Chilthorne Domer Church School
Together we Love, we Aim High and we Celebrate!
Oak and Willow classes had a fabulous day with archaeologist Vanessa, learning all about Ancient Maya. They explored the chronology of the time period and compared it to what what happening in Britain at the time. They then looked at so many artefacts relating to Maya way of life and beliefs, including trying on clothing, having a go and crushing the corn and dissecting 'poo' to see what diets people had! They even got to handle genuine potsherds from the Maya area that are over 1000 years old and look for clues about what purposes the pots may have had. These hands on learning experiences are so valuable for the children and enjoyed by everyone!
Ash Class have been listening to lots of wonderful texts as part of reading for pleasure. Last week, they focused on 'The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark' by Jill Tomlinson. As part of this they have been thinking about questions asked by the reading detectives Rex Retriever, Sequencing Suki, Predicting Pip, Vocabulary Victor and Inference Iggy.
After engaging with the story some of the children were inspired to create their own owls at the creative area.
Our new Digital Leaders have already been busy at work, supporting Mrs Stradling in developing our Online Safety in school. Their current challenge is to survey all of the children in the school about their online experiences. This enables the team to know what we need to prioritise when educating the school community this year.
As a side note, it is simply wonderful to see all of the smiles between the older children and the younger children.
We enjoyed a yoga adventure with Paula. We had to create lots of shapes with our bodies to accompany the story. We were challenged to curl up small like a hedgehog and show off our spikes, we pretended to tumble from the tree like parrot and did a snake dance. We all had a lovely time creating all the special yoga moves and practising our breathing by blowing parrots feathers. What a fun adventure we had!
We had lots of fun at the Fleet Air Arm museum to learn about the history of flight. It was amazing to see the differences between old and modern day planes. The children also enjoyed experiencing life on board a navy ship, seeing a flight deck, becoming pilots in the cockpit of a helicopter and getting the chance to be on concorde.
Wednesday September 11th 2024
Today we have been talking about all the different parts of the human body. We took our learning outside to draw arouind each other and then label as many as we could. We even drew around Mrs Burt!
Here are the children's favourite parts about being a Digital Leader this year.
Thank you so much to each and every one of you for being amazing this year. You have helped lead Online Safety across the school and I couldn't have done it without you.
Thank you,
Mrs Stradling
Year 6 visited School in a Bag HQ today to pack some bags before they leave us tomorrow. The rest will be packed by the other year groups in the new academic year.
During our house morning this week, the children were given the theme of trees to create something magical using a device.
The results were some magical artwork created using their painting skills in Jit, as well as some amazing animations using Scratch on the Chrome books. In addition to this some of the children chose to use the Microbits to create a flashing tree!
This term we created a Kahoot quiz for the children at Chilthorne Domer Church School to complete! This quiz helped the children and their parents learn about Online Safety and how to think about your actions! If you completed the quiz your child will receive a sweet treat! This was to encourage everyone to participate in the quiz!
We had over 70 participants, which was amazing and will help us with our teaching next year.
Isla,
Digital Leader
A massive well done to each and every child and adult who walked today. It was wet, it was miserable and our feet were soggy but no one gave up. Some were beaten but many completed as many laps as were possible which took them close, if not to, the half marathon distance we were aiming for.
What's more, in total (up until 22nd July 2024), we have raised a whopping £4757 for School in a Bag and they will also get an additional £865.95 in Gift Aid. We absolutely smashed our 150 bag target and have funded 281 bags in total including the Gift Aid. A huge well done to Albie for being our biggest fundraiser!
This week we used Brusho ink to make a sky and greenery scene. We then learnt how to print using bits of card and thicker paint to create a grass scene.
The next day, we used our observation skills whilst watching a video about meadows. We then used pencils and colouring pencils to enhance the pictures and make them come alive!
This afternoon we made the most of the dry weather and took our sketch books outside to put in to practise all that we have learnt about drawing what we can see.
Year 3 Science July 2024
This week we have been exploring and investigating the features and properties of different soils.
Maple Class Art Workshop
Monday 1st July 2024
Maple Class had a fantastic morning with Mrs Steele, exploring colour and different art mediums, such as watercolours, ink and charcoal. We also learnt how to look very carefully at our subject whilst drawing portraits. We made amazing progress throughout the morning and we are looking forward to sharing our masterpieces at the Art Exhibition very soon.
Oak class had lots of fun creating repeating patterns with Mrs Steele on Monday. The children had to choose a muted colour palette to work with and think carefully about the shapes they were cutting out and how they should arrange them. Their designs were then rearranged to create the repeating pattern, which they could add to.
We look forward to sharing these with our families later this term at our Art Gallery.
London Residential 2024
For three days at the start of June, there was lots of excitement to be had! Year 5 and 6 went on a trip to London. We saw many of the famous sites around the majestic city.
On Day 1, we had a long bus trip with our bestie (aka Bus Driver) Glenn. First stop: The Natural History Museum. We saw skeletons and representations of all different animals from throughout the ages, with a few fun facts sprinkled in for good measure. We saw how a volcano erupted and even felt what it was like to be in a real earthquake.
We arrived at the hostel just in time to have a quick shower before dinner (the shower was interesting!). After dinner, Mrs Chesterton opened her sweet shop and then we went downstairs to do a quiz.
Day 2: we woke up and had some breakfast, it was a fry-up (yum!). First thing on the agenda was a boat trip down the River Thames; we saw the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. We docked at the port and walked over a bridge towards the London Eye – there were lots of musicians playing a variety of musical instruments.
Once we had queued, we hopped on the London Eye… literally, as it was still moving while we got on! We saw views of London that you could not see from the ground. We could see almost the whole of London from up there! Once we were back on solid ground, we had our lunch sat in a calm park, where we also saw other schools.
After lunch we headed to St Paul’s Cathedral, we learnt all about the history as we walked around the breathtakingly vast place of worship. There were several sets of steps which seemed to go on forever (we definitely reached our step count for the day!). However, when we finally reached the top we had another opportunity to take in the stunning views of London.
