SHARE afternoons with Key Stage 1 classes

Here are a selection of photos from our recent Share sessions with Classes JC and LC on 26th & 27th January.
Our theme was number fun. There was a variety of games and activities which the children and parents could take part in.

It was great to see such a large number of adults coming in to school to share this tme with their children. Thank you to Mrs Harold and Mrs Wadell for organising this event.

Chess Competitions

Mr Byer has ben running a very popular lunchtime chess club. Last week they started playing an inter house tournament.

This week they also had a match against another school (Clifford Road Primary) which Robert Hitchams won by 15 points to 4. Welldone to everybody andthanks to Mr Byer for organising these events.

National Hockey Champions

Two former pupils of Sir Robert Hitcham's have become National Under 16 Hockey Champions this week. Amy and Sarah Brook (who only left SRH 18 months ago) were part of the Harleston Magpies U16 team who triumphed in the National Indor Arena, Birmingham last Sunday.

The competition involved the champions from all regions of England. Magpies were there as East Champions. They had to play matches on Friday and Saturday. The Final match (on Sunday) was filmed by Sky TV and played infront of thousands of people in a huge arena.

For a full report on their incredible achievement follow this ink.

Look out for a report and the East Anglian Daily Times this Saturday.

Below you can watch a video of the presentation ceremony.

There are 5 current and 6 former pupils of SRH playing hockey at Magpies. If anybody else (boys or girls from Year 3 upwards) is interested in getting involved then please speak to Mr Brook. Beginners courses will be starting after Easter. The club runs coaching and teams for boys and girls for Under 9s, U111, U13 and so on.

A tribute to Tony Hart

Tony Hart died last weekend aged 83. He has been an inspiration to teachers and children for over 50 years on television. We have used his 'Vision on' music to accompany our online picture galleries (of children's art work). Did you know that Tony designed the Blue Peter logo many years ago. His involvement in children's tv goes back 50 years. He has started off more recent art program ideas such as 'Art Attack'. One of my favourite creations (of Tony's) was 'Morph'. Morph has lead to 'Creature Comforts' and then to Wallace and Gromit. I have been making 'Stop- go animations with children for years.

Below you can see a short film made by members of our lunchtime computer club. It involved 108 photographs and the movie maker program. By making even a short film like this it takes a few hours work. Imagine how long it must have taken Tony Hart to make his Morph films. Wallace and Gromit films take about 3 years to make.

Watch below one of our recent picture galleries using Tony's 'Vision on' music.

Follow this link to Tony Hart's website

The Nutcracker Puppet Show

Last week we had our annual visit from Cornelius & Jones. His latest production demonstrated some brilliant puppet work.

The photographs were taken by two boys in year 6 (Harry & Luke) and the videos by Molly & Georgina.

Watch these videos for highlights of the show. You can see some incredible skills with puppets.

See Cornelius & Jones website for more details

New School Lunch Menu

Click on link below or picture to download.......

New school lunch menu

Children's Bingo Evening

Book your tickets by Wednesday 28th Jan.

Whole School Letter (21)

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT CROSSING PATROL
Please can we advise parents that Mrs Bone is likely to be off for a number of weeks. SCC are unable to provide a supply Patrol Officer and I am afraid the school is be unable to cover too, except when PC Hassler is available to do this for us. Parents should take care when crossing their children over College Road, and we would suggest that no child is left to cross this road unaccompanied until further notice. Thank you for your assistance in this matter.

SECURITY DOORS
We will be trialling keeping the door by the Office locked at ALL TIMES for added security. Any parent wishing to come to the office in the morning can be seen at the reception window or ‘buzzed’ through with their children by the office staff if necessary. Other children and parents should use the other doors to enter the school. The only unaccompanied children to come through this door should be the bus children but only if the bus is late.

CH AND CA RECORDER CLUBS
Due to staff training THIS THURSDAY there will be no recorder club for those taught by Miss Ashberry and Mrs Hopkins.

