Week Ending 18th November 2016

Peace reigns at Eaton Bray Academy...

This is our value for the half term, and on Monday morning, children in Rabbits Class presented a very thoughtful assembly to the rest of the school on this theme.  They talked about their wishes for world peace, read poems that illustrated what peace means to them, and shared origami cranes and doves, which are symbols of peace.

The children also spoke about peace within the school, and the importance of avoiding disputes and resolving conflicts with friends and classmates.  It is national Anti-Bullying Week this week, so a good time for our children to think about the importance of kindness and good relations.

At EBA, we want the children understand that there is a difference between the minor fallings out and disagreements with friends in the playground, that are part of everyday life, and the nastiness of bullying, which is something that we are happy to say we really never encounter in this school.  Our children understand the behaviour expectations that we have of them, and know that they always have a voice that will be listened to if they are encountering any sort of conflict with another pupil.   With kindness, patience and understanding, peace and friendship can be maintained!

As usual there has been plenty going on in the classrooms and around the school this week.  Otters Class have been thinking about the human body, and have drawn and labelled life sized figures.  They have found out all about the five senses, and went on a "Sounds Walk" around the school grounds, listening out for all the different sounds they could hear in these peaceful surroundings.

Hedgehogs Class children have also been out and about, enjoying Forest School.  They made salt dough, and used pine needles found in the nature trail to make hedgehogs!  They also had fun making puppets and putting on puppet shows this week.

Squirrels have been continuing their work on directions, using the "Bee-bot" robots.  These friendly creatures can be programmed to follow directions, and the children used their map making skills to create routes for them to find their way around.

On Thursday, Foxes Class presented their Class Assembly to parents and children.  They talked about some of the work that they have been doing this term on volcanoes and space, sharing memories of their trip to the Natural History Museum.  They also spoke about the work that they have been doing as part of EBA Enterprise, and showed mouth watering photos of their cookery masterpieces!  Afterwards, there was tea and cakes (homemade by the children of course) for parents to enjoy.

The school hall was the venue for more excitement on Friday night, when it was transformed into a cinema for Movie Night!

Children from Hedgehogs, Otters, Squirrels and Rabbits were treated to a viewing of "Arthur Christmas" straight after school, then later in the evening, Badgers, Foxes and Deer returned to school to watch "The Nightmare Before Christmas".  There were twinkling fairy lights, and popcorn and hot dogs for the children, served by staff and parent volunteers who acted as ushers and usherettes.

Thank you to the HSA committee who organised the event, and to everyone who helped on the night.  This is the first of many lovely Christmas events and treats that we have planned for the children over the coming weeks, which we know will be very busy... but enjoyable!

Week Ending 11th November 2016

Science has been the theme in Key Stage Two this week, with Badgers Class doing experiments to find out all about volumes of liquid, and Deer learning about electrical circuits.

On Thursday, the School Hall was transformed into an exciting space exploration centre, when visitors from the Astronomy Roadshow came in with their mobile planetarium.  This consisted of a huge inflatable dome, with plenty of room inside for a class of children to sit and gasp at the fantastic 360 degree interactive presentations, which were projected onto the inside of the dome.

Key Stage Two children found out about the sun, moon and the planets in our solar system.  They were told all about gravity and were amazed to discover how much less a can of beans would weigh on Pluto and how much more it would weigh on the sun!  They enjoyed learning about the moon landings, and were able to investigate displays of model rockets and space patches from the space programme.  They also had the opportunity to handle pieces of meteorite and volcanic rock.

Our younger children meanwhile, have been very creative this week, with Hedgehogs stretching out in the hall to enjoy art activities!  They also used plasticine to form numbers.

Hamsters Class have been thinking about weather and the seasons, remembering fireworks night and making a wonderfully colourful display, by blowing paint through straws.  They went on a lovely walk in the park, and were very excited by the first frost and ice of the year - their story for this week was "Jack Frost", and it seems he visited at just the right time!

The Year Five EBA Enterprise team were visited this week by the local butcher, Mr Hines, who showed them how to make burgers.  They used a variety of different meats, which was kindly donated by Mr Hines, and added their own choice of additional ingredients and flavourings.  These included mushrooms, apples, barbecue sauce, tzatziki, and even biscuits and icing sugar!

The finished products were cooked and served, beautifully garnished, for Mr Hines to taste, and give his expert verdict.  He concluded that some of the more unusual ingredients made the burger surprisingly tasty!