We headed back to the hostel for a very quick dinner before we had to head straight back on the bus to go to watch The Lion King, which was a stunning performance we will never forget, partly because the show was paused unexpectedly due to technical issues which made us feel very tense. Once the show finished, we were ready for bed – a lot of us were falling asleep on the bus back to the hostel.
On the final day, we woke up and had breakfast before heading off to the zoo for the final stop of our trip! We managed to see a variety animals – including monkeys, butterflies, giraffes, penguins and many more!
We were sad to leave London, but we had so much fun; even just the journey to each new destination was fun - filled with laughter, cheering, and singing with all our friends!
Harriet and Dexter
Today in Ash Class, we did a survey and discussed what we like to do at home and at school. We thought about how we love to use devices and how they can be really helpful to find things out. We also shared the types of games that we like to play that are not online or device led e.g. playing board games, going out on visits, making and building and games we can play outside.
Using the balance scales, we talked about how it is important to have a balance between playing on a device and playing other activities. We used a red snap cube to symbolise an activity based on a device and then how we needed to fill the other bucket with lots of green activities that were not device based to balance it out. The children were great and said they could play a board game, go on a trampoline, help do chores like clean their rooms, as well as help prepare dinner to balance out just one time on a device.
To help us keep a healthy mind, we also decided that at home it would be good to have fixed times on devices or to use a visual timer like we do in school to have a limit on device / screen time.
Oak have ended the half term by continuing to create their 'Cezanne inspired' still life art paintings. They are looking forward to sharing these with you at the end of next term!
Year 5 had a brilliant morning learning all about forces - who wouldn't want to throw eggs out of the headteacher's office window? 3 out 6 survived!
This week we were very lucky to benefit from the expertise of some of the engineers from Leonardo. Together, we ran a day of activities and workshops where the children could learn all about what skills engineers need to have, as well as flying a helicopter simulator to rescue a person from the water, they took part in building bridges, cargo holders and paper propellers
We thank the Leonardo team for giving up their time and engaging the children in the world of engineering so brilliantly, and hopefully inspiring the next generation!
Oak had a fantastic afternoon practicing the tennis skills they have learned this have term and competing for the title of 'class champion' at Martock Tennis Club today! The progress they have made is amazing and we were so impressed with their attitude and behaviour. Well done Oak Class - maybe there's a future Wimbledon Star amongst you!
Our Year 6s were amazing during SATs week - they worked super hard and tried their best. The most important thing though is that they know they are more than the tests show!
Year 4 had a fabulous time at Barton Hall for their residential. The children have been superstars - polite, courteous, courageous, resilient, determined and as many other positive adjectives as you can think of!
We are so proud of how Year 4 have tackled everything this residential - they have showed so many amazing traits.
Our school council have worked with their classes to create ideas for a play charter.
This week we are investigating the rate of root growth in cress seeds. We had to work together to set up our investigation and we will be observing closely to measure how much the roots grow each day.
On Monday the 22nd of April 2024 the Digital Leaders held an assembly based on the subject I am healthy. We looked at the power of the words YES and NO. We also looked at scenarios and thought about what advice we would give them and if they should do what their friends said to do.
Composed by Yasmin and Henry,
Digital Leaders
Year 4 are currently learning about states of matter, and have been investigating whether temperature and location affects the rate of evaporation. They created puddles around school in various sunny and shady spots and recorded how long it took for them to evaporate. The chosen head scientist for the day kept a close eye on proceedings, ensuring fair testing was being carried out!
Year 3 Science
Wednesday 24th April
Today we were observing different plants. We noticed many similarities and some differences. We learnt that each part of the plant has a specific function. We used a microscope to look closely at the roots of a plant.
Music in Maple Class
Tuesday 23rd April
This week we have been exploring different musical vocabulary. We learnt about the dynamics, timbre, pulse and tempo in music, and used instruments to tell an underwater story.
Today we celebrated Earth Day across the school.
We learnt all about plastic and how it has a huge impact on the Earth. Our special challenge was to collect as much plastic from our homes as we could and to bring into school. It was amazing to see how much we actually use each day! We then used it to create some amazing masterpieces themed around the sea, which will go on display at the end of term in our art gallery!
Can you guess what arrived at school this week?
The children are super excited to watch them grow and learn first hand about the lifecycle of a butterfly!
During the first two weeks of term the children in each of the classes take part in an online safety lesson which is appropriate for their age.
This term’s theme is ‘I am healthy’.
Children are encouraged to make good choices online, as they would do offline. In addition to this, children are encouraged to think about the length of time they spend on devices and alternative activities they can do when they are not using them.
Ash Class have been exploring spirals today in their Expressive Arts and Design session. They began by making a tiny dot on their paper and then used their hands and arms to make the spiral move outwards, whilst listening to calming classical music.
At the end of our session, the children walked around their art work in their own art gallery.
Maple Class were excited to have their first yoga session this half term, with Paula. The children met a polar bear who was very sad and they thought about how a straight posture can help them to feel happy. Our yoga adventure helped Spark (the teddy) to cheer up polar bear. The children were taught how do different breathing techniques: 'bee breath' and 'ocean breath' The children were able to move their bodies into different yoga positions as they all went on the yoga adventure together.
Oak class have kicked off the term with an afternoon looking at the work of post-impressionist French painter Paul Cezanne, in preparation for the still life projects they will embarking on shortly. The enthusiasm from the pupils was lovely to see and they were very observant art critics!
Ash Class have had another wonderful experience this week. They have been lucky enough to watch eggs in an incubator hatch into chicks, right in front of their very own eyes.
The excitement that this created was wonderful. A huge thank you to our Chair of Governors and his wife for creating this opportunity for the children. The chicks are now safely back in the countryside ready to grow.
Florence and Yasmin, our Digital Leaders have created a special Online Safety message to share their 'Top tips on how to stay safe over Easter.'
Both children and adults are more likely to be on their devices over the Easter holidays so these top tips will be a helpful reminder about staying safe.
