Weekly Round Up

Whole School 2023 - 2024

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 15th April - 19th April 2024 🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

This week we have given partial control of our EYFS round up to the children. There were some interesting photos! We have made the most of the lovely weather and looked around school for signs of spring. This has tied with the children’s work on new life, growing and planting seeds.

This week year 1 have been looking at measurement in maths. We have been talking about capacity and volume. We were using different size containers to fill them to their capacity and compre them with others. We had great fun.

This week Year 2 have been exploring and story mapping a story about the Polynesian God, Maui.

Year 3 have been doing some still life art this week. The children have been looking at various different fruit and drawing it as accurately as possible. We have even been paying attention to light and shadows.

Year 4 have been learning all about the layers or the Earth. The children have looked at facts about the crust, mantle, outer core and inner core. They have produced some fantastic writing, talking about what each layer is made of, what state it is and how hot it is.

This week year 5 have been taking inspiration from the work of Grayson Perry to design their own pots.

Year 6 have started athletics this week in PE. The children had lots of fun trying different sprint starts and then learnt how to do a standing and crouching sprint start to improve their sprint times.

In Sunshine, the children have been learning all about spring. They have been on a walk around the school to spot and collect any signs of spring they can find.

DOT WATCH: Dot has had a very cosy week. She had a lovely lunch time dinner date with one of her Cove friends (sausages were in the menu) and an end of day cuddle on the sofa 🥰 

BIG SHOUT OUT: a big welcome to our new EYFS starters. We loved visiting you and we hope you like your book bag ❤️ 🌳 ❤️ 

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 25th March - 29th March 2024 🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

Happy Easter from Reception. This week, the children have been learning about instructions and how to follow them to complete a task. At the start of the week, the children made Easter cakes following visual instructions. They then used the method to sequence images to complete the task. Throughout the week, the children have also practiced their oral recall of the process.

Year 1 have been busy this term in science. We have thought about grouping animals into carnivores, herbivores and omnivores. This week, we have looked closely at some animal poo to identify which diet group the poo came from!

Year 2 have written brilliant stories  this week based on environmental problems near the seaside. They've used the stories 'One World' and 'Clean Up' to inspire their own work. Year 2 have also been learning how to measure using g, kg, cm, m, ml and l. Today they learnt about temperature using thermometers and measuring in degrees Celsius.

Year 3 have been very busy this week, showing off all their amazing learning from this term's Opening World lessons. Their hard work and enthusiasm has really paid off and we have been blown away by the thoroughness and quality of their writing. Well done Year 3!

Year 4 have had a fabulous week of DT. The children have glued their wooden boxes together, designed their front cover and assembled their circuit. Putting it all together, they have created some fabulous light boxes. Well done Year 4!

Year 5 have produced 3 FANTASTIC extended writes in RE, history and geography. In history, they have answered the question, ‘How were the Greek city-states similar?’

Year 6 have been learning how to use spreadsheets this term. They used all of their skills to plan a party using the formulas function to do all of the calculations. The children were given a budget of £50 and could choose the number of guests that would be invited.

To link in with their English text for this term, ‘Busy Spring', the children working on this went on a trip to Properjob to buy some pots, seeds and decorative items to jazz up our Cove garden! They also practised some life skills including: road safety,  queuing up and using money to pay for items. 🌻🌼🌸

The children been busy planting flowers and tidying up the Cove garden ready for Terms 5 and 6! We look forward to seeing their plants grow!🌻

DOT WATCH: Dot has been the spirit animal of the staff this week. She has embodied the sleepiness of the last day of term. 🥱 😴 💤 

BIG SHOUT OUT: Thank you to to all of the PTA and staff who gave their time to support the discos. It was a looooooong evening of logistics, bopping and sweeping BUT the children had a ball 🪩 

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 18th March - 22nd March 2024 🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

EYFS have been making the most of the warmer weather and doing lots of fun learning outside. They have been building dens and a hotel! They have been weighing, sorting and sharing. They have been exploring floating a sinking.

In light of the pet show this week, the Year 1 children have been writing about their dream pet! If space wasn't an issue, we think your homes would be a bit like a zoo if it were up to the children! 🦕 🦄 🦒 🐳

Year 2 enjoyed making pizzas as part of their DT unit this term. They look very tasty!

Year 3 have been learning all about their skeleton this week. They drew around themselves and labelled all the bones they knew. They now know that their skeleton is for movement, support and protection.

Year 4 have been measuring, cutting and sanding wood in DT this week. They are preparing their resources ready to make their light boxes next week. The children have loved talking about how to keep safe when using a saw, and they had lots of fun sawing the wood using a vice and small saw, wearing safety goggles and gloves of course!

Year 5 have spent the week focusing on grammar and have had the chance to apply this when writing their own stories based on mountains. They have produced some fantastic stories full of imagery and emotive language!

In PE this term, Year 6 have been developing their tennis skills. This week, they have thought about positioning and how to work effectively with their doubles partners.

DOT WATCH: Dot had a fab time judging the Year 1 Pet Show this week. Dot will be contacting the Dot Bar winners to arrange a Daily Mile with them after the holiday. She is rather excited.

BIG SHOUT OUT: A huge thank you to the PTA who put on a fabulous quiz on Friday and to Mr O for being a brilliant host (again). Turns out, none of the quiz teams were smarter than a (Mendip Green) 7 year old 🤦‍♀️

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 11th March - 15th March 2024 🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

EYFS have had a fantastic time this week being scientists. We have experimented with skittles, dancing raisins and exploding cola.

Year 1 have been exploring images of Worle in the past. We will take these old photos up the High Street with us next week to compare the changes that have occurred. The children enjoyed making some familiar buildings in Worle with construction toys.

Year 2 continue to learn about the developments in flight.  They have been learning about Amelia Earhart this week.

Year 3 have been getting stuck into their text, The Rhythm of the Rain. They are going to be writing a diary as Cassi, a girl who lives in a village in Africa, so they've done some hot seating to help them understand the character.

Year 4 have enjoyed investigating decimals. We have been really impressed with their resilience when completing extra challenges.

Year 5 have been sewing their own bags this term in DT. Look at those concentrating faces!

Year 6 have been learning about inheritance in science this term. This week, they looked at cross breeding dogs and chose the characteristics that had been inherited from the mother or father.

In The Cove this week, we were very proud of this little girl's work - a story map of Jasper & the Beanstalk! Well done! 🌟⭐

DOT WATCH: Dot had a series tummy tickle sessions this week. We are not entirely sure that the long nap afterwards was needed!

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 4th March - 8th March 2024 🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

Wow! We have seen some fabulous gymnastics in EYFS this week. The children have explored moving over apparatus as well as jumping, balancing and landing safely. We'll no doubt see some of you at the Olympics in Brisbane 2032! 

Year 1 are learning about the place value of numbers up to 50 using base ten to make different numbers.

Year 2 have been busy writing letters in response to our new book in English. Some letters were so good Mr O read them too!

Year 3 thoroughly enjoyed their World Book Day, dressing up as their favourite character and delving into a story in the library!

Year 4 have had a fanscinating history lesson this week. The children have been learning about the Greek city-states of Athens and Sparta. They learnt about the buildings in an ancient Greek polis, including an agora, temples for worshipping and an acropolis with another temple on top. Using all their Greek polis knowledge, they then compared Athens and Sparta by talking about their similarities and differences. Well done Year 4!

Year 5 have enjoyed creating a program that contains 'if... then... else' to ask questions.

Year 6 had an emotional time in English this week. After weeks of following the progress of Ernest Shackleton's Endurance expedition, the children were horrified to see that his beloved ship was crushed and submerged by the Antarctic ice! Putting this shock to good use, the children have been planning letters home to their family, in role as members of the original crew, to inform them of this catastrophic event.

DOT WATCH: Dot had great fun dressing up for World book day (or at least she tolerated it for 5 minutes). Dot was also invited to join one of her friends to have their hearing aids tested. Everyone had to be silent for the tests. She watched the nurses do lots of checks and then sat on the desk for some cuddles and tummy tickles whilst the nurses did their final checks. Dot thinks her friend was very brave and she has been invited back for his next appointment so she must have been very good at keeping quiet.

BIG SHOUT OUT: a massive well done to everyone in the PTA who supported the making of the Dot bars. We loved them! We still cannot believe how popular they were.

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 26th February - 1st March 2024 🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

Cosmic Kids yoga was enjoyed by our Reception children during their PE session this week.

Year 1 have been working on missing number problems this week - a tricky concept! They have done so well drawing on their knowledge of part-part-whole and using number lines to help solve these problems. We are very proud  of them!

In music, Year 2 are learning the words and actions to the song 'Grandma Rap.'

Year 3 have become fractions masters over the past few weeks. They have been comparing and ordering fractions and are now experts at equivalent fractions.

Year 4 have begun a science experiment exploring why plants need space. They have 4 pots with onion sets. The pots have different amounts of onions (1, 4, 9 and 16). We will make weekly observations and record these to track our findings.

Year 5 have been learning about the journey of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay and have written some fantastic diaries inspired by their expedition up Mount Everest

Year 6 have been writing haiku poems to describe the beautiful scenery of Antarctica as Shackleton's journey takes them closer to the South Pole.

DOT WATCH: Dot found her 2 days in charge very tiring. It is tough being the Head Pup. She congratulated herself on 2 days of successful bossing with a nap.

BIG SHOUT OUT: A massive well done to Mr Edwards and the children in Class 12 who seriously impressed senior leaders from across the trust with their incredible history knowledge and attitudes to learning.

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 19th February - 23rd February February 2024 🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

What a wonderful first week back Reception have had! It has been fantastic to see the children working so hard on their writing and using their phonics to write labels and sentences. The children have been developing their pencil control to form capital letters. We have been focusing on the fab five to help to write accurately and the children have been applying this in their work. Super writing everyone!

In science this week, the children in Year 1 have been learning all about the human body. They had a great time drawing around their friends and labelling their body parts!

Year 2 have begun learning about plants so the children planted seeds and bulbs in big pots. Then the children planted sunflower seeds to grid at home. As the rain set in, planting continued inside. The pots have now been taken to the garden and the children will be checking on them regularly!

In Year 3, the children have been looking at books with mechanisms in preparation for making our own pop up/interactive books in DT. They were brilliant and really inspired the children to begin creating mechanisms of their own.

In English, Year 4 have been exploring Ancient Greek play scripts. First the children identified the features of a play script. Then they used their  creative skills to act out the play script in their groups. They perfected their performing skills by using intonation and appropriate changes in volume.

Year 5 have enjoyed learning about Gospel songs and started to sing a Gospel song called 'Why we sing'.

Year 6 have continued learning algebra this week and can now solve two step equations and form algebraic equations.

DOT WATCH: Dot is back to normal size! She is half the dog she was last week!

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 5th February - 9th February 2024 🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

In EYFS this week, the children have continued their learning of The Little Red Hen by making bread. They worked together to follow instructions and looked closely at the recipe. They developed their fine motor skills as they kneaded their dough before rolling it into balls to bake. They then used knives to spread butter on top before eating it! It was delicious!

Year 1 have been busy making birds  in art this week. They have used their observational drawing skills to draw feathers and added paper clip legs and claws. They were even able to label the parts of a bird drawing on their science knowledge. We hope you have enjoyed seeing the process of making their birds!

Year 2 have been busy becoming experts about hummingbirds and sharing their knowledge by writing non-chronological reports. They've even written their own short story this week. They are fab!

Year 3 have finished off their work on typography in art by creating their own 'Google doodles.' We think they look fab!

Year 4 have thoroughly enjoyed their art lesson this week. They used their historical knowledge to create a gallery of artefacts made out of clay. They also made people who were looking in their galleries. The children were very pleased with their final creations.

Year 5 have loved learning about the story Beowulf. They have worked hard to write their own adventure stories. In computing, they created vector drawings of their monsters.

Year 6 have been creating Web pages in computing this term. The children have been considering the purpose, audience and design. They have also learned to add links to other information on the internet.

As part of Children's Mental Health Week, children in the Cove, along with the rest of Mendip Green, have been focusing on the theme 'My Voice Matters.'

They all started with, 'My voice matters and I want to live in a world where...',  everyone shared their ideas and illustrated them.  The children have been repeating our phrases each day

The Cove and The HLRB children had a wonderful time on Wednesday morning celebrating their work with one another. Their text from this term was 'Winter Sleep' and they shared their fabulous writing about this. Mrs Barton also treated us all to biscuits and hot chocolate which was very well received! Well done on all your hard work children! 👏

DOT WATCH: It has been a bit soggy for the marshmallow this week. She spent a lot of time snoozing in a towel burrito 🌧️ 🌯 

A BIG SHOUTOUT: A massive thank you to Miss Davies who organised a wonderful Children’s Mental Health Week. We cannot wait to share some of our thoughts with you.

Another thank you to our UWE students who have been a huge support this term. We will be seeing them again in March for a special day of learning. We wish them all the best in their future careers as teachers - they will be brilliant!

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 29th January - 2nd February 2024 🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

EYFS have had so much fun over the past couple of weeks on 2, 3 and 4 wheels! The children have seen some fantastic riding whilst remembering to be safe and wear a helmet every time they ride!

Year 1 have been learning all about a Bristol-based Artist, Diana Beltran Herrera. The children were amazed that her sculptures and art work are all made from paper! We explored making 3d feathers from different types of paper.

Year 2 are learning to play a tuned instrument to accompany this term's song, Tony Chestnut. It's great fun but a lot to learn! 😄

Year 3 have been immersed in their Indus Valley learning, finding out about different sources!

In History, Year 4 have been looking at how the Indus people traded and travelled. They have discovered that they used barter for trading because they didn't use any money. Scales were used to weigh products. The children also found out that carts, boats and oxen were used to travel the trade route from Indus to Mesopotomia. They have produced some fantastic writing and illustrations to match!

Year 5 have been patiently waiting for a call from Steve Borthwick, as they've developed their rugby skills this term in PE - just in time for the 6 Nations!

