We had a very special visit from the Nutty Scientists! The innovative Nutty Scientists® teaching techniques and curriculum is an effective way to get kids excited about science.
The Nutty Scientists delivered two assemblies to all the children, where they wowed them with crazy experiments!
Last half term, as historians we explored a unit on 'The Great Fire of London'. Mr Ashby, Mrs Roach and Mrs Wingate were blown away by how engaged the children were with this unit and the recall of key historical facts was phenomenal. We are currently learning about 'Kings and Queens' and have focused on some key monarchs from different periods, including William the Conqueror, Bad King John and Henry VIII. This week, we have visited Hampton Court Palace to learn more about Tudor life under the rule of Henry. The children particularly enjoyed some of the more gory facts about Tudor life, including how Henry beheaded two of his six wives!
Years 1-2 visited Wimbledon BookFest Festival in October 2023. Aragon has now been attending the festival since 2019 and each year gets better and better!
Year 1 joined award winning poet Kate Wakeling for a joyful, interactive performance of her beautifully crafted new poetry collection. They heard (probably) the fastest poem in the world, solved some brain tickling minibeast riddles, bob like a robin and got ready to hop aboard the friendliest steam train in town. Bursting with fun and imagination, this playful session left Year 1 feeling inspired.
Year 2 joined Nikita Gill, a British-Indian poet, playwright, writer and illustrator at this magical event. They journied back in time with author and poet Nikita Gill for an incredible event and discovered the ancient Indian animal fables of the Panchatantra, which have been told and retold for thousands of years! They met mighty elephants and courageous mice, cunning crocodiles and clever monkeys, talkative tortoises and little lapwing birds – and each one imparts a different message that inspired the children in different ways! Celebrating friendship, cleverness, love and wisdom, this was not an event to be missed!
This year's focus is on the significant contributions of Black females in the UK who have been catalysts for change in various domains, including politics, the arts, technology, science, and literature.
Throughout the week, the children immersed themselves in the stories and achievements of extraordinary women. They explored the legacies of Black artists such as Alma Thomas and Betye Starr, finding inspiration to create their own artwork. Additionally, the children paid tribute to the Windrush Generation, learning about the brave individuals who crossed the Atlantic to help rebuild the U.K. in it's time of need. We looked at the lasting impact that incredible nurses had upon the formation of the NHS and considered the stories of children who came to England.
Year 5 and 6 students enjoyed a special online meeting with Kandace Chimburi, the author of 'Windrush Child.' Chimburi shared her insights and motivations behind writing Black history narratives for children, leaving a lasting impact on the young minds. Year 3 and 4 students had a fantastic time in a Malorie Blackman workshop, learning about the renowned author's life and her literary contributions. Years 1 and 2 were so excited to welcome a visit from Aragon parents, Mr. and Mrs. Maunganidze, who inspired the young learners to become their own heroes.
Its been a few weeks of exciting Geography field trips for most of our year groups.
Y2 Geography Field Trip
Last week, Year 2 went out on a Geography Fieldwork trip to Morden town centre. In their Geography lessons, they have been learning about life in Kenya and comparing it to live in the UK. One of the focus areas was learning about urban environments. Using various mapping apps, the children learnt about life in Mombasa, an urban city in Kenya. The children then went out and collected lots of first hand information and data about our local urban environment. On the trip, the children visited the underground station, the Civic Centre building, the high street and a residential road. The children were excellent at drawing comparisons between the two locations and understanding why Morden is a bustling town in our local area. They were all excellent geographers and could even make suggestions about to improve the local environment.
Y4 Geography Field Trip
Year 4 made the trip to Morden Hall Park. Linking to their Geography work on the Amazon River, they looked at the River Wandle, sketching it out and following its route on the map. They also participated in some orienteering games and map work.
Y5 Geography Field Trip
Year 5 took to Morden Park. They had to ‘geog’ their memory and remember back to their route travelled to swimming. They first drew a map from memory. On Google Maps, they then looked at road maps, street views, and terrain maps to see how similar they were to the ones they had made. They then set off and drew more accurate maps as they walked. Finally, they looked at the terrain of the park, and made larger scale maps using multiple pieces of paper.
Y6 Geography Field Trip
Last week (of course before singing happy birthday to Mrs Allan), Year 6 headed out to survey the local area (Joseph Hood Memorial Park) and decide its suitability for a case study. The children used the iPads to rate the area’s cleanliness, safety and appropriateness. They also practised their map reading skills to navigate their way to and from the park.