Thank you, Florence and Yasmin.
A message from our Digital Leaders, Alba and Isla:
Today we gave an assembly about being safe and secure online, with a focus on viruses. We watched a video about how a person called Jack clicked on a link which said it was from one of his family members. His computer then got a virus!
We talked about how we stay safe online and we should not press random links that pop up in an email, video or a game.
If a link pops up on your screen you must not press on it because it can cause problems and the person that gave you the link could even get on your bank account and steal money. We hope that the children learn to never press on a button that they don't know what it is!
Today we came together for a lovely Easter service in our special St Mary's Church.
Lots of the children demonstrated courage and confidence whilst reading parts of the Easter story aloud for everyone to hear. Below are just a few of the highlights.
In addition to this, all of the children filled the church with their beautiful singing in celebration.
Ash class children have been learning about significant people in our lifetime. To begin with they learnt all about King Charles III who is our monarch now. Coincidently, we received this framed picture of King Charles (along with every school in the country) to hang in our school which helped us see how important he is.
Afterwards, the children learnt about Queen Elizabeth II and how she is a monarch from our past. (In the Early Years, everything that has happened before now is thought about as the past.)
It was interesting to compare both of their coronations and identify how life has changed over time.
A big well done to all of our runners, finishers and medal winners from this cross country season. It's been another great year for Chilthorne runners and we are proud of you all! Some will race again in the area cross country and we wish those runners the best of luck!
This week we have been spending some time being faith detectives and learning more about Judaism. We started off by thinking about how we are all different and how people have different beliefs. We were also fortunate to have some class workshops led by Lynda from the Bournemouth Jewish Community. Lynda was a font of knowledge teaching us so much about Judaism. We learnt about where some Jewish people go to worship, we were able to handle Jewish artefacts and looked at some of the clothes Jews wear in the synagogue. The children were able to extend and be creative with their learning in the classroom. Some of the activities the children were able to take part in were the making of Torah scrolls, decorating a Star of David and the younger children were able to make a synagogue using different construction materials. The children also listened to stories from the Talmud and they looked at the meaning behind them.
Over the last term Oak and Willow have become Historians and learnt all about the Stone Age, Iron age and most recently... the Roman Empire and the invasion of Britain. We were lucky enough to have been able to take a step back in time by visiting a re-imagined Roman Villa; 'Villa Ventorum" at the Newt and... what a truly memorable experience!
"It was like going back in time" Harriet
"It was almost like we were there!" Yas
"It was a whole new experience" Freddie
"It was fun but educational" Ethan
"It gave me a sense of power!" Poppy
"I started to feel like a Roman!" Dexter
The children had great fun doing something funny for money in aid of Red Nose Day. Children and staff came to school with crazy hair and children entered a joke competition - well done to everyone, a fabulous effort!
Ash Class were extremely lucky to venture out on a welly walk to visit some ewes and their lambs this morning. Our Chair of Governors always provides this first hand experience for our children and we are so very grateful.
The school have received a lovely letter from our local MP, Marcus Fysh, congratulating us on achieving Platinum Status in the school Games Mark. See the letter below!
A big thanks to Mrs Bond and all the staff involved in Book Week this week. The children have had various activities to enjoy including Bedtime Stories last night and dressing up today. Check out the photos below!
This week the children in Ash Class have begun to look at the different parts of a plant e.g. roots, stem, leaves, petals and seeds. They also had the chance to plant some sunflowers!
The children in Ash Class have been learning about the traditional tale 'The Three Little Pigs.' As part of their learning, they had the challenge to visit the forest area and try to build a house for the pigs to live in. They had so much fun!
Mrs Batstone kindly came to school to deliver our Ash Wednesday service due to the poor weather. It was a lovely service and she discussed how at this time of year the decorations in church have a purple theme just like we have over our fire place.
The Key Stage 2 children did some wonderful readings and we all sang hymns together.
As we left the hall, Mrs Batstone kindly placed a cross on our foreheads (if we wished this to happen) and said a blessing to each and every one of us.
This week all of the children across the school had the challenge to complete the Safer Internet Day signpost posters. Each child carefully thought about how they use the internet and how they could make positive changes in the future.
Some of the children thought about:
Being yourself. Don't try to be someone you are not!
Keeping your personal information private.
Remembering to be kind when messaging.
Knowing who you can talk to if something happens e.g. Mum please help me.
Remembering not to click on advertisements.
Understanding you can report or block people.
Knowing that you can turn off your device.
During the week of the 5th of February, we celebrated Safer Internet Day by having assemblies for EYFS/KS1 and KS2. We looked at how to stay safe online and what to do when something happens. In the assemblies, the children found it funny how old computers looked! For the challenge we asked the children to design sign posts about how to make positive changes online for the future .
The children in Ash Class had a wonderful time designing a pancake topping of their choice before using the ingredients to make their design come to life!
Our Digital Leaders have made us very proud recently by learning their assembly scripts and then delivering two wonderful assemblies this week. KS2 celebrated yesterday with the Digital Leaders and EYFS along with KS1 celebrated today.
Throughout the week, the children will be creating their own signposts about how to make positive changes online and we can not wait to see them.
We are excited to let you know that on Tuesday 6th February 2024 we will be celebrating Safer Internet Day, which is also celebrated across the world! At our school we are going to be doing assemblies for all year groups, teaching them how to be safe online. This year's theme is:
Inspiring change? Making a difference, managing influence and navigating change online.
So we are excited to welcome all students and teachers to celebrate it with your Digital Leaders.
Your Digital Leaders,
Harriet and Yasmin
The Digital Leaders have been thinking carefully about the apps that children in school may use and how important it is that we realise what the recommended age restrictions for these are.
The children loved seeing the helicopter arrive and land before telling the elves what they’d like for Christmas and watching it fly away again. A massive thank you to RNAS Yeovilton for arranging this for us. What a lovely treat!
What are marvellous show of bakes this morning. Choosing star bakers was a very tricky task with many worthy winners!
