Latest News
Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.
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Bath Class visit to Clayspace in Cliftonville
Fri 15 Sep 2017Bath Class (year 6) enjoyed getting their hands messy during a visit to Clayspace Studios in Cliftonville. The children worked with artists Bridget and Sarah to sculpt baby dragons hatching out of eggs. The trip was part of their ongoing Viking topic, with inspiration drawn from the book 'How to Train your Dragon'. We look forward to seeing the finished, painted models, once the clay has been fired!
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Attendance Awards
Fri 15 Sep 2017Congratulations to our attendance award winners this week.
1st - Canterbury (year 2)
2nd - York (year 4)
3rd - Chester (year 3) and Greenwich (year 5)
Because our assembly was changed to the afternoon, Attendance Ted was not able to be there. Instead, he sent his friend, 'Make It In Minion'.
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House Point Trophy
Fri 15 Sep 2017Congratulations to all the children in Scotland for winning the House Point Trophy this week.
1st - Scotland
2nd - England
3rd - Wales
4th - Northern Ireland
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Little Millers Pre-School - EXTENDED HOURS
Thu 14 Sep 2017Little Millers pre-school now has extended opening hours from 8am until 5pm and still has places available for 3 and 4 year olds. Please contact our office for further information.
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WINNERS - Neal Foundation Art Competition 2017 – Art in Geography
Thu 14 Sep 2017RESULT REPORT.
Five schools took part in this year’s Competition. Viewings were completed by 14 July with this Results Report being sent to participating schools and Mr. Moulsdale on 26 July.
THE DECISION – using alphabetical order where appropriate.
Joint 1st place – Drapers Mills Primary Academy School
- Garlinge Primary and Nursery School
2nd place – St. Saviour’s C of E Junior School
Joint 3rd place – Palm Bay Primary School
- St. Anthony’s Foundation Special School.
The result shows how difficult it was to separate the schools into the five possible positions. Combining first and third places proved to be the fairest solution. Judges used two broad criteria to assess the exhibitions. Were the children acquiring an understanding of location and place, human and physical geography, as well as practising geographical skills and experiencing field work? Were they able to demonstrate this knowledge using a variety of art techniques and media?
Drapers Mills. Art Co-ordinator = Gemma Comber. Judge = Marion Hitch.
This school’s exhibition was set up along the broad and light corridors of the main building along with other connecting areas. Each area had its own particular ‘look’ and atmosphere, yet the bright, crisp presentation style gave a sense of unity to the whole exhibition. The wall board displays were full of fascinating work, with the corners and window sills hosting 3D models, an interactive game and table-top displays. Of particular help were the neat labels attached to many displays stating the Year group, the topic, the learning intentions, attainment targets and any cross-curricular links. The contribution each display was making towards the Competition theme was very clear for the judge but would be equally useful for any lay person viewing the exhibition.
The range of geographical learning on display was extensive and – being in the corridors – was available to all pupils. Geographical vocabulary abounded throughout the exhibition via a wealth of large well-written labels. Another attractive feature was the very pertinent links to other curriculum areas.
YEAR
GEOGRAPHY
CURRICULUM LINKS
1
Contrasting environments – woodland & river = UK
Origins of our fruit and vegetables = the world.
Literacy
‘Bog baby’ by Jeanne Willis.
‘Oliver’s vegetables’ by Vivienne French & Alison Bartlett.
2
Human geog. - compare & contrast 2 locations / continents – building homes, layout of roads
Kenya, East Africa v UK
Maps; house design & structure
Literacy
‘Lila and the secret of rain’ by David Conway & Jude Daly.
Acoustic poetry.
History
The Great Fire of London.
3
Physical geog.
Volcanoes around the world.
Kent UK – coastal cliffs
Music and Dance
Dancing to volcano music.
4
Land use / local economy
Margate UK – tourism.
Old maps. Creating maps for the future.
History.
1980s Bem Bom’s theme park.
Literacy.
Similes to describe rides.
