Foundation

Apple

Apple Class have shown great enthusiasm, curiosity, and teamwork throughout the term.  In English, they have been focusing on letter writing and have worked hard to plan, write, and improve their letters.  Many are looking forward to posting them soon.

In topic lessons, students have been learning all about the Great Fire of London. They have loved finding out about the events of 1666, exploring why the fire spread so quickly, and thinking about how life in London has changed.

The class also had a wonderful trip to Bocketts Farm, where they enjoyed seeing lots of animals, learning about farm life, and taking part in hands-on activities. 

Cherry

Learning in Cherry Class has centred around the theme “How Does Your Garden Grow?”. Students have explored the natural world through stories, creative activities and hands-on experiences both in and out of the classroom.

On a trip to Bocketts Farm, the students really enjoyed seeing farm animals and learning more about where food comes from. Back at school, students explored the Heathermount grounds and discovered a surprising variety of seeds. They then used magnifying glasses to look closely at the different shapes, sizes and textures before talking about the plants the seeds might grow into.

In class, students explored how plants grow and change over time through stories such as The Tiny Seed, Growing Vegetable Soup and the traditional tale Jack and the Beanstalk. Each child planted their own seeds and carefully observed how they developed. They also practised writing simple instructions explaining how to plant a seed and what plants need in order to grow.

The students' learning about nature included discovering the small creatures that live around us. They loved searching for minibeasts by carefully lifting logs and stones and observing what they found. Stories such as Mad About Minibeasts and Superworm helped support this learning and sparked lots of curiosity.

In art, the students explored colour and texture in a variety of ways. They created flower and seed collages and painted bright sunflower pictures inspired by Vincent van Gogh.

The class also had great fun celebrating World Book Day with activities inspired by Little Red Riding Hood. They took part in storytelling, creative activities and enjoyed making their own wolf masks as part of the celebrations.

Primary

Pine

Pine Class have spent this term learning all about the Titanic.  They got stuck in to investigating everything from how it was built, what it was like inside and how it sank. They are even building their own mini Titanic to use in a science investigation about materials!  Pine also had a great trip to a local cafe where they all ordered their own food. Students finished off the term with a trip to Legoland where they had a workshop all about the world and enjoyed going on some rides too!

Willow

Willow Class have also been learning all about the Titanic. They discovered what life was like for passengers in first, second and third class and how very different their experiences were. To help them understand even more, they have been trying some of the foods eaten by passengers in each class. They tried sardines, porridge and jacket potatoes, just like the people on board would have eaten. The class decided that their favourite food was from second class, but the tasting activity really made them think about how lucky they are to have the variety and choice of food we enjoy today!

Elm

Elm class showed their wonderful spirit this week by hosting a cake sale in support of Red Nose Day.

Beech

In Maths, Beech Class have been learning about decimals. They have developed their understanding of reading, writing, comparing, and ordering decimal numbers, as well as adding and subtracting them with increasing confidence.  

In History, they have explored the ancient Maya civilisation, learning all about where the Maya lived, their culture, achievements, and daily life, including their writing system and architecture.

In Science, Beech Class have been studying human development and have explored the different stages of life and how humans grow and change from infancy through to old age.

In English, students have written explanation texts about how bees make honey. They focused on structuring their writing clearly, using technical vocabulary, and explaining each step of the process effectively.

Oak

Oak Class had a great time looking around a local garden centre identifying the garden plants that they have been learning about in science lessons.  At the end of the trip, they enjoyed a shopping experience where they independently chose and paid for their own shopping.

  

Secondary

Earth

Earth class recently went on an exciting trip to the cinema. The students brought in a packed lunch and staff had packed snacks. The class travelled there by train, which made the journey even more fun. They listened carefully to announcements about the train station on the train.  After the film, students talked about our favourite parts and rated the movie on the way back to the station.

Earth Class have also been working on their creative ASDAN programme and making Mother’s Day gifts.

English

Students in Mars Class have begun reading Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J. K. Rowling, using interactive reading approaches to bring the story to life. Lessons have focused on building engagement, developing comprehension, and exploring key moments in creative and imaginative ways.

Mercury Class have now completed their study of Odysseus and his journey home. They have applied their understanding by writing their own Greek myths, showing creativity and a strong grasp of structure, character, and moral themes.

Neptune and Saturn classes are continuing their exploration of dystopian fiction through The Hunger Games. They have been particularly engaged in discussions about strategy, survival, and decision-making, thinking carefully about how characters navigate challenging situations.

At GCSE, students have been developing their speaking and listening skills, writing and delivering their own speeches. They have shown growing confidence in presenting their ideas clearly and engaging an audience effectively.