Our break time sale raised a brilliant £140.45 so we have already raised enough to change 7 children’s lives. Thank you.
A big well done and thank you to the choir and Mrs Bond who came to the village Christmas cafe and sang beautifully on Sunday 10th December. You were wonderful!
Staying Safe Online Over Christmas
I am very proud to share that our fabulous Digital Leaders chose to use their last session of the year to make posters, independently about how to keep everyone safe online over the Christmas holidays.
Please visit our school eSafety page and Facebook page for further posters made by the children:
https://www.facebook.com/ChilthorneDomerChurchSchool/
https://www.chilthornedomerchurchschool.co.uk/e-safety/
Best wishes,
Mrs Stradling
School in a Bag Visit - Friday 8th December 2023
Luke from School in a Bag came to see us today to tell us all about our school charity of the year.
We’ll be doing various fundraising events between now and the summer with our first being our Great Christmas Bake Off on Monday. A Star Baker will be chosen from each year group and the money raised from the cake sale will go straight in to our SIAB pot. Don’t forget your bakes and money for break time treats!
The children have decided our target for the year is to pack 150 bags. Can we do it? Yes we can!
Christingle Service 7th December 2023
We were very lucky to have the wonderful Mrs Batstone in school with us today, leading our magical Christingle service.
Age Ratings for Games and Apps
A message from your Digital Leaders Olivia and Harriet:
Did you know that there are recommendations for you to only watch programmes and play games that are suitable for age? Most apps and programmes have age limits so you know what you can play\watch. PEGI rating (Pan European Game Information) is a guide to show you and your guardians / parents’ what games are suitable for you to watch/play on. PEGI rating is the minimum age you can be to download and play the game, programme or app. They put PEGI ratings to keep you safe.
The different symbols are 3+ that means it's for all ages and 7+ means all people 7 plus can play. Next you have 12+ so all 12 year olds and up can play, this is because there may be violence. Another is 16+, and finally 18+ means no children should be using 18+. So always look at an age limit before you buy or download a game. Stay safe online!
Christmas Trees by Construction Club
This week in Construction Club, the children had the challenge to use the construction materials to create their very own Christmas trees. They were very creative in their designs and came up with these masterpieces!
Being Kind and Responsible: Copyrights and Copywrongs! 23rd November 2023
In assembly today I saw the Digital Leaders talking about being kind and responsible. They focused on the copyright theme. They read out a scenario and children had to put their thumbs up, in the middle or down, depending on how they felt. Some of us thought we needed to ask for more information. They said that if you saw your friends work and copied it all and said it was your work you would be stealing it. This is called plagiarism. You need to ask first for their permission and only take ideas from it. Then it is important to acknowledge that it is their work. On the internet when you are copying/downloading a picture you need to make sure you have permission to go on websites that have pictures that allow you to use them.
Your Digital Leader,
Alba
We did it! We completed our RunPudsey and between the 73 registered participants, we are close to raising £2800. Wow!
Every child ran today and did so marvellously. A big well down to everyone and to all the donators - thank you!
You can see our current total here! https://www.runpudsey.co.uk/school/chilthorne-domer-church-school
Armistice Day has been recognised across the school again this year. Below are some photos of wonderful poetry based on the short film, 'The Piano' that Willow class have been working on.
You'll also find photos and videos from our service. A special thanks to the children who led the service and to Mrs Carter and her band mates Barry and Dave for playing the bugles before and after our 2 minutes silence. It really was special.
During the summer term, a group of Year 5 girls made and sold loom bands to the school community. They wanted to raise money for the school’s Opal Play provision and for our local charity School in a Bag.
The girls made a fantastic £83 and today we went down to School in a Bag HQ to pack their 2 funded bags and another 3 for good measure. Once packed, these bags were loaded straight on to the van and will be starting their journey to the Ukraine today.
Well done for all your hard work girls and for thinking of others whilst you were at it. We’re very proud of your thoughtfulness and compassion!
Once again this year our families and community have supported the shoe box appeal. In total we have filled 22 shoe boxes that will travel to children less fortunate than ourselves. How lovely to know that by filling these boxes, we have ensured 22 children will get a Christmas present this year. Thank you to everyone who helped achieve that!
A big well done to all our the children who represented our school at the most recent family service. They read prayers for the world, our family and friends, our community, our church schools, the sick and those mourning.
Harry Potter Book Day - Oak Class
Oak class wizards had a great time last week celebrating Harry Potter Book Day. We took part in a virtual lesson with Luna Lovegood, who helped us write fabulous magical setting descriptions. Then we learned to draw magical settings like Hogwarts Castle and learned how to cast spells, with a lesson from a Hogwarts professor! We flew broomsticks in PE to round off the day.
OAK CLASS TRIP
Oak Class enjoyed their trip to Coates Willow and Wetlands Centre last week, exploring the Somerset Levels as part of their Geography learning, They have developed a greater understanding of what makes the levels unique and how they are managed. They had a go at making willow stars and sketching with charcoal made from the willow grown at the centre.
A great day was had by all!
As a church school, we need to include different elements in our curriculum, details of which can be found under the SIAMS and Christian Values tabs on our website.
In September we sent a survey to our parents to gather their options on how the school manages the religious aspect of our curriculum. The full results will be available on our website soon, but below are the results of the last question which was: ‘The best 3 things about the school from my point of view are…’ and we cannot agree more!
Today we celebrated our Harvest Festival with Mrs Batestone at the church. We all enjoyed a wonderful walk down to the church and then gave our harvest offerings, which will be going to the Lord's Larder. The Lord's Larder is a local 'bank' of non-perishable in life ambient food operated by volunteers from churches in and around Yeovil.
Afterwards, we sang 'Who Put the Colours in the Rainbow?', 'We Plough the Fields and Scatter' and 'Cauliflowers Fluffy' in celebration, along with the choir singing 'The Harvest Samba'.
Willow class gave some lovely readings, along with Mrs Batestone who also led some special harvest prayers and blessings.
