On the 19th March Barnsole Junior School choir sang at the
Central Theatre in Chatham with five other schools for the
Medway schools music festival.
There were benches lined up on
the stage for us to sit on while the parents sat on the chairs.
We sang a variety of songs from The Little Mermaid and much
much more.
Mr Bleeze, our conductor made all the parents sing certain
parts of certain songs.
All in all it was a success and a fantastic night.
January 2008
Year 5 at the
Local gurdwara
On Thursday 31st January we went to the Gurdwara on Franklin
Road. When we arrived we had to take off our shoes and cover our
hair to show respect. We also then split into boys and girls. We
sat with boys on one side and girls on the other. We heard a
poem from Guru Granth Sahib. Guru Granth Sahib was sitting on a
Manji sahib. Every few second the Granth waved the chauri to
keep the air clean. We were so lucky we got to see where Guru
Granth Sahib rests at night and above there was a sign that said
"One God". We then had crisps, biscuits and chocolates. We tried
some Indian biscuits and got back to school at lunchtime. Reporter: Tanya Denson (Y5)
History around
Rochester
Laura Hansell and Tanya Denson (Y5)
On
Thursday 17th January Tanya and Laura went to the Guildhall
Museum to research the Romans in Rochester. We got there at 9.30
and went upstairs behind the scenes. We met Jeremy Clark and
Linda Jones who were teaching us for the day. We got to try on
Roman armour. It was very big and heavy, the hat had flaps on
the side. We walked round the museums while Jeremy Clark set up
the room. When we came back there was an archaeologist named
Steven waiting. He had brought in a Roman skull. It was a woman
who had suffered with terrible toothache and had lots of bronze
jewellery. There was a body that had been cremated and you could
only see tiny bones.
Then we had to get into groups and had to find where the
Roman wall might be. After, w went to find the actual Roman wall
and followed the River Medway. Laura took a photo of a Victorian
wall with a Roman wall above. Then we found where the Roman
woman with toothache was buried, which was inside the Romans
wall and therefore against the law in those days.
Later we made a steel yard which is a Roman scale. We used
copper sticks, wooden sticks and boxes to measure five weights.
We had a competition to see who was the most accurate and
Laura's team won. They all received Roman prizes from the Gift
Shop.
November
2007
Year 6 Visit to
Cabinet War Rooms
Chloe Crocker
On Friday 16th November Year 6 went to London to visit the
Cabinet War Rooms. We went by train. Once we were in London we
walked all the way there. Whilst we were walking we saw the band
practising for the changing of the guard and some men marching
up and down the court yard. Then shortly after - we had arrived.
Inside the building were lots of things to do with World War 2
(WW2). There was the Churchill museum too but we didn't go
there. The whole building is underground and has a 3 foot layer
of concrete. We had a workshop too - The two ladies who showed
us around did them.
The tour of the building took at least 1
hour and that didn't include the workshops or the talk. The talk
helped us find out a lot of things about WW2, like the
Blackouts, food and rationing. The workshops were fun and very
challenging, in the first room there was food (fake) and in the
second room there were clothes and gas masks. We found out that
there were lots of different types of gas masks and all for
different types of people e.g. wardens, babies etc. In the last
room there were computers which had games and quizzes to test
what we had learnt. When the tours, workshops and talks were
over we left. We walked back to the station and got on the
train. Everyone had enjoyed the trip and I bet they would all
love to go again!
December
2006
St Pol - France
Last Friday 25 pupils and 3 adults visited
our partner school in St Pol sur Ternoise in France.
After an early
start (leaving at 5.30) and avoiding the traffic from the Ferry strike,
the coach took us through the Channel Tunnel, along the motorway and
arrived in St Pol at the start of lunchtime.
The children enjoyed buying their lunch in the local supermarket and
then joined the pupils of the Ecole Jacques Prevert for their two hour
lunchtime. After meeting lots of new friends the Barnsole group took
part in a series of language games in both English and French before
having a short tour of the town. After arriving back at 8pm everone had
enjoyed an exciting day.
Our Library Trip
Joanna Taylor
When we went to the library we sat on the floor and the librarian
came over and told us a story about a pirate whose ship sand and when he
swam down, all htere was down there was a t-shirt. Then the librarian,
Richard, showed us around the library. There is a study room and lots of
other rooms.
After this we went off and borrowed tow books each if we
had a library card. Then we went home.
November 2006
Year 3 Meet the
Egyptians in London
Cienwen Newlen
On Friday 10th November all three classes
from Year 3 spent the day in London, visiting the British Museum as part
of their history topic on Ancient Egyptians.
