Christmas Colours

Blue Class

The annual Turney Christmas Concert is always one of the highlights in the school calendar. The December 2013 production was no exception! This is a special moment for the school community. All pupils across all age groups get the chance to work together on a special event that helps to celebrate the many talents that we have at Turney School.

Blue Class

Our 2013 production was titled Christmas Colours. As the name suggests – there was plenty of energy, happiness and uplifting songs! The show contained many Christmas and winter themes. The music was chosen to add some extra excitement to this very special time of year in our school community.

Blue Class

All classes at Turney School have been working on learning the various songs for the past month. We are fortunate to have the musical talents of Miss Bond, our brilliant musical Producer for the Christmas Colours show. Debbie added her superb signing skills, and all of the teaching staff have worked incredibly hard on making the performance possible with musical and costume contributions.

The Turney School Choir almost made a huge contribution to Christmas Colours. We place equal importance on the signing of each song as the singing. Our Choir members were able to guide all of their friends throughout the school with the right actions for each song.

After a friendly welcome from Miss Handa, it was soon time for Christmas Colours to commence. Purple and Orange Class sang the Sock Song. This was a lively performance and included many of the props that the pupils have been working on. We were able to display the sequence for the correct days of the week, as well as our own Christmas socks!

It was then time for Yellow and Red Class to sing Sparkle and Shine. The children have been taking great care to learn the correct signs for this particular song, as well as the right order in which to display them.

Blue Class were next on stage to perform Sing of a Rainbow. This song suited the theme of Christmas Colours perfectly! The pupils have been making their own rainbows in class. We were able to proudly display these during our performance.

Green Class then joined Blue Class to sing The World is a Wonderful Place. We have been talking in class about some of the lyrics contained in this song, and why they are so special.

Class 11 were then able to display their many talents – singing, signing, dancing and marching! The pupils were dressed in an appropriate military uniform for their rendition of Marching in the Snow. We have had great fun learning the various actions, and understanding the directions that are given in the song.

Class 2S helped out Class 11 to sing The World’s Greatest. This is an incredibly positive song that received a great response from the audience.

Class 1M then performed a very gentle version of Snowdrops. We have been learning how to play the chord sequences for this song on the school keyboards during our regular weekly music sessions.

The Class 10 pupils then performed My Christmas Tree. This included a stunning vocal solo from our of our very talented young singers.

Christmas Colours then finished with the whole Turney School community then singing We Wish You a Merry Christmas – the perfect message to end a perfect afternoon of musical celebration.

We would like to thank the many parents and carers who were able to come along and support the pupils in their Christmas Colours production. An impressive number of family members came along to see our show – so much so that we had to delay the start by a few minutes!

If you were unable to attend the concert, we are pleased to be able to share some of the photographs, video and audio. This has been another wonderful show for all pupils at Turney School to work on over the past few weeks. We wish all members of our school community a peaceful Christmas break.

Orange Class Maths

Orange Class have been growing in confidence with their understanding of the number line. All pupils are now able to count from one to ten. We have been playing many counting games on the class whiteboard. The children greatly enjoy singing along to a counting song. It contains many actions such as clapping or jumping at a certain point in the number line.

The table work for this activity has been organised to reflect the learning objectives of each pupil. Some of the children have been learning how to understand and anticipate what comes next on the number line. If we have six on our line, what will one more give us?

Other pupils have felt confident enough to carry on counting with two digit numbers. We have been matching up a given number on a number mat with the school counting cubes. We wanted the Orange Class children to physically see how a number such as five can be represented by five counting cubes. You can find out a little more in the short video above.

Purple Class Fruit

Purple Class

Purple Class have been looking at different types of fruit that we all enjoy eating. Our main learning objective was to help the children to be able to identify the different fruits, and then to describe what is unique about them. Shape and colour are the two main features that we have been focussing upon.

We have also been helping the Purple Class children to be able to sound and sign out each fruit. The pupils have been watching some videos on the class whiteboard that show some fruit singing songs. Each class member was then asked what is their favourite fruit.

We finished this activity with some practical table activities. Some children painted their favourite fruit. We took great care to make sure that we chose the correct colours for each fruit. Other Purple Class members created a collage of different coloured fruit. We used tissue paper as the main art resource. The children were asked to scrunch up the paper and describe what it felt like. A third group worked on threading some toy fruits along a long piece of string.