ABSENCE REMINDER
Please can parents remember to leave the class name as well as your child’s name when leaving a message on the answer machine about an absence. Thank you

MEDICAL/ DENTAL APPOINTMENTS
We would like to remind parents that DCSF advice states that routine appointments for dental/medical reasons should be made for after school or during the holidays. We do appreciate this is not always possible, but if an appointment does have to be made during school time could parents please let the class teacher know as much in advance as possible in writing. Thank you.
The booklet ‘Attendance – a Guide For Parents’ is available from the school office for any parent who would like one. Parents new to the school will be receiving one in the ‘starter pack’ shortly.

THEMED SCHOOL LUNCHES
SCC Catering have 3 themed lunches this term, all at the usual cost of £1.90, look out for the menus during the week before these dates:
Friday 23 January Friendship Lunch
Thursday 19 March Mother’s Day Lunch
Thursday 2 April Easter Celebration Lunch

FRIENDS BINGO EVENT
The Friends are running a Bingo Evening on Friday 30 January, they have asked that we advise you that with previous events selling out, you may wish to purchase tickets sooner rather than later. Letters with ticket application slips will be sent home this week.

Prickles takes a holiday in Cornwall

Prickles (our school mascot) went to Cornwall for Christmas with the Brooks family.
You can see what he got up to in the film below.

WHOLE SCHOOL LETTER (19)

Happy New Year and a warm welcome back to school to everyone
and especially to parents of children who are new to our school for 2009

CELEBRATION ASSEMBLIES
Celebration Assemblies are on Fridays at 2.30pm. Parents are invited to watch their own child’s class and we would ask that you take your seats by 2.25pm. We endeavour to bring the children in as quietly as possible and we would appreciate the parents joining us in this. The rota is as follows:
16 January NS 23 January GM/DG 30 January GH 6 February CH 13 February EM 20 February Half-Term 27 February JC 6 March LC 13 March CA 20 March PL/DD 27 March RV

CLUB STARTING DATES
Guitar - Wednesday 7 January
Orchestra - Wednesday 7 January
Recorders - Thursday 8 January
Chess - Thursday 8 January
Keyboard - Thursday 8 and Friday 9 January
Knitting Club - Monday 12 January
Wind and Brass - Tuesday 13 January
Rugby - Tuesday 13 January
Lunchtime Football - Wednesday 14 January
Hitcham’s Holy Horrors - Wednesday 14 January

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
Tuesday 13 January - ‘The Nutcracker’ performance (am)
Thursday 15 January - Y2 Sports Festival at Thomas Mills High School
Friday 23 January - Themed Day – Friends Together
Friday 30 January - Friend’s Children’s Bingo Night – 6-8pm
Friday 6 February - Basketball Tournament (am)
Thursday 12 February - Classes DB,GM,GH,RV production at Framlingham College
Monday 16 – Friday 20 February - Half-term
Friday 27 February - Mid-Year Reports – Year 1 to Year 6
These reports are confidential and are addressed to yourselves as parents and we would ask that you advise your children not to open the reports before they get home.
Saturday 7 March - Barn Dance 6.30-10pm (to be held in the Thomas Mills Canteen)
Monday 9 – Wednesday 11 March - Book Fair
Wednesday 11 March - Share our Work 3.15-4.00pm (an invitation to parents to
visit their children’s class to see their work)
Thursday 19 March - KS1 Mothering Sunday Service at St Michael’s Church
1.30-2.30pm – Mums invited
Friday 20 March - Nursery and Reception Mothering Sunday Service
at St Michael’s Church 9.30-10.30am – Mums invited
Monday 30 March - Year 6 trip to the Royal Opera House, London
Tuesday 31 March - ‘Travelling by Tuba’ production (am)
Thursday 2 April - Easter Service 9.30am -10.30am (for the CHILDREN ONLY)
Friday 3 April - Last day of term
Monday 11-15 May - SATs week
Monday 6 – Friday 10 July - Year 6 Camp

SCHOOL ACTIVITIES
A separate letter is enclosed giving details about the activities that go on during the spring term, please note that Maypole does not start until after half term. Mrs Pascoe will be sending a letter home nearer the time.

SECURITY
As many of you may have noticed we now have security door locks on the 3 main entrances to the school – by the office, by the hall, into the downstairs corridor to Reception / KS2. These doors will go into automatic ‘LOCK-DOWN’ at 9am opening only for break / lunch time and end of school. If you are in school at any other time, you will need to press the ‘green button’ to exit. To come into school when the doors are locked you must press the buzzer beside the door to the hall or office, so that office staff can let you in.

