How does a brand new Nintendo 2DS, a copy of Dragons at Crumbling Castle AND £500 worth of books for your school sound? Amazing? Why, yes it is!
All you have to do is draw your very own dragon and knight for your chance to win!
You don’t have to have read the book to enter, but Miss West has read it and recommends it! Plus, it’s a fun competition with a fantastic prize!
Find out more and enter here.
Bravo to Max, our Writer of the Week, who wrote a brilliant discussion on whether evacuated children should be returned to cities. Here’s a sample:
Most people would agree that their children could come home because they miss them. We can all clearly see that people are fed up with their children being in the countryside. It is obvious that people want their children back. As a result, all of the children should come back now.
Congratulations to Matthew, our Star of the Week!
Matthew has set a great example to others this week, with a sensible attitude and kind acts. He puts a great effort into his work and has achieved very well in his assessments, showing good progress. Well done, Matthew!
Smiles all round from the proud federation team.
Today, Yr 5 and 6 took part in a football tournament in Pinchbeck.
The boys, some of Gedney Drove End and Holbeach St Marks’ top players, quickly began to play as a team- winning their first match against Spalding Parish 3-1! Unfortunately, the next two matches against Whaplode and Pinchbeck didn’t go quite so well, with the team losing out to a lucky goal from the opposition each time. Despite this, morale remained strong as they learned they had qualified for the Silver Cup quarter-finals! Sam said, “Everyone was screaming and shouting with joy!”
After a fierce match against Pinchbeck, and an excellent winning goal from Sam, the boys prepared for the semi-finals. “We felt excited and esctatic,” Finley said. “But we knew we had to rest and save our energy.” The strong federation team dominated the pitch and scored two cracking goals. Then came the news that they would be playing their friends in Westmere for the title of Silver Cup winner… “I have to admit, we were worried,” said Shane. “When we last played them, we lost, but this time we were determined to win!”
All federation-friendliness went out of the window as children and teachers huddled up to discuss tactics. The teams were evenly matched and, initially, GDE and HSM were leading with an early goal. Disaster struck a couple of minutes later though, when Westmere scored. “I was very disappointed,” said Jack. “I thought we had a good chance, but they scored very quickly after we did.” The team pulled together and battled bravely on, but were defeated by another goal minutes before the whistle. All the players shook hands and cheered each other, their temporary rivalry soon forgotten.
Coach Davies was thrilled with the team’s “exceptional” performance, despite their coming second. “Their teamwork and passion shone through,” he beamed proudly, “And every player gave their all. We’ve shown we are now a real threat and must be taken seriously.”
The boys hope to come together as a team again for future tournaments where, in Coach Davies’ own words, they will “have ’em next time for sure!”
One for the grown-ups! (Although children can help!)
Class 3 challenge you to write a three sentence short story about this picture. It’s a bit of a spooky one, we think- but it is Halloween next week, after all!
You can use this format:
Sentence 1: the beginning
Sentence 2: the middle
Sentence 3: the end
The children will vote for their favourite short story when they return after half-term.
Good luck!
As a reward for their excellent progress this term, Callum and Max had a fabulous afternoon treat!
First stop was lunch at Jimmy’s in Peterborough with the other children from Holbeach St Marks and Westmere. The boys took full advantage of the “all you can eat” buffet and tucked into pizza and chips before sampling other culinary delights. After that, it was time for a pudding- or three!
Yes, that is a plate of chocolate!
Next, the boys nipped next door for a game of bowling, where Callum beat Max and Miss West!
Everyone had a wonderful time, and it goes to show that hard work pays off in lots of pleasant ways!
Would you like to earn a place at the next progress lunch? What are you going to do to ensure you make good progress?
The children of Class 3 will be singing “Good Things” in the Harvest Festival service (Thursday 23rd October 2014, Gedney Dawsmere church, 1:30pm).
Here are the words so they can practise at home. We hope parents and carers can join us for the service.
Good Things
Baking bread, country air,
Freshly laundered clothes to wear,
Tidy lawns, roses fair,
Smell so good to me.
Tender hands, silky sheets,
gentle sand beneath my feet
Soothing baths, summer breeze,
Feel so good to me.
