Week Ending 22nd June 2018

Please enjoy just a small selection of photos from the wonderful weekend that our Year 6 children spent in France. They really had a marvellous time, enjoying informative guided tours of the area, taking in a market visit in Dieppe and a walk around historic Rouen.  They had the chance to sample plenty of French food, including "les fruits de mer", and plenty of opportunity to practise "la langue Francaise!"

The highlight of the trip, for many of the children, was their visit to the World War One battlefields, where they visited the museum in Albert, and the cemeteries and memorial in Thiepval.  They learnt a lot about the history of WWI - which they found greatly interesting, and very moving - and laid a wreath at the memorial in Thiepval.

The children all behaved superbly throughout the weekend, and Mrs Slatter, Mrs, Young and Mrs Barker, who accompanied the trip, were very proud of them all, and thoroughly enjoyed their company!

Calais:

Chateau de Chatereine Residential Centre:

 

Dieppe:

 

 
Rouen:

 

WWI Battlefields and Cemeteries Tour:

 

 

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Back in school, we have had a busy week as usual!

On Tuesday, a small group of Year Five children travelled to Wixams Academy in Bedford, to take part in the "Times Tables Rock Stars Wrangle."  This is an inter-school competition where children answer as many times tables questions as possible, as quickly as possible! 

The top three times tablers from twenty different local schools took part, and impressed all with their knowledge of multiplication tables from 2's to 12's.  Our children answered at a rate of seventy correct questions per minute, which is fantastically fast, but were not quite quick enough to get through to the finals... there's always next year! 

Very well done to the three EBA TT Rock Stars who took part - and keep an eye on the TT Rock Stars website, where photos will appear soon.

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On Wednesday, Deer Class children took part in EBA Dragons Den.  In their Enterprise groups, they each pitched their ideas to the "Dragons" (Mr Whall, Mr Meade, Mrs Lyons, Mr McDermid) who quizzed them on their business plans, checking that they had adequately carried out market research, assessed their profit margins etc etc.  

Each group was assigned £25 to put their enterprises into operation, and these will be open for business at the Enterprise Fair on the afternoon of Thursday 5th July. There will be crafts and games, all run by the children, with the goal of making a profit!  So please do come along and support this.

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Our minibus is still rather unwell, which meant that Otters Class' proposed trip to Wrigglies pet shop in Dunstable couldn't go ahead as planned this week.  It has been rescheduled for later this term, when we hope all will be fixed and our minibus will be back at school where it belongs.  

In the meantime though, Otters children enjoyed a visit to school from the "Birds of Bray" on Thursday.  They learnt all about owls and other birds of prey, and each child had the opportunity to hold a beautiful tawny owl.

 

May the sun continue to shine as we enter the last few weeks of term - just four weeks now until the summer holidays!

Week Ending 15th June 2018

We have a brand new menu in the school kitchen this week.  Following consultation with children and parents, and with the expert help of our friend Mr Hines the village butcher, kitchen staff have put together a new selection of meals that focuses on healthy choices, homemade food and value for money, and which includes some of the children's favourite dishes!

On the subject of fine dining... Foxes Class were very lucky on Wednesday this week to receive a visit from a professional restaurateur, who came in to talk to them as part of their EBA Enterprise learning.  "Frank's Restaurant and Mussel Bar" has been in the same family for many years, and the children were interested to learn how the restaurant has changed over time, in response to customers' preferences and trends and fashions in dining.

Frank brought along an old menu from the early 1970s, where the prices were all in £sd, which the children found fascinating.  The items on offer back then were very different from today's restaurant fare, featuring delicacies such as Welsh Rarebit with Poached Egg for 3/- or English Chump Chop with Creamed Potatoes, Celery Hearts and Brussels Sprouts for 5/6.

Frank showed the children how to lay up tables and demonstrated how food should be served, with silver service techniques. They then had the opportunity to try this for themselves, which they agreed was rather tricky!  Frank very kindly answered all the many questions that were asked of him, giving the children a wealth of valuable knowledge that they will be able to put into practice when they set up and run their own restaurant next year.

Hamsters children have been thinking about food as well this week!  They have been learning about ways to keep healthy and talking about how our diet affects our health.  They have also been looking at exercise and discovering fun ways to keep active outside in the lovely sunshine!

EBA children have taken part in two cricket tournaments this week.  On Tuesday, a team of Year Five and Six girls travelled by minibus to All Saints Academy, where they played three games, bowling and batting in a determined and competitive manner.  Their fielding was particularly strong, enabling the girls to finish in second place overall.  Well done girls!

On Thursday, it was the Year Five and Six boys team's turn.  Unfortunately, it was not an ideal start, as the school minibus broke down on the way to Dunstable...  However, various members of staff rallied round and we were able to get the boys to the tournament, albeit late. They were there in time to play two games, wining one and losing one, and finishing in third place overall.  The boys played with a lot of enthusiasm, especially as Mr Whall was tied up with a broken down minibus, so was unable to encourage them on.

