Week Ending 16th October 2015

As we approach half term, it is really beginning to feel like autumn outside on some mornings.  We have all noticed though, how well our new windows keep out the drafts, and keep in the warmth - hopefully this will make a difference to our heating requirements this year!

On Tuesday, the Home School Association held its AGM.  The new committee has lots of wonderful ideas for social and fundraising ideas for this school year, and are working hard already to organise the Christmas Fayre which will take place on Saturday 28th November.  Please check the school website for all the other important dates in the run up to Christmas.

Parents of children in Deer Class have been asked to select their choices from the "Brasserie Bray" menu, for their special EBA Enterprise Restaurant evening in December.  They have a choice of the following French dishes, all of which will be prepared and served by the children:

Le Menu

Entrées:

Les Escargots

La Soupe au Poisson

La Salade Niçoise

Le Plat Principal:

Moules Marinières

Coq au Vin

Une Tarte à l’Oignon

Le Dessert:

Crêpes Suzettes

Crème Brulée

‘Mess Eaton Bray’

This week the children learnt how to cook "escargots" (snails) for the restaurant, and made cakes, iced buns, and snack packs to sell at their Enterprise stall.

Foxes children devised and created a selection of hot sandwiches, which were tasted and assessed by Mr Wallis.  There were burgers, pittas and wraps with a variety of meat and vegetarian fillings, some of which were really quite spicy...  Among the winners was a wasabi peas and mango chutney sandwich - Mr Wallis had asked the children to "think outside the box," when choosing their ingredients, and they certainly did that!

 At the other end of the school, our youngest children, in Hamsters class, have also been creative this week.  They had great fun making "Marvellous Mixtures" with a variety of ingredients including cornflour, fabric conditioner, glitter and cornflakes.  Parents will be pleased to know that we will not be serving these concoctions in our French restaurant!  They also wrapped up warm and enjoyed an autumn themed nature walk this week.

 All the classes have been working hard on various activities linked to our Creative Curriculum topic, "What Makes Britain Great."  Otters have been learning about the Royal Family, and have written postcards addressed to royal residences.  Squirrels have been looking at British history, finding out all about the Great Fire of London and recreating newspaper reports from that era.  Rabbits have been reviewing books by Anthony Browne, as part of their work on significant British authors.  Foxes children had the task of choosing an important character from British history, and giving a presentation to their classmates on the life of their chosen Great British figure.

On Thursday, parents of children in Reception Year were invited to "An Evening with Hedgehogs," where they were given the opportunity to come in and find out more about how English and Maths is taught in Hedgehogs Class.  Mrs Matthews talked about our online reading resource, Bug Club, the Hedgehogs' "Morning Challenge" and gave suggestions about how parents could help their children at home.  Parents were also shown a short film of the children taken during a Literacy session.  The evening was very well attended, and parents agreed that they had found it a very useful and informative exercise.

Next week - Parents' Evening, on Wednesday and Thursday.  If you haven't already done so, don't forget to book a time to come in and speak to your child's teacher.  The online appointment system on ParentMail makes it very easy for you to see what time slots are still available.

Week Ending 9th October 2015

This week, we can truthfully say that Eaton Bray Academy is "really cooking" following the delivery of ten induction hobs that can be used in the classroom.  It was very exciting surprise for our Year 6 children when the huge parcel arrived and was opened on Monday.  Ever adventurous, they chose to make Moules Marinieres for their first cooking challenge, and tuna steaks for Salad Nicoise for their second!  This is all practice for "Brasserie Bray", the French style restaurant that they will be opening at the end of term.  Much has been learnt already in cookery lessons this week - not least that frying tuna steaks directly underneath the smoke alarms is not a great idea...!

In assembly on Tuesday, certificates were given out to children that had taken part in last week's Sports Day.  Older children joined younger children in P.E. lessons this week, taking part in netball and various activities on the field and playground.

The focus has been on Maths for our younger children.  Otters have been learning about the properties of shapes, sorting them into different categories, while Hedgehogs have been finding out about sequences and patterns, by making fruit kebabs, and arranging the different coloured fruits on the kebab stick!  They have also had fun chopping vegetables to make soup.

Squirrels Class have done some lovely work on the artist L.S. Lowry.  They have recreated some of his work, which is on display in their classroom.  They have also made a very seasonal "Harvest" collage, and written poems about harvest time.

There has also been some wonderful work done in Choices over the last few weeks, with some marvellous autumnal art being produced.  So many different ways to interpret a leaf!

