Poetry Week

This week the children at Edna G. Olds Academy participated in Poetry Week. In each class the children spent time looking at different types of poem and then had the opportunity to write and perform their own poems in front of their peers. It was a great opportunity for children to find out about different types of poetry and to improve their creative writing skills.

Christmas Dinner

On Wednesday 10th December, children and staff at Edna G. Olds Academy enjoyed a delicious Christmas meal. Roast turkey with all the trimmings was prepared by the kitchen staff and all of the children had fun pulling crackers and eating the meal.

Spanish Club

An exciting opportunity has arisen for pupils at Edna G. Olds Academy. A Spanish Club will be taking place on a Thursday lunchtime for children who are interested in improving their Spanish language skills. The club will be facilitated by a student who is studying Spanish at The University of Nottingham. This club will compliment the Language Club which has also been taking place this year.

Enterprise Week

This week is Enterprise Week. Children in school will be planning, designing, making and marketing their own products which will be on sale at the Christmas Fair on Friday 15th December. Which class will make the most profit?

Christmas Productions

On Tuesday 12th December, children in KS1 and KS2 performed their respective Christmas Productions. Both productions had the theme of Christmas around the world. In KS1, the children and staff had put a lot of effort into learning songs and practising their acting and the performance was well received by all who attended! For the first time, Year 6 took responsibility for writing and organising the KS2 production. The children researched the countries which would be visited in the performance and found out about their Christmas traditions before writing their own script. Some of the countries visited such as Namibia and Poland were chosen because there are pupils in Year 6 from these countries. In planning and preparing for the production the children had the opportunity to use many core behaviours, in particular: creativity, personal responsibility and inclusion. Feedback from parents after the production was extremely positive and the children in Year 6 are already looking forward to organising their end of year production!

Hour of Code

Last week the children across school thoroughly enjoyed the work they did as part of Hour of Code. In Year 6, we were thrilled to be able to create our own 'Google Doodles'. It was interesting looking at what programmers at Google do in order to create them for special occasions. What I particularly enjoyed was debugging the code if the doodle wasn't doing what I expected it to do; it really tested my problem solving skills! After talking to some children in Year 1, it was interesting to find out about the activity they did because it shows where the starting point for coding begins. I think children will definitely be trying more of the Hour of Code activities at home now!

By Pupil Voice

Sherwood Forest Trust Visit

On Monday 4^th December  Andy and Sam from The Sherwood Forest Trust visited school to help us to plant a variety of tree species on the KS2 playground. It was a great opportunity to learn more about plants and how to ensure they have the correct growing conditions. We are hoping that as the trees grow they will attract a variety of wildlife to the area.

By Eco and Environment Council

Hour of Code

Next week, children across school will be participating in the ‘Hour of Code’ event.  The hour of code is a global movement reaching tens of millions of students in 180+ countries. One hour tutorials have been put together in over thirty languages and so far, there have been 111.638 events organised for Hour of Code around the world.

The Hour of Code started as a one-hour introduction to computer science, designed to demystify "code", to show that anybody can learn the basics, and to broaden participation in the field of computer science. It has since become a worldwide effort to celebrate computer science.

If you would like to find out more and to try some of the tutorials at home, please visit:

https://hourofcode.com/uk 

Children in Need

On Friday 17th November, the children took part in a variety of Children in Need fundraising events. Many of the children paid one pound to come to school wearing spotty clothes. At break time Pupil Voice Council also sold cakes, cookies and iced buns to raise money. Throughout the day, classes have been visiting the hall to try and fill a giant Pudsey with copper coins which they have brought into school. We're looking forward to finding out how much we have raised!

By Pupil Voice

Anti-Bullying Week

Across school, the children have been participating in an Anti-Bullying Week. Each class was given a specific topic to investigate linked to bullying:

Years 1/2 Verbal Bullying
Year 3 Physical Bullying
Year 4 Hidden/Covert Bullying
Year 5 Peer Pressure
Year 6 Cyber Bullying

 All of the children enjoyed finding out about the different types of bullying and understand the steps to take if they or someone they know are being bullied.

