Riverdance - but not as you know it!

As part of our topic: Row, row, row your boat, Year Six have been exploring the journey of a river from its source to its mouth. We have interpreted the different stages of the river through dance and perfomed our 'Riverdances' to our parents. 6L modelled the upper course of the river where the water is shallow but fast flowing. 6LE demonstrated how the river begins to widen and flows slower through meanders until finally meeting the sea. A video of our dances will be on display during Parents' Evening next week!

Batik - a wax-resist dye technique

As part of our topic: Row, row, row your boat, Year Six have been exploring water themed art. We have created mixed-media collages of waves, experimented with combining watercolours and crayons and explored the art of wax-resist dyeing, creating our own beautiful batik paintings.

To create the wax resist we had to heat large pots of wax then apply it to our fabric using a tjanting tool. After it had cooled, we applied water-based fabric inks to our design. Finally, the wax was removed by the very patient Mrs Wiseman who ironed each design. The heat of the iron melted the wax which was lifted off the design using paper.

The results are on display in both Year Six and the main entrance now! Do come and see our work and leave us a comment!

New Friends - new connections!

This week we were delighted to welcome our new friends from The Prince of Wales School, Dorchester. Along with Mr Farrington (the Headteacher), Mr Spracklen and Mrs Howell, the children travelled up from Dorchester and took part in an exciting, fun-packed day alongside the members of the school councils from both Newport and Belle Vue Schools.

After sharing a video about their school with us, we enjoyed making sculptures together to try to persuade people not to drop litter. We all decided that litter was a problem wherever we lived!

In the afternoon, we enjoyed watching some presentations our friends had made about being an Eco-School and posted lots of questions. We are looking forward to receiving answers soon.

One of the best parts of the day was when we enjoyed lunch together and played in the playground with the rest of Newport School. We discovered that we all liked to play the same sort of games and that all three schools were lucky to have lots of exciting huff and puff equipment.

We were very sad to say goodbye at the end of the day but we are really looking forward to future collaborations.

Year 4 tag

This barmy bunch of madcap Year 4 pupils were let loose this week to play competitive tag rugby against local schools in a mini tournament at Aldershot Park.

The team won one and drew one game in their pool games which is a tremendous achievement for first timers.

A special mention goes to Mollie and Alice who earned special certificates for showing great courage in their play.

I cam, I saw and I made it.......

Year 5 have been busy cutting designing, marking,sawing, glueing , with more cutting and then even more cutting and glueing in some cases to create some alien monster space cam toys.

Some of the cams have inolved a little trial and error in the haste to finish them whilst others have worked first time.

All the children have reflected on what went well and what didn't in their design and making of their cam toys.

Tag!

Eleven elite and very smart looking rugby playing year 5 pupils had a fun time out playing tag rugby against other schools from the region. There was a massive turnout for the tag rugby tournament held at Aldershot Park today (October 22nd) and hosted by Aldershot and Fleet RFC.

The pupils played extremely well against older children in a competitive group involving South Farnborough, Heatherside, All Saints, Hawley and Long Sutton.

It did take a little while to get in a groove and first two games ended in defeats. However Ryan scored a great individual try in the opener which brought loud cheers from the Newport MADS.

The next two games saw an improvement in tactical awareness and some absolutely great running from the more experienced rugby players - Liam and Jake R. This led to two well deserved victories in quick succession and a fantastic try from Liam. Unfortunately, the players couldn't maintain their momentum and the final pool game ended in defeat to eventual group winners Long Sutton despite creating some good chances.

All the players behaved impeccably and really enjoy themselves.

we'll have more opportunities to gain valuable match experience this season.

The players involved were Bethany, Riley , Ellen , Joanna, Liam, Dominic, Alex, Chris, Jake B, Jake R. and Ryan.

For those who are interested in developing their rugby skills they can visit Aldershot and Fleet RFC every Sunday at 10am to play rugby with other junior players.

All new players are very welcome.

Moving on up and over and under and between.

Year 5 pupils have again been messing about in English.

This time they had to work in pairs and guide blindfolded partners around "a dangerous obstacle course" where they had to manouvre under and over and between a variety of different and dangerous objects. The children were asked to use an assortment of imperative verbs and appropriate language to ensure they accomplished the task safely.

Obviously this sort of behaviour cannot continue and we shall be doing some proper Victorian style teaching next term. He-he!

What a load of old rope

Year 5E were supposed to be doing English lessons this week but have spent their time reading recipes, making paper planes and trying to tie ropes in order to improve their instructions skills.

On Thursday they will have a top secret task which will need good speaking and listening skills. Only the best instructors will succeed.......

The only way is up

The reds started their league fixtures tonight with a tough game against local rivals and current champions St Josephs.

On a lovely autumn afternoon, we opened the scoring very quickly after creating a number of really good chances. Newport pressed for a second with all the boys playing well as a team.

We had a number of corners but failed to capitalise on them. After having most of the territory St Josephs broke upfield from one corner and scored an excellent left footed shot into the top corner. So the boys came off at half time at 1-1.