Purple Class

Green Class Phonics

Green Class

Green Class have been making good phonic progress as we continue our preparation ahead of class reading. The aim is to provide all pupils with an understanding of the sounds that individual letters can make, as well as introducing letter blending that will help us with our reading skills.

The Green Class children have been playing various games on the class whiteboard to help us with our phonic work. The pupils have taken it in turns to sound out a large letter that appears on the screen.

It is equally important at this early stage to match up the letter sound with the signing action. Each class member is then invited to draw out the letter formation on the whiteboard. We then think of a word that starts with this letter, before finishing with sounding out the complete word.

We have been using these phonic skills to help the children appreciate our current class reading book The Cat Sat on the Mat. The story contains many new sounds. Green Class are asked to sound out the new phonics that we have learnt whenever they hear them.

Walking Through the Jungle is another popular current reading book in Green Class. We have been using the many sounds made by each animal to help with our phonic learning.

All of this phonic learning is then continued during individual class table time. A number of related activities are set up for each class member aimed towards meeting their own learning target. An example is the letter posting game. Some wooden shapes showing different animals or objects are placed on the table. The task here is to identify what we can see, sound and sign out the word, and then post it away.

Blue Class Cinema

All of the children in Blue Class at Turney School are very excited ahead of our trip to the Ritzy Cinema in Brixton. We are going to watch the Mr Men Christmas Special film on our special day out to our local cinema.

To help prepare the pupils for the trip, we have been talking about what we can expect to happen during our visit to The Ritzy. The pupils have been thinking about how we can all work together to make it an enjoyable and safe trip.

We asked the Blue Class members to think about what we need to focus on during the trip to make it a pleasant experience for all of our friends. The children came up with examples such as crossing any roads in a safe way with our teaching staff, not wandering off in the cinema, and to be considerate to other people who might be watching the film.

This led Blue Class to draw up their own contract ahead of the trip. This is a document that we have worked on together, detailing the behaviour that we all expect from everyone in our group. Ideas such as listening to the teacher, staying quiet in the cinema and keeping together as a group are all included.

Each Blue Class member has now signed their contract ahead of the trip. You can watch a keen young film fan share some of his ideas in the video above.

Have a great time at The Ritzy, Blue Class!

2S Sensory Room

Class 2S

Class 2S have been combining their literacy learning with our regular sessions spent in the Turney sensory room. This is a unique, safe area, which is great for the pupils to explore and stimulate their individual sensory needs.

We have been reading the story of Macdonald’s Farm during our literacy lessons. This is backed up in the sensory room with some role-play drama being carried out.

Each class member is asked various questions about the book: what is your favourite animal? What sound does it make? How does it move? We then invite the Class 2S pupils to show their friends the actions of each animal. This work is always backed up with a strong understanding of the different signs for each animal.

Animal masks help to add to the drama work. We encourage each pupil to describe in their own words what the masks look like using as many adjectives as possible.

Class 10 P.E. Video

Class 10 have been looking at how was can make the Turney School playtime experience positive for all pupils during our recent P.E. sessions. Turney School has a number of play resources that are available for the students to play with during play and lunchtimes. We encourage all children to share the equipment, and to feel confident to ask about the availability.

A recent P.E. session with Class 10 involved the ever-popular school parachute. We wanted to show the pupils some of the group games that are possible with the parachute, and then encourage them to perhaps share this resource during their own free time.

Blue Class

The parachute is a fantastic piece of P.E. equipment to help develop team skills. One game that we played involved all class members working together to help control a ball bouncing on top of the parachute.

We then played other games that required Class 10 to work collectively to help keep the parachute in the air. Each class member was invited to perform a quick dance underneath the parachute whilst it was still air born. Great fun, as you can see from the video above.

Blue Class

Class 11 Food Tech

Class 11

Class 11 at Turney School have been working on different levels of learning intentions during our recent Food Tech sessions. The overall aim is to enable each student to have an understanding of what is meant by a healthy meal, and then to be able to work independently to help produce this.

Some pupils have been working on improving their communication skills to help promote a healthy lifestyle; other students have concentrated on knowing how to use the kitchen equipment safely and how to assemble a healthy meal.

