Yippee! Stephanie has finished her IGCSE exams. Now we just need to wait for the results, so we can confirm her place at College to do A-Levels in September!
She has worked her way through hundreds of past exam papers over the last few weeks.
So, now we are working towards Speech and Drama exams in July.
Amanda Goldston
During half term week, Jacqueline did her regular holiday Drama Week.
It always amazes me how much children can accomplish in a week. This is a group of 8-12 students who only see each other for Drama in the school holidays and each time there are different students, yet they put on an entire production from start to finish in under a week.
They script their own production, create costumes and props, learn all their lines and put dance in there as well!
It was a very enjoyable performance to watch.
Amanda Goldston
We finally received the results of the LAMDA Speech and Drama exams that the girls took in March! We are delighted with the results.
Stephanie got 84% and a Distinction in her Reading for Performance Bronze Grade 6 and 87% and a Distinction in her Public Speaking Grade 6. That gives her quite a few more UCAS points towards University entrance.
Jacqueline has really increased her marks, with 72% in her Reading for Performance Grade 5, which is a high Merit and 72% in her Grade 5 Solo Acting which is also a high Merit.
Well done, both of you. We are very proud of you!
Amanda Goldston
We have just had Jacqueline’s 14th Birthday Party. We went to the West Midlands Safari Park and had an absolutely brilliant day.
Jacqueline’s friends were from several different groups, including Home Education, Guides, Drama and her cousins. It was really lovely to see how well everyone got along. Most people did not know each other at the beginning of the day, yet by the end of the day everyone had made new friends.
The Safari Park is home to a terrific collection of animals, including some very rare white lions.
After a tour of the safari park, we had lunch and then Jacqueline was the star of the sea-lion show and got as kiss from a sea-lion!
The children spent the afternoon on the rides in the theme park. When we got home, we set up the chocolate fountain and that seemed to be greatly appreciated by all.
It was a terrific day with a lovely bunch of kids!
Amanda Goldston
We went to Creswell Crags in Derbyshire, which is a valley that dates back to the Ice Age. It has Limestone cliffs, which originally were the cliffs on a shallow sea.
Our ancestors apparently used ot walk from what is now France to Creswell Crags each Spring and then spent the Summer there.
It is a really fascinating site. They have found bones of Hyenas, Bears and Woolly Mammoths in the caves.
There is some very fascinating rock art, which appears to date from at least 12,000 – 15,000 years ago. The drawings are carvings, rather than coloured, so this is the reason why they were unnoticed until 2003.
There is a very interesting exhibition there, as well as plenty of walks thorugh the valley.
It was a great day out.
Amanda Goldston
We are now entering exam season and Stephanie is busy preparing for her IGCSE exams in the next few weeks.
There are some very helpful sites with past papers of all different subjects and exam boards. These are very useful for revision, as most of them have a marking scheme with them, as well as examiner’s comments.
Some of the sites we have used are http://www.freeexampapers.com and http://www.xtremepapers.net - both sites are free.
Curious Experience
I had a rather curious experience at the doctor’s surgery today. I have pulled a muscle in my stomach and was concerned I had damaged old scar tissue.
In the middle of telling me I had to do gentle exercise such as walking or swimming, the doctor (who I have never met before) suddenly asked me if I was still home educating my children and how it was going?
Somehow I don’t quite see the connection!!
Amanda Goldston
We had another excursion to Blackwell Court. This time, the children went on the zip wire, which is supposed to be one of the longest in Europe. They had a great time. It was just a shame there was not time to have more attempts at it.
Next month is Grass Sledging.
Apparently the sledge things have wheels on them, so that should be interesting to watch.
Amanda Goldston
Today, we went with Stephanie went to see “How to Train Your Dragon” at the cinema. It is a really good film. Jacqueline went to see “Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang” with a home-educated friend – all at half price, courtesy of Orange Wednesdays!
As a home educator you can receive free film resources from www.filmeducation.org .There are lots of ideas on using various films to cover different areas of your curriculum.
We downloaded some activities on Nanny McPhee and also had a disc with other activities on Dragon Training and Vikings sent to us.
You can also get free tickets to films which are shown to school children during the film festival later in the year. You do have to book as soon as you can for those because the places go quickly. There are films geared towards all age groups.
Whilst on the subject of free tickets, a lot of theatres offer free tickets to y9oung people under 24, on selected performances. This is supported by the Arts council and is designed to encourage young people to go to the theatre. It is called ” A Night Less Ordinary” and You can find vmore information from the website – http://www.anightlessordinary.org.uk/
This is open to all.
Stephanie is going to see the show “Wicked” again in London in a couple of weeks. We are looking forward to the open air theatre season starting again soon, with our favourites, Heartbreak Productions and Illyria having a good line up for this summer.
With abundant blessings.
Amanda Goldston
The Pottery classes seem to have now expanded into other Arts as well. At the last pottery class, Jacqueline made a mug, which I am looking forward to seeing and to testing out the firmness of it, as I drink my tea out of it!
She recently did some glass painting and the result was absolutley stunning!
Amanda Goldston
Today we received a book in the post called “Forward Press Poets 2009 – The North and Midlands” and on page 200 is a poem written by Jacqueline to celebrate 100 years of Girl Guiding.
This is a collection that was put together by Forward Press to celebrate their 21st birthday.
Here is Jacqueline’s poem that was published.
Guides
100 years on
and still going strong.
Can you guess what it is?
It’s Girl Guiding of course!
It was 1909 when everything began,
with a man called Robert Baden-Powell,
He started the scouts for boys only,
which made the girls very angry!
They thought they should be included too,
so they went up to him
and demanded something for girls.
He thought over this for a while,
And he thought and thought and eventually,
the idea of Guides came to his mind
And the Girl Guiding organization was born!
And in 2010 girl guiding will be 100 years old!
I have been involved with guiding since I was seven years old,
from when I first joined Brownies
And since then
I have learned lots of different things,
Such as cooking, teamwork and more,
I have also made some great friends through Girl Guiding
And I love Guiding-
So much!!
Well done, Jacqueline, we are really proud of you.
Amanda Goldston
