Page 3 - Abberley Adventures - Issue 8

ABBERLEY ADVENTURES ABBERLEY ADVENTURES 3
Academic Matters
It’s been great to to be be back in the the classrooms and wonderful to to see the the children working so hard There is no doubt that two terms of online learning have had a a a a a a a a a big impact and we are all striving to make up for lost time to to re-establish good learning habits and to to build resilience in in the classroom The older children have thoroughly enjoyed moving around the the school again rather than staying put in in in a a a a a a a a a permanent ‘base’ as as as they had to to do for much of the the time last year It was wonderful to to put names to faces at at our ‘Meet the the Teacher’ drinks evenings at at the the start of term We hope parents enjoyed these evenings as as much as as we we did and we we will definitely make these a a a a permanent fixture on the the calendar each September It was great to meet many parents again at at our Parents’ Evenings before Half Term We operated a a a a system where parents could choose either to book meetings online through School Cloud or to come and meet in in person in in our Front Hall This hybrid system seems to to have worked well and we we will continue to to offer both virtual and ‘real life’ meetings We have had a a a a a a a few educational trips already this term with Pre-prep visiting the Sea Life Centre and and our Top Year spending two days and and a a a a a night in London We took Year 7 teams to to Malvern College for a a a a a Modern Foreign Languages Challenge and for their Masterminds Challenge Cup We were incredibly proud of our Year 7 team for becoming overall winners of the languages challenge and for doing superbly well in the Challenge Cup Well done!
Top Year Trip
Our Top Year enjoyed two fantastic days in London and it was wonderful to to run our first first residential trip in a a very long time! Their first first stop was the Design Museum which encouraged all sorts of discussion about the the the the use of of of materials the the the the future of of of design and the the the the role of of of the the the the designer One exhibit which raised some interesting discussion was the the the the AK47 Is the the the the designer held accountable for the the the the way in which their products are used or is is it the user who is is ultimately responsible? Discuss! At the Natural History Museum we split into smaller groups and headed off in in various directions with dinosaurs high on on the agenda Did you know crystals can form in perfect cuboids and the blue blood of a a a a a a horseshoe crab was instrumental in in the search for a a a a a a Covid19 vaccine?
By this stage of the day you would would assume everyone would would be starting to flag but not the Abberley Hall Top Year! With a a a a a scavenger hunt stuck into into their sketchbooks they headed into into the the the National Gallery and engaged with art stretching from 13th Century Italy to Impressionism It was brilliant to hear pupils discussing the the work amazed by the the scale of the the paintings fascinated by the the history and excited to to see works we we have talked about during lessons After a a a a a delicious pizza we we headed out into the busy West End to to see The Prince of Egypt What an an incredible spectacle! Mrs Austen had secured fabulous seats and pupils were totally absorbed in fin the show from start to to finish We had a a a a a a a comfortable stay at the YHA Earls Court before heading off the following morning to Tate Modern which is always cause for huge debate Still going strong we set off on on a a a walking tour led by Mr BT Passing the the Globe HMS Belfast Tower Tower Bridge and the the Tower Tower of London there was much to see We finished off with a a a a boat trip back to to Westminster Huge thanks to to Mrs Symonds for organising this trip and and to Mr Mr Mr Mr Richardson Mrs Mrs Austen Mr Mr Mr Mr BT and and Mrs Mrs Heath for all their support and hard work Well done to our fabulous Top Year for making the most of of every aspect of of our two days in London