go home, but happy to see our parents!

This Week's Wonderful Writing!

We have all enjoyed our first week back at school after the Easter holidays and everyone has been working hard on their writing!

This week's Writer of the Week created this marvellous Yu-Gi-Oh Story at home. A huge congratulations to Lewis in St. John's Class!

We also saw some fantastic writing in Year 6 this week. A very special mention must go to Blaise. His writing has been getting better and better in recent weeks, culminating in this spectacular piece of story writing. We were all so impressed by his hard work:

Miss Checker and Mrs Parrott especially liked this powerful, and rather poetic, paragraph:

Plamedi in Year 6 also wrote a wonderful chapter, based on 'A Beautiful Lie' this week:

Ella and Mrs Parrott had a chat with a wonderful writer in Year 1 on Friday. We were blown away by this piece of writing by Freya in St. Therese, who wrote this diary entry inspired by 'The Jolly Postman' all on her own! Wow!

SCHOOL STORY: Miniature Max's Massive Mars Mission

Source: dribble.com

Year 6
Upon a high peak of a mountain stood an elf.  All alone.  You know, it is very lonely on top of a mountain, but the elf was used to that.  This was something he wanted to change.  He had always wanted to go to space, so he could look down on Earth and see who else was there.  In his dreams he dreamt of faraway galaxies and the hope of being surrounded by others and perhaps even finding a friend.  At that very moment he knew he had to turn his dreams into reality. 

As the day went on, the elf travelled further and further away from his mountain home in search of a way to get to space.  A sense of fear crept over him as he wandered further into the unknown…

Year 2

Max (the elf) was strolling along the dirty, wet, cobbled lane because he was trying to find an expert spaceman who would provide him with a rocket. Suddenly, as quick as a flash Jane the astronaut appeared out of nowhere.

Max was totally surprised.

 “Who are you?” he said, scared to ask the question.
Jane confidently replied,  “Have you not seen my brilliant spaceship, which can fly by itself?”

What will the future hold?.........

Nursery

Max couldn’t believe that he had finally found someone with a space ship.
“Can you take me to the moon?” he said
 Jane replied, “Of course I can, I’m an astronaut! Come and see my spaceship.”

 As they walked along the cobbled lane, they came closer and closer to the space ship.  Max cautiously pressed the button to open the spaceship door. Inside he found a white helmet, a drinking flask and white gloves ….

 Source: behance.net

Year 5
As he climbed carefully onto the gleaming silver polished floor of the spaceship, he grabbed the gloves frantically. However, Max instantly realised that the gloves were enormous, because he was just a miniscule elf! But that had never stopped him doing anything! As he pushed his tiny arm into the silky pearl white glove, something cold and furry dragged him head-first into its depths. 

Struggling and trembling, Max screamed for help. But no one could hear him because the spaceship had jerked into life. He could smell the burning grass below him and his teeth chattered as the ship vibrated around him. The deafening sounds became louder and louder until KABOOM! The ship launched into space and Max was violently thrown from his glove prison, landing with a splash in Jane’s drinking flask. 

Behind him, the furry creature was also thrown from the glove and clung to the rim of the flask…

Reception
Meanwhile, Jane was desperately trying to steer the spaceship back to her home planet of Jupiter. She wondered what had happened to Max. As she reached for the controls of the spaceship, she heard a strange bubbling sound coming out of her water flask. She looked inside and saw a tiny figure sinking deeper and deeper into the flask. It was Max! Jane reached her hand in to try and pull him out, but felt a sudden pain in her arm as the furry creature dug his claws into her skin.

Year 1
At this moment, as the creature dug its claws in deeper and deeper, Jane couldn’t reach the controls of the spaceship! The spaceship went out of control. It began vibrating violently and was spiraling towards Mars. Suddenly, the red button of the spaceship began to flash and beep. BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Jane breathlessly called out to Max, “Help, the creature is attacking me!”

SMASH!

…the red dust of the planet started to sprinkle back to the uneven ground. All you could see was broken parts of the spaceship everywhere. Damaged aircraft pieces were spread all over the place and covered in red space dust.

