Something important to remember

The String Quartet

We have had an afternoon of culture today, we were invited to listen to a String Quartet called Astaria at St. Briavel’s school.  We learnt about string instruments, these were viola, violin and cello.  We has the opportunity to spot the difference between the physical characteristics of string instruments.  We then predicted which instrument would have the highest pitch. The shorter the strings the higher the pitch, so the violins were able to reach the highest notes.

We learnt that the bow is made of horse hair, not spaghetti!  We also learnt that there are other elements of an orchestra namely,  percussion, brass and woodwind.

When listening to the music we were asked to think about what it represents, for one piece it was an animal. Kate explained that composers use their music as a hook to latch onto. She played two notes and lots of children thought of a shark!

She told us about John Williams, the composer.  No one has heard his name before but after three film scores were played, we knew his work!  These included Star Wars, Jurassic World and Indiana Jones.

We listed to a ‘tin a lin’ which was basically two tins with a piece of string either side.  It was demonstrated that vibrations are what make sound. A pupil had the opportunity to play the ‘tin a lin’ and everyone predicted whether the sound was going to be high or low.  We were very good at predicting the shorter the string, the higher the sound.  We were obviously listening earlier!

It was great to see so many of the children singing along, smiling, rocking and nodding to the music!

In the Net – Year 3 and 4 Internet Safety Production

Whilst at theatre production of ‘In the Net’, years 3 & 4 enjoyed a play learning how to stay safe online.  Whilst the Internet is an amazing resource at our finger tips, we need to stay safe.  The key tips how to stay safe include:

• It is not a good idea to make friends with people online that you don’t know in the real world. Sharing lots of images about yourself and where you go to school is not a good idea.
• Posting negative comments about other people online and bullying them online is the same as doing it in the playground. It still upsets other people and makes them sad.  We should treat people as we like to be treated whether it is online or face to face.
• We leave a digital footprint whenever we use the Internet which can potentially stay on they Internet for ever. Future employers can search and review your digital footprint and make decisions about whether or not they choose to employ you.
• What to do if you go onto a website which upsets or frightens you or give you the ‘Uh Oh!’ feeling. The first thing to do is to close down the screen and then to tell a trusted adult straight away.
• Thinking about how you may not know what you find out online (including about other people) is true. The example of making friends with some in you don’t know.

Overall, it is your own responsibility to make sure that you stay safe, be sensible and be kind online.

Questions to ask your child:

1. Is it true or false that bullying someone online isn’t as bad as bullying someone online
2. What should you do if your are being bullied?
3. Why should you keep your personal information personal?
4. What should you do if you ever get that ‘Uh Oh’ feeling?
5. Why is it important to tell an adult what sites you are visiting?
6. Why is it important when chatting to someone you have only just met online to be cautious?
7. What should you do if you have any concerns or questions about the play?

 

Our Celebrations

Welcome back, I hope you had a wonderful holiday.  During the holidays we received a lovely email from a man who did his teacher training at Clearwell 50 years ago. There is a copy of his email below, it was delightful to read a little bit about the history of our school and village.

Dear Headteacher

I was delighted, on looking up the Clearwell School website, to see a
thriving village school.  My interest arises because in October it will
be fifty years since I spent four weeks at the school as a first-year
student teacher at St. Paul’s College, Cheltenham (now part of the
University of Gloucestershire).  St. Paul’s had a good system that when
you entered the college a month was spent on admin of the course and
then it was straight out to schools for a month.  Some students realised
quickly that schools were not for them and so did not waste any more of
their time (or the college’s).

At the time the school was run by a husband and wife team–Mr. and Mrs.
Tantram, so during that month the school had two teachers and three
students!  It was a most enjoyable month, during which we three students
lived from Monday to Friday at Clearwell Castle, which was then owned by
Mr. Yates who was renovating it, having formerly owned a chip shop in
Blackpool.

I recall that we students used to regularly visit a nearby pub, not to
drink, but to enjoy their excellent ploughman lunches (even during the
evening!)  Those meals cost one shilling and sixpence (17 and a half
pence).  I can’t remember the name of the pub now, but I do recall that
Mr. Tantram was a regular at The Lamb on the other side of the village.

Now that the training colleges no longer exist I don’t know if you have
trainee teachers coming to you now, but I have fond memories of the school.

Best wishes
Robert Cooke
Bug Collecting

Willow have enjoyed an afternoon collecting and identifying bugs in the garden.  KS2 parents will be able to see more photographs on Seesaw later this weekend, but here are a few to whet your appetite!

 

Our Celebrations