Week Ending 19th January 2018

We have arranged for two specialist sports teachers to come into school this term, to teach hockey to Years 4 and 5 on a Tuesday, and gymnastics to Years 2 and 3 on a Thursday.  The children are enjoying learning new skills and having the opportunity to take part in even more sports!

This week, Squirrels Class have been finding out about habitats, and learning about how the environment changes with the seasons.  They went on a nature walk around the school grounds to look for places where animals may live, and visited the pond where the only creature in evidence was the resident plastic stork!  The children will return later in the year to see how the area changes once Winter is over and Spring has sprung!

Otters Class children have been very busy and creative this week.  On Monday they learnt to make bread, mixing and kneading the dough in the classroom, then baking it in the oven in the school kitchen.  They then had the chance to taste the lovely fresh loaf, and gave it a big thumbs up!  On Tuesday, they "visited" Africa, and made their own mud huts from clay.  Then on Thursday, as part of their work on the Great Fire of London, the children made lanterns from jam jars, decorated with silhouettes of buildings and wonderful fiery colours.  What a productive week!

In Hedgehogs Class, the children have been enjoying the story of Red Riding Hood, as part of their "Once Upon A Time" topic.  They listened to the story, then had a lovely time acting it out, using masks and props to bring the tale to life.  They then worked on sequencing pictures of the story, before painting their own Red Riding Hood forests.

Our oldest children, in Deer Class enjoyed fresh air and winter sunshine this week, while working on some Active Maths activities.  They took the trundle wheels out onto the school field to make and record some measurements that they will use in their future mathematical investigations.

Badgers have been learning about the food chain in their Science lessons.  They designed and made their own food chains, in the style of a paper chain, which they were then able to use to explain their finding to the rest of the class.

Foxes Class were visited on Wednesday by a Health and Safety expert from the Fire Service, who came in to speak to them about road safety, water safety, and fire safety.  The children were shown a video, and were given lots of useful advice on how to stay safe as they grow older and become more independent.

Their EBA Enterprise project continued this week, and they brought in a variety of different ingredients to make their own bespoke smoothies.  This ranged from apples to carrots, chocolate to lettuce!  Mr Meade, our Site Agent, was nominated to taste and judge the finished products, and he chose as his favourite the winning combination of strawberries and bananas!

Week Ending 12th January 2018

Welcome the the first blog post of the new year, and a new look EBA blog for 2018!  We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year.

The children have all returned to school happy and enthusiatic after the Christmas break, and have made a start on their topic work for this term.  This is what the different classes will be learning about this term:

Deer and Foxes - Gruesome Greeks
Badgers and Rabbits - Wondrous World
Squirrels and Otters - Legendary London
Hedgehogs - Once Upon A Time
Hamsters - People Who Help Us

Badgers Class have begun some work on mountains.  They made a list of mountain facts and in groups presented their ideas to the rest of the class.  They used atlases to locate the mountain regions across the world and search for individual mountains such as Mount Everest.

Deer Class have been looking at Ancient Greek pottery, and have designed their own amphorae, decorating them with traditional Greek patterns and illustrations.  They have a new display board in the classroom which features a wonderful painting of the Minotaur, created by the very talented Mrs Young!

We have welcomed some new children to Hamsters Class this term, and they have settled in nicely and are already enjoying their time in Nursery. 

On Wednesday, we received a rather exciting delivery at school - a little blue shed which will contain the "EBA Free Little Library" - part of a national scheme to promote reading outside. The library will be filled with lovely books and will live out in the playground, where children will be free to take a book whenever they wish and return it when they have finished with it.  This has been possible thanks to some of the money that was raised over the Christmas period, and a generous donation received from Nisa (convenience store) Making A Difference Locally charitable scheme.

On Thursday, EBA Sports stars took part in their first tournament of the new year.  This was a Year Six Tag Rugby Tournament at All Saints Academy in Dunstable.  Once again the team performed with great credit to the school, showing off the hard work they have done in PE lessons.  Tagging, speed, sidestepping and support were all in evidence in every game, as was a terrific team spirit, win or lose!

Despite not winning the tournament this time, we competed well in all games, and won more games than we lost.  Our Year Six children represented the school impeccably, showing great behaviour and attitude, and most importantly, having great fun!