Year 6 wrote application letters this week to Ernest Shackleton to apply for a role on his expedition. All applications were successful and each crew member was assigned a dog to look after which they named.

DOT WATCH: Dot has had a very busy week. Dot helped one of the Dot Squad with their maths papers. Dot now thinks maths is great because she gets treats for all the answers! She went to the V.E.T for a health check and was told she was the bestest, fluffiest pup, and in tip-top health. Dot was not very brave so had to have lots of cuddles. The vet confirmed that Dot is, in fact, a dog and not a marshmallow - we will be getting a second opinion! Dot finished the week with a bath. Be prepared to see the fluff explosion next week!

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 22nd January - 26th January 2024 🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

In our EYFS classes the children have been exploring birds. They went outside with an identification guide to try and find some of the different species.

Year 1 have made some observational drawings of feathers this week in preparation to make their 3D birds. They were careful to look for different colours, patterns and textures.

Year 2 have been creating their own minibeasts by studying and cutting shapes after observing minibeasts in resin and through a documentary.

The children have been preparing for the great Storm Cat's visit in Year 3 and wrote some amazing descriptions of what it might be like to sail out into an enormous storm. It’s been great fun and brilliant preparation for the story writing which we will do in the coming weeks!

Year 4 have enjoyed their Jigsaw learning this week. They explored different scenarios where people faced challenges and had to use their resilience to overcome the problem. In groups, they used their creative skills to perform to the rest of the class.

This week, Year 5 have enjoyed investigating thermal insulators through fair testing in science.

In PE, Year 6 have enjoyed working in small groups to create and perform a cannon in a sequence. What budding gymnasts we have! 🤸‍♀️🤸‍♂️

DOT WATCH: There’s been a bit more agility training for Dot this week. She is getting to be a very good flying marshmallow. 

A BIG SHOUTOUT: huge well done to our Year 6 librarians. They are doing a cracking job and are looking very professional in their new official lanyards.

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 15th January - 19th January 2024 🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

It's been a week of creativity in EYFS. We have experimented with making models, role playing, finding totals in maths as well as moving our train pistons in PE! Phew!

Year 1 are using nature as inspiration in art, exploring different techniques with pastels to create snail shell patterns.

Year 2 have been using instruments to create rhythm patterns and observe how this can follow music created digitally during computing.

We've been exploring typography and onomatopoeia in Year 3. The children came up with some very creative ways of writing different noisy words!

Year 4 have been learning more Hindu stories. This time, they have found out all about Ganesha and what he means to Hindus. The children drew their own picture of Ganesha. They then drew Ganesha's most important items, such as a lotus flower and sweets.

Year 5 have enjoyed their music lesson this week. They warmed up their voices using the Indian classical scale and have practiced singing a song with actions.

Year 6 have been learning about Hindu traditions in RE. They have been learning about Ganesha who is the god of wisdom and good fortune.

Our focus in The Cove this term is winter and hibernation. We have been looking at the text 'Winter Sleep'. These two boys impressed us so much with their letter writing! Well done!

DOT WATCH: Dot had an exhausting session of doggy agility this week. She mastered a trio of jumps and the tunnel. Well done to our Dot Squad agility trainer and course designer.

If there were an Olympic event where marshmallows plopped over 30cm jumps, Dot could be in the running for a medal 🥇 🥈 🥉 

A BIG SHOUTOUT: Our fab PTA had their first meeting of 2024 this week. They have so many fab ideas… watch this space 👀 

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 8th January - 12th January 2024 🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

With the recent cold weather, EYFS children have been exploring the ice. We left water in trays overnight and the children were fascinated with the freezing process. This prompted discussion in classes about locations where there might be more ice. We used non-fiction books to find out about the climate in Antarctica.

Year 1 have been exploring and making numbers to 20. The children also played a game to challenge their friends to make the numbers using a tens frame.

Year 2 have been using primary colours to colour mix secondary colours. They then painted colour wheels.

Year 3 have been working really hard on their multiplication this week. They have used their known times table facts to help them multiply 2-digit numbers by 1-digit numbers.

Year 4 had a wonderful art lesson this week exploring drawing with scissors. They had a selection of coloured paper and cut out shapes to express figurative poses.

Year 5 have enjoyed creating collages inspired by Joan Miro. They took creative risks as they did automatic drawings over their work by following sounds!

Year 6 have started their new English focus, Shackleton's journey, and will be writing biographies about Ernest Shackleton next week. Today we looked at examples of biographies so we know the features that need to be included.

DOT WATCH: Dot is back, fluffy as ever, and ready for 2024!

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 18th December - 20th December 2023 🌳 

It has been a day of very festive, fun 3 days at Mendip Green:
Christmas dinner.
Chocolate gifts from Uncle Paul's Chilli Charity
Christmas parties (well done to Mrs Hodgson, Mrs Poole and Mrs Sandford for conquering that logistical nightmare)
Christmas crafts 
Christmas games (Which team do you think made the best snowman?)
Christmas films
A spot of dancing
And a puppuccino for our favourite marshmallow

Wishing you all a very merry Christmas from Team Mendip. We look forward to seeing you in 2024.

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 11th December - 15th December 2023 🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

Santa is going to be so pleased with our EYFS superstars! This week in our phonics lessons, we have moved away from magnetic letters on boards and the children have started to write on their wipeboards. We're sure you'll agree the writing is stunning!

Year 1 have rounded up their DT unit by making moving mechanism Christmas cards. Aren't they fantastic! Well done Year 1!

The children in Year 2 have completed their design and technology learning by making the hand puppet they had designed. Just look at those concentrating faces!

Year 3 have finished off their science unit by looking at what is in soil. They completed an investigation with water and soil and learnt all about humus.

Having designed their stockings, Year 4 have started to cut, embroid and sew their fabric together. The Year 4 staff have seen some fantastic sewing skills, including over stitch, running stitch and more. The children are excited to finish them and see the final stocking take shape.

Year 5 have impressed us SO much with their double page spreads that show all of their geography learning this term!

Year 6 have started making their bird houses in DT this week. They have enjoyed creating their designs and will be painting them before taking them home.

Blossom have enjoyed exploring all things Christmas over the past two weeks! From decorating the Christmas tree, snowball fights, melting snowmen, and not to forget one of the gang receiving Star of the Week, we can certainly say we are in the festive spirit! 🎄 We wish you all a very Merry Christmas! ⛄

Dot Watch: Dot was invited to visit a den built by one of her Dot Squad buddies. Dot does love a good den. This one was a bit tricky to get out of once she had hopped in.

SPECIAL SHOUT OUT: A huge well done to all of the children who have taken part in one of our Christmas performances. We are sure you will agree - they were absolute stars 🌟 

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 4th December - 8th December 2023 🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

We have been very festive in our EYFS classes this week. Each activity has focused on developing different key  skills.

Year 1 have been learning the story of The Gingerbread Man. The children have enjoyed making their own Gingerbread Men, that thankfully didn’t ran away!

Some of our Year 2 children have visited Year 1 this week to share the poems that they have been working on called The Magic Box. Everybody was impressed with their work and enjoyed reading with others.

This week saw the culmination of a lot of hard work for Year 3. The children couldn't wait to find out what would happen to Roz in The Wild Robot, so they planned and wrote their own endings to the story with amazing results.

Year 4 have concluded their mountains unit in geography by learning about Mount Snowdon. They followed a short story where Bethan prepared and climbed to the summit of Snowdon in Snowdonia. The children then wrote about the preparations people take in order to climb mountains, what they pack and what changes they see along the way.

Year 5 have been writing some lovely, well thought out letters this week.

After finishing Wolf Brother, Year 6 have been planning and writing their own next part of the story for the  character Wolf. The children have done a fantastic job of writing in the style of Michelle Paver (the author) and including all of the grammar we have learned so far in Year 6.

Dot Watch: Dot has cracked out the winter knitwear. To mark the start of the ‘muddy season’, she has also been shopping for a new coat or two.

SPECIAL SHOUT OUT: A massive thank you to everyone who support our Christmas Fair. It was an amazing evening! 

 🌳 Weekly Round Up: 13th November - 17th November 2023 🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

In EYFS we have been exploring celebrations. The children discussed carnival, Bonfire Night and Diwali.

Year 1 have been exploring old toys and comparing them to their own toys at home. They even linked this to our science learning and identified what materials the toys were made from.

Year 2 have designed their own puppets this week. They will begin learning different sewing techniques over the coming weeks. The children have also been writing instructions for how to make a jam sandwich. They focused on using bossy verbs.

Year 3 have been creating story boards ready to start creating animations next week. They have used their knowledge of ancient Egypt from last term to decide which characters and backgrounds to use.

Year 4 have had another excellent week. They have continued to impress us with their perseverance with writing. They have written another excellent diary entry improving on their previous one by using a variety of techniques to add description. They then had a look at their partner’s and then presented their own piece. The teachers have been so impressed with the written work they have seen!

Year 5 have been looking at night and day in science, as well as the phases of the moon.

Year 6 have been playing football in PE lessons this term. This week they created their own warm ups including a pulse-raiser and stretching. They then did some attacking and defending drills - they used these skills in small matches at the end of the session.

In the Cove, the children have been learning about the Hindu festival of light: Diwali. First, they listened to the story of Rama and Sita which allowed children in Key Stage 2 to see what they could remember from their work in RE.  Then they found out Diwali facts to help create their own information brochures.  As one of the ways Diwali is celebrated is to have a family feast, everyone worked together to follow instructions to make Mango Lassi - delicious.

Blossom had amazing focusing during Bucket Time this week. They especially enjoyed squeezing the paint, stomping on the paper, then seeing how the colours had mixed. The week finished with a yummy chocolate cake from Miss Manfield to celebrate her birthday! 🙂 

Dot Watch: One if Dot’s favourite things to do is curl up with her squashy dinosaur for a pillow… the perfect way to spend a governors meeting.

SPECIAL SHOUT OUT: Thank you to our PTA and staff who helped run the Movie Morning for the children on Saturday. A great time was had by all 🍿 🎥 

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 6th November - 10th November 2023 🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

EYFS have been on their first school trip this week! The children painted some poppy wreaths, then walked to the War Memorial on the High Street. They were lucky enough to go inside and look at the other wreaths. The children were SO well behaved and made us all very proud of them.

Year 1 have been busy learning about different mechanisms this term. This week they have learnt how to make a pivot mechanisms using split pins and made some fabulous flying insects.

Year 2 are in full swing with rehearsals for their Christmas play. The children have been learning their lines and routines for their spectacular show.

Year 3 have started their cooking this term, learning all about seasonal foods. They've made delicious cup cakes in their first lesson.

Year 4 have continued exploring their class text 'Marcy and the Riddle of the Sphinx'. This week they have used powerful adjectives to enhance their descriptive writing and have started creating expanded noun phrases. We are looking forward to building on their descriptive writing skills.

Year 5 have enjoyed the introduction to the DT topic 'Chinese Inventions'. Today they have tested the absorbancy, opacity and strength of different paper.

Year 6 have been enjoying using Tinkercad as part of their computing learning. Look at their fabulous 3D images.

The children have been remembering this week in The Cove.  They found out about the history of Bonfire Night and created firework pictures using marbles.  They tried hard to remember the famous poem about Guy Fawkes. The children also made some beautiful Remembrance day art, thinking about what the poppy symbol means and how thankful we should be.

Dot Watch: Dot always thinks the grass is greener on the other side of the office door. She is forever sneaking next door and then changing her mind a few moments later. She has got the hang of knocking in the door when she wants to come back in.

SPECIAL SHOUT OUT: A huge thank you for all of your chocolate donations for our chocolate raffle. The children are always so excited to see the hampers. Who will be the lucky winners this year?

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 30th October - 3rd November 2023 🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

EYFS children have been learning about animals that hibernate. For our outdoor explorers session, they went hunting for things that hedgehogs might need to help them hibernate.

Year 1 have enjoyed using paint tools on the iPads to create pictures of themselves.

Year 2 are learning about evidence in history. They have had the chance to explore many artefacts ranging from a baby's gas mask from WWII to an Edwardian vacuum cleaner.

A massive shout out to all of Year 3 for the phenomenal work being produced in our humanities lessons. Thanks to our wonderful new Opening Worlds curriculum, the children are producing a huge amount of work at a very high standard. Keep it up!

Year 4 have enjoyed starting their new computing unit all about audio recording. They used iPads to record their audio and explore the best ways to record sound. The class then created a toolkit on how to successfully record an audio in preparation to make their own podcast.

Year 5 have loved RE this week. They were immersed in the Hindu story of 'Manu and the Matsya the fish' and were able to retell the story beautifully.

Year 6 have started their new science this term learning more about electricty. This week, they learned the symbols for circuit components, made circuits and drew scientific circuit diagrams.

Something wicked this way comes!  Don't be scared.  It's just The Cove exploring spooky spiders, skeletons, pumpkins and creepy castles.  We've found out lots about what a pumpkin has inside and will be drying out some seeds ready to plant.  We have designed our own creepy castles and have thought about what makes us scared, talking about what we can do if we feel worried or frightened.

Sunshine have been learning all about Autumn this week.  They have learnt about hedgehogs and even made some out of clay. The children have made pictures of firework and autumn trees. We have had fun cooking scones, too.

In Blossom, the children have worked very hard whilst using the tweezers to place the pompoms along the path to help the squirrel get to the acorn! We also had fun exploring autumn leaves, conkers, acorns, and twigs before matching them to their picture.  🍁🍂

Dot Watch: Dot joined EYFS classes for phonics these week. She was very excited to see them learning the diagraph ck as they moved onto a new Step. 

SPECIAL SHOUT OUT: A huge thank you to our PTA. It has been a busy time with the toy caution, cake sale and Christmas Fair prep. We have some new members who have thrown themselves into these events which is an enormous help.

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 16th October - 20th October 2023 🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

EYFS have been very busy finishing their first term at school. The children have made lots of new friends, met new adults and learnt new school routines. They have learnt how to take turns, share the toys and work as teams. Well done children - what a fantastic start to your school life!

