What is England?

By Class 4Greatham Church of England

Primary School

What is England?

In this presentation we hope to tell you about our life in England. We have also included lots of information about our school and hobbies. We hope you find our presentation both interesting and enjoyable.

Introduction

School LocationThe school is situated in a quiet cul-de-sac at the southern end of Greatham Village on the outskirts of Hartlepool, with countryside and woodland on one side and industry, at a distance, on the other.

Hartlepool is a town in the North East of England. The population of the town is around 90,000 people, however the population of our village is only around 2500 people.

Most children travel to school by car or they walk. On Wednesday we try to walk to school because it is walk to school day.

In Greatham Church of England Primary School we have to wear a school uniform. For our school uniform the girls can wear a cardigan. On our school cardigan we have a badge of the local church where we go to pray and hold a ceremony each term.

Girls can wear trousers, skirts or shorts but the colour has to be black. We can wear any sort of socks or school shoes. The boys must wear trousers or shorts and a jumper which is navy blue. Children are expected to wear a blue or white polo shirt underneath their jumper and any school shoes and socks on their feet.

For indoor physical education (PE) we have to wear blue shorts and a white t-shirt with trainers. If we go outside for PE and for outdoor exercise we can either wear shorts or tracksuit bottoms with a plain white top and trainers.

School Uniform

Classrooms

Class Year Groups Age range

Class 4

Years 5 and 6 9 to 11

Class 3

Years 3 and 4 7 to 9

Class 2

Years 1 and 2 5 to 7

Class 1

Nursery and Reception

3 to 5 Class sizes are kept very small. There is an average of 28 children in classes 2, 3 and 4. We also have a well equipped ICT suite (full of computers) and a very large hall, which we use for lunch, worship, PE (when wet) and our brilliant school plays. The school also has a conservatory (that gets very hot) which is used for after school clubs, music and it is also used for extra lessons.

In our school (Greatham Church of England Primary School) we have four different classrooms, Class 1, Class 2, Class 3 and Class 4. We are in class four because we are the best!!! We have eight year groups in our school; a table of this is shown below…

Class 1 - Nursery and Reception

Class 2 – Years 1 and 2

Class 3 – Years 3 and 4

Class 4 – Years 5 and 6

School Dinners

In our school, we have a school dinner every day. We have a weekly menu, with normally about three or more choices for main and dessert. Do you choose what you eat for lunch?

My favourite main meal is chicken, but there are lots of other options such as sausages, stromboli and many different pies. We also have many different side dishes, which normally consist of at least two choices of vegetables, some form of potato, (boiled, jacket potato, chips, roast potato, etc.) maybe baked beans or spaghetti hoops and at least one type of bread.

Also we have a salad bar. We always have fruit and yogurts available for dessert, but there is always some sort of cake. We are allowed one main choice, either bread or potato, one or more portions of vegetable and a dessert. What do you like eating for dinner?

We sit on the same table every day. All the school children sit in the hall together to eat. Do you get told which seat to sit at?

Our dinner ladies serve our lunch as well as cook it. We have lunchtime supervisors too, who take care of us and make sure everybody behaves! There are about four cooks and five supervisors - it doesn’t sound like much, but there are only one-hundred and twelve pupils in our school!

Here is a photograph of our school dinner hall.

By Sarah and Suryan

Morning and After School Clubs

In the morning there is a breakfast club but it is optional to attend. In the club we have breakfast which is normally weetabix or toast and play some games such as pool and air hockey. At our school we have a football pitch for the football team - this year we won the cup! We have a variety of toys to play with such as hula hoops, footballs, mini stilts and many more. My favourite toy is the space hopper (which is a big bouncy ball that you can hop around on). We have a playground that the children love.

We also have a field that the older children prefer. We have lots of after school clubs such as Happy Days, football practice, ICT club and some times we have a gymnastics club.

