Chaddlewood Primary School

Composers and Singers

Group of children from Chaddlewood School UK sitting at a table
  • CLASS 3AR and 3LP
  • SCHOOL Chaddlewood Primary School, Plympton, Plymouth, Devon, England
  • HONOURS One of us achieved a gold medal in dance and one of us got a medal for playing the piano.
  • MINERVA SCIENTIFICA PROJECT Voices for the Future – Mary Anning, 2022

Chaddlewood Primary School logo

All images on this page courtesy of the school. This page also includes quotes from the children gathered from data collected after the project.

Scientific Connections

Drawing of how an Icthyosaur became a fossil by a pupil from Chaddlewood Primary School, Devon during Minerva Scientifica project, 2022

The story of an icthyosaur

In our classroom we have already been learning about palaeontology – a palaeontologist from Plymouth University visited our school during Science week. We made skeletons and we’ve had a Wellbeing Day

Girl showing the clay tile made during Minerva Scientifica project

We enjoyed making clay artwork with Jack

On our Mary Anning project wth Electric Voice Theatre we learnt:-A pencil drawing of Mary Anning saying

  • Mary Anning was born in 1799, lived in Lyme Regis and had a dog called Tray
  • Mary Anning survived a lightning strike
  • About a fossil called a plesiosaur
  • Ichthyosaurs could swim very deep
  • The name of a fossilized poo is a coprilite

Compositions


Title: Mary Anning and Peppermint the Plesiosaur
Scientist: MARY ANNING
Composed by: Class 3AR, Chaddlewood Primary School, Plymouth
Written in: May 2022
Arranged by: Frances M Lynch & Herbie Clarke
For: Voices, piano and electronics
Film by: Jack Sewell
Performed by: the composers
First Performed: released online, summer 2022

“A Long, long, long, long, long, long time ago” Peppermint the plesiosaur was dancing in an underwater ballet with her teacher EMMA BERNARD!!! – when an ichthyosaur turned up and started a fight!! Millions of years of fossilization later some young palaeontologists were “chipping away all day long!” when they discovered Peppermint and rushed her off to the scientist’s lab to find out all about her life. They were so proud to be following in the footsteps of Mary Anning.

Drawing of an ammonite by a pupil of Chaddlewood School, Devon during Minerva Scientifica project, 2022

We looked at fossils and imagined what the animals might have looked like

Title: Mary Anning and Pixy the Ichthyosaur
Scientist: MARY ANNING
Composed by: Class 3LP, Chaddlewood Primary School, Plymouth
Written in: May 2022
Arranged by: Frances M Lynch & Herbie Clarke
For: Voices, piano and electronics
Film by: Jack Sewell
Performed by: the composers
First Performed: released online, summer 2022

Two hundred years ago Mary Anning, an EXTREMELY TOUGH palaeontologist, was “hammering, chipping, brushing rock” when she discovered “a gargantuan monstrous fossil – an ancient ichthyosaur”

More recently a group of young palaeontologists were “Dig dig digging in the ground” down into “Layers and layers and layers and layers” of sand and mud, when they spotted a gigantic “pineapple eye” at the top of a long snout…… could it be the same animal? To be sure – they took their find to the Fossil Scientists who declared that this was indeed Pixy the ichthyosaur who had lived millions of years ago.

Education

Our teachers are Mrs Roberts and Mrs Leach. We do music with them every week and some of us have extra music lessons too.

Two boys showing their clay tile during Minerva Scientifica project

Look at the fabulous clay tiles we made with artist Jack

Occupations

After the project nearly half of us think we’d like to be scientists and musicians. A few of us already wanted to be singers, and we have one who wants to be a rollerskating violinist!

Musical Highlights

Drawing by a pupil from Chaddlewood Primary School, Devon of scientist Mary Anning singing a song about fossils

This is when Mary Anning brought us fossils and sang with us

Several of us performed in Shrek the musical with our school and have also done performances in other dance and music shows. One of us learned how to play Harry Potter on the violin.
a photo of a child who holds u p a clay tile they have made showing the teeth of the ichthyosaur

Here’s one of the clay tiles showing Pixy’s teeth

Did You Know?

  • The ichthyosaurs pineapple eye was to see it’s prey, to help it live in the deep dark water.

  • Mary Anning was only 12 when she discovered the ichthyosaur and she always carried her hammer with her
  • Why did they go under a tree in a storm?
  • We learnt the sign language for a coprilite – it was strange and funny to talk about fossilized poop
  • We liked the electric voice theatre actions

An Inspiring Woman

Music: Frances M Lynch  Here she is teaching us on zoomA colour pencil drawing of the children in their class with a zoom session going on

Science:

A pencil drawing showing Mary Anning holding an ammonite with her dog beside her. 3 women with their backs to us are listening to her

Mary Anning selling fossils

  • Mary Anning – she was only 12 when she found the ichthyosaur, she was very poor, she trained Tray, she got struck by lightning and still lived
  • Emma Bernard – she taught us about the ichthyosaur and plesiosaur
    A photo of the clay jigsaw model of an ichthyosaur mounted on black

    3LP ichthyosaur model

    A photo of the clay jigsaw model of a plesiosaur mounted on black

    3AR Plesiosaur model

A photo of a child holding a clay tile she made for the ichthyosaur jigsaw

Look what Jack helped me make!!


Pixy under the sea

Links

Chaddlewood Primary School
Voices for the Future - Mary Anning