Music filled the air at the Arts Festival

We had a wonderful afternoon filled with music, singing, dancing and joyful performances. 

The sound of the guitars, violins and clarinets created a fantastic atmosphere, and everyone thoroughly enjoyed taking part and listening to each other. It was a truly memorable event that brought smiles to everyone’s faces. 

A huge thank you to Mrs Mawson for organising such a special afternoon and giving us all the opportunity to share and celebrate our talents together.

Class DR had recorded their wonderful song about the environment and their words are below.

Roman Invasion at SRH!

Year 3 and 4 were treated to a visit from a Roman centurion last Thursday, 2nd July. Introducing himself in Latin, Gaius Maximus spent the day teaching us a great deal about life as a Roman, first in Italy and then as part of the Roman empire. Over the course of the day, we re-enacted battles between Celts and Romans, learnt war moves, tried on costumes and handled artefacts, receiving a real hands-on experience. Highlights were seeing pumice from Vesuvius, holding Roman swords and taking home hand-made clay oil lamps. We also loved playing a card game to learn the names of Roman Gods and emperors, and dressing up as horses to act out a chariot race. Marnie in Year 4 commented, “The day was fantastic!” and Ingrid stated, “It was very fun and enjoyable.” Thanks so much to the friends for raising the money for us to have this brilliant experience!

Gold Award for the JRSO's!

Last Friday our four 'Junior Road Safety Officer's' in Year 5 went to Endeavour House in Ipswich for an  awards ceremony. Many other schools in Suffolk attended and the panel consisted of members of the council involved with road and safety management. I am very pleased to say, they were award the highest award 'Gold' for all the hard work they have been doing in the past year to promote road safety in our school. Well done JRSO's, well deserved. 

Landguard Fort

On Tuesday, Year 6 ventured to Landguard Fort for an exciting and educational trip. They explored the historic fort, which has defended the coast of Felixstowe for hundreds of years and played an important role in protecting England from potential invasions. The children enjoyed discovering the fort's tunnels, rooms and defensive features while learning about its fascinating history.

They also learned about the beach environment and the impact of plastic pollution on our oceans. A lady called Leonie taught the children about the different types of plastic pollution: microplastics, mesoplastics and macroplastics. Following this, we explored the beach, searching for examples of each type.

We collected a wide variety of rubbish from the shoreline, including fishing nets, buckets, food packaging, sieves and cans. It took only a few minutes to fill our buckets, which was quite shocking and highlighted the scale of the problem.

The children were fascinated by what they discovered and gained a greater understanding of the environmental challenges facing our coastlines. To conclude the day, they created persuasive educational posters to inform others about the harm caused by plastic pollution and encourage people to take action to protect our oceans.

It was a fascinating and thought-provoking day out, combining local history with important environmental learning.

Rendlesham Forest Trip!

Year 3 and 4 have had a brilliant time in the heart of nature today on our school trip to Rendlesham Forest. Surrounded by beautiful woodlands, we enjoyed four different activities - den building, a sculpture trail, a code-breaking discovery trail and some brilliant team building games. We rounded off the day with Hitchams v Howard and Mills v Bulstrode rounders matches. It's been such a memorable day and a fantastic way to enjoy nature with the pupils. Thanks to all our volunteers and staff who made it happen. We hope you enjoy the pictures and their stories all about it!

From Beach to Battlements: Year 5’s Felixstowe Trip.

Year 5 had a wonderful sunny day on their trip to Landguard Fort in Felixstowe. We split into two groups that swapped activities throughout the day. One group worked alongside a ranger to learn about ecology and took part in litter picking on the beach, collecting rubbish in buckets to help protect local wildlife. The children were amazed by what they found, including fishing nets, bottle tops, a discarded helium balloon and even a glove! Meanwhile, the other group explored inside the fort and discovered its fascinating history. They learned how Landguard Fort defended the approach to Harwich Harbour, its role in the last seaborne invasion of England in 1667, and how it continued to protect the country through both World Wars, later serving as an anti-aircraft site and even a Cold War control room. It was a fantastic day full of outdoor learning, teamwork and discovery.

Anglo-Saxon Workshop

On Monday, years 5 and 6 took part in an Anglo- Saxon workshop. The day began with an exciting and dramatic entrance, instantly capturing our attention! Ash from Marvellous Histories led the session, teaching the children how to stand and move like Anglo-Saxon warriors, which they thoroughly enjoyed. The loved lining up in formation, imagining they were about to engage in battle with the opposition!

The children were particularly engaged when exploring artefacts, especially the weapons and heavy chainmail, which helped them appreciate the skill involved in its creation. They also learned about Anglo-Saxon life, including clothing and diet, with some interesting discoveries during the Q&A.

Overall, it was an engaging and informative experience. Thank you to Ash from Marvellous Histories for bringing the topic to life for our pupils.

Arts Festival - Friday 3 July

 

Chrissie Sains - author visit

As part of our new literacy curriculum with "Literacy Tree", we have been lucky to enjoy a range of books this year and also welcome some great authors and today, was no exception, where we have had a very inspirational and uplifting day with Chrissie Sains, the author of such books as ‘Alien in the Jam factory’,  ‘Slugs in Jam’ and others.  The children heard about Chrissie's first attempt at writing, which she shared and was proud of as it went on the classroom wall!!  She spoke honestly and openly about her struggles with writing as a child.  She also shared that “Alien in the jam factory” was inspired by her god-daughter who had Downs Syndrome and so she helped Chrissie write this first novel.

After this introduction, year 3 and year 4  were invited to create their own ‘creature’ using a variety of ideas from her “Treasure chest of ideas”.  See the picture below which the children helped to draw and was designed by voting for each part from a choice of features.  Reception and nursery enjoyed singing a song all about strawberry, banana, orange and apple jam with actions.  Year 1 and year 2 designed their own jam:- “Strawberry jam with chocolate sprinkles, pink icing and flying dust” all voted for by the children from certain features. They then each designed their own jam.   Year 5 and year 6 – see separate blog post.

Some of the comments from the children:- “she was so good – I’m going to go home and write my own story”; “I loved listening to her and loved the magic that came out of treasure box”; "I loved designing my own beast” and “It was so good – I can’t wait to start drawing”.  Some of the teachers were also in awe of her inspirational box of ideas!  It was such a lovely day.  

Thank you to “The Friends” who kindly supported this event and thank you to Chrissie for being so inspiring to us all!