On Wednesday, Burundi Class explored the Ramsgate air raid tunnels and learnt all about how and why they were created and what it would have been like to take shelter in them during the Second World War.  This was such an interesting visit and the children were fascinated by the stories of some of the characters that sheltered from the bombs in Ramsgate, it really brought their history learning to life.

 

Then they enjoyed their picnic and games on the beach in the afternoon before heading back and it was lovely to see the Year 5 and 6s really enjoying their time together. Thank you Mrs Fisher for organising this experience for them.

On Wednesday, Uganda Class visited the Living Land show at the Kent County Showground to spend the day learning about farming, meeting animals, watching displays and demonstrations, as well as hands on experiences of shearing sheep, making rope and tasting fresh produce.  Having been a few years ago, we were so pleased to be selected to be able to attend again this year. Lots of schools were present and as always, we were incredibly proud of our pupils who all demonstrated excellent behaviour and good manners throughout the day.

Congo Class had a beautiful (if not rather chilly) day on Tuesday for their visit to Leeds Castle to extend their learning of Kings and Queens.  They took part in a workshop exploring all the royal links the castle has and how Kings and Queens have influenced the castle’s history and development.  Then they had an exclusive tour of the castle, visiting ‘out of bounds’ areas that regular visitors are not normally allowed to access.  They got a ride on the land train and got to explore the grounds during the day. The highlight for many was the chance to ask questions to an AI Queen Eleanor of Castile, its first royal owner.

 

The children behaved really well and some of their knowledge impressed the tour guides for children so young.  Well done Congo Class and thank you to Miss Vidler for organising such a lovely trip for them to bring their classroom learning to life.

Kenya Class enjoyed their trip to Wingham Wildlife Park on Tuesday this week and had such a busy day.  The favourite animals they saw were chimpanzees, snakes and the meerkats, and the dinosaur park was a huge hit with them all!  It was lovely to hear from the parents how much the children enjoyed the trip and all the walking certainly helped them sleep well that night.  Thank you to Mrs Smith for organising the outing for the class.

On Monday morning, we explored the idea of ‘Spirituality’ as a school and what this means and where we might enjoy and find moments of spirituality for ourselves.  Our Worship Committee led 5 different activities in the church guided by Rev Helen and Rev Carol.  There were lots of thoughtful discussions and moments for reflection for each of the classes throughout their activities

 

 

Get Set | Get Set for Milan - Log Activity

 

The Olympics always inspires us to get involved and during the half term holiday, you can continue to log their activity to help ‘Team Trottiscliffe’ to travel around the venues of the Winter Olympics.

You can visit the page above, use the PIN: 3875 and out postcode: ME19 5EB to find Team Trottiscliffe and then log any activity your child does outside of school.  This could include a walk, a swim, football or rugby training, a bike ride etc.

Uganda Class had a fantastic experience on Wednesday when they visited the renowned Big Cat Sanctuary in Smarden.  They spent the morning in a workshop learning all about interdependence and adaptation to support their learning in Science.  They also learned about the impact of climate change and other factors causing animals to become extinct.

 

Then in the afternoon they had a guided tour of the Sanctuary and, thanks to the dryer weather, saw many of the 14 species that are cared for there.  They also got to see the Lion Rescue Centre that we as a school fundraised for 2 years ago to house the five lions that urgently needed rescuing from Ukraine. The children all reported having a fantastic time and hearing Kasanga the lion roar was such a fantastic experience for them.  I challenge you to ask the children what the difference between a ‘big cat’ and a ‘small cat’ is, and to ask them about the ‘black panther’.  Hopefully they will have remembered some of what they learned while they were there.

 

 

On Wednesday, the TSA held an EGM to elect a new Chair and agree the updated TSA constitution. We are happy to announce Steph, Oliver in Y2’s mum, was voted into the role as Chair, we are excited to have Steph on board and are grateful to her for stepping into the position. The new TSA Committee are busy working on this term's events and will be sending out information next week with everything you need to know! 

In addition to the meeting we have sold lots of second hand uniform this week. Just a reminder that Jenna runs the second-hand uniform shop. Please let Jenna know if you need any new uniform and we can organise this for you. She also takes donations of uniform that has been outgrown to keep the shop stocked!! 

We look forward to a fun packed term, hopefully raising more essential funds for our amazing little school. 

 

Thank you to all the parents that came along to the meeting on Wednesday, we look forward to continuing to working alongside our TSA who always do so much to support our school.

Well what a welcome back from the weather!  We have had all sorts this week from snow, wind, rain, floods and terrible ice.  Hopefully next week will be a bit calmer for everybody’s journeys to and from school.  We thank you all for ensuring your children made it in this week, even if a later start was needed for some of our remote locations.  It really showed how much you value your children’s time in school and we do appreciate this.  We fully understand that everyone has a different route to take and while we will always try to open the school if we feel we can, we appreciate some of our families may have more difficulty journeys travelling in than others. 

 

In case of further bad weather, if you are notifying us of your difficulties travelling to school, please do so by email to the school office as the phone line can get very busy at times like this.  If you need to know if the school is closed we communicate this information in as many ways as we can, as early as we can – usually by 7:30am.  These include the following:

• KCC School Closures website
• Announcement on our school website homepage
• School Private Facebook Community page
• Email
• Text message