Two coaches took all the
children through London, seeing many famous buildings on the way.
Everyone behaved well and was a credit to themselves and the school.
"When I went to the British Museum I saw Mummies-some were cut up
and others weren't.I saw the London Eye and some tall buildings. I saw
Big Ben. In the Museum I saw lots of Mummy cases. Only some of them were
gold. I liked seeing the Mummies. They were pretty."
Year 6 Discover the Cabinet War
Rooms
Hannah Coombs
We arrived at Buckingham Palace at 11.00 am just as the Queen's
procession was leaving for the State Opening of Parliament. Everyone was
excited. Once the procession had gone past we began our walk to the
Cabinet War Rooms. We went straight to a slideshow set up to tell us
about the Blitz. Then we had an audio tour showing us where Churchill
and his Cabinet met during the war. After that we had a quick lunch
before seeing gas masks, ration books and portions of food that each
person had a week. I found it a really exciting day and learned a lot
more about World War II.
March 2006
Music
At Barnsole
Sharna Bennet
On the afternoon of Tuesday 21/03/06 the
school choir travelled via minibus to the Central Hall in Chatham for a
rehearsal of the musical "Oliver" that we were performing
later that evening.
Once we had arrived, many of us felt nervous at the thought of
standing on a big stage in the auditorium. Luckily only the teachers
were watching us for the rehearsals!
Mr Blease, the director, was brilliant! His funny tunes for our warm
up had everyone in stitches! Barnsole took the front row seats on stage,
giving the audience a clear view of us! It was boiling on stage, as the
lights shone so brightly.
In the evening a lot of us were trembling, yet still very excited! We
all performed outstandingly and felt proud to be representing the
school.
We would like to thank Mrs Carey for dedicating her time to the
choir.
Barnsole
Travellers In
St Pol
Members of Year 6
Early on Friday morning 25 of us arrived at school ready to travel to
France by coach and Channel Tunnel. When we arrived at St Pol we got a
chance to speak some French at the local supermarket where we bought our
lunch.
We were excited, but slightly nervous about meeting French children
and speaking to them in their language. At lunchtime we were
photographed and interviewed for the local paper, so we were all
celebrities for the day!
During the afternoon we played many games with at least sixty other
French children using a combination of languages. As the afternoon drew
to a close we went for a quick walk around St Pol seeing how it compared
to Gillingham. The shops were much smaller and there were no fast food
restaurants!
When we left on the coach all the children were sad to see us go. We
arrived back at school absolutely exhausted, but after a very enjoyable
day.
February 2006
UCCA
(Rochester)
by a member of Art & Design Club
On Wednesday 22/2/06 Art and Design Club went
on a trip to look round the University College of Creative Arts. I felt
very excited about going to an Art College!
We were amazed at the sights that we saw. First we were taken into a
lecture hall and given a gift bag containing art equipment. We felt
honoured to be given such great items.
Then we were taken on a tour. There were four categorized rooms: fine
art; fashion; graphics and foundation. Our personal favourite was the
fashion department. We particularly liked a dress made out of glue form
a glue gun!
After being taken on our breathtaking tour, we did some sketches
using our art equipment. The students didn't stop praising our work!
Afterwards we were taken to the cafeteria where the students eat.
We were very grateful for the chance of a lifetime!
I would love to go back when I'm older and achieve my dream!
November 2005
Invasion of Lullingstone
Kirsty Power
Two
weeks ago Year 4 visited Lullingstone Roman Villa so as to find out more
about the Romans. Many of them were in costume!
When we got there we went to look at the mosaic. After
that we went upstairs and took part in a contest about the mosaics and
Roman pots.
Outside we drew a picture of the trees, the bridge and
the animals.
Then we had lunch and afterwards had another contest and
a battle!
Inside we looked at the colourful horses and the months
of the year on the mosaics on the floor.
September 2005
Year 6 and the
Second World War
Holly Varney & Ashleigh Allan
On Tuesday 20th September, Year 6 went to the Royal
Engineers Museum Home Front Week, dressed up as either an evacuee or an
adult during the Second World War.
As we walked into the playground we felt embarrassed
dressed in old-fashioned clothes, but excited because we were having a
day out and didn't know what was going to happen.
We were taken there in a 1940's red London Double Decker
Bus and when we got there we did a quiz (boys v girls) about World War
II and the girls won.
We had a ration lunch. Some people liked it, but we
hated it! Mine was a jam sandwich, bread and dripping which was
disgusting and very fattening, a jam tart and an apple. Some people's
sandwiches were corned beef or spam. For a drink it was either lemonade
or dandelion and burdock. After lunch we did some singing and dancing of
wartime songs, which we enjoyed because they were different to today's
and new to us.
