District Netball Tournament

On the 29th April we took part in the local tournament for larger primary schools at Thomas Mills High School, Framlingham. There were 15 teams including our A and B sides.

The tournament started in bright sunny weather but we did get some rain.

The A team played several schools such as Wickham Market, Fressingfield, and Laxfield. We managed to win all of our games apart from Fressingfield.

Our B team also played several matches including Wickham, Eye and Debenham. They did win 3 games and finished a creditable 10th place overall.

The A team just missed out on getting to the final on goal difference so ended up in 3rd place. The tournament winners were Laxfield whom we did beat in our group matches.

It was a tiring day and we had great fun. Thanks to Mrs Elphick for her coaching and encouragement.

Report by Kitty and Hannah Year 6 Class DB

The photos and video were taken by Rachel who was unfortunately unable to play due to an arm injury.

Spring Sewing by Years 3 and 4

In ART classes CA, NF and NH have been practising their fabric printing and sewing techniques.

What Spring scenes and animals can you spot in their work?

Framlingham Summer Festival 2008

Follow the picture link to go the the website for this year's festival which takes place from 20 June - 6 July.

Year 3 and 4 Fram Fair Visit

Year 3 and 4 had a very exciting day out at FARM FAIR 2008 on the Suffolk Show Ground. They got to see a wide variety of animals including Suffolk Punch horses, sheep, dogs, ducklings and birds of prey.
The children got to take part in practical activities and to observe craftsmen and women demonstrating their skills.
There was also a conservation section and farm machinery to look at.
A brilliant day out full of interesting activities.

House Football Final

The final match is this year's house football competition was between Mills and Howard.
Howard proved much too strong for Mills and turned in a brilliant team performance.
They scored goals by Danny, William and Liam to end up winning 7-0.
Credit must go to Michael in the Mills goal who prevented an even higher score line.
You can see most of the goals on the video below.

New Rooms in School

Now that the extension has been finished alterations are taking place in two of the existing rooms in school.
Class EM is now being made into a new staffroom. The photo shows a plumber and an electrician working in there this morning.

The new ICT suite (old Class KG) is having new furniture fitted today.
This room will also contain a KS2 reference library and will be used for music lessons.

Bulstrode v Hitcham House Football

This game was what Houses are all about!
Both teams had a mix of boys and boys plus a range of abilities.
The match was played at a fast pace with both teams really trying to score goals.
Bulstrode scored first through their captain Clem. He also managed to score an own goal to help Hitcham equalise. The score was 1-1 at half time.
The game really opened out in the 2nd half with Bulstrode taking the lead again and Hitcham equalising twice. Just as the game looked like finishing as a draw Bulstrode scored 2 more goals to give an amazing final score of 5-3 to Bulstrode. Sam got a hat trick and Robert scored with a cool finish. Milo also had an excellent game for Hitcham. Bulstrode finished the league in 3rd place and Hitcham in 4th.

This Friday sees the last match in this year's competition. It is nicely poised with Howard and Mills both on 6 points. Howard have a slight advantage in it goes to goal difference so Mills need a win in order to finish first. A bit like Man United and Chelsea!
It should be a great game - please come and watch if you can.

Family Quiz a Great Success

The Family Quiz with interactive voting was great fun. There were nearly 30 teams in the school hall with a wide range of ages. There were 8 rounds - one of the most popular was a picture round of close up images. The music round got lots of our younger members on their feet resulting in a free school disco!
The Friends Association raised over £560.
Thanks to everybody for their support.

SATs week

The timetable for SATs week is as follows:

Monday 12th May
Science Tests A and B

Tuesday 13th May
English Writing and Spelling

Wednesday 14th May
English Reading

Thursday 15th May
Mental Maths and Maths Test A

Friday 16th May
Maths Test B

All tersts take place in the mornings.
All necessary equipment will be provided.

WHOLE SCHOOL LETTER 35

SUN PROTECTIONNow the summer term has started I wanted to tell you about our Sun Protection policy. We have developed this with the help of information from Cancer Research, parents, teachers and pupils to ensure that we can all enjoy the sun safely over the coming months. The sun’s rays are particularly strong over the summer and they can damage children’s skin. This may not seem like a problem right now, but sadly it can lead to skin cancer in later life.

Your child’s health and well-being are very important to us, which is why we:
· spend time learning about the importance of sun protection
· provide sun umbrellas in the courtyard
· are providing more shade on the field
· encourage pupils to wear hats when outside
· encourage pupils to use sunscreen
· encourage pupils to drink plenty of water to prevent dehydration

More details of these and other sun protection plans can be found in our Sun Protection policy, which can be obtained from the Office.

