On Thursday 8th June, Year One took part in a fantastic “Magical Toy Museum” workshop with the  Freshwater Theatre.   The children became toy experts and spent time looking at a selection of interesting toys, from all different periods of time.   Clive, our curator, told them lots of fascinating facts, including how the first teddy bear was named after the American President, Theodore Roosevelt!  The class got to do some great drama, games and even had a dolly disco!  Everyone thoroughly enjoyed learning about toys in such an unusual and engaging way, and all had a lot of fun!

Mrs Clary

On Tuesday 6^th June, John Robertson from the Gun Dog Company, visited West Lodge with six of his gun dogs including two puppies. Due to the high winds and rain, the workshops had to be held in the school hall. This meant that the dogs had to work in a confined area and the children had to be very quiet so that the dogs could hear the instructions. All the children who wanted to work with the dogs were able to, which provided great excitement especially when the dogs went off in the wrong direction! The pupils were very confident when giving the dogs commands and were delighted when the dogs obeyed! We are very pleased to announce that five pupils were selected to go forward to the National Finals next term and two pupils were selected to go to Buckingham Palace. It was a great day enjoyed by the pupils and staff. 

Mrs Webb

   

 

Year 5 and Year 6 went to Erith athletics track to try and train our athletics skills. We worked on javelin, shot-put, running, high jump and long jump. Shot-put is a game played in the Olympics where you have several metal balls with different masses and you have to put it, keep in mind it is not throwing. First depending on which hand you write with you have to stand sideward, then put the metal ball next to your neck and there’s a saying  ‘Clean palms, dirty fingers’. With javelin we had to hold the javelin with all five fingers and in an angle. In order to score we have to land the javelin front end touching the ground first before the back end. But a real professional javelin will throw the javelin and the end will poke into the ground. In running we did relays and learnt the proper position to start a qualified race. In long jump we had an actual sandpit to jump in. We had to run then jump to get the furthest. In high jump we had to test which foot was the foot we used to jump. We had to run at an angle and land on your back. But then it got harder and he placed the long pole that we have to jump over. I was in a group with Louisa, Ionut, Jack, Sienna, Zina, Hannah and Jascha with Miss Barett. I would like to thank Mrs. Masters for arranging this trip. I really enjoyed the trip and I would go again soon.

By Benecia W 

School Journey - Day 4

‘Last night’s Team Games allowed West Lodge to show off their rapping, drawing, shoe tower building, egg protecting and gargling skills with Heayberd’s Pink Panthers just managing to defeat Weighill’s Wonderful Wacky Whites, Sandys’ True Colours and Burke’s Pineapples. Each team worked superbly well…unfortunately the same could not be said for staff captains! Maybe Mr Sandys and Mr Weighill were too exhausted from their epic badminton match!

A fun morning was spent at Becasuc (Sweet Tooth) where the children learnt how to make sweets; they were already experts at eating them! This was followed by another round of games in the woods and a walk around the local town culminating in more sugar…a crepe!

West Lodge then enjoyed free time on the beach in the beautiful sunshine. Whilst the boys dug a great big hole, some of the girls created foot spas for Mrs Webb, which she greatly appreciated in the warm weather.

Tonight’s activity is the highly anticipated disco but before that, French cuisine…coq au vin as well as escargots…bon appetit!’

School Journey - Day 3

“After last night’s successful sandcastle competition on the beach, West Lodge children and teachers thankfully all managed to get to sleep earlier than the night before.

Agincourt and Etaples proved to be very successful excursions today. The children really enjoyed making their decorative coats of arms shields as well as learning about the Battle of Agincourt. They were then a credit to West Lodge with their respectful behaviour at Etaples cemetery.

Room inspection scores continue to improve with the children showing off both their creative towel formations, as well as realising their beds need to actually be made!’

School Journey - Day 2

After a successful first night’s sleep, West Lodge woke up with a spring in their step!  The morning was spent doing Bear Grylls proud making waterproof shelters in the forest.  This proved to be relatively successful with almost everyone staying dry after Ms Webb poured a watering can over each shelter.  One group was particularly pleased with their sunbathing area, whilst another went into great detail about how their toilet facilities would be used.

The children and staff then enjoyed being taught about how to make croissants and pains au chocoat at the local boulangerie, almost as much as devouring them afterwards!

A sunny afternoon was spent at a snail farm, which was a lovely albeit surprising experience.  The children were fascinated finding out about the lives of snails.  Most of the West Lodge children held and even tasted this French delicacy!

It has been a brilliant day, which will be topped off with an evening visit to the beach for some fun activities.

School Journey - Day 1

School Journey News Year 5 & 6 had a wonderful first day in France.  A smooth journey across the Channel in the morning was then followed by a beautiful sunny day.  This allowed everyone to enjoy the French countryside, including a tour of Vimy Ridge.   On arrival at the PGL Centre, friendly and welcoming staff ensured a lovely first meal and some yummy birthday cake!   Room inspections were somewhat a bit of a shock and room for improvement across the board is most definitely required!