Week Ending 6th November 2015

Welcome back, we hope everyone had a super half term holiday!

The half term break was certainly a very busy time for Miss Raymond and Miss Turner, who travelled to France to visit and "inspect" Chateau de Warsy, the residential centre where some of our Year 6 children will be spending a few days in the spring term.  They were very impressed with the excellent facilities, comfortable pod accommodation and tasty food!  They enjoyed a trip to Paris and an excursion to see WWI war graves, and are now very much looking forward to taking the children back there in March.  Thank you to Miss Raymond and Miss Turner for giving up their half term to make this visit.

Needless to say, the Year 6 children are very excited about their up and coming trip, and are enthusiastically fundraising through EBA Enterprise, so that they can really make the most of their experience.  Here's what they have to say about their venture:

It has felt like a short week in School this week, with a training day on Monday, and the children not returning until Tuesday.  On Thursday, we had a very special visitor - Mr Parker, the Head of Manshead Seconday School in Dunstable.  He came for lunch, and had the opportunity to chat with children and staff, commenting that he enjoyed hearing about their experiences at Eaton Bray Academy, and that he thought they were very lucky to attend such a good school.  He thanked the children for making him feel so welcome.

As it happened to be Guy Fawkes Day when Mr Parker visited, the kitchen had provided a special menu, with bangers and baked potatoes, Catherine pin wheels, rocket salad and firework cakes for dessert!

Badgers Class are also making links with another local school.  They decorated a box and filled it with special work, drawings and information about themselves.  This was sent to Hillborough School in Luton, whose Year 4 class sent a similar box back in exchange.  They look forward to developing new friendships with these children.

On Friday, everyone was asked to bring in a donation for the Christmas hampers that will be raffled at the Christmas Fayre.  Thank you to all the parents who contributed - you have been very generous, and with all the biscuits, chocolate, tableware and sparkly decorations, the festive hampers will be certainly worth winning!  It's really beginning to feel like Christmas is on it's way...

Some dates for your diary:
Tuesday 10th November - Rabbits trip to St Albans Cathedral
Thursday 12th November - Foxes Class Assembly
Friday 13th November - Non-uniform/PJ Day
Saturday 14th November - Quiz Night
Saturday 28th November - Christmas Fayre
Thursday 3rd December - Badgers Class Assembly
Thursday 3rd December - Movie Night
Monday 7th December - Hedgehogs, Otters, Squirrels and Rabbits Christmas Concert
Wednesday 9th December - Hamsters Christmas Sing-Along
Thursday 10th December - Hedgehogs, Otters, Squirrels and Rabbits Christmas Concert
Friday 11th December - "Brasserie Bray"
Sunday 12th December - St Mary's Crib Festival
Wednesday 16th December - Key Stage Two Carol Service
Friday 18th December - Last Day of Term

A busy, busy time ahead!

Week Ending 23rd October 2015

It has been a busy week at Eaton Bray Academy, with new children coming in to look around, and spending time getting to know us, staff attending various training courses, and Parents' Evenings taking place on Wednesday and Thursday.

On Wednesday, we had a visitor from Bedfordshire Police, who came in to talk to staff and children about keeping safe online.  He spent time in each class during the day, then in the evening, gave a presentation to parents.  We hope that everyone who came in found the experience useful.

Also on Wednesday, the School shop opened for the first time this term.  It was well stocked with all sorts of exciting and useful items - stationery, small toys, gifts and crafts, and some Hallowe'en goodies.  As usual, the shop was run by Key Stage 2 children, who did a great job of counting out money and sorting out change - and learning all about good customer service!

Our minibus continues to get plenty of use.  On Monday and Wednesday lunchtimes it is Cross Country Club, and the children are able to travel out and about into the beautiful Bedfordshire countryside, enjoying fabulous scenery as they run.  We have also started a Hiking Club on Thursday lunchtimes, for those children who want to get out and about at a more leisurely pace!

On Thursday morning Mrs Hawkes and Mr Potton took a group of Key Stage 1 children to an indoor athletics tournament at All Saints Academy in Dunstable.  They took part in a number of activities which involved jumping, bouncing, launching, bowling, stepping and throwing, competing against nine other local schools.  It was lovely to see some of our younger children participating in competitive sport, and they were absolutely delighted to finish fourth.

Children in Otters Class enjoyed a very special afternoon on Thursday, when they learnt all about The Queen's Coronation in 1953, and staged a coronation ceremony of their own.  The Otters Queen, dressed in all her finery and holding the orb and sceptre, was seated upon a magnificent throne.  Attended by her Ladies in Waiting and members of the nobility, she was solemnly crowned by the Archbishop.  There was then a formal procession of the royal party through the playground, while the National Anthem was played!

Friday's Awards Assembly was an opportunity for this week's sporting stars to receive certificates for their participation in the athletics competition.  There were also Bikeability certificates given out, as well as the weekly Star of the School and Head Girl and Boy award, which gets awarded to children who have contributed positively to school life.

It is half term next week, and we hope everyone enjoys a well earned rest, and some family time.  When we return, we will be quickly into the countdown to Christmas, with concerts to organise and parties to plan!  Don't forget, it is a Training Day on Monday 2nd November, so the children return on Tuesday 3rd.  Have a lovely half term break!