Our New Digital Leaders
September is the time of year when our Year 6 children can apply to be the new Digital Leaders and yet again we have had some amazing applications. We are very proud to announce that the children below were all successful and will now work alongside Mrs Stradling with our online safety and computing needs. See if you can spot them as you walk around the school. They will all be wearing a special Digital Leader badge to help you recognise them.
Following one of their RE lessons, Willow Class wrote some beautiful poems. Enjoy them below!
Congratulations to our House and Vice Captains as voted for by their peers!
Congratulation to this year's successful school council members!
Wednesday saw an awful lot of naughty school children and one grumpy Trunchbull!
Everyone had a great day followed by 10 lucky children finding Golden Tickets in their Wonka bars. Thanks to the PTA for organising the Wonka Bar sale and the Golden ticket prizes!
It may only be the first week but the footballers and netballers have been out and had a great time! Watch this sapce for new football kits - they're going to look good!
360 Degree Online Safety Mark Pass 'With Flying Colours'
We are SO excited to share that after a visit from one of the 360 degree assessors we have achieved our 360 Degree Online Safety Mark 'with flying colours'. The assessor spent time throughout the morning, talking to the Senior Leadership Team, the Digital Leaders, representatives from each of our classes, class teachers, teaching assistants, governors and parents. This was to check that our Online Safety aims and values are lived out every day and this is exactly what they found.
A big part of the process is all the work that the fabulous Digital Leaders do. They meet with Mrs Stradling every Thursday during lunch time and are never shy of the next challenge that they are faced with. Below is a picture of all of the Digital Leaders celebrating the exciting news that we have achieved our Online Safety Mark.
Science Week 2023
All the classes have taken part in a science workshop with Forensic Frank from Fun Science, where they had lots of fun!
Each class has also carried out a variety of investigations. For example, Maple Class spent the morning investigating which type of biscuit makes the best "dunker"! The children had to plan their investigation, carry it out and then present their findings to the class. There were some surprises but they all agreed that the biscuits were yummy!
Creating Prints of Natural Objects in Ash Class
In Art, we have been learning all about different types of print and how we can layer our work to create different effects. Recently, we used a range of wax crayons to make rubbings of different natural objects like shells, bark and leaves. We then used our cutting skills to cut around the rubbings in different ways, before mounting them onto black sugar paper to create our own compositions. The results were wonderful!
Digital Leader Summer Assembly: Making Comments
Today the Digital Leaders led an assembly about making comments. We looked at a picture of a beach and another of some 'friends' at a wedding, discussing what we might say about them. We discussed positive comments made online about the pictures but how one negative comment made can over ride all of these positive comments for those who are sharing the pictures.
During this time, we talked about how when posting information on various platforms, we need to think about who may see our posts. Even if we post on platforms where we choose who can see our information, someone could easily screenshot or take a photograph of our post and share it with others, who we may not know.
Children were reminded of the importance to TELL someone if they are worried and how those people can then support them at home or in school.
Digital Leaders Reaching Out to Our Community
This term, the Digital Leaders have been very busy writing letters to all of our wonderful feeder nurseries and pre-school settings. Their challenge has been to share our fabulous Building Habits posters with each setting and to explain how to use them successfully to encourage their children to be safe online when using a device.
Each of the children wrote a letter and these were sent out to the nurseries. Please see a couple of letters from the children below.
Ash Class composing music for Traditional Stories
In our music sessions we have been thinking about adding sounds to go with traditional stories. We have used our voices to add sounds to Goldilocks and The Three Bears and The Snow Queen and Little Red Riding Hood. Then we used different percussion instruments to add sounds to show the different characters in the story of Little Red Riding Hood. We had to decide whether it was a happy, sad or a scary part. We used tempo, dynamics and timbre to try to create different elements across the story.
Ash Class exploring God's World
In RE we listened to the story of Creation. We thought about how God wants us to care for all the wonderful things he has made. We then went outside with magnifying glasses, microscopes and binoculars to look at God's Creation close up. During our exploring we found a poorly bee, we talked about how we could try to help him by giving him some sugary water. Mrs Turner mixed sugar and water together and we placed some on a leaf for the bee to have. We are hoping he gets better and will have the strength to fly off.
Learning about The Great Fire of London
To help us with our understanding of the Great Fire of London and what people might have heard, seen, felt and smelt, Miss Dare kindly lit a fire in the fire pit. We talked about why we might use wood to get the fire going and we saw how quickly it burnt, just like the wooden houses in 1666. We then saw how the flames were rising and were spreading across the fire pit as the wind blew. This helped us to understand how the fire would have set the houses next to them alight. Next, you thought about words to describe the fire by using your senses. This will help our writing later in the week. Of course we couldn't have a fire pit without toasting marshmallows!
Ash and Beech Class Trip to Magdalen Farm - Thursday 29th June 2023
The children had a magical time visiting Magdalen Farm where they were given the opportunity to do such a wide range of activities including:
Pond dipping
Looking for caterpillars in the willow dome den.
Pretending to be deer and listening to sounds around us.
Creating art with nature.
Making potions in the courtyard garden.
The day was full of happiness and fresh air. It was so much fun that on the bus journey home there were a couple of children fast asleep. All of the children were super stars and their behaviour was wonderful.
Sports Day - Friday 23rd June 2023
The children had a wonderful sports day in the sunshine today. EYFS and KS1 children took part in a range of field activities within their house teams, whilst KS2 children had their track events. This followed with EYFS and KS1 children completing their track events whilst KS2 children took part in their field activities. Each team demonstrated great sportsmanship and the house captains and vice captains did a marvelous job of leading their teams. Congratulations to the winning house - BLAKE!
Afterwards, the children competed in the long distance track running event around the recreation ground and a house tug of war for each year group, where each house team pulled on a different rope. There was even some time for toddler, parent and teacher races with an eventful parent tug of war at the end.
Technology Open Classroom Event - Wednesday 7th June 2023
Today we invited all of our parents and carers to our Technology Open Classroom Event. The children really enjoyed sharing their learning with their families and it was lovely to watch the level of engagement between them all.
