Dear Parents,
This morning was a wonderful celebration in assembly of a variety of successes. Children who took part in a cricket festival and a netball tournament received certificates, with the netball team being awarded the Fair Play Shield. In addition, children who have recently taken music exams were congratulated with their grades, all of whom achieved very high scores. We also awarded various certificates for work in the classroom and a number of children received their House Point badges, demonstrating the rewards for following the Golden Guide and achieving in class. As you will see below, the final week of this half term has been filled some fantastic learning opportunities!
Muddy Stilettos
We were lucky enough to invite Hollie, Muddy Suffolk & Cambs editor, to Fairstead House earlier this term. While we are waiting for our report to be finalised, they have kindly provided a What’s On Guide for children’s activities in Suffolk & Cambs over the May Half Term holidays. This is being shared ahead of the guide being featured in their newsletters and social channels – giving parents the opportunity to book tickets for events in advance.
Please find below the link to the guide:
https://suffolkcambs.muddystilettos.co.uk/things-to-do/half-term-things-to-do-cambridge-suffolk/
Sport
Our cricket teams had matches with Brookes School this week. On Wednesday we hosted the U11 teams at Chippenham Cricket Club. These matches were the first of our season and I was impressed by the bowling on both pitches, the fielding was proactive and showed the standard the pupils are striving towards. When batting our teams showed some strong technique and quick running between the wickets. Our hitting off the Tee needs working on and is something we will continue to develop. Our U9 teams had a successful Friday afternoon, again, both teams worked really hard to develop their bowling technique and made good progress. Both teams were brilliant with their batting, hitting the ball hard and all around the pitch. The fielding was amazing with 6 direct hit run outs across the 2 pitches and some amazing sliding stops. I encourage all children to practise their bowling (overarm) and catching over the half term holiday!
Mr Salt
Nursery
This week has been ‘Healthy Me’ week across Nursery and Reception, and has been a fun-filled, action-packed week of related activities. Particular highlights have included fruit tasting in various rooms, a visit from Eve the Dentist to the Ponies, and daily fitness activities, including yoga and a dance workout! Thank you so very much to Eve, Mrs Toynbee and Mr Salt, and to Mrs Sanders for coordinating all the visitors!
Reception
This week has been ‘Healthy Me’ week in Reception and what a wonderful week it has been! Both in school and at home, the children have thoroughly enjoyed making healthy choices for their bodies and minds.
There have been many fun, cross-curricular learning experiences throughout the week, including; daily fitness challenges with Mrs Toynbee and Mr Salt, making fruit kebabs with Chef, a visit from Eve the dentist, ‘Bear Hunt’ themed yoga in the forest, and also some very active maths lessons, to name but a few! The children also discovered how to relax their bodies and minds by engaging with a range of calming mindfulness activities. Blowing bubbles to concentrate on breathing was a particular favourite!
The children were also excited to hear a special story all about trying different foods. Thank you for being our surprise reader, Mr Cater, and another big thank you to all staff in school who have helped to make this week such an overwhelming success.
Have a wonderful half-term holiday!
Year 1
This week, Year One have been dreaming about the seaside in preparation for our trip to Great Yarmouth in a few weeks! We thought carefully about what we might see while at the beach and created some fantastic art work depicting what might be reflected in our sunglasses. We designed cool frames on the computer and used colour mixing techniques to create our beach backgrounds. It was great fun filling in the details. Can you spot the scuba diver?
Year 2
Year 2 have worked incredibly hard this week to answer our Historical Enquiry: what effect did the Great Fire of London have? We have looked at photos of artefacts that have been excavated from Pudding Lane, have learned about Christopher Wren and his designs for a new and safer London. We wrapped up our learning with a summary of information in paragraph form (before the fire, during the fire and after the fire) and made huge word webs to show our learning! We ended our unit by playing The Great Fire of London game on iPads.
On Tuesday we had an actor come in to lead a drama workshop centred on The Great Fire of London. Mr Evans helped the children to create visual timelines of the fire to music, created tableaus and did some feelings and character work looking at images and paintings from the past. It was a very exciting morning!
Have a wonderful half term holiday.
Year 3
This week, Year 3 have been calculating time durations in maths. Combining their knowledge of telling the time to the minute using an analogue clock and using the 12-hour digital clock, the children have been problem-solving using the number line. We have seen a real improvement in calculating start and end times using these methods. In English, the children have been describing mythical creatures from Ancient Greece. They have thoroughly enjoyed using their descriptive writing techniques to create an image for the reader. In science, we set up an investigation to test different conditions for successful plant growth. We will be using our observational and recording skills over the coming weeks to measure the progress and come to a conclusion together. This week in PSHE, the children wrote gratitude strips for significant people in their lives. This included family, friends, school and clubs. It was wonderful to read their kind and thoughtful words of thankfulness and appreciation.
Year 4
This week, Year 4 have completed their unit on time and should now continue to tell the time on analogue, 12-hour and 24-hour clocks to build their confidence and accuracy. They have used number lines to calculate time intervals and have learnt the rhyme for recalling the number of days in each month.
In English, they have worked incredibly hard on their Ancient Greek myths and have impressed me with their descriptive skills and vocabulary choices.
In science, Year 4 conducted a local habitat survey to find out the changes that have been made and their effects on local wildlife. They then made suggestions of simple changes that could be made to protect local habitats and microhabitats, which reflect their awareness and sense of responsibility.
Have a restful half term and I look forward to seeing you for the final weeks of Year 4!
Year 5
What a wonderful day to end the half term on! Sun, warmth and a trip to Dalham Hall Stud. This is a trip which always thrills the children whatever their interests. Whether it is the immaculately kept grass, the chance for them to talk about their links to racing or just feeding the horses, there is something for everyone. As always, the children were impeccably behaved and created a wonderful impression on the people showing us around. We were fortunate to see some magnificent stallions as well as new foals. In addition, the children had the chance to see what is involved in riding a racing horse by trying out their racing style on the equicizer. Now all there is left to do is enjoy the weather during the half term which I hope goes well for all of you.
Years 5 and 6
Years 5 and 6 had a wonderful residential trip to the Hollowford Centre in Derbyshire. We didn’t have the opportunity to share photos in last week’s newsletter but, hopefully, the snapshots below will give you an idea of the children’s many and varied outdoor adventures. Activities included: raft building, abseiling, high ropes, bushcraft, all-day hill walking, archery, weaselling (climbing up, over and through gritstone boulders), visiting a mine, orienteering and team-building challenges…not forgetting a much-deserved ice-cream at an organic farm! The children made their dormitory bedrooms home for four nights and tucked into the carb-loaded menu to keep their energy levels high. They bought souvenirs (and sweets!) in the small, on-site gift shop and, each evening, challenged each other in the games room at pool, table tennis and table football. We even celebrated Charlie’s birthday whilst we were away! Huge thanks to Mrs Sherry, Mr Everitt and Mr Peace for accompanying the children and to parents for their supportive WhatsApp comments throughout the week. For many of the children, Hollowford will be the highlight of this academic year and there’s no doubt that everyone will have treasured memories for life!
Wishing you all a lovely bank-holiday weekend and half-term,
Michael Radford