Year 5 Cambridge Mosque visit April/May 2026 13th May 2026
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Year 5 have started their unit of work on Islam. As a part of this unit, they were lucky enough to visit the Cambridge central mosque and learn about their commitment to sustainability through its architectural design, featuring advanced technology that gives it a near-zero carbon footprint, and honouring natural forms and materials with its forest-like vaulting.

Year 5 Pizza making- Hamilton and Brampton 13th May 2026
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Hamiton and Brampton classes enjoyed designing and making their pizzas in DT.

Year 5 Orienteering Competition 7th May 2026
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Congratulation to Team Goofy and Team Harry (Randomly chosen names) at the Year 5 Orienterring Competition today. The children had to navigate themselves around Lewsey finding 11 checkpoints in the fastest time! Team Goofy were crowned overall winners and Team Harry finished in 5th overall missing out by only a few seconds. There was also time for a quick play in the park!!

Year 4 & 5 Netball Festival 30th Apr 2026
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A fantastic afternoon with the Year 4 & 5 gilrs netball team. The girls were amazing and it was fantastic to see them grow in confidence the more games that they played. What was even more amazing was out of the 13 children we took 10 were Year 4`s. The future looks bright.

Brampton Class become environmental investigators! 27th Apr 2026
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Brampton Class become environmental investigators! We explored local river features, tested water quality, and conducted a litter audit to see how humans affect the environment. It was a great day of hands-on learning about how we can protect our local ecosystem.

Cambridge Mosque Visit 2026 27th Apr 2026
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Brampton Class had an inspiring day exploring Europe’s first eco-mosque! From the stunning "tree-like" architecture to the intricate geometric art, it was a fantastic way to bring our RE unit of work on Islam to life. We also delved into history by discussing the Museum of Early Islamic Civilisation, discovering how the Islamic Golden Age shaped the science and technology we use today.

Eid 2026 11th Apr 2026
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Year 5 River Trip 19th Mar 2026
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Year 5 children have been out and about conducting essential fieldwork in one of our local parks: Wardown. There was also a slight change in the weather for the different trips.

Year 5 & 6 Girls Football 5th Mar 2026
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Well done to the girls who competed at the Year 5 & 6 Football League event. For most of the team this was the first time that they had competed against other teams. The final results were played 4- lost 1, drew 1 and won 2.

Year 5 History Art Club 4th Feb 2026
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Our Year 5 historians have been busy bringing the past to life in History Art Club! The children have loved designing and building their own Roman shields, using bold patterns and traditional symbols. They learned how the Romans used these shields to stay safe in battle.

The 2026 Scholars Programme has been launched! 13th Jan 2026
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The Scholars Programme has been launched! The children are ready and raring to go. The Scholars Programme aims to raise the aspirations of pupils from state schools to consider applying for top universities in the UK.

Year 5 Bikeability - Monday 1st - 4th December 2025 9th Dec 2025
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Year 5 children who have mastered cycle control took part in Level 2 cycle training with experienced instructors. During the sessions, children were taken onto residential roads for 'real' cycling experience, covering key practical activities like negotiating junctions, responding to hazards, and communicating with other road users - preparing them to ride independently on our busy roads.

Year 5 Visit to Verulamium Museum in St Albans - Brampton Class 9th Dec 2025
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The Year 5 children have been learning about the Romans, and as part of the topic, they visited the Verulamium Museum in St Albans. During the visit, the children gained an understanding of Roman daily life at Verulamium, developed their reasoning and observation skills through object handling, and acquired specific knowledge of Roman food, clothing, and lifestyle/pastimes.

Year 5 & 6 Design a Menu Winners. 4th Dec 2025
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Congratulations to Hurricane class who were the winners of the `Year 5 & 6 Design a Menu` competition. A very tasty menu and very popular with all the children. Thankyou to the amazing Kitchen team who cooked up another delicious treat. We look forward to the next `Design a menu` competition which will be decided by a class from Year 3 or 4.

Remembrance Day 2025 16th Nov 2025
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Downside children found it interesting learning about the significance of the Poppy and took part in the 2 minute silence to mark remembrance day..

Year 5 trip to St. Albans Verulanium 2025 16th Nov 2025
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The Year 5 children have been learning about the Romans and as part of the topic they visited the Verulanium in St Albans. During the visit the children gained an understanding of Roman daily life at Verulamium, developed their reasoning and observation skills though object handling and gained specific knowledge of Roman food, clothing, and lifestyle/pastimes.

`Spooktacular` halloween lunch. 5th Nov 2025
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Thanks to our amazing kitchen team who cooked a lovely special Halloween lunch.

Hamilton Class- PLASTICS: Impacts and Actions workshop 5th Nov 2025
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The children learnt why the oceans are important, how litter from land-based sources reaches the ocean and ways they can make a positive impact on the environment. British values: understand that we have a responsibility to look after our environment.

