Week Ending 24th March 2017

There was a very cultural start to the week this week...

On Monday, forty-six Key Stage Two children and five adults from EBA experienced something very different and very special.  They visited the Royal Opera House in London, for a stunning performance of Puccini's "Madame Butterfly."

When they arrived, everyone was excited, but really didn't know what to expect from an opera performance.  Afterwards though, they all felt that they had experienced something rather wonderful, even if they had to cover up a tear or two!  "La ringrazio molto per un'esperienza che non dimenticheremo."  If you can set that to music, please get in touch!

 

With it being Mother's Day this weekend, this week, all the children in School have been engaged in top secret activities, to ensure that their Mums feel extra loved and appreciated on Sunday...

We also organised some non-secret treats for Mums, Grandmas etc during the week, the first being on Tuesday morning, when Hamsters children invited their families in to school for a Mother's Day Concert.  The children sang some lovely songs and shared their beautiful artwork and some poems.  There was also a Powerpoint presentation which showed photographs of all the children, with a special message for all of their Mummies.  All the children who were present stood up and took part.  Their guests then enjoyed tea and cakes, and there was a raffle with some indulgent treats as prizes!  Thank you to all who came along - we hope you enjoyed the entertainment.

Wednesday was Parent Consultation day.  From 2.30 to 7.30pm, the children's work was available for parents to look at, and teachers for parents to speak to!  It was a busy day, but worthwhile, and we hope everyone found it useful.

On Thursday, there was a special assembly to follow up last week's Science Day.  The children recapped on all that they had done, with photos from each of the class activities.  Mr Whall, our governor for the Science curriculum, came in to present certificates to the winning group from each class.  He also presented our new "Science Ambassadors" with special badges - these children, one from each class, have been nominated by their classmates because of their interest and enthusiasm for science.  Their role will be to raise the profile of Science in the school, and to encourage interest and excitement about the subject amongst their fellow pupils.

Deer Class have also been recapping some of the things that they did last week, in this case, their trip to the Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey.  Here is a report written by one of the children about the day:

Rabbits Class have been reflecting on events even further back in time.  In their History lessons this week, they have been looking at local history, and finding out about life in Eaton Bray in the past.  We were sent some excellent resources by the County Records Office, including photos and maps of our village from a hundred or more years ago.  The children loved looking at these, and thinking about the lives of the people who lived here in days gone by.

 

On Friday afternoon, it was the second of our Mother's Day events, the Mother's Day Tea.  This was a lovely occasion, organised by Mrs Cooney, with the help of the Year Five EBA Enterprise team.  The children spent the morning making a wonderful selection of delicious sandwiches, and these were served to their guests along with tea and coffee and home-made scones with jam and cream.  The hall was made to look very festive, with colourful bunting and pretty floral tables displays and the Home School Association ladies ran a raffle, with yet more fabulous prizes.

After school, there was a Mother's Day stall in the library, selling a selection of crafts and gifts, just right for children to buy for their Mums (or for Mums to buy for themselves!)

It really was an enjoyable afternoon for all who attended, and we would like to thank you for coming along and supporting the school.  We do hope that everyone has a very happy Mother's Day, and enjoys the pleasant weather that has been forecast for this weekend!

Week Ending 17th March 2017

What a wonderfully busy and exciting week!

On Monday, eight children from Deer Class, along with two members of staff were given the wonderful opportunity to attend the Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey.  The lucky children, who were picked at random by drawing names from a hat, had to be at Leighton Buzzard Railway Station at 9.30am on Monday, to catch the train into London.  It was a beautiful sunny day, so the children were able to do lots of sightseeing in the morning, taking in Downing Street, Trafalgar Square and Buckingham Palace amongst other attractions.

At Buckingham Palace, the children were particularly fortunate to witness the ceremony to start the Commonwealth Games baton relay.  The Queen handed the baton to Australian cycling champion Anna Meares, who was joined by British cyclist Victoria Pendleton, and the baton will now travel across seventy-one countries, before finishing its journey at the Gold Coast for the Commonweath Games in April 2018.

Following lunch in the Crypt Cafe in St Martin-in-the- Fields, the children arrived at Westminster Abbey in time to see the baton arrive with another famous athlete, Jessicca Ennis-Hill.

