Week Ending 6th October 2017

The weekend saw lots of activity at Eaton Bray Academy!  A working party was formed, consisting of some staff members, parents and children, and everyone got busy on Sunday, creating a wonderful new outdoor play area for Hedgehogs Class. 

Thank you to all who came in to help - it is still a work in progress at the moment, but when it is finished, it will be an exciting and fun creative area, set in a lovely woodland dell.  Hedgehogs children are sure to have some wonderful adventures in their special area.

Tuesday of this week was Sports Day for Key Stage Two children.  The weather remained dry, bright and sunny and just about warm enough for the spectators to sit and enjoy the afternoon's entertainment. 

The children took part in various events including sprints, hurdles and relay races.  These were followed by the distance races which take place around the school grounds and along the lanes and footpaths surrounding the school.  Lots of children pushed themselves extra hard to do the half mile or full mile races, and school records for both distances were broken! 

All in all, an excellent afternoon of sport - well done to Mr Whall for organising it all so well.

 

 

 

Our record breakers were awarded certificates in assembly:
Daniel - half mile champion, George - one mile champion.

Once again, there has been plenty of practical maths in evidence in school this week.  Deer Class children have used some of the statistics from Sports Day to stretch their mathematical skills, analysing the data from the distances races and producing bar and pie charts of their findings.  Rabbits Class have been working with money, and Squirrels enjoying some maths board games. 

Foxes Class headed out into the sunshine on Friday, for a maths treasure hunt around the school grounds, with Roman numerals to decipher, and some quite tricky maths problems to solve!

And even our very youngest children in Hamsters Class have been enjoying learning about numbers this week, going out and about finding their favourite number in all sorts of interesting places!

Week Ending 29th September 2017

It's starting to look very autumnal around our school grounds, with leaves beginning to fall from the trees, covering the ground like a crunchy multi coloured carpet!  This is all very exciting for the children in Hedgehogs Class, who are learning about colour this term, and discovering the many different colours of nature.

Rabbits Class enjoyed using the "Bee-Bots" this week during their computing lessons.  The children found out all about algorithms, and learnt how to write a set of clear instructions for a machine to follow.  They then used this knowledge to programme the Bee-bots to travel around in a square formation.

On Monday evening the Home School Association held its AGM.  Once again, we have a small number of very dedicated parents who are willing to offer their time and energies to help the school, by organising events and fundraising activities.  We are extremely grateful to those volunteers, who do so much for their school, and are always keen to welcome more helpers if anyone can spare some time to lend a hand.

Preparations for the first of the fundrasing events are already underway...with Christmas in mind!  This year we will be producing an EBA calendar, with photos of the children and staff, in the month of their birthday.  There will also be Christmas cards featuring your children's own designs available to buy, so do keep an eye out for these!

This week, Otters Class have been learning about the artist Georgia O'Keeffe.  They have looked at the colours, shapes and patterns of the flowers in her paintings and used their observations to create their own designs.  The children made flowers using a range of papers and materials to create different textures, and the result was this beautifully vibrant floral display for the corridor.

Our EBA Enterprise children have had a busy week again, with Year 6 children enjoying more cooking sessions in the School Kitchen, and Year 5s devising and creating their own snack bars.  They used a variety of different ingredients and flavours, including cereal, fresh and dried fruit, honey, and of course chocolate!  Each group chose a name for their snack, and designed their own packaging.

On Friday morning we held a Macmillan Coffee Morning in the School Hall, to raise some money for this worthwhile charity.  There were lots of delicious cakes and biscuits that had been donated by generous parents and school staff, plenty of tea and coffee, and a lovely atmosphere for chatting and catching up with friends old and new.  Thank you to everyone who came along and supported this event - we managed to raise £226.  This sum was boosted by a further £45 in the afternoon, when Deer Class children ran an after school cake stall to sell all the remaining goodies - so a grand total of £271 for Macmillan! 

Week Ending 22nd September 2017

This week, we took delivery of some shiny new PE equipment, including some personalised rugby balls!  Otters Class were the lucky children who got to use them first.

Our youngest children in Hamsters Class have been enjoying some lovely autumn sunshine this week.  They had fun collecting leaves, pinecones and other treasures around the school grounds.  Hedgehogs also went on a nature hunt and enjoyed looking for objects of different colours.

Practical maths has been in evidence throughout the school this week, with Otters Class exploring different shapes.  The children investigated how many small shapes it took to cover large circles, and discovered that it was easier to work with squares and triangles as they tessellated.