By Joe and Joshua

Lessons

We have many different lessons throughout the school week including: Maths, Literacy, ICT, PE, French, Art, Czech and History. What subjects do you study?We have a Maths lesson for an hour every day. We learn about various topics in Maths like division, co-ordinates, subtraction, addition and much more.

Usually the second lesson, after our 15 minute break, is Literacy where we learn to write stories about fantasy, adventure, myths and legends and mystery. We also learn to write season poems and haikus. What do you learn in Literacy?

In History we have learnt about the Great Fire of London, Celts, Victorians, Anglo-Saxons, Romans, Tudors and finally World War 2. Some of these topics included school trips which were all very exciting. Do you go on school trips?

Each week we learn two European languages: Czech and French. In Czech we learn songs and traditions of the country - sometimes we even cook! In French we are learning how to say the names of fruits. Sometimes we have a special French visitor from an island in the Caribbean.

By Lorna and Ethan

Library Hall

Music Equipment ICT Suite

7am I wake up at 7am then get into my

uniform

7:45 Eat breakfast of Nutella on

toast.

8:55 Registration in

school

9:00 First lesson is

Maths, my favourite topic

is division.

10:00 – Play time and worship

10:35 English

12:10 Lunch and main play.

1:15 – On a normal

Wednesday we do PE and

science.

3:15 Leave school

3:20 Arrive home

3:30 Play out with my friends that live near me or play on my Xbox (a

games console) which is good

fun.

6:00 – 8:00 Go to the Arc which is a really fun drama

class. We are preparing for a

show.

8:30 Get home and go in the shower

8:40 Watch TV

10pm I go to bed

My Routine for Wednesday

By Ben

The time I get up varies each

day, sometimes I

get up at 6:30am and other days I don’t get up until 7:30am.

At 8:45 I arrive at school. I always

have time to fill up my water bottle

and my pencil case before the

teacher takes the register.

The first lesson finishes at 10am. My

friends and I go out onto the field for play

time which lasts 15 minutes.

10:15 We have

worship every day

which usually lasts 15

minutes.

At 9am lessons

start. The first

lesson is maths. 1:15 We

take the afternoon

register and ICT starts.

2:30 Now we go out for PE. My favourite sport is hockey but I spend more time on the ground than

on my feet.

3:15 is home time, I walk

home with my brother, sister

and Mum.

5pm is teatime. My favourite meal is Sunday lunch, my Mum makes it all.

She is a really good cook.

9:15pm is my

bedtime.

My Daily Routine

By Lorna

10:35 The next lesson is Literacy. I usually enjoy Literacy as I

find it interesting.

12:05 Class 4 goes to dinner.

12:30 dinner time play time

begins. This play time is much longer than morning play time. The length of time

depends on how quick you finish

dinner.

Worship

As a Church of England school, pupils attend worship every morning after morning play. The worship always contains a hymn, the Lords prayer and a story or theme. Usually worship lasts about fifteen minutes, but sometimes we have special worships which last a little longer. Every term, each class leads worship on a topic they have studied. Just recently we have had a Eucharist service, which celebrates the Last Supper. Most worships are in the school hall, but on special occasions such as: Harvest Festival, Christingle Service, Easter Service and the Festival of Saint John the Baptist, they are held at the local village church. At these services parents can come and watch.

At the end of the year there is a Y6 leavers service, this is where the oldest people in the school have their last worship before moving on to secondary school. By Christopher

SAT’s Week and moving to Secondary School

During the summer term, we had a number of tests over a week. For the English test we had a long writing, short writing and a spelling test. For maths we had a mental maths, non calculator and a test with a calculator. Some people got extra time for each test apart from the mental maths quiz. Before every test we were allowed a snack, we all loved the muffins and in between we were allowed another sweet.

Moving to secondary school is different to primary school because it’s very big and has lots of children, lots more. All of the Y6 are going to the same school, Manor College of Technology. The year groups are from year seven to year eleven. Everyone is looking forward to going to another school. We have visited the school for an induction day.