Chorus
There are so many good things for us
To appreciate.
Everybody join in the chorus
We can celebrate!
(repeat)
Cloudless skies, mountain views,
When somebody smiles at you,
A page of ticks, plate of food
Look so good to me.
Juicy fruit – good to eat,
Bars of chocolate, bags of sweets,
Fizzy drinks in the heat
Taste so good to me.
Chorus
Singing birds, warm Hellos,
Music on the radio,
Loud guitars, saxophones
Sound so good to me.
Last time Chorus:
There are so many good things for us
to appreciate.
Everybody join in the chorus
We can celebrate.
There are so many good things for us
To appreciate.
Thank the Lord for his loving kindness
Each and every day!
Well done to John, Class 3’s Writer of the Week!
John’s been working very hard on making his writing exciting. Here is his narrative from Big Write last week- we’re sure you will agree it’s terrific!
The Blitz
Nazi jets swooping across London dropping bombs, getting louder and louder. The family were getting scared. Lily, the girl. was crying in bed with a teddy bear.
They raced across their garden but Edward forgot a picture of his dad who is in the war. He raced into the house again- into the front room- the- hhhh hh hh gggrrr bbbbbbhhhh!
Deadly shooting glass! He just about got it and bolted through the house, through the long garden and jumped into the shelter.
The boy who was trying to catch him said, “You could have died out there!” The mum said, “Shut up!” The boy that said that before said, “Can’t you do what you are told?” The boy that almost got blown stared at the other boy like he was an idiot.
Congratulations to Callum, Class 3’s Star of the Week!
Callum has made an excellent effort in all subjects this week, especially in Maths. His behaviour continues to be wonderful and we are all proud of the effort he is making at school.
This November, Miss West will again be taking part in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and she’d love for you to join in too!
National Novel Writing Month happens every November! It’s a fun, seat-of-your-pants writing event where the challenge is to complete an entire novel in just 30 days. For one month, you get to lock away your inner editor, let your imagination take over, and just create!
That means participants begin writing November 1 and must finish by midnight, November 30. The word-count goal for our adult program is 50,000 words, but the Young Writers Program (YWP) allows 17-and-under participants to set reasonable, yet challenging, individual word-count goals. Words can be typed or handwritten- whichever you prefer!
In 2013, over 300,000 adults (including Miss West) participated through our main site, and nearly 90,000 young writers participated through the YWP.
It’s great fun, and you can print or even publish your novel when it’s finished. Now you can be a real author, like J.K. Rowling, Michael Morpurgo, Jacqueline Wilson or Roald Dahl!
Click on the link below to find out more or sign up for the challenge.
One for the grown-ups! (Although children can help!)
Class 3 challenge you to write a three sentence short story about this picture.
You can use this format:
Sentence 1: the beginning
Sentence 2: the middle
Sentence 3: the end
The children will vote for their favourite short story next week.
Good luck!
… that Class 1 and Class 2 have their own blogs too? Why don’t you pop by to have a look and leave a comment? You can find them at:
gedneydroveend1.edublogs.org (Class 1)
and
gedneydroveend2.edublogs.org (Class 2)
Congratulations to Natasha, Amber and Jacob on their winning entries. Our secret judge had a hard time picking the best from all the excellent pictures so thank you to everyone who entered.
The children have been practising using different techniques to begin sentences, including using verbs, adverbs, feelings or similes. Using a picture as a stimulus, they played a game which challenged them to try different openers. Here are some of the best:
Rats closed in on the lady. Looking closely, she found a way out. Peering at the cheese, she just got out the room. Like Usain Bolt, she ran across the hallway while the rats leapt. The lady panics. Trapped, she tripped over the cupboard in her room. Rats enclosed the floor, trapping the lady…
Jacob R
Happily, she sewed the top. Like an eagle, she swooped across cloth. While she cut the fabric, birds swooped by. Cloth filled the land. Sharpening her needle, God watched. Scared by the trees, she carried on, touching the fabric.