Year 1 have put all of their map skills from this term into practice. They used maps of the school to locate different human and physical features. The children could highlight the different places using symbols and a key.

Year 2 have been learning about uses of IT. We have learnt it can help us communicate learn and be creative.

Year 3 have become experts at adding 3 digits numbers using the column method this week. They are able to confidently bridge across 10s and hundreds too.

Year 4 have had a brilliant end to Term 1. In maths they have completed some codebreaking activities, working together to put their learning into practice with some problem solving. They loved the Halloween message activity!

Year 5 have produced some fantastic synoptic summary extended writes this week, aiming to answer the question: in what ways did ancient Egypt change?

Year 6 have been learning about micro-organisms in science. They have been using yeast to test what happens when it is added to different conditions!

In the HLRB this week, the children have been writing instructions on how to be a good friend. Their ideas were shared with each other over a cosy hot chocolate. What a lovely way to finish the term!

This week in Sunshine, the children have been focusing on Room on the Broom. On Friday, the children had great fun climbing through a giant spiders web and making chocolate covered apples and bananas.

Blossom have had a spooktacular week exploring all things Halloween! From carving pumpkins, experimenting with jelly, finding letter sounds in the cobwebs, to finally finishing the week off with a delicious Halloween cupcake. A magical week to end an incredible first term.

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 9th October - 13th October 2023 🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

EYFS have had an active Friday! Our PE lessons this week included hopping and jumping, ring games on the playground and climbing on our adventure zone. Sleep well classes 1, 2 and 3!

In Year 1 the children have been using nature as inspiration in their art lessons this term. This week, they have also become magicians by drawing invisible leaves then they magically appeared when the paint went over the top!

Year 2 have enjoyed being the authors of their own version of Cinderella this week in writing. They have designed their own characters and followed the story structure.

Year 3 have been role playing as different characters from the Wild Robot. They will be turning their role plays into written dialogue, which will support their story telling.

Year 4 had a brilliant time rounding off their art unit by designing and making clothes using from paper. They worked fantastically together as a team to model the hats, dresses, shirts and shoes they had made.

Year 5 have had a great time in PE this week. They have been developing their gymnastics skills by working collaborately to create different balanced positions. Building on their gymnastics work in balance and flexibility as well as practising good mental health this week, Year 5 have applied their skills to some yoga in class.

Year 6 have been making dioramas based on their English text Wolf Brother. Look at these miniature scenes.

The children in the HLRB have been busy. KS2 have been exploring new friendship vocabulary this week and have used this to create their friendship flowers. KS1 enjoyed drawing pictures of their friends too.  The children also made a friendship  owl.

Dot Watch: Dot has been loving watching Bluey with the lunchtime group. She was ecstatic to find out that Bluey has a marshmallow cloud dog, too!

A SPECIAL SHOUT OUT: A big well done to our Year 6 librarians. They have made a brilliant start this term and help keep the library tidy and organised.

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 2nd October - 6th October 2023 🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

This week EYFS have been talking about Harvest. They met in the hall where Mr B spoke to the children about what Harvest is and the importance of helping others. We had a look at the selection of different items that had been donated. Mr B also taught the children about how yummy it is to dunk a biscuit in a cup of tea! They then sang a poem they have been learning from the poetry basket. Ask your child at home to sing 'Chop chop'.

Year 1 have been practising their writing skills in a variety of different ways, from sentence work to spelling sight words.

Year 2 have been  practising using expanded noun phrases to describe their characters in the story of Cinderella. Can you work out who these characters are from their descriptions?

Next week, they will be be writing their own versions of the story.

Year 3 have been preparing to make some ancient animals this week. Their designs are the first step towards creating their chosen animal out of clay.

Year 4 have enjoyed learning more about the story of Rama and Sita. They learnt about the 10 headed demon Ravana and how he tricked Rama and Lakshamana to capture Sita and take her back to Lanka. They looked at how Hanuman helped Rama and Sita, and they did a bit of writing to sum up the different people we've met so far.

Year 5 have had a great time this week using modroc to create their supersized jewellery.

Year 6 have been writing non-chronological reports on wolves this week as part of their English topic. We are so impressed with their writing.

This week in Sunshine the children have been on a bear hunt, off to find a big one. They have been on a sensory walk, to explore different textures and feelings. The children have been working hard on their mark making and creative side.

Children in the Cove have been working really hard on their writing.  They have been working on pencil grip, letter formation, spacing, spelling and adding more interest through using a wider range of adjectives.

Dot Watch: Dot had fun sniffing everyone’s shoes at the PTA quiz for our EYFS families on Friday. Her favourite bit was hoovering up the bits of pizza that had been dropped on the floor. She slept through most of Mr O’s questions.

A SPECIAL SHOUT OUT: Thank you to everyone who donated food items to our Harvest collection. This will be going to the local Foodbank.

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 25th September - 29th September 2023 🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

Our EYFS children are now with us full time and have begun learning their phonic sounds. Each child uses their own magnetic board and letters. They'll be making words very soon!

The children in Year 1 have started their independent reading challenge. Each day, they are practising reading independently. We have enjoyed learning about the three ways to read a story: reading the words, reading the pictures and retelling the story.

Year 2 walked up to St Martin's Church this week to practise for  our Harvest Festival next Wednesday. The children were amazing and really enjoyed a Bible story read to them by vicar Jon.

In art and design this week, Year 3 children have been continuing to experiment with different charcoal techniques. They created stencils and used tissue to make shapes with the charcoal.

Year 4 have continued their PE learning. Class 14 have progressed with football by practising attacking and defending. They paired up to attempt to score a goal past the defender. Class 13 and 15 have been learning about how to make a run in Netball, passing the ball and intercepting.

In Year 5 this week, children learnt all about the United Nations Convention on Rights of Children, discussing why they believed they are important.

Year 6 have written some superb character descriptions in English. These will come in handy when they write their quest stories at the end of their Wolf Brother unit!

Dot Watch: Dot has had a great time in one of our lunch clubs this week. She enjoyed looking at pictures children had made for her on the iPad.

A SPECIAL SHOUT OUT: This week we said goodbye to Mrs Wall our amazing senior administrator who joined our Mendip Green family over 15 years ago. We wish Mrs Wall a very long and happy retirement, filled with term time holidays 😆 

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 18th September - 22nd September 2023 🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

The EYFS children have loved having school meals this week! Next week, they will be with us full time!

This week in Year 1 the children avoided the rain for their walks down the highstreet! They had lots of fun looking carefully for the symbols they needed to complete their maps.

Year 2 have been creating 3D sculptures using reclaimed plastics during art whilst studying the work of Sayaka Ganz.

Year 3 have been busy planning their Wild Robot diaries on their English lessons.

Year 4 have loved art this week. They have continued to look into the work of Quentin Blake and his use of colour in his line drawings. The children took some time to watercolour and outline characters of their own, thinking carefully about how the colour they use creates a mood.

Year 5 have enjoyed learning about Rama and Sita's story in RE, retelling it in their own words.

Year 6 have been retelling the story of the Four Sons of the King of Ayodhya in RE.

Blossom enjoyed exploring the different emotions that The Colour Monster feels throughout the book. The children had fun performing a show with the puppets and using straws to blow paint to make their very own monster! 

Dot Watch: Our little marshmallow pup is always willing to go for walkies to help some of her Dot Squad friends feel a bit calmer. Dot walked her little paws off at the start of the week! She also has zoomies up and down the corridor with Miss Bendall. 🐾 She has honestly been full of beans, but the only photo we managed to take was her trying to stay awake in the staff meeting. 😴 💤 

A SPECIAL SHOUT OUT: a huge thank you to Steve (Mr Williams) who has spent the weekend pressure washing the EYFS playground for the children’s first full day at school. The seagulls may hate him, but we think he is pretty fantastic! 

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 11th September - 15th September 2023 🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

The new EYFS children have settled in fantastically. We are so proud of them! They have enjoyed exploring their new classrooms and making new friends. We are looking forward to having everyone in together next week.

This week, Year 1 have been practising counting to 10. They have been working really hard on their number formation, too.

The Year 2 teachers have been so impressed with the the children's place value knowledge this week. They have been busy recognising tens and ones, using a place value grid and partitioning numbers. We have been wowed by their great attitude and how keen they are to challenge themselves.

Year 3 have been exploring rocks in science. The children looked at a variety of different rocks, including granite, limestone, slate, sandstone, marble and chalk. They could describe how the rocks looked and felt.

This week, Year 4 have been working very hard on their place value work in maths. They have learnt about different ways to represent numbers between 1000 and 10,000. They even got the chance to create place value questions on their own for their friends.

In PE this week, Year 5 enjoyed a game of jungle tag before practising the skills to develop a round off.

Year 6 have learned about Spanish high streets this week. They have learned the Spanish words for the shops you would find on a high street and created their own high streets so they can practice saying the words next week.

The Cove have been so happy to welcome a new friend this week. We have been helping her to settle in by setting positive examples and always having high expectations of ourselves.

The children in our newest SEND provision, Blossom, have settled wonderfully and are enjoying the start of term. This week they experienced different forms of weather during bucket time.
We can’t wait to see what else they get up to this term - Go Team Blossom 🌸 💕 ☔️ 

A SPECIAL SHOUT OUT: a huge thank you to our PTA who made little packs for all of our new EYFS families to take home after their first drop off at Mendip. You are a fab bunch.
We look forward to seeing you at our PTA meeting Monday 18th September, 6:30 pm, at school.
 

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 4th September - 8th September 2023 🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

It has been our Mendip Green Book Week where we share the same stories from Year 1 - Year 6 and complete some activities around them (EYFS will have their book week next week).
This year, we chose 3 lovely picture books:
- ‘The Music in Me’ by Sophy Henn
- ‘Martha Maps It Out’ by Leigh Hodgkinson
- ‘Perfectly Norman’ Tom Percival 

In EYFS we have been welcoming our new starters (and families) for their 1:1 meetings with their teachers. It has been so lovely to meet you all. We cannot wait until you all start with us next week.

It has been a fabulous first week in Year 1. The children have been enjoying learning and exploring their new outdoor learning environment.

Year 2 have loved reading some new stories this week. We read one about music and rhythm and composed music using body percussion. Check out the video in the comments below.👇 

It has been a busy and exciting start of term in Year 3. The children particularly enjoyed the book 'Perfectly Norman' and designed their own wings just like Norman.

Year 4 have had a brilliant book week, exploring 3 different books. We have looked at 'The Music in Me' which is all about being yourself. The children used tissue paper to decorate their outline of themselves with colours representing different aspects of themselves.

Year 5 have loved getting back to school this week and enjoyed looking at a range of books together for our book week.

Year 6 have been writing setting descriptions based on the story ‘Martha Maps it Out’. A great start to the year with some fabulous writing.

In the Cove, we are so pleased to have the children back at school. They are already working hard, using our familiar structures, routines and adults to help us do our best.  We are all feeling a bit tired but very glad to see our friends again.

Dot Watch: Dot has loved seeing some familiar Dot Squad members in the office. She will be out and about a little more in the coming weeks when things are a little less ‘melty’ and she is not spending all day lying in front of a giant fan!

A SPECIAL SHOUT OUT: Well done to our 2023 Leavers who started at their new secondary schools this week. It was wonderful to see so many of your smiling faces this week when you popped in to say hello or came to meet younger siblings… you all looked VERY smart and tall! 
We are SO proud of you! 🥹 🤩 

Whole School 2022 - 2023

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 10th July - 14th July 2023 🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

In EYFS we have been looking at garlic that had grown in Mrs Crothers' garden, the elephant garlic was taller than Mrs O! We used all our senses to explore all the parts of the plant and then created our own garlic butter by shaking cream in a jar and then adding garlic to it. It was delicious!

Year 1 enjoyed having EYFS join them for part of the morning this week. The children shared stories with their buddy and told them all about the fun that we have in Year 1! 
Year 1 are enjoying learning about continents and oceans in geography this term.

Year 2 have been making vehicles in DT. Year 2's Science topic this term, Micro Habitats, has culminated in them making these bug hotels using as much recycled  material as possible.

In Year 3, we have been learning about light. We have finished our topic with some fantastic silhouette performances.

Year 5 have worked incredibly hard on their stories based on Loki. We have loved reading what this mischievous trickster has been up to as he travels across the Bifrost (rainbow bridge) into different realms.

Year 6 have rounded off learning about the Stone Age with fabulous double page spreads on everything they have learnt.

Dot Watch: Dot, fueled by a pupuccino, supported the senior leadership team with downloading and analysing the Year 6 SAT results.

A SPECIAL SHOUT OUT: A massive thank you to all of the staff who were involved in the Year 6 camp and staycation this week. The children had an amazing time.

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 3rd July - 7th July 2023 🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

EYFS have been having fun learning about animals in different climates this term. This week, we have been finding out about Arctic and Antarctic animals... lots of fun play with ice cubes, polar bears and penguins!

Recently, the children in Year 1 have been busy food tasting, practising cutting with knives and planning a delicious fruit and vegetable salad. This week, they put their skills and plans into action and made their masterpieces! We think their favourite part was eating them at the end!

Year 2 have been making bug hotels. The children worked in groups and thought carefully about how to create a micro-habitat.

Year 3 have finished off their topic on the Stone Age by looking at how Stonehenge was built. They learnt all about how they used logs to transport the stones and even gave it a go with pencils and rubbers.

Year 4 have been extremely working hard in English to learn, receit and perform a whole class poem. The children have worked in groups to recite their section before performing as a class. The children have developed good eye contact and thought about projecting their voice as they perform. 

We bet you can’t guess what Year 5 have been up to this week? That’s right… bridges! The children have had great fun in DT this week making suspension bridges. They were given sellotape, string, paper and paper art straws. They all came up with their own creative ways to build the bridge! We promise that their term’s curriculum has not just been bridges!

In science this week, Year 6 learned that light travels in a straight line. First they created practical models. Next, they drew scientific diagrams in their books.

There has been a sensory pathway to help get the children’s brains warmed up on the way into the Cove this week. 