By Hannah and Nathan

Greatham Feast

Every year Greatham Village celebrates the birthday of Saint John the Baptist on the 24th June. The celebrations usually last for a whole weekend.

On Friday, the first day of the celebrations, the pupils of Greatham Primary School went to church to celebrate Saint John the Baptist’s birthday with a service.

On the Saturday, people who live in Greatham Village could take part in the fancy dress competition. I was part of a group that dressed up as the London’s 2012 Olympic Games, and we came first in our section. All the girls dressed up as gymnasts. Three of my friends (who are boys) dressed up as a swimmer, a hockey player, a boxer and all the grown ups dressed up as Ancient Greeks.

Sunday was the family sports day, which children could take part in. You had to do your sports in your year groups. There were so many sports to do, I cannot name them all. At about 6:00pm we all stopped for tea.

I hope you enjoyed my writing about the feast, do you have a celebration like our feast?

By Mae

Robin Hood Play

In the summer term, Class 3 and 4 performed a play about Robin Hood, in front of family and friends.

Each pupil was given a part in the play and we practised our lines everyday. We had brilliant costumes and exciting props. I played one of the Sheriff of Nottingham’s soldiers. I enjoyed the sword fighting, it was my favourite part.

Everybody worked hard on the play. It was a fantastic play!

By Finley

Here are some photographs from our rehearsals.

China Week

In our school we like to learn about how people live in different countries. When I was in Class 3, people from China came into our school to tell us about their country. They taught us some Chinese words and how to speak their language. We learnt that ‘Ni hao’ means hello. I found the language quite amazing and wished I could learn more!

We were also taught how to paint Chinese writing. It is important to hold the brush correctly otherwise you may write the wrong letter. This must not be written on plain paper, you need to use rice paper. Chinese writing is a lot different to English writing.

During the week we also played Chinese chess. They use small soldiers made out of pot, one set was black and one was white. One player would use the white set and their opponent would use the black set.

During China week I learnt a lot about how the people in China live which was a lot different to my life in England.

By Amber

Sound PodAt the beginning of the summer term, Y5 had the opportunity to go to a secondary school called Manor College of Technology in Hartlepool.

The subject we were offered was music, based in a room named the Sound Pod. The Sound Pod is a room full of musical instruments including electronic drum kits, electric guitars, keyboards and the hand sonic. My favourite instrument is the electric guitar. Do you have a favourite musical instrument?

Sound Pod

In the first week at Sound Pod we learnt the electric drums and the hand sonic (a complete drum kit on electronic discs that you play with your hands).

In the second week we learnt the keyboard and in the third week we learnt guitar. In our final visit we had the chance to record our music.

The Y5’s have decided to perform a worship in front of the rest of the school about our visit to the Sound Pod.

By Morgan

Space 2 LearnClass 4 went on a school trip to a place called Space 2 Learn. Space 2 Learn is where you can learn about things from all the way around the world, and they make it very fun. We went there because we were learning about Mardi Gras which means French Carnival.

We made animal masks just likepeople in France. Class 4 made masksbecause we wanted to have our ownMardi Gras back at school.

At first we went into giant room with white walls and sat down. A video was projected onto all of the walls which showed how the people in France celebrate this festival.

After Class 4 watched the video, we split up in to two different groups - one group did circus tricks and the other group did some dancing. During the dancing some French music was played so we could walk around in a circle. When the dancing was finished, we switched groups so everyone could have a go at both activities.

By Tamsin

Sports Day

At our school there is a yearly tournament of lots of sports called Sports Day. Some of the sports that are included are sprints, skipping, the sack race, space hop, the egg and spoon race and the relay race.

The Egg and Spoon Race

Sports DayEach race was split into year groups. Boys and girls raced together to be the fastest in the school year. The winner of each race was given a certificate for being first, and the second and third place people also got a prize. Then they got a sticker. Are you a very fast runner? I am fast because I came first in the 25m sprint. Also the whole of our relay team worked really hard and we managed to come first.

