Whitehouse Common Primary -

Hands of the World eTwinning project - Weekly Makaton Challenges Spring1

The Hands of the World (HOTW) project is really taking root at Whitehouse Common.  5MM have been following on from learning This is Me  to mastering a new song from The Greatest Showman in Makaton (more of that in the next post), but the fun has not been restricted to one class. Year 4 have been leading the way with the weekly Makaton challenge, and you can see the results of the first three weeks below. And the rest of KS2 have been joining in; during assembly last week, everyone learned to sign Good afternoon, teacher and ask and answer How are you?

It's been lovely to see children greeting one another in Makaton, and also coming into school having learned new signs to share, or with stories of parents and relatives who use or know some Makaton. 

This week, the challenge is to say Good night, friend. As we're on holiday, we'll have to catch up next week. 

Happy Hometime Club February 2019 Newsletter

Newsletter 15th February 2019

Please [click here] to read the newsletter

Nursery Newsletter Spring 2 2019

 NURSERY SPRING NEWSLETTER

Please [click here] 

Excellent Work (Week Beginning 04/02/19)

Year 2 speak to Antartica Scientist

Year 2 were very lucky to be able to Skype call Dr Jenny Hillman from the University of Helsinki about her recent trip to Antartica. The children have been learning lots about the North and South poles and in particular what life is like in Antartica. Dr Hillman was able to talk to the children about what life is like in Antartica and spoke about how her and her team dove under the ice to see the effects of global warming on animals on the sea floor. The children were fascinated to find out about the special dive suits that she needed to wear to keep warm in the -2 waters and how sometimes her hands would freeze and take 2 hours to thaw out after a dive! They also found out that whilst Dr Hillman was in Antartica there was no darkness - they found this very exciting, they thought this meant no bedtime!

This is Me signed in Makaton- Hands of the World project

The first month of the Hands of the World (HOTW) project has come to an end and our first song is complete. 31 schools in 19 countries have collaborated, each signing one line (and often learning more!). All the clips have now been stitched together, synched to the soundtrack and the result is this video: This is Me from the film The Greatest Showman, sung in English and signed in Makaton. Some eager volunteers from Y5 sign our line - can you spot them? We hope you enjoy watching it as much as Y5 did this afternoon when the video received its WCPS premiere in 5MM's music lesson.

Hands of the World eTwinning project - January

Today saw the launch of Whitehouse Common's involvement in another eTwinning project. One of the first projects that we were involved in 10 years ago was called Voices of the World and this one is organised by the same person and called HAnds of the World.

The project brings children from around the world together through the use of music and Makaton.

The project aims are

1. to connect children with their global peers, to break down barriers, develop children’s understanding of diversity and inclusion and use technology to make learning global rather than confined to the walls of the classroom.

2. to create a ways for children to connect with others around the world through a meaningful project.

3. to celebrate the power of music as an excellent communication tool, and to celebrate the use of Makaton sign language to create an inclusive environment for children of different needs: children where English is second language, children with hearing impairments and children with communication difficulties. In this project it will also unite children who speak different languages in a common song.

4. to show how a small amount of time each monthcan create a collaborative end product that will be very special.

Each month a song will be released that will have the Makaton signing (YouTube clip). Each school will be assigned one or two lines of the song to which they learn the sign language and video. Schools can choose to learn more, for example, the chorus or even the whole song. All the short recordings will be sent to the organiser who will knit all the recordings together to make one video. This will be released at the end of the month.

5MM will be leading the way with the project as they will be dedicating a Music lesson each month to learning each song, but other classes will be able to get involved too.

This month the song is This is me from The Greatest Showman.  5MM watched the video for the first time this afternoon and, after only two run throughs were confident enough to show some of the song in assembly, and then sign along to the song as the other classes left. So that they can rehearse before next week, and as promised in assembly, here is the video. perhaps you'd like to have a go?