The second half brought fresh legs and a little reshuffle. Rhys and Ross were exhausted... they had really played well and chased everything. Matthew and Lewis replaced them. Cameron was slightly injured but played further upfield whilst Reece M was everywhere. Juho kept solid at the back with Richard making some impressive saves.

Reece, as usual was creating opportunites up front and we edged ahead with two quick goals to make it 3-1. A second for Reece and the third was an excellent placed shot from Reece M in off the left post. In fact Reeece M was unlucky not to add another when a long shot came off the crossbar.

The reds had to hang on as they began to tire and the home side pressed. Near the end we unfortunately conceded a rather soft goal. However we almost immediately regained a 2 goal lead with a poached goal from Cameron as St Joseph's pressed forward. The final whistle blew to a very tough but entertaining game. Both teams were absolutely exhausted.

The referee, Luke in year 11 from All Hallows was excellent and kept the game flowing.
MoM Reece M.
Goals: Reece 2, Reece M, Cameron McD
Team : Richard, Rhys,Juho, Cameron ,Ross, Reece W, Reece M, Matthew, Lewis.
Well done lads. 3 games played and 3 wins so far this season.....

Y3 Music Makers

Year 3 have really been enjoying learning how to play the clarinet this year. We have learnt how to put our own clarinets together, a few different notes and we have even started composing our own rhythms!

It's life Jim but not as we know it......

Year 5 finally had their visit from the planetarium. Close encounters of a round tent kind actually.

This is an annual event which helps consolidate knowledge of the space topic we have been covering but also enables the children to visualise some of the aspects of the topic covered in class.

A few pupils were a little wary of the inflatable spaceship looking tent in the hall but we all had a fabulous time in the dark learning about space facts although the magnetic force field around the planetarium affected the photo somewhat.

The children behaved impeccably and answered a lot of questions thrown at them by Mr Hume which was really pleasing to see/hear.

Well done year 5.

Frantic Fridays

A s you can see from the photos, Fridays are frantic and fun at Newport with tag rugby training.

We have lots of new members this season and so we have been getting to grips with the basic rules because we have a tournament next week !

It is at Aldershot Park on Thursday 21st October starting at 4pm.

Lower school pupils have a year 4 team playing there on Tuesday too on Tuesday October 19th after school.

Captains for the year 5 team will be Ellen and Jake.

Just another manic Monday

The Monday football clubs are proving to be very popular. Mr Nicholls has a full club of both boys and girls from years 3 and 4 playing enthusiastically.

Mrs Henchy coaches the girls assisted by student Katie. There are now 15 regulars playing - which is the most we've ever had.

The girls have played in two tournaments this season and have only lost once in 7 games which is a tremendous achievement. The girls are awaiting fixtures to play in the league and we hope to give every girl the opportunity to play for the school this year .

Joanna and Meila have been given the responsibility of looking after the girls football team kit.

Better late than never!

Last week 4R celebrated book week by performing their class assembly. As book week was a celebration of 'Books from around the world', we performed a Native American story as well as reading out our own 'Magic Box' poems.

4R performed perfectly and enjoyed every moment of it! I think we have some future Oscar winning actors and actresses in the school!

Well done 4R!

Seventh heaven in Newlands

On a glorious afternoon we played Newlands school in Yateley, in the second round of the Hampshire Schools u11 Cup. The difference in the weather between our last round game and this could not have been greater! Yet again there was a huge turnout of MADS (mums and dads) to support the boys.This time they were a lot drier......

The boys played well on a very small pitch with huge goals. The reds managed to score within the first few minutes which settled many pre-match nerves on the sidelines. The boys dominated the game playing most of the game in the Newlands half and Reece added a further three goals to add to his opener.

Half time 4-0.

The players were continually switched around and pressed forward. Juho added a great left foot shot followed by a close range goal from Matthew and a belter from Lewis to make the final score a comfortable 7-0 victory.

All the boys played really well. Juho was solid at the back leaving Richard relatively unemployed whilst Cameron McD is emerging as a really strong player with his surging runs.
Team: Richard, Juho, Cameron McD, Ross, Rhys, Lewis , Matthew, Reece.
Scorers: Reece 4, Juho, Matthew, Lewis

Have you ever wanted to walk the Globe?

Year 6 have and so we decided to put our money where our mouth was and take part in the Global Children's Challenge. Over the next 50 days, every child (and teacher!) in Year 6 will be counting the number of steps they take with a pedometer provided by the Children's Global Challenge. We will be competing against teams from all over the world to see how far round the Globe we can get.

So far 6LE have walked from Niagara Falls, through Toronto, down to Orlando, across the boarder to the Galapagos Island, past Venezuela to the Amazon Jungle. You can follow our travels by logging into Wizkid and clicking on the Global Challenge link.

Along the way, as well as getting fit, we are learning about the Countries we are visiting. Did you know that The Amazon is home to the world’s biggest snake – The Green Anaconda. The largest one caught was eight metres (26 feet) long! ... Nor did we!

To find out more about the challenge visit: http://www.gccjunior.org

Oh... and as it is a competition, we are really keen to beat 6L!

D'oh! Knocked out without conceding a goal!

