Whitehouse Common Primary -

European Day of Languages 2017

In 2001, the Council of Europe and the European Commission declared 26th September the European Day of Languages: a day to celebrate linguistic diversity; to raise awareness of the languages used in Europe; to promote cultural and linguistic diversity; and to encourage life-long language learning. 

At Whitehouse Common every day is a 'Day of Languages' as we discover more about the world around us, noticing different languages written on food packets and clothes labels, finding out about the language and culture of our friends and families, and celebrating how great it is that we're not all the same but we're all special.

Excellent Work (Week Beginning 18/9/17)

Howtown 2017 Day Four

We've had a wonderful day full of even more adventures, many of which got us very wet!

Miss Greenwood's group went for a walk into the forest where they built dens and had hot chocolate. The children then jumped off a crag and into Ullswater,  where there were three layers of challenging heights to conquer. After this they canoed back to the center.

Mrs. Allen and Mrs. Rowney's groups have been gorge walking in deep waterfalls, some children named this area 'The Jacuzzi' and then enjoyed cliff jumping into the lake, a fantastic time was had by all.

Mrs. Cowdery's group canoed across the Lake and then also jumped off the cliff.. Mrs. Brady's group walked to Pooley Bridge and returned on the steamer - the children even had the opportunity to drive it! They discussed our year group poet, Wordsworth, and saw the inspirational sites for his poem, I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud . There was a stone bench engraved with some of his poetry.

We are extremely proud of the achievements of every child during our trip. They've exceeded their own (and our) expectations,moving out of their comfort zone on several occasions. We are now off to join the children for their final evening activities of camp fires, toasting marshmallows and reflecting on the accomplishments.

Cross country at Bishop Walsh 19.09.17

On Tuesday the cross country season kicked off at Bishop Walsh where the first race of the WSAS Cross Country League took place. After a huge number of children trying out last week, a squad of 8 boys and 8 girls was picked. As usual, this coincided with Year 6 being at Howtown but this gave an opportunity for our new Year 5s to show us their talents.

It was a lovely evening and conditions were excellent. Wearing our new school Tshirts and big smiles, our team set off racing around the playing fields at Bishop Walsh. 

The boys ran first then, as they reached the 3/4 point, the girls started. Señora Stevens was torn between shouting encouragement and organising but managed to do both, and the races went well. Every one of our team finished strongly, and those that had finished shouted encouragement at their teammates, some even turning round and cheering when they'd only just finished and were still short of breath. Particularly well done to Jalen, Ben and Joe who finished 10th, 12th and 39th respectively, and Olivia, Mariah and Kirstie who finished 25th 26th and 42nd in their race. 

Señora Stevens was very proud of all of them and was especially pleased by the excellent attitude and good manners they showed to other adults and their fellow competitors. They were excellent ambassadors for Whitehouse Common. Year 6 - you're going to have to work hard to regain your places on the team! 

Howtown 2017 Day Three

Another fantastic adventure was had by all.

Mrs. Brady's group went on a hill walk, they saw stunning views from the climb to the top of the 149 ascent. They scaled sheer rock faces and traversed along ridges - the children's perseverance was fantastic and they walked 4km in total. Miss Greenwood's group went gorge walking; the children's teamwork skills were amazing. They really encouraged one another and used the 'Roman handshake' to help each other up the waterfall. After this, the children went in a speed boat to a cliff and jumped off into the lake.

A hill walk was completed by both Mrs. Allen and Mrs. Rowney's groups to Pooley Bridge and Glenridding. The children loved playing in the waterfalls and the meandering streams along the journey. Positive comments were made by the public about how extremely well behaved the children were on their return visit to the center on the steamer boat.

Mrs. Cowdery's group scrambled up a dry gorge using harnesses and ropes. They spotted deer in the distance - David Attenborough eat your heart out! Lunch was eaten whilst admiring the breath taking views, before descending into Sandwick.

We have been very lucky with the weather, and so far escaping the rain! The children are enjoying their evening activities of night-line and orienteering. We are excited for even more fun tomorrow.

Howtown 2017 Day Two

Howtown 2017 Day One

We arrived in the picturesque Lake District just in time for lunch. After devouring our sandwiches and snacks we found out where our dorms were and set off on our first challenge: making our beds! Once this task was complete (it took a while) we collected our bags and settled in to our rooms.

After this, we met our instructors and set off on our first activity - jog and dip. The lake was far from being on the toasty side, however we were extremely brave and conquered this task with chattering teeth smiles on our faces.

We had a lovely dinner of either: sausage casserole, sweet chilli chicken, mince and dumplings or macaroni cheese as well as many other options.

The children thoroughly enjoyed our first selection of evening activities followed by a hot chocolate and cookie.

Over and out from the Howtown Team!

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Lo que recordamos en español (Otoño 2017)

Every class in KS2 has had their first Spanish lesson of the year this week, and Señora Stevens has been impressed by the enthusiasm shown and attention paid.

Year 3 were extremely excited to share what they already knew, and enjoyed asking our two resident experts questions about Spain and Spanish.

Year 4 took on the Tarsia Challenge in their first lesson, trying to arrange small triangles to make one large equilateral triangle by matching items of vocabulary they had learned last year. Well done to the first team to complete the challenge by collaborating effectively and assigning roles to each team member!  

Year 5 were treated to one of Señora Stevens' original songs to learn members of the family, joining in exuberantly (possibly in an attempt to drown out her) and all demonstrating that they could not only recognise 8 new items of vocabulary but also classify another 20 based on their new knowledge. ¡Bien hecho 5MW, 5MM and 5CE!

Year 6 this year are already showing signs of being SPaG superstars, and not just in English. They made short work of defining and explaining the definite and indefinite article in English, and made connections to their previous learning in Spanish to work out that there are 4 definite and 4 indefinite articles in Spanish, dependent on whether a noun is masculine or feminine, singular or plural. We'll see if they remember it all when we return to the subject after Howtown...

Here's looking forward to another year of excelencia en español at WCPS.