Week ending 11th December 2015

With the end of term and **CHRISTMAS** getting ever closer, we have had a lovely busy week!

Hedgehogs, Otters, Squirrels and Rabbits entertained parents on Monday and Thursday afternoons with their performances of "Baubles".  All of the children did wonderfully well, sang up beautifully and spoke their lines clearly, with even the youngest making valuable contributions.  Well done to all, and we hope that the many parents who came along enjoyed the show.

On Tuesday afternoon a group of Year 5 and 6 children took part in a Rugby Tournament at All Saints Academy.  They played six matches against other local schools, winning two, drawing three and only losing once.  Everyone played well, and enjoyed the experience of playing on the floodlit AstroTurf pitch.

Tuesday evening saw the first of two "Brasserie Bray" evenings.  The hall was transformed into a welcoming French bistro, with soft lighting, background music, and tables laid ready for guests.  School staff and governors were treated to a delicious three course meal, cooked by our Year 6 chefs, and were looked after splendidly by the Year 6 waiters and waitresses.

On Friday, they will do it all again, this time with their parents as their guests - we know that they will have a wonderful evening!  Please take a look at the reviews of Brasserie Bray on our website, and if you are one of the lucky parents who gets to enjoy the Brasserie Bray experience, do take a moment to add your comments.

Meanwhile in the classroom, Otters have been learning about the tradition of "Afternoon Tea."  Did you know that this custom was started very near here in the 19th century, by the Duchess of Bedford, at Woburn Abbey?  Following their historic research, the children enjoyed making and eating their own afternoon tea!

On Wednesday, it was Hamsters turn to perform for their Mums and Dads.  The children took to the stage in the School Hall for their Christmas Sing Along, sharing favourites such as "When Santa got stuck up the Chimney" and "Jingle Bells".  They looked very festive with their special Christmas hats and tinsel in their hair, and all joined in the singing, actions and musical instrument accompaniment.

More singing this weekend, as our School Choir is taking part in St Mary's Crib Festival.  They will be singing a selection of Christmas songs at the church from 10.00 - 11.00am on Saturday morning.  All are welcome to go along and listen!

Week Ending 4th December 2015

The Christmas Fayre on Saturday was a fantastic fun filled festive success!  Thank you to everyone who came and supported the event - we raised over £2,000 for HSA funds, which is a great result!

The calendar has now flipped over to December, and so Christmas has definitely arrived at Eaton Bray Academy!  On Wednesday, everyone in the Main School walked down to St Mary's Church for a Christingle Service.  All the children had made a Christingle, which was lit, and carols were sung by candlelight.  A lovely occasion as usual.

Thursday was a busy day, with Badgers' Class Assembly in the morning, then, after school, the ever popular HSA Movie Night.  The first sitting was for younger children, with older ones coming back later on for their turn.  The hall looked magical, with fairy lights and the big screen lit up, and children enjoyed popcorn and a drink while watching "Nativity 3: Dude Where's My Donkey?"  Thank you once again to the HSA ladies, who worked so hard to make sure that everyone had a lovely evening.

On Friday, we had the dress rehearsal for "Baubles", our Christmas Concert, starring children in Hedgehogs, Otters, Squirrels and Rabbits.  Here is a taster of what you can expect if you are coming along to watch one of the performances next week...

Friday afternoon was very exciting for the children who are in the "Jobs People Do" group for Choices.  Our visitor was Mrs Shelton, who runs Appledown Kennels and Rescue Centre in Eaton Bray, and she brought two young puppies along to talk to the children about.  As you can imagine, the children all fell quickly in love with them!

So much to look forward to next week - including Christmas Concerts, Hamsters Sing Along, and the grand opening of "Brasserie Bray", which will be serving home cooked French cuisine to staff and governors on Tuesday evening... and to parents on Friday!

Week Ending 27th November 2015

A quiet week, before all the excitement of Christmas activities starts in earnest next week!

On Wednesday, we hosted a "Find Out More About Your School" evening for parents of children in Years 3 and 4, to give information about what their children can look forward to as they move further up the School.  Staff gave presentations and demonstrations, and existing Year 6 children came in to talk about their happy experiences in Foxes and Deer Classes.  We were also lucky enough to have a Year 6 parent willing to share her positive thoughts about EBA with others.

The evening was attended by just a small number of parents - it would have been lovely to see a few more faces.  However, those that attended found it a useful evening, and we thank them for giving up their time to come in to find out more about what we have to offer EBA children.

This week has seen lots of hard work being done in the classrooms, with Foxes focusing on history and finding out about rationing in World War II.  Badgers have been busy practicing for their Class Assembly, which takes place on Thursday next week.  Squirrels have been enjoying maths activities, learning about position and direction, using directional language - up, across, quarter turn and so on.

Otters have been working on their "Equations Crowns" for a few weeks, and are now proudly able to wear them.  The project included Design and Technology and Computing as well as Maths.  In their own words:

"We found some images of crowns on the internet.  For homework we researched how crowns are made and the kinds of materials which are used to make them. We then designed our crowns. We wanted to make a special crown which would help us with our maths so we thought of our own missing box equations to use on our crowns.   The next step was to measure our heads with help from our teachers.  Finally, we made our crowns making sure the missing number was covered with a flap.  We had fun wearing our crowns and enjoyed solving each other’s equations."

The School is gradually becoming more festive, with Christmas trees sprouting up in the classrooms, in the Hall and outside the Office.  Which one is your favourite?

The more eagle-eyed amongst you may also have noticed the EBA Christmas wreath which adorns the lamppost at the bottom of School Lane.  There are wreaths all along Eaton Bray High Street, sponsored by different local organisations, and we are sure everyone would agree that they help make our village look very pretty!

