Year 5's Ancient Greek journey continued! We began with our Greek VR experience, stepping back in time to experience Ancient Greek triremes, temples and islands first-hand. After comparing Sparta and Athens last week, we explored how democracy worked in Athens. Using the Greek alphabet, the children deciphered names on ancient ostraka and discovered that citizens could be banished without committing a crime. This sparked a great debate: How fair was this system? Could wealth and influence have been used to bribe others and remove political rivals? Ancient Greece has also featured in English, as we followed Odysseus on his journey. After meeting the sorceress Circe, the children wrote their own dialogue between the two, before encountering the legendary Scylla. Now they are exploring more mythological creatures and creating adverts for them. And the big finale? On Friday, we'll hold our very own Greek Creature Market, where the children will choose their creature and use it to create a new Odysseus quest myth next week!

If you've noticed your children coming home with completely different Forest School stories each week, there's a wonderful reason for that! Our sessions are entirely child-led, meaning the children steer their own learning based on their unique interests, curiosity, and confidence levels. Across St Mary's this week, that freedom has led to all sorts of incredible adventuresfrom mastering mallets, bowsaws and palm drills for tree-cookie necklaces, to weaving with wool, building epic dens, and hunting down enormous spiders! The Fledglings even discovered a mysterious fairy door with a note asking for help finding lost magic (they've left some woodland treasures outside and are eagerly waiting to see what happens next week!). By following their lead, every session becomes a personalized journey of discovery, curiosity, and imagination.

On Monday, our Year 6 children stepped back in time with an incredible visit from Prime VR! Wearing VR headsets, they took a virtual journey to Chichén Itzá, standing at the base of towering temples and exploring where the ancient Mayans lived. It was a fascinating and immersive way to bring their history topic to life, and the room was filled with total awe and wonder!

This week's guide from The National College to support you and your family. #wakeupwednesdays

A brilliant day yesterday at The British Motor Museum with Kingfishers and Robins. We got to see so many exciting different cars, go on the big red bus and even see the first ever car! Wow!

What an sunny, action-packed week we've had outdoors! Our young explorers have been busy hunting for spiders, using ID guides to discover all the fascinating species living in our woods. We've seen amazing teamwork and creativity as the children built some truly imaginative dens, while over in the tool area, there was great focus and effort as they used mallets and stakes to dig and create giant woven patterns. Of course, there was plenty of tree climbing too! A special mention goes to our Fledglings, who crafted their very own 'log dogs' and proudly walked them all around the site. It's been a fantastic week full of curiosity, collaboration, and woodland fun!

This week's guide from The National College to support you and your family. #WakeUpWednesdays

Kingfishers have had another fun and busy week! We started the week with our WOW Day and particularly enjoyed making boats using paper and foil. We then tested them to see if they would sink or float and counted how many counters they could hold. In Art, we practised our wet-on-wet technique using watercolours, which the children really enjoyed. We ended the week with a fun PE lesson, practising our ball skills.

Sun's out, learning's out! Our Fledglings took full advantage of this weeks beautiful weather by bringing their learning outdoors. Outside play builds big imaginations, strong muscles, and a lifelong curiosity for the natural world!

Look at these incredible Mayan masks taking shape in Year 6! Our talented Owls have been hard at work using cardboard and paper-mache to build up intricate structures, bold features, and amazing textures to replicate Mayan masks they have been studying. They're already looking fantastic, but this is just the beginning... Check back with us at the end of the term to see the finished masterpieces!

Year 3 and 4 embellished their flags today using pens and stamps. They were inspired by the patterns found on the sides of canal boats and amazed us with their creativity.

Year 5 swifts have had a lovely week of learning so far. In English, the children have been following the exciting story of Odysseus. They are now stepping into his shoes and writing a soliloquy, imagining his thoughts and feelings as he is trapped inside the Cyclops' cave. The children had great ideas how Odysseus could escape. In History, we have been exploring what everyday life was like in Ancient Greece. Working in groups, the children investigated how the Ancient Greeks built their homes, what they ate, the clothes they wore and how they traded goods. They have also started creating posters to share and showcase everything they have learned. Next week, the children will present their posters and learning to the other groups. It has been wonderful to see the children working together, sharing ideas and really bringing the world of Ancient Greece to life through their learning.

Our Forest School groups have had such an exciting week out in the woods! We've been busy exploring nature, hunting for beautiful spiders, and taking great care to study them safely before letting them go. The woods were full of laughter during our epic games of hide and seek, with everyone using camouflage to make themselves almost impossible to spot, alongside plenty of tree climbing and den building. Our Fledglings shared the lovely story 'It Was a Cold, Dark Night' and used natural treasures from the forest floor to build cozy shelters for woodland animals. To top it all off, the mud kitchen was bustling all week serving up delicious mud dumplings and noodles, complete with our very own hand-crafted Forest School chopsticks! It's been a wonderful week of fresh air, teamwork, and outdoor imagination.

This week's guide from The National College to support you and your family. #WakeUpWednesdays

We have been printing this week! The children have been screen printing onto fabric to create flags ready for Banbury Canal Day. They did an amazing job! The prints are currently hanging up to dry, ready to be embellished later this week.