Thursday was also the day of Year Five EBA Enterprise, and this week they began learning about some interesting herbs that they will be using in their Masterchef sessions this term -  fennel, tumeric, yuzu and flax.  They had a variety of different smoothies to taste, which included fruit and vegetables blended with these exotic flavours.  The children found the tastes interesting, and while some enjoyed them, not all were entirely convinced! The next stage is to devise their own smoothie recipes, using unusual ingredients.  We look forward to seeing what they create!

Otters Class had a lovely treat on Friday.  Last term they did some work on Australia, and learnt that the digeridoo is a traditional Australian instrument.  This week they got to hear someone play the digeridoo! Mr Tees, who is one of our peripatetic music teachers came in to give a demonstration of this skill - everyone was very impressed!

Hedgehogs Class are very happy with their new outdoor classroom.  On Friday they used the area for some Active Maths.  The children had to work in teams to find ten objects, helping to familiarise themselves with the number ten and to practice their counting skills. 

We are looking forward to lots more opportunities to take classroom activities outside this term as Spring progresses and the weather warms up...!

Week Ending 15th December 2017

A snowy start to our last full week of 2017!

We knew that snow was forecast, but no-one expected quite so much to fall on Sunday and Monday.  By Sunday evening it was clear that the conditions of roads and footpaths would make it necessary to close the school, so on Monday the children all enjoyed a SNOW DAY!

This wasn't without its problems however, especially as Induction Day for our new Nursery children was meant to take place on Monday morning, and one of the Christmas concerts was scheduled to take place in the afternoon!  So lots of swift rescheduling of this busy week was required, and lots of understanding and patience on the part of children, staff and parents.  Thank you to all for your support.

By Tuesday the paths and playground had been cleared and salted, and most people were able to make their way into school.  The children enjoyed a  lovely playtime on the field, showing wonderful teamwork in making an igloo, with help from children right across every year group.

On Wednesday, Badgers children held their Class Assembly, where parents were invited in to find out all about the work that Badgers have been doing this term.  The children played their ukuleles and sang songs that they have learnt in Music lessons, then talked about their work on Ancient Egypt.  They acted out the story of the discovery of King Tut's tomb, taking the roles of Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter. 

Following this, parents enjoyed a Science presentation about teeth and the digestive system, some fireworks poetry, a demonstration of the children's French conversation skills, and a display of their Van Gogh inspired artwork.

Wednesday was also Christmas Dinner day.  All the children enjoyed roast turkey and all the trimmings, served to them by their teachers, and had fun pulling crackers, wearing party hats and listening to festive music! 

Then, to round off a busy Wednesday, parents were invited to St Mary's Church in Eaton Bray in the evening, for our Key Stage Two Christmas Celebration.  This consisted of traditional carols, and readings, telling the story of the nativity.  There were also some individual musical performances, and poetry recital.  It was a lovely evening, enjoyed by all who attended.

And so, following a busy Wednesday, an even busier Thursday!  Monday's concert which had to be cancelled due to snow, was rescheduled for Thursday morning, meaning that on Thursday there were no less than three Christmas concerts taking place at school!

The first of these was Hamsters Class' performance, "Happy Birthday Jesus."  This was a nativity play with Christmas songs and poems from our youngest children.  Clever use was made of the interactive technology in the School Hall, as part of the show involved video that had been taken of the children in the classroom, meaning that all the children in Nursery were able to appear in the performance.  After the show, parents enjoyed refreshments and a raffle in the Nursery building.

Then there was a quick turnaround, and Hedgehogs, Otters, Squirrels and Rabbits Classes took the stage, for their first performance of "Lights, Camel, Action!"  This nativity play was based on Strictly Come Dancing, and featured line dancing Nazareth Villagers, disco dancing Wise Men, ballet dancing Angels, Morris dancing Shepherds and tangoing Innkeepers!  There was some lovely singing, and much laughter, as the traditional tale was told in an entertaining and lively way.

The second performance took place in the afternoon, and the Hall was once again packed with appreciative audience members.  We hope everyone enjoyed watching the show as much as the children enjoyed performing in it!

 

 

Friday was a day of Christmas parties!  Rabbits and Badgers had theirs in the morning, enjoying traditional party games such as Pass the Parcel and Musical Statues, and a visit from Father Christmas.  Then in the afternoon, it was the turn of Hedgehogs, Otters and Squirrels.  Much fun was had by all!  Hamsters children will have their Christmas party on Tuesday of next week, while the Main School will enjoy a Talent Show.

All that remains is to wish everyone a very happy Christmas, and a wonderful New Year!  We return to school on Thursday 4th January (weather permitting of course...), and look forward to seeing all the children then!