It has been an inspiring and eventful start to the new school year, and all the children have settled brilliantly into their new classes. Teachers have been commenting on how delighted they have been to see their pupils’ high enthusiasm and effort, which has led to some excellent work being produced and displayed around the school.
This term, we have also enjoyed some lovely trips and visits which have enhanced the educational experiences of our pupils. From first aid training and festive baking workshops to trips to Eureka! Science and Discovery Museum and Chill Factore, our pupils have developed a broad range of knowledge and skills through exciting and fun activities.
As we approached Christmas, the pupils worked incredibly hard on our various festive performances. The effort they put into their rehearsals paid off as they delivered two wonderful Nativity plays and a spectacular Carol Concert, which certainly put us all in the Christmas spirit.
The individual class overviews below bear testimony to the immense volume of learning and activity that has taken place.
Pre-School
The Pre-School children have had a fantastic Autumn term. They have made many new friends, settled into classroom life, and integrated into the Tower College family.
The children have learned about themselves, Autumn and Space this term. Our space topic particularly caught the children’s interest, as we learned new knowledge, read stories, and experienced some fantastic science experiments on the moon!
The end-of-topic treat, a Space Party, was thoroughly enjoyed. We played ‘Pass the Moon Rock’ and many other classic games.
In Maths and Phonics, the children have shown dedication and wonderful concentration skills for their age, allowing them to all make excellent progress with their initial sound and number recognition skills. The children have assured me they look forward to more challenges after the holidays!
Since the October half term, the children and teachers have each looked forward to Friday afternoons, where we await our Mystery Reader in the library. The joy on the children’s faces is a beautiful sight each time!
Another brilliant highlight of the term was our trip to Eureka! Here, the teachers were incredibly proud of how sensible the children were, always using their listening ears!
We have had an excellent start to the school year and look forward to welcoming three new starters after the holidays.
Have an amazing Christmas break, spending time with your families!
Miss Nugent
Reception
The children in Reception have had an excellent start to the school year. They have embarked on an exciting journey of discovery and learning.
One of the highlights was our wonderful trip to Eureka, where the children immersed themselves in hands-on science exploration, fostering a love for discovery and inquiry.
We have had lots of fun learning in our outdoor classroom this term and deepened our understanding of the world by exploring natural objects during our Welly Wednesday sessions.
The space party was nothing short of an exciting adventure, where the children proudly presented their fantastic artwork and models. Their imaginations soared to new heights as they shared their beautiful creations.
During maths, the children delved into the world of concrete resources, laying a solid foundation for understanding numbers. Composing numbers to 5 and exploring concepts of one more and one less became popular as the children engaged in interactive, hands-on learning experiences.
Fine motor skills development has been a dedicated focus, with the children investing time into mastering a confident pencil grip. A notable highlight has been the joy of learning to write our names independently.
During our final weeks, the children participated in our 12 days of Christmas celebrations. They loved engaging with Christmas crafts and particularly enjoyed our Christmas baking workshop! To finish the term, the Children all performed in our Christmas Nativity, where they did an excellent job and made their teachers very proud!
A fantastic start to Reception!
Merry Christmas!
Miss Hines
Year 1
Everybody has had a fantastic transition into Year 1 and has engaged well in their news subjects. Year 1 has had baking workshops, visited the Eureka Science Museum and enjoyed using our new outdoor classroom!
The pupils have been learning about Antarctica this term, exploring the continent, climate, animals and physical geography there. Through acting, we learned about Ernest Shackleton’s expedition to Antarctica. We also dressed up for an Antarctic expedition! The Antarctic homework projects have been incredible! Each child loved presenting theirs to the class and was proud to show everybody what they had been working on at home.
Year 1 has used concrete resources through our maths mastery approach to develop their understanding of numbers, addition and subtraction. A particular favourite of Year 1’s was using greater than/ less than crocodiles!
We have focussed on ‘One Day On Our Big Blue Planet’ and ‘Lost and Found’ in English. We have been retelling and rewriting these stories to include a range of adjectives. We have also been on scavenger hunts around the classroom, reading sentences and trying to find nouns and adjectives.
In art, we have been learning about primary colours and have experimented with colour. We have made beautiful arctic silhouettes and sunsets through colour mixing and have definitely got very messy!
Overall, it is a fantastic start to Year 1. Well done, everybody!
I hope you have a lovely Christmas.
Miss Porter
Year 2
We have had a fantastic start to Year 2 with plenty of exciting lessons, learning opportunities and wonderful experiences to remember.
There was an educational visit from the Dog’s Trust, which involved some audience participation; a First Aid workshop where the children learnt some important skills; and a Hidden Nature Challenge whereby pupils took part in the first of a national scheme to enable them to develop their observation and recording skills whilst learning outside. Some of our findings are even on the National Education Nature Park and Climate Action Awards website!
We travelled back in time in our topic lessons to learn about our immediate surroundings, looking at and learning from old photographs of Tower College, imagining what life must have been like in the Victorian era. The children were excited to learn many interesting facts about their school and its important links with the past. We celebrated our learning with a Victorian Tea Party and dance. Very civilised!
We have been inspired by the books The Colour Monster and The Dot, acted out The Gunpowder Plot, completed science investigations and experiments to make crystals and attempted to free some frozen Lego characters. We have also made Sukkot shelters, Diwali paper lanterns and rangoli patterns with numicon.
As we approach Christmas, we have had some hectic weeks with rehearsals for our Nativity and Carol concert and a trip to Eureka! Science + Discovery museum, a Christmas cookie workshop, and our Polar Express experience.