Shane
Sad, infant children played in the playground wearing sweaty, overheated gas masks. Upset, the infants played in the playground like a bunch of monkeys and waited for the war to finish. Playing together, the children watched the bombs fall. Young, worried children watched the terrifying, devastating bombs. Scared by the sound, the infants watched the bombs drop. A bunch of scared infants played together. Terrifyingly, the bombs dropped as the children watched. While the bombs dropped, which are the German’s, the children played. Playing on the see-saw, the infants watched the bombs fall.
Callum H
Congratulations to Natasha, our Star of the Week.
Natasha sets an excellent example to others with her hard-working and helpful attitude, and always tries her best in every subject. She is a JRSO, Sports Ambassador and often volunteers to be a Lunchtime Leader. We are so proud of her!
Congratulations to Jack, our Writer of the Week, who wrote this exciting sequel to “Pigeon Impossible“, a short film we used as inspiration for writing.
Pigeon in Black
There is that no good agent again… and look! He has bought a new death machine! Let’s fly in and have a better look-see…
“Wow! he has a new pen. What does it do? Arrr! It fires acid!” I tweeped.
Not a bagel again. When will he learn they are irresistible? I’m going to trick him. If I get my Ninja Pigeon Robot suit I will steal it from him the use it on that squirrel who is taking my spot on the large oak tree.
I tie my belt and go for it. As quick as a bolt of lightning I snatch it. Even though I have the upper hand, he is not going without a fight. He sees a puddle of acid where he had had a go.
He says, “Drop the pen and you get the bagel!”
We were very excited today to have the opportunity to handle some genuine artefacts from the second world war. Take a look at our pictures!
Ellie testing out some tank equipment.
Jacob couldn’t believe how heavy this was!
We were allowed to handle the artefacts.
John counts his bullets carefully.
Max and Finley were allowed to hold real grenades. Be careful with those, boys!
Looking ready for action!
The Class 3 “Home Guard”. The jackets were made of warm, heavy wool. Can you spot the officers?
Sam lines up his sights…
…while Callum keeps an eye out for the enemy.
Miss West would like one of these! So simple, yet so much fun!
Callum watches to try and spot how this toy works.
Lots of fun!
Another simple, but clever, toy. This was one of Lani’s favourites!
Matthew found this toy strangely hypnotic…
Jack and Sam in training.
Callum is feeling peckish! How many brands do you recognise?
Matthew aims like a professional.
Finley and John admire the medals and memorabilia.
We think there’s room for all of Class 3 in this army truck!
We had a great time and asked lots of intelligent questions. We’re really enjoying this topic!
One for the grown-ups! (Although children can help!)
Class 3 challenge you to write a three sentence short story about this picture.
You can use this format:
Sentence 1: the beginning
Sentence 2: the middle
Sentence 3: the end
The children will vote for their favourite short story next week.
Good luck!
A conditional verb is used when an action might happen, or depends on something or someone else. For example, if, might, when, may, must, could etc.
We’ve been learning how to use them in discussion writing. Here are some of our sentences so far. Can you spot the conditional verbs?
The war should be over by Christmas: if so, families should be happy. (Jacob C)
The Germans would bomb, if they had any sense. (Jacob R)
Returning children to cities is foolish because it is possible that there could be no future for London. It will be devastating. (Matthew M)
I ought to be good for my mum while the war is on. (Matthew C)
The children ought to be out of London and into the country by September 3rd, 1939. (Callum H)
If the Germans go ahead with their plan of targeted bombing, people could possibly die. (John)
The danger shall be higher in London, so children will need to be evacuated. (Sam)
We can win the war, if we believe. (Finley)
Parents should know that, if the children go away, they shall return after the war. (Natasha)
If the Germans go ahead with their plans of targeted bombing, possibly we might lose the war. (Max)
When the children eventually return, their friends will be overjoyed to see them. (Callum M)
I would go to the beach but, sadly, the German bombers have blown it up. (Shane)
If every child got evacuated in the world war, no children could die. (Lani)
The Germans might abandon their plan, although it would be stupid to under-prepare. (Jack)
When the evacuated children eventually return, they may not recognise their parents. (Ellie)
A beautiful rainbow, caught in a cloud.
After school today, Miss West had a lovely surprise! Up in the sky was a fragment of rainbow.
Did anyone else see it? How would you describe it? Leave a comment to let us know!
