What a very exciting week for the children!
We managed to pick the perfect day for our whole school Stockwood Park Sports Day. Sandwiched between a drizzly and dull Monday and an excessively wet Wednesday, Tuesday dawned bright and warm, with just the right amount of breeze and cloud cover for a fabulous fun day of sport!
Every child from Reception to Year Six came into school dressed in their PE kit, and three coaches arrived to take them to Stockwood Athletics Stadium in Luton. Once there, the children all competed in two races on the running track; one sprint and one distance race of their choice. There were also field events, including shot put and long jump. Those with energy left could also compete in the KS1 or KS2 relay!
The warm weather and enthusiastic support from friends and classmates must have contributed to the children's performances, because a number of school records and personal bests were broken! For a full report and all the results, please visit the school website.
Upon their return to school, a special Awards Assembly was held, where the winners and runners up were presented with gold, silver and bronze wristbands. There were also special awards, presented by our Junior Sports Leaders, to children who had shown particular determination, good sportsmanship and a positive attitude. Over seven hundred and fifty wonderful photos were taken of the day - here is just a very small selection!
The day was superbly organised once again by Mrs Hawkes, whose enthusiasm for sports and PE over the years has inspired the children's enjoyment of all things sporty, and contributed to our many wonderful successes in local competitions and tournaments. For such a small school, we really are big players in the local area, which is in no small part due to Mrs Hawkes' input. This was her last EBA Stockwood Park Sports Day, so we are all really pleased that it was such a successful, record breaking and sunny day for her!
Back at school, the focus was on our Creative Curriculum topic "Art Attack". On Monday and Wednesday, we were visited by Kate Radford, a local potter, who worked with the children to create clay sculptures, which will be fired and glazed. Older children in Key Stage Two were given the task of recreating a hobby or interest in clay, and their model had to include a human figure. Younger children in Key Stage One were asked to make their favourite animal.
The children all thoroughly enjoyed the activity, learnt a lot about sculpture and model making, and proved themselves to be very creative! We are looking forward to seeing the finished products when they come back from the potter's kiln.
Children in Hamsters Class and in Rabbits Class have also enjoyed Forest School activities this week. They have explored the concept of travelling on a journey, but instead of using a Satnav or a map, have followed an environmental trail, collecting leaves, feathers, moss and cones, binding them to a stick in order to tell the story of their journey.
"Journey Sticks" similar to this have been used for many years by cultures around the world to navigate unfamiliar routes, with symbols representing landmarks being etched into sticks to help the traveller find their way home.
The weather continued to be rather unsettled throughout the week, with sunshine alternating with heavy showers. We are keeping our fingers crossed that next week, there will be rather more sunshine than showers, as some of our Year Five children are off on a residential trip to Caythorpe Court PGL Centre in Lincolnshire.
We know they are all very excited, and can't wait to come in to school on Monday morning with their bags packed, ready for five days of fun and adventure!