In Ash and Beech Classes, the children shared their knowledge of programming Blue-Bots, using Jit5 to paint a picture and add text, as well as programming on Jit5.
During the Key Stage 2 learning, Maple, Oak and Willow Classes shared their knowledge of programming using Scratch and using Micro:Bits.
Between the sessions, Mrs Stradling delivered a presentation about Online Safety that included information about recent statistics, what we do at Chilthorne Domer Church School in regards to Online Safety and how parents and carers can help their children at home e.g. using the eLIM Building Habits posters. During the session, we emphasised the importance of TALKING to your child and having positive conversations. The more we talk about things, the more our children will share things with us, which in turn will allow us to protect them.
In the event that your child comes across someone asking to share inappropriate material or requests to meet them in person, please REPORT this to advisors at either:
Child Exploitation and Online Protection
or
Internet Watch Foundation
The session finished by reminding everyone to TALK and to ALWAYS BE KIND.
We had such a positive morning and look forward to hosting another similar event.
Athletics Event - 6th June 2023
Today a range of children in KS2 had the opportunity to represent the school in a range of athletic events. It was lovely to see the children take pride in their sport as well as showing respect and sportsmanship for their peers.
An Update from the Digital Leaders - Staying Healthy: Self Image 25th May 2023
Hello,
We are some of the Digital Leaders at Chilthorne Domer Church School. During this half term on the 25th May 2023, the Digital Leaders led an assembly in front of the whole school about Staying Healthy. This focused on Self Image.
We began the assembly by looking at photos and discussing what we could see was the same about the people in them and what was also different about them. Afterwards, we looked at how we can be good at different things, which our image might not tell us e.g. being good at reading, being a great mathematician or a wonderful listener.
As part of this discussion, we then spoke about how it is important to not always believe what you see online, as often this it is not real. When we see an image, that is all we see and do not really know or understand what is actually going on in that person’s life. Although they may appear pretty or handsome they have probably used lots of filters on the picture or video that they have posted. We do not know if they are genuinely happy or not.
To finish the assembly, we focused on talking about how important it is to believe in yourself and how to remember how amazing you are.
Thank you for listening,
The Digital Leaders.
If you are ever worried about someone or something, it is always important to talk to someone about it. To help your family stay safe online, the NSPCC have some helpful tips that you can follow to keep your child safe online.
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/
Willow Class Visit to Shepton Mallet Prison - Thursday 18th May 2023
Willow Class enjoyed a visit to Shepton Mallet Prison today where they were able to learn all about what it would be like to be a prisoner.
Ascension Day Service - Wednesday 17th May 2023
Today we enjoyed a lovely walk to church where we could hear the church bells ringing as we reached the entrance. Mrs Batstone led a lovely service with some special words about Ascension Day and how this was Jesus travelling up above us so that he is always around us. Mrs Batstone reminded us of the candle that we lit at Easter and explained that it has been 40 days since this time and how it is now time to put it out and watch the smoke lift up around us, like Jesus did. Everyone sang some of our traditional hymns beautifully in church like Lord of the Dance and Shine Jesus Shine. To finish the service, children from each class read some special prayers.
As we left the church, we gathered in the church grounds and Mrs Batstone gave each year group some special balloons. Children then took it in turns to cut the ribbon and watch the balloons ascend up into the sky, just like Jesus did.
A Visit from the Fire Department - Friday 28th April 2023
Today each class were very lucky to have a visit from Lee who was from the fire service. He talked to us about how to keep safe and who we could contact if we rang 999.
Lee talked to us about smoke alarms and how important it is to have one at the bottom of your stairs and one upstairs. He also explained how smoke alarms have a nose that can smell smoke and smoke rises, which tells us when there is a fire. Our smoke alarms should be tested once a week.
Afterwards, we learnt what to do if our clothes caught on fire. Lee taught us to ‘Stop, drop and roll’.
Stop = Stop moving otherwise the fire grows quickly.
Drop = Drop to the floor.
Roll = Roll like a pencil across the floor, back and forth to out the fire out.
Lee then brought his fire equipment in. He showed us his special fabric leggings that were attached to his boots, followed by his tunic and helmet.
Finally we went out to see the fire van, where Lee put the flashing lights and siren on for us. It was an exciting morning!
Monday 20th March 2023
The Digital Leaders led their Spring assembly to the whole school about being Safe and Secure. They shared examples of emails and discussed whether or not they should respond to them. Afterwards, they shared part of the video about Kim and Lee playing a game online and invited the children to think about what they should do at different points. Later on the children watched the rest of the video in their classes, which looked at how you can never be sure about who is behind an avatar.
If you would like to watch the video, please follow the link below:
Today, Ash Class were very lucky and got to visit Mr and Mrs Luscombe's farm to meet some new born lambs. The lambs have only been in the world for 2 weeks. We were extremely lucky that we had the opportunity to stroke one of the lambs that is a triplet. It was made extra special by walking in the snow!
This afternoon, Willow Class paid a visit to the village hall to chat to some memebers of the community and take part in the pop-up sports that take place every Monday afternoon. It was a great chance to meet some new people and have fun!
We are so impressed with all of the wonderful costumes everyone has worn into school today! Thank you to everyone who has supported this - the children have had a lovely day celebrating their love of books and reading. Happy World Book Day!
A big well done to all children who represented the school at the girls football and cross country this week. As always, you behaved impeccably and tried your hardest - we are very proud!
A big well done to the following children for coming in the top 10 in the age group cross country race:
On Friday, we gathered on the playground at 11am to mark the one year anniversary of Russia invading Ukraine. After the minute silence, a poem, written by Mrs Bond, was read out. Thank you Mrs Bond for writing such a thoughtful poem.