CHEQUES
Please can we ask that you write the NAME and CLASS of your child(ren) on the BACK of any cheques given in at school (eg dinner money, uniform orders, school trips etc)

THE TIMES – BOOKS FOR SCHOOLS
The Times newspaper is running a campaign in 2009 offering free books to schools. Each day they will print tokens which parents can collect and bring to school. We will collate all the tokens and order free books for the library and classrooms.

ACTIVEMARK
We are pleased to announce that the school has been awarded an Activemark Award; these are given to schools to reward delivery of the national PE, School Sport and Club links strategy. It recognises that 90% or more of pupils are achieving at least 2 hours high quality PE and sport a week.

E-MAIL
Many parents now receive their whole school letters by email. If you would like to register please do email us saying so (admin@hitchams.suffolk.sch.uk). We are endeavouring not to produce a ‘hard’ copy to those households that receive letters by email, so please ensure your child is aware they do not need to receive a paper copy. Those who are already registered do not need to re-register.

BAD WEATHER ARRANGEMENTS
We make every possible effort to ensure that the school remains open in the event of bad weather conditions, please listen to the following radio stations for information with regard to whether the school has to be closed or not:
Radio Suffolk 95.5, 95.9, 103.9 and 104.6FM (have updates at 10 minutes past and 20 minutes to each hour)
Broadland Norfolk 102.4FM SGR FM 97.1-96.4FM Beach Radio 103.4 and 97.4FM

CHARITY DONATIONS
Our Key Stage 2 Carol Service raised £177.85. Thank you for your generous support.

ROAD CROSSING PATROL
Unfortunately Mrs Bone, our crossing patrol officer has broken her wrist. Although we do have some cover we need an additional ‘supply’ crossing patrol. If any parent would be interested in being trained for this role please contact the school office on 723354 (Rate of Pay on application).

NORO (WINTER VOMITTING) VIRUS
Guidelines from County and the Health Service state that “Pupils or staff ill with diarrhoea and vomiting should remain absent from school until 48 hours following their last symptom”. If there is an outbreak of this virus in school, please can parents stick to these guidelines to help ensure it does not spread. Thank you.

CORNELIUS & JONES PRODUCTIONS – Tuesday 13 January 2009

A performance of The Nutcracker is to take place during the morning of Tuesday 13 January for the whole school including Nursery.

The cost of this performance is £335 therefore we would ask for a voluntary donation of £1 per child. According to the Governors’ Policy of Charges and Remissions for School Activities parents who are in receipt of: (a) Income Support; (b) Income Based Job Seekers Allowance; (c) Child Tax Credit and do not receive Working Tax Credit and who have an annual taxable income of less than £15,575; (d) Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999; or (e) a guaranteed element of State Pension Credit do not need to pay for this event. Nor will they be expected to make a voluntary contribution of money unless they wish to do so. Teachers will deal with the collection of money in the same sensitive way that operates for those children who receive free school meals.

Please complete the reply slip and return to the school office by Monday 12 January.

Key Stage 1 Nativity Play

Watch photo highlights from The Hopeless Camel production


Watch and hear the children singing 'The Hopeless Camel' song

Classes DB &GM do Rocket Science!

Our two year 5/6 classes were invited to Thomas Mills High school for a whole day of activities called: "Rocket Day". The children had to make a rocket (in the Science lab with a teache called Mr Einstein) which was able to go at least 40 feet in the air. The rocket had to be able to get over a force field around Thomas Mills High School in order to send a message to the outside world. Some children are being trapped in the school and forced to become teachers! The children had to make an angle measurer (in the technology room with Bob The Builder) in order to calculate how high the rocket travelled. They also worked with an English teacher (Shakespeare's sister) to write articles about the scadal for a newspaper.

Watch the film below to see the children making a rocket flight measurer in the technology room.


Watch this film to see the children's rockets in action.

Carol Service 2008

Watch this film below with photo and sound highlights from a wonderful Christmas service put on by our Year 3 and 4 children.

