Celebration Assembly for Class KT

Last Friday Class KT had their celebration assembly. Our topic this term has been Traditional Tales, we have been trying to grow a bean stalk as big as Jacks. We made our own magic mirror from Snow White, and have even been writing clues to see if people can guess which traditional story character we are. We also had great fun singing a song about sleeping beauty. Thank you to all our families who came to watch us. Here are a few pictures from our assembly.

Share afternoon in Class KT

This afternoon many of our parents and some grandparents came in for our share afternoon. We had lots of different Easter activities to do and make. These included grass-head people, bunny bun’s, threading crosses, Easter cards, bunny badges, an Easter egg hunt and many many more activities. We were very excited about the afternoon and enjoyed having our parents and grandparents in the classroom to share in our fun. We would like to say thank you to Mrs Harold and Mrs Waddell for organising such a fun afternoon and to thank our parents and grandparents for coming to share. Here are some pictures from our afternoon.

Class KT

Our Amazing Award Winners!

Our office staff attended an award ceremony at Endeavor House, Ipswich last night. They won the award for School Team of the Year. See the Evening Star for a report & a special supplement on Thursday

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

Dear Parents

I have now completed my fourteenth year as Headteacher of Sir Robert Hitcham’s VAP School and I can honestly say I have loved working here. The quality of the school reflects the quality of the people in it and I feel that it has been a real privilege to work with the staff, governors, parents and pupils over these years. People often comment about the lovely, welcoming atmosphere to be found at school and it is true that it has felt like working among an extended family!

With mixed emotions I feel it is now time to move on and I have tendered my resignation to take effect at the end of the summer term. I have told the governors that if necessary I will work a few days a week in the first half of the autumn term until a new Headteacher can be recruited.

Over the years in Framlingham I have worked with some wonderful people and I have many happy memories to take with me into the future. I would like to say thank you to all of you for making my time at Sir Robert Hitcham’s School such a pleasure.

However, far from settling for an easier life, my husband, Will, and I have decided to take up the challenge of going to live and work in Liberia, West Africa and we will be joining SIM, Serving in Mission. Some of you will remember Mr and Mrs Trythall and Miss Long who are working for the same Mission organisation. Will has been asked to be the Country Director for the work of SIM in Liberia, while I will be using my background of skills in education to help develop schools and train teachers in a land where schools were abandoned and burnt out during their 14 years of civil war.

So it is with sadness that I approach saying a farewell but with excitement that I look to the future.
I can assure you that during my last months at Sir Robert Hitcham’s I will continue to hold a steady hand to the helm and life at school will continue as normal, in other words fully packed with exciting learning opportunities!

Yours sincerely

Jenny Elphick

Whole School Letter (31)

CELEBRATION ASSEMBLIES FOR SUMMER TERM
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 between 2.20-2.25pm. We endeavour to bring the children in as quietly as possible and we would appreciate the parents joining us in this.
The rota for the Summer term is as follows:
23 April NSJB 30 April CA 7 May CH
14 May PLDD 21 May RV 28 May EM
11 June LC 18 June DBGM
21 June MONDAY KT because 25 June Non-pupil Day
2 July PSKM 9 July JC 16 July GH

HEAD LICE
Since Christmas we have had at least 11 occurrences of head lice that we have been informed about. Please can we ask that ALL parents be vigilant over the Easter break in order to treat any lice to endeavour to eradicate the problem before the summer term begins. Thank you.

