Travelling continents in year groups

Each year group were given a continent and spent the day exploring countries within it. They each had a passport, in which they proudly collected visa stamps from every country they had learnt about.

Year 3 enjoyed learning about South Africa, Tanzania and Morocco. From spices, to storytelling, to biltong; the children were able to experience and immerse themselves in each of these African countries.

Year 4 visited the Americas where they had the opportunity to learn about life in Washington DC, USA, from a teacher who had just returned from living and working in the country. They enjoyed Samba music to get the feel of the Brazilian culture and created colourful carnival masks to immerse themselves in the Caribbean island experience. 

Year 5 visited South Korea, Japan and Russia. When in Japan, the children studied the beauty of sakura trees, tasted some seaweed and listened to a Japanese version of We Will Rock You. They had a go at a Sudoku challenge and some even got a chance to learn some origami. In South Korea, the children enjoyed some k-pop, tried some milk bread and then played a traditional Korean board game called Yut Nori. Finally, in Russia, they practised using the Russian alphabet and learned about Matryoshka (nesting dolls).

Year 6 worked in groups to prepare some presentations about New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific Islands. Following a session familiarising themselves with Digimaps and then researching the continent, the groups carried out further research on chromebooks to create interesting and eye-catching posters featuring topics such as famous people, wildlife, school, food and landscapes. An introduction to the Haka was a highlight in the afternoon!

ACS Cobham

The children from year 2 at ACS Cobham visited the children in year 3 at WBJS for an afternoon of cultural exchange. They spent an hour getting to know each other; sharing stories and traditions and appreciating different cultures. They worked together to create a giant world map!

Digimaps

Every year group had the chance to explore our new mapping programme – Digimaps. They practised their locational knowledge by finding countries, capitals continents and oceans. They measured distances and researched the human and physical geography within their regions.  

Parent and staff volunteers

We were fortunate enough to have some special guests to talk to some year groups. Ms Chergia showed year 3 and year 4 Indonesian shadow puppets and they were inspired to make their own afterwards. Year 5 enjoyed listening to Ms Murthy about the tradition of Rangoli and were able to practise using a stencil and rice powder to create intricate designs. They also got to experience saree draping!

All year groups also had the opportunity to listen to stories in another language. Mr Charles-Jones and his mother read The Gruffalo’s Child in Slovene, Ms Bensberg read Peppa Pig in French, Ms Joubert read The Gruffalo in Afrikaans, Ms Bridges read The Three Little Pigs in Portuguese and Miss T read Goldilocks and The Three Bears in Italian.                   

Theatre Production

The whole school were entertained by a wonderful French/English production of 'Chasse au Tresor' by the Joy4kids theatre company.

VR headsets

We might not have been able to visit this many countries in person but with the help of some VR headsets, the children were able to explore the world. ACS Cobham kindly allowed us to use this fantastic resource so the children could experience and appreciate other parts of the world up close!

EAL assembly

To end the week, the whole school enjoyed hearing from the children who speak English as an additional language. The children spoke in their native language and shared a fact. Some children also brought in their traditional outfits and showed some instruments unique to that country.