It looks as though Spring has finally sprung, we have started to see the sun peering through the clouds, bringing with it another frantic month on the school calendar.
We start with pupils from years 1 and 2 who competed in a football tournament at Cranford House, Moulsford. The whole team played extremely well and came third (out of twelve teams). Despite their age they all displayed great sportsmanship and manners, both on and off the pitch. Well done to all who participated, we are very proud of you.
Then along came Art Week, which sandwiched World Book Day and so the focus for this was illustrators of children’s book. It started with an assembly where the children learnt to draw the character ‘Claude’ from the Alex T Smith series of books.
Each class studied pictures by a different artist, then created their own illustrations which were shown in our art gallery on the Thursday evening and Friday morning. All the work was fantastic and showed a huge range of skills and different techniques, including an impressive display of potatoes dressed up as book characters!
World Book Day on Thursday 6th March, started early with a Family Reading Café for both parents and children. They had a chance to buy books, read the papers or magazines, wander round the ‘art gallery’ whilst drinking tea or squash. Both staff and pupils dressed up as book characters, including the Acting Headteacher who dressed up as Violet Beauregarde with a purple face all day! Many families came back to school in the evening to take part in our first Family Book Quiz, run magnificently by our quiz masters Mr Morris and Mrs Lecorgne. Well done to Lara Clifford-Zyms and her family who won!
Our Year 5s have been studying flight this term and we couldn’t resist another school trip to RAF Hendon. The children had great fun making and firing rockets, learning all about the Wright Brothers and the history of flight and then, back in class, making hot air balloons which now adorn the classroom ceiling. We’ll hear all about their antics in the year 5 assembly later this month.
Our years 3, 4, 5 and 6 all competed in the County Cross Country championship which was held on and around Rotherfield Peppard football ground. The competitors were presented with a very muddy, very challenging course especially made worse by the heavy rain that morning. Everyone had to work really hard and we were rewarded with several finalists in the top ten. Good effort and well done to all participated.
Finally we ended the month with the final working party session of the season in our Wildlife Area. We dug (again) but this time we got to enjoy the planting, the sowing of seeds and the making of the hazel fence by hand. Now all that is left is for the wildlife to take over from here, and to let the fun begin!
Sincere thanks go out to all those parents and children who have helped with all the hard work, the delivering and shifting of 9 tonnes of soil and donations from around the village of hardcore, rubble, slabs and stones. Special thanks go to the Woodcote Conservation Group who have regularly and generously given of their time and muscle power.