A poem for the Ukraine
Written by Mrs Bond
A year has passed since the war began
Since innocent children and families ran
From their beloved country in to the unknown
Leaving behind the place they call home
Love and courage has kept them strong
Soldiers don’t quit and still march on
As your neighbour we welcome you with love and hope
Teamed with compassion to try and help you cope
The war is not over, but together we will persevere
With hope in our hearts, a smile and a tear
Ukraine have hope, you’re truly not alone
One day soon… We will get you home.
This afternoon, we welcomed athlete Rich Parker to the school to take us through a sponsored exercise event. The children worked really hard and werre worn out by the end of the activities! You all did a great job!
The whole school walked to church this morning to take part in an Ash Wednesday service to mark the start of Lent.
This morning we all opened up our classes and invited parents in to learn with us! Everyone had a wonderful time sharing the learning with family members. Thank you to everyone who was able to join us.
In Willow Class, we remembered the reason why we make pancakes on Shrove Tuesday. We even made our own which were delicious!
This week started with our Digital Leaders delivering assemblies to children across the school to celebrate Safer Internet Day.
This year's focus is 'Want To Talk About It? Making Space For Conversations About Life.'
All the children across the school have been participating in activities to help them understand the benefits of technology and the internet, as well as what to do if they come across a problem and need help.
To find out more you can visit our E-Safety page and our Safer Internet Day page:
There was a super tea party this afternoon for children who have shown consistent and excellent behaviour, attitude towards learning and respect. They were treated to special cakes baked by Mrs Chesterton! Everyone had a wonderful time!
Ash Class Exploring the Church and Taking Part in a Baptism
After exploring our church, Mrs Batstone invited Ash Class to sit in the pews at the back of the church near the font. She explained that we were going to learn about how people are baptised and the different ages you can do this. Then Mrs Batstone explained that we were going to baptise a baby (doll) today so that we would understand the importance and structure of a baptism service.
First, we chose a Mummy and a Daddy who got to hold the baby in a special white baptism gown near the font. Mrs Batstone explained that she had made this gown and everyone in her family had worn it for their baptisms. We then chose 3 God parents who would help Rosie make good choices in life.
Mrs Batstone read out her special words and as a congregation we all joined in to say the special words 'With the help of God we will' to guide Rosie. Mrs Batstone then used a special oil to place a cross on Rosie's head and later on used a mother of pearl shell to place some Holy water over her head.
After more of the special service, Mrs Batstone lit a special candle for Rosie using the large special candle to welcome her into the church family.
At the end of the service we all joined together to say the Lord's Prayer.
It was such a wonderful experience for all of the children. We are very grateful to Mrs Batstone for making this experience possible.
Willow Class had the privelidge of visitng Mrs Batstone at the church this afternoon. During their visit, they explored the different areas in the church and discussed the important objects found there. Willow Class asked Mrs Batstone a range of questions and listened really carefully to the information they discovered. They finished their time at the church with some moments of quiet reflection and prayers.
The children were very excited to take part in some fencing and cheerleading today. During their fencing session, they learnt how to stand and move as well as some of the special terms used in fencing. In cheerleading, children learnt some movement patterns along with some chants, as well as using poms poms throughout! Fun was had by all!
Carol Service in St. Mary's Church
Today we celebrated Christmas with our Carol Service in St. Mary's Church. We listened to children across the classes give readings and sang some wonderful Christmas hymns and songs.
As part of the service, the third purple candle on the advent wreath was lit for the third Sunday of advent. We also learnt about how the pink candle represents joy and the white candle represents the light of Jesus, which never fades.
At the end of the service, Mrs Battestone shared a special cake with the school. This was after she spoke to the school council in a recent meeting and they thought it was important to celebrate Jesus' birthday with a birthday cake. Mrs Battestone lit the candle and we all sang Happy Birthday to Jesus. Once back at school, every child was able to have a cupcake made by Mrs Battestone to celebrate, which everyone was very excited about.
Digital Leaders Assembly: I am Kind and Responsible
The Digital Leaders delivered an assembly to the whole school about how to be Kind and Responsible online. They shared our Building Habits posters that can be seen around school and talked specifically about 3 of the main things to remember when using a device online:
ASK - Always ask an adult before you use a device.
TELL - Tell an adult what you are using and if you find something that upsets / distresses you.
CHECK - Make sure you check that an adult can see you and you can see them, when using a device.
If you would like to watch the video that the Digital Leaders shared with the pupils about how to be kind and responsible online, please follow the following link:
Christingle Service 2022
The children enjoyed celebrating Christingle in St. Mary's Church this week. They listened carefully to Mrs Battestone and watched in awe as she lit the first candle of advent.
It was lovely to see our Year 6 children feeling proud whilst reading to the rest of the school in church. All of the children held their Christingles during the service and focused on the light.
We remembered the symbols of the Chrisitngle as:
The orange to represent the world.
The red ribbon to represent Jesus' love or blood.
The 4 sticks to represent the seasons.
The sweets to represent God's fruit and creations.
The candle to represent the light in the darkness.
All children enjoyed singing our special Christingle hymns, including 'This Little Light of Mine'.
Online Safety Survey
November 2022
The Digital Leaders have been busy carrying out an online safety survey across EYFS, Key Stage 1 and Lower Key Stage 2 during the last week, whilst the upper Key Stage 2 classes have independently completed the survey using their Google accounts. The survey is being completed by all of our children to identify the areas of online safety that they are confident with and areas that we can support the children with during the year.
As always, the Digital Leaders have taken pride in their role, using wonderful communication skills with the children they are working with.
On Tuesday 15th November, the Year 6 pupils in Willow Class travelled to Perrott Hill School to take part in this year's Mock Trial Competition. In preparation, they had a visit from the Magistrate, Mary Ellis who explained her role as a magistrate and how a Magistrate's Court worked. During the build-up, everyone chose their role, ranging from court reporters and artists, to witnesses, photographers, solicitors and magistrates. This year our team included Leigh Smedley who had been accused of a fly-tipping offence. As our job was to prove that Leigh was not guilty, it was a big challenge to think of as many questions as possible to support the defendant and challenge the prosecutors! Everyone did a fantastic job, showing how confident and quick-thinking they could be and at the end of the trial, Leigh was found not guilty! Overall, we came 4th out of 6 schools. Well done everyone, we are very proud of your achievements!