I liked the prizes at the end of the day. The prizes were a chocolate bar for each child and a really cold ice-pop. Everyone was extra tired because everyone had tried their best. We were worn out!

We got to take our certificates home and show our parents. They were so proud of us all.

By Keaton

Crucial Crew

Class 4 went to Crucial Crew to learn about health and safety. We learnt about safety on the coastline, what to do in case of a fire, road safety, the dangers of playing on a building site, fireworks and the dangers of electricity.

When we learnt about safety on the coastline, we had to roll a dice and answer true and false questions to move a space on a huge board. I was one of the people to win by getting to the top square. On the board they had hazards where you missed a go.

Next we learnt about what to do in case of a house fire. We where shown how to block smoke coming in your room by putting things across the bottom of the door until the fire brigade come to help you.

Crucial Crew

We learnt the Firework code. This helped us to keep safe on November 5th (Bonfire Night).

In the activity about road safety and stranger danger we learnt how to keep safe when riding our bikes.

In every activity we learnt how to phone the emergency services (on 999) and give the right information.

Here is the certificate we were given for completing the day.

By Imran

Mini Tournament of the 2010 World Cup

The mini World Cup was held on June the 24th at Greatham Church of England Primary School on the school field on a sunny day. Everyone celebrated by blowing their vuvuzelas just like the crowd did in the real World Cup.

Greatham Primary School organised a repeat of the 2010 World cup. I was a member of the winning team - South Africa. I scored 3 goals in the whole tournament. One goal was against Germany in the first round. I scored the other 2 goals during the rest of the matches in the tournament.

Unbelievably, my team reached the final. It was tied 0-0 in the first half but soon after the break, a member of my team scored the winning goal of the game. This meant we won the mini 2010 World Cup.

My favourite football teams are Hartlepool United F.C, Liverpool F.C, and England. What is your favourite football team? By Luke

Robin Wood

In October 2010, students from Greatham Church of England Primary School in Class 4 had the opportunity to go to Robin Wood, which is at Alston in Cumbria. Robin Wood is a very fun and exiting activity centre.

My team’s first and coldest activity was the Stream Walk where we were given some Wellington boots, helmets and water proof coats. We had to wade through waist deep water which was freezing cold and in one part it was up to our chest.

The Night Line is another activity but this time you are blindfolded. The leader told us that squirrels would tickle us but the people in my group found the things that they really used to tickle us with, as it wasn’t really a squirrel.

Robin Wood

That night we also went on the Zip Wire which is where we were attached to steel rope and slide down at a speed of 75km (50mph). We had a red string that we pulled when we got to the bottom to get down.

Another activity we played was the Giant Swing, and honestly it is giant. For the giant swing we wore a helmet and a harness for safety. Two people at a time could go on the swing. They were hooked on by their harness and secured by a metal bolt. Meanwhile the others in your group had to hoist you up by pulling a rope. After pulling on the rope, the swing was released and you could swing on it.

I had a really good time at Robin Wood. Do you have an activity centre in India?

Robin Wood

Here are some photographs from our time at Robin Wood.

By Chloe, Connor, Abbi and Joe

Weather

The weather in England isn’t that good. There’s lots of rain in England. Our weather is normally sunny or rainy. Sometimes we have thunder and lightning which can last a couple of minutes or longer. I heard that you don’t have much snow, we only have it in the winter. Do you have thunder and lightning?

The weather in England can vary because in May a couple of years ago it snowed in the North-East! In other years May has been scorching in Hartlepool. My favourite weather is snow because I enjoy sledging. What is your favourite weather?

By Ethan and Lorna

FoodWe eat a variety of different foods here in England. We have lots of English dishes, and probably the most famous one is fish and chips. It consists of battered fish with golden chips. Other English dishes include Yorkshire puddings and Cornish pasties. But people in England also consume lots of foreign food, such as Chinese, Indian, Italian and even some American food!