What a great term!
We hope you have a wonderful Christmas and look forward to seeing you all in the New Year!
Mrs Boyd & Mrs Gibson
Year 3
It’s been a very exciting 1st term of the school year.
We took part in a colour run, had a visit from the Dog’s Trust, learned mini first aid, and even went to Forest School.
We read an exciting book called Stone Age Boy. The children wrote beautiful letters to a Stone Age boy named Ugg. The children also retold the story from their point of view.
The children have been exploring the Stone Age. They have looked at food, clothing, entertainment, and survival. The children even used natural materials such as petals, berries and cloves to paint a Stone Age picture.
We have also been learning all about Liverpool. They looked at where Liverpool was, what life was like for the people living there, and how food, music, and culture had shaped the city.
We sketched Stone Age people, used clay to make poppies for Remembrance Day and planned our Stone Age homes for our design and technology project.
We have been learning about balanced diets and light and dark. We had a fantastic time exploring with mirrors and torches. They even created some amazing puppet shows.
As part of our 12 days of Christmas activities, the children helped to decorate the classroom and spread some festive cheer with their Christmas crafts and singing. The children also attended a Christmas Cookie workshop, where they learned various baking skills.
The children also took a trip to the Chill Factor, where they had the opportunity to learn how to ski and went whizzing down the slopes in the snow park.
I hope you have a wonderful Christmas break!
Miss Deane
Year 4
Seeing the children enjoying their learning and having fun this term has been a pleasure. I am so pleased with the children’s work, especially their wonderful Viking Creative Projects!
In English, they have been training as Space Cadets and improving their listening and creative writing skills in their Space Logs. In Maths, the children have been rocking away to the music in Times Tables Rock Stars!
In Science, they investigated a shipwreck with pirate treasure, carefully sieving and filtering the materials to separate them. In R.E., they have been researching the different faiths in our class. They have made Diwali lamps out of clay and have written very moving prayers for Remembrance Day. They have shown a keen interest in our Viking topic, and we have lots of wonderful artwork on display in our classroom and Lower School corridor. In Geography, the children have all made significant progress with their map-reading skills. They have been very competitive in locating the next country and continent in our ‘Santa Around the World’ Topic!
Our Wellbeing Wednesdays have been a great success, and we have had many fabulous class discussions about friendship, respect and perseverance. The children have also enjoyed their Forest School sessions in our new outdoor classroom. They also enthusiastically participated in their First Aid course and Classroom Kitchen Workshop!
I was immensely proud of the children singing in our Christmas Carol Service, and they were also super actors in our Nativity!
What a fabulous start to Year 4!
Happy Christmas!
Mrs Miles
Year 5
It has been a fantastic first term in year 5, with all the children working hard across the curriculum.
The children worked fantastically on our First Aid course, demonstrating excellent listening skills and engaging in practical activities.
In math, the children learned the four rules of numbers and used concrete resources to support their place value skills to 1,000,000. We also learned a new rounding rhyme!
The children became Wonderful Wizards in English and produced excellent persuasive advertisements. Additionally, the children have shown enthusiasm and determination to complete ‘Ninja SPaG’ activities.
In Science, the children enjoyed planning, conducting and evaluating a variety of experiments to explore Forces and Space. They even made their own parachutes!
The children have delved deep into their knowledge of World War One and enjoyed exploring a soldier’s helmet and shell from this time. The children produced poppy art and thank you letters to show our respect on Remembrance Day.
They became tourists of Scandinavia and explored the countries’ physical and human geography. They made their actions to remember mountain features, too!
To conclude the year, the children performed beautifully at our Christmas Carol Concert and participated in a fun-filled Christmas Cookies Baking Workshop.
A fantastic start to Year 5!
Merry Christmas!
Miss Midgley
Year 6
We had a superb first term in Year 6, with exceptional work showcased, particularly in the Anderson shelter projects.
In English, we have focused on developing persuasive writing skills through a spy gadget project, which the children thoroughly enjoyed.
Our Maths lessons have covered various topics, including place value (numbers up to 10,000,000), addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and measurement.
In Science, we studied living things and their habitats, explicitly focusing on classifying plants and animals. Additionally, we explored electricity, understood the workings of circuits, and identified symbols in electric circuits.
In R.E., we explored different faiths, their significant beliefs, and the Christmas Story. We examined the geographical features of North America. Our next topic was rivers and the impact of flooding, topics that will continue into the spring term. In History, We delved into the causes of WW2 and the evacuation experiences, allowing the children to empathise with the evacuees. In Computing, we explored data transfer and variables in games using Scratch.
Finally, we had the opportunity to participate in several exciting workshops, including Classroom Kitchen, Dogs Trust, and First Aid, from which we gained valuable skills.
Have a great Christmas break.
Mr Sweeney
Afternoon Tea With The Principal
Our pupils’ personal and academic achievements are rewarded during our weekly Celebration Assemblies. One pupil from each class receives Stars of the Week and Merit certificates and badges. Pupils who have achieved the highest number of house points are also celebrated. A special House Point Champion trophy is awarded to the class that collectively achieves the highest number of house points.
The children can also recognise and celebrate any staff members who have been particularly helpful each week through our Teacher of the Week award. The children are always eager to be selected to choose their Teacher of the Week, and they always find lovely reasons for their choices, ranging from helping with class work to being kind at playtime.
At the end of each half term, all merit winners and stars of the week are rewarded with Afternoon Tea with Ms Bingley, which they enjoy almost as much as Ms Bingley!