Great for being ready to learn but only enter if you dare, for 'Here be dragons.' In the Magic Paintbrush,  Shen painted a dragon to scare off the wicked Emperor. Check out the dragons that we designed.

Dot Watch: Dot has been reunited with the toys she lent Year 6 for their show. Little did she know that her dinosaur would have a speaking part!

One of the Dot Squad has made Dot a little boat and matching Captain’s hat. She thinks she looks awesome in her new hat.

A SPECIAL SHOUT OUT: A massive well done to all of the children who took part by in the PTA fundraiser by collecting 5p and 10p coins for their class jar. Mrs Young and Mrs Stone have been very busy this weekend counting the coins for each class. We are excited to see which class will win the ice cream treat!

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 26th June - 30th June 2023 🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

This week, our focus in EYFS maths has been 3D shapes. We have named them, sorted them and hunted for them in real life! 

This week, Year 1 have been developing their programming skills further by changing the sprite (character) using the ScratchJr app. They are thinking about programming instructions and checking that they work.

In Year 2, this week we have been learning about Stonehenge. We have been considering the question - Why did they build Stonehenge?

The children have been making amazing mazes in Year 3 using Scratch. They even programmed the sprite to go back to the start if the player touched the sides!

This week in Year 4, the children looked at Skara Brae and Stone Age houses to understand how settlements have developed. We looked at the layout of a Stone Age house, and what they had inside of them.

Our construction engineers in Year 5 have continued to explore making bridges. This week they investigated different sized arches to determine the impact that it had on its strength.

Year 6 have had a busy week enjoying transition. They have also been doing their final rehearsals before their show next week. They sound amazing, make us laugh and we can't wait for everyone to be wowed by their performance.

In the Cove we have been  creating the next part of our story maps for The Magic Paintbrush.  We have been looking at commands and bossy verbs because of one of the characters.  There have also been phonics assessments and some great mark making from everyone this week! Well done Team Cove!

Dot Watch: some of the Dot Squad have ‘popped by’ to say hello to Dot during lunch time. She enjoyed the extra surprise tummy tickles! Dot also enjoyed learning all about Stone Henge with Class 10. 

A SPECIAL SHOUT OUT: Great job to our Year 6 children who have been visiting their secondary schools this week. 

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 19th June - 23rd June 2023 🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

EYFS  have been learning about different environments. This week the children have looked at jungles and the artwork of Henri Rousseau. They used collage materials to hide the tiger prowling through the jungle.

This week, in maths, Year 3 have continued looking at time. They are becoming more confident at reading the time on both analogue and digital clocks.

Year 4's final DT project is now underway. In preparation for our final piece (watch this space) we have been investigating stable structures

Year 5 have continued learning about bridge construction in Design and Technology this week. The children have been looking at cross-sections and how different shapes can be used to strengthen structures.

Year 6 have been learning about the Stone Age in history which has linked nicely to their end of year show, Rock Bottom.

The Cove are enjoying access to some of the soft play equipment which has made our outside space even more supportive of our learning. We have been exploring ‘jungle’ as a theme with some amazing tuff trays and have been working on fine and gross motor skills. Year 1 children really enjoyed joining in with the pet show. The children in KS2 are reading 'The Magic Paintbrush' and this week have been considering what they would paint for themselves and others. It was really hard to choose.  If you had a magic paintbrush, what would you paint?

The children have been learning about the Gruffalo in the sunshine room. The children enjoyed making crumble! They also told the story of The Gruffulo using the animals.

A SPECIAL SHOUT OUT: A massive congratulations to our Eco Council who have achieved The Woodland Trust’s Gold Award.

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 12th June - 16th June 2023 🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

The EYFS children have continued exploring water colours. They have used flowers to paint observational pictures.

Year 1 enjoyed learning to prepare and cut fruits and vegetables as part of their design and technology sessions. Many children named it as the 'best day ever!' They had the opportunity to have a taste and we were impressed with those willing to try something new. We can't wait to see their fruit salads later in the term.

Year 2 have been learning learning about life cycles in science.

Year 3 have been continuing their investigations about light this week. They learnt that darkness is the absence of light and had great discussions about whether you'd be able to see a white cat in a cave. We decided that you wouldn't be able to see it because even though the cat is white, it does not give off light! There was some very good scientific thinking going on to reach that conclusion, well done Year 3!

The children in Year 4 celebrated the end of their English text with a , Dolphin Boy, themed book event. The children enjoyed using a range of materials to create their dolphin scene. We spoke about how to mix colours to create different oceans.

Year 5 have shown fantastic determination, grit and perseverance this week during their assessments. The children have also been exploring bridges with different cross-sections to test their strength.

Year 6 had the pleasure of meeting Bertie the tortoise this week! The children have been learning about the Galapogos Islands as part of our geography topic.

Dot Watch: Dot has excelled herself this week and proved it is possible to sleep just about anywhere.

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 12th June - 16th June 2023 🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

The EYFS children have continued exploring water colours. They have used flowers to paint observational pictures.

Year 1 enjoyed learning to prepare and cut fruits and vegetables as part of their design and technology sessions. Many children named it as the 'best day ever!' They had the opportunity to have a taste and we were impressed with those willing to try something new. We can't wait to see their fruit salads later in the term.

Year 2 have been learning learning about life cycles in science.

Year 3 have been continuing their investigations about light this week. They learnt that darkness is the absence of light and had great discussions about whether you'd be able to see a white cat in a cave. We decided that you wouldn't be able to see it because even though the cat is white, it does not give off light! There was some very good scientific thinking going on to reach that conclusion, well done Year 3!

The children in Year 4 celebrated the end of their English text with a , Dolphin Boy, themed book event. The children enjoyed using a range of materials to create their dolphin scene. We spoke about how to mix colours to create different oceans.

Year 5 have shown fantastic determination, grit and perseverance this week during their assessments. The children have also been exploring bridges with different cross-sections to test their strength

Year 6 had the pleasure of meeting Bertie the tortoise this week! The children have been learning about the Galapogos Islands as part of our geography topic.

Dot Watch: Dot has excelled herself this week and proved it is possible to sleep just about anywhere.

A SPECIAL SHOUT OUT: A huge thank you to everyone who supported our Summer Fete. It was a wonderful day and it is looking like we have raised a huge amount to support the school.

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 5th June - 9th June 2023 🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

It's been an active week for EYFS as sports day preparations begin! This week has focused on running and balancing events. Next week, we begin practice for the world famous MG relays!

Year 1 have begun their unit on The World, learning about the 7 continents. The 7 continents song is quite the hit! It's certainly one that will get stuck in your head!

Year 2 are learning how to program using the Scratch app on the computing lessons - it's great fun!

Year 3 and 4 had a wonderful afternoon of Raise the Roof. They sang beautifully, remembered all the actions and most certainly raised the roof of our hall. Well done 👏

Year 5 have been looking at decimals this week, ordering, comparing and multiplying them fantastically.

Year 6 have been writing  persuasive text to encourage people to plant more trees, based on the book The Last Wolf by Mini Grey. 

Will you be planting more trees now?

The children in the Cove have been taking full opportunity of participating in activities with their mainstream classes. This is great for working on   independence,  relationships and resilience. Well done everyone - You are building great skills for the future.

Sunshine have been learning about Little Red Riding Hood. We have enjoyed acting out the story and getting messy making bread. Fridays are all about movement, the children enjoy navigating a course in the soft play.

Dot Watch: Dot made a little cameo at Y5/6 sports day. She positioned herself along the route of the long distance run and managed to get lots of waves, head scratches and hellos from the children as they ran past. 

A SPECIAL SHOUT OUT: A huge shout out to our PTA. They may be (very) small but they are mighty! With just a week to until the summer fair they are working their socks off (on top of their normal day jobs and their roles as Super Mums) to finalise the last details ahead of the big day. If you can help at all, even if it is just an hour, before, during or after the fair, please get in touch. We could not run events like the fair without our PTA - the money raised makes an incredible contribution to the resources and opportunities we are able to offer the children. 

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 22nd May - 26th May 2023 🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

In EYFS, the children had a fab day celebrating everything wonderful in our world as part of our Go Green Day  🌎. Their tree party was so much fun. The children dressed the trees in their play area with painted rocks, paper sculptures and hanging decorations! Do come and visit if you are passing!

Year 1 have been exploring ordinal numbers through taking part in running races, talking about birthdays and ordering objects. The perfect lesson to do outside!

Year 2 have been making music on the computers!.

Year 3 have been experimenting with magnets. The children tested the strength of each type of magnet and then made mazes. Some magnets were so strong that they could move a paperclip through the table!!

Year 4 have had a creative week in school alongside their busy week at camp. The children continued with their  ‘Amazing Animals’ art. They transferred their deisgns from skillfuls sketches into crazy creations onto foam boards. They explored how  ink can transform a simple deisgn and create a large impact.

Year 5 have throughly enjoyed their first lesson learning about the Stone Age. This week, they learnt that Europe and Great Britain were connected by a land bridge called Doggerland. They are so excited to continue this topic of learning next term

Year 6 have been using mark making to create clay tiles in art! They look fabulous!

In the HLRB, we have been reading 'Somebody swallowed Stanley' by Sarah Roberts. We made posters about keeping our oceans clean and used old plastic bottles to make our turtle shells.

Dot Watch: Dot loved all the cuddles she had in the office this week. She has some regular visitors from the Dot Squad. They give the best tummy tickles and are always very gentle.

On Saturday, Dot celebrated her 2nd birthday. She was treated to a trip to the pet shop and picked out a blue duck… as always the guy of choice is as big as her but she loves it.

A SPECIAL SHOUT OUT: a huge thank you to the adults from across the school who contributed to the Year 4 camp… without the support of staff from EYFS all the way up to Year 6 who offered their time, it would not be possible to run this special experience for the children. 

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 15th May - 19th May 2023 🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

EYFS had a lovely time at Worle library on Tuesday. We went on a pirate treasure hunt, looked at some books and listened to a story by Becky.

Year 1 have been investigating which materials would be suitable for a bag based on their properties. We discussed why cars are not made of paper and why windows are not made of wood.

Year 2 have been enjoying the book, ‘The Rabbit, The Dark and the Biscuit Tin’. We have written letters to ask Rabbit to let the Dark out of the biscuit tin. Well done Year 2.

Year 3 have been investigating magnets this week, discovering which parts of the magnets are the strongest and which materials are magnetic. Did you know not all metals are magnetic? Why don't you ask Year 3 which ones are - they're experts!

This term, Year 4 have enjoyed exploring Turtle Academy and writing their own codes. They have created procedures and used them to create a repeating pattern 😊

Year 5 enjoyed an afternoon of still life drawing. They drew a range of objects at different angles, depending on where they were viewing them from. They then explored the use of shading and texture to add depth to their pictures.

Year 6 have started learning the songs ready for end of year show! They already sound amazing!

We had a very special visitor in The Cove. Miss Baker brought Lily in to see us. It was so lovely to meet her, and her beautiful smile was infectious. Thank you for the cuddles. It was wonderful to see Miss Baker and the youngest member of Team Cove

In Sunshine, the children have been looking at the story, 'The journey home from Grandpa's'. They have been exploring all sorts of different vehicles and the jobs they do. The children have been looking after our ants, feeding and giving them water. They have been practising their climbing skills in soft play and had a great time with water and bubbles!

Dot Watch: Dot has been working on her meerkat impressions. She uses this particular pose to ensure the office team pay the cheese tax (and ham tax, and sausage tax). She has been loving the sunshine, too.

A SPECIAL SHOUT OUT: Our PTA may be small but they are mighty! Plans for the summer fete are well under way - it’s going to be a great day ☀️

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 8th May - 12th May 2023 🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

EYFS have had a fantastic time being pirates this week. The children made eye patches, little pirate ships, flags and treasure maps. They had some brilliant ideas for their treasure maps, before they set off around around the classrooms exploring. It has certainly been a fun week.

Year 1 have been continuing to investigate the properties of materials this week. They have been investigating waterproof materials. In art, they have been using their experimental and observational drawing skills.

In Art this week, Year 2 have been creating texture. The children have used fossils as inspiration for their art work.

Year 3 have been busy priming their clay tiles ready for the next round of painting! We can't wait to see their finished creations.

Year 4 are really proud as they have finally finished their DT project. The children have spent a term designing, building and joining the light box. They have linked their science knowledge and created their own circuits to make the bulbs light up. The children have taken the boxes home and are excited to share these with you.

Year 5 have loved doing their Bollywood style routines this week! Next week they will be moving onto line dancing.

Year 6 have been looking at Manga art this week. They have enjoyed playing around with the different styles.

This week in the Cove, the children have had great fun exploring their outside provision -  being shipwrecked on an island surrounded by pirates! Aargh me heartys!!!! The older children have also had great fun being immersed on this adventure. They have been able to link this to this term’s text: Somebody Swallowed Stanley!

Dot Watch: Dot helped to make sure the Year 6 maths reasoning paper 3 was correctly administered by finding a warm sunny spot in the corridor and sleeping the whole way through it. Her hard work was rewarded with an ice cream 🍦 

A SPECIAL SHOUT OUT: A massive well done to all of our Year 6 children who completed their SAT tests - they were so focused and calm.

 🌳 Weekly Round Up: 1st May - 5th May 2023 🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

EYFS have had the best week preparing for the King's Coronation! The children made flags, bunting and even practised making sandwiches using their fine motor skills of spreading and cutting. They really enjoyed their picnics and street parties at the end of the week and are looking forward to sharing their learning over the Bank Holiday weekend.

Year 1 have innovated the story of The Queen's Hat, and have written their own versions called The King's Crown. Look at their fantastic independent writing! Keep it up Year 1!

In science this week, Year 2 have been  exploring different habitats across the school site. The children discussed how the variety of habitats were suitable for the living things within them. They were focusing on the basic needs of shelter, food and water

Year 3 have been doing the classic friction experiment this week. The children rolled identical cars down ramps of varying textures.Such as: card, towel, paper towel and even straw and Duplo. Which surface created the most friction? 🤔

Year 4 have been having fun learning about the digestive system. The practical experiment was a particular favourite in showing children the journey our food takes through our body. They might even demonstrate at home! 😀

Year 5 practicing their Bollywood dancing in PE. They have mastered many of the iconic moves and have been putting these together to choreograph their own routines.
Jai Ho!