My personal favourite food is mars bar ice-crispy cakes:- they are so delicious, I can’t put it into words. But they are very calorific (full of calories), so I only ever have one for a treat now and again! In England, most people will have eaten takeaways. A takeaway is where you go to a cafe (or ring them up) and take food home to eat. My favourite takeaway is Indian, but I don’t like too much spice! Do you have a favourite food? We have a wide range of drinks as well, such as juice, coke, pop and flavoured milk. What’s your favourite drink?

By Sarah and Suryan

Buildings and Places to Visit

There are many famous buildings in England. The most famous is Buckingham Palace, this is where Her Majesty the Queen lives. Another famous building is the clock tower in London which holds Big Ben. There is many more attractions like Westminster Abbey, the Tower of London, London Eye and Trafalgar Square.

In the North-East of England we have the Angel of the North!

By Nathan

SportsMy favourite sports are football, tennis and rugby and golf. I like football because the feeling when you score a goal is unbelievable, everyone is chanting your name, especially when you score a screamer (a brilliant goal).

I enjoy rugby because of the tackles, it’s like you are jumping around; it’s a bit like wrestling when you rugby tackle someone. I love tennis because it makes you fitter by running about a lot. When you get an ace for the first time it’s brilliant, it is like you are Rafael Nadal. Roger Federer is ranked the third best tennis player in the world, he performed a very good shot a few months ago under his legs.

Golf is fun especially when you hit a really long drive or get a hole in one. That’s what I really love about golf. One of the most famous English footballers is called Wayne Rooney, he plays for a team called Manchester United (my favourite football team) and has scored many goals.

By James

ClothesI think clothes are a big statement in England and the brands and labels you wear are very important in day to day life. As a girl and a self confessed style guru, my clothes mean everything to me! My favourite shop is River Island. It is clothes heaven, the style is unique but always on trend. The shop sells clothes for the young, the old, the bright and the bold! Although it’s a bit pricey, the clothes are always worth it. Where do you like to shop?

Another great shop is Primark and it’s great for value (most people would agree with me). Primark sells everything including jeans, tops, dresses, shoes and blazers. What do you wear when you want to make a fashion statement?

By Emelia

Gadgets

In England we have a lot of gadgets, such as a mobile phone, laptop, iPad, iPod, Nintendo DS and many more. My personal favourite is the laptop because you can go on the internet and research lots of things for homework or you can go on the messaging website so you can talk to your friends. Sometimes you can take mobile phones and iPods outside so if you can always get in touch with your parents. When I go to school, we use a lot of gadgets including laptops and computers or interactive whiteboards and CD players.

Have you got any different gadgets in your country? By Olivia

Spare Time

At the weekend I love to go down to the local mall and to go shopping. My favourite shop is River Island because it sells all the latest clothes. When I go shopping in River Island I normally buy a top, some jeans and accessories. The most recent things I have bought from there are a purple dress and a black clutch bag. I also love their hats, every time winter comes around I always go and see their hat collection! I nearly spent all my Christmas money on hats last year.

I go shopping with my friends. I love to shop for bags, you know what they say: bags are a girl’s best friend! I have a bag from River Island but a few weeks ago I put it on the hot cooker and it burnt some of the leather! I think fashion is major in England for 21st century children. Most people go shopping on a weekly basis (well my friends and I do). Do you go shopping on a weekly basis?

By Hannah

Spare Time

In my spare time I go on my Play Station 3 which is a console for games and movies. Some films are made in other countries and are translated into English so we can understand them.

I also play outside with my friends and we do lots of things together like climbing trees. I sometimes go to the cinema with my friends to see movies before they come out on DVD. A lot of people in England do something else like play board games. On Saturday nights my dad and I have a takeaway and watch ‘Doctor Who’ if it’s on, or a football match.

