London Houses of Parliament

London Houses of Parliament

On the 24^th of January 2017 the School’s Council, three competition winners and our school magazine journalists went to the Houses of Parliament. During our tour we learnt lots about its history as a palace and how parliament works. Then we went to watch a very important debate about Article 50 in the Houses of Commons Public Gallery which was fascinating. Some of our group even got to sneak into the House of Lords for a couple of minutes. Later, we attended a workshop to see how laws are made. We created and debated our own laws which were very exciting and we had to vote on them in order to pass them through our House of Commons. We had a surprise visit from our Hall Green MP Rodger Godsiff who answered some of our questions. Finally, we visited the gift shop and had a very long drive back to Birmingham.

By Amaan and Adam,         

School Council

Crash Landing...in Year 5 Science

This week in science we investigated how gravity and air resistance affects the planet and us.

Firstly, we learned about the incredible Isaac Newton and his discoveries – such as why gravity pulled an apple down, instead of up or sideways, after it fell from the tree. He said that gravity was a drawing power (it also pulls the moon to Earth!).

After that, we planned an investigation into air resistance. We all made a parachute out of a bin bag, a cup, tape and blu tack. Then Miss Fisher dropped them out the window! Each parachute had a slightly different area (e.g. 30x26cm or 30x14cm), but we didn’t change any other variables (as this would have not made it a fair test).

In 5 Poplar, the 30x30cm parachute (the biggest one) took the longest to hit the ground - it took 10 seconds. Whereas the smallest parachute (30x14cm) took the shortest time to land - it took only 2 seconds to crash!

We conducted this experiment to test whether the bigger the object, the slower it falls. The main reason why the 30x30cm parachute took the longest time to land is because more air resistance acted upon it, so the effect of gravity was less. 

Thanks for reading,

Ben and Josh

Year 5.

Madison (left) is sad because his small parachute quickly crash landed
whilst Josh's larger parachute seemed to glide to the ground!

Fire Safety Talk Year 4

This week Year 4 participated in a fire safety course and are now 'Junior Fire Inspectors!' 

We all understand how to stay safe in the event of a fire. We also learnt how to prevent fires from starting. 

Lee the Firefighter teaching us how to stay safe in our homes.  

We discussed potential fire safety hazards.

Circus Skills Day

As part of our new topic The Circus is Coming to Town, Year 2 have taken part in a Circus Skills Workshop.

Matt showing us how to use the equipment.

Matt the jester  came to school with all his circus toys and showed us how to use them. We learnt to juggle with scarves, walk on a tightrope and use flower sticks. Some of us even had a go on a unicycle! We remembered our value of the month, which is co-operation, and worked together to support each other.

Juggling with scarves.

In the afternoon, Matt showed us some of his tricks and skills and then we put on a performance for each other. We had a fabulous day!

Spinning plates.

Walking on stilts.

Year 5 and 6 Mixed Sportshall Athletics

On Wednesday 18th January eighteen children represented Chilcote in a Year 5 and 6 Sportshall athletics tournament.

All of the children took part in two track events and two field events through the competition.

The track events were: obstacle relay; 1 lap relay; 2 lap relay; 6 lap paarlauf; over under relay; 4x1 lap relay.

The field events were: javelin throw; chest push; vertical jump; standing long jump; standing triple jump; speed bounce.

After competing in all of the events the finishing positions for all of the children were added together and a total was reached. The totals were:

160 Bells Farm
160 The Oaks
194 Yardley Wood
212 Chilcote
236 Hollywood


Well done to all of the children involved in the competition, you did Chilcote proud!

Year 3 and 4 Mixed Sportshall Athletics

On Wednesday 18th January eighteen children represented Chilcote in a Year 3 and 4 Sportshall athletics tournament.

All of the children took part in two track events and two field events through the competition.

The track events were: obstacle relay; 1 lap relay; 2 lap relay; 1 lap hurdles relay; over under relay; 4x1 lap relay.

The field events were: javelin throw; chest push; vertical jump; standing long jump; five strides jump; speed bounce.

After competing in all of the events the finishing positions for all of the children were added together and a total was reached. The totals were:

142 Broadmeadow
144 Broadmeadow
232 Bells Farm
234 The Oaks
308 Chilcote
316 Hollywood
320 Yardley Wood

Well done to all of the children involved in the competition, you did Chilcote proud!

Year 3 and 4, and Year 5 and 6 Gymnastics Tournament

On Tuesday 10th January 2017 two teams of gymnasts from Chilcote represented the school in a Gymnastics competition at King Heath Boys School. One team consisted of four year 6 girls and two year 5 girls, and the other team consisted of five year 5 girls and 1 year 3 girl.

All of the girls were expected to complete a pre-learnt floor routine consisting of at least ten elements. Also, they were expected to complete a vault and jump routine. Both of their routines were marked by judges and scored. The team was then given a total score, which was compared to the total score of the other schools.

In the year 3 and 4 competition Chilcote finished 3rd out of five schools. The results were as follows:

5th 91.1 Hollywood
4th 94.1 Yardley Wood
3rd 94.4 Chilcote
2nd 95.7 Bells Farm
1st 97 The Oaks

In the year 5 and 6 competition Chilcote finished 3rd out of six schools. The results were as follows:

6th 95.7 Hollywood
5th 95.8 Yardley Wood
4th 97.6 Cotteridge B
3rd 98.2 Chilcote
2nd 98.3 Cotteridge A
1st 98.6 The Oaks

A massive well done to all of the children involved in the competition. Everybody did a fantastic job and represented the school really well!!!

Junior Choir at Christmas !

Junior Choir have been very busy during the last week. We have performed at Oak Tree Court residential home on Friday 9th December, St Peter`s Church on Saturday 10th December and Brook Meadow Court residential home on Monday 12th December. We also performed for everyone at school on Tuesday 13th December !
 On each of these occasions every member of our choir has performed extremely well in these very different venues and we have received many compliments about our singing. Everyone was also very well behaved, polite and friendly towards the people we met in our community.
Thank you very much to the staff and parents who have supported us on these occasions- Mrs Mahmood, Mrs Guren and  Mrs Hart, we have really appreciated your time and enthusiasm.

Thank you also to our families who have supported us in our weekly practices. We look forward to our next event Young Voices-at the NEC.

Year 3 at `Singing Connections`

On Thursday 8th December, 17 children represented Year 3 at a Singing Connections workshop at the Custard factory in Digbeth. This opportunity was provided by Birmingham Music Service and our children had a  very enjoyable day learning new songs and games designed to enhance and extend our learning in all areas of the curriculum. We will be sharing our new activities with the rest of the school next term.
Our children were extremely enthusiastic and participated very well all day, receiving compliments from the organisers and other schools.
 Many thanks to Mr Haycock for transporting us there and back in the school minibus and to Mrs Bundy for her support, care and enthusiasm all day.

Reception`s visit to the Post Office to post our letters to Santa.

On Tuesday 6th December , R Ash and R Oak walked to the Post Office to post our letters to Santa. 

We wrote them last week , sounding out our words carefully and using our fancy flicks in our handwriting.  We sang  Christmas songs outside the Post Office too.

Thank you very much to all the Mums and Dads who came to help us, it was lovely to have your company and support.