It's not often you go to a football tournament and not lose a game or even concede a goal and get knocked out, is it? Well it happened to the girls yesterday.

The girls played fantastically well in the football tournament at Velmead and seemed to really enjoy themselves and the Krispy Kreme doughnuts provided by Mrs Higgs.

Yet again we had a huge following of glamorous mums and dads ("MADS") in attendance cheering the girls on.

Despite not losing a game we failed to progress to the semi final by the margin of one goal!

What a shame!

Our results were as follows:
Westfields 0-0
St Josephs 0-0
Velmead 2-0
Manor 1 - 0

All the girls were marvellous. For many this was only their second ever game!

As you can see in the photo Mrs Henchy(coach) is giving a serious teamtalk about which doughnuts are the best ones to eat whilst in the second the girls show that they weren't too downhearted. It's amazing what a good doughnut can do .... well done girls!

The girls involved were Megan, Billy, Rachel, Joanna, Shannon, Sophie, Meila, Amelia and Katie

Celebrating Indian Culture-Tabla Drumming Workshop.

In the week that saw the spectacular opening ceremony of the Commonwealth games in Delhi, Newport school took part in its own celebration of Indian culture by hosting a Tabla drumming workshop for gifted and talented pupils in the Rushmoor area.

Children from five local schools joined together to gain a "hands on" experience of Northern Indian Tabla however Steve Morley, the Tabla expert, also brought along an amazing array of percussion from banana bells, rhythmn drums, udu to wooden block frogs which sounded just like the real thing.

The music room was soon filled with the soothing rhymical phrases of dha dha te te, tin na ki na kita taka. Pupils were also introduced to the sixteen beat cycles that you follow on your fingers-this took some time to understand however in the end everyone, even the adults, mastered the technique. Children also learnt how Indian musicians used to mimic the sounds they heard around them including trains. The session ended with all participants practising relaxation techniques to Tabla sounds. Everyone enjoyed the morning and left with a great admiration for the art and skill of Tabla drumming.Well done to Year 5 pupils Bethany,George and Lauren who acted as excellent pupil guides throughout the workshop.

Comments from pupils:

"I always dreamed of playing the drums.I loved all the different musical instruments we played.The best part was lying down in the dark at the end listening to the music.I felt I was floating". Jake- Hawley Primary.
"The udu was my favourite insturment. I didn't know you could play a pot!". Kieron -Hawley Primary.

" I loved all of the workshop". Cassie -Hawley Primary.

6LE perform the first the assembly of the year!

6LE perform Tiddalik the frog, an aboriginal tale.

All the children put on an amazing show infront of the whole school and their parents.

Mrs. Lock, the script writer, created a fabulous Tiddalik out of her washing basket!

Mrs. Ewing was very proud that all children remembered their lines and acted out the script brilliantly.

We all dance to 'Sun Arise'

Parent " That was a brilliant assembly"

Eel dances the ribbon dance with her water friends to make Tiddalik laugh and give back the river.

6LE have certainly set a high standard for other classes to follow.

Risks: How SMART are you?

The children in Year 5 have been discussing personal safety and personal risks in PSHE this term.

School Council rep. Jake decided to demonstrate how sensible he was!

It's raining again....1-0 victory for the reds!

On a day of constant, torrential rain Newport boys played their first game of the season yesterday against Bentley Junior School, Farnham in the u-11 Hampshire Cup.

In a very tough, close game on a very, very wet afternoon the boys played incredibly well. In the first half Bentley created lots of chances but Richard dealt with all the shots comfortably. As thew game progressed, the boys created more and more chances. After a few near misses they finally broke the deadlock close to the end. Reece deservedly slotted a goal past the Bentley goalie.

Bentley came close to equalising near the end but the boys in red held on, in an incredibly exciting game to watch. Heart breaking from the boys in green who had played very well indeed, (they were tournament cup winners last year) but a wonderful result for our boys in red.

For a few of the boys this was their first full game. They all chased, passed and played magnificently in very difficult conditions and against a very good team. Unfortunately, Matthew had to withdraw soon after the start due to feeling unwell but he stayed on to support his teammates.

MoM was Cameron McD who stuck to his task well but all the boys were absolutely fabulous.

A game to remember for a long time.

Team: Richard, Reece M, Cameron McD, Juho, Rhys,Ross, Lewis,Reece, Matthew.

A huge thank you to all the parents who got absolutely soaked through.

RESPECT

Last Thursday the girls competed in a mini football tournament at sunny Connaught school.

For many of the girls this was their first ever game of football.

The y5 and 6 girls did really well and finished runners up after defeating Park 3-0 and St Michaels 3-1. However they lost 1-0 to a strong St Joseph's in the opening game.

The girls who represented Newport were Chloe, Amelia, Meila, Joanna, Billy, Shannon, Sophie and Rachel. Meila scored 3 goals, Joanna 2 goals and Amelia .

Chloe and Billy earned RESPECT certificates for their outstanding conduct.

The girls from y4 finished third in their games but played with a player less in all their games. Keira earned a RESPECT certificate for her performances.

Well done girls!

There is another football tournament next week at Velmead school on October 7th.