Last week, West Lodge School dedicated their week's learning to World War One week. It was such a wonderful week and we were lucky to have different activities to commemorate one hundred years since the conflict ended. Apart from all the wonderful activities the teachers organised throughout the week, the children were lucky to take part in a number of workshops. The week started with a workshop from Freshwater. Years 1-6 followed and re-enacted the story of a WW1 solider and also learnt some WW1 songs. On the Tuesday Katherine Harding (a historian) came and spoke to the children about Sidcup in WW1. The children were fascinated with the stories she had to share and at the end asked some very good questions. At the end of the week, Nursery to Year 6 took part in a dance workshop. The children learnt different dances such as the Charleston. The week ended with a celebratory assembly of all the children’s work. I was very impressed with all the work that was shown and all the information the children had learnt throughout the week. I am very proud of everyones’ hard work and commitment in remembering such a special event.

Mrs Searles

       

Last week, Year 5 and 6 visited the Imperial War Museum in London to learn more about World War One. In the same week as the whole country commemorated one hundred years since the ending of the conflict, Year 5 and 6 were able to pay homage to the men and women who sacrificed so much. The children learnt about the causes, propaganda and conditions of trench warfare as well as the years that followed the war. The children were particularly moved by the poppy display outside the museum and gained a real insight into what life was like between 1914 and 1918. This was demonstrated in the poetry work by Year 6 and letter writing by Year 5  that followed this trip back at school. As always, thank you to the parents who helped make this trip a wonderful success. 

Mr Weighill

   

      

On Tuesday 13th November West Lodge hosted their first Maths Day, with a focus on practical and investigative work. The day started with an assembly by Miss Ayling where we talked about how maths is all around us. She is still waiting to see if anyone can come up with a job that doesn’t involve maths!

Throughout the day, all classes held their own investigations. These ranged from a visit from a giant in Reception, to a Fraction treasure hunt in Year 5.

In the afternoon, we held our very own House Maths quiz for KS2 pupils. Each house had their own team, which consisted of representatives from all KS2 classes. Each team member was then given a specific question to answer. They could choose to either answer the question independently for maximum points, or to ask other children in their house to help. We even had some houses managing to steal some points too! It was an incredibly narrow final score, however Blue house did manage to gain the win! The questions given were difficult, and us teachers are incredibly proud of all pupils – they really did show a growth mindset to overcome challenges!

Well done to all pupils for embracing maths; it was a day that was enjoyed by all.

Miss Ayling

  

 

On Monday 12th November, Year 4 visited the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, to take part in a Viking Workshop. We had time before our workshop to visit some of the galleries in the museum, including the Tudors and Stuarts and a gallery which allowed us to explore various sea objects.

After lunch, our workshop leader Katherine showed us models and pictures of different Viking ships. We had heard of longboats before as we are making them in class, but we hadn’t heard about Knarr boats before! We learnt lots of new and interesting vocabulary about the boats. The second part of the workshop consisted of us working in groups at different tables to identify objects from the Viking times, which we then had to trade with Rebecca at a market. Some of our groups proved to be quite the traders by asking for a lot of items in return for theirs! The workshop ended with two of our classmates dressing up in typical Viking attire.

Thank you very much to all the parents who came and helped us on this trip. We are looking forward to using our new knowledge in our History lessons.

Miss Ayling