PARENTS WHO USE ELMS CAR PARK OR NEW ROAD FOR DROP OFF /COLLECTION
Following a recent, potentially awful, incident where a parent had pulled into the school drive to drop off and then reversed out onto New Road (without looking) nearly hitting a group of children crossing New Road, we feel we have to, yet again, remind parents of the danger of using New Road to drop off/collect children. There are yellow and double yellow lines on this road for a reason, so please can we ask that you DO NOT park or drop off on the double yellow lines and DO NOT use our school drive as a drop off / turning point.
As part of our Travel Plan initiative, we had pushed SCC for some kind of zebra or lollipop crossing here or even a ‘20's Plenty’ zone (like we achieved on College Road), however their investigations showed the volume of traffic verses the number of unaccompanied children was insufficient to warrant a crossing.
Our priority is the safety of the children. As parents who use their cars on this piece of road, please can we emphasise the need for you to be fully vigilant, drive slowly and only park / drop off where it is safe to do so.
Please can we remind car users that children should alight from your vehicle onto the pavement, not the road side. Please can we also ask pedestrians to walk on the pavement beside the drive NOT on the drive itself.
We are aware that the Elms car park gets full every day, however other car parks in the town still have plenty of spaces if parents allow extra time in the mornings to walk that little bit further.
We have spoken to the local police about the situation at drop off and collection times, so parents will be aware of a police presence there over the coming weeks.
Thank you in advance for your renewed efforts on this serious issue.

REMINDER END OF TERM CAKE STALL
The Friends will be running an end of term Cake Stall on Thursday 1 April after school in the front Playground Pavilion. PLEASE CAN WE ASK FOUNDATION AND KS1 PARENTS TO COLLECT YOUR CHILDREN FROM THE TEACHERS BEFORE BUYING CAKES. Thank you

END OF TERM – Thursday 1 April
There is no school Friday, the last day of term is Thursday and the children return on Tuesday 20 April.

END OF TERM CAKE STALL

Tesco Vouchers Collection

We are now collecting Tesco vouchers - they are green this year. We are grateful for any that you can give us - there is a box outside the school office. Last year we managed to purchase ICT, Sports and Music equipment. They have expanded the catelogue this year to include virtually the whole Primary curriculum.

Pictures in Wax inspired by Sculpture

Class DB have been finishing off their sculpture topic with some wax pictures inspired by their individual clay / plaster work. See video below of everybody's picture.

Foundation Playhouse Opened

Today saw the opening of our Foundation playhouse. Mrs Hunt (Foundation Governor) kindly performed the ceremony with a sword!
A photographer from the EADT was there so look out for some great pictures in the newspaper.

The first lucky children to go inside the new playhouse.

Peter Pan Day

All of the children in the Foundation Stage have been learning about traditional tales. For the last 2 weeks we have concentrated on Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie. To celebrate his fantastic story we held a Peter Pan Party on Friday. The children dressed up as their favourite character. We played pirate themed games, sand songs, played drums and had lots of lovely food.
Donations were also made to the Peter Pan charity for Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital.

Indian Folk Tale by Class JC

Class JC have been working for 5 weeks with Mrs Rayner (County Music teacher) on an Indian Folk Tale called 'The Drum'. You can see the results of their work in the video below.

WHOLE SCHOOL LETTER (30)

MID YEAR REPORTS
These will be sent home on Friday 26 March for years 1 – 6, please note there are no mid-year reports for Nursery or Reception children. The reports are confidential and are personally addressed to you as parents. We would ask that you ask your children not to open the reports before they get home.

IMPORTANT REMINDER - MATHEMATICS WORKSHOP – 30 March
Please may we remind you that if you have not already returned the form to attend the workshop that you do so by 26 March, thank you. Please note that the week following the workshop Y1 to Y6 children will be sent home with one piece of maths homework to be done with their parents, and a problem solving exercise to be completed during the holiday. There will be no literacy homework that week.

EASTER SERVICE
The Easter Service will be for the children only, and will take place on Thursday 1 April at St Michael’s Church.

BAG2SCHOOL COLLECTION
The Friends would like to let you know that there are PLENTY more bags at the school office if you need more than the one given for the charity clothing, bedding and footwear collection on Thursday 22 April. Please do not bring in filled bags until the morning of Thursday 22 April (by 9am) onto the BACK playground, by the staff carpark. Thank you.

