First week of the new year!

It has been a fantastic first week back at LJS, with the school erupting to life on Monday morning as children arrived – after the long summer holiday – full of energy and enthusiasm for the exciting year that lies ahead.

There was little time for catching our breath as each year group launched into a multitude of inspiring activities, across and beyond the curriculum, ensuring that the new year began, as we mean to go on, with the most wonderful learning imaginable.

Year 6 enjoyed their introduction to Latin, as teachers from Oundle School arrived for the first of their weekly sessions. All of our children were utterly captivated by this classical language and very much enjoyed working alongside the Senior School staff as they learnt about Latin greetings.

Microscopes were a fabulous addition to our Year 5 Science lessons, this week, as our children discovered how to use this equipment to draw the minute details of insects. It was not an easy skill to master but outstanding resilience was shown by all the children who were blown away by what they could see!

In Year 4, the new Power Maths curriculum has gone down brilliantly with teachers and children alike; lessons have grown in challenge and all children have embraced the superb activities, which – as per our approach in Maths – have been team taught by two staff in each classroom.

A full afternoon of Games awaited Year 3 for the first time, on Thursday, as boys and girls enjoyed both Rugby and Hockey. There was no shortage of highly engaged children as the sports team introduced a range of new skills, in the sunshine, through a series of fabulous activities.

One of our teachers, unfortunately, caught the plague when a visiting theatre group performed a brilliantly interactive play about the Great Plague and the Fire of London for the children in Year 2. Indeed, everyone was mesmerised by the singing and dancing, joining in throughout, and they learnt so much about this amazing period of history as a result. Luckily, you’ll be pleased to know, the plague-ridden teacher was soon cured by having a (rubber) chicken rubbed onto their arms.

Year 1 received a FaceTime call from a local farmer, this week, who told them all about the work he was doing on his farm. The children listened carefully and asked some fantastic questions as they were given a tour of the farm and gathered greater understanding about the amazing work that farmers do.

On Wednesday, Reception had, perhaps, the greatest day of all: their very first day of school! They were so confident as they lined up, looking incredibly smart in their blazers, and – with the help of staff and our Year 6 children – walked into school for the first time as LJS pupils. What a day they had, too! Teachers led an amazing array of activities that enabled the children to get to know each other as well as the class routines, and everyone went home full of happy stories to share with their parents.

Yes! It has been such a good first week and it certainly feels great to be back. We have achieved so much in just five days, which bodes well for an action-packed year ahead! This article forms the first of a weekly update, on our website, in place of the LJS News, and will also feature on our Facebook page; we very much hope that our community will enjoy this new and regular feature.