Pro-Kick Launch Assembly

On Monday 13th November, Mr Canoville from Canoville Coaching came into school to launch this year's Pro-Kick fundraising event. Children will spend the next few weeks seeking sponsorship to participate and later this half term, Mr Canoville will return to school and the child will compete to see who can kick the football at the fastest speed! Sponsorship money will be split equally between the Edna G. Olds Academy school fund and Canoville Coaching's charity of choice, MIND which supports people with mental health difficulties.
The children are really looking forward to collecting sponsorship money and participating in the Pro-Kick event!

Remembrance Day

Throughout the course of this week all of the children across school have been making poppy wreaths and thinking about why we use the poppy as a symbol of remembrance. Each class came up with a creative way to make their poppies. During assembly on Friday morning, each class shared their wreaths and their wishes for the world. Some of the wishes were:

-We wish the countries in the world would not cause any harm to each other (Year 6)
- We wish everyone in the world were friends (Year 1)
- We wish that fighting would stop (Year 4)
- We wish there was no more war (Year 3)
- Our wish is that people talk in order to solve problems (Year 5)

A minutes silence was held at the end of assembly where the children thought about the sacrifices people have made in war which allow us to enjoy the freedoms we have today. We also discussed how many of these freedoms are part of our British Values.

L.E.A.D Sports Competition

On Thursday 9th November, some children from years 5 & 6 were chosen to go to Harvey Hadden Sports Village for a sports competition. After a quick warm up, the races began. There were seven different schools from L.E.A.D attending and it was nice to see people from the other schools. We took part in a variety of events such as: an obstacle relay, a hurdles relay, a six-lap relay, javelin and triple jump. At the end of the event, we found out that we had come 4th out of all of the schools.

By U.F

Severn Trent Water Assembly

On Wednesday 8th November, the children were lucky enough to have a visitor from Severn Trent Water come to visit. He spoke to them about how to save water and how to look after our drains. The children and staff were surprised to discover how much water gets wasted and were encouraged to use a timer when having a shower to avoid using unnecessary amounts of water. It was an informative assembly and all of the children left with lots of ideas about how to save water.

Topic Launch Day

On Monday, the children at Edna G. Olds Academy enjoyed a day dedicated to the launch of their new topics. A wide variety of activities took place around school and the children were given the opportunity to follow their own lines of enquiry. In year 6 we went outside to investigate the local area and think about what sort of animals would be suited to live in the habitat around school. Some of us then went onto to design our own animals with adaptations suited for this habitat while others decided to research habitats further and find out about different types. 

In year 5, they looked at how heat affects the state of different materials. The children chose which materials to investigate and enjoyed placing them onto the controlled fire to see what happened!

In year 1, the children enjoyed using their senses to investigate what was hidden inside some mystery boxes. They had to use smell, touch and hearing to try and work out what was hiding inside. 

It was a very enjoyable day and everybody in school is looking forward to finding out more this half term!

By Pupil Voice 

The Edna LEADer October 2017 edition

Dinosaurs of China Exhibition

Wollaton Hall has been lucky enough to host an exhibition of dinosaur skeletons and fossils which have been loaned to Nottingham from China. The exhibits on show have only been excavated within the last 30 years and show strong evidence for a link between dinosaurs and birds. Since it is such a rare opportunity to see these fossils, all of the children from Edna G. Olds enjoyed a visit to Wollaton Hall to view the exhibition. Year 6 visited on Thursday 19th October and were astounded by the sheer size of some of the dinosaurs. They couldn't believe that one of them nearly reached the roof of Wollaton Hall! The visit also provoked a lot of discussion about the similarities between dinosaurs and birds.

RE Sharing Morning

As part of the RE work undertaken this week, the children across school participated in an RE theme sharing morning. Classes were mixed and the children were able to share their RE learning with their peers from across the school. The children enjoyed finding out about what other classes had been learning about and ended the session with a deeper understanding of religions and religious practices.