Year 6 have been improving their creative writing skills this week.  They looked at the description of Tim the ostler in The Highway Man poem by Alfred Noyes then wrote their own descriptions.

A coronation themed bucket time in the Cove this week, helped the children with good attention skills. During lunchtime they have been starting to spruce up the outside area and are looking after the seeds they planted last week. The children have also been working on their story maps for Somebody Swallowed Stanley. Fantastic recall of the text was shown - great work.

In sunshine the children enjoyed setting up an ant farm and watching the busy ants tunnel through the sand and soil. The children experimented with different tools to create patterns on a flag. They enjoyed climbing and balancing on the soft play. The children have been practising turn taking board games, chopping skills and have also tasted more fruits. They had lots of fun blowing paint bubbles and made sparkly crowns to celebrate the coronation!

Dot Watch: Dot os approaching her 2nd birthday. She is very settled in school but has some development points that will be raised at her next performance review. Currently, she is working on posing. It is difficult to sit and look fluffy when EVERYTHING around you smells so yummy and looks so interesting. 

A SPECIAL SHOUT OUT: A huge well done to the Year 2 children who have completed their reading SATs and a thank you to all of the adults from across the school who have supported the children and made sure everything runs smoothly.
The children took everything in their stride. 

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 24th April - 28th April 2023 🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

There has been much excitement this week in EYFS as the sunflower seeds began to grow and roots have even come through the bottom of some of the pots! The children have also sowed some cress seeds and are keeping their fingers crossed they will be ready to eat in sandwiches next week.

In PE, Year 1 have been performing shapes with partners. We have been showing control and coordination to create a short dance sequence to the music of the Jungle book.

Year 2 have been using coloured pastels to colour carbon print in their art lesson.

Year 3 have been in the computer suite for their computing lessons this week. They have exploring different ways to make their sprite move.

Year 4 are excited to be finishing their light boxes. Look out for them (hopefully) coming home next week! Class 14 have started their ukulele lessons and they are sounding great already.

During their computing lessons, Year 5 have been learning programming using crumbles.

Year 6 enjoyed a jump filled PE session this week. The children started the afternoon with different jumping relay races and then learned how to do the triple jump, learning the separate parts of hop, skip and jump.

It has been a busy week in the Cove as usual. The children have been working hard on their letter formation, mark making and relationship skills. Some children have been using a balance in maths and they have been having great fun outside with a new water tray.

In Sunshine, the children have been on a minibeast hunt in spaghetti! They had butterfly races and practiced counting and their letter formation. The children have been ordering days of the week and matching the hungry caterpillar foods. The children have been food tasting some of the foods from the story; strawberries and watermelon were firm favourites!

Dot Watch: It turns out, Dot would not make a good cinema buddy. One of her Dot Squad friends introduced her to Waffle Doggy. The watched half an episode and Dot fell asleep on the mouse pad, accidentally skipping 3 episodes with her nose. Dot also slept all the way through teacher training on Friday! 
 

A SPECIAL SHOUT OUT: a huge well done to our amazing Year 6 children who have been working incredibly hard on the run up to their SATs. They have made amazing progress with their arithmetic scores in maths! 🤩 

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 17th April - 21st April 2023 🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

In EYFS, we have been continuing our Outdoor Explorer learning as we move into spring. We have been looking for new flowers and growth outside and have planted our own sunflower seeds. The children recognised the sunflower on the seed packet and are keen to keep our seeds watered as we watch them grow over the next few weeks.

Year 1 have started an exciting new art topic. This week, we explored printing using plasticine, ink and textured objects.

Year 2 went on a scavenger hunt for science, looking for things that were living, dead or never been alive.

In Year 3, we've been using different drawing techniques and materials to show textures in fruit. The children will use this learning to create fabulous clay tiles.

This week, Year 4 have been exploring how to create commands using computer software. The children have really enjoyed creating their own commands for the turtle that followed  their instructions to create their designs. We cannot wait to see what they create next using the software.

This week, Year 5 have studied Grayson Perry. He is known for his work with ceramic vases usually decorated in bright colours. The children then had a go at creating their own. We are so impressed.

Year 6 have started their new history topic this week - The Mayan. Due to Class 19's board deciding to have a funny 5 minutes, they had time to sketch a few of the artefacts. Can you guess what they are?

The Cove have been settling into Term 5. Some students joined their mainstream classes for a trip to the farm. We have started work on our new text 'Somebody swallowed Stanley', and have been finding out about creatures who live under the sea. Some great self portraits have been created and some careful pouring and exploring has gone on in maths with our focus on capacity and volume.

In Sunshine we have been sharing the story of The Hungry Caterpillar, retelling the story and sequencing using props. We've been making butterfly prints, counting caterpillars and looking at different mini beasts, we counted ladybird spots and practised our fine motor skills with threading activities. We have also enjoyed lots of balancing activities this week!

Dot Watch: Dot has been on a her first camping trip this weekend. It was a bit of a cold, wet, muddy adventure. The great outdoors is a dangerous place when you are 80% sponge! 

A SPECIAL SHOUT OUT: A huge thank you to Mrs Kus who has been the creative genius behind many of the frames that we have been sharing this week. She is an awesome human! 

World Book Day Art Work - 11th April 2023

We have been keeping Mr Williams VERY busy at Mendip today. 
He has been hanging the children’s World Book Day art work. His spirit level has been working overtime today! Gone are the old tatty display boards, replaced by our mini art galleries with canvases and frames.

Here is Key Stage 2‘s art work…

Our ‘Mendip Reads’ art was created by each class in Y3 - Y6 and can be found in the library. Each class chose the book they wanted to represent. 

M - Class 10’s Matilda canvas (Roald Dahl)
E - Class 13’s Creakers canvas (Tom Fletcher)
N - Class 16’s Land of Roar canvas (Jenny McLachlan)
D - Class 15’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid canvas (Jeff Kinney)
I - Class 11’s Wild Robot Canvas (Peter Brown Studio)
P - Class 14’s Mark of the Cyclops canvas (Saviour Pirotta)
R - Class 17’s Cat in the Hat canvas (Dr Seuss)
E - Class 21’s Series of Unfortunate Events canvas (Daniel Handler as Lemony Snicket)
A - Class 12’s Harry Potter canvas (J.K. Rowling)
D - Class 19’s Darwin’s Dragons canvas (Lindsay Galvin)
S - Class 18’s Beowulf canvas 

We also have Class 20’s giant canvases which have the children’s favourite book quotes written on the individual pages. These are hanging near Class 7.

Mrs Hayward also created some additional canvases with a team of Year 5 children. The individual covers were chosen and painted by the children. These are hanging in the library.

It is wonderful to see that the children have chosen such a wide range of books to share and celebrate: from favourite classics and class texts read in English lessons to legends and read alouds. 

Prepare for cuteness overload with our Gertie Gallery!

This was created by the children in EYFS, Year 1, Year 2, the HLRB and the Cove. Each canvas celebrates the author Lu Fraser who is Mendip Green alumni, and Gertie - The Littlest Yak.

A lot of finger painting went into each representation of Gertie. As you can tell, we are rather fond of little Gertie and her cosy knitwear!

Ask your child which Gertie belongs to their class!

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 27th March - 31st March 2023 🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

In our EYFS classes this week, we have been using paints to explore colour mixing and shade. We did observational painting and looked at shade. Outdoor explorers investigated different signs of spring. The children collected a range of leaves and shrubs to create an Easter chick. We spoke about the change in the weather and how all the blossom has come started to come out.

Year 1 had a Poo Delivery! 💩🐯🐒

We had a rather strange parcel arrive at school this week from the zoo. Year 1

The children became poo detectives and used their learning from science this term to see if the poo belonged to a herbivore, omnivore or a carnivore!

Year 2 have been exploring shape in maths this week. We have named and described 2D and 3D shapes developing our mathematical vocabulary to include terms like edges, vertices and faces. They have also revisted patterns and symmetry.

Year 4 have been rounding off their history unit by producing a double page spread all about Ancient Greece. There are some amazing pieces of writing, containing all the facts you need to know about the Greek Olympics, Gods, Goddesses and so much more!

Year 5 have been researching the seven summits in geography, presenting their findings to the rest of the class

Year 6 have thoroughly enjoyed their science unit about evolution and inheritance this term - so far, the children have learned all about fossils and Mary Anning, adaptations, genetics and inheritance. Here are some of our favourite pieces of work which we would like to show off!

The Cove have been finding out about Easter this week. We have explored stories, crafts and sensory activities to support this alongside our usual jobs. Happy Easter 🐣

Sunshine room children have been enjoying the story of The Magical Train ride. They transformed Sunshine into the magical lands and went on a magical train ride. They enjoyed making wands and fairies in Fairyland, exploring new foods in the Land of Cakes. They splatted aliens in space, explored painting patterns on animals in the jungle and water sensory exploration under the Water. The children joined the teddy bears for a picnic in the magical woods and made some balloon flowers.

In the HLRB the children shared their own tree stories based on the book 'This Tree is Just for Me!'

Dot Watch: The children in lunch club made a dot a fort as a surprise. They put her bed inside with her favorite toys. When she came to school the next day, she went straight in and spent most of the day in it. Dot loved it! 

A SPECIAL SHOUT OUT:  a huge well done to all of our KS2 dancers who performed at the Playhouse. You were incredible!

Another thank you to all of the adult who were involved in choreographing, chaperoning, organising and getting costumes… you know who you are 🤩 

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 20th March - 24th March 2023 🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

EYFS have had an 'egg-citing' week building egg homes to keep our oval friends safe. We crafted some wonderful houses and considered what materials to use and how to join them. These eggcellent activities tied in with our super class book 'egg' - a story about how cool and special it is to be different.

Year 1 have started their new maths learning about measuring. The children had great fun using cubes to measure different classroom objects. They then used mathematical language to compare different lengths and heights.

Year 2 had the UWE students visit for an afternoon of STEM challenges.

The children in Year 3 have spent the day being engineers, building boats out of recycled materials. They worked as part of a team, starting off with research into materials that float, followed by the design process, constructing and finally testing to make sure everything works. The children loved being engineers!

Year 4 have been immersing themselves in science this week. They have been investigating water transportation in plants and whether bulbs need room in order to grow successfully. Some year 4 classes have also been lucky enough to have a UWE student in for a STEM day.

In Year 5 the children been enjoyed a STEM day, exploring the design process.

Year 6 were delighted to have some visitors this week for our STEM day. Our student teachers from UWE, who we had missed very much, taught us all about engineering. The children then became engineers and designed and created their own bridges and rockets; it was out of this world!

In the Cove this week, we have continued our work based on the book ‘This Tree is Just for Me’ by making our own trees and deciding which animals would visit. We wrote acrostic poems and made animal masks. One pupil celebrated his 5th birthday and we have had the chance to use our outside space more often in the brighter weather.

Red N🔴se Day - 20th March 2023

On Monday, we celebrated Red N🔴se Day! Children raised money by coming to school with crazy hair and wearing bright colours.

Our school council had shared the importance of Red N🔴se Day and their plans for fundraising during assembly the previous week. The assembly was planned and led by the school council with a little bit of help from Mrs Sandford (she was in charge of clicking for the next PowerPoint slide).

A huge well done to all of the parents who dragged themselves out of bed at the crack of dawn to gel, hairspray, braid, sculpt, back brush, curl and colour the children’s hair. You accessorised with bows, sparkle, countless hair bands, small architectural wonders and kitchen utensils! How the children’s hair stayed wind resistant and defied gravity for the whole day we do but know.

It was like being in the audience of Top of the Pops in the 1980s!

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 13th March - 17th March 2023 🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

EYFS have had a great time for science week being scientists by carrying out a range of experiments and making predictions. Ask the children about what we did!

Year 1 have enjoyed using the BeeBots again this week to give instructions. They have worked on forwards, backwards, left and right. It has been great to see the children develop their logical thinking and problem solving skills.

Year 2 have been using a range of computer programs to record data. They explores different programs on PCs and iPads to create pictograms.

As part of their computing curriculum, Year 3 have been creating branching databases in the computer suite.

In Year 4, Class 13 finished their ukulele lessons this week by giving an outstanding performance to parents and carers. Class 14 are looking forward to starting their ukulele lessons next term.

This week, Year 5 have been developing their map reading skills by using atlases to locate and research the Three Peaks.

Year 6 have started their maths unit on shape this week and began by using formulas to find the area of squares and rectangles. They then learned how to find the area of a right angle triangle.

The Cove children went on a nature walk searching for signs of spring to mark British Science Week. They found lots of clues to remind them that warmer days are on their way.

Dot Watch: Dot is loving the Dot Gallery! She thinks that it is great that there is a little bit of Dot in the building even when she is not there 💕 🖼️ 

A SPECIAL SHOUT OUT: Our EYFS, Year 1 and Year 2 dancers did a spectacular job performing at the Playhouse! They were incredible and there was no sign of nerves. A huge thank you to the older children in Year 5 and Year 6 who supported them through their rehearsals and on stage - what incredible role models you are. It has taken hours of organising routines, logistics and costumes as well as rehearsals to make this possible. This has all been done be a few very dedicated  staff. They are very, very good eggs! 
 

World Book Day - 9th March 2023
We had a wonderful World Book Day. Children (and grown ups) came dressed as their favourite book character or in their favourite snuggly clothes.

Every class had a bedtime story, complete with hot chocolate, during the day.

The children were invited to enter a competition. They decorated a potato to transform it into a book character. How many of these characters do you recognise?

We have had a ‘Lu Fraser’ kind of day at Mendip Green as part of our World Book Day fun.

