Welcome to the Upper Juniors!

Who Are We?

Richard Bebbington

Richard Bebbington

Senior Teacher

Jess Milne

Jess Milne

Class Teacher, SEND Coordinator

Reuben Casserley

Reuben Casserley

Class Teacher

Deborah Cox

Deborah Cox

Teaching Assistant

Nicola Hand

Nicola Hand

Teaching Assistant

Finlay Noakes

Finlay Noakes

Teaching Assistant

Please click on the link below for our Two-Year Learning Plan:

Upper Juniors Two-Year Learning Plan

Autumn Term 2022

Our Class-book is 'Goodnight Mister Tom' by Michelle Magorian.

Synopsis

Willie Beech is evacuated to the countryside as the Second World War breaks out. A sad, deprived child, he slowly begins to flourish under the care of old Tom Oakley.  But then his mother summons him back to war-torn London... Will he ever see Mister Tom again?

The Author

Michelle was born in 1947 in Portsmouth, Hampshire of a Welsh mother and Irish father with an Armenian Surname! Michelle Spent her toddler years in Singapore and two-and-a-half years (aged 7-9) in Australia. In between times, up to the age of eighteen, she lived in Portsmouth. She was educated at Kilbreda college, Mentone (Victoria, Australia) and the Covent of the Cross, Waterlooville, Hampshire. Michelle trained for the theatre at The Rose Bruford College of speech and drama in Kent from 1968to 1969. It was while there that she started writing regularly. Michelle's first novel Goodnight Mister Tom grew out of two short stories. She wrote the book in between acting jobs and on Sunday when she was working in the theatre. Goodnight Mister Tom was first published in the UK in 1981 it has won numerous awards including the Guardian Children's Fiction Award. The book has sold in excess of 1.2 MILLION copies in the UK alone and in 1998 BAFTA award-winning TV film of the book starring John Thaw attracted 14 MILLION  viewers.

Spring Term 2022

Our Class-book is ‘Tiger, Tiger’ by Lynne Reid Banks.

Synopsis

Tiger, Tiger is a hugely powerful and epic novel set against the dazzling backdrop of ancient Rome. This compelling and uplifting story about friendship, brotherhood and battling against the odds will grip all who read it. Her heart was throbbing behind her ribs. A real, live tiger? But that was impossible! Of all the beasts brought from far-off countries the tiger was the most formidable. There could be no one bold enough to introduce one into Caesar's palace! Two tiger cubs are snatched from their native jungle and shipped to Rome. On arrival at this strange land crowded with noisy “two-legs” they are cruelly separated. One cub becomes the princess’s pampered and adored house pet. The other, fiercer, cub is trained to become the star performer in Caesar's bloodthirsty circus. Princess Aurelia detests her father’s brutal “sport”, but must keep her feelings secret – no one dares criticise the almighty Caesar! The only person she can confide in is the slave Julius, her tiger's keeper. But such a friendship is equally forbidden: should the Emperor find out, his anger would be terrible and the punishment severe. But friendship and love cannot be dictated, and neither tiger nor man is destined for a life in chains. In a world dominated by Caesar's will, all must fight for freedom…

The Author

Lynne Reid Banks is a best-selling author for children and adults. Her classic children’s novel ‘The Indian in the Cupboard’ has sold nearly six million copies worldwide. She was born in London in 1929 and worked as an actress, writer and TV news reporter. Lynne has written thirty books: her first, ‘The L-Shaped Room’, was published in 1960. She now lives in Dorset, where she continues to write. Lynne says that writing for children comes much more easily than writing for adults.

Summer Term 2022

Our Class-book is ‘The Secret Garden’ by Frances Hodgson-Burnett.

Synopsis

When Mary Lennox's parents pass away, she is sent from India to Misselthwaite Manor on the haunting Yorkshire moors to live with her uncle. Everybody says she is the most disagreeable-looking child ever seen. It is true, too. Mary is pale, spoilt and quite contrary. But she is also horribly lonely. Then one day she hears about a garden in the grounds of the Manor that has been kept locked and hidden for years. A friendly robin helps Mary find the key, she discovers the most magical place anyone could imagine. Full of new life and vigour the garden begins to transform her own personality in the most astonishing of ways...

The Author

Frances Hodgson Burnett was born in Manchester in 1849, the eldest daughter of a family which emigrated to America in 1865 after the father's death. Interested in making up stories from her childhood, Frances turned to writing professionally when the family's fortunes continued to decline in post-Civil-War Tennessee. She first won popular and critical success with her novel That Lass O' Lowries (1876-7), and consolidated it with a series of popular novels and plays. Little Lord Fauntleroy (1886) was the most successful in her own lifetime, but she is probably most admired today for her children's classics A Little Princess (1905) and The Secret Garden (1911). Two unhappy marriages marred Mrs Hodgson Burnett's private life but she became an American citizen in 1905 and settled in Long Island until her death in 1924.The Author