Week Ending 12th October 2018

On Tuesday, it was Sports Day for Key Stage Two children.  We have held a sports day in the Autumn Term since 2013, and have never yet had bad weather...  This year was no exception, and it felt like a glorious summer's day as everyone gathered on the field for an exciting afternoon of sunshine and sports.

The lovely weather definitely seemed to bring out the best from our EBA sports stars.  This year was the first year that we didn't have a 1/4 mile race - the reason?  Everyone pushed themselves that little bit further to do either the 1/2 or the full mile!

Once again the school record for the mile was broken, with the majority of children stepping up to a long distance run or achieving personal bests.  The sprint races were also very competitive, inspiring some Mums and Dads into the ever popular parents' race!

Well done to everyone involved, and many thanks to those parents who volunteered to help out by acting as marshals.

 

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Lots of lovely work has been taking place in and out of the classrooms as usual this week.  Otters Class have been outside playing hopscotch as part of their Maths learning, and have been on a sound walk around the school grounds in Science. 

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Rabbits Class children have spent the last few weeks reading, retelling and studying the structure of traditional tales.  This week they planned their own stories, which they will write, edit and make into a book.  In Science they have been exploring and classifying rocks, and created a fair test to find out which rocks are the hardest and which the most permeable.  As part of their work on the Anglo Saxons, they have used the iPads to research Sutton Hoo and the artefacts found there.  They have designed and created Anglo Saxon shields based on their findings, and these will be available to view in the classroom next week during Parents Evening.

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Hedgehogs Class' topic for this term is "Superheroes."  The children have been enhancing their learning in all curriculum areas, by reading stories and poems about superheroes, drawing superheroes, designing costumes and vehicles for superheroes and enjoying lots of other super activities that make learning fun. 

On Thursday, it was "Superhero Day," a celebration of everything superhero related, where the children came into school dressed as their favourite superhero.  They enjoyed a day of superhero games and challenges, and had an extra special visitor...  Batman! 

Batman came into the class to talk to the children about his life as a superhero, and gave them some very important information about Stranger Danger and Road Safety.

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This week has seen the launch of our new EBA PTA! 

The former Home School Association has reinvented itself with a new, name, an active social media presence, and an exciting programme of forthcoming events.  Please take a look at their page on our school website for more information, and there is a Facebook group that anyone associated with the school may join.

The children were given the chance to enter a competition to design a smart new logo for the PTA, and there were prizes for everyone who took part.  The winning logo was a combination of Adam's and Elara's designs, which combines our EBA tree motif with the slogan "Helping Our School to Grow."

There is lots to look forward to in the next few weeks and months:

Fancy Dress Disco - Thursday 18th October
Fireworks Fun Run - Sunday 4th November
Wine and Cheese Evening - Friday 30th November
Christmas Fair - Saturday 8th December
And in the New Year, a movie night, bingo evening, quiz night,  and much more!

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Week Ending 5th October 2018

Another week of lovely autumn sunshine.  We feel very lucky that we are still able to use the field every day for playtime, and with no muddy footprints to clean up afterwards!

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Hedgehogs Class have been thinking about autumn, and harvest time this week.  They had a lovely time chopping up a selection of different vegetables to make a delicious vegetable soup.

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The children in Otters Class have been busy this week.  In Art, they have been investigating colour, and made colour wheels.  Maths has involved number lines and ordering, and in Science they have looked at patterns.  They also had a lot of fun during their music sessions, singing "Five Little Speckled Frogs", wearing frog masks that they had made and coloured themselves!

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Squirrels Class meanwhile have been enjoying some Active Maths.  They too have been looking at number ordering - they had mixed up numbers that they had to put in the correct order, smallest to greatest.  They started with two digit numbers, then moved on to more challenging three digit numbers.  The children raced to see which team could order the numbers the fastest.

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Deer Class also explored Active Maths this week, finding practical methods to solve tricky long division sums.  In Science, they carried out an experiment to show that light travels in a straight line. 

The class was visited once again by Marion, our contact from Lesotho.  Having spoken last week about how few resources they have in their school, she was very touched to see that our Year Six children had brought in gifts for her to take back to their friends in Lesotho.

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The older Key Stage Two children have continued to enjoy EBA Enterprise this week.  On Thursday, Year Five were given the task of designing and creating a healthy snack bar, which they did with great enthusiasm and success, using healthy ingredients such as oats, honey and dried fruit.  The children worked hard on presentation, naming their product and designing a wrapper. As usual Mr Meade and Mr Whall were the taste testers, and were very impressed with the winner, which Mr Whall said "combined a professional finish with a terrific flavour, and would have graced any supermarket shelf!"

The Year Six children are looking forward to opening their EBA Enterprise restaurant later this term.  This will be the third year that the Year six children have run a restaurant evening, and it has become an event that everyone looks forward to very much.  This year, the children have opted to open a Mexican restaurant, and in preparation for this, Friday's Enterprise session involved testing a range of Mexican food.

