Islam!

Y4 pupils have been learning all about the Muslim religion: the 5 pillars of Islam, the prophet Mohammed, and the celebration of Eid.

Aleena and Fahdeelat, who are practicing Muslims, brought in some of their special and sacred artifacts to share with the class.

They recited one of the verses of the Quran, which they have learnt by heart.

"We like to pray 5 times a day, facing Mecca . My dad knows all of the Quran by heart. Maybe when I am older I will learn how to read it all in Arabic,"

Fahdeelat.

"Whenever I'm not busy, my auntie teaches me how to pray. She helps me learn the Quran. My brother has finished his practise book and is now half way through learning the Quran. In Morocco lots of the people are Muslims. We often go there on holiday, as that's where my dad comes from. On Fridays we go to the Mosque and pray."

Aleena

Country Dance Festival

On July 6th we enjoyed a very successful evening of Country Dancing at Pyrgo Priory. The vast majority of schools from the Harold Hill area were able to take part, which created a wonderful community atmosphere. Attended by the Mayor, the annual event was enjoyed by all.

We had to practise the dances at school. I was very nervous in front of the big crowd, but my partner helped me
Laura

Each of the schools (Broadford, Pyrgo, Brookside, Drapers Maylands) performed a routine, before all of the adults were invited to join the floor for a group dance.

As ever this was a very successful event which bought all of our schools together to celebrate a great British tradition. Thank you to Pyrgo Priory for doing the organising and being such great hosts.
Mrs L Smith - Head

Walking in the footsteps of our Queen…

With hearts full of excitement and heads full of questions, the School Councillors set off to the station to catch an early morning train to The Houses of Parliament on Friday the 15th of July. Would they see our brand new Prime Minister? Could they hear a heated argument in the House of Commons? Better still, would they catch a glimpse of Her Majesty?

The School Councillors were greeted by an enthusiastic and friendly tour guide who guided them and showed them what the Queen did on the State opening of Parliament. Did you know that the Queen even have a golden throne in the Chamber of the House of Lords? ‘It is very impressive’, Lorraine sighed, looking longingly at the intricate design of the golden chair.

After a grand tour of the chambers, the School Councillors met with another school from Dorset. Everyone received a machine and took part in a quiz to see what they remembered about the tour.  The two school councils worked together to make a new law. Freddie was chosen to be the Speaker of the House of Commons and he had to keep all the MP’s in order. ‘This is a very tough job!, Freddie concluded after the heated debates.

‘This was the best day of my life!’ Jamie exclaimed just before he plonked himself down on the patterned seat of the underground train. Needless to say, the journey back was extremely quiet…

Country Dancing

On Wednesday night, some of our Year 5 pupils came along to the annual Country Dancing Festival held at Pyrgo Priory. Country dancing is a social dance in which couples dance together in a figure or set. The dances are either in a line formation, circle dances or square dances.

Our Year 5 children did incredibly well, performing 8 different dances, such as ‘Pat-a-cake-polka’, ‘Runaway Train’ and ‘The man who broke the bank at Monte Carlo’. After performing a couple of the dances, the pupils had the opportunity of getting someone from the audience to join in- which they loved! They managed to entice the Mayor to join in as well as persuading our Head teacher Mrs Smith to join in too!

It was a great night, enjoyed by all. At the end of the evening Jessica said “I had so much fun because we were able to join in every dance. Can I do it again next year?”


Well done to: Lia, Maelyss, Elias, Ilayda, Julia, Grace, Ciara, Rosie, Ruby, Chelsea, Jessica, Valeria, Callum and Daisy.