Grebes Activities

On 29/10/23, Grebes presented their research into the planets and other celestial bodies in our Solar System. The children showed their courage by standing up in front of the whole school and sharing what they have been learning in class. We are so proud of all of them! However, the majority of the students still refuse to accept Pluto’s downgrading to dwarf planet status in 2011, so we will have to do some further investigation into the meaning of ‘clearing the neighbourhood’ – one of the essential criteria for planet status. (https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/in-depth/)

UPDATE: Here is the final version of Happy Writer, produced by Mr Bell. See if you can spot the differences. We hope you will be a Happy Listener!

After we separately recorded all the parts of this song, the many sound files all had to be chopped up and mixed together. Here is the latest version. 

Credits:

Main ukulele riff and bass drum – Lizzie

Main ukulele melody – Sully

Vocal soloists: Anya, Victoria and Layla

Singers: Isla, Georgina, Jack, Ivy, Ffion, Eadie, Mia, Frankie

Egg shakers: Isla and Georgina

Rhythm ukulele: Everybody!

Instrument solos (in order):

1. Sully and Megan

2. Ivy and Jack

3. Rowan and Zach

4. Georgina and Isla

5. Ffion

6. Mirren

7. Frankie

8. Tilly / Freya (keyboards)

9. Mitchell

10. Frankie

11. Chloe (violin)

12. Anya – thumb piano

13. Sully and Megan (reprise)

Special thank you to our music teacher, Mr Bell, from the Norfolk Music Hub for making this recording possible!

Final Mix

Rough Mix

Grebes have written a song called ‘Happy Writer’ and we are rehearsing for Music Assembly and studio recording sessions next Tuesday. 

As part of our learning about South America, we made the Venezuelan version of chicha, a sweet drink popular all over the continent. We taste-tested it and generally the sweet creaminess of the drink was a hit, but the spices (cinnamon and nutmeg) and especially the thick texture were highly controversial!

Grebes performed their song live in assembly. All children have learned the song and many have had a hand in writing it – the chords, the words, the melodies and the solos. Later in the morning Mr Bell set up a studio in our classroom and we began recording each part of the song separately. Updates coming soon! 

This half-term children are getting green-fingered, growing plants from seed to investigate the effects of changing factors like amount of water, sunlight, space or type of soil. Many children’s hypotheses have proven correct, but no one predicted that Mirren’s radish plant in our stationery cupboard, with no sunlight at all, would grow better than her other plant on the windowsill! Time for a secondary investigation…

On June 14th Grebes teamed up with Gatekeepers class from Neatishead to visit Strangers Hall in Norwich to learn all about the ‘Strangers’, people from the Low Countries who were invited here as refugees in 1565. They were Protestants and persecuted for their faith by Catholic authorities. In RE, Grebes have been exploring the Big Question: Is religion a force for peace, conflict or both? We got to meet Jakob, a Stranger in full 16th century garb, who told us of the danger he faced as a Protestant. We learned about how he rebuilt his life in Norwich and, along with the other Strangers, galvanised trade (and fashion!) in our fine city!