Black History Day

On Thursday 19th October, the children at Edna G. Olds Academy participated in a Black History Day. Each class was given a topic to research and the children enjoyed finding out about the different aspects of black history. In Year 6, the children researched what Africa was like prior to colonisation and were interested to find out about the continent's rich political, scientific and literary history. The slave trade, musical influence, politicians, scientists and sportspeople were also researched by children across the school.

Year 6 IMPS visit

On Thursday Year 6 visited the QMC to participate in the IMPS training session. We were given a tour of the children's A&E unit and were taught what to do in an emergency. One of the most useful parts of the day was learning how to perform CPR if somebody is unconscious and has stopped breathing. We were also shown how to use a defibrillator which can be found more and more in the local area. These machines can give people a much greater chance of surviving if somebody stops breathing.
 By Pupil  Voice

Stratford - upon - Avon

On Friday 29th September, Year 6 visited Stratford-upon-Avon to participate in a Tudor themed day. The children enjoyed a variety of workshops at 'Tudor World' before being given a guided tour of the museum. They thoroughly enjoyed finding about about so many different aspects of life during the Tudor period and also enjoyed sharing their knowledge with the staff! During the afternoon, the children were shown the sights of Stratford by 'William Shakespeare'. They were excited to find out about where he used to live and see the houses his daughters lived in. A particular highlight was hearing the stories he had to tell about Tudor Stratford.

Nottingham Contemporary

Year 6 visited Nottingham Contemporary to view a special community related exhibition. First of all we looked at the photographs of Nottingham past and present and famous people from Nottingham. After that we were given a selection of words and had to find a photo which related to the word we had chosen. We then thought about our own community in Lenton and built a mini version using pictures we had drawn and wooden stands. It was interesting to see how Nottingham has changed over the years and see photographs of so many people from the city. 

Core Behaviours Day

On Monday 4th September, the first day back at school, everybody at Edna G. Olds Academy participated in a Core Behaviours Day. Linking to the core behaviours which are being developed in school, the children in each class participated in a variety of activities aimed at improving the skills of resilience, motivation, tolerance and respect. We really enjoyed the activities and we could see which behaviours we had to use to complete each challenge!

By Laiba

Fair Trade Day

On Friday 19th May 2017 the children at Edna G. Olds Academy took part in a fair trade themed day. Throughout the course of the day the children learnt about the process of fairly trading goods and how buying these products has a huge impact on the lives of the farmers who grow them. During the afternoon, children in all classes used fair trade products to bake delicious treats which were then sold at the fair trade event after school. It was great to see so many people in the hall buying the products!

By Pupil Voice Council

The Great Debate: Do we need an election?

In my opinion, I think that there should not be a general election in six weeks as lots of people who were looking forward to vote will now not be able to as they still won't be old enough. Many people who are 16 would think that they could vote in the next election but as this election comes 2 years early, they will have to wait another 5 years! Plus if the Conservative Party lost, then Theresa May would be out of control and she has only just started as Prime Minister of England.                   

By Zain                       

As you may or may not know, in six weeks there will be another general election, meaning the people of the UK get to vote on who they think should be Prime Minister. Personally I think this is a very good idea because after David Cameron resigned, the public did not have the opportunity to vote for who they thought should be the next Prime Minister, the only people who got to vote at that time were the other MPs from the Conservative Party. Do you really think this is fair?                                          

By Sam C  

Sir Michael Wilshaw's Visit

On Monday 24th April, Sir Michael Wilshaw visited our school to see how amazing  Edna G. Olds Academy really is. Prior to the visit, he had heard many good things about our wonderful school. When coming into the year six classroom, he asked us lots of  questions which we were proud to answer on behalf of our school. During lunchtime, some children enjoyed dining with Sir Michael and asked him many questions about himself and his roles in education. Overall Sir Michael’s visit was intriguing and informative for all of us. 

