Caring and Sharing,
Believing and Achieving, Together
Acting Head Teacher: Mrs Gill Humphriss BA Hons, QTS, PGCE, NPQH
www.eckingtonfirstschool.co.uk
Telephone: 01386 750666
Email: [email protected]
Autumn Term 2016 – Newsletter 14 Week ending: Friday 16
th
December 2016
Dear Parents,
Well we have made it to the end of our Autumn term and we are all still smiling and laughing, just as it should be.
This final week has been full of Christmas cheer. On Monday morning Reception and KS1 were treated to a
pantomime workshop from Cheltenham theatre to prepare them for our whole school pantomime
p
trip. It was funfilled hour where the children learnt the song ‘Why does a brown cow give white milk when she only eats green
grass? ‘A tricky question to ponder! They also got dressed up in the costume and
were told the story of Jack and The Beanstalk.
Bea
KS2 then led two carol services. The
children were news reporters and told the Nativity story through live interviews with
The Shepherds, Kings and Mary and Joseph. They all sang beautifully and lit
Christingle candles. It was very moving.
On Tuesday
day we all went to the pantomime. Yes the whole school! It was an excellent performance but extremely
noisy. The children cheered, booed and laughed in all the right places, especially when Billy Tweedy flew on his
hoverboard. Oh what fun we had.
Wednesday
Wednesd
ay was Christmas lunch day and we all gathered in the hall together. The
staff served the children before settling down for their own lunch. The
photographs on the school website show what fun we had, pulling crackers,
singing songs and generally enjoying time together. In the evening the children all
returned for Christmas discos organised by FOES. A huge thank you to all of the
FOES for putting on a great party. The children never stopped dancing and I think
the snow machine from the DJ was the ‘piece de resistance.’ It certainly put them
in the spirit of winter.
Thursday we spent most of the day in the hall as first we were greeted by Sascha
Kindred – paralympian, Rio gold medallist and world record holder. He is truly
inspiring and the children were engrossed
ngrossed in his story of how he gained his gold
medal. He demonstrates determination and perseverance and the children
really recognise that. All of the staff were particularly impressed by the
questions the children were asking, they really thought about what they wanted
to know. For example – ‘Were you teased at school because of your disability?’
‘What did it feel like when you got to the finishing line?’ ‘Who is your greatest rival?’ ‘Will you be going to Tokyo?’
Class 2 had made him a giant gold medal from all of us here at Eckington and he showed us his actual medal and also
the mascot ‘Tom’ who has gold hair. The medal is extremely heavy and also makes
a certain sound for those who are blind. Each type of medal makes a different
sound so for those who couldn’t see would know they had the right medal.
Ingenious.
The children could have asked him questions all day but we returned to class for learning before returning to the hall
once more for singing but most of all to surprise Mrs Crumpton. Every year
year Unison ask schools to nominate a star in
our school so we nominated Mrs Crumpton and she won! Mrs Crumpton is not only a teaching assistant but the
caretaker and runs after school club. She willingly steps up to teach the class if necessary, she is the fount of all
knowledge always smiling and really does care about the children. We wanted to say thank you for her dedication.
Unison came to give her a special certificate and a gift. To top off
of our morning Mr McDonagh had us all singing
different parts off The Twelve Days of Christmas – Mrs Crumpton was the partridge, Mrs Gower and Mrs Adams two
turtle doves, Mrs Dodd, myself and Mrs Waller three French hens, Mr Tranmer and 3 children were four calling birds
and Year 5 were... yes you’ve guessed it five gold
go rings, Y4 – six geese a laying, Y3 – seven swans a swimming, Y2
eight maids a milking, Y1 – nine ladies dancing, Mrs Steele and Reception – ten lords a leaping, Mrs Stone and Mrs
Hill – eleven pipers piping and Mr McDonagh twelve drummers drumming. It was
was very raucous but great fun.
But did the day end there? Oh no it didn’t we returned to the hall at 2pm for the
great spelling bee final. We held 3 finals, a Reception competition, Year One against
Year Two and Year 3, 4 and 5 against each other. Not all
al the houses were
represented but a great cheer went up for those houses which were. It was very
nerve wracking for the children sat on the stage but they did us all proud with their
nerve-wracking
confident spelling, especially Reception. The children had to verbally spell
sp out each
word, no writing down. The rest of the school held their breath as each child took it
in turns to spell each other down.
Competition One – Reception
Representing Bridge = Reece and representing Church = Phoebe, Luke and Reuben.
The children were great but in the end Reece won the round and gained 100 points for his house. Luke – 75, Reuben
– 50 and Phoebe – 25. Well done to them all. Mrs Steele was very proud.
Competition Two – Year One against Year Two
Representing Bridge = Ammarra (Y1) and
an Ben (Y2)
I suspect Ben thought I’ve got this but Ammarra held her own brilliantly for some time