We held a lovely service this morning to remember today all of the sacrifices that were made in all of our yesterdays.
Willow Class lead our service and read wonderfully throughout. The whole school sang a beautiful version of In Flanders Fields and we had the wonderful Mrs Carter, David and Nigel who played the Last Post to start our 2 minutes silence. They then played their bugles again to finish the silence with Reveille. A huge thank you to the tree of them for playing at our service.
Below you will find some videos (when we can upload them!) and photos of our service. Thank you to all those who joined us and to those who wore their military uniform and medals.
Thank you all for your Shoebox contributions. Together we made 11 Christmas boxes with plenty of other bits that will go towards making further boxes. 🎁
The school council dropped these of earlier so they’ll start their journey on Monday morning to some very grateful children. 👦 👧
We had a lovely day in school yesterday starting with our sharing assembly. Each class shared some of their learning from the term so far all around why we remember. Thank you too all the visitors that braved the weather to share our learning with us.
Classes then split in to houses and spent the day taking part in activities that linked to the past. We also spent time thinking about remembrance.
Our New Digital Leaders
All of these smiling children worked extremely hard on their applications to be a Digital Leader and now they will work alongside Mrs Stradling with our online safety and computing needs. See if you can spot them as you walk around the school. They will all be wearing a special Digital Leader badge to help you recognise them.
Over the last 2 weeks, each of the Key Stage 2 classes have been lucky enough to visit Nothe Fort in Weymouth. The children made a fantastic effort and dressed up as evacuees, ready for an immersive day to experience what life was like during World War 2.
We learnt in a WW2 classroom; some of us even got detention (the Headteacher was pretty terrifying), we visited a shop and learnt about rationing; we were particularly shocked about the lack of cheese they had each week! We had the chance to have a go at the washing in a kitchen and learnt that they only did their washing on a Monday and a bath on Friday- they all had to share the water!
A particularly nerve-wracking experience was sitting in the air-raid shelter while the siren went off and bombs were dropped!
We had a brilliant day and will be using our experience to support our learning back at school.
A fabulous 28 children signed up for the first cross country race of the season - this is an amazing 20% of our school!
The weather was mostly kind to us - the small bit of rain produced beautiful rainbows - but most importantly, the children ran wonderfully!
We still await the final results but a big congratulations to Taylor who came 9th in the Year 2/3 boys race and Harriet who came 1st in the Year 5/6 girls race.
All of our runners were amazing and tried hard. Well done to each and every one of you!
Congratulations to the following children who have been voted as school council members by their peers:
Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | Year 6 |
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Congratulations to all of the children who made a speech in front of their houses in a bid to become house captain. You were all amazing and brave to put yourself forward!
A big well done to the following children who were voted at House and Vice captains:
Blake | Coleridge | Shelley | Wordsworth |
House Captain - Lilia Vice Captain - Chloe | House Captain - Kyla Vice Captain - Aiden | House Captain - Holly Vice Captain - Ellie | House Captain - Kaden Vice Captain - Sam |
We all started off the new term with a whole school shared text. All classes took part in a bear hunt, collecting facts and paw prints as well as a variety of activities in classes, ranging from English to PSHE to art! A great week was had by all, have a look at the brilliant work everyone produced!
The whole school has started it's journey to more exciting playtimes with the help of OPAL. Check out our new OPAL page for more information - you can find this under the Children tab.
We are looking forward to seeing where this journey will take us - watch this space!
It has been so lovely to welcome everyone back to school for a brand new year! We kicked off our year with an assembly full of farmers - you heard it right, lots of the staff had become farmers much to the children's amusement!
By the end of this assembly the children learnt about everything they needed to become a Chilthorne Champion and it included lots of gardening equipment (that explains the farmers then…!). Here are all the things the children will remember when being a Chilthorne Champion:
A dibber was used to represent belief - believing in others as well as yourself – always having a go and understanding that you may not be able to do it now but you will get there!
A pair of secateurs represents teamwork including encouragement and support, friendships and relationships – all very important in the daily life of a Chilthorne Champion!
A spade. This shows us that we need to dig deep – are we doing the best we can do? Are we giving this 100% of our effort? Are we making links in our learning and thinking about others (by looking beyond ourselves)?
The watering can encourages us to keep on trying! Practice, practice, practice! Try and try again – resilience and perseverance were two words mentioned by the children at this point. Remember, mistakes are marvellous – we learn from them!
The rake represents reflection – every lesson, every day, every week, and every month we can start again if we need to. The rake gives us an opportunity to reflect and consider what we need to do next in order to be the very best we can be.
Finally, no toolkit is complete without something to carry it all in. The gardening bag/toolbox holds it all together – we need all of the above in order to be a Chilthorne Champion. We need to think carefully about our behaviour and attitude in school and the respect that we have for ourselves, the environment, others and what we do – including the work in our school books!
Along with our daily meet and greets (you may have noticed staff shaking children’s hands as they arrive!) and our fantastic sitting and walking around our site, all of these things will set everyone up for a fantastic year ahead. We are looking forward to watching all of our Chilthorne Champions shine during this year!
This is how we do it here!
Ash and Beech Class Visit to Carymoor 20th July 2022
What a wonderful day the children had, thanks to the wonderful Carymoor staff.
As soon as we arrived, the children were welcomed with big smiles and went on to act out the story of the Gingerbread Man before learning a song about the fox. They then got to explore a whole range of activities that developed their independence and also how to work as a team.
These activities included a treasure hunt to find parts of the story in the woods, making their own Gingerbread men by threading wool and using forest pieces as decorations and then working in teams to build a house for the Gingerbread man with items from the wood.
In addition to this, the children created their own boats, which they tested on water and even used willow to make their own dens before hiding inside before the storm (watering can) came.
The children demonstrated exemplary behaviour and we had a magical time together