Brampton Class- PLASTICS: Impacts and Actions workshop 1st Oct 2025
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The children learnt why the oceans are important, how litter from land-based sources reaches the ocean and ways they can make a positive impact on the environment. British values: understand that we have a responsibility to look after our environment.

Whipsnade Zoo Community Take Over 3rd Jul 2025
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Brillant club Graduation 2025 11th Jun 2025
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A final celebration in school to mark the end of Brilliant Club 2025. We shared a wonderful Mexican meal, all thanks to our wonderful cook Ms McCarthy.

Year 5 Cambridge Mosque visit 2025 13th May 2025
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Year 5 Brillant Graduation 13th May 2025
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On the 8th May 2025, our 14 Brilliant Club participants were lucky enough to graduate at Oxford University. As a part of this, they were given a tour of the central Oxford University campus.

Year 5 Cambridge Mosque visit 5th May 2025
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Year 5 have started their unit of work on Islam. As a part of this, they have been lucky enough to visit the Cambridge central mosque.

World Book day- Dress the Door 24th Mar 2025
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As part of world book day 2025 the children had to dress their classroom door linked to their favourite book or their class book. The designs were amazing and it was a tough job selecting a winner.

Science Masterclass- Downside science Detectives are on the case! 24th Mar 2025
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A team of four children worked collaboratively to help solve a crime through a series of activities and challenges as detectives in a 'Science Masterclass' at Challney Boys High School.

Safer Internet Day 2025 12th Mar 2025
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The whole school enjoyed celebrating safer internet day again this year based on the theme of scams. Our digital leaders even held assemblies.

Year 5 Pizza demonstration 5th Mar 2025
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Chef Paul - Pizza making demonstration for Year 5. He taught the children about the key ingredients needed to make pizza dough, demonstrated how to make pizza dough and then spoke about to dos and don'ts of making Pizza.

Mental Health Week-"Our Voice Matters" 5th Mar 2025
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Year 5 & 6 Athletics County finals success 4th Mar 2025
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The Year 5 & 6 indoor athletics finished 3rd overall at the COUNTY finals on Friday 28th Feb 2025. We are so proud of their determination, perserverance and skill. Well done to all the children and for those in Year 6 we look forward to seeing you continue your athletic journey at high school.

'Computing Buddies' - Beebots 21st Jan 2025
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This week in the digital leader's computing club, they helped the year 2 children to program bee-bots. They had competitions and attempted to program the bee-bots to move around obstacles!

'Computing buddies' - Scratch Jr 14th Jan 2025
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This week in the digital leader's computing club, they have been helping the year 2 children to program simple animations on scratch junior.

School council conference 10th Dec 2024
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On the 9th December, 6 of our school councillors attended the School Council Conference, along with 34 other Luton primary schools. We had the opportunity to share Downside's views about what makes Luton great and what we can do to make Luton even better, to members of Luton Borough Council. This is to help the council with their goal of making Luton a 'child-friendly town' by the year 2040. It's amazing to know that the children of Luton can make an impact, and that Downside have been able to play their part in shaping the future of Luton!

Year 5 Roman trip to St Albans 13th Nov 2024
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As a part of our History unit of work: Romans, we visited the St. Albans Verulamnim. Throughout the trip, children asked some highly thoughful questions as they interacted with real and replica Roman items. They've had the best start to our topic.

Year 5 ZSL Whispsnade Sustainability Assembly 11th Nov 2024
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Children found out about deforestation and the problem it will cause in the future. They also learnt about the changes which can be made in order to reduce levels of global warming.

Yr 5 & 6 Athletics Team Crowned Zone Champions 4th Nov 2024
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On Wednesday 23rd October Year 5 & 6 children were crowned indoor athletics zone chamipons and will compete in the Town Finals in January 2025.

Year 4 & 5 Maths Curriculum Walk 24th Oct 2024
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The maths team had a fantastic time on their curriculum walk around Year 4 & 5 last week. They were impressed with the high quality of work. they saw.

Year 5 Art 21st Oct 2024
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Year 5 children are half way through their sculpture unit. They created an armature of a sea creature using plastic and cardboard, used modroc to cover and secure and finally used sheets of modroc to add texture. We can't wait to see the finished sculptures.

Year 5 reading 21st Oct 2024
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In Year 5, children enjoy using Oxford reading Buddy and reading good old paper copies of books.

Year 5 Maths 20th Oct 2024
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Our focus this week is: Multiplication. The children have been learning about what the following words mean: - multiples - common multiples - factors - common factors

Year 5 meet author Hannah Gold 16th Oct 2024
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Year 5 children joined the multi-award winning bestselling author, Hannah Gold for the official schools virtual launch of her highly anticipated new book: TURTLE MOON, her thrilling new illustrated animal adventure for kids.