Maths 

Mars Class have been honing their skills with the addition and subtraction of integers, decimal numbers and fractions. They can use these skills in context with mental, written and calculator methods. We are now moving on to improving these same types of skills with multiplication and division. 

             

Mercury completed a unit on Brackets, Equations and Inequalities, which they all found challenging. Being able to identify problems and work through solutions is a skill used everywhere in life, even if it isn’t written as an equation, and they will continue to work on algebraic skills ad hoc throughout the year. The group is now learning about Sequences and how to create an nth term rule.

            

Saturn and Neptune learnt how to find percentages of numbers, including increases and decreases. They can calculate original and post-sale amounts given the correct information. At the end of the term we will be learning about Maths and Money, bank statements and balances including credit and debit amounts.

                     

GCSE completed the unit on ratio and proportion of amounts, working cooperatively to solve more complex problems. Next was learning about the properties of polygons, including how to correctly indicate equality and parallel on a diagram. Lastly, this term there is an algebra focus to ensure all students are confident with solving expressions, equations and formulas either algebraically or graphically.

Science

This term we celebrated Science Week 2026 with a range of activities and a fascinating talk by an Aerospace Engineer all about space.

Computer Science

This term, Year 7 students have been learning how to create animations using Adobe Animate. This experience is helping them develop creative and technical skills, laying the foundation for potential future careers in the animation industry.

  

History

GCSE students have been studying the League of Nations as part of their work on international relations.  They have explored the aims of the League, how it was intended to maintain peace after the First World War, and the challenges it faced in achieving this goal. They have examined key case studies to evaluate its successes and failures, developing their skills in analysis and judgement. This topic has encouraged thoughtful discussion about the causes of conflict and the difficulties of maintaining global cooperation – key themes that continue to be relevant today.

Geography

Mercury Class has been learning about volcanoes and earthquakes, developing their understanding of how and why these natural hazards occur. They have explored tectonic plate movements, the structure of the Earth, and the impacts these events can have on people and environments around the world.

Meanwhile, Mars Class has been building their map skills through a cross-curricular Harry Potter project. Students have been practising both 4-figure and 6-figure grid references, using magical-themed maps to locate key places. This creative approach has helped strengthen their confidence in navigation and spatial awareness while making learning engaging and fun.

Drama 

Apple and Cherry classes have learnt many new skills this term, including Choral Speaking, Narration, using a big stage voice, showing feelings through their body, face and voice and different tones and expressions! All of this has been helped along the way by the trusty dog friend from down under, Bluey!

Oak Class have been learning how to use key theatre skills in their performance, such as freeze frame, slow motion, facial expression, posture, and gestures to enhance their work. This has meant their performances are becoming far more expressive, and with a particular focus in recent lessons on emotion, we are really seeing them come to life with feeling!

  

Pine Class have done a 5-Week Programme on Physicality, Freeze Frames, Hot Seating, Narration, and Performance. They have explored using eye contact, how to create tension on stage, stock characters, thought tracking and even how to deliver helpful peer feedback. Their theme has been superheroes so they have been wowing us each week with their secret magical powers!

Willow Class have been doing character studies using the story of Peter Pan. They have been exploring how to create different poses with their body, how to communicate their mood through movement and facial expressions and how to use the characteristics of the stock characters to tell the story. They have been taking it in turns to narrate parts of the story and play the different roles all whilst trying to escape Captain Hook making them walk the plank!

Elm Class have started a piece of Theatre in Education work this term, that will continue after Easter. They are creating a performance for foundation children about what it means to be a good friend. They have started pooling ideas for characters and have explored how gestures, facial expressions and body language show how we feel towards others. We look forward to continuing this work and performing for foundation next term.

Beech Class have been exploring features of live theatre, watching clips of The National Theatre’s and learning how to use the correct language when discussing it. They have turned into Theatre critics and had a go at evaluating live theatre and have even started to self-evaluate their own performance and highlight areas of improvement.

As I am sure you are aware this term, our full scale musical production has been taking place for Secondary. Do read our news article on Bugsy Malone and see the photo Gallery.

  

Those students not involved in the production have been studying the age-old classic Blue Remembered Hills by Dennis Potter and have focused on how we show status on stage by using stage positioning, levels and proxemics. The play has a very strong message about when a so called joke can go too far amongst friends and end up with negative consequences. Classes have had some very mature discussions about the morals of the play and have brought the characters to life very well, even having a go at doing a west country accent!

Music

Both Oak and Elm Class have been preparing songs to sing at this year’s Junior Music Festival. The title of the concert is Making Waves, and all the songs are on the theme of the sea. On Thursday 5th March, Berkshire Music Trust came to do a rehearsal with the children and thought they were amazing!