 Meanwhile in Science, children have been growing microbes, using agar in petri dishes.  They investigated the bacteria on their own hands, and also swabbed some items in and around the school - with very interesting results.  The pictures below show the normal bacteria on a child's hand, and on a computer keyboard, which is not visible to the human eye.  Needless to say, the children were impressed, and have come away with a new understanding of how important it is to wash their hands before eating!  Our thanks to Mrs Johnson from "Sam's Simple Science" for running this activity.

Don't forget - it's the Home School Association AGM on Tuesday evening at 7.30pm.  It would be lovely to see lots of parents there, eager to find out how they can help with the valuable work that this group of parent volunteers do for us throughout the School year.

Week Ending 2nd October 2015

The weather has remained beautiful this week, so we have been making the most of the autumn sunshine and warm temperatures with lots of outdoor activities.

On Monday we had Sports Day for our older children in Badgers, Foxes and Deer Classes.  Parents came to watch, as the children took part in hurdles and relay races, sprints, and the now traditional cross country events, which include courses of a quarter mile, half mile, and a mile.  A full report of the afternoon's activities, plus plenty of photos and the results table will appear soon on our website, so keep your eye on the Sports and PE page, but here are a few pictures to be going on with.

On Wednesday, a group of children from Squirrels Class took a trip down to St Mary's Church in Eaton Bray, to distribute harvest gifts for the Food Bank.  They traveled down by minibus, driven by Mrs Matthews, which was quite exciting for these younger children!  The Vicar spoke to them about the Harvest Festival, and about how important it is to help others.

On Thursday, we held the first of our Class Assemblies.  Our oldest children in Deer Class spoke about what they have been learning this term, and gave a presentation about their recent trip to Bletchley Park.  They made use of the new Hall whiteboard and projector, using it to show a film that they made of their visit.  Parents were invited to attend, and afterwards were able to stay and enjoy a cup of tea and some home made cake!  We hope everyone who came along enjoyed the morning.

On Friday afternoon, the Year 6 EBA Enterprise team set up a stall in the playground after school, selling their home made damson jam and a delicious selection of cakes and biscuits.  The stall was very busy and plenty of money changed hands!  This will go into their fundraising pot, to be put towards their trip to France in the Spring of next year.

Meanwhile, the Year 5 EBA Enterprise children learnt bread making skills with Mr Wallis.  Next week they will have a "technical challenge", where they will have to design a dish with a given list of ingredients...

Have a lovely weekend and enjoy the sunshine while it lasts!

Week Ending 25th September 2015

This week started with a trip to a very important historical site for our Year 5 and 6 children. As part of their work on World War II, they visited Bletchley Park, where they found out all about code breaking and how the work that was done there helped change the course of history.

They had a tour of the house and grounds from a very knowledgeable man who had worked at Bletchley Park as a code breaker, then took part in a workshop where they learnt all about codes and ciphers.  Using the "Pigpen" code they learnt to decipher coded information, and discovered how to create their names in Morse Code.  They then found out all about wartime life, viewing 1940s room sets, and examining various items that evacuated children would have been familiar with, such as gas masks and identity cards.

An interesting and informative day was had by all, and the children enjoyed the opportunity to look around at all the various exhibits on display, including the Colossus computer, the wartime garage of WWII vehicles, and the Imitation Game exhibition, which included props and sets from the recent film.

This week was Bikeability week for our Year 5 children.  They all brought their bikes to school, and were given training in cycling skills and road safety on the playground, venturing out later in the week to cycle on the roads through the village.  The course was run by Cycle4Life, who reported that the children were courteous, well behaved, attentive and a credit to the school.  All children who completed the course will receive a certificate, and their parents can have the satisfaction of knowing that their children now have the skills to cycle safely!

Back in the classroom, Rabbits Class have been finding out about the legend of Pandora's Box.  They made finger puppets and had a lovely time acting out the story for their classmates' entertainment.  Badgers Class became budding electricians this week, and investigated circuits and motors.  They were all able to create a circuit to make a bulb light up, and then found out how to connect a motor to a battery pack to allow an object to spin around.  Meanwhile Hedgehogs have enjoyed the very British ritual of Afternoon Tea - with cakes of course!

As you will know, we are very keen for every child at Eaton Bray Academy to be able to voice their opinions, and have some say in what goes on in our school.  We also encourage children to take on roles where they can demonstrate responsibility, and work together with others to make decisions.  We have a Head Boy, Head Girl and Deputy, and a School Council, who this week enjoyed a lovely meeting in the sunshine with Mrs Hounslow.  We have now also appointed Student Ambassadors and Sports Leaders.  Each group has their own tasks and responsibilities within the school, and will represent the children of Eaton Bray Academy throughout 2015/16.

Don't forget - it's Sports Day for Badgers, Foxes and Deer on Monday - please do come along and cheer!