Queen’s College - discovering Shakespeare’s A midsummer night’s dream

The children have been analysing the play and learning parts of the text to perform in the neighbouring woodland.

The students made crowns for their recitals and composed poetry in iambic pentameter - or rhythmic poems with lines of ten syllables.

History on our doorstep

At the beginning of October Year 6 visited the beautiful finca of Els Calderers de San Joan. So many of the rooms and artefacts in the 18th century manor house reflect the work on the Victorian period the children are studying in class.

On their route through the house the children made sketches of unusual gadgets, farming equipment, period furniture, Victorian toys and collections of articles such as walking sticks, paintings, money and household items. They compared the equipment used over a hundred years ago, with those used today.

After a picnic lunch in the beautiful gardens, the children visited the farm animals; donkeys, mules, black pigs, goats, sheep and a selection of birds.

Storytime in school

Daily storytime in school, without the pressure or expectation of following this up with a piece of “work” in the classroom, can really focus on the enjoyment of reading. This can change the atmosphere around reading leading to an activity the children will choose to do.

The children at Queen’s make regular visits to their library - for pleasure! They spend 20 - 30 minutes in a relaxed environment, surrounded by books and read their favourite books or have a story read to them by their teacher. The Year 6 and 7 children have been writing book reviews to create a compilation of “good reads” to encourage others to follow their recommendations.