Year 5 & 6 Internet safety and Individual Liberty 9th Oct 2024
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Year 5 Trip to Whipsnade Zoo- PLASTICS: Impacts and Actions workshop 3rd Oct 2024
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The children learnt why the oceans are important, how litter from land-based sources reaches the ocean and ways they can make a positive impact on the environment. British values: understand that we have a responsibility to look after our environment.

Speak out- Stay safe NSPCC Visit 24th Sep 2024
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Children learnt more about what it means to: Speak out Stay safe with the help of the NSPCC. They learnt that they all have a right to: - speak out and be taken seriously - be kept safe - get help when they need it.

Downsides Future Stars Art Gallery 9th Jul 2024
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This afternoon it was time to let the art do the talking at the annual Downside Art Gallery. The quality and range of work was exceptional and once again just shows how talented Downside children are.

Town Finals 2024 6th Jul 2024
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We are delighted to share that on Tuesday 2nd July Downside Primary were crowned Luton Schools Athletics champions. (for the first time ever!!!) The team had 26 children finish in the top 8 positions 16 medals in total 6 gold medals 4 silver medals 6 bronze medals (3 children also came 4th) It was a brillant way to finish 2024 and we are so proud of all the children who competed and they all showed the usual determination, positivity and skill (DPS) that you would expect from Downside children. WOW! WOW !

Year 4 and 5 Sports Day 2024 26th Jun 2024
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It was a hot day but the children had lots of fun competiting at the 2024 sports day. Keep your eyes out for the results

Year 5 Indian Drumming 13th Jun 2024
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To raise cultural awaerness the Year 5 children have learnt how to play a traditional Indian drum (Dhol). The children learnt about various rhythms and beats.

Brillant club Graduation 4th Jun 2024
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The children taking part in The Brilliant Club 2024 have officially graduated from the Scholars Programme. They were treated to an unforgettable lunch cooked live by our very own Chef Paul.

Year 5 Cambridge Mosque visit- Hamilton Class 8th May 2024
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The children visited the Mosque in Cambridge to see inside of a mosque and to study the architecture and symbolism.

Year 5 Netball Tournament 23rd Apr 2024
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The girls were amazing in their first tournament. Playing 6 games, winning 6 games and not conceeding a single net! Very proud of all the girls.

Year 5 Pizza 19th Apr 2024
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Year 5 children have been creating their own pizza`s in design and technology.

Yer 5 linking schools project 19th Apr 2024
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On Wednesday 17th April Hamilton and Wilson classes visited Stockwood Park for our School Linking Project. Aim was to learn about how our wider community is different, engage thoughtfully with others and develop team work skills

Year 5 River Investigation 26th Mar 2024
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Year 5 explored the local river area to identify the water quality, the impact humans have on the area and sketch the area.

Year 5 World Book Day 2024 13th Mar 2024
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Video Call Brampton Class enjoyed a Horrible Histories: The Big Rotten Roman Quiz with Terry Deary. Children had great fun answering the questions.

Mental Health Week - My Voice Matters 16th Feb 2024
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During Mental Health Week the children learnt to empower themselves under the theme "My Voice Matters" which provided the children with tools to express themselves.

Internet Safety Day 2024 10th Feb 2024
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On the 6th of February 2024 we celebrated Safer Internet Day across the school. This is something we do annually at Downside and here are some examples of our work this year.

Safer Internet Day 8th Feb 2024
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Children were asked to create a comic strip with a hard hitting message reminding other children to stay safe online.

Brillant club 16th Jan 2024
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After a `brillant` lauch session last week the children enjoyed meeting their tutor, learning what a university is and how it can equip people for future jobs. The group also discussed the purpose of a museum.

KS2 Christmas lunch 18th Dec 2023
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On Thursday the KS2 children enjoyed their christmas lunch- brussels, turkey and lots of bad cracker jokes!

All the children were treated to watch the annual pantomime (Oh Yes they were!!) 12th Dec 2023
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There was lots of fun, laughter and shouting whilst the children `Peter Pan Never Grow Up` on Thursday 7th December. Unlike the panto the photos are below- not behind you!!

Short Tail Trail 2024 12th Dec 2023
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We are delighted to working with Keech Hospice to bring alive the Short Tail Trail. Follow the website as we update you on the progress.

Food Bank Donations 12th Dec 2023
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Thankyou to all our amazing families who donated food to the food bank last Friday (8/12/23) we had more food donated than every. What a fantastic and generous community we are.

Parliament Week 12th Dec 2023
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As part of Parliament week the Year 5 children discussed `Are computer games good for you?` It was an interested debate between all the children. What do you think?

Year 5 Live Roman History Lesson 12th Dec 2023
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Year 5 were very lucky to join a live lesson on the Romans and link with other primary schools.

Year 5 Bikeability 12th Dec 2023
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The children in Year 5 were given the opportunity to develop their safety and cycling skills and work with the Bibeability team to explore safe routes around the local area.