Birds, Greeks and special visitors

This week St Francis de Sales School has been a mini nature reserve helping sick birds recover. A nest fell from a tree in the school on Monday. All the children were very excited when they saw the nest on the floor with three tiny chicks. Doreen noticed the nest was broken in two and that birds were resting in the broken nest. She explained that the mother may abandon the babies because so many children were going near the nest. Brittany from 5C said, ‘The children did not notice that they were frightening the mother who had stopped feeding the chicks.’

Bukky and some other Year 6 students have been working to make the area around the nest safe. We put the nest back in the tree, so it would be safe from foxes. We are very excited when the mother bird feeds the chicks with worms.

The daddy bird recently visited the chicks and they look very squashed in the tiny nest. We hope the birds will be well enough to fly.

From Pakistan to Tottenham
On 26 June, Jude Heaton, who leads Teach First’s work on access to higher education, visited St Francis de Sales. He also talked to the school’s journalism club about his former job as a reporter in Pakistan. In the first of a two-part interview, the journalism club's newest member Shabelle shares what Jude spoke about.

I asked Jude many questions about what he experienced when he went to stay in Pakistan for four years, working as a journalist.

He told me that the main question before he went out to Pakistan was, ‘Is Islamic different from Western life.’ Well, Jude was on a mission to answer this question.

He visited many parts of the country. ‘It is a very beautiful place. I even visited some of the tallest mountains in Pakistan!’

Jude told me that there has been conflict between Pakistan and India for over 50 years so there was a ceremony to see who was the tallest and strongest man who would guard the border. There was also a gate at the border to separate both countries.

For Jude, the best part of visiting Pakistan was meeting his wife. He also enjoyed meeting people and finding out about their lives. Jude says, ‘It’s very easy to think you understand the world but there are so many different ways that people live.’

It’s all Greek to us!
Year 5 pupils were so excited about their history topic on the Ancient Greeks that they held a special day to celebrate the culture. Daniel Claude Sumata reports on what pupils got up to.

The 19 June was Greek Day at St Francis de Sales School. The celebration was for Year 5.

We all had to dress up in Greek costume to reflect what we were learning. We held a fashion show for every pupil to show off their costumes. Every class looked wonderful. Year 5 teacher Mrs Naughton entered into the spirit wearing a Greek chiton. She said, ‘The Year 5s really excelled themselves, arriving as warriors and goddesses. We had everything from homemade armour to a Poseidon with his trident.’

We held an Olympic Games and tried Greek food. The food was really tasty. Year 5 pupil Ruvena Owusu said, ‘It was quite nice but I didn’t like the olives. I would love to eat the taramasalata again!’

A rising star
There are many talented children at St Francis de Sales School. KJ Moore recently interviewed fellow pupil Kerjarn Bailey about his adventures in show business.

Kerjarn Bailey is a star: in 2012 he performed in an astonishing Kentucky Fried Chicken advert. He now uses his acting talent to entertain us at school.

He is a fan of Jaden Smith who he bases his hairstyle on. He says he has to make his hair perfect every day or he’ll go mad!

Kerjarn’s family is important to him. He has a heart of love and visits his gran to help her wash the dishes, and her hair and clothes.

Kerjarn is a popular boy with loads of friends. He says, ‘I usually spend my Saturday evenings catching up with them.’