On Friday, a team of Year Four children went off in the minibus to Dunstable Leisure Centre to take part in an indoor athletics tournament.  They participated in relays and sprints, long jump, obstacle races, javelin and other events.  They thoroughly enjoyed the experience of meeting and competing with children from other local schools.

Our value for this half term is "Peace".  The children have been thinking about the importance of living in friendship and harmony with others, avoiding conflict, and abiding by laws that keep us all safe.  On Friday, we acknowledged Remembrance Day, along with thousands of others across the British Isles, by observing a two minutes silence at 11.00am.

Week Ending 4th November 2016

The children had a wonderful surprise when they returned to school this week, following the half term break.  During the holiday, some new playground equipment was installed, and we now have a fabulous "outdoor gym" on the school field!

As you can imagine, everyone is thoroughly enjoying using it, and getting fit into the bargain!  Many thanks to the Home School Association who worked so hard to raise the money to buy this for the school - this is where all the pennies that were spent at school fairs and fun days have been used.

   

It was a golden autumn day on Monday, and the school grounds looked really beautiful in the sunshine.  The children all had a lovely time kicking through leaves - at least before Mr Wise got around to sweeping them all up...!

Hedgehogs Class busied themselves carving pumpkins, and made a wonderful Hallowe'en display outside their classroom.

There was more Hallowe'en spookiness at lunchtime, when on the menu there was a choice of "Green Monster Feet" or "Bats" for dessert!

On Wednesday, children in Foxes and Deer enjoyed a trip to the Natural History Museum in London. Our topic for this term is "Extreme Earth", so they were all very interested to find out more about the geology of our planet, by visiting the "Volcanoes and Earthquakes" show.

The children had the opportunity to investigate volcanoes and earthquakes, through interactive demonstrations, film footage, games and exhibits.  Best of all though, was the Earthquake simulator room, where the children became part of the action, finding out how it felt to live through an earthquake, and discovering more about the challenges faced by communities in this situation.  They learnt about monitoring and predicting seismic activity, and discovered how best to protect buildings against such catastrophic events.

They also had the chance to look around the other exhibits, and enjoyed looking at the displays of minerals and fossils.  As usual, our children were very well behaved and sensible, and everyone really made the most of their visit.

Back in school, children have been working hard with the usual variety of exciting work going on in the different classrooms.  Hedgehogs have been doing lots of measuring, while Squirrels Class have been learning about directions - left, right, clockwise, anti-clockwise and so on.  Badgers Class meanwhile, have been making Salvador Dali inspired melting clocks from clay!

Otters have made a start on their Christmas crafts and activities... with just a few week until the big day, everyone will soon be focusing on this, and the school will be full of glitter and tinsel in no time at all!

Week Ending 21st October 2016

A busy week at EBA, with Parents Evenings for Hamsters on Tuesday and for the rest of the school on Wednesday and Thursday.  Hopefully everyone who came along appreciated the opportunity to have a look through their child's work, and to speak with their child's teacher.

It has been Bikeability Week for children in Year 5.  Everyone brought their bikes and cycle helmets into school, for a week of instruction on how to cycle safely, responsibly and with confidence.  The first sessions took place on the school playground, with the children and their instructors venturing out onto the roads and cycle paths around Eaton Bray, later in the week.  The children were also given some advice about how to keep their bicycles in good roadworthy condition, and what to wear when cycling on the road to keep safe.

The cycle training was provided by Cycle4life, based in Leighton Buzzard.  They provide cycle training to groups or individuals, both children and adults and also offer bike maintenance courses.  So do get in touch with them at info@cycle4life.org if you require any more information, or would like to top up your cycling skills!

It has been a week of lots of visitors - new parents looking around the school, various contractors in to carry out routine inspections of equipment, educational specialists visiting to meet with teachers and children, and so on.  On Wednesday we had a visit from a music teacher from Inspiring Music, who gave an assembly to introduce children to the cello and double bass.  Many of the children were indeed inspired, and have signed up to find out more about learning to play these exciting instruments.

Our School Council had reason to be proud this week; they have been awarded a certificate to recognise the school's participation in the "Speaker's School Council Award" project.  This is a national competition that celebrates the achievements of School Councils across the country, promoting democracy and teamwork.  We didn't win a prize, but were pleased to be able take part, and help to endorse these important values.

EBA Enterprise children made delicious looking savoury pasties this week in their cookery session.  Just the right sort of dish for these increasingly dark and chilly autumn nights!

Have a lovely half term holiday, and we will see you back on Monday 31st October...