Our top 5 favourite things about Lu Fraser.
1) She writes brilliant children’s books which we have loved sharing in EYFS and Key Stage 1 today.
2) Lu created the character Gertie, the littlest yak. We love Gertie!
3) Lu wrote us a letter to share her love of books with us.
4) She sent us a parcel (in the cutest doggy wrapping paper) full of books.
5) AND, Lu is MG alumni!! She came to Mendip Green as a child! ❤️🌳❤️ Does this mean we get to claim her as our very own resident author? 😆

Mr Carroll opened our gift from Lu and read the letter in assembly this morning. The children were so shocked when they heard that Lu came to their school. We read one of the books together - The Littlest Yak, New Arrival.
The other books travelled around the classes throughout the day so all children have read at least one Lu Fraser book today.

The children are creating Gertie artwork too - check out the first 2 finished canvases from EYFS! These canvases will be displayed together to make a Gertie gallery in honour of our very own Mendip Green author.

A huge thank you to Lu Fraser for making our World Book Day so special.

Today, whilst we celebrate World Book Day, it is the perfect time to share the wonderful support that our PTA give to every child in the school through their ongoing funding of our school library.

We have spent their January, February and March contributions on these wonderful books.

This includes some new books for our year groups’ topic boxes which will be used in the classrooms and some extra copies of Lu Fraser’s books which are sure to be very popular. We also have some new publications that will go straight onto the library shelves… Can you spot the newest ‘Kevin’ story by Sarah McIntyre and Philip Reeve? Who will be the first to get their paws on that gem? 🐾📚 

The books are modelled by some very smiley Year 4s. We are almost certain that there is a child inside every costume and that is in fact 2 separate Spidermans.

A huge thank you to our PTA for their ongoing support. This makes such a huge difference! We are so, so proud of our school library and our children are incredibly lucky to have access to all of these wonderful books during their time with us at Mendip.

We ❤️ libraries.
We ❤️ the PTA.

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 6th March - 11th March 2023 🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

EYFS made the most of the snow! They had a lot of fun making mini snowmen and lots of snowballs. Then back inside, with gloves drying on the radiators, they warmed up.

In computing, Year 1 made sequences of commands to make their Beebots move forwards and backwards. They have predicted the outcome of a sequence and worked out how to get the Beebot to a specific place.

Year 2 have been working on their understanding of fractions this week focusing on halves, quarters and thirds. The children have loved using counters and writing on the tables to be able to find a fraction of a number.

We had some literary visitors in our school on Thursday, with some very colourful characters joining our classes in Year 3! Everyone had a great time. They especially enjoyed the hot chocolate and bedtime story.

Year 4 are making their own light up boxes as part of their DT project. This week, they have used saws and mitre blocks; we have little carpenters in the making.

Year 5 have been joining fabric pieces by using a range of hand sewing techniques during their DT lessons. Watch this space to find out more about their textiles project.

Year 6 wrote some incredible diary entries this week to describe the events of the Endurance sinking on Shackleton's journey to Antarctica.

The Cove have been using the book The Colour Monster to help to support the children’s understanding of emotions and feelings. Cove adults dressed up as colourful emotions for World Book Day and we really enjoyed practicing feeling calm by exploring breathing techniques and sharing hot chocolate together

Dot Watch: Dot was not a fan of the snow. She did not like it one bit. She did not like it on her paws and she did not like it on her nose. She is definitely not going to be using her natural camouflage to hide in snow anytime soon!

A SPECIAL SHOUT OUT: A huge thank you to Lu Fraser for the special gift and letter she sent to us for World Book Day. We cannot wait to share all of the children’s finished Gertie artwork with you!

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 27th February - 3rd March 2023 🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

EYFS were visited this week by a real life hero! Laura, one of our fabulous parents, is a volunteer at Weston RNLI. She told us about the equipment she wears when out rescuing and how to stay safe in water. We even had a go at floating on our backs and making model lifeboats! Mrs Corlett looks ready for a daring sea rescue in that kit 🛟 

This week, Year 1 have been exploring place value to 50 and have used base 10 to represent the numbers. The children have started a new book this term called ‘Owl, Bat, Bat, Owl’🦉. This week, they have been learning all about bats and have made their very own bat fact files 🦇. Ask us what we know about bats, because we are now bat experts!

This week, in Year 2 we have been learning about pictograms. We have created tally charts and also drawn our own pictograms.

Year 3 have been making the first prototypes of their pop up books in DT. They worked so hard and came up with some really creative ideas. We're looking forward to seeing how they develop!

Year 4 have been working hard on their stories this week. They have written an additional question for Niko and Thrax from our book ‘Mark of the Cyclops.’ There has been some fantastic descriptive writing.

This week, Year 5 created a salt solution. They then place their solutions around the classroom and observed throughout the week the reversible change occurring. The water has been evaporating leaving the salt behind. The children were amazed by the results!

Year 6 had a great afternoon of PE on Wednesday this week. They particularly enjoyed practicing their backhand shots in tennis. The children have also been learning about evolution an inheritance this term in science and are able to explain what the fossil record has taught us.

It has been a very exciting time in The Cove this week as Miss Baker had a baby girl! There was a special Cove service where the children got to look at some pictures of baby Lily. Welcome Lily- the newest member of Team Cove. Morning regulation activities in The Cove help the children to feel ready for the day ahead.

Dot Watch: The winner for Dot’s art competition and have been selected and their creations have been framed. We will announce the winners soon and Dot’s gallery will be springing up in school soon. 

A SPECIAL SHOUT OUT: a huge thank you to Vicar John and the team at St Martin’s church. Several year groups have now visited the chuck as part of their RE curriculum and the team have been so welcoming. Vicar John is also coming to Mendip once month to lead an assembly
We would also like to say abjure thank you to everyone who helped to make Saturday morning’s PTA Movie Morning so successful- we had a great time! 🍿 🎥 

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 20th February - 24th February 2023 🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

EYFS walked to St Martin's Church in Worle where they met the vicar. The vicar showed them his different robes, described what his job entails, and what the different parts of the church were and what they were used for. He also explained who St Martin was.

Year 1 have enjoyed beginning their gym unit in PE this week where they have learnt to use their body to make the tuck, star, pike and straddle shapes. They are excited to begin using the apparatus over the next couple of weeks.

Year 2 are exploring their new book in English, ‘One World’ by Michael Foreman. This week, we made predictions from the front cover and drew rock pools from the book descriptions.

Year 3 have been learning about rivers and their journeys as part of their new geography unit. 

Year 4 have been revisiting previous learning in Science. They have explored the different parts of a plant and each part’s functions.

Year 5 have started the term incredibly. They have worked so hard in maths this week looking their new topic of fractions and decimals.

In Year 6 the children are continuing to work incredibly hard on their maths. They all have special books to help them practice some of their key skills in school alongside their normal maths lessons. SATs in May are just around the corner and we know the children are going to be ready to show everything they have learned.

It's lovely to have everyone back after the half term break. ln the Cove this week, the children have been predicting what their new book may be about by looking for clues and using interesting adjectives. They also had great fun with our 'Pancake Day' themed tuff tray on Tuesday

Dot Watch: Dot is feeling very proud as she had a tail stroke from one of her Dot Squad friends - a friend who has been frightened of dogs. This was a huge moment for one brave boy and his marshmallowy friend.

A SPECIAL SHOUT OUT: a huge well done to all of the teachers who have been brave enough to take part in the TTRS battles with the children this year. It would be fair to say that none of them went willingly BUT they tried their absolute best. It is good to know that the teachers have done so well at teaching the children their times tables that the students have become the masters! 😂 

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 6th February - 10th February 2023 🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

EYFS have still been enjoying having the chicks. The children and staff will be sad when the chicks go back to the farm. They have been watching some of the chicks lose their fluff as they start to get feathers on their wings. The children have been learning about how to look after their mental health and have been doing some mindfulness colouring and other activities. They have been learning how to use their breathing to calm their bodies and minds and have made special blowers to help this.

Year 1 have been exploring a range of musical styles throughout their music sessions this term. The theme has been 'How does music make the world a better place?' They have been learning to keep a beat and recognise rhythm. This week we have enjoyed using the glockenspiel to play along to a song called Bear Funk 🐻 🪩 🐻 

Year 2 are continuing their work on multiplication and division facts using arrays. The children have also be practising their 2, 5 and 10 times tables.

To wrap up their work on Google Doodles in art and design, the children revisited their printing skills from the beginning of term to create these fantastic Google prints with gradient colour mixing thrown in as well.

Year 4 have completed their final Jigsaw (PSHE) lesson this week as part of their Dreams and Goals unit. The focus was to work as a team to produce a potato person. They all did a great job. 🥔 

As part of their art and design curriculum, Year 5 have had a great time designing their cardboard cut outs of a creature.

Year 6 have completed their art work this week with these fabulous drawings! It has been fabulous to see how the children have explored line drawing and still life this term.

In the Cove this week, they have been getting ready for Valentines Day by making art for loved ones. This has also supported their activities for Mental Health Week. The children have enjoyed writing explanation texts about Winter and have been trying to complete their daily acts of kindness. 💕 

Dot Watch: Dot has been enjoying going on little walks around the school grounds with some of the Dot Squad and their grown ups. Dot seems to have magical calming powers. She is also VERY absorbent! Luckily, there is always a friend nearby to help dry off her paws when she gets back. 🐾 

A SPECIAL SHOUT OUT: As we approach the middle of the year we would like to thank all of our wonderful MG families for their continued support, kindness, patience and positivity. We love our school community ❤️ 🌳 ❤️ 

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 30th January - 3rd February 2023 🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

This week, as part of their Little Red Hen work, EYFS have had a really exciting time learning about bread. They have visited Astill's bakery, bought (and eaten) some delicious treats and then made their own bread.

Year 1 have been learning all about the next classification group, birds! They have enjoyed listening to different bird calls, naming the parts of a bird, naming common birds and creating their own bird collages using feathers! The children even did a spot of birdwatching on the playground... they saw MANY pigeons! 🐦 What birds can you spot at home? Let us know next week. The children have also been learning to retell the story of Little Red Riding Hood with the help of their story map. They have also been reading alternative versions of this traditional tale. The children have produced some fantastic pieces of writing using their fab five to help them remember capital letters and full stops.

In their art lessons, Year 2 have been making an animal mask design. They have been using colour mixing skills.

Year 3 have been spending time in the computer suite. They used their knowledge of the South West to create some fantastic magazine covers on publisher.

In Year 4, the children have been learning the names of animals in Spanish. They have also been introducing new vocabulary through learning a song "Una Casita". 🇪🇸 

Year 5 have been writing some amazing descriptive settings about their monster's lair this week. We cannot wait for them to write Beowulf's next adventure before the end of term.

In art, Year 6 have continued to use ink to draw bottles paying attention to how a group of bottles overlap. They have then used their knowledge of primary colours to mix new shades and fill in the images with coloured inks.

After careful planning and research, the children in The Cove have made their own bird feeders. They will be able to see the birds enjoy the treats they have made as they watch carefully through the window. The children have been learning about sharing and making sure they have been fair. They have enjoyed making crispy cakes and shared out the mixture equally- yum yum

Dot Watch: Dot has been enjoying cuddles with her Dot Squad friends 🥰 The children have been quite surprised by how far their hands disappear into her fluff!

A SPECIAL SHOUT OUT: A huge thank you to our 2nd year undergraduate UWE students who are with us for their placement at the moment. They have been an invaluable support in our classrooms and have offered support and encouragement to our children. They are nearing the end of their time with us but we will be welcoming some 1st year students later in the year. 

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 23rd January - 27th January 2023 🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

Gong hei fat choi from EYFS! We have had a super week celebrating the new lunar year. We acted out the story of the animal race, painted characters, made lanterns and ate a yummy lunch prepared by the fab kitchen team!

In geography, Year 1 are learning all about the United Kingdom. This week we learned all about Wales! We enjoyed making Welsh flags and learning about the symbols of Wales. Ask us what the capital city of Wales is!

Year 2 are learning about robot algorithms in computing. This week, the children have designed their own beebot maps to allow them to programme routes for the beebots. The children needed to consider the placement of locations as well as obstacles when planning the route for their beebot.

The children in Year 3 have been demonstrating their resilience and determination whilst sitting their assessments this week.

Year 4 have continued to build electrical circuits this week in their science lessons. The children made predictions about whether components are conductors or insulators and tested their ideas.

In art this week, Year 5 were challenged to make sculptures that stand on their own, using just card and wire.

Year 6 have started to create their Web pages this week in computing using the plans they made a few weeks ago. They are creating them so they appeal to their target audience and fulfill the purpose of the subject matter.

The children in The Cove have been exploring Chinese New Year. They really enjoyed making red and gold lanterns, ordering the animals in the Chinese New Year story and trying to use chopsticks! 

🐍🐴🐐🐵🐔🐶🐷🐀🐂🐯🐰🐉

Dot Watch: Dot was covered in mud by 10:30am Monday morning (she will be having another bath at the weekend). She had a whale of a time running around with one of the Dot Squad. She kept herself busy this weekend by helping to mark some assessments… her idea of helping is chewing the end of your pen as you work and then lying on the papers.

🌳 🌳 🤩 🌳 🌳 Friday Clubs - Term 3 🌳 🌳 🤩 🌳 🌳 

On Friday afternoons, all children take part in our enrichment clubs. There are lots of different clubs for the children to pick from.

Here is our Key Stage 2 Design Club (for children in Year 3 - 6). The children have a different design challenge to work in each week within the it club session.

One of their recent challenges was to design a flag for Mendip Green. They were so engaged and really enjoyed the activity. They are a very creative bunch and each design was unique.
 

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 16th January - 20th January 2023 🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

During their PE dance lessons, EYFS children  have been enjoying moving their bodies like different animals. Slithering snakes, jumping frogs and chasing cheetahs have been spotted in our school hall!

Year 1 have been learning about Amphibians this week in science through games, model making and observing x-rays. The children have learnt that Amphibians have a backbone so are vertebrates. You can see the backbones in their models. Year 1 have also been busy learning about England's capital city, London. We really enjoyed exploring the different land marks and looking at maps of London. Did you know there are over 600 rooms in Buckingham Palace!

