Tag Rugby

On Wednesday, year 4 entered a tag rugby competition at Sandbach Boys School.  There were six teams competing and after a late start, Shavington were raring to go!  Their first game went well and resulted in a draw.  Their team spirit continued, and even though it was extremely cold, they went on to win all of their remaining four games.  We came 2nd overall in the tournament.  Well done to Jack N, Phoebe, Joe, Zoe, Luke, Jack P, Lorna, Tom, Josh & Thomas

Portugal Day 4 - Water Pavillion and Kindergarten.

We started the day with a trip to the Water Pavillion, we didn't know what to expect as the building was slanted downwards. Outside the pavillion there were water dancing features powered by solar panels. After looking at the fountains we went inside and watched an amusing animation all about the water cycle. Next we observed the water experiments and got involved by pumping water into the bucket which made the fish eyes glow as well as his tail moving! After that we went towards the experiment room where there were lots of interesting things to discover! There was a rainbow maker where we had to press lots of buttons to create a wonderful rainbow, also there were water tornadoes where you could change the size and length. Everyones favourite was the dancing balls, water spouted up in the air and then you placed a sponge ball on the water and it looked like it was dancing as it balanced on the water. Nicole played Frere Jacques on the glass bottles filled with water, the lowest sound had the most water and the highest sound had no water. The building was designed to muddle our minds and Mario proved to us the floor  was striaght even though we were all convinced it was on a slope, it was a great place enjoyed by all.

After a walk through the park and many many photos we headed back to school for lunch. The kindergarden was our next stop where we were greeted by the youngsters singing a welcome song in English, they then performed traditional dances. They were very brave and very cute! They treated us to some tasty treats that they had made in school. We also had a look around their classroom.  They had done some lovely work which we enjoyed looking at. We came back to school and the children performed a carnival parade with dancing and music. When they had finished dancing and singing we all went to the sports hall and played traditional games together.  We learnt a new dance too, great fun! We then had a look at some of the science experiments that the children were doing in school. Danielle spoke beautiful English and explained all the experiments to us. Danielle has been looking after us and we have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know her. We are just getting ready for our leaving dinner all together.

 There were lots of fun things to do at the Water Pavillion. Guess who got the wettest?

 Photo opportunities by the beach.

 Mrs Llewelyn-Leach tries to copy Maddie's fashion - but ends up looking more like a duck!!

 Mrs Nicholls found a friend with VERY good English.

 The kindergarten children had made jams and chutneys - just like us.

 

The girls join in with a Portuguese dance.

 Some of the Portuguese Ambassadors that looked after the girls, with their new found friend Daniella who also spoke OUTSTANDING English!!

 

Our farewell dinner with lots of lovely COD!!!! And tasty puddings prepared by the children and their parents,

 

Amigos de adeus!

Portugal Day 3 - The Cod factory!!

Day 3!!

 

 

We were up at early o'clock this morning (yawn yawn yawn!) to get to the smelly cod factory. When we arrived we were made to dress up in embarrasing bin liner jackets, face mask's, hair nets and plastic shoe protectors. Mrs Cork looked like a cartoon character and Mrs Nicholls looked like the Hunchback of Notradame!! When we went through we could all smell the disgusting smell of fish!!! We saw how they washed, desalted and packaged the cod. We also saw all of the new machines working to make the cod nice but most of the work was done by hand.  Some of us were a little unsure about what to expect but Nicole summed it up beautifully; "it was actually very interesting".  Pedro who showed us round was lovely and spoke fantastic English! When we had finshed our tour we took off our bin liners and all breathed fresh air because in the factory all we could smell and taste was raw fish! (YUCK!) Back on the coach we stopped by the beach  and posed in front of some brightly coloured stripy beach houses and made weird poses on some concerete balls. Off for lunch at a local restaurant for chicken salad and chips, it was yummy! Back on the coach and we headed to a boat museum where we were able to see the traditional boats used to fish for the cod.  It was great as we were able to pose and actually get inside the boat.  Lots of opportunities for photo's.  We are now just about to have an indoor picnic for tea with some goodies from the local supermarket.  After tea we are teaching our French and Scottish friends traditional games.  

 A final quote of the day from Nicole " Basically I like everything except the things I don't like!"

 Getting ready to enter the cod factory in our very attractive gear.  Maybe a new trend?

 

After our tour of the cod factory with our new friend Pedro!

 

Looking at the beautiful stripey beach houses by the sea, very traditional to this area of Portugal.

