Year 6 Games created in Scratch

Year 6 have been using Scratch to develop and extend their coding skills. We have been focusing on variables using game design to reinforce our understanding. Year 6 have all worked really hard during remote learning and I have been so pleased with their work. Here are a few examples of some games they put together. Please note as the page loads directly from the Scratch environment, it may take a few minutes to load.

Kaiden’s Game
Instructions
Press the green flag to start the game!
Use the LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys on your keyboard to catch as many apples as you can before the timer runs out, and the star for an extra 3 points! Watch out though – the bug will take 5 points off your score!

Aidan and Dawud’s Game
Instructions : Press the green flag to start. Use the space key or the up arrow key to jump. That’s it!

Finlay’s Game
Instructions : Use your left and right arrow keys to move the bowl and catch the fruit.

Jose’s Game 
Try and get to level 3

Karthik’s Game
Instructions : Use the left and right arrow keys to catch the falling crystals and improve your score in 60 seconds.

Well-being at Keble Prep

During Mental Health week it was great to hear of the boys taking part in a number of activities that allowed them to ‘Express themselves’ in whichever way they choose. As well as focusing on this during the national project week, we at Keble Prep have been working to ensure that all of the members of the school community are being mindful of their well-being as part of their daily routine in the long-term.

The well-being activities topics in the Years R-2 classrooms have been used well by the younger members of the community and the well-being activities classroom in Year 3-8 has been accessed by many boys, with the tasks and information being used to aid in their well-being. We have also posted some great resources for parents on the parent portal, the aim of this being to aid parents in maintaining their son’s well-being, along with information and guidance for seeking assistance.

As part of our drive to encourage well-being, some of the boys have produced posters and information leaflets to share with the school community that are based on ‘5 ways to well-being’. These pieces of work are a fantastic way in which the boys can share their tips for well-being, show their creative side and help other members of the Keble family develop a positive approach to well-being. We have attached a selection of these.

It is heartening that, during this time of uncertainty, the boys, staff and families at Keble are developing the skills, outlook and knowledge to place well-being and wellness at the top of our agenda.

Year 4’s – Roman Day

Yesterday, Year 4 transformed into Roman warriors. The boys made their own helmets and joined our lessons in costume. We spent the day making mosaic tiles and discovering hidden images and messages using Roman numerals. Take a look at our fabulous collection of tiles.

Grouting Tiles

Making Mosaics

Felix Nery-Potts

Over the course of the week, the boys have been learning about Gladiators and below are images of some of their fantastic work.

Sebastian Cayer

Luke Florides

LO: To use paragraphs to write an account about your life as a Gladiator

My Life as a Gladiator by Ellis Hatch

My name is Augustus and I’m 23 years old. I am married and have a small child. We have very little money and I have to steal food so we have something to eat. Unfortunately, I didn’t do a good job a few weeks ago and was caught. I felt ashamed and worried about my family. I was placed in a cell and was told I was to become a gladiator! I’m a very large and strong man but the thought of fighting scares me. However, I will be paid to do this and I can send the money to my family, which means I will do whatever is required of me. I am to be sent to Gladiator school to be trained.

Life at the Gladiator school is hard. My cell gets unlocked very early in the morning and I’m taken to eat my first meal of the day. The food is the best thing! We are fed very well but are also using a lot of energy with our training. We aren’t allowed to talk and are kept in shackles unless we are fighting. I train hard all day and I’m physically tired. We practise different fighting styles and use different weapons such as the net, trident and the oval shield.

I fought many battles as a Gladiator but I never got used to the noisiness of the excited crowds, the cheers were deafening. I also knew that every time I fought could be my last. In the Colosseum, I circled a Retiarius, who swung his trident and tried to strike me. He knocked me slightly off balance but I managed to recover. I hit him with my shield and he fell to the floor, and whilst he was down, I stabbed him with my sword in his leg. The crowd cheered and I won the battle which meant I could send more money home to my family.

I continued to battle like this for three more years. In my final fight, I was sweating in the hot sun with sand and dirt flying everywhere. I managed to trap my opponent with a net and was ready to kill him with a three-pronged trident. I waited for the crowd to decide on his fate. They chose to spare his life, so the gladiator lives to fight another day. I was lucky enough to get a large sum of money and leave my life as a gladiator to return home.

Keble: The Lowdown on Lockdown

As we find ourselves once again in lockdown and our school closed to the majority of boys, we have all moved completely online again. Here’s a quick update for the whole community on what is happening across the entire school.

All pupils continue to be registered each morning by form and class teachers via a Live Meet. This is an important time to allow teachers and boys to maintain communication. Form teachers in the senior school can pass on messages from subject teachers and check on the welfare of the boys.

Reception and Y1 this week moved over to Google Classroom. They still have access to Seesaw but moving to Classroom has enabled the teachers to record longer and more detailed lessons, and to add more resources for the boys and parents.

Teachers continue to use a blended learning approach, combining Live Meet and screen recordings. The screen recordings allow parents of the younger boys to schedule their lessons for the child and decide the best time for them. This development was in response to staff and parent requests and is, we hope, a real improvement for all.