Thank you to all the staff for rising to the challenge and mobilising their cars to get the boys to the tournament and back!

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Friday was an early, and very exciting start for a group of our Year Six children - at 7.15am, a coach arrived at school to take them to France for the weekend!  They will be staying at a Kingswood residential centre, based around a 17th century chateau on the coast of Normandy.  Their long weekend will be packed full of activities, including a visit to Dieppe and Rouen, and a guided tour of the World War One battlefields, and there are sure to be plenty of opportunities for the children to practice their French.

We hope everyone has a wonderful time, and we look forward to welcoming you back on Monday afternoon, when we will hear all about your French adventure!

Week Ending 8th June 2018

The first week back after the half term holiday has really whizzed by!  We have lots of exciting trips and events planned for the children over the coming few weeks, and hope that the sun continues to shine for us as we approach the end of another busy school year.

On Monday, we were particularly proud of two of our children: earlier this year, Key Stage One and Two children entered an engineering competition, run by Primary Engineers, "If I were an engineer I would..."  There were many fantastic inventions devised by the children, all designed to make life easier, and last month we heard that two of our children had won a prize for their entry!

The two children, one in Year One and the other in Year Six, were invited to an awards ceremony on Monday afternoon at the University of Hertfordshire.  They went in the minibus, along with parents and two members of staff.  All the entries were on display at the University, and our two prize winners had a lovely time finding the EBA entries among the many inventions submitted.

When the awards were presented, everyone was delighted to learn that our Year One pupil was the overall winner!  His invention was "The Amazing Buggy" - a pushchair that keeps his little brother warm, and has door openers on the front that assist his Mum in manoeuvring the buggy through doors.

Well done to Ben and Shania for their fantastic efforts - our wonderful young inventors in the making!

Wednesday of this week was a fabulous day for some of our older children.  The school was lucky enough to have been allocated tickets for a School's Matinee performance of Swan Lake at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden - these tickets are much sought after, so we were delighted that our application for tickets was successful, and that our Year Four, Five and Six children had the opportunity to attend.

It was an early start for the forty-four children and six staff members, who travelled into London by coach for their exciting day of culture!  When they arrived the sun was shining and they sat in Covent Garden to enjoy a snack while watching street entertainers, before going to the Royal Opera House for their pre-performance workshop.

All the children were really engaged when they went into the Dance Studio and really immersed themselves in the experience - as did the teachers!  They took part in an hour long dance workshop along with children from another school, focusing on learning some of the key moves from Swan Lake.  It was great to see the children so enthusiastic - especially when they were role playing the character of evil Von Rothbart!

After the workshop, the children had a quick lunch before taking their seats for the performance.  They were lucky enough to have fantastic seats, near the front of the stalls, and enjoyed a wonderful three hours of ballet.

Cameras weren't allowed in the Royal Opera House, but there was an official photographer present from The Telegraph newspaper, so do keep an eye out for EBA in the national press!

Week Ending 25th May 2018

Tuesday dawned bright and sunny with a slight breeze, the perfect day for our Stockwood Park Sports Day.  All of the children in Main School took part, travelling by coach to Stockwood Athletics Stadium in Luton, where they competed in distance races and sprints, field events, plus a rather special individual wheelchair event for one of our Hedgehog superstars who is not able to run just at the moment!

Our Year Four Sports Leaders did a wonderful job of helping and encouraging the youngest children, and there was a friendly competitive atmosphere as everyone set about striving to beat their times from last year and set new personal bests and records.

Back at school, there was an awards ceremony, where medals were awarded to the winners and runners up.

Then, after school, as if they hadn't had enough sports for one day... a team of Year Four girls and boys took part in the finals of the inter-school seven-a-side football tournament at All Saints Academy.

The team played well - following an initial loss of 1-0 against their first opponent, they fought back heroically to win the next three matches, scoring a total of eleven goals with none conceded.  The result...? We came away winners of the tournament!  A terrific effort and team spirit was shown throughout - well done team!

It's been Maths Week at Eaton Bray Academy this week. All the classes have enjoyed a variety of fun practical maths activities.  Hedgehogs Class spent some time doing maths in their outdoor area, while Rabbits enjoyed "Crystal Maze" type challenges.  Squirrels Class used their feet, and lots of colourful paint, to measure a metre, and Deer and Foxes classes made maths games to share with one another.

On Wednesday we were visited by "The Happy Puzzle Company", who devised games and challenges for children in Years Two to Six.  The children took part in a coding box activity, where they had to work in teams to solve a series of problems, allowing them to open another box and work towards the solution.

Everyone in school was invited to enter a symmetry competition, where the children were challenged to create a piece of symmetrical art.  There were some lovely piece of work produced, with lots of imagination and creative effort in evidence.

On Friday, to celebrate the end of Maths Week, the children enjoyed a dress up day.  They were asked to dress as something related to numbers, or, because our children take part in Times Tables Rock Stars, as a rock star!

What a fun and colourful end to a super busy week.  Have a wonderful half term holiday!