School Event: Our Grand Opening Day

13 February 2009

The Grand Opening Day was really exciting and fun. There were lots of parents and visitors to see our amazing new school.

There was a great selection of workshops that everyone could participate in. For the children there were Clever Cooks, Bhangra Ballywood, Cheerleading, Face Paints and Balloon Modelling, Jewel in the Crown, Katana (swords), Martial Arts, It's a Knockout, Street Dance, Drumming, Mask Making, Who is Arden and Salsa.

There were treatments going on for mothers such as manicures, pedicures massages, hand patterns in henna and nail art. It was memorable day for anyone connected with Arden.

by Iqra H, Aneela and Iqra K, Y6

The Opening Ceremony

The song we are dancing to is Shava Shava. It was really exciting but I was nervous. I was really happy dancing in front of all the mums and dads when we started. I am really proud and I think our teacher Jag should be proud too. Alisha, Y5 It was really great fun. I was so excited to get on the stage but a soon as we got on stage I wanted to get off. But in the end we did it. I am so proud because I stayed and finished the song. Lubna, Y5 I was chosen to be the cheer leader and shout out the spelling of 'ARDEN' to the parents and visitors. I shouted "Give me an 'A'". I showed them the actions for A and they tried to do my actions and shouted "A". They were pretty good. We made the letters for ARDEN and I shouted what have you got, everybody shouted "ARDEN." It was really enjoyable. Saba. The performers were chosen from an X factor competition held in December. We started rehearsing for our performance after that. Some of us had played the drums before and others started playing for the first time. We are playing the drums at the Opening Ceremony. The drums are from Africa and Jamaica. I played a drum solo. I showed everyone a drum rhythm from the Yemen. I Really enjoyed doing this. Rasheeda, Y4 After we finished the drumming and the Bangra dancing it was time for Satnam Rana to say a few words and cut the ribbon. It stretched from the door to the right hand side, across to The Pulse door. Satnam Rana said : "It was a great opportunity to come to Arden Primary School. I have had lots of fun and the children are so well behaved. I’m sure everyone has had a wonderful time and I hope every body has enjoyed themselves." Then Satnam got the scissors and cut the ribbon. Every one who was watching were shouting and cheering. Then Mr Lacey talked about how wonderful it was. Then he walked out to get some flowers, he had two bunches. He gave one to Satnam Rana and gave the other one to Lizzie Bean, the Mosaic artist. Israr Y5

More Photos from our Opening Day

The nursery children loved having their faces painted.		The magician showed us how to spin plates.
The magician made us lovely balloon hats.		The nursery children had great fun laughing at the magician with his funny tricks.
Reception proudly display their colourful balloon hats.		Here are the infants and reception children balancing on one leg in Tai Chi.
Year 1 made some colourful masks.		Year 1 dancing and drumming.
2F having fun making Chinese Masks.		2G made some excellent jewellery.
Year 3 had a cheerleading session where they learned how to cheer for Arden.		Year 3 played 'It's A Knockout'.
Year 4 also played 'It's a Knockout' with five different activities to do.		Year 4 doing some Bhangra Dancing.
4K doing some martial arts training.		Year 5 playing It's a Knockout Football.
5M experienced some Street Dancing.		5N learned about Samurai Swords.
6P enjoyed the Street Dancing workshop.		6Q doing their stuff!
Working on a large mosaic.		In between workshops we were entertained by some street performers - this one is on stilts.

Some quotes from the children

I loved Opening Day because I enjoyed Masks Making and doing drumming.
Aleeeza, Y1

I loved dancing when the man was playing the big drum.
Haleema, Y1

I liked the drumming because it was very loud!
Daanyaal, Y1

It was a brilliant day because I really enjoyed the activities especially the masks.
Sana, Y2

I enjoyed making a necklace with the ladies. Everyone liked making Jewellery.
Khuram, Y2

My friend Saba was leading us in Cheer Leading. She was very good. We all followed her actions and repeated the chant.
Maryam, Y3

It’s a Knockout was really good fun. We had to do lots of physical activities but we warmed up first.
Raisa, Y3

In It's a Knockout first you put the ball in the cone which you have to walk and balance it, then you give the ball and the cone to the next person. Another task is you catch a ball and run in and out of the cones and then put the ball through a blue tunnel. Next you have two bean bags and have to throw them in a hoop like in the photograph. If you miss you have to try again. Then you go to the next hoop and throw it in that one and the next.. After that you have a hoop to put over your head and then jump over soft ramps. Finally you go in a hoop and do ten star jumps.
Sabrina, Y4

I enjoyed the Martial Arts. We warmed up and learnt some skills. Then we had to choose partners and tried out some defence moves on each other.
Halima, Y4

Bhangra Dancing was fun. We had to move in beats of 8 when the man beat the special Dohl drum. Then we danced to some Bollywood music and we had to shorten our dance steps to fit in.
Aathikah, Y4

The Bhangra dance was enjoyable and made it a day to remember. We hade great fun. The teacher taught us well and made the day fun and exciting.
Hasina and Nimbra, Y5

We learnt about how to use Samurai Swords in safety. We learnt bits about the old Samurai warriors. It isn't all about fighting it's about balance and self control.
Shoaib and Reena, Y5

We had some time before our next activity so the circus entertainer showed us some tricks. We could see he had metal feet so we asked him about them. He said, "Don’t tell anyone but I’ve got poles strapped to my legs." He was even taller than Mr Murray! He was about 3 metres tall!
Shifali, Y5

I loved the dance and hope we are allowed to do it again sometime. I liked all the moves but it was special because I was with my friends.
Selina, Y6

We had lots of fun in street dancing The teacher was relaxed and was an expert. He is showing us how to move to the left, twist 45 degrees then do a body roll followed by an arm roll. First it was slow then we gradually speeded up. I can still do it a month later and so can Mr Couldrey.
Nemrah, Y6