The Lead Up to Christmas

This blog post is slightly different to the norm. Yes it does contain anecdotes from my last week at school but please read until the end to see my 'Lead Up To Christmas' poem, which formed part of my end of year assessment for the University of Reading.


This was the first week in a while I happened to spend each day at school and this was very much needed. There were a lot of things to bring and take home from school each day including; presents for some of my colleagues (Mentor and Year 6 teachers), cards for pretty much everyone else because without their advice, help during my time at school, showing me where various materials were, and inviting me into observe their lessons, I would not have been able to achieve as much in my first term. As well this I brought some sweets in for both Year 6 classes and was for two reasons:


1. In my class I introduced table points last week as a reward for tidiness, outstanding behaviour and most of all teamwork.
2. In the other Year 6 class I gave a lesson on making Christmas Decorations and said that I would choose 6 winners of the best design.


The decorations were on flat paper that the children had to colour in, add tissue paper to and then slot together to make into 3D. The snowmen and trees looked brilliant and I was proud of each of them giving their own spin on the artwork.


Twice I visited the local church to assist with the Nativity play in which the Year 2's silently acted out the scenes and the Year 6's read out passages from the Bible which linked into each scene. I was asked to lead 3 different processions (for the main characters) around the church in time to each relevant song - Little Donkey for example when Mary and Joseph were heading to Bethlehem. On Friday the entire school descended down to the church and it was literally packed to the rafters with parents, teaching staff and children. Coming from an acting background I know how important being on stage is and all of the children acted beautifully and looked amazing onstage in their final montage. The Year 6's read each passage carefully and at the end of the service also said Merry Christmas in a range of languages to show how diverse we are as a school and church community. My wreath was given to the presiding priest and in the middle I had added a piece of writing with the schools logo, motto, a thank you message, and end line from our school prayer.


Most of the week was full of making things whilst listening to festive songs or watching a film being played on the IWB, this I feel is a great time to be creative and allowed the children to express themselves without any big focus on grades or attainment.


For one of my University tasks, I was asked to send in a 200 word piece of writing to test my Grammar Subject Knowledge. I decided to put forward a poem because in this I am able to show some of my own creative skills whilst ensuring it is full of grammatical phrases and content.


Here it is:


It’s the lead up to Christmas and where to begin? 
I could start with a song but what could I sing?
The Coca Cola advert is out so it must be December:
no wait silly me I must be mistaken because it came out in November.

With so many Christmas parties to attend and lots of people to see,
I’m counting 5 portions of; turkey, parsnips, potatoes and brie.
Every year it’s the same and jumpers are to be worn,
mixed with a game of monopoly, relationships will be torn.


My home is full of candles and each one burns bright like the Nativity Star,
I’d rather be inside keeping warm than driving through the snow in my car.
With 24 spaces on my calendar I am counting down the days,
being an adult doesn’t stop me being a child in any which way.


Spare a thought for those who are far away from loved ones and on their own.
It doesn’t take long to visit those nearby, or even to pick up a phone.
In the lead up to Christmas remember those who are no longer with us –
and those who are around you spread the love and make a lot of fuss.


Now all that remains is to say a very Merry Christmas to you all and a Happy New Year.


PS: In my next post I will concentrate on my recent visit to a SEND school, in which I worked with 7 autistic children and gained some fantastic experience as well as advice from the teaching staff.

How I have been making a Positive contribution to the wider life and ethos of the school

This blog post is going to cover the past two weeks but with a less classroom teaching spin and more about how I have been completing Standard 8: Fulfil wider professional responsibilities and more specifically 'make a positive contribution to the wider life and ethos of the school'.

Creating a wreath for Remembrance Day was something I had been waiting to make since last year, when I observed a class at another school that made lots of poppies for their own school wreath. Using a template I found and printing onto red card, both Year 6 classes used 4 words to represent what the soldiers might have felt or how they are represented. These were written around the black middle of the poppy

For the body of the wreath I rolled up pieces of newspaper around a piece of wire and shaped it into a circle. The last layer was made from green moleskin paper, wide enough to allow 3 poppies to cover it.

After attaching the poppies using double-sided tape, I stuck a piece of card to the bottom and the last thing (yet to be attached) is a message to the local church from the school.


In Science I have been teaching Circuits and although I am no longer a TA I wanted to use some skills learnt last year and create a display for my classroom. 

After looking on the internet at similar displays, I decided I wanted the names of each famous scientist for our table groups; circuit symbols with their names; and a large paper model of a circuit running around the display. I used the twinkle site for the title and circuit symbols. I will add copies of students work on to the display and also pictures of students applying their knowledge in lessons. 

Football and indoor athletics have played a key part to our sports stars and the girls football team have been practicing after school and had a game scheduled against a local school this week. As for the athletics, I went with a TA and 10 boys and 10 girls from KS2 to a local secondary school, who hosted 10 primary schools in a fantastic Sportshall competition that was well organised and most of all fun. I also made contacts with some of the other school's sports teachers. 

Finally, this week the year 6's went to one of the many 'Christmas Unwrapped' events that took place at a local Baptist church and learnt all about how the story of Jesus' Birth has changed throughout history. The tasks were well laid out and the organisers made all of us feel welcome. My favourite part was the Wrap because everyone was clapping and joining in with the chorus.