This work has combined a mixture of theory and practical work. Written reports have been produced, as well as the wonderful end product of cooking a healthy pizza. Class 11 have learnt how a pizza can provide us with the healthy food groups that we need, if we choose the appropriate toppings.

Spectacular Christmas Colours Show!

Blue Class

The annual Turney Christmas Concert is always one of the highlights in the school calendar. The December 2013 production was no exception! This is a special moment for the school community. All pupils across all age groups get the chance to work together on a special event that helps to celebrate the many talents that we have at Turney School.

Blue Class

Our 2013 production was titled Christmas Colours. As the name suggests – there was plenty of energy, happiness and uplifting songs! The show contained many Christmas and winter themes. The music was chosen to add some extra excitement to this very special time of year in our school community.

Blue Class

All classes at Turney School have been working on learning the various songs for the past month. We are fortunate to have the musical talents of Miss Bond, our brilliant musical Producer for the Christmas Colours show. Debbie added her superb signing skills, and all of the teaching staff have worked incredibly hard on making the performance possible with musical and costume contributions.

The Turney School Choir almost made a huge contribution to Christmas Colours. We place equal importance on the signing of each song as the singing. Our Choir members were able to guide all of their friends throughout the school with the right actions for each song.

After a friendly welcome from Miss Handa, it was soon time for Christmas Colours to commence. Purple and Orange Class sang the Sock Song. This was a lively performance and included many of the props that the pupils have been working on. We were able to display the sequence for the correct days of the week, as well as our own Christmas socks!

It was then time for Yellow and Red Class to sing Sparkle and Shine. The children have been taking great care to learn the correct signs for this particular song, as well as the right order in which to display them.

Blue Class were next on stage to perform Sing of a Rainbow. This song suited the theme of Christmas Colours perfectly! The pupils have been making their own rainbows in class. We were able to proudly display these during our performance.

Green Class then joined Blue Class to sing The World is a Wonderful Place. We have been talking in class about some of the lyrics contained in this song, and why they are so special.

Class 11 were then able to display their many talents – singing, signing, dancing and marching! The pupils were dressed in an appropriate military uniform for their rendition of Marching in the Snow. We have had great fun learning the various actions, and understanding the directions that are given in the song.

Class 2S helped out Class 11 to sing The World’s Greatest. This is an incredibly positive song that received a great response from the audience.

Class 1M then performed a very gentle version of Snowdrops. We have been learning how to play the chord sequences for this song on the school keyboards during our regular weekly music sessions.

The Class 10 pupils then performed My Christmas Tree. This included a stunning vocal solo from our of our very talented young singers.

Christmas Colours then finished with the whole Turney School community then singing We Wish You a Merry Christmas – the perfect message to end a perfect afternoon of musical celebration.

We would like to thank the many parents and carers who were able to come along and support the pupils in their Christmas Colours production. An impressive number of family members came along to see our show – so much so that we had to delay the start by a few minutes!

If you were unable to attend the concert, we are pleased to be able to share some of the photographs, video and audio. This has been another wonderful show for all pupils at Turney School to work on over the past few weeks. We wish all members of our school community a peaceful Christmas break.

Blue Class Cinema Trip

All of the children in Blue Class at Turney School are very excited ahead of our trip to the Ritzy Cinema in Brixton. We are going to watch the Mr Men Christmas Special on our special day out to our local cinema.

To help prepare the pupils for the trip, we have been talking about what we can expect to happen during our visit to The Ritzy. The pupils have been thinking about how we can all work together to make it an enjoyable and safe trip.

We asked the Blue Class members to think about what we need to focus on during the trip to make it a pleasant experience for all of our friends. The children came up with examples such as crossing any roads in a safe way with our teaching staff, not wandering off in the cinema, and to be considerate to other people who might be watching the film.

This led Blue Class to draw up their own contract ahead of the trip. This is a document that we have worked on together, detailing the behaviour that we all expect from everyone in our group. Ideas such as listening to the teacher, staying quiet in the cinema and keeping together as a group are all included.

Each Blue Class member has now signed their contract ahead of the trip. You can watch a keen young film fan share some of his ideas in the video above.

Have a great time at The Ritzy, Blue Class!