Christmas Poems

Some of our Key Stage 2 children having been writing some Christmas poetry for a bit of fun.
Here are some of their poems.
You can listen to this one by Mark in year 5.

Santa woke up early

He got up out of bed

He went to visit Rudolph

But Rudolph, he had fled

Santa, he was worried

Thinking of his mate

He went to find poor Rudolph

But hoped he wasn't late

He found his mate, poor Rudolph

Skiing down a slope

He crashed into a tree. Oh no!

He's okay. I hope

Santa took poor Rudolph home

Rudolph's friends were pests

They were having a party

And there were carrot thefts

Rudolph and his friends

Got tied to the sleigh

They got there in the morning

He said, "Oh no. It's day"!

This poem is by Alfie from Class DB. It is in a limerick form.

There was a man called Santa

His reindeer set off at a canter

He jumped in his sleigh

He shouted "Hooray!"

Then he sat down to watch setanta

There was a man called Santa

Who liked to bathe in fanta

One day his taps broke

So then he used coke

And his friends gave him lots of banter

One day Santa jumped on his deer

In his hand was a nice glass of beer

He fell off on ice

It didn't feel nice

He cried as he damaged his ear.

WHOLE SCHOOL LETTER (18)

CHRISTMAS PARTIES – Thursday 18 December
There will be class parties this Thursday in the afternoon. Key Stage 2 children are to come to school in their party clothes. Key Stage 1 and Foundation children should come to school in their uniform and bring their party clothes in to change into after lunch. Nursery will have their party on Wednesday in the morning. Please ensure that party clothes and footwear are practical for normal morning lessons and outside playtimes.

SPRING TERM There is a non-pupil day on Monday 5 January and the children return on Tuesday 6 January 2009.

NEW TEACHER APPOINTMENTWe are pleased to welcome Mrs Susan Beddows to the staff, taking up the position of part-time Maths Teacher. We would like to give Mrs Greenacre our Best Wishes as she leaves us at the end of term.

SCHOOL LUNCH MENUS AND PAYMENT
The menus sent home earlier in the term are still valid until the end of April. Please remember that you will need to pay for the first week’s dinner money on the first day back (Tuesday 6 January).

CHRISTMAS FAIR SUCCESS
The Friends are really pleased to let you know that we raised an amazing £2,779 at the Christmas Fair!
In addition to this they have also managed to secure a grant from the Mills Trust, which means that the Trim Trail will be ordered in the New Year (installation date to be confirmed).

CHARITY DONATIONS
Our Foundation and Key Stage 1 Christmas Productions raised £376. Thank you for your generous support.

REMEMBRANCE POPPIESWe are pleased to inform you that £117.81 was raised for the British Legion for the sale of Poppies.

SIZE OF SCHOOL BAGS
If you are buying a new school bag for January please can you consider the size as we have limited space on the pegs in school and the smaller the better – drawstring or triangular bags are the best.

LOST PROPERTY
Has your child lost something recently? There are lots of items in our lost property container.
Can we please encourage all children and parents to seek for lost items in the container sited at the end of the corridor at the top of the stairs above the Nursery. We feel it is important for children to realise that personal items are their responsibility in school, and if they go missing, they need to look for them – the first stop being the lost property box. If any items are handed in at the office we put them in the lost property box. Needless to say, lots of the items are unnamed – so please can we ask that parents ensure names are on all personal items brought into school – especially sweatshirts. ANY ITEMS NOT CLAIMED BY THURSDAY 18 DECEMBER WILL BE SENT TO THE LOCAL CHARITY
SHOP OR DISPOSED OF.

MAY I WISH YOU ALL A PEACEFUL CHRISTMAS
AND HAPPY CELEBRATIONS FOR THE NEW YEAR

One Christmas Concert Highlights

There are 3 podcasts below from the One Christmas Concert at Felixstowe Spa Pavillion.
Each one has highlights from different parts of the show.

Key Stage 2 Choir at Christmas

Watch this video of our wonderful Key Stage 2 choir.

