ABOUT THE SONORAN DESERT
The SONORAN DESERT is a North American desert that covers large parts of the SOUTHWEST in the United States and Northwestern parts of Mexico. The Sonoran Desert is especially dry and warm compared to other North American deserts and while it might seem surprising that many plants and animals live in this desert, some really thrive. The SAGUARO, a type of cactus that only grows in the Sonoran Desert, can actually live to be over 150 years old.

Year 3 children had lot of fun playing “guess who’s in the desert” with these lift-the-flap pictures inspired by the landscape of the Sonoran Desert. As you can see they all did an amazing job!

Arctic Landscape and Poar Bears

The ARCTIC is a region that covers the northernmost part of Earth. Northern CANADA is included in this usually
cold, snow and ice-covered land. Arctic animals are special because they can live where the summer is very short and the winter is long, dark and cold.

TED HARRISON (1925-2015) was a Canadian artist whose landscape paintings were inspired by his surroundings in Canada. The children created their own landscapes, using watercolours, in the style of Ted Harrison.  They then drew a polar bear and carefully cut it out before glueing it onto their background. Wow!  They look fantastic!

Our Remembrance project this year centred around large poppies, created from the bottoms of plastic drinks bottles.  Year 6 painted them, with acrylic paints, while listen to WW1 music. The children also painted commemorative stones and some even wrote their own  war poems.

May I extend my thanks and gratitude to all the families who collected the bottles and to the lovely ladies who volunteered to help cut and shape the poppies prior to the children painting them.  We couldn’t have done this project without this ‘team effort’.

Please note that we are doing our best to use all our resources as responsibly as possible.  With that in mind, our Reception teachers have taken the top section of the bottles and are going to make an eco-greenhouse for their outdoor learning environment.

Their artwork will be display in our Prayer garden at school and also outside Co-op Funeral Care in Cowplain.

This was their write up:

Cowplain Remembrance Window – Honouring our fallen servicemen 

Once again, our local school, St Peter’s Catholic School in Waterlooville, has supported us with our wonderful Remembrance display. 

The children from year 6 have created the beautiful poppies that we have cascading down on the outside of the window. 

Out of lots of small crosses the children have also created this wonderful large cross, which looks so poignant and so effective. 

During the Blitz, 930 people were killed in Portsmouth, 2,837 were injured and over 6,000 properties were destroyed. 

The children decided that it would be a lovely idea to make memory stones for each person that lost their life in Portsmouth during the Blitz. 

They have painstakingly painted 930 stones and will be coming along to the Cowplain branch on Wednesday 10^th at 11 o’clock with their headmaster, Mr Cunningham to hand out their memory stones to the community in Cowplain.  

Also, some of the children have written their own Remembrance poems, which have been made into scrolls ready for them to hand out with their memory stones on Wednesday. 

Remembrance Day gives people the chance to remember those who fought and lost their lives during the war and to honour their memory.  It makes sure that we never forget the past, and those who died didn’t die in vain.  

With fewer and fewer living survivors, it’s even more important than ever to remember the sacrifice’s these people made for our country.  Teaching our children about the importance of Remembrance Day will keep the memories of these soldiers and brave individuals alive now and in the future. 

I would like to personally thank Mrs Pearson, St Peters art teacher, for all her support in organising and creating such a wonderful display. 

Lastly a massive THANK YOU to all of the children in year 6 and to their headmaster Mr Cunningham for his support. 

Jackie Duthie and Lesley Alison

Funeral Co-ordinators

This Autumn Term we have launched our GLOBAL ART PASSPORT.

Your children will have the opportunity to travel around the world, from the comfort of St Peter’s school,  and learn to appreciate the art and culture from different regions.  This exciting curriculum allows every Year group, from Reception to Year 6, to travel to the same destination and learn a range of art skills specific to their Year group.  Year Three started our journey by completing the World map….

FIRST DESTINATION IS CANADA AND THE USA…..

The children created these stunning masterpieces, in the style of Andy Goldsworthy, using only natural materials.

The children took part in this competition, which celebrates fishing responsibly, while also thinking about conservation of the seas and beaches.  

Here are a selection of the posters chosen to go onto the Sea Angling website, where people could vote for their favourite poster.

These are the four winning designs, chosen by St Peter’s:

Promise

Florence

Ishana

Bradley

These are the posters that polled the most amount of votes on the Sea Angling website!

Neyella 

Leo

Axel

Huge congratualtions to them and everyone else who took part.

Artist Wayne Thiebaud’s iconic cake paintings sparked our Year 5’s  interests! Our classroom
was transformed into a bakery! They
drew a cake that looked 3D and then coloured the cake’s
outline with bright oil pastels. The children then  “frosted” their
cake with paint that was thickly applied with a plastic knife. They couldn’t believe how much the paint’s texture
looked like real frosting!

Yum! Yum!

The children did observational drawings and paintings of slices of citrus fruit.  Not only did the art work turn out to be amazing, but the classroom smelled delightful too!