Source: bestanimations

Nursery
The hairy creature tried to gobble Jane up!
“Go away or you will go straight to jail!” screamed Jane
Meanwhile Max was still trapped, when he heard Jane’s scream. Cold and wet, he saw a glimmer of light. It was a tiny hole in the flask….

Year 3
Max frantically swam towards the dark, black, narrow hole thinking he could get through it.  Suddenly his lungs started to burn as he was rapidly running out of air.  Without hesitation he desparately dug his miniature fingers into  the damp rubber of the rusty flask.  Suddenly something grabbed him.  It was Jane! 
“Quick Max! Use this magical wand” screamed Jane determinedly.
Max zapped the monster with his wand and watched amazed as the monster disintegrated instantly in a puff of smoke.
They were safe.

World Book Day!

We have had a marvellous day at St. Anthony's! We all dressed up as our favourite book characters and enjoyed a day of reading! We also raised lots of money for the important charity: Book Aid International.

Even the adults were dressed up today! Here are pictures of just a few of them (for more photos of our Book Week- take a look at the monitor in the office from next week!):

We had an exciting assembly this afternoon and four children were presented with special book prizes for their 'Mystery Reader' photos.

Congratulations to:

Vwegba in St. Julie's

Deborah in St. Francis'

Calum in St. George's

Bella in St. John's

We will put up a post with their winning 'Mystery Reader' entries this weekend!

The whole school worked hard to write a special story today, which was read enthusiastically by our Digital Writing Team this afternoon. Tomorrow, the story will be up on the blog for you all to enjoy.

Watch this space for 'Miniature Max's Massive Mars Mission'!

Book Week!

Source: brainconnection

This week is an exciting one at St. Anthony's, but you may be wondering why. Well, this week is Book Week, and to celebrate we've got loads of fun events on. As always, World Book Day will be taking place; we can't wait to see your costumes! In addition, we've got competitions with cool prizes up for grabs, and reading events that you won't want to miss! All of this is to inspire you to get reading, and we want to make it our best year yet- so pick up that book!

Source: room5pcs2012

Don't forget the BOOK SWAP! Bring in a book that you don't want any more, then on Thursday you'll be able to take a new book home!

Source: cliparts.co

Also, remember to keep your eyes peeled for anything unusual- you know how St. Anthony's is rather prone to getting odd visitors...

It's Book Week!

All of the Digital Writing Team are very excited about Book Week- we hope that you are too! Thank you for all of the Mystery Reader photos we have received. You can see them in the hall; can you guess who they all are?! If you would like to enter, but haven't yet done so, please bring in your photograph ASAP!

We hope that we will see lots of you at 8:30am every day this week in the hall for 'Dads' Reading'. Bring a book and a male relative (although ladies are very welcome too!); find a comfy place to sit and settle in to start your day with a book!

On Thursday, the whole school will be dressed up as our favourite book characters! We'll have a special assembly to celebrate all of the wonderful costumes and to read this year's school story. We will also announce the winners of the 'Mystery Reader' competition!

During the week, you will also have the chance to enjoy some Buddy Reading. Your class will pair up with the year group that you worked with to create the beautiful book cover displays in the hall. Then, you will have a chance to read to a partner in the other year group! It will be lots of fun for the younger and older children in each group!

A Very Generous Donation!

This week, we were incredibly lucky to have a special gift from The Dulwich Picture Gallery. Many of our children visited the M.C. Escher exhibition at the gallery last term and produced some beautiful artwork.

The Dulwich Picture Gallery have very generously given us a stunning piece of artwork, produced by our local community, which was inspired by the M.C. Escher exhibition. It is a spectacular mosaic metamorphosis made entirely from LEGO!

M.C. Escher, Day and Night, 1938 (Dulwich Picture Gallery)

We all love our new artwork at St. Anthony's and feel very lucky to have it in our school!

During lunchtime on Wednesday, we put up some posters asking all of our children to write the first word that came to mind when they looked at the picture. Later that day, some of our UKS2 children wrote sentences to explain their reaction to, or inspired by, the Lego masterpiece!

Next half term, we will hold a creative project inspired by our new artwork- linking Writing, Maths and Art- alongside other subjects! Hooray!