To Rome, Spain and Hogwarts too…

Just like the beautiful, autumnal leaves, the Autumn Term always brings the richness of new Copthill adventures and the excitement of change as the children start their new year groups. This year, we appreciated more than ever just how lucky we are to be able to be in school learning together and, despite the uncertainty around the world, all the classes in the Upper School have managed to enjoy so many different learning experiences. Year 4 have been immersed in their Roman and Celts topic, re-enacting battles with weapons, shields and helmets made in their DT lessons and using these as inspiration for their historical story writing about Roman invasions, and escaping from Pompeii! They also enjoyed tasting ‘Roman wine’ and creating their own pancakes in Forest School sessions to really experience how a Roman may have eaten. As part of their science work about rocks and fossils, they also held their own archaeological Roman dig to search for real Roman treasure on the farm. Abracadabra! Year 5 had a magical start to their term exploring the wonderful, wizarding world of Harry Potter, creating some incredible setting descriptions and story openers. They also ‘magically’ transformed some muddy river water into a cup of tea for Mr Teesdale to enjoy by using homemade filtration systems created in Forest School. This term sees the Year 5s exploring the world of Charles Dickens, creating drama pieces based on the injustice in Oliver Twist and performing their own plays based on a Christmas Carol ready for a magical Christmas. In their Spanish lessons, they learnt about festivals across Spain and held their own fiesta, writing their own invitations and enjoying traditional food and party games like a Pinata. Using this year’s Children in Need theme of ‘wellbeing’, Year 5 created workout videos and fun activities for each of the classes in the school to complete each morning, as well as organising a non-uniform day to raise a huge amount of money for the charity. Maths has carried on as normal even in these crazy times, but has included much more problem solving than ever before! The children have enjoyed treasure hunts, problem-solving team games and even mathematical jigsaws! Earlier this term, our oldest children applied for their Year 6 ‘jobs’ and have already shown what responsible citizens they are developing into while fulfilling these roles. They have all worked extremely hard preparing for, and many taking, entrance exams ready for secondary school next year and we are so proud of all their achievements so far. We were deeply moved by the incredible Remembrance Service the Year 6 children put together, despite the challenging times this year, and really felt that they captured the poignancy of the sacrifices made by so many through time. The Year 6 topic of ‘In Your Element’ saw the exploration of extreme natural phenomena including tsunamis, earthquakes and volcanoes as well as some incredible writing about Sir Edmund Hillary’s ascent of Mount Everest. During Spanish, the Year 6s put their translating skills into action by reading a Spanish recipe in order to cook and eat their own Spanish paella over the fire. They finished the term with their African topic, creating their own traditional Benin artwork pieces and re-telling their own traditional African tales around the fire, with hot chocolate of course! Year 6 have also been immersed in new problem-solving activities in maths which continue to stretch and challenge them. We hope that you all have a wonderful Christmas, enjoying time together, getting outside and being able to relax and refresh ready for another busy term of Copthill adventures in January. To quote the wise words of Charles Dickens in A Christmas Carol: “For it is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas.”

Mrs Hesford

Upper School Leader