Of course, your support is very important if we are to make this work. You can help by:
· talking to your child about the importance of sun protection at home
· applying a minimum factor 15 sunscreen to your child’s face, neck, arms and legs (if exposed) before they leave home, in order to safeguard them through the day
· always sending your child to school in a hat (preferably with a wide brim)
· ensuring your child brings in a water bottle (with a sports cap)

N.U.T. STRIKE ACTION
Although many schools in the area will be affected by Thursdays strike action, none of the teachers here will be striking. School will run as normal that day.

SCHOOL ACTIVITES AND CLUBS
Please find attached a copy of this terms school activity sheet for lunchtime and after school clubs.
CYCLE PROFICIENCY HELPERS
Unfortunately we have not had enough parent volunteers for helping with these sessions. If any parents can offer help on any of these dates please contact the office. Lessons will take place from 2.15pm–3.30pm on the following days: Wednesday 7 May, 14 May, 21 May, 11 June, 18 June, 25 June, 2 July.

LARGE COMPUTER TROLLEYS – FREE TO A GOOD HOMEWe have a number of large computer trolleys (currently stored in the Boiler Room) which we no longer have space for. If you would like any please ask at the office.

HALF TERM ACTIVITY CLUB (GAMBRELLE)
Gambrelle are running an activity club at St Michael’s Rooms Tue 27 May – Fri 30 May, from 8am – 6pm. Charges £22 per day / £12.50 per half day. If interested contact them direct on 01728 747877.

Cross Country Race

The Annual Primary School cross country race was held at Stonham Aspal in sunny weather and suitably muddy conditions.

There were 400 boys and about 350 girls taking part. Watch the video below to see the mad rush at the start of the boys race.
We also used the event as our inter house competition.

Two of our boys finished in the top 10 (out of 400). Clem got a bronze medal for finishing 3rd. Danny finished 8th. In the girls race we also had two superb performers. Hannah finished 4th and Isobel 5th.

In our House competition Bulstrode finished 1st, Mills a close 2nd and Howard only a few points behind in 3rd. Hitcham were 4th.
We had 58 children from Years 5 and 6 taking part. Well done to everybody for finishing the race.

Menu changes for Wed 23 & Thur 24 April

Wednesday 23 April is St George's Day
We have a special menu for this day which includes:

• Roast Beef or Cauliflower and Broccoli Cheese
  
• Roast Potatoes , Home Baked Bread


• Fresh Seasonal Vegetables or Salad


• Apple Crumble with Custard or Fruit Jelly

Because we are having a roast dinner this day, we will be
moving Weds 23 NORMAL menu to Thursday 24

Do you know which famous Englishman has a birthday on St. George's day?

Prickles meets Mrs Tiggywinkle

Prickles and I left school on Thursday 10th of April and set off with my parents to Yorkshire. We stayed with my friend Emily and her family in Saltaire. The next morning Prickles and I went with Emily to her school. Her school is in the middle of Saltaire village. This village was built to house the millworkers by Sir Titus Salt a victorian mill owner. He also had built a hospital, school and a beautiful park so that his workers could enjoy themselves when they were not working in the mills. All the street names were called after members of his family but two streets are called Albert Road and Victoria Street after the King and Queen.

On Friday morning we set off to the Lake District as soon as my Dad had come back from seeing his friend. On the way we saw lots of sheep. Finally we got to the Borrowdale Hotel ,then we unpacked and went downstairs to see if anybody had arrived. My Auntie Muriel and Uncle John then Cousin Adrian and his friend Siobhan and his three sons Hugo who was the youngest then Rory who was the second youngest then Oli who was the oldest. Then Auntie Stella and Uncle Derek closely followed by Cousins Rosemary, Peter, Ben and Lucy. Our family had travelled from Dorset, Cornwall, Bristol, Suffolk and Yorkshire. That evening over dinner every one caught up with each others news from the past year

The next day everyone except Stella, Derek, Muriel, John, Rosemary, Mum and I set off to climb Helvellyn one of the biggest mountains in the country. John went to a pencil museum, the others went to a Farm house museum. Mum, Prickles and I went to Bowness to the Beatrix Potter experience. This was a lovely museum which displayed lifelike models of all the characters from her books. This was when Prickles met Mrs Tiggywinkle the Hedgehog who was a washerwoman. We then went to a small village called Sawrey and visited Hill Top Farm which is the House where Beatrix Potter lived when she wrote many of her famous books. The lady on the door gave me and Prickles a copy of Samuel Whiskers so that as we went round the rooms we could identify pieces of furniture which were in the illustrations in the book. It was lovely to think that Prickles and I were standing in the house where such famous characters were imagined.

The next day being Sunday it was time to say good bye to the other family members and head for home. We drove right across the Yorkshire Dales and visited Auntie Pam and Uncle Derek at Carlton-in-Coverdale before joining the A1 and heading home.

Prickles and I had a wonderful time in the Lake District.

by Katie Year 5 Class GH