5
Human & physical features of world significance – temples & pyramids of the Mayan people.
Understanding effects of deforestation.
History
Study of an ancient people.
Maths
Estimation of boxes needed for temple model
6
Own locality = pond area of the school.
Using a compass.
Interactive mapping.
The range of art media and techniques employed to illustrate the geographical learning was just as extensive with evidence of skills developing across the year groups. Year 1 immersed themselves in different papers cutting, sticking and shaping them to create 3D triangular pockets representing woodland environments. Vegetable prints festooned the world map of food production. Year 2 set clay models of African and UK homes on aerial photographs of an African village and a UK urban area – very original. Their backing papers to their work on the Great Fire of London were fierce and raging in their vicious fire colours. Year 3 delved into felt making to portray the awesome power and drama of volcanoes. Equally dramatic was their work on the cliffs of the Kent coast. Many sheets of white paper had been scrunched, folded, re-folded and cleverly manipulated to represent the crumbling and unstable chalk face. Every sheet had been covered in some sort of black marks to indicate fissures and other rocks. Year 4 learned how to make screen prints over collaged paper for their Bem Bom project. They also designed theme park rides, making prototype sculptures from a range of materials before putting the final models into 3D maps. Year 5’s art was inspired by the symbols found on Mayan temples and pyramids. Their designs were drawn on to polystyrene with a needle, covered in ink and then pressed onto paper with a brayer. These prints were then used to cover a multitude of boxes built into a large model of a temple in the corridor – an imposing structure that required significant planning and co-operation. Year 5 also drew attention to the scourge of deforestation in South America by making clay models of the endangered tree frog, also decorated in the Mayan patterns, displaying them in a hostile environment to emphasise their plight. Year 6 used compasses to direct themselves around the school pond, making drawings of what they saw and collecting natural materials as they went. The drawings and the materials were then used to make collograph plates, resulting in individually framed prints hung in a shadowy corridor where the bold, strongly coloured early prints complimented the delicate later copies. Perhaps this year group’s most telling contribution were the wire fish sculptures. After constructing the fish body from wire, the pupils then filled the cavity with representations of the plastic waste that pollutes their environment and invades their bodies. Using art to persuade a change in human attitude and behaviour is a skill these pupils have now acquired for their own future.
I thoroughly enjoyed the company of my escorts and particular thanks go to my photographer. There was an air of understated pride and confidence about this exhibition – a legacy that is going to filter through into the coming year.
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Attendance Awards
Fri 08 Sep 2017Congratulations to our attendance award winners for the first week back at school.
1st - Chester (year 3) and Portsmouth (year 5) both with 100%.
3rd - Canterbury (year 2)
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Welcome Back
Tue 05 Sep 2017Dear Parents,
Welcome Back! I hope you have had an enjoyable summer. It was wonderful to see the children return to school today, they certainly have lots of exciting stories to share. A special welcome to our new Reception children and their families who will be starting with us in the next few days. We wish all our new families a special Drapers Mills welcome, and hope they will enjoy their time at our wonderful school. We look forward to working with you all over the next academic year.
As parents and carers, I know you will continue to work with us, so your child can grow in confidence, with a love of learning and a determination to be the best person they can be. Please share with them an enthusiasm for learning and place a great value on coming to school and the importance of education. Explain to your child that treating everyone with respect, being on time and in school everyday, wearing the correct uniform and working hard in school is important to you. These are also important life skills. The value you place on these will be the value your child holds for the rest of their life.
We are all busy people, but we ask that you put a routine in place whereby children know they must do their home learning every day – reading, spellings and times tables - before anything else. At this time, please turn the television and/or computer off. Use the television/computer as incentives for the work they do – they will value it more.
Let us know if we can support you in any way. Remember, we operate an open door policy – feel free to book an appointment with your child’s class teacher if you have concerns or need support, help or advice.
I am looking forward to a happy and successful year for all involved with Drapers Mills Primary Academy.
Mr J Manclark
Headteacher
