Upper Prep’s Bird-Themed Class Assembly

Yesterday morning Upper Prep put on a marvellous class assembly,  demonstrating some of the wonderfully enriching bird-themed learning that has been running through many of their curriculum subjects this term. 

 Art appreciation 

The class described some things they had learned about John James Audubon (1785-1851) who became famous for his beautiful paintings of American birds 200 years ago. 

Art

The pupils showed the beautifully colourful and detailed bird paintings they had created; their schoolmates correctly identified the birds that were represented: Kingfisher, Blue tit, Robin, Blackbirds, Magpie, and Tawny owl.

Nature Study

Upper Prep learned about the difference between soft-billed birds and hard-billed birds during their readings of Adventures Into Nature. They noted that the terms have to do with the type of food the birds eat, not the hardness or softness of their bills!

Nature walks

On nature walks, the pupils have been enjoying bird spotting, and recorded their findings using tally lines. They shared their charts that detailed the birds they had seen in different locations.

Writing

The children have been listening to information about birds and writing down some bird facts. Some of the pupils shared the bird fascinating facts they had learned. For example, a blue tit will often eat upside down and ducklings can swim straight away after hatching!

Literature

The class have been reading Aesop’s fables, so in science they decided to test one fable called ‘The Crow and the Pitcher,’ to see if water would rise up inside the jug by dropping stones into it. The water did in fact rise. (Eureka!) 

Drama

Finally, Upper Prep delivered a terrific performance of a story they have been working on in Drama, an Inuit legend called ‘Why the Robin Has a Red Breast.’

Each of the Upper Prep children should be proud of all that they have learned, and how well they shared their learning with their schoolmates!

 

 

Heritage Trustees and Senior Leaders Enjoy a Nature Painting Session

Heritage Trustees and the Senior Leadership Team gathered recently to meet with each other and discuss the vision of the school, how Charlotte Mason’s philosophy fits into today’s educational landscape, and aspects of the school’s curriculum and culture that make Heritage such a unique place. Toward the end of their time together, the Trustees had the pleasure of participating in a special nature session with Mrs Fletcher – a time of slowing down, conversing and observing the fabulous structure of leaves from the plane tree in the playground. They also produced some very impressive nature paintings of their own.

The Story of Charlotte Mason

Our school’s educational approach has been particularly inspired by the writings of Charlotte Mason (1842-1923), a British educator who believed in ‘a liberal education for all’. The Story of Charlotte Mason by Elsie Kitchen and Essex Cholmondeley tells how Charlotte, orphaned and poor at the age of sixteen, developed into an inspiring and original educational reformer.  Originally published in 1960, the book was reprinted in 2000 to meet a renewed interest in her vision and, when there were not enough copies available to meet the growing demand, another reprint was recently launched. 

In the foreword of this latest edition, our own Charlotte Mason Consultant Elaine Cooper writes, ‘A new generation worldwide is searching for an education that respects the personhood and development of the child within a clear framework, and one that points to a straightforward, but deeply satisfying enjoyment of life and learning. The Story of Charlotte Mason is thus an important book for understanding the thoughts, work and life of a remarkable late Victorian educator, a fine thinker and a much-loved friend, teacher and colleague. Written by those closest to her, The Story describes, like a fine painting, the colours, contours and creed of its principal subject in such a way as to make one quietly grateful for such a radiant life and legacy as hers.’

This reprint will be released on 25th November, and can be pre-ordered here.

 

Seniors Hear about Progress on Climate Change

During yesterday’s assembly, Seniors were visited by Matt Pluke, a Sustainability Leader at Anglian Water. Currently, Mr Pluke is supporting one of the largest infrastructure projects in the UK, tasked with shifting an excess supply of water from the northern part of the region to the south, where water is in short supply. In his role, he must make sure that this work is done sustainably, by protecting nature and making a positive impact in the communities that are affected.

Mr Pluke first talked about the environmental challenges being addressed by the Anglian Water project – namely drought and the impact on nature. He explained that projects like this are necessary in large part because the climate is changing; there’s less available water in the environment and so we have to use water wisely and move the available water to where it is most needed. 

He then gave to the pupils a global perspective of climate change, explaining how average world temperatures have increased by 1 degree Celsius since the pre-industrial era, resulting in alarming trends like those described above, and are predicted to reach 2-4 degrees of warming by 2100. He shared scientists’ warnings that global temperatures must be kept well below 2 degrees above pre-industrial times and that we must ‘endeavour to limit’ them to 1.5 degrees.

The pupils learned about the worldwide efforts to achieve this, first with the 2015 Paris agreement—in which 200 countries agreed on a net zero emission of greenhouse gases by 2050—and then with the recent CO26 UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, where the nations who signed the Paris agreement were asked to show how they would achieve net zero emissions in their own countries. 

Mr Pluke was able to attend the Glasgow conference as a representative of Anglian Water. There he talked about how the water sector in the UK became the first to commit to net zero by 2030, and shared how they are adapting and becoming more resilient to drought and flooding issues, in order to inspire other water industries and sectors in other countries to do the same.

In this video, Mr Pluke shares some encouraging news from COP26, although acknowledging there is still much work to be done. We would like to thank him for his generosity in helping us all be more informed about this important work. 

Meet Site Manager David Campbell

Please join us in welcoming David Campbell, our new Site Manager. He writes:

‘I am looking forward to getting to know you all. I come to Heritage having run my own business as a handyman for almost 9 years.  I am continuing to do this when not in school.  Prior to that I had been an IT consultant for 12 years and, before that, a computer service engineer.  I look forward to bringing many of these skills to bear for the school.  If you spot any issues let me know.

Outside of work I love music and take care of the tech for a local band, “The Suits”, as well as at Grace Church.  I enjoy the outdoors and am trying to bag the Wainwrights before age and creaking joints stop me.’