There were four certificates to be won. Holly won the
singing award for "Under The Apple Tree", Thomas won the
acting one for pretending to be going off to war and the other two went
to different schools.
We performed a show for the teachers; some people were
singers, dancers and actors. Everyone enjoyed the day out; we had a lot
of fun including the teachers!
A big thank you to The Royal Engineers for organising it
for us to come.
JULY 2005
Barnsole Students Visit Parliament
On
Monday 4th July the School Council, along with the winning candidate and
supporters from our General Election spent a day in Westminster. They
also took with them 5 winners from our Political Quiz.
The group
travelled up by train and were met outside the Houses of Parliament by
Paul Clark, the Gillingham MP.
After a
guided tour of both Houses (Lords and Commons), the group went into
Chamber Room 6 for a question and answer session with Paul Clark.
They found
out how an MP spends his day and what you do to get elected.
After
this, everyone walked down through Westminster Hall, which is very old
and across the road to have photographs taken in front of Big Ben.
Everyone had
a very informative day and those children who were keen to become MPs
one day had a valuable insight into how things are done.
Our thanks go
to everyone who arranged the visit and especially to Paul Clark for
giving up so much of his time.
The children
who went on the visit were:
Samuel
Peters; Cameron Houghton; Harris Owen; Bianca Zambrea; Rosie McDonagh;
Kieran Cutting; Sharna Bennett; Timothy Babalola; Kieran Wilde;
Alexander Underwood; Hannah Weet; Kerry Sheminant; Holly Farrell; Joshua
Chisnall; Charlie Balderstone; Thomas Howlett; Michaela Newton; Beth
Ryan and Thomas Ryan.
May 2005
Year 6 Visit to Chatham Memorial Synagogue
By Eleanor and Nicole.
On Monday 23rd of
May, Year 6 went to the Chatham Memorial Synagogue in Rochester High
Street.
First we went to Rochester
Castle and sketched the Cathedral and the Castle. When we had finished
we had lunch at the back of the Castle and had a chance to spend our
money at the kiosk.
After that we made our way to the Synagogue. First we
went in the schoolroom and Mr. Lancaster talked to us about the
Synagogue. Then we went into the Synagogue. We went upstairs where the
women would be, and downstairs where the men would usually be. We looked
at the Torah Scrolls and the reading platform. When we had all looked
around we went back to the schoolroom and went outside to the graveyard.
After we had looked round we went back inside and Mr. Lancaster told us
a bit more about the Synagogue. After that we went back to the school.
November 2004
Barnsole Ambassadors In France
At 6.00 am 23 weary eyed pupils from across Years 5 and
6 started their journey to Dover on a coach. As we arrived in Dover and
got on to the ferry, many were looking forward to Northern France.
Although lots were excited, a few had seasickness, and a few got
headaches as the sea was rough, we pulled through alright.
Everybody was really excited about the French school and
giving them the letters we had made in our French Class with Mr Land.
When we arrived, we went into the supermarket and used
our euros on food for lunch, then bought the items, lined up and started
to walk to the French school.
Ecole Jacques Prevert, St Pol
Then we ate our lunch and went into the playground for a
quick 15 minutes. After, we all went inside and played different games
in English and French like Bingo. They also gave us cake and drinks and
we exchanged our drawings, letters and cards.
After we had to leave and all of us didn't want
to. The French children followed us and then we did our journey in
reverse.
At about 8pm we were back at school all remembering what
fun we had in France.
May 2004
Tales From Abroad (1)
Alice Johnstone &
Zoe Tolhurst
Year 5
36 children and 5 adults left for Belgium on Bank
Holiday Monday. It was very hot and we were all excited. We sailed on
the Pride of Kent and after an hour's coach ride we arrived at our
hostel. The rooms were very cosy and there was a brilliant adventure
playground. On Tuesday we visited Brugge. After a quick look around the
city we went up a tall, old tower called the Belfry. When we eventually
reached the top we found out it had 366 steps. Just as we were about to
go down, the bell began to chime. It was very out of tune!
On Wednesday we went to a city called Brussels. It was extremely rainy,
but we still enjoyed it.
On Thursday we went to the Citadelle at Dinant and climbed up the steps.
We had a guided tour and visited a room slanted at 30 degrees.
Then we took another tram to get to some underground caves. We got
dripped on as it was wet inside. This was our favourite thing. On Friday
we packed our bags and suitcases and headed to Calais in France. We went
to a hypermarket and bought lots of chocolates and presents.
