Black History Week at Cypress
This week we have celebrating Black History Week across both sites and studying the book ‘Change Sings’ by Amanda Gorman. Children at the Upper School have been producing poetry, songs and letters based on the themes in the text and on both sites classes have created banners in the style of Loren Long’s illustrations which we are hanging in our school halls to show that we recognise the power we all have in creating positive change. We can recognise that we are all unique and have so much to offer as, in the words of the text, ‘We are Change!’ Special thanks to Ms Prideaux and Mrs Corbett, who planned an inspiring and interesting week of discovery! At the Lower School, Mrs Dutton launched the week with a fantastic assembly,
Enjoy the wonderfully creative poem written by Tess in Beech Class (Year 6) by clicking the link below.
At the Upper School, Mrs Baldry shared some amazing facts about people of colour throughout history in our Monday assembly, allowing us to place these extraordinary figures on a timeline in our minds alongside events within studied time periods. It was fascinating – we didn’t want it to end! We also added some additional fiction and non-fiction reads written by or about people of the African diaspora to the library for children to enjoy.
Show Racism the Red Card
Today, we have been showing our support for the charity ‘Show Racism the Red Card‘. Children have come to school in non-uniform or wearing red and made a donation of £1 which we will send to the charity as a donation. Thank to all our children and families who contributed.
Year 2 London Fire Brigade Visit
This week, Year 2 have taken part in workshops on Fire Safety run by London Fire Brigade. The children have learnt how to keep safe in a fire, the importance of smoke alarms and how to test them and how to create a fire safety plan.
Year 3 Crystal Palace Park Visit
This week Year 3 visited Crystal Palace Park, as part of their ‘Crystal Palace’ Thematic topic! Despite the cold and rainy weather, they wrapped up warm and put our wellies on to go exploring around the park! Click this link to read more.
Year 1 Relay Event
On Monday, Year 1 took part in a fantastic relay event organised by our extended schools team. The children had a great time taking part in a range of relay team games and showed real resilience and determination. We were all very impressed with their ability to work as a team. Thank you to the coaches who ran the event and to Suzanne Christopher for organising.
Gold Award
This half term’s Gold Award was awarded to those pupils who have shown resilience in their learning. Well done to the following children who earned an award this half term.
| Red Class – Ned and Frances | Ruby Class – Ella and Quinn | Lime Class – Ayanah and Alan |
| Yellow Class – Bohdan and Maddy | Turquoise Class – Kayden and Arona | Hazel Class – Amiyah and James |
| Orange Class – Maya and Tireni | Birch Class – Abdur and Elham | Sycamore Class – Gaurav and Tolibat |
| Blue Class – Toby and Juno | Holly Class – Mabli and Conor | Willow Class – Dora and Lexi |
| Green Class – Iliana and Louis | Cedar Class – Talullah and Phoenix | Beech Class – Albert and Jay Jay |
| Indigo Class – Mia and Kit | Hawthorn Class – Dani-Elrod and Donnie | Oak Class – Faaiza and Filip |
| Violet Class – Robyn and Rory | Rowan Class – Shen and Oskar | Larch Class – Evie and Teyana |
Cypress Superstars
Well done to Violaine and Noel in Ruby Class who came to see Ms Binks with their ‘Dive Deeper’ maths challenge. It was very impressive to see their teamwork, problem solving and reasoning skills. Clem in Rowan class won 2nd place in a competition run by the Insititute of Civil Engineers at the Ikigai Arts Festival. She wrote an amazing song related to engineering with her Mum. Well done, Clem – we are very proud of you! Ayanna,Shyla and Aleena (Lime Class) came to see me to perform a friendship song and dance. It always brightens my day to hear you sing about showing car and being kind.It was lovely to see Harry, Hanna, Ignas, Karter, Ayisha Amiyah and Amani in Hazel visiting the office – they had created some beautiful poems about change and the positivity it can bring into our lives. Thank you for sharing! Amanda in Lime Class, has been working diligently at home with her sister to create a Roman shield, a diary extract and a poster on the Roman gods. It is lovely to see you learning independently and preparing yourself well for lessons at school – this is a fantastic way to improve your progress! Eriife, Molly and Zarah in Birch were thinking about healthy bodies and minds in their PSHE lesson and created posters to help promote a healthy mind! Well done, girls. Joe in Oak Class has created the most beautiful non-fiction book on Ancient Egypt -he has included pictures of his recent trip to the British Museum to illustrate his facts. Exceptional work, Joe. Holly class wrote the most beautiful song inspired by thsi week’s discussions. I have added a picture of their lyrics for you to enjoy.
Thank you to our staff Cypress storytellers this week who have enchanted us with their west-indian and african folk tales every afternoon, just before home time! We can’t wait for next year’s stories…
‘Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock’
We wish all our children and families a restful and relaxing half term.
Ms Binks, Mrs Carpenter and the Cypress Team