What a busy term Year 2 have had! In English we have been writing setting descriptions based on the story ‘The Story Machine’. We have created comic strips based on the story of ‘Mungo and the Spider from Space’. We then used our imaginations to create a new adventure for Mungo.
We had so much fun celebrating maths day with lots of fun maths activities, we started off by playing snakes and ladders, then creating our own board games - this was very popular! Children had to solve number problems to find the correct key to open the padlocks. We were great at using our estimation skills to estimate how many gems were in the jar. There were many more maths activities and we are sure the children would love to tell you all about them.
Our science learning this term has been about Living Things and their Habitats. We have been looking at micro-habitats and are good at explaining the difference between a habitat and a micro-habitat. We made bug hotels and had to think carefully about the different layers, using our science knowledge about mini beasts. We were extremely excited when the caterpillar kits arrived at school and it has been amazing using our observational skills to watch the life cycle of the butterfly. They are now at the chrysalis stage, and we cannot wait to see the butterflies.
In DT, we have been learning about seaside snacks and designed a savoury and sweet snack for a picnic. We made our products and evaluated them. To celebrate the end of term we had a picnic on the field eating the yummy picnic food we made in our DT lesson.
We are extremely proud of how hard all the children have been working and they are all superstars!
Healthy Me Week 2023 returns with a bang! 
‘Inclusion’ is this year’s focus of one of our most favourite weeks of the school year. We kicked off the week with a whole school assembly on the field whereby members of staff completed an obstacle race but with one of their senses removed to show what it’s like to compete with a physical impairment. Children watched and cheered on their teachers and then were able to have a go at some inclusive activities themselves including seated volleyball, goal ball and boccia.
During Healthy Me Week all of the children across the school took park in ‘Art in Action’ topic work. This varied from making foil people in action, drawing people in action using a variety of styles and also taking photos of people in action.
Below is a picture of a collaborative piece of art work created by a single piece of foil for each person (some exceptions for the accessories) where the children learnt the art of folding, twisting and cutting to make a person in action. Using just their hands and foil!
Year 1 had a fantastic time on the beach at Littlehampton, after studying the seaside in their History lessons. They walked along the promenade, played on the beach and of course - ate delicious ice creams.
Last week, Aragon took part in National Numeracy Day 2023. All the children participated in a range of activities depending on their year group. Some of the activities outlined below are what all the children completed as a whole school approach.
Estimation
Across the school, children had to estimate how many pieces of maths equipment was in the jar. Estimation can be difficult and we had a range of different answers. Fatih (right) estimated 673 and Shafia (left) estimated 670. In total, there were 672 pieces of equipment. What an estimate!
Estimate the Weight
Children were given the task to make a figure using cubes. At the start of the session, the children were given a weight that they needed to successfully make. The difficulty was the children were not allowed to weigh their figure until the end. To help assist the children, we provided them with 100g weights. Successfully, Betty-Lew (3A) managed to reach the target of 122g. How impressive!
Shut the Box
The children thoroughly enjoyed the challenging game ‘Shut the Box’. This game involves children having to subitise (recognise numbers without counting) and find the totals to remove all the wooden blocks.
Year 1 and Reception took part in a fascinating, fun and interactive Primary School Planetarium Show which took them on a journey through space, earlier this week.
They learnt amazing facts about our solar system and beyond, including taking a flying visit to and learning information about our incredible neighbouring planets. Is it possible to live on them? And what makes Planet Earth so special that life thrives here?
An absolutely fantastic experience for all!
Welcome to Cluckingham Palace!
Well done to everyone who has joined us in creating chickens for King Charles Palace.
We learnt of King Charles’ love for chickens and got creative.
This is Aragon’s Cluckingham Palace, pride of place in the front office.
We have a host of mediums used to create over 110 amazing chicken and hens! Ranging from artists aged 3 to 11! A whole school art piece compiled of art work from pupils in nursery to year 6!
Wow what a half term it has been for Year One!
In English, we read about all the amazing buildings that Iggy Peck built which led nicely into looking at famous London Landmarks. At the end of the topic, the children deigned and wrote their own leaflets giving lots of interesting information about them.
To complete our Science topic of materials. We went on a material hunt around the school, identifying what materials different objects are made of and why.
Year 1 have really enjoyed learning about past and present transport. As part of enriching our learning, we even went on a bus and underground trip. We loved looking at the tracks and all the different underground lines.
In Design Technology (DT), we have been looking at the design of playground equipment and have even made models of slides.
Last week, we were very excited to invite parents into school to share a book with us. We were very excited to see so many grown ups and loved showing them our classrooms and of course reading a book!