Years 2, 3 and 4 have increased their Live Meets. Teachers here continue to also use a blended learning approach, blending together a range of pre-recorded lessons with an increased selection of Live Meets. Each type of lesson has its benefits, and different children find benefit from each approach. Blending the two has been found, especially with younger children, to have a better result and allows for greater flexibility for parents. A super example of a Live Meet can be seen in the blog about Year 4’s Roman Day.

Years 5 – 8 continue to have Live Meets across the curriculum and follow the normal timetable. As with the younger boys, all pupils access their resources from their subject classrooms. Understandably, at times some pupils are unable to attend a lesson due to illness or exams, and should make sure they check their classrooms for resources and check with teachers on what they need to catch up on. Lessons, especially during remote learning, build on the previous lesson and this does make it even more important that all boys follow up on missed work, especially in Years 7 & 8. To help with this, screen recorded videos are accessible in some subjects and Live Meets, when recorded, can be found in the calendar a few hours later added there by Google automatically . Please do note though, as I have found this week, technology can let us down in this regard at times. My wifi from Virgin media this week has been really struggling, and each time I tried to record my Meets it collapsed the Meet, which was frustrating. The issue has hopefully been repaired as my internet connection seems more stable today. See the image below for how to find recorded Meets.

Research from the last lockdown pointed to these 5 areas as having the greatest impact

• Teaching quality is more important than how lessons are delivered – Each teacher will have a different approach, it is often the relationship with the class, the delivery of resources, the use of modelling and guided examples and time taken to make sure all the boys understand the material.

• Ensuring access to technology is key, especially for disadvantaged pupils – Making sure all pupils have access to a device and wifi to support their learning.

• Peer interactions can provide motivation and improve learning outcomes – pupil discussions during lessons, peer to peer assessment of each other ‘s work, and time to develop their ideas working over multiple lessons. Not all lessons conclude in one 45 minute session.

• Supporting pupils to work independently can improve learning outcomes – This is particularly important. Although it is tempting for parents to help their son complete work or support during lessons, this does not always help them become more independent and should be avoided if possible. Please resist the temptation, particularly in Year 5-8 where work is designed to be completed independently.

• Different approaches to remote learning suit different types of content and pupils – This refers to blended learning

Communication is the key, and all boys should let their teachers know if they have any issues. We have small classes and know our boys well. We would appreciate parents continuing to communicate with school so we can evolve and develop our remote learning together for the benefit of all. During this lockdown our support staff have played an even greater role. From supporting our Key Worker pupils at school to joining classes across the school. many support staff have taken small groups and one to one sessions with pupils to support. Mrs Pontin, Mrs Stringer and Mr Turner, who make up the pastoral team, have worked tirelessly to provide resources on Mental Health (found on the parent dashboard), support lessons and make sure they are available for 1-1 Meets for any that need greater support during these times.

It is important to balance our need to learn through technology with our health. At times we all have frustrating times when our wifi refuses to perform. Most have had some issues with dropping wifi and freezing video links. The best thing we can do to help with this is to communicate. All boys have access to the teachers via Google classroom and can email the staff if they need any extra support. We are here to help as much as we can. Parents can email me and with help from the school technician, I will always do what I can to try and sort out any issues.

It is also important to balance our need to learn through technology with our health, and to prioritise exercise and time set aside for pupils to communicate with each other. Mr Turner has a wonderful bank of activities to help the boys maintain they physical activity levels. Year 8 are encouraged to create some social meets during the week to have catch up time with their friends. This could be a Wednesday afternoon activity. We are aware still more evolving is needed and we continue to listen to advice and take on board comments and respond where we can.

A huge thank you to those who nominated the school for independent school of the year. We are delighted to have been shortlisted along with some other excellent schools (the attached image just shows those alphabetically close to us). This is a great morale booster in these difficult times.

Finally, Mr Gill continues to record his assemblies for the boys, which can also be found on the parent dashboard, and to support pupils, staff, and parents with his calm and thoughtful approach, working late nights and weekends, keeping the governors informed and supporting the whole school in too many ways to record here.

This Term’s Final Assembly

This morning, Mr Gill held our final assembly of the term. He led the fond farewells to the staff who are leaving us today. The boys excitedly awaited the announcement of the new Head Boy and Deputy Head Boy for the spring term: congratulations to those boys who will take up their positions at the beginning of next term. Many thanks to this term’s Head Boy and Deputy Head Boy who have performed their roles admirably. Please see their Christmas reading and message to the school below.

( Please note no names were included for safeguarding reasons.)

House Cross Country

Well done to all of the boys who took part. Due to the current situation the course reverted to the Winchmore Hill sports ground, this was disappointing after such a great course at Grovelands last year but it did not stop the boys working hard to ensure that their house gained the best possible result.

It was, again, great to see the boys supporting each other around the course and at the finish. Especially supporting those boys who were finding the course challenging.
After all positions were taken into consideration, the results were very close, coming down to just a few boys’ positions making the difference. This shows that this event is truly a house event where every boys’ result counts.

Please click here for a look at the results

Book Recommendations

Book List

Book Trust 100 recommended books

Leeds Trust