Bhaktivedanta Manor School welcome
Hare Krishna,
Welcome to the 4th edition of our school newsletter and the first of 2020!
Now, although it’s great to celebrate all the extra things we do at the Gurukula, it’s also nice to give a mention to the things we do as part of our normal school week. This time round, I wanted to include something about the music lessons that take place at school. Loka Bandu has been giving these at the Gurukula for a good 20 years or more and it’s a great foundation for all our future kirtan and harinam leaders!
I spoke to Jaidev in Year 3 about what they do…….
Me: What do you do in harmonium lessons?
Jaidev: We practise and help each other out if we get stuck or can’t play it so well. Sometimes Loka Bandu gets 3 harmoniums and we play on our own first and then all together afterwards.
Me: What else do you learn?
Jaidev: Sometimes we get to play the mrdangas too.
Me: What’s Loka Bandu like?
Jaidev: He’s fun and I like the lessons.
Me: Is he patient with you and does he ever get cross?
Jaidev: Yes, he’s patient because he knows we’re still learning. Sometimes he gets cross if people are messing around and then he has to tell them to stop it but it doesn’t happen much.
Recent trips and events
Monday 2nd December
Jagannath class went to London Zoo as part of their Science topic on animals and humans.
I aksed Vaidehi and Mohini about their day and what they saw and learnt…….
We saw giraffes, monkeys, lions and lionesses and there were camels, donkeys, hippos and pigs too.
Vaidehi – There was a strange animal which was half deer and half zebra and lots of naughty monkeys who steal things. The camels ate hay from a special bag with holes in. The hay fell out of the holes and then they could eat it. We saw a lizard which was really special because it glowed pink in the dark!
Mohini – we worked in our blue books and ticked off all the animals we saw and we learnt about what they all eat. Giraffes eat vegetables but lions and lionesses eat meat. Hippos eat grass and live in swamps!
Thursday 12th December
The children from Rama class had a trip out to London Zoo in December and absolutely adored the penguins!
Mani Manjari was very impressed with the set up there as the children were able to interact with the penguins through the glass. As you can see in the first photo, whenever Tulsi moved her hand, the penguin reacted by moving his head and the children all loved how playful they were. It was nice to see them so close up too as a lot of places don’t have that facility.
After the trip, as part of the class topic on Winter, Mani Manjari gave a class all about the different types of penguins around the world and where they live which was especially nice for the children as they’d actually had the experience!
Friday 13th December
Baladeva and Jagannath went to see a theatre production of “The Snow Queen – A Frozen Fairytale” at the Hertford Theatre.
As you can see, Gaurangi got hand picked to go up on stage and join in with the show! (She doesn’t always go around in a little Kung Foo jacket!) I asked her daughter, Keli what she thought of the show and of her Mum’s performance. This is what she said…………..
The show was good. There was singing and dancing, lots of bright lights and it was really funny. Jack Frost was in it and there was a Snow Queen who was evil, a boy, a girl and 3 crows.
I asked her she felt about her Mum becoming part of the show and she said, “It was a bit embarrassing but really cool at the same time”.
I then asked her if her Mum was any good and she said, in all seriousness, “Yes, she was”. And do you know what? I’ve seen the video and she actually was!
At the end of the show, the children even got to have a photo taken with one of the stars!
Friday 13th December
We’ve already shared the results from the Bake Sale last month but here are a few photos for you as well.
Tuesday 17th December
Vrindavan class went to the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich as part of their class topic on Antarctica and Shackleton.
This is what Raghav in year 6 had to say about his day…………
There were large model ships and lots of facts about different things. We got to try on new goggles and old-fashioned ones to see how different they were and it was good fun. There were lots of glass cabinets with objects in and we saw fur jackets and medicines from the old days.
We got to have a go using The Great Map too which was a huge map you could actually walk on. We used I-pads and walked around the world collecting things like crew members and items we needed for on board the ships. We even got a bow and arrow and a sword! I started in London, went to 20 different places and ended up in Jamaica.
Another thing we did was to use a ship simulator so we got to feel like we were driving a real ship. It was a fun day and really interesting too.
Thursday 19th December
Baladeva class had a great day out at one of London’s most prominent landmarks, St. Paul’s Cathedral.
This is what Prema had to say about the trip……..
On the same day, Rama class visited St. Albans Cathedral for the morning as part of their topic on the Nativity.
Mani Manjari told me that the children weren’t so interested in the Nativity scene itself but loved hearing all about the character of St. Alban and the stories about him. There were toys to play with to aid their learning and they got to dress up and play “Romans”. There was also an interactive computer available to then to teach them more about the history.
13th January 2020
Kripamoya prabhu visited the Gurukula and did a special assembly on worship.
Anjali, Kishori and Laksmi in year 4 described what they learnt about during the assembly…….
Kripamoya Prabhu told us all about what to use when we make offerings to Krishna. He taught us about the “Pujari stuff” and showed us what’s on an arati tray and what it means. He also showed us how many times we should offer each thing. It was really interesting and we enjoyed it very much!
After School Clubs
| Monday | Tues | Wed | Thurs | Friday |
| Cooking
Radha Kanta |
Sanskrit Club
Ananda Sri
|
Tae Kwon Do
Patanjali |
Dance
Nikunja |
|
| Sanskrit Club (if enough sign up!)
Ananda Sri |
Chess Club
Nilesh |
Notices and things to remember.
- Please remember your child’s P.E. kit! Key Stage 1 have sports on Tuesday and Key Stage 2, on Wednesday, unless notified otherwise.
- Don’t forget to pack a water bottle and healthy snack for your child. It’s a long time from 8.30am until prasadam is served at 1pm!
- Please endeavour to be punctual both in the mornings and for pick-up in the afternoon.
- We would appreciate if all fees, after school club payments and trip monies were paid promptly and especially by the deadlines given.
- No parents should be driving onto the school premises unless special permission has been given.
TERM DATES 2019-2020
|
|
First Day – Last Day | Half Term |
| Spring | 7th January 2020 to 3rd April 2020
|
One week
17th February 2020 to 21st February 2020 |
| Summer | 21st April 2020 to 17th July 2020
|
25th May to 29th May 2020 |