By Zain

STEM Day

On Tuesday 28th March, Year 6 took part in a science, technology, engineering and maths day along with children from other L.E.A.D schools. We were set a variety of different challenges such as building the tallest tower possible which could hold a 'helicopter' out of only paper, glue and wooden sticks. Throughout the day we had to use our resilience, problem solving and creativity to complete each task. 

By Pupil Voice Council

Green Day

On 17th March 2017, Edna G. Olds Academy celebrated Green Day. Each class had different questions to investigate which had been chosen by Eco Council. In the afternoon, all of the children also participated in a special sharing session where they could tell each other about what they had learnt in the morning. Everybody thoroughly enjoyed the day and the experience of researching and finding out more about the environment.

By Eco Council / Pupil Voice Council

Core Behaviours Launch Day

On Friday 3^rd March 2017, we had a launch day for our ‘Core Behaviours’. As a school we have identified six characteristics that we believe are important to the children’s development both inside and outside of the classroom. Activities aimed at developing motivation, resilience, personal responsibility, courage, self-awareness and creativity took place throughout the school. It has been wonderful to see the children displaying character traits that will support them in becoming lifelong learners.

World Book Day

Yesterday Edna G. Olds Academy celebrated World Book Day by coming to school dressed as their favourite character from a story. We also had a special sharing afternoon where all of the children shared their favourite book and read a section to their partner from a different year group. It was great to see all of the children embracing World Book Day and having lots of fun.

By Sam    

Safer Internet Day 2017

 On 7th February 2017, Edna G. Olds Academy participated in the Safer Internet Day campaign. This global event was celebrated in over 100 countries and saw hundreds of organisations right across the UK and globally ‘be the change’ and help create a better internet.

To celebrate the day, the children at Edna G. Olds Academy participated in a special assembly and later enjoyed activities in their classrooms linked to the theme of ‘Be the change: Unite for a better internet’.

Mandarin Club

On Tuesday 31st January, a new new Mandarin Club was created by Lilian, who is a student at the University of Nottingham, at Edna G. Olds Academy. During the first session of the club, children from key stage 2 learned about the different pronunciation of letters in the Chinese language. In addition to this, they also learned how to say and write numbers in Mandarin.

By Faye

Jokes and Riddles

         FUNNY JOKES AND RIDDLES

Q: Why did the girl smear peanut butter on the road?

A: To go with the traffic jam

Q: What do musicians use to contact each other?

A: A saxophone!

I was watching a potato and a tomato race. The potato was ahead, but the tomato was trying to ketchup.

Riddles

What belongs to you but others use it more than you do?

Your name

What’s harder to catch the faster you run?

Your breath

I'm tall when I'm young but I'm short when I'm old. What am I?

 A candle

Year Six Safety Superstars

Year 6 Trip to I.M.P.S

Picture the scene: a dreaded situation at a supermarket. Mrs Green has just collapsed near the trolley rack and nobody knows what to do … except the young Year 6 student from Edna G. Olds Academy! He leaps into action and is using the defibrillator in moments! How did he manage this? He went on an amazing trip with his class to a course called I.M.P.S:

Injury Minimization Program for Schools

On Thursday the 3rd of November,  Class 6 went to the Queen's Medical Centre to learn how to save lives. During the day, we practised how to use the recovery position and C.P.R. which could come in handy at any time. (Who knows when we will need these skills?)

We also got an interesting tour of the hospital; we went into rooms such as the x-ray room, treatment rooms and the room where plaster casts are applied. We really enjoyed the experience and were amazed by how many safety procedures we learnt to take into the real world and hopefully prevent some injuries from happening. If disaster does strike, Class 6 will be ready to save the day!

By Sam C

Children in Need

This year, the theme of Children in Need was spots because Pudsey Bear has a spotty bandana across one of his eyes. In order to celebrate and raise money for this amazing cause, we all dressed up in spotty outfits and paid a 50p towards helping children everywhere. We also brought in 1p and 2p coins to fill in a huge Pudsey Bear picture; it raised a surprisingly large amount of money! We also brought in 50ps to buy special biscuits which the amazing kitchen team had made especially for the occasion. It’s great that raising money for a good cause can also be so much fun!