Hamsters have also been busy getting the Pre-School ready for Christmas.  They have turned the Home Corner into a Christmas Post Office, decorated with festive robins and gingerbread men!  They have also had a lovely time decorating their Christmas tree.

Our Christmas Fayre is on Saturday, and the HSA have been very busy getting everything ready for what should be a fantastic day!  There are lots of tempting stalls, including the always popular bottle tombola, a chocolate tombola, a superb raffle and of course, Santa's Grotto!  Our Enterprise team have their own stall, selling a lovely range of crafts and gifts, so don't forget to stop by and support their efforts.

Week Ending 20th November 2015

Preparations for our Christmas Concerts are in full swing now, with parts being allocated and lines learnt.  The children are in fine voice during their music sessions, and are very excited to be singing Christmas songs!

Hedgehogs, Otters, Squirrels and Rabbits will be performing "Baubles", a nativity play, on Monday 7th and Thursday 10th December at school, while the older children will be entertaining parents with a Carol Concert at the church on Wednesday 16th December.  Hamsters children will have their Sing Along at school on Wednesday 9th December, and song sheets have been sent home so that parents can practice the songs with their children!

There was a Quiz Night at school on Saturday evening.  This was organised by Mr and Mrs Wallis, and made full use of our new interactive hall equipment.  It was a great fun night, well attended by both parents and staff, and raised almost £500 for school funds!  Thank you to everyone who came along and supported the event.

This week, Foxes and Deer have started playing rugby during PE lessons.  Mrs Hawkes and Mr Potton organised a mini tournament - Year 5s vs Year 6s, which was won by one of the Year 5 teams!

Badgers Class have focused on Art this week, and have investigated the work of L.S. Lowry. They studied both his landscape and portraiture work, and then created their own versions in oil pastels, with impressive results!  Can you tell which of the pictures below are by Lowry, and which are by Badgers?

 

Otters have been doing some science work this week.  They made their own scavenger hunt, to search for signs of autumn.  Hamster children have been enjoying maths activities, involving water play and play dough.

Choices for this half term started last week, with the usual wide range of activities on offer.  "Jobs People Do" is once again one of the available activities, with a train driver coming in to talk to the children last week, and a doctor this week.

Another Choices group is "Lego We Do", which involves building models from Lego and then bringing them to life using computer technology!  Children from Hedgehogs right through to Year 6 are working together on this project, learning how to follow instructions, gaining knowledge of computer programming skills and investigating engineering techniques, all while having lots of fun!

Week Ending 13th November 2015

Hedgehogs Class was full of superheroes on Monday this week!  This was a special dress up day to celebrate the launch of "Little Big Writing", a fun teaching strategy aimed at children in the Early Years.  This scheme is designed to help children develop their language skills through talking and story telling, prior to them beginning to write.  The superheroes theme is one that certainly engages and inspires the children, and we look forward to lots of exciting, creative work from our youngest pupils!

Rabbits Class meanwhile, stepped back in time this week, with a trip to a Victorian School on Tuesday.  They visited St Albans Cathedral, where an authentic school room from the nineteenth century had been set up, complete with stern teachers, a dunce's cap, and the threat of the dreaded cane...!  The children all dressed up as Victorian children and were given a lesson on the "Three R's" and experienced "drill".  They all agreed that school today is a lot friendlier than it was in the olden days!

In the afternoon, the children had the opportunity to make clay tiles based on the elaborate floor tiles in the cathedral.

On their return to the twenty-first century, the children wrote accounts of their very interesting day out.

Squirrels Class also visited a place of worship on Tuesday - they walked down to St Mary's in Eaton Bray, to look at and sketch the stained glass windows.

 Wednesday was Remembrance Day, and once again, we honoured all that have served in conflict with a two minutes silence at 11.00am.  The whole of Main School gathered together in silence in the hall, and Pre-School also had quiet time.  As usual, we were very proud of our children, as even the youngest stood still and behaved very sensibly during this important event.

Wednesday was also Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Lights, and children in Otters Class did some special work to find out more about the celebration.  They read the story of Rama and Sita together, then recreated the characters, retelling the story in their own words.  Meanwhile, Deer Class drew colourful rangoli designs in chalk on the path outside their classroom, which was a lovely Diwali surprise for Mrs Slatter on Wednesday afternoon.

On Thursday, it was Foxes' Class Assembly.  They entertained parents with songs and African drumming, and shared some of the work that they have been doing this term, which includes WWII poems, poppy pictures and learning about the life of Sir Isaac Newton.  Many parents attended, and afterwards were treated to a cup of tea or coffee, and a cake!

Badgers Class have been doing some wonderful scientific investigation.  They froze a rubber glove full of water, and spent the day observing their "frozen hand", measuring it at hourly intervals, noting how the weight changed as the hand melted.

Friday saw everyone dressing up once again!  Or should that be dressing down, because the theme was pyjamas!  In return for being able to come to school in pyjamas, dressing gowns or onesies, everyone bought in sweets or a bottle for the Christmas Fair.

The Year 6 Enterprise team, wearing their onesies, turned their hands to making crêpes on Friday afternoon.  This will be one of the desserts on offer at their Brasserie Bray restaurant evening in December.  The Year 5 group meanwhile, have been making very inviting looking salad dishes during their weekly Enterprise sessions.

On Saturday, there will be an adults Quiz Night at school.  Lots of tickets have been sold, so we look forward to a good, fun evening, with plenty of brain stretching questions being asked!