Year 2 have been creating insects in the style if Mofeed Abu Shalwan in their art lessons this week.

Year 3 have been making prints in art this week. They, once again, looked at the ancient communications of the paleolithic people and used foam and rollers to create these brilliant images!

The children in Year 4 had great fun in the computer suite this week. They have been editing photos using different colour and light effects, cropping and rotating.

Year 5 have been using their knowledge on materials and properties this week in science. They had to predict which material would be the best insulator of ice. They thoroughly enjoyed carrying out this investigation.

Year 6 have been experimenting with "dip and scratch" ink pens in art this week. Our art looks great but we're really glad we don't have to use them to write with, like pupils did about 70 years ago!

More amazing work in The Cove this week! Super work in maths and our children are loving completing tasks linked to our focus text, Robin's Winter Song ❄❄

Dot Watch: Dot is very unsure about the frostiness. It smells funny and is rather cold on her little paws 🥶 🐾 She thinks she is well camouflaged and this weather will help her with her hide and seek skills. 

A SPECIAL SHOUT OUT: Thank you to the kind family who donated some fab signed books! These have gone to our EYFS classes to support the children’s curriculum. They children have already shared the books in their classes and really enjoyed them (so did Mrs Hodgson, who is a BIG fan of Dr Raj).

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 9th January - 13th January 2023 🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

Our EYFS classes have been focusing on letter formation over the last few weeks. We've been really impressed at how children are starting to apply this to their independent writing.

Year 1 have been learning about the countries within the UK this week and have explored the characteristics of fish in science.

In science, Year 2 have been learning about healthy eating and predicting how much sugar is in their foods.

Year 3 have continued to learn about the South West and this week they looked at cities. They remembered that cities needed to have a cathedral from their work on settlements and used that to find the cities in the south west. They then looked at population of the cities and discovered that Bristol is the largest city in the region.

Year 4 have been using clay this week to make figurines as part of their art topic.

Year 5 are learning to multiply a 2 digit by 2 digit number. They have use manipulatives to support them with their learning.

Year 6 had such fun during their gymnastics lesson in the hall this week. Here's some our balances, tucks and rolls.

It has been another busy week in  The Cove!Fish painting and bubbles in Bucket Time were a definite highlight!🐠🐠🫧

Dot Watch: Dot welcomed 4 OFSTED inspectors to Mendip Green. A few extra people for tummy tickles is never a bad thing.

A SPECIAL SHOUT OUT: Year 5 have been noticed for their super manners when collecting their dinner for the lunch hall - so polite!

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 2nd January - 6th January 2023 🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

In a busy first week back, EYFS have started to use wipeboards to record their learning in phonics. We are delighted with their work!

Year 1 have begun exploring numbers above 10. The children have written the numbers in both numerals and words. They have  represented 11, 12 and 13  with different resources, showing how many tens and ones they have.

Year 2 have waste no time getting started on their new science unit. They have been learning about healthy eating and food groups.

The Year 3 children have been demonstrating their competitiveness and sportsmanship in PE.

In Year 4, it is Class 13’s turn to start their ukulele lessons this week. They picked it up so quickly and they've only had one session!

Year 5 have enjoyed reading their new English text Beowulf. The children have drawn storymaps and are looking forward to creating their own adventure for Beowulf later in the term.

Year 6 have been researching the life of Sir Ernest Shackleton this week ready to write a biography about him next week. They will then be following Shackleton and his crew on an expedition to the continent of Antarctica.

Dot Watch: Dot has met her first cat! 🐱 Dot was completely unbothered by the cat. The cat was unbothered by Dot. This is further evidence that Dot is more marshmallow cloud than she is a dog!

A SPECIAL SHOUT OUT: Congratulations to Mrs Horwood and her husband who welcomed their beautiful baby girl, Poppy Elizabeth, over the Christmas holiday 👶🏼 🍼 💕

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 12th December - 16th December 2022 🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

In EYFS, the children have had an extremely busy week full of Christmas crafts. They have made cards, made and decorated clay tree ornaments and even made shortbread biscuits. This was after their learning of other Christmas traditions in other cultures - Mrs Redding kindly bought everyone a Solvakian sweet to try.

Christmas crafts, cheeky elves and Christmas quizzes! What a busy week for Year 1!

Year 2 have been writing letters to Father Christmas. We enjoyed a Christmas lunch on Thursday and had a Christmas Quiz and party too.

Year 3 performed 2 fantastic Christingle services this week. Thank you to everyone who joined us at St Martin’s Church. 

Year 4 have finally finished their stockings! They have worked so hard on them!

Year 5 have been creating a double page spread about their science learning from this term.

Year 6 have been finishing and evaluating their bird houses. The designs are very individual and we hope they will make good homes for some birds in the spring.

Dot Watch: Dot has been feeling especially festive. She visited lots of classrooms in her reindeer hoodie. She had a looooong nap on Thursday afternoon after wolfing down her Christmas dinner! 

A SPECIAL SHOUT OUT: a huge thank you to the PTA who delivered 22 party bags for our class parties. The children had heaps of fun! 

A huge thank you to our incredible kitchen team - Sue, Louise, Alison and Sue (with Jenni working overtime on the dishwasher) - who cooked 600ish delicious Christmas dinners for the children and staff. It was the yummiest dinner of the year!

Wishing you all a very merry Christmas from all of us at Mendip Green 🎄❤️🎄❤️🎄

Christingle and Christmas Tree Festival - 12th/14th December 2022

On Monday and Wednesday last week, we enjoyed 2 wonderful Christingle services. Our Year 3 children sung, read and played beautifully. The special setting of St Martin’s church, complete with the bells ringing on arrival, always makes this a magical evening.

This year, the church was FILLED with Christmas trees as part of the Christmas Tree Festival which added to the festive feel. It was especially lovely to be able to see our Year 5’s trees on display with their hand decorated baubles.

Thank you to St Martin's Church, Worle for welcoming us back this year after 2 year’s away due to COVID. We love this Mendip tradition and hope to continue with many more Christingle services in the year’s ahead.

🌳Weekly Round Up: 5th December - 9th December 2022🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

EYFS have been really busy with their Nativity play this week. They did a wonderful job with amazing singing, dancing and acting. We are so proud of them. They are real super stars!

Year 1 have enjoyed making their Christmas cards this week. We used our learning from computing this term to make our card inserts and our learning from DT to make a card with a sliding mechanism.🎄

Year 2 have been working hard learning to tell the time to o'clock, half past, quarter to, quarter past and 5 minute intervals.

Year 3 have been soil scientists this week. They conducted an experiment to see what makes up soil and discovered that it contains gravel and organic matter (humus) - plants and animal matter.

Year 4 have started sewing their stockings. They are looking fabulous!

Year 5 have been making decorations for the Christmas tree festival at St Martin’s Church. They have also started making their kites in their DT lessons. What a creative bunch!

Year 6 have been enjoying their DT learning - bird boxes. After studying a range of British birds, the children have planned their house, ensuring it meets the size and design requirements for their bird of choice!

In The Cove this week, we have been working on ordering and writing instructions for making a split pin Santa decoration. The EYFS children have been working on developing developing fine motor skills with a christmassy theme! In maths we have been consolidating what we have learnt so far: working on finding one more and one less of a number. Very busy bees! 🐝 

Dot Watch: Dot is OVERJOYED that her favourite part of Mrs Young and Mrs Handcock’s office - the sofa - moved into Mr O’s office to make space for Santa’s grotto. She has claimed full ownership. The sofa is never going back! 🐶 ❤️ 🛋️ 

A SPECIAL SHOUT OUT: Thank you to everyone who supported our Children in Need fundraising. Together we raised for £451.80 for this fantastic charity, chosen by our School Council.

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 28th November - 2nd December 2022🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

Whether it be sight words or individual letter formations, the children’s handwriting in EYFS is going from strength to strength. They are working hard on the 4 p's (posture, page position, pencil grip and pressure) and we're delighted with the results!

Year 1 have been designing and making their very own moving mechanism. The children could decide whether to make a sliding, lever and pivot or wheel mechanism. Some of the children have taken their mechanisms home to share with you!  Year 1 have also been writing some sentences about the story of the Three Little Pigs.

Year 2 have been developing their sewing skills in their design technology lessons. This week the children were learning the skills of running stich and over stitch. They also had a very busy week performing their Christmas show... Lights, Camel, Action!

Year 3 have been putting their culinary skills to good practice this week, and have made some delicious pork meatball rolls as they continue their design and technology lessons.

Year 4 are excited to start sewing their stockings next week! Here are some of their fabulous designs.

Year 5 have been working on their ball skills in PE. They have been focused on maintaining control while moving the ball with their hands only, rather than using their body.

Year 6 have created amazing plans for their bird houses that they are making in DT. This week, some of the children have made a start cutting the entry holes and putting on the roof. The children also enjoyed a practical maths lesson this week looking at measure. They investigated mass, capacity and length using lots of different equipment

The children in The Cove have been immersed in the story of 'Owl Babies' this week. They have enjoyed reading and sequencing the story as well as creating art based on the book.🦉

Dot Watch: Dot is now free of the surgery suit! She had to endure a lot of brushing to restore the fluff but is not back to full cloud status (she was rewarded with a new teddy). At school she enjoyed finding herself in her ‘Where’s Dot?’ book. It was tricky - even with help! 

A SPECIAL SHOUT OUT: a huge thank you to everyone who supported our Christmas Fayre, especially the PTA who were organised and INCREDIBLE evening.

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 21st November - 25th November 2022🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

In EYFS, the children have been making the most out of the rainy weather and have still been finding lots of learning opportunities out of the huge puddles on the playground. This week, they decided to make some paper boats to see if they would float along the water. The children watched Mrs Redding and a clip on the laptop to show us how to make one. After exploring them in the water, the children realised they could make a racing game with our boats. They labelled the boats with a number and then raced them to see which one was the first to go under the fence. Later on, many children put on some welly boots and had a splash. If any of our spare clothes came home, please can you make sure they are returned to school as we are running very low!

Year 1 have been learning to recognise and name 3D shapes this week.

Year 2 have been working hard on addition and subtraction. They have been using base 10 equipment and place value grids.

The children have been making delicious stuffed peppers in Design and Technology this week. Everyone in Year 3 cut and diced like professional chefs. Gordon Ramsay would be proud!

Year 4 have been learning about where the food they eat comes from. They used their atlas skills to locate the foods country of origin and display it on a world map.

Year 5 have continued to enjoy their design and technology lessons this week. They are finding out about Chinese inventions. They have been designing kites ready to make over the next few weeks.

Year 6 have been mastering peforming songs with more than one part in our music lessons! The children are now able to read scores containing crotchets, minums and rests.

The children had a fabulous Zone's of Regulation session in The Cove this week. Well done children!😁

Dot Watch: The fluff ball is well and truly back. She is out of the surgery suit and , after an intensive grooming session of 3 days, the bobble head was gone and she is now back being her marshmallowy self! The children approve. They have missed their little cloud!

A SPECIAL SHOUT OUT: a big thank you to all of the grown ups who helped to package up our pottery so it could be transported safely to Sidcot for firing. You are very good eggs! 

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 14th November - 18th November 2022🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

Our EYFS classes have been applying their phonics knowledge to reading this week. There has been a focus on segmenting to read words.

In Year 1, the children have been learning all about 3D shapes. They enjoyed building towers from 3D shapes and exploring which shapes are best to be at the bottom of the tower, top of the tower or not on our tower at all!

Year 2 have been following instructions to make a Christmas card. The children will use this experience to help them when they come to write their own set of instructions. Year 2 have also been making animal finger puppets using a paper template in their design and technology lessons.

As part of their computing curriculum, Year 3 have been story boarding to plan out a stop motion animation.

Year 4 have started sewing in design and technology, ready to create their Christmas stockings. They practiced threading the needle, attaching fabric with pins and the running stitch.

Year 5 have been building and testing prototype kites as part of their design and technology project. They have enjoyed having the freedom to explore materials.

Year 6 have been learning about Taiga biomes in geography and have created amazing double page spreads all about them.

We've had some very hard working children in The Cove this week! Here are some examples of our excellent writing based on owls and subtraction in maths.

The HLRB have been estimating and counting coins for Children in Need.

Dot Watch: After a short time away, Dot was back in school this week.  She loved having visitors in the office. Some children even came with cards to read to her. She also was back to celebrating work with the children 🐶 ❤️ 

A SPECIAL SHOUT OUT: a huge thank you to everyone who supported us with Children in Need. 

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 7th November - 11th November 2022 🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

It's been an investigative type of week in EYFS! They have been busy exploring and noting what they have found. Some of them have even had time to get a bit of number writing in!

An exciting week in Year 1 - we have launched Numbots! The children have enjoyed creating their robot characters and are busy completing maths challenges to earn coins and move through the scrap yard levels! 😀 Log in details are coming home with the children so they can continue the fun at home, if they wish! Year 1 have been investigating old toys in history and comparing them with current ones. They have been discussing what is the same and what is different. They looked at some non-fiction books too.

Year 2 have been learning about Remembrance Day and looking at medals from the first and second world wars.

Food tech has begun in Year 3 as part of the children’s design and technology curriculum. This week the children made cupcakes (pictured pre icing) and had a lot of fun! We're really looking forward to making lots of yummy things this term.

Year 4 have been experimenting with chocolate this week as part of their states of matter learning in science. They were testing to see if a larger piece of chocolate would melt quicker than a smaller piece of chocolate. Ask your child what they found out!

Year 5 have been making observations on different types of paper and have discussed how paper changed people's lives when it was invented.

Year 6 have been learning how to use Tinkercad in computing. We have been moving, resizing and changing object’s colours to create houses this week.

Dot Watch: Dot has been enjoying visitors to the office and showing off her toys.