By Laiba

Black History Day

Black History Day

On 10th November 2016, we celebrated Black History Day. This is such an important day because even though we understand being fair and inclusive at Edna G. Olds, there are still people out there who discriminate against people because of their skin tone or where they come from. We like to think that nowadays people are a lot kinder but it's really important to remind ourselves to be fair and kind and make sure that everything is equal.

We all looked at different aspects of black history. In our class, we learned about the Trade Triangle and in Class 3, the children found out all about Tommie Smith and famous black athletes.

Who did you learn about on Black History Day? What amazing stories did you hear? Share them with your friends and inspire them too.

By Noor

Debate Articles

Before Christmas, member of the Edna LEADer newspaper published two  articles which looked at the debate surrounding Christmas trees. Please find them below:

Great Debate: against Real Christmas Trees

Do you really want a real Christmas tree? If you do then think again! The trees you buy will carry germs and creepy crawlies from wherever it is they came from (and who really knows where these trees are farmed?) You really don’t want to be ill at Christmas. Is that your aim? I know it’s not mine!

Another thing to consider is this: your Christmas tree comes from the outside world. If you chop down a tree, you are stealing oxygen from the people of the world.

Additionally, just think of all the animals that live in the trees. The birds, bugs and beetles will have no home if you chop down their trees. The festive robins that mean so much to you will be freezing in the wild, homeless at Christmas.

Before you buy a tree that has been taken from nature, think about the impact it will have on nature itself.

Kadie

Great Debate: for Real Christmas Trees

A fake Christmas tree is really out of the Christmas spirit! Think of how much fun it is to have a real Christmas tree to increase the festive cheer for your family! It’s a wonderful thought, isn’t it? However, the quantity of the fake trees is going over the top and is continuing to devour the fame of real trees.

Real trees have the scent of Christmas already infused in them; it’s a smell and a feeling that was made to spread cheer to people. Why end it now? Why can’t we just carry on the joy?

Also, fake trees take a long time to construct and they can’t be recycled. Plastic trees, when you are finished with them, take hundreds of years to rot away in landfill sites.

Bring Christmas into your home. Go for a real tree. It’s worth it, I promise!

By Faye

Harvest Festival Update

The following article was written by one of our Edna Leader journalists:

Did you see the Harvest Festival assembly on Tuesday 8th November? It was all about the crops that we buy (and take for granted!) and how we are lucky to be able to have access to these foods. This was an event for us to count our blessings and realise there are still people out there with no food at all.

We are also lucky to have Reverend Megan come in and speak to us on a regular basis in school. At our Harvest Festival, she encouraged us to think about the food choices we have because not everyone has the luxury of choice. We watched a video about children putting ideas forward to help people who are not as fortunate as us at Edna G. Olds Academy as we are lucky to get the things that are provided by the school.

So what can you do to help others? Not just in terms of food, but in general. At Edna G. Olds Academy, we came up with our own ideas:

"I think that we should give food that we would normally waste to the poor as they are not as fortunate as we are."

"Donate more food to these poor souls."

"Stop wasting food."


What ideas can you think of to help?

Pupil Voice

The following article has been written by one of our Edna Leader journalists:

Noisy Students

Have you heard lots of noise around your area? Have you heard any fireworks in your neighbour-hood? Because, if you have, then we're in this together. Have you experienced your neighbours having extremely loud parties or barking dogs or any act of loud noise? This is really serious because it stops us from getting out well-earned rest at home. Our busy brains need relaxation time!

Let's try to put a stop to these noise neighbours making a racket while we are asleep. We do understand that many of our neighbours are students and they are young and want to have fun. However, they need to be considerate of our needs too.

So let's ask them to please keep the noise down to make the world a happier place. If your neighbours are still noisy after you have asked them politely, try reporting this to the council or call the non-emergency police number: 101. Together, we can stop this and get a good night's sleep.