Badgers Class have been finding out about the Ancient Egyptians.  Working in groups they discussed and answered questions about the themes and characters in the story "The Egyptian Cinderella", before writing their own version.  They then turned their stories into plays which they acted out in front of the class.

Year Six children enjoyed more pastry making sessions in the School Kitchen this week.  The children have chosen the name for their EBA Enterprise restaurant: the runner-up names were "Eaton Eatery", "Eaton Eating" and "We Have Eaton", but the winner, as voted for by Deer Class children, was "Bray Graze".  We are all looking forward to the grand opening of Bray Graze later this school year!

Week ending 15th September 2017

Children (and staff) in Foxes and Deer have been exceptionally energetic this week!

They have been following the Joe Wickes Body Coach School Fitness Programme, which involves starting each day with a high impact interval training session.  The programme is delivered via Youtube video on the big screen in the Hall, and the children have really engaged with it and all thoroughly enjoyed the activity.

Meanwhile, outdoor sports are also in full swing, and though it has been a little damp and drizzly this week, the field has been used for tag rugby and fitness games.  After School Football Club has restarted on a Wednesday and Friday afternoons, and Cross Country and Hiking Club at lunchtimes.

Cross Country Club children look happy after their first run of the School Year!

On Wednesday evening, an Information Evening was held for parents in the School Hall.  This was an opportunity for parents to find out how they could help and support their child with their school work, prepare them for SATs, and ensure that they achieve to the best of their abilities.  The meeting was very well attended, and it was lovely to see so many parents there.  Thank you to all who came along.

The children have settled back into the school routine, and have began producing some great work in the classrooms.  Squirrels Class have been looking at traditional tales during their English lessons, and have had lots of fun making masks and acting out the story of Hansel and Gretel.  Can you spot which is the witch?

We have lots of bright colourful new Maths resources to start the new term, and children throughout the School have been having a fine time using these to help with their learning.

Year Five children have had their first EBA Enterprise sessions.  This week involved food tasting, and the children were given a selection of different cheeses to taste, as well as garlic, olives, figs, chilli jam and snails!  They had to write down their impressions of the various tastes, noting down what they liked and what they weren't so keen on, and thinking about what flavours went well together.  They will use their findings to help them devise interesting and inventive dishes in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, Year Six children have been learning to make pastry this week, which is a skill that will serve them well as they plan and put into operation their "Best of British" restaurant later this academic year.

On Friday, the new School Council met for the first time.  For their inaugural meeting they enjoyed a "business lunch" with complementary fruit and cake, courtesy of Mrs Hounslow!  The new chairpersons were voted for, and plans for the year were discussed - we look forward to learning more about these in the coming months!

Friday meanwhile marked the end of an era for EBA, as we said goodbye to Mrs Healy, a member of staff who has been part of the School for many years.  In recent times she has worked in the School Kitchen, where she has been particularly valued for her excellent cake baking skills, but over the years she has donned various different hats, including Site Agent and School Governor.

Staff and children will miss her cheerful smile, infectious laugh and wonderful sense of humour, but we all wish her the very best for her retirement.

Week Ending 8th September 2017

Welcome to the new School Year!  We hope everyone had an enjoyable summer, and is looking forward to another productive and exciting year at EBA...

We returned to school this week to discover that some lovely new reading areas have been created in each of the classrooms.  They will certainly spark the children's imagination, and inspire them to do lots of reading both at school and at home!

Everyone is happily settling into their new classrooms and getting to know their new teachers.  We have welcomed some new children this week in Hamsters Class, and throughout the Main School, and are looking forward to getting to know them all.  Year Five children all look wonderfully smart and grown up in their EBA blazers and ties, and the Year Sixes are feeling very proud of their status as oldest and most responsible children in the school.

Head Boy and Girl and their deputies have been voted for by the staff, and hopeful candidates for seats on the School Council have prepared and delivered some excellent speeches in order to gain votes from fellow pupils for these coveted roles.  The election results will be announced next week!

Children in Badgers Class have started the year with some fun science learning.  They have been finding out about the human body, and learning how the various bones and organs fit inside the skeleton.  They then illustrated their discoveries by wearing them!

This year, classes will be working on their own curriculum topics, rather than having one single topic throughout the school.  This term the children will be learning about the following:

             Hamsters: Under the Sea
             Hedgehogs: Colour
             Otters and Squirrels: Voyages Around the World
             Rabbits and Badgers: Ancient Egypt
             Foxes and Deer: The Rainforest

We look forward to some varied and interesting work in the coming weeks!