Week Ending 10th July 2015

What a busy, busy week - perhaps the busiest week ever for Eaton Bray Academy!

Saturday saw the village carnival, when schools and community groups from around the area got together for a colourful procession through the village.  It was a lovely day, enjoyed by all.

On Monday, parents of children in Badgers class were invited in to school for a special French Breakfast.  They enjoyed croissants, brioches, pains au chocolat and fruit juice.  The children had the opportunity to use some of the French vocabulary that they have learnt, and were delighted to serve their parents in "Le Cafe Francais"

Also on Monday, we had the first of two visits to Kidzania, for children in Reception, Year 1 and 2.  What a fantastic, but very busy place!  Children had the opportunity to experience the world of work in a child sized town - they were able to be doctors, chefs, hairdressers, shop assistants, fire fighters, racing car mechanics...  The "money" they earned could then be spent in the shop.  For more information about Kidzania please click here.

While the younger children were away, Year 4 children enjoyed a sports session with a parent who takes part in triathlons, who kindly gave his time to coach them in shot put and other athletic skills.

Staying with sport, on Tuesday, a group of our Year 5 children went to a Sports Festival at Queensbury Academy in Dunstable.  Here they took part in various sporting activities, including football, hockey, javelin and hurdles.

On Wednesday, it was Key Stage 2 children's turn to go to Kidzania.  There was additional excitement for these children, when having arrived and eaten an early lunch, the fire alarm went off, and the whole of Kidzania and the Westfield Shopping Centre had to be evacuated!  Apparently, a suspected WWII bomb had been unearthed at a nearby building site, and the whole area was cordoned off while the police and bomb disposal experts dealt with it!

Our children were all very sensible and extremely well behaved while this was all going on, and waited patiently until we were told that it was safe to return to the building.  In the meantime, many of the other school parties that had planned to spend the day at Kidzania, had gone home, so our children found that they had the place almost to themselves!  This meant no queues, and lots of time for activities for everyone to enjoy!

A very exciting day, and we even made the national papers!  Can you spot us in the Daily Mail?

Please enjoy a slideshow of photos from both days at Kidzania:



Thursday was Open Day, when parents had the opportunity to come in to school and look at the work their children have been doing over the course of the year.  This was followed on Friday morning by our "Meet the Teachers" session, when parents and children were able to spend some time with the teacher that they will be with next year.  It was lovely to see some new faces, both children and teachers!

On Friday, our EBA Enterprise children got digging and labelling and put all the finishing touches to their products, ready to sell at the EBA Farmers' Market that was set up in the playground after school.  The market was a wonderful success, and many products sold out very quickly - especially the onion marmalade (which looked delicious...)  A wonderful end to their year of enterprising activities!

Week Ending 3rd July 2015

Our Family Fun Day on Saturday was an enormous success!  Thank you to everyone who attended.  Please enjoy a selection of photos which show some of the exciting activities that were on offer.

 

Some people may have been unaware that on Monday, it was International Mud Day!  Hamsters Class celebrated this special event, with lots of muddy play, and the opening of their new "mud kitchen".

Please visit www.worldforumfoundation.org to find out more about International Mud Day, and the principles behind this idea.

On Tuesday evening, a group of our oldest children had the opportunity to perform in a Musical Celebration Concert, at the Grove Theatre in Dunstable.

Children from across Central Bedfordshire demonstrated the musical skills they have learned and developed over the year - our Year 5 and 6 children have all been learning the ukulele, and performed for their parents.  We also had contributions from individuals who have been learning other instruments; trombone, violin, recorder...

What an entertaining evening, made all the more enjoyable for our children, by pizza for tea back at school, between the afternoon rehearsal and the evening performance!

We have experienced some of the hottest weather for a decade this week, and in true EBA style, our children have continued to work hard and be productive both in the classroom and on the sports field, in spite of the heat.  