Week Ending 16th October 2015

As we approach half term, it is really beginning to feel like autumn outside on some mornings.  We have all noticed though, how well our new windows keep out the drafts, and keep in the warmth - hopefully this will make a difference to our heating requirements this year!

On Tuesday, the Home School Association held its AGM.  The new committee has lots of wonderful ideas for social and fundraising ideas for this school year, and are working hard already to organise the Christmas Fayre which will take place on Saturday 28th November.  Please check the school website for all the other important dates in the run up to Christmas.

Parents of children in Deer Class have been asked to select their choices from the "Brasserie Bray" menu, for their special EBA Enterprise Restaurant evening in December.  They have a choice of the following French dishes, all of which will be prepared and served by the children:

Le Menu

Entrées:

Les Escargots

La Soupe au Poisson

La Salade Niçoise

Le Plat Principal:

Moules Marinières

Coq au Vin

Une Tarte à l’Oignon

Le Dessert:

Crêpes Suzettes

Crème Brulée

‘Mess Eaton Bray’

This week the children learnt how to cook "escargots" (snails) for the restaurant, and made cakes, iced buns, and snack packs to sell at their Enterprise stall.

Foxes children devised and created a selection of hot sandwiches, which were tasted and assessed by Mr Wallis.  There were burgers, pittas and wraps with a variety of meat and vegetarian fillings, some of which were really quite spicy...  Among the winners was a wasabi peas and mango chutney sandwich - Mr Wallis had asked the children to "think outside the box," when choosing their ingredients, and they certainly did that!

 At the other end of the school, our youngest children, in Hamsters class, have also been creative this week.  They had great fun making "Marvellous Mixtures" with a variety of ingredients including cornflour, fabric conditioner, glitter and cornflakes.  Parents will be pleased to know that we will not be serving these concoctions in our French restaurant!  They also wrapped up warm and enjoyed an autumn themed nature walk this week.

 All the classes have been working hard on various activities linked to our Creative Curriculum topic, "What Makes Britain Great."  Otters have been learning about the Royal Family, and have written postcards addressed to royal residences.  Squirrels have been looking at British history, finding out all about the Great Fire of London and recreating newspaper reports from that era.  Rabbits have been reviewing books by Anthony Browne, as part of their work on significant British authors.  Foxes children had the task of choosing an important character from British history, and giving a presentation to their classmates on the life of their chosen Great British figure.

On Thursday, parents of children in Reception Year were invited to "An Evening with Hedgehogs," where they were given the opportunity to come in and find out more about how English and Maths is taught in Hedgehogs Class.  Mrs Matthews talked about our online reading resource, Bug Club, the Hedgehogs' "Morning Challenge" and gave suggestions about how parents could help their children at home.  Parents were also shown a short film of the children taken during a Literacy session.  The evening was very well attended, and parents agreed that they had found it a very useful and informative exercise.

Next week - Parents' Evening, on Wednesday and Thursday.  If you haven't already done so, don't forget to book a time to come in and speak to your child's teacher.  The online appointment system on ParentMail makes it very easy for you to see what time slots are still available.

Week Ending 9th October 2015

This week, we can truthfully say that Eaton Bray Academy is "really cooking" following the delivery of ten induction hobs that can be used in the classroom.  It was very exciting surprise for our Year 6 children when the huge parcel arrived and was opened on Monday.  Ever adventurous, they chose to make Moules Marinieres for their first cooking challenge, and tuna steaks for Salad Nicoise for their second!  This is all practice for "Brasserie Bray", the French style restaurant that they will be opening at the end of term.  Much has been learnt already in cookery lessons this week - not least that frying tuna steaks directly underneath the smoke alarms is not a great idea...!

In assembly on Tuesday, certificates were given out to children that had taken part in last week's Sports Day.  Older children joined younger children in P.E. lessons this week, taking part in netball and various activities on the field and playground.

The focus has been on Maths for our younger children.  Otters have been learning about the properties of shapes, sorting them into different categories, while Hedgehogs have been finding out about sequences and patterns, by making fruit kebabs, and arranging the different coloured fruits on the kebab stick!  They have also had fun chopping vegetables to make soup.

Squirrels Class have done some lovely work on the artist L.S. Lowry.  They have recreated some of his work, which is on display in their classroom.  They have also made a very seasonal "Harvest" collage, and written poems about harvest time.

There has also been some wonderful work done in Choices over the last few weeks, with some marvellous autumnal art being produced.  So many different ways to interpret a leaf!

 Meanwhile in Science, children have been growing microbes, using agar in petri dishes.  They investigated the bacteria on their own hands, and also swabbed some items in and around the school - with very interesting results.  The pictures below show the normal bacteria on a child's hand, and on a computer keyboard, which is not visible to the human eye.  Needless to say, the children were impressed, and have come away with a new understanding of how important it is to wash their hands before eating!  Our thanks to Mrs Johnson from "Sam's Simple Science" for running this activity.

Don't forget - it's the Home School Association AGM on Tuesday evening at 7.30pm.  It would be lovely to see lots of parents there, eager to find out how they can help with the valuable work that this group of parent volunteers do for us throughout the School year.