Latest News

Year 6 House Captains

On Tuesday 24th September all year groups took part in polling day at Hollybrook Junior School, to vote for our 8 new House Captains. We were assisted with this by 5 members of the pupil leadership team from Upper Shirley High. With their help we managed to get all the voting smoothly completed by 11.15am. All the children who were voting took this process and decision making seriously and made considered choices. The results were very close in all Houses however we can now reveal the outcome of the counted and validated ballot papers. 

The new House Captains for 2019-2020 are:

Air: Eshmal and Jacob K

Fire: Francesca and Jacob C

Water: Imogen and Dovydas

Earth: Mikolaj and Miya

We have been very impressed by the manner in which the potential candidates have approached and taken on the job of applying and campaigning for House Captain. 

Year 6 Residential to Fairthorne Manor

From Monday 3rd to Friday 7th June, 36 Year 6 children had a really successful week at Fairthorne Manor in Botley. We had great weather, which ensured we could enjoy all the activities on offer.

It was an extremely active week, with the children completing lots of team building exercises. During the days the children were organised into groups of 12 and took part in 3 varied activities. These included orienteering, abseiling, kayaking, raft building, archery, fire lighting and den building. All of which were extremely good fun and required the children in some instances to step out of their comfort zone and have a go. They also had great fun carrying out group initiative tests, and a blind trail which involved the children guiding and helping each other around an obstacle course. This was very challenging but developed excellent team work. Each evening after their evening meal there were more activities including slip and slide, wide games in the field, and bouncing on the inflatable pillow. Lots of fun was had by all.

It was a fantastic week and the children were a real credit to the school, showing excellent behaviour throughout the trip.

For some more pictures of the week please see the Gallery page of our website.

Marwell Zoo, Year 4

As part of our South America topic, Year 4 visited Marwell Zoo on 10th May. Our focus was rainforests and the children experienced a workshop where they learned about the location of the rainforests and about the different animals and plants which live there. There were artefacts for them to touch, including animal skins and furs. Many brave children (and a couple of adults!) also had the opportunity to touch a snake and a cockroach!

We spent the rest of the day exploring the Zoo, paying the closest attention to rainforest animals. We explored the Tropical House to experience the humidity of a rainforest and to identify animals, birds and plants which are native to rainforests. We were pleased to see the sloth (who was asleep!) as well as a tortoise and some colourful birds and butterflies. Other animals which fascinated the children (and which are not necessarily related to the rainforest topic) were giraffes, flamingos, leopards and lemurs.

It was a great day. We are looking forward to using what we have learned on this trip in our learning at school about South America and the Amazon Rainforest. For more pictures of the day please have a look at the Gallery page on our website.

Tudor House, Year 5

On 9th May, Year 5 had the opportunity to visit Southampton’s most important historic building: Tudor House.

On arrival, the children were given a general background of the origins of the house and its significance. Afterwards, the children separated into different workshops. In one workshop they looked at different artefacts and deciphered their uses. They also had the opportunity to dress up in Tudor clothing, which they greatly enjoyed. The children looked fantastic!

The children were also given a tour of the whole property. They explored different areas of the house such as the attic, kitchen, gardens, cellar, and the banqueting hall. In this hall the children also experienced a light show which explained the history of the property in an engaging way. The sound effects were really impressive!

For more pictures of the day please have a look at the Gallery page on our website.

Awful Egyptians at the Mayflower Theatre, Year 4

On Friday 26th April, Year 4 enjoyed a trip to the Mayflower Theatre to watch a performance of Awful Egyptians. Our Spring term topic was Ancient Egypt and so this was a fantastic opportunity to summarise our learning and to celebrate the children’s hard work.

The show was fantastic! We learned ‘Horrible Histories’ style facts about the Awful Egyptians. We found out about different pharaohs, gods and grave robbers! During the second half of the performance, we all wore 3D glasses and were in awe as the backdrop was turned into a 3D screen. The animations on the screen were fascinating—and sometimes scary! At one point, a cobra leapt out of the screen ready to bite us! (Fortunately, we had learned a spell to ward off the evil spirit!)

It was a great trip as we enjoyed so much about the performance—including the songs and the gruesome jokes. All of the children’s behaviour was exemplary: they were a credit to Hollybrook Junior School.

World Book Day 2019

On 7th March 2019, Hollybrook Junior School was transformed into a fictional world as children and staff dressed up as characters from stories for World Book Day!  There were characters from a range of stories such as Alice in Wonderland, Mary Poppins, Harry Potter and Percy Jackson.  Everyone looked amazing! The whole school spent the day on World Book Day activities.  Prior to the day, the children had voted for a fantasy theme and so all activities linked to the picture book ‘Journey’ by Aaron Becker. This is a beautiful book in which a lonely girl draws a door on the wall of her bedroom with a magical crayon; this door leads her to a fantasy world where she experiences different adventures.  She has to use her magic crayon to get her out of trouble on more than one occasion! Each year group carried out different Literacy and Art activities based on the book. As the theme of this year’s World Book Day was ‘Share a Story’, every child also had a chance to share a book brought in from home with a child from another year group: Year 3 shared with Year 5, Year 4 shared with Year 6. It was a great day and the work produced by the children is excellent.  In the next few weeks, some of this work will be displayed in the School Library as well as around the school. You can see more photos from the day on our Gallery page. 

Year 4 Residential to Stubbington Study Centre

From Monday 25th to Wednesday 27th February, Year 4 had a successful residential visit to Stubbington. We had fantastic weather which ensured we could enjoy all the outdoor activities. It was a very active couple of days with the children completing lots of team building exercises. During the days, the children took part in Stubbington Fox and Orientation outdoor games which involved map reading and finding clues around the grounds of Stubbington. Other daytime activities included a trip to the seashore to create rock pools and sandcastles and to search for fossils - many of the children were lucky enough to find a fossil! We also enjoyed Earthquake - an obstacle course through which the children had to transport a variety of pieces of equipment. This was very challenging but developed excellent teamwork. In addition, on Monday evening, we had the opportunity to go to the Hide to look for wildlife and were fortunate enough to spot a badger and 2 foxes! It was a great couple of days and the children were a credit to the school, showing excellent behaviour throughout the trip. You can see more photos of the trip on our Gallery page.

Harvest Festival

Today, the whole school travelled to St James Chruch to celebrate Harvest Festival. To thos parents able to attend, we hoped you enjoyed listening to the children sing. Thank you for all your kind and generous donations which have been given to SCRATCH for the Basics Bank. 

Roman Day Year 4

Today, year 4 celebrated their topic by dressing up as Romans. During the day, they enjoyed activities such as food tasting.