On the tasting menu was spicy Mexican chicken, and some very hot Mexican cheese.  Needless to say, lots of water was required, and much hilarity ensued, as the children's taste buds encountered the fiery flavours!  The expressions on the children's faces said it all... 

 

And Mrs Hounslow reported back that it was the "best afternoon ever!"

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Week Ending 28th September 2018

The Year Five children have thoroughly enjoyed their week of Bikeability.  And what lovely weather they have had to get outside and learn those very important cycling skills.  We are pleased that these EBA children will now be able to cycle confidently and safely, and hope that their training will encourage them to get out and use their bikes, remembering all that they have been taught.

It was lovely to receive the this email from the Bikeability team following their few days with us:

   I must say what a pleasure its has been working with your Year 5 class. Every single one of them 

   was polite, attentive and did exactly what we asked. For some of them they were out of their 

   comfort zones at times. Without exception they have all been a credit to you and the school.

  

Well done Foxes Class!

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On Monday evening, the Home School Association held their Annual General Meeting, where they recapped on their social and fundraising events from last year, and outlined all their plans for the coming year.  The meeting was very well attended - thank you to all who came along to support the committee, and to find out more.  There are some exciting developments in the pipeline this year, such as a change of name, and the creation of a social media presence, which we hope will improve communication, engage parents and encourage greater participation in school events.  Watch this space!

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On Tuesday morning, Deer Class presented the first "Values for Life" assembly of the year to the rest of the school.  The value for this half term is "Responsibility", and our Year Six children took their responsibility very seriously when it came to delivering an interesting and informative assembly.  They spoke about what responsibility means to them, and how they were going to take more responsibility at home - keeping their room tidy, helping to get dinner ready, not fighting with their siblings...

The younger children really enjoyed the assembly, and Otter Class felt compelled to write and thank Deer Class:

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We had a wonderful surprise visitor this week - Marion from the Paleng Children's Centre in Lesotho!  We have had links with this charity in southern Africa since 2014, and during this time our Year Six classes have formed pen-pal links with the children there, exchanging gifts, and learning about their lifestyle and culture.  So it was lovely this week to hear first hand some stories about what has been going on in Lesotho and to renew our links with these friends.  

Marion gave the children a fascinating talk about life at the centre, read a traditional tale, and showed our children how to do a traditional Lesotho handshake.  She gifted the school with two bilingual story books and some postcards showing the beautiful scenery of Lesotho.  For more information about the Paleng Children's Centre, please take a look at their website.

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Friday afternoon saw our first "Enrichment" afternoon for Key Stage Two children.  The children were split into mixed age groups, and each group explored a different activity, as follows:

   Art with Mrs Lyons

   Hiking with Mr Whall

   Street Golf with Tilsworth Golf Centre

   Survival and Team Building with Ms Cosgrove

   Gardening with Miss Waldock

   Masterchef with Mrs Hounslow

Dr Bell and Mr Meade were the judges for the Masterchef challenge, which was to design a healthy nutritious breakfast which would set children up for the day ahead.

Younger children meanwhile enjoyed another Friday afternoon Choices session.  What a fabulous way to end the week!

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Week Ending 21st September 2018

Huge congratulations are due this week, to our Year Two teacher, Miss Turner, who has completed an astonishing achievement.  At the weekend, she ran the Berlin Marathon, completing it in just under five hours.  But if that's not impressive enough... this was the tenth marathon she has run this year!  We are all very proud of her, and delighted that she has managed to raise a lot of money for her chosen charity, Pancreatic Cancer UK.  Well done Miss Turner!

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Our Head Boy and Girl have been chosen for this school year, along with their deputies, and the children have all voted for their representatives on the School Council.  They had their photos taken by Photography By Carrie, and we think the pictures are so lovely that parents of the children involved may wish to purchase a copy!  If so, please contact the school or get in touch with Carrie.

School Council 2018/19    © C. Beddall

Head Boy, Head Girl and Deputies   © C. Beddall

Head Boy and Head Girl 2018/19    © C. Beddall

Head Boy and Head Girl 2018/19    © C. Beddall

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It has been a rather quiet week at EBA.  All the children seem to have settled nicely into their new classes, and are working hard.  

Badgers Class have started looking at sound in their Science lessons, and have found out some interesting facts about how sound travels.  Meanwhile, in English, they have been looking at Robin Hood, and have enjoyed singing along to the well-known theme tune: "Robin Hood, Robin Hood, Riding through the glen, Robin Hood, Robin Hood, With his band of men!" It's very catchy, and tells the legend quite well!

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In Deer Class, the children have been working collaboratively to plan short stories during their English lessons.  They have enjoyed Active Maths in the school hall, with a competitive game based on division ladders, and have started their Science topic, which is based on light.

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Children in Otters Class have had a lovely week.  In Science, they went on an autumn treasure hunt, and found a wonderful variety of natural objects, which they used to make autumn pictures, and in Maths, they used the Numicon shapes to explore the concept of more and less.

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Next week is Bikeability week for Year Fives - they are all looking forward to a wheelly good time!!