What a very busy week at Eaton Bray Academy!
On Monday, at 11.00am, the whole school observed Remembrance Day by joining the rest of the country in standing in silence for two minutes.
The Year Six children have been selling poppies, and managed to raise almost £300 for the British Legion, which is an impressive sum. Meanwhile, the youngest children, in Hamsters Class made poppies as part of their learning about Remembrance Day.
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It was Anti-Bullying Week this week, and in recognition of this, on Tuesday, everyone was invited to wear odd socks, to celebrate individuality. Throughout the week, each class thought about kindness and took part in activities to promote friendship and understanding. On Thursday, everyone joined in with an anti-bullying assembly, where they reported back on all that they had done.
Deers Class reflected upon the slogan "Say No to Bullying", and discussed how saying rude things can affect a person's self-esteem. In Foxes Class the children started a new challenge that they will be continuing every week. On Mondays, the children will pick the name of one of their friends in the class, and they have to be really nice to them for the whole week. Then, on Friday, the children have to guess who was being nice to them - a bit like a Secret Santa, but more like a Secret Kindness. To make it harder to guess who was being nice to who, the children have to hide their kindness by doing nice things for everyone else as well!
Badgers Class looked at solutions to bullying, and what steps to take if someone is being unkind to you. This could be to talk to family members or teachers. Rabbits created a "50 Acts of Kindness" board. Every time one of the children noticed someone being kind to another child, they wrote this on a post-it note and stuck it on the board. The aim was to have at least fifty post-its by the end of the week.
Hedgehogs Class spoke about Elmer the Patchwork Elephant, and how he looked different to his friends. Elmer learns that his unique colourful appearance is what makes him special and that differences should be celebrated.
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Tuesday was an exciting day for Squirrels Class children, who went on a really wonderful trip to London, to see the famous sights that they have been learning about as part of their London topic work. Amidst blues skies and sunshine they boarded a boat for a cruise down the River Thames, passing London Bridge, The Houses of Parliament and Big Ben (the children learnt that the bell is called Big Ben and that the tower is called the Elizabeth Tower), Tower Bridge and many more places of interest.
Following a picnic lunch in the park surrounded by lots of birds, the children had a ride on the London Eye, where they got to view the whole of the city spread out beneath them as far as they could see. The weather had turned at this point, but the grey skies didn't spoil the impressive view, or the children's excitement and enthusiam - some of the children were a little nervous beforehand, but loved it in the end!
Afterwards the children enjoyed the London Eye 4D Cinema experience, where they watched New Year fireworks while snow fell, and then went to the shop to buy souvenirs.
What a fantastic school trip! In the words of the children:
"It was really awesome"
"We had a fantastic day"
"It was very exciting"
"It was so good my head nearly burst!"
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On Wednesday afternoon, we were visited by the Full House Theatre Company, who came in to perform "By the Light of the Moon" to children in Reception and Key Stage One. This was a play about friendships and celebrating our differences, which tied in nicely with the message of anti-bullying week. It was a lovely story, beautifuly performed and pitched just right for the younger members of the audience, who thoroughly enjoyed the show.
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On Thursday it was Foxes Class Assembly. The children presented parents and the rest of the school with a round up of all that they have been learning about this term, including their water melon experiment and their dance routine. They sang in French and recited some poetry (in English). After the assembly, parents were invited to stay for a cup of tea or coffee and cake.
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On Friday it was Badgers Class' turn to have a wonderful day out. They went to St Albans to visit the Verulamium Museum. In the museum they watched a DVD and viewed various exhibits depicting life in Roman Britain, learning all sorts of fascinating facts about Ancient Roman culture.
After lunch, the children visited the ruins of the Roman Theatre, and found out about the events that would have taken place there, including music and drama, wrestling, armed combat, and wild beast shows. This was followed by a visit to the remains of a Roman House and Hypocaust with huge mosaic. Next, the children walked across the park to investigate the Roman Wall and the lake, stopping on the way to have a play in the fresh air!
The final stop was the gift shop, before getting on the coach to return to school, tired but happy!
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