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Today 28 children from St John Divine, Stockwell, Jessop and St Saviour’s primaries are on a tour and workshop on elections and voting (topical at the moment with Mayoral elections in a couple of weeks). No doubt they will be sharing their learning with the rest of their schools on their return!

There has been some great feedback from the 3 primary schools who took part in The Big Read project last term. Students in year 12 at Evelyn Grace Academy made weekly visits to the primaries to work with selected children in years 4 and 5. Several children said they enjoyed reading more by the end of the project. One child reported:’ I liked to take a turn reading with someone in secondary school and I also liked doing the activities with my reader’. Staff commented: "It was amazing to be reminded about the programme the day before by all 8 little (primary) readers. They were extremely keen and excited about the programme and really enjoyed every minute of it". The programme included discussion of the book and activities linked to the text. Teachers felt the programme had improved writing with the introduction of new vocabulary and creative ideas and that children have developed their confidence in reading as well as in speaking and listening. We hope very much to repeat and extend this project next year, if possible with some funding for more books to use on the project, so children can take books home to practice, discuss with family and peers and above all to enjoy.

Today the Reception classes at St John’s Angell Town started their Photography for learning project with the team from Fotosynthesis. This is a project funded by Walcot Foundation and Awards for All. The children enjoyed learning how to frame their photographs and made up stories from photographic images. They captured their own interpretations of the story behind the images using ipads. Next week they will start using digital cameras and go on a story treasure hunt in the local area. Photography is a great way into talk for writing, story building. We look forward to seeing the stories the children create over the next few weeks.

Yesterday 23 children from Jessop, Stockwell, Christ Church SW9 and Loughborough primary schools went down to Pop Brixton to interview traders and the managers of the venture in order to write a brochure for future visitors. The children found out that Pop Brixton had been set up to support the local community, that food outlet traders tried wherever possible to buy ingredients from Brixton market and that Pop Brixton had been constructed from containers in 6 months. Having done their interviews and started their brochure planning, the children then went to Stockwell Primary School to begin work in the ICT suite on making their brochure pages. The completed work will be ready after the holidays. Many thanks to all the staff at Pop Brixton, BLC staff and in particular to Ms Fraga from Stockwell for devising the day.

Low Cost no cost flyer no 155 Easter March 2016.docx

Easter March 2016.pdf

Yesterday was the final session for Jessop Reception classes with Fotosynthesis, using photography to support literacy in the classroom. Parents came in to join children in some activities including a classroom treasure hunt using cameras and using a photograph to construct a story. Parents were able to see some of the stories the children have put together in previous workshops. The children have become very skilled in taking photos and bringing photos to life with their story building techniques. After Easter Reception children at St John’s Angell Town primary will start work with Fotosynthesis. Thanks to all the staff involved in making this project such a success.

60 children from both Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 assembled at St John’s Angell Town on Tuesday for a big day of dance with the school’s specialist dance teacher Ricki Blackett. Talented dancers from Loughborough, Christ Church SW9, Stockwell and Jessop joined pupils from the host school learning complicated routines in record time, testing their co-ordination and muscle memory to the limit! The results were fantastic and the children performed in front of all pupils in St John’s at the end of the sessions. We hope to extend this project next year and see our cluster’s talented dancers get a chance to show off their skills to be public. Many thanks to all staff and pupils involved.

On Wednesday 12,000 students ages 11 upwards gathered at Wembley Arena for the 3rd WE Day UK, celebrating active citizenship in our schools. The young people had all taken part in a year of fundraising for local and international charities as part of the WE schools programme. There were inspirational talks by students as well as well known speakers such as Professor Brian Cox as well as performances by music performers Labrinth, Fleur East and Darren Criss to name but a few. Rita Ora told her story of arriving in UK from Kosovo to settle here. All in all it was a great way to celebrate the impact children and young people can and do make to bring about positive change in the world. http://www.weday.com/we-day-events/we-day-uk/

Low Cost no cost flyer no 153 March 2016.docx