Inter House Football Results

The final results from this term were:
Howard 7 Bulstrode 5
Hitcham 8 Mills 1
Howard 4 Mills 2
Hitcham 2 Bulstrode 3
Howard 3 Hitcham 2
Mills 12 Bulstrode 4
This meant that Mills, Bulstrode and Hitcham all won 1 game each. Howard won all 3 of their matches. Final positions:
1st HOWARD
2ND HITCHAM (goal difference +5)
3RD MILLS (goals -1)
4TH BULSTRODE (goals -9)

Year 4 Football

Mr Byer has been running year 4 football club on Wednesday lunchtimes all this term. Last week they challenged some of the year 5 children in a match.
The game was played in a great spirit on a wonderful sunny afternoon.
After going 2 goals down the year 4 team did not give up. In the second half they scored a goal of their own. The final score was a respectable 4-1 to year 5.
There are lots of talented players in year 4 and we look forward to them playing in house and school teams next year.

Inter schools Uni-hoc tournament

The annual uni-hoc tournament had so many entries this year that there where 2 different venues. Robert Hitcham's played in the Stradbroke High School Tournament with 4 other teams. We managed to win the tournament wih 3 wins and 1 draw.
We then played in a knockout competition with the top 2 teams from the Debenham tournament.
In our semi final we came up against Stonham Aspal. The match (even after extra time) finished as a draw. Stonham had a fantastic goalkeeper.
The game had to be decided by penalties - 2 boys and 2 girls from each team. Still the teams were level. Sudden death penalties saw the Stonham keeper triumph again. Stonham went into the final where they again won on penalties - this time against Debenham Primary. We played and won a 3rd place match against St Botolphs.

Christmas Fair a Great Success

Our Friends Association organised our biggest and best Christmas Fair ever!

It occupied virtually every room in the school and had 24 different stalls.Hundreds of people attended and lots of money was raised. We don't yet know the final total but we are confident that there are now sufficient funds for the planned 'Trim Trail'.

Watch the video below for images of the fair taken by Mrs Miller.

WHOLE SCHOOL LETTER (17)

CHRISTMAS CAROL SERVICE – TUESDAY 16 DECEMBER 1.30pm
The Key Stage 2 Carol Service will take place at St Michael’s Church on 16 December at 1.30pm. Year 3 and 4 children will be leading in this service, and parents are welcome to attend. We would ask that you use the seats at either side of the church or at the back. A collection will be made at the end of the service which will be given to charity.

CHRISTMAS LUNCH – WEDNESDAY 17 DECEMBERPayment for the Christmas lunch is required on MONDAY 15 DECEMBER. The cost for the week is £10.30, the day £2.70, or an additional 80p is required if you have paid for the whole term but not for the Christmas lunch yet.

VACANCY - TEMPORARY TEACHING ASSISTANTWe are seeking to recruit a Teaching Assistant to work 1:1 support with a child with Special Educational Needs in our Nursery Class. You will need to work well as part of a team, be able to support the welfare and emotional needs of the pupil and adapt the teaching to meet their needs.
Part Time 12.5 hours per week - 5 mornings per week from 9am – 11.30am
Starting January 2009 for ONE TERM ONLY
Salary £6.52 per hour
Closing date Wednesday 17 December
The local authority is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
CRB checks required for relevant posts. Suffolk County Council – welcoming diversity.
Please contact the school office on 01728 723354 for an application pack.

ADMISSION POLICYThe 2010/2011 Admission Policy has been prepared by Governors and a copy has been placed on the parent notice board. If any parents would like to make any comments, please contact the school office by Tuesday 16 December

CHRISTMAS CARDS
We would like to let you know that through the sales of the Christmas cards we have raised £270. Thank you.

SCHOOL LINK BOOKS
Thank you to everyone who has supported us by buying books from School Link. Since we joined in the summer we have been able to receive 54 free books. 36 will be used as Group Readers in our Guided Reading Lessons and the remaining 18 will be used as ‘Free Readers’ in KS1. Thank you for your continued support.

SUFFOLK POLICE NOTICE
Suffolk police are reminding people to register their Christmas purchases and presents with the online property database Immobilise, to help keep property safe and reunite stolen items with their rightful owners. If you register your property at http://www.immobilise.com/ and the police recover it, you will get it back. Almost any item with a serial number can be registered, including: Mobile phones, Ipods, Games consoles, Laptops, Computers, PDAs, Sat Navs, In-Car equipment, Bicyles. Watches, Jewellery, art and antiques can also be registered.