Cherry and Apple Class had a great time trying out lots of wind instruments in their music lesson. They got to try the recorder, the Toot (a small flute) and the Ocarina. They were all able to make sounds on the instruments, although they all found the Toot quite tricky.

Pine Class have been working on their own composition. They used a story about a monkey, an elephant and a flea and composed their own music, using percussion instruments to tell the story. 

Beech class started off learning about rock music and used instruments in the music room to create their own rock band. They created a performance of the chorus of Bon Jovi’s Living on a Prayer. They then started learning the PBone, a plastic trombone. Their final performance was fantastic, they played a song that required them to play and move between three different notes – not an easy thing to do when using a slide on a Trombone!

  

Willow Class have been learning about different genres of music, particularly focusing on the different instruments that are used. They then found some of these instruments in the music room and tried them out. They really enjoyed trying the electric guitar.

Art

Students have been working hard in art this term.  See our Art in Term 4 news article and Gallery.

PE

In Primary PE, students have been experimenting with rackets and developing their coordination skills. We have been very impressed, as always, by their positive attitudes while learning a range of new techniques and skills. Using equipment in PE can sometimes be challenging, but all students have shown great determination and have risen to the challenge exceptionally well.

A special shout-out goes to Oak class, who showed fantastic creativity during Pancake Day by inventing their own game. They flipped flat cones into the air and attempted to catch them in what they called their “frying pans” a brilliant and imaginative activity!

In Secondary PE, students have been learning about pickleball. While similar to tennis, pickleball is played on an indoor court and allows students to develop a wide range of coordination skills. It is a technically challenging sport to learn and perform, but all students have engaged brilliantly and shown great enthusiasm.

One of the highlights of the term was the second visit to Fulham FC. Both Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 students attended and performed exceptionally well. Unfortunately, during the Key Stage 4 trip we encountered heavy traffic and were stuck on the M25 for nearly two hours. Despite this, the students showed resilience and still performed admirably upon arrival.

The Fulham staff were so impressed with our students’ attitude that they kindly rewarded our Key Stage 4 group with tickets to that week’s Premier League match against West Ham. The students had a fantastic time, and we are very grateful to Fulham for providing such an amazing opportunity.

Our Key Stage 3 teams also achieved excellent results. The A team delivered an outstanding performance, not conceding a single goal throughout the entire day and finishing top of their league a remarkable achievement. The B team, which included several new players, also performed very well, finishing fourth in their respective league.

Congratulations to Ethan W and Elijah on making their Fulham debuts. At the end of the tournament, the Players’ Player awards were given to Lochlan and Ethan W. The Manager’s Player awards, recognising attitude, work rate, and excellent teamwork, were awarded to Taim and Harry S.

With the summer term just around the corner, we are looking forward to getting back outside and hopefully enjoying some good weather!

PSHE

Elm class started this term by doing a show and tell to their classmates about something that they are proud of and is important to them. They then went on to learn about healthy relationships and celebrating people's differences.

Beech Class also did a show and tell. It was great to see them all getting up and talking about their interests. For the rest of the term, they have been learning about puberty and the changes people go through.

Mars Class have been learning about positive relationships, especially when it comes to friendships, which we have related to Harry Potter to help them gain a better understanding about how people can show each other kindness, compassion and understanding.

Mercury Class have been learning about risky substances, particularly about alcohol, its effects and how to stay safe.

Neptune and Saturn classes have been learning about healthy intimate relationships and how to stay safe when being intimate with someone.

Jupiter and Pluto classes have been learning about staying safe and healthy, looking at how to check their bodies, immunisation and chronic illnesses.

Business Admin

Business Admin students helped with the school Options evening.  They sent emails and called or met up with staff to organise refreshments and seating arrangements. They also assisted with the options evening booklets, helping to get them printed and ready.  

Young Enterprise

Student companies are very busy with their diversified product range, from bracelet making and T-shirt printing to a Mother's Day plant sale. Students meet during leisure time to work on their products and enter Young Enterprise competitions. 

  

Catering

Level 2 Food Production and Cookery students continue to develop their practical skills through a range of industry-standard techniques. One week they produced a classic chicken katsu curry

Construction

Construction students have been enjoying a range of small carpentry projects, including outdoor plant boxes, fidget spinners, mug trays, cookbook stands, and birdhouses. They are working well with Matt, who now leads Friday lessons. All the coffee tables students made have been sent home—we hope you are enjoying their hard work! 

Horticulture

In Horticulture, students have been learning how to prepare an allotment bed for planting and then starting to sow some seeds in preparation for planting them out.

  

Forest School

In Forest school, students have been working on their map reading skills and completing orienteering courses around the school site.