After school, and at weekends, I use my spare time to play football with my team. On a Sunday we play a match against another team, but usually we just train. I like football because it is very active to play and tense to watch.

Another hobby I enjoy is pool. Pool is a very similar game to snooker, except the rules are a little different. Pool is a very difficult sport to master, it takes skill and accuracy. I enjoy pool as much as I do because it is very different to any other sport. What is your favourite sport?

By Ewan By Christopher

Christmas

My favourite holiday is Christmas, what is yours? We celebrate Christmas on the 25th December because it is the birthday of Jesus Christ.

On Christmas Day we have a special dinner where we invite friends, family and sometimes our neighbours. For dinner we have turkey and pork, pigs in blankets (sausages wrapped in bacon), mashed potatoes, roast potatoes and gravy.

Another of our traditions is having Christmas trees in our house. Sometimes we put presents under the tree. The tree will have lots of decorations and a star on the top.

Christmas

My family don’t buy my Christmas presents; Santa Claus brings them to me. He rides his sleigh with his reindeer called Rudolph. There is a song about Rudolph called ‘Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer’. Santa lands on your house and comes down the chimney with your presents. If you leave out carrots, milk and cookies for him and his reindeer to eat, they will be gone when you wake up in the morning.

Christmas isn’t just a special tradition in England but all across the world. Do you celebrate Christmas?

By Will

Christmas at School

Our Christmas dinner at school.

We sing carols at Christmas.

Easter

In England we celebrate a Christian holiday called Easter. We celebrate Easter because it is the day Jesus rose from the dead. Jesus was crucified and his body was laid in a cave which was sealed by a boulder. His friends visited the cave and found that the boulder had been rolled away and there was nothing left in the cave. His friends told Mary and she could not believe what had happened so she went to see for herself and it was true - Jesus was not there. An angel was sent to tell Jesus’ disciples and Mary that he had risen from the dead.

It is a tradition in England to receive chocolate eggs from friends and family which we eat on Easter Sunday. At school there is an Easter egg competition every year. In the competition, children make models with eggs and the winners receive a big chocolate egg. The runners up receive a smaller egg.

In school we make cards to give to our family and we also have two weeks off school.

By Finn

Mother’s Day

Mother’s day, or Mothering Sunday, is a celebration in England where we buy our mum presents and cards. We celebrate this every year on the fourth Sunday of lent.

At school we make our mum a card instead of buying them. On Mother’s Day you sometimes take your mum out for a thank you meal or make her some food.

We celebrate this day to say thank you to our mother for being there when we needed her and taking care of us through our life. Do you celebrate mother’s day?

By Abbi and Morgan

Father’s DayOn the third Sunday in June, in England, we celebrate Father’s Day. We give our dad presents, make them breakfast and maybe even give them some chocolate. Then we give them a card and a hug and let them choose what to watch on TV for the day so he can watch his favourite show. Do you do that for your dad?

At school we make gifts and cards for our dad so we can given them something extra on the day.

My dad is always very pleased with what I make him. Do you celebrate Father’s Day in India?

By Connor and Joe

Halloween

Hi our names are Mae and Luke and we want to tell you about how we celebrate Halloween.

We celebrate Halloween on the 31st of October every year by dressing up as a scary character, knocking on other people’s doors and saying “Trick or Treat”. Hopefully if you carry a sack people will give you some sweets.

Last year Luke dressed up as Frankenstein and knocked on people’s doors and said “Trick or Treat or smell my feet” and he got lots of sweets.

Last year Mae dressed up as a dead bride so she had her hair back combed and black highlights in her hair. She had fake blood on her white dress and cuts in her tights.

The common costumes that people wear on Halloween are vampires, witches, zombies and devils. Do you celebrate Halloween?

We hope you have enjoyed our presentation about our school and life in England. We hope you found it interesting and have been able to

learn something about our way of life.

Goodbye from Class 4