CHANGE TO MENU FOR LAST WEEK OF TERM
The following changes have been made to the menu for next week (wc 29 March):
Monday & Tuesday remain unchanged
Wednesdays menu will be replaced by Thursdays Menu (including the Roast Dinner)
Fridays menu (including Fish Fingers and chips) will be served on Thursday

NEW SUMMER MENUS
By now you should have received your copy of the new Middle School Menu which starts after Easter.

END OF TERM CAKE STALL
The Friends will be running an end of term Cake Stall on Thursday 1 April after school in the front Playground Pavilion. Cakes being sold at this event are being kindly donated by families from Classes RV and DBGM.

END OF TERM
The last day of term is Thursday 1 April and the children return on Tuesday 20 April.

Summer Hockey Course

Harleston Magpies Hockey Club is running a beginners hockey course for boys and girls aged between 7 - 12 (school years 3-7).

Click here to download application form and to see full details.

Eco Council Tree Planting

The School Eco Council members spent yesterday afternoon planting 30 trees on the school field. The trees were donated by the Woodland Trust. There were wild cherry, rowan and silver birch trees. Two of our parents came in to help prepare the holes and talk to the children about how to plant a new tree. We also used special tubes to protect the young trees from rabbits and mats to stop grass growing around the base of the trees.
by Hattie (School Eco Council)

Bag2School

Sculpture Day a Huge Success

On Thursday 18th March, at Sir Robert Hitchams primary school, a group of 120 pupils were lucky enough to spend a whole day with Laurence Edwards - a Suffolk Sculpture.
The day started with a question session and here are some of the fun facts he shared:
It took him 2 years to make the bronze giants that make the Creek Men.
He has been sculpting for 23 years.
He has made over 1,000 sculptures.
The Creek Men, including the barge they float on, weigh roughly 1 ¾ tonnes.
His smallest sculpture is his Grinning Man, the size of his finger… nail!
His favourite sculpture is one of his creek men, based on his eldest son (Simeon) when he slammed his face against concrete and eyes became swollen.

The main aim of the day was for the children to create a shared sculpture based on objects that mean something to each of us. Everybody brought in an object from home.
You can see the process in the photos below: our objects were pressed into clay, plaster was poured into the moulds and the plaster shapes were added to the body prepared by Mr Edwards. The final sculpture (called Laurence) now stands in our courtyard. We are all really pleased with the outcome. It was a privilege and a pleasure to work with Mr Edwards. We learnt a lot from him.




Here are some poems written by year 6 children in response to Mr Edwards work:
See video below of children reading their poems:

The Creek Men

Bronze giants standing proud
not bothered by any grey cloud as
they dominate their stand
watching over the land.

Bronze giants standing proud
Their body burning
Everything’s turning
watching over the land .

Bronze giants standing proud
Their face like a ghost
They’ve got the most
Watching over the land.

Bronze giants standing proud
Their legs so broken they can’t be fixed
Now their all mixed
Watching over the land

Bronze giants standing proud
As the sun burns
their never gong to return
Watching over the land.


By Hollie Griffiths

Rotting sea corpses,
Held up high
By Deaths grip.
We are the Creek Men
Clothed by disease
Plants growing on us
Lifelessly watching you.
We are the Creek Men

Gods of the water
We rule the creek
Weeping silently.
We are the Creek Men.

Standing around
Dawn till dusk
Empowered by death.
We. Are. The. Creek Men

by Freddy Legg

Figures of the dark,
Sinister but entrancingly beautiful,
The kings of the water world rise up again.

Brooding soldiers full of mystery,
Mourning over their great loss of life,
The kings of the water world rise up again.

Developed from great dominators,
They are uncomfortable after wrenched from their watery grave,
The kings of the water world rise up again.

Tragic, devastating emperors,
Struggling to regain strength,
The kings of the water world rise up again.

by Izzy Brooks
See The Creek Men on Laurence Edward's website