The service in the Abbey was a true representation of our varied Commonwealth.  There were a number of different speakers and performers from a range of countries and cultures.  The Queen, Duke of Edinburgh, Prince of Wales and Prince Harry were in attendance along with many other well known public figures, politicians, school children and members of the public.  It really was a wonderful occasion.

Wednesday was a truly fantastic day for Rabbits and Badgers Class.  They had a early start, leaving school by coach by 8.00am, with Birmingham as their destination, and a day at Cadbury World!  The topic for this term is "Food" and Cadbury World provides a great educational experience, for children to find out all about one of their favourite foods - chocolate!

The Cadbury Experience involves exhibitions and hands-on activities, demonstrating how chocolate is manufactured, where the raw materials are produced, how it is packaged and marketed, and so on.  There is also lots of information about the history of chocolate and about Cadbury's the company, the Quaker beliefs around which the company was established, and how that ethos carries on today, with the importance of Fair Trade.

The children thoroughly enjoyed the exhibitions, but perhaps their favourite part of the day was the trip to the factory shop, where they were able to spend their pocket money on huge slabs of chocolate to take home!

 

Thursday was "Science Day" and the school was full of young scientists performing experiments and investigations in every classroom!  Younger children in Hamsters and Hedgehogs looked at colour, and experimented with mixing colours - paint and food colouring - with interesting and exciting results.

Children in Key Stages One and Two largely focused on transportation, and had to use their scientific brains to come up with ways to transport items from one place to another.  Otters children were given the task of making boats, which would carry passengers without sinking, across a body of water.  They were given a variety of different materials to use, including lego, plastic tubs and bottles, and card.

Squirrels children made zip wires, and had to think about the height difference between the start and end of the wire, so that their lego man wasn't left dangling in mid air!  Rabbits meanwhile, made bridges, using twenty-five lolly sticks each... and lots of sellotape.  They were given the instruction that the bridges had to be long enough to fit between two tables (a distance of 30cm) strong enough to support a weight, and had to look attractive.

 

Foxes children had the challenge of transporting tomatoes across the room, using a variety of ingenious methods.  The whole classroom was transformed by a system of strings and chutes, from which tomatoes were suspended or propelled down.  Deer children did something similar, but with marbles, devising their own marble runs.  It really was all quite impressive!

Week Ending 10th March 2017

It's been a quieter week this week, without any dressing up days, school trips or exciting visitors - a good chance for children and adults to reflect on all the work that's been done so far... and prepare for all the work that's still to come!

On Monday, Year Six children in Deer Class made fruit cocktails, and set up a stall at lunchtime to sell them to pupils and staff.  They created their own recipes, which proved to be delicious!  A small profit was made, which will go towards their Young Enterprise funds.

The Year Five EBA Enterprise team meanwhile, are busy preparing for their special Mothers' Day event.  They will be hosting Cream Teas for Mums on Friday 24th March, (Dads, Grandparents etc are welcome to come along too!) On Wednesday the children practised making scones, and created some attractive paper flower table decorations.  Tickets for the Mother's Day Tea are £5.00 each, available from the School Office.

On Thursday, Hamsters Class held another of their "Stay and Play" sessions, where Mums and Dads stay with their child and join in with all the activities taking place that morning.  It is a lovely chance for parents to see how their child learns in Nursery, and seems to be appreciated by all.

The story of the week in Hamsters has been "The Enormous Turnip." The children's activities have been based around this theme, and have included printing with different vegetables, making stick puppets of the characters in the story, and lots of cutting and sticking.  On Thursday, all the Hamsters children could be seen outside acting out the story - led by Mrs Lee, everyone took part, trying to pull the "turnip" from the ground!

We have enjoyed some glorious spring sunshine this week - it has really felt quite warm at times.  Just the right conditions for our younger children to enjoy Forest School.  They went on a lovely nature walk, finding all sorts of treasures (twigs, leaves, feathers, snails) which they used to decorate paper hats!

There's lots to look forward to next week, with a special trip to London for some lucky Year Six children on Monday, an exciting visit to Cadbury World for our Year Threes and Fours on Wednesday, and Science Day for all on Thursday!