Week Ending 19th May 2017

What a very exciting week for the children!

We managed to pick the perfect day for our whole school Stockwood Park Sports Day.  Sandwiched between a drizzly and dull Monday and an excessively wet Wednesday, Tuesday dawned bright and warm, with just the right amount of breeze and cloud cover for a fabulous fun day of sport!

Every child from Reception to Year Six came into school dressed in their PE kit, and three coaches arrived to take them to Stockwood Athletics Stadium in Luton.  Once there, the children all competed in two races on the running track; one sprint and one distance race of their choice.  There were also field events, including shot put and long jump.  Those with energy left could also compete in the KS1 or KS2 relay!

The warm weather and enthusiastic support from friends and classmates must have contributed to the children's performances, because a number of school records and personal bests were broken!  For a full report and all the results, please visit the school website.

Upon their return to school, a special Awards Assembly was held, where the winners and runners up were presented with gold, silver and bronze wristbands.  There were also special awards, presented by our Junior Sports Leaders, to children who had shown particular determination, good sportsmanship and a positive attitude.  Over seven hundred and fifty wonderful photos were taken of the day - here is just a very small selection!

 

 

 

The day was superbly organised once again by Mrs Hawkes, whose enthusiasm for sports and PE over the years has inspired the children's enjoyment of all things sporty, and contributed to our many wonderful successes in local competitions and tournaments.  For such a small school, we really are big players in the local area, which is in no small part due to Mrs Hawkes' input.  This was her last EBA Stockwood Park Sports Day, so we are all really pleased that it was such a successful, record breaking and sunny day for her!

Back at school, the focus was on our Creative Curriculum topic "Art Attack".  On Monday and Wednesday, we were visited by Kate Radford, a local potter, who worked with the children to create clay sculptures, which will be fired and glazed.  Older children in Key Stage Two were given the task of recreating a hobby or interest in clay, and their model had to include a human figure.  Younger children in Key Stage One were asked to make their favourite animal.

The children all thoroughly enjoyed the activity, learnt a lot about sculpture and model making, and proved themselves to be very creative!  We are looking forward to seeing the finished products when they come back from the potter's kiln.

 

Meanwhile over in the Nursery, Hamsters children's learning has centred around the theme of Jack and the Beanstalk this week.  On Monday they were introduced to the story, before matching rhyming word leaves, and sticking them to a beanstalk.  As the week progressed, the children measured and recorded their height using a measuring beanstalk, made their own lacing card leaves, and in PE, manoeuvred large balls using their hands and feet around cones to reach the "top" of the beanstalk.  On Friday, the children made their own beanstalks with jelly beans at the bottom, and the giant's golden treasure at the top.

Children in Hamsters Class and in Rabbits Class have also enjoyed Forest School activities this week.  They have explored the concept of travelling on a journey, but instead of using a Satnav or a map, have followed an environmental trail, collecting leaves, feathers, moss and cones, binding them to a stick in order to tell the story of their journey.

"Journey Sticks" similar to this have been used for many years by cultures around the world to navigate unfamiliar routes, with symbols representing landmarks being etched into sticks to help the traveller find their way home.

The weather continued to be rather unsettled throughout the week, with sunshine alternating with heavy showers.  We are keeping our fingers crossed that next week, there will be rather more sunshine than showers, as some of our Year Five children are off on a residential trip to Caythorpe Court PGL Centre in Lincolnshire.

We know they are all very excited, and can't wait to come in to school on Monday morning with their bags packed, ready for five days of fun and adventure!

Week Ending 12th May 2017

SATs week is over for another year!

Our Year Six children have been wonderful this week, taking everything in their stride, remaining calm, cheerful and positive before, during and after their KS2 assessments.  We have been very pleased with their behaviour and attitude.  The same goes for the Year Two children, who have been sitting their KS1 SATs - they have worked really hard and made us proud!

Now it's time for both year groups to celebrate, have some fun, and enjoy the rest of the summer term!

Children throughout the rest of the school have been very considerate, keeping quiet when they need to, adapting to the necessary changes to the school timetable without any fuss, and producing lots of interesting work in the classroom.

Otters Class continued their studies on different animal types.  This week, they looked at fish... very closely!  They had fish from the fishmonger's to study, and were given the task of drawing them and labelling all the different parts.  It's surprising that we didn't have every cat from the neighbourhood in to find out what was going on!