ROAD SAFETY COMPETITION
The children are being given a letter detailing a competition to come up with a title and a picture for the cover of the DVD that we have made about Road Safety in Framlingham. If your child wishes to enter, they will need to return their entries before the end of term.

One Christmas Concert

This Sunday children involved in the One Christmas project are heading to the Spa pavillion in Felixstowe. They are performing in the first of many concerts held over the week to raise money for Tearfund. Check the blog next week to see and hear how we get on.

You can now buy a CD from the school office.

A DVD will be available from next week.

Follow LINK to One Christmas website.

Making Vegetable Soup

Class DB have been making their own vegetable soup.

Each Tuesday afternoon over this half term one of our parents: Mr Barlow-Shepherd has come in to work with a group of 6 children. He is a trained chef and has done a great job helping the children with their cooking task.

Some of the children took photographs of each stage of the process. They also used our new sound recorders to describe what they were doing.

Their pictures and narration have been combined (using 'movie maker') into a film which will show you how you could make your own delicious vegetable soup.

ADVENT

Advent is a term from the Latin word 'adventus' which means "arrival".
It is a time of waiting for the arrival of Christmas, the coming of Jesus to earth when he was born as a baby at Bethlehem about two thousand years ago.
What is Advent?
Advent is the new year of the Christian Church and the church season that leads to Christmas Day.
Advent is the time when Christians remember that Jesus came into the world in Palestine 2000 years ago and that Jesus also promised one day to return in all His glory.
Clergy typically wear royal purple or royal blue vestments during Advent. Many churches also include an advent wreath (sometimes called an Advent ring or crown) in their Advent services.

When does Advent start?
Advent begins on the Sunday nearest to 30th November (St. Andrew's Day) and lasts until midnight on Christmas Eve. Advent Sunday is the first of the four sundays before the 25th December.
• 30 November - First Sunday of Advent 2008• 07 December - Second Sunday of Advent 2008• 14 December - Third Sunday of Advent 2008• 21 December - Fourth Sunday of Advent 200825 December: Christmas 2008
What happens during Advent?
During the season of Advent, Christians across the world prepare for the celebration of the arrival of the Lord into the world through the birth of his Son Jesus Christ. Advent is a time to celebrate light in the midst of darkness. It is also a time to look forward to when Jesus will come a second time.
The beginning of Advent is when the preparations for Christmas really begin - the festive menu is planned, gifts are chosen and wrapped, carols sung, cards are written and posted and houses decorated.
History of Advent
In the 5th Century, Advent began on 11 November (St Martin's Day) and took the form of a six week fast leading to Christmas. During the 6th century, Advent was reduced to its current length and later the fasting was dropped.

Follow this LINK to an interactive Advent Calendar and lots of Christmas Activities

Friends Christmas Fair

This year there will be over 20 different stalls spread around the school building.
Watch this video for details.


Remember that the fair starts at 6.00pm and finishes at 8.00pm.

Architecture Workshop

All of our Key Stage 2 children took part in a series of workshops which took them through the basics of building - strength, design, fit for purpose etc.
The objective was to build (in a team) a shelter suitable for 5 people to survive in a particular habitat. The choices were tropical rainforest, desert or polar habitats.
You can see the full range of stages the children went through by watching the video below.
The workshop covered many areas of the curriculum: maths, science and technology.

The company that runs the workshops have a website. Follow this link: http://www.architectureworkshops.org/

Christmas Disco

House Football Hitcham v Howard

This week saw the most exciting house match this season. Two closely matched sides played some good quality football. Hitcham took the lead only for Howard to equalise. Hitcham scored again to take a deserved half time advantage.
The end to end action continued in the second half. Just as it looked as though Hitcham were going to hold on for a win, Howard scored two late goals to snatch a 3-2 win.
This meant that Howard have now got an unbeatble lead at the top of the table with just one game left to be played: Bulstrode v Mills next week.
In the team picture (the game finished almost in the dark) you can see brother and sister rivals: George from Hitcham and Lucy from Howard touching the ball.