Key Stage Two children enjoyed a day of rugby training and an inter-schools tag rugby tournament, organised and hosted by the Dunstable Rugby Club.  Rabbits went on Monday, and played well enough to reach the semi-finals, losing only after extended extra time, to the eventual winners.  Badgers Class' turn was on Wednesday, when the temperature hit 30°.  They managed to stay cool, reach the final... and lost by just one try!  Well done teams.

Rabbits had great fun in the classroom this week, creating cartoons using an online resource called toondo.com.  The cartoon below provided a welcome reprieve from the stifling heat!

Our EBA Enterprise children were back in the kitchen on Friday, chopping and slicing vegetable to make red onion marmalade, spiced pickled beetroot and carrot relish to sell at their EBA Enterprise Farmer's Market.  Do come along on Friday 10th July, 3.30 - 4.00pm, when a selection of wonderful home-grown and home made products will be on sale.

The Village Carnival is tomorrow.  Watch out for us as we "sail" past on our Titanic themed float.  (We hope to float, not sink!)

Week Ending 26th June 2015

The sun shone for our Year Six children on Monday, when their Leavers' Tree planting "ceremony" took place.  The rowan tree has been planted outside the front door of the school, where we hope it will grow and flourish, and will always remind us of our first Year Six leavers.

Foxes and Badgers received an email this week from their penpals in Lesotho.  They have received a lovely parcel from our children with gifts of toys, and have written to say thank you.

Badgers Class made the most of the sunshine to do a bit of pond dipping.  They discovered frogs and dragonflies and water snails, as well as a stray tennis ball that had somehow ended up in the pond!

Hamsters have been enjoying the story of Jack and the Beanstalk this week, and used finger puppets to act out the story. They planted beans to grow their own beanstalks, and had a thoroughly messy time!

Thursday saw the last Sharing Assembly of the year, where children displayed some lovely work.  We hope over the year that parents have appreciated their children having the chance to show their achievements, and the opportunity to talk in front of an audience - the beginning of public speaking!

On Saturday it is the EBA Family Fun Day, so please come along and support this special day.  There will be lots of exciting activities, all included in the ticket price.  One of the events is an EBA Bake Off competition, and children spent Friday afternoon decorating cup cakes to their own design, having learnt piping and sugar flower skills last week.  These will be judged and a prize awarded for the best - a hard decision for the judges to have to make!

Hope to see lots of you at the Family Fun Day tomorrow!

Week Ending 19th June 2015

Only one month left until the end of the Summer Term... and so much still to do!

A quieter week this week, with lots of hard work being carried out in the classroom, and the mini bus getting a bit of a rest from all the sports tournaments...

We have been making the most of our lovely school grounds, with older children joining younger ones in sports on the field, and outdoor science activities for Early Years children.

Our oldest children in Year 6, who will soon be leaving Eaton Bray Academy, have been thinking about things they would like to do to commemorate their time with us.  As they are our very first Year 6 group, they felt it would be lovely to plant a tree for future generations of Eaton Bray children to enjoy, so on Friday, they all went off to Frost's Garden Centre with Mrs Hounslow and Mr Potton and chose a rowan tree which will produce plenty of red (EBA colour) berries all through the winter.

Meanwhile, the Hamsters' garden outside the Pre-School building is in full bloom, and is looking beautifully colourful.

 

Our School Choir have been rehearsing hard for their appearance at the Edlesborough Church "Choirfest", which takes place at 2pm this Saturday, at St Mary's, Edlesborough - "The Church on the Hill."  Do come along and enjoy the tuneful afternoon - there is no charge for entry, and the children would really appreciate your support!

On the last Saturday in June, there will be our "Family Fun Day", when hopefully, many families will join us for fun, food and frivolities.

The following Saturday is the Village Carnival.  Our amazing theme is "Titanic."  Hopefully our ship won't sink, but will be bright, jolly and a wonderful sight.  It would be lovely if as many of you as possible could join us for all these very important village events.

Finally, we were in celebration mood on Friday, as we heard on Thursday that our student teacher, Mrs Clark has completed her teacher training, and has been assessed to be an outstanding teacher!  We are all delighted for her as she has worked so hard, and certainly deserves her success.  Many congratulations to Mrs Clark!