She had a little routine operation on Wednesday and she had a nasty allergic reaction to some of the medicine so was quite poorly for a couple of days. She is now on the mend and back to her cuddly, bouncy self. She is also rocking her surgery suits. The vet said she can have one day in school next week 🙌 

A SPECIAL SHOUT OUT: a massive well done to all of our children. We had our first lockdown practice on Monday and the children were incredibly sensible. They took it all in their stride. They were rewarded with biscuits on Friday 🍪 

Remembrance Service - 11th November 2022

🖤 ❤️ 🤍 We Will Remember Them 🤍 ❤️ 🖤
We marked Remembrance today as a whole school family. The sun shone for us so we could gather together to mark this special moment.

Mr O shared the importance of remembrance both in history and present times. He shared a poem and we marked the 11 o’clock silence before listening to the last post. 

We started this tradition during COVID so we could meet together on this special day. This year was no different, except we could all stand MUCH closer together.

It is a simple service but holds such importance. As always, the children were wonderfully respectful and represented their school and clubs (Squirrels, Beavers, Cubs, Brownies, Guides, Cadets to name a few) with pride.

A big thank you to everyone who has supported the Poppy Appeal at Mendip Green this year! We look forward to sending your donations to the Royal British Legion (we have completely run out of poppies again). The donation tins weigh a ton! 🥰

📚 Celebrating the Summer Reading Challenge - 7th November 2022 📚

We had a fantastic number of children take part in the summer reading challenge this year. North Somerset Libraries have sent us the official numbers for Mendip Green and we are very proud to say we had 93 children participate in this years challenge.

Today, all the children who took part were awarded with a special MG bookmark. This year’s colour is purple 💜 Many of our children take part every year so are building up to a full rainbow of MG bookmarks 🌈 
A huge thank you to our PTA who purchase these bookmarks for us every year. 

1 lucky reader from each year group was picked out of a hat and received a book bundle to enjoy at home.

The icing on the cake… the 2 classes in EYFS/KS1 and KS2 with the most children who participated in this year’s challenge have been awarded with some book vouchers to spend at our book fair.
Well done Class 5 and Class 13 🙌 
Miss Wadsworth and Mrs Poole will be choosing some lovely new books for your book corners!

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 31st October - 4th November 2022🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

In EYFS, after all the rain stopped, the children went outside and explored floating and sinking using leaves, twigs and sycamore seeds. They all had a fantastic time splashing the leaves in and were surprised at what floated and what sank.

This week, Year 1 have enjoyed the start of their first Design and Technology (DT) sessions as they began learning about moving mechanisms. They explored and made sliding mechanisms for moving minibeasts.

Year 2 have begun working from their new English text - Rosie Revere, Engineer. They are building up their writing knowledge to develop a written set of instructions. The children have loved discovering their imaginative ideas.

In Year 3, the children are continuing to be geologists in their science lessons. They have finished their work on classifying rocks by revisiting their descriptions from early last term and adding some scientific terminology like permeable, impermeable, sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic. On to fossils next!

In Year 4, the children have started their new geography unit this week. They have looked at what trade is and the meaning of export and import!

Year 5 are super excited with their new learning in geography this term. They are looking at earthquakes and volcanoes and have started this week by looking at the structure of the Earth.

Year 6 have been making maths resources this week to help them understand adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing and comparing fractions, as well as understanding what equivalence means. Amazing!

What a spooky start to Term 2 the Cove children have had! Our focus text this week is 'Creaky Castle' where we have been thinking of adjectives to describe a haunted house. We have also practised making our own potions through sensory play.🧙🏼‍♀️🧙🏼‍♂️🎃

Dot Watch: Dot had a great time on Friday afternoon visiting classrooms on the Key Stage 2 corridor. Dot will be having a little break from school over the next two weeks as she is having a small routine operation on Wednesday. 

A SPECIAL SHOUT OUT: our first group of children took part in their Bikeability sessions this week. Despite the rain, and there was A LOT of it, they had a fantastic time and learned some essential cycling skills 🚴 🚴‍♂️ 🚴‍♀️ 

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 17th October - 21st October 2022 🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

In EYFS the children have been learning poems from the poetry basket. They have had fun reciting '5 little pumpkins'.

Year 1 have enjoyed completing their autumn leaves art project this week. They used all of the skills they have learnt over the term including line drawings and squiggle drawings to create their final pieces. The children are very proud of their masterpieces.

This week, Year 2 have been busy writing stories based on the traditional tale, Cinderella. They have all worked so very hard and should feel very proud of themselves.

This week, Year 3 have shown great creativity and determination, creating Stone Age creatures out of clay. They all worked so hard and made some fabulous animals. Well done Year 3!

In year 4 this week, the children have finished off their art project by making and modelling their own clothing lines. They have also learnt about the importance of hieroglyphics in Egyptian history and have practised this ancient writing form by writing notes to each other.

Year 5 have enjoyed researching planets as part of their space learning in science. They have also been busy painting their giant jewellery in art.

This week, Year 6 have really enjoyed finishing off their Wolf Brother dioramas. Here are just a few of them - don't they look great!

As a treat, after an amazing term, The Cove children made some spooky Halloween biscuits with Miss Heenan, Miss Lloyd and Mr L! We are so proud of all the progress the children have made this term.🤩

In the HLRB, the children enjoyed their story sharing finale. The children listened so carefully to each other’s versions of The Three Billy Gruff. A lovely end to Term 1.

Dot Watch: dot has had that end of term feeling this week and is looking forward to a rest before Halloween fancy dress and pumpkin picking 🐶 👻 🎃 

A SPECIAL SHOUT OUT: A huge well done to all of the children who have represented Team Mendip at a sporting event this term. We have had wonderful feedback from staff, organisers, minibus drivers and referees saying how brilliant the children’s behaviour and attitude was. Amazing both on and off the field! Well done to all of you 🤩

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 10th October - 14th October 2022🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

EYFS have been having a lovely time finding out about harvest and autumn. We have been exploring our school grounds and how nature changes in autumn.

Year 1 are really proud of their writing this week. They have continued to learn to work independently using the writing skills that they have learnt, including letter formation and using their phonics for writing.

Year 2 have been busy building the boats that they designed last week. They have used different techniques to join the parts and next week we will be testing them on water to see if they float and are waterproof.

The children in Year 3 have been practising their gymnastics. They've demonstrated brilliant shoulder stands, dishes and pike sits.

Year 4 have been working really hard on their English writing! Here are some of their non-chronological reports about the Ancient Egyptian gods and goddesses.

Year 5 have been getting mucky with ModRoc this week making our supersized jewellery in their art lesson. We cannot wait to see the final product.

Y6 have had a wonderful afternoon making Wolf Brother dioramas. They are looking amazing!

The Cove children have been up to all sorts this week! We have had art in Year 6, story mapping in The Cove as well as learning new sounds in phonics 😄

Dot Watch: Dot has been very busy in school this week. She loves her daily walk to deliver the post - she especially enjoys delivering to our EYFS classes as the children are so good at following the Dot Squad rules. Dot loves leaves so has had a wonderful time zooming around in the fallen leaves on her special piece of grass. Dot’s favourite season is autumn 🍂🍁 Dot has also received her very own staff badge this week. Looks like she is here to stay! 🐶 

A SPECIAL SHOUT OUT: Well done to the 93 children who took part in the Summer Reading Challenge this year. There is a special certificate of congratulations in the library… see if you can spot it 📚❤️📚

Your special bookmarks are on their way.

Harvest Assemblies - 11th October and 13th October 2022

🌾🍁🍂🌾 Harvest Thank Yous 🌾🍂🍁🌾

We have had 2 wonderful Harvest Assemblies this week with our Year 1 and Year 2 children. Thank you to all of the Mendip Green families who joined us. We hope you enjoyed ‘Cauliflowers Fluffy’ and ‘Big Red Combine Harvester’ as well as all of our other songs, poems, readings and art work.
The children loved sharing them with you.

A huge thank you for all of your generous donations for our Harvest display. We will continue to collect these until the end of the week when we will bag everything up and take it to WsM Foodbank.

We will also replenish the goodwill shelf which is in our foyer. ❤️🌳❤️

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 3rd October - 7th October 2022🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

Active learning is up and running in EYFS! The children have been balancing, travelling in different ways and exploring the adventure zone - all before the rain!

This week, Year 1 have been exploring splitting groups of objects into different parts using part whole models in maths.  In art, the children have created some wax resist drawings of leaves - don't they look brilliant!

Year 2 have been writing diary entries in the role of Tattercoats in their English lessons this week. They have also been exploring more variations of Ciderella from around the world. The children have now completed their boat designs as part of their ongoing art unit.

Year 3 have been exploring different objects to reflect the places that the robot, Roz, visits in their English text: The Wild Robot! They were using these objects to write adjectives which will be used to  describe a setting.

One of our Year 4 classes have started their ukulele lessons and are really enjoying their sessions with Ms Clough from The y Somerset Music Service. They have learnt the chords C and F and started to play these with some songs!

Year 5 have continued their learning on Roman Britain, looking at why the Roman army was so successful in battle.

Our Year 6 have had a wolf-filled week! We have written amazing wolf descriptions and we are now researching wolves ready to write a non-chronological report.

It has been all things Autumn in The Cove this week for our EYFS children!🍁🍂. Our older children have been producing excellent work based on adjectives linked to our text- The Three Billy Goat's Gruff 🐐🐐🐐🧌

Dot Watch: Dot joined the weekly site team meeting. This is the first school meeting that she has managed to stay awake for. She was rather proud of herself.

A SPECIAL SHOUT OUT: another special mention to Year 6. It was the turn of Class 20 to help with EYFS lunchtime this week and they were super!

Book of Condolence - 6th October 2022

Before Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral on 19th September, our children were given the opportunity to make a contribution to our book of condolence. The children drew and wrote messages to reflect on how they saw the Queen, what she meant to them and how they felt. 
 

This special book has been placed in our Corridor of Curiosity.

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 25th September - 30th September 2022🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

Our EYFS classes have had a wonderful week focusing on books and stories. Some children have started making up their own stories. These 'Helicopter Stories' are scribed by the teacher and then acted out within the class.

Year 1 have been working hard this week to become independent readers and writers. We have visited the computer suite in school for the first time. We were able to login to the computers and practice our mouse skills.

In science, Year 2 have been investigating absorbency.

In Year 3, the children have been doing different rolls in gymnastics. This week they have been practising teddy bear rolls and started to mirror their partners.

Year 4 have been learning how to use thermometers correctly in science. They enjoyed testing the temperature of different bowls of water and watching the line move up or down.

The Year 5 children have been amazing during PE this week doing symmetrical and asymmetrical balances.

Our Year 6 children have been learning what factors, square and prime numbers actually mean by using practical resources. They properly understand them now!

It has been another successful week in The Cove: fabulous rolling in PE and cooperative working development with our older children😄

Dot Watch: Dot has been meeting lots of new families as they walk around the school with Mr O before they make their school choices for September 2023. Dot thinks they would ALL make amazing members of Team MG!

Dot has been quality assuring the vegetables from the kitchen this week. She is a huge fan of the broccoli and peas! 

A SPECIAL SHOUT OUT: We would like to say a huge thank you to the Year 6 children who have given their spare time back to the school and taken on volunteer roles this term. We have a great new team of Junior Librarians who help to return books to the shelves and keep our library tidy and organised. We also have an incredible bunch of Year 6s who are helping our EYFS children at lunchtime. They have been so busy: serving pudding, helping the children cut up their lunch, and organising and playing playground games. 

We have been astounded by their commitment and we are so, so grateful for their hard work. What a super bunch of role models

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 19th September - 23rd September 2022🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

The children in EYFS have settled in brilliantly into school life. They have been busy exploring the resources in their learning environments.

Year 1 are enjoying visiting the library and discovering new stories each week. They are becoming very good at telling the story through reading the pictures. They have also been exploring different trees and will be observing how they change with the different  seasons.

Year 2 have been learning about the Jewish faith and had a great time trying to write in Hebrew!

Year 3 have been enjoying writing diaries in the role of Roz, based on our classroom text: The Wild Robot.

Year 4 have been looking at still life drawing as part of their art topic. They have been creating fabulous drawings of Mrs Morris in Class 15.

Year 5 have loved creating observational paintings using watercolours this week. They concentrated beautifully on this and produced some wonderful artwork.

This week, Year 6 have been enjoying starting to learn to read music and play it on glockenspiels. Apologies to our neighbours in Years 4 and 5! 

The children in The Cove have started 'Bucket time' sessions this week. Lots of giggles all-round!😄

🌳 Weekly Round Up: 4th September - 8th September 2022 🌳 

Here are a few things we have been up to at Mendip Green this week…

We start every new school year with a Book Week. Each year group is immersed in a traditional tale and we all spend time exploring some fantastic picture books: ‘Elephant Island’,  ‘The Boys with a flowers in his Hair’, and ‘I am (almost) Always Kind’.

It has been a fabulous first week for the children in our Reception classes! The children have explored the activities in the classrooms and outside areas. They are learning routines and expectations around school.

Look at the self portraits that children have drawn in our Reception classes.

Year 1 have had a fantastic week settling in to their new classes. They have been listening to and completed some lovely activities based on our book week books. They have finished the week off by making flower crowns inspired by ‘The Boy With Flowers in his hair’.

Inspired by the incredible floating contraptions in our book ‘Elephant Island’, Year 2 have been investigating which shapes would be best for boats in art this week.

Year 3 were inspired by one of our picture books, ‘The Boy With Flowers in His Hair,’ and made flowers for their own hair!

Year 4 have used wax crayons to create their own artwork based on the book ‘The Boy with Flowers in his hair’. We think they look spectacular!

Year 5 have been inspired by our picture books and had an amazing week exploring kindness, creativity and teamwork.

Year 6 have very much enjoying a week of art to start their final year at Mendip Green. They have also been finding out about different countries in Eastern Europe where the Baba Yaga story is told, which was the basis of one of their books this week. They are already getting excited about starting their class text ‘Wolf Brother’ on Monday!

Wow what a week The Cove children have had! Here are some photos of sensory stories with Miss Heenan and they also celebrate the children who have participated amazingly in their mainstream classes too!😁