Badgers Class have been introduced to Shakespeare this week, and have enjoyed reading Macbeth.  They were asked to retell the story in rap form, which was a task that they were really enthusiastic about, and which produced some fantastic results!  The raps were performed in assembly on Friday for the other children to enjoy - we hope you enjoy this one too!

by Keir and Heidi

Hamsters Class meanwhile, have based their work this week around the much loved stories, "The Very Hungry Caterpillar," and "The Tiny Seed," by Eric Carle.  On Tuesday, the oldest pre-school children went on a trip in the minibus, to Eaton Bray Nurseries, in The Rye, Eaton Bray.  The nursery grows all its own plants from seed, and nursery staff showed the children the different stages of planting.  We are grateful to them for welcoming our children and giving their time to allow us to visit.

The children were all given a tomato plant to take home and grow.  Back at school, the children planted sunflowers and peas in the growing area on their playing field, and played in their home corner "Garden Centre".

Our Creative Curriculum topic for this term is "Art Attack" and as part of this, next week we will be visited by a professional potter.  She will be working with the children in Main School throughout the week, and they will all have the opportunity to create a clay sculpture.  If parents choose to purchase their child's work, it will be glazed and fired in the potter's kiln, and can be taken home as a keepsake.

The potter came in for a preliminary visit on Monday after school, and ran a taster session workshop with school staff.  Everyone who attended made a sculpture based on a hobby they had enjoyed as a child - it was very interesting to learn how different members of staff spent their childhood!  Here are some of the staff masterpieces - we can't wait to see what the children will produce!

Week Ending 5th May 2017

It's been a very busy hard-working few days for many of us this week.  Our Year Six children have had their heads down and their concentration fully engaged, as they finalise preparations for their SATs tests, which take place next week.  They have completed practice papers in test conditions, and familiarised themselves with all that they can expect when they open their first SATs papers on Monday...

Now we are urging them to have a happy, relaxed weekend, plenty of fun and plenty of rest, so that they are in good spirits and feeling positive for whatever next week may bring!

Good luck Deer Class - we're very proud of you!

It's also been an eventful week for our Key Stage 2 sporting superstars, who took part in a football tournament against other local schools.  On Friday, our Year 3 and 4 team made it through to the finals for their age group, where they eventually finished second, losing out to Hadrian Academy 1-0 in a close match.

Our Year 5 and 6 team also qualified for their group finals, which took place on Tuesday.  Competition was tough, but we managed to finish a very respectable third on the leaderboard, with Lancot School and St Christopher's taking first and second place.  Well played to all our footballers!

There was more sport on Thursday, when some of the Year Three children went off to Dunstable Leisure Centre for swimming lessons.  Each week this month, half of Rabbits Class will be going swimming on a Thursday afternoon, while the other half enjoy Forest School activities.

This week, the Forest School children made shelters and learnt how to keep themselves warm and dry whilst out in the wilderness.

 

Badgers Class presented an assembly on Thursday, on our value for this half term, which is "Thoughtfulness".  The children talked about how being thoughtful and considerate towards others improves the lives of everyone.

One way that everyone at EBA can show thoughtfulness at the moment, is by being extra quiet and sensible as we move around the school while SATs tests are taking place.

Otters Class have been learning about the classification of animals in their Science lessons.  They found out about the characteristics of various reptiles and amphibians, and then used clay to make their own creatures.  Their creations were very impressive!

On Friday, the children were asked to bring in something "special" to them, to talk about to the rest of the class.  They had to explain what their item was, and why it was important to them.  There was quite a range of treasured objects, including cuddly toys, favourite story books, photographs and certificates.

 

Rabbits Class meanwhile, have been finding out about law and order.  On Friday, they staged a trial, to determine whether the Giant in Jack and the Beanstalk was guilty or innocent of being an evil rogue who chased Jack and threatened to eat him!  

The children took the roles of judge, jurors and witnesses, debating the matter in depth, before finally declaring a verdict of "Not Guilty!"  The Court of Rabbits decided that the Giant was innocent of all charges, and that Jack should be the one in the dock, for his crimes of breaking and entering, and theft!  

The children thoroughly enjoyed this exercise, and learnt a lot about debating, evaluating a situation and using their judgement.  And it was all very entertaining for the adults in the class as well!

We have a very busy week in store next week... but are looking forward to Friday, when we will celebrate the completion of another round of assessments!