 

A bit of fun balancing on the stone balls.  Some of us got up quicker than others!

 

At the Maritime Museum, inside a traditional cod fishing ship.  Can you spot our great catch of the day?

 

 



Portugal Day 1 & 2 In Pictures

On the beach in Oporto on Monday.

 

 Arriving at school in Portugal.

Outside the Port Cellar, in Oporto

 In the Port Cellars- these barrels are used for 100 years and then sold to Scotland for the Whisky.

 When in Portugal eat like the Romans!!

 Our French friends, from Le Puy.

Meet Sergio, our award winning pizza chef who said how well behaved our children were, well done girls!

 

Time for bed as up for six in the morning to visit the much anticipated cod factory. (Mrs Nicholls just CANNOT wait!!)

 

Night, night from "As Raparigas" in Oporto, Portugal. (The Girls)

Day 1 and 2

Well we are all in beautiful sunny Portugal!  Sorry for the delay in blogging we have experienced technical hitches at the hotel with the wi fi connection so we are using the schools computer today.  We are unable to add photos at the moment but we will try again later.

We had a very early start leaving school at silly o'clock.  We had a good journey to London Gatwick but did get caught in a little traffic which meant we had a quick jog to the check in!  We were first onto the plane and got to pick our seats.  We all enjoyed the flight and enjoyed various sweets and snacks. The girls were fantastic on the plane and Mrs Cork enjoyed her first ever flying experience.  When we landed we were greeted by three of the teachers from the local schools, including Mario, who very kindly helped us with our luggage (some were heavier than other mentioning no names Mrs LLewelyn-Leach!)

We checked into our hotel and unpacked then went for a walk to the local beach, which was beautiful, where we noticed there were some lovely handbag and shoe shops, the girls have already banned us from window shopping which seems a little harsh to me! The sun was shining and we had an ice cream and a drink and a run around.  We also tried to skim some stones into the sea, where we watched some locals surfing.  We headed back to the hotel for a quick freshen up then met up with the French and Scottish staff and children.  We all went out for dinner to a local Portugeuse restaurant.  We had Chicken, chips and salad followd by ice cream for those who wanted it. It was a long day and we were all worn out so in bed by 10ish!

Today we are visiting the local Portuguese school EB2,3 de Santiago where children from the ages of 10 to 15 attend.  We enjoyed some traditional music and singing from the children and have been made to feel very welcome.  We have had a tour of the school and had lunch with our new international friends.  We have seen some familiar faces; Anna one of the pupils recognised us and asked if Catherine was with us. Our girls have been fantastic, making friends and socialising with all the international children.  They have caused quite a stir with their blonde hair and blue eyes.  We are off to explore the sights of Oporto this afternoon including port wine cellars of the region, don't worry we won't let the teachers sample too many of the local delights! You never know we might even visit a shop or two!

Lots of love to all Mrs Nicholls, Mrs LLewelyn-Leach, Mrs Cork, Maddison, Maddie, Lucy, Emily, Holly and Nicole. xxxxxx

Year 6 Residential Winmarleigh Day 2

Day 2 in Winmarleigh

The day kicked off to a delicious breakfast, lovely pork sausages, scrambled eggs and many more choices.

After that we started are activities. Mr Perry’s group went to do the Team Challenge while Mrs Penhall and Miss Prophett’s group went to do Trapeze. 

 

Lucy’s opinion on the team challenge: “It was exciting but nerve-racking when you had to try and keep the water in the bucket”

 

Holly’s opinion on the Trapeze:  “It was outstandingly good; some of us were so close to getting the bar but couldn’t just jump high enough.”

 

After a exhausting 3 hours of daring challenges we went and took a break, and we all had a chill out in the games room but the boys kept hogging the football table like Manchester United VS Liverpool!

 

In the afternoon sessions Mr Perry’s group did Jacobs Ladder while Miss Prophett’s and Mrs Penhall's group did the terrifying giant swing! All of us set a self target to reach which pushed us that little bit further.

 

Miss Prophett and Holly set the tone for the afternoon as they volunteered to take the first turn on the Giant Swing.

 

As a class we all took part in the Sensory Trail, most of our first impressions were “It was cool”.  We all got very muddy and wet and disorientated. We had to follow a muddy rope and being blind folded was even harder than we expected. With the instructors making it even spookier that we thought.

 

We can’t wait for tomorrow as we have the Climbing Wall and Archery.

By Nicole and Lucy