Curriculum Events

We had the most amazing trip to the National Portrait Gallery in London. The children were wonderful.

Experiencing the Turner prize winning exhibit are experiences we will never forget!

Maples had a paper aeroplane competition inspired by their learning about ‘The Great Paper Caper by Oliver Jeffers. They carefully followed the instructions to make the complex Raven paper aeroplane model. Some children decided to make amendments to their wings to see if this would help their planes glide through the air better. Next, they decorated and named their planes ready for the race! Once they were finished, we all went outside to see who would be the ultimate champion.

On Thursday 30th November, Maples Class visited Hever Castle. First, the children toured the castle which was beautifully decorated, ready for Christmas. Whilst visiting the Drawing Room, we were joined by ‘Elizabeth Boleyn’ (Anne’s mother) who answered our questions about her famous daughter and the castle’s history. Later, the children toured the Weapon Room, where they learnt about popular methods of torture in Tudor times!

Once outside, Maples Class went around the gardens and managed to find their way out of the old maze. After lunch, they enjoyed playing in the Tudor themed play park and visited the nearby Military Museum.

A big thank you to the adult helpers who joined us on the day and helped make it a memorable trip for all the children.

On the 14th November Oaks stepped back in time at Michelham Priory for a WW2 Classroom experience including a bit of make do and mend!

They experienced using slates, ink pens, wrote a postcard home and made a pom-pom (Christmas tree decoration). They tried their hand at sewing on hessian and even had the opportunity to look around the Tudor parts of the house.

They had a lovely time- even if it did pour with rain! It was a great experience and they looked the part!

You were amazing Oaks, proudly representing Park Mead School.

Last week we braved storm ‘Ciaran’ and had a wonderful time at Berwick Church. Rev Peter Blee, Catherine (The Outreach Officer), Liz and Carol (Volunteers) had organised the most wonderful activities.

The children were able to light and decorate candles, sketch from the most beautiful paintings, hold a precious 16th Century Chalice, discuss some of the service men depicted in the art work and see if they could find the names on the monument.

They even watched a short film where one of the models (a farm hand) talked about posing for the artist, Vanessa Bell, in the Adoration of Christ (1942). We had some wonderful feedback (see below) and the children were wonderfully behaved.

“It really was a delight to have you and the children with us. The children were so polite, engaged and enquiring. They were a real credit to you and Miss Wood and to the school.” Catherine.

On Tuesday October 10th, Maples Class took part in a range of activities for ‘World Mental Health Day and ‘Grounds Day’.

The children pulled up lots of weeds in the growing and area so the ground was all set for planting.

They also made a bug hotel for the insects so they have a safe space to go to through the colder months.

Once back inside the classroom, the children created minibeast rock art which will look great around the edge of the growing area.

Finally, each child planted a bulb in a pot which will be ready to bloom in the Spring.

Oaks had a fabulous day at the South Of England show.

The children had fun watching the Shetland races, the motorbike stunts, looking at animals and some of the children went into the ring to see the hounds.

We even had an ice cream in the heat!

Oaks had a great time being Victorian children on Tuesday. They experienced copperplate handwriting, writing on slates (black paper with chalk), using ink pens, making models with peas and sticks, a drill (P.E), Victorian playtime with marbles and skipping ropes and hopscotch, gardening and an object lesson (similar to art). I enjoyed the role-play with the cane and the dunces hat! The children looked great.

In Chestnuts we have continued to explore and understand our local area – a class trip to Arlington Reservoir helped us to understand how water in our area is managed, as well as allowing us to see the types of wildflowers, trees and birds that make the area their home. Chestnuts did very well on the walk, as it is a long one!

We have also been working very hard in our lessons with Year 1 really focused on their phonics, and the Year 2 cohort trying incredibly hard on their KS1 SATS this week.

Well done Chestnuts!

In Oaks, we are bringing to a close our Shang Dynasty topic. We had a wonderful time last week when a Kung Fu instructor came in and shared the history of Kung Fu and put the children through their paces in a training session. At the end, he finished the session with a chance to look at the Lion and try to use it to dance with. It was wonderful.

The children had a visit from the local Sussex Police this week. They had lots of questions to ask which Louise and David answered. They talked about what number to dial in case of an emergency and which emergency services you would ask for.

They discussed the clothes that they were wearing and the children got to try on a variety of different Police uniforms.

They then went outside to explore the Police car. They heard the siren and saw the lights flashing. Inside the back they saw a first aid kit, a roll of police tap and road markers. Finally they got to sit inside the Police car.

Willows had a really exciting morning at the fire station; the fire crew even got called out on an emergency… which ended up being some burnt toast!

We kicked off our Meerkat Mail topic with a class trip to Drusillas – thanks to all parents and carers who helped to make the trip a success! The children had a great time exploring the zoo (and the rides!) and we were lucky enough to have a hands on experience learning about some of the animals that they keep there.

In English the children have been looking at story mapping and using the new vocabulary they have gained through the Meerkat Mail text.
Whilst in art we have started to explore the technique of collage – if you have any scrap paper, string, old stamps, brown packaging, please do feel free to send it in with your children as we will be turning it in to something wonderful in the next few weeks!

Oaks have been having the best time at PGL, 4 nights away!

They have been superstars, trying new and challenging activities. They really enjoyed the high ropes and worked as teams in many different situations.
We also love to shop and the sales assistant couldn’t believe 28 children took an hour to spend their money! They have all been amazing and have all pushed themselves in different ways!

Go Oaks. Miss Taiclet and I are so proud of you all.

Last Friday, Oaks class were invited to Bede’s for an amazing event.

We were lucky enough to have a guest speaker, Peter Milne, who addressed the children about ‘Earth Day’ and why it is important. Some of our pupils were invited to go up and suggest ways of helping the planet.

This was a dedicated day where Bede’s and other local primary schools joined to focus attention on our relationship with planet earth and how we can live together more sustainably. The day was a Bede’s pupil-led initiative and was being co-ordinated by the Bede’s Eco-Schools Group.

We were aiming to create the largest human-formed image of planet Earth with the attempt taking place on their school playing fields, near the golf course. Each pupil held up a yellow or blue piece of card to make a massive image of the world map. A drone then took a photo and hopefully we beat the Guinness World Record for the event!

Finally, the class were invited to stay for a sustainable lunch with cauliflower pasta and chocolate brownies.

What a wonderful experience, we were lucky to be part of it.

Well done to all the children for their lovely Easter bonnets, bunny ears, big smiles and for putting so much effort into our Easter Fun Run. With all your support, Mr Elphick has had a count up and the total raised is £750.51. Thank you also to the Friends of Park Mead for providing refreshments at the end of the run.

Mr Elphick held the prize raffle in assembly on Tuesday and the winners of a brand new pair of trainers are Florence and Albie—well done to you both!

Both our KS2 classes have recently enjoyed a ‘Morning of Sport’ at Bedes. They had a wonderful time and took part in a variety of different sports. We are very proud of how they all performed —they are a credit to Park Mead.

Oaks had a brilliant trip to the Houses of Parliament. We enjoyed an amazing guided tour around most of the public areas and were really lucky to meet the Conservative MP – Nusrat Ghani. She was wonderful with the pupils – asking questions and even posing for a photo!

We had a great day celebrating World Book Day. A big thank you to all staff for making this a fun filled day. Our afternoon story telling carousel gave our pupils the opportunity to listen to four different stories read by different teachers.

We also had a lot of fun producing a whole school finger painting mural.

Oaks had a fantastic trip to Newhaven Fort on 17 November and looked wonderful dressed as WWII children. They learnt about different jobs people on the Home Front did and a pack/weapons that a basic officer would use and carry around. They enjoyed going into the air raid shelter and having a ‘shaky’ experience in the simulator. The weather was perfect for looking around the guns and walking in the surrounding area. The children loved going in and out of the tunnels and exploring. They were able to ask lots of questions at various stages during the day and they all had a fabulous time.

We held our Funky Firework Hair sponsored fun run on 5 November and thanks to the generosity of our parents, their family and friends, £973.00 was raised for new playground equipment.

Mr Elphick also organised a raffle with some amazing prizes, the top one being a pair of trainers for a boy and a girl. Well done Lemmy and Evi!

We were very pleased that Julie Coates, the manager of Hailsham Foodbank, could join us for a special Harvest Festival assembly on the afternoon of 22 October 2021. We were also relieved the weather was on our side and we could welcome visitors to celebrate with us.

The Foodbank were very thankful for the donations received from the children at Park Mead. Our amazing families donated 130.95kg of food, which is enough to provide 312 meals for families in crisis within Hailsham and the surrounding area.