Tales From Abroad (2)
Laura
Talabi
Year 6
Waving goodbye to my sister and mother from the coach, I
sat forward in my seat and waited in anticipation of our arrival in
Belgium.
I definitely enjoyed the ferry ride, going on deck and in the shops. We
then had lunch. Later, we got our hostel arrangements sorted, had our
meal, played a game in the sand dunes and then had our Fire Practice.
On Tuesday we went to the city of Brugge, visited the Groeninge Art
Gallery, climbed up the famous Belfry followed by a boat trip on the
canals. On Wednesday, we went to Brussels where we saw the Grand Place
and visited the famous Mannekin Pis. We also had a tram ride through the
Foret de Soignes to the African Museum. After Thursday in the Ardennes,
we went shopping on Friday for our last minute gifts.
april
2004
Our Adventures on the Medway
by Mr Bell
During the Easter Holidays twelve intrepid adventurers
from Year 5 were put through their paces at the Arethusa Venture Centre.
Over four fun packed days, the children swam, sailed, climbed and
canoed. At night they even had a diary to write and quizzes to take part
in.
The activities were chosen to challenge and push our
children to do things they never dreamed they were capable of. There
were too many highlights to mention in one report, as each and every
child proved themselves to be a Barnsole Superstar.
My congratulations go to Grant Cameron; Sophie Adsett;
Max Watson; Stephanie Brenchley; Michael Grunwell; Libby Lane; Matthew
Goater; Adele Rundle; Alex Horton; Stephanie Kacamer; Alice McEwan and
Sam Brice.
November 2003
London Towers v Thames Valley Tigers
by Oliver
Harvey
We went to find our seats and the first thing we saw was
the London Towers warming up by shooting some baskets!
Then the match began! The tip off was exciting!
Unfortunately Thames Valley Tigers won and the game started. Towers took
an early lead, but the Tigers returned with a vengeance. The time outs
went extraordinarily fast and it was soon half time. The score was
Tigers 49 and Towers 40. The Towers needed to raise their score!
The second half started and the Towers took the lead
again and the Tigers could not come back.
A result!
The final score was 99 points to 83. Hooray!
After the game I got some signatures from the players on
my programme.
The Cabinet War Rooms
by Cassie Viney and Ayesha Sansom
On Thursday morning we took the train from Gillingham to
Victoria which took about an hour and a half. We walked through the
streets of London. It was a good day because there was a parade.
When we arrived at the Cabinet War Rooms we saw a couple
of walls made out of sandbags. We split into groups and did different
activities which were about making do, mending and spending our ration
coupons. After lunch we collected our handsets and this took us around
the museum. We saw all different kinds of models and furniture. My
favourite was the Secret Kitchen. We walked through tunnels which were
gloomy, but not cramped.
We walked back to Victoria Station and came back on the
train.
October 2003
Our Visit to St Pol Sur
Ternoise
by Owen Fleet and Rhian Streater
Tired from getting up early, 27 Y5 and Y6 children went
to visit a school in St Pol, France. We travelled by coach and ferry.
Eventually, we arrived and went to a supermarket to buy our lunch. We
looked around, pushing baby trolleys and choosing what we fancied to
eat. Some of us paired off and bought food to share. Sam and I bought a
baguette, ham, apples and a Box of Pringles which had been reduced by
50%. Miss Jones said that the boys, in particular, were eating
healthily.
We arrived at the school while the pupils were eating
their lunch, so we were taken to a different area where the Infants ate.
Soon after lunch, we played outside. French children surrounded us! The
school was huge and strange because the playground was in the middle of
it. Most of us found it hard to mix in.
In the afternoon we worked together with a French child
to find out about them. It was scary because we didn't know what we were
saying and the children couldn't understand us. It was hard to
understand each other.
It was a fun day because we did lots of different things and
for some children it was their first time on a ferry. Damien
enjoyed spending Euros and Rhian found it fun typing on a French
keyboard. All the letters were in the wrong place. We were tired
and pleased that it wasn't a school day the next day.
On
Thursday 17th January Tanya and Laura went to the Guildhall
Museum to research the Romans in Rochester. We got there at 9.30
and went upstairs behind the scenes. We met Jeremy Clark and
Linda Jones who were teaching us for the day. We got to try on
Roman armour. It was very big and heavy, the hat had flaps on
the side. We walked round the museums while Jeremy Clark set up
the room. When we came back there was an archaeologist named
Steven waiting. He had brought in a Roman skull. It was a woman
who had suffered with terrible toothache and had lots of bronze
jewellery. There was a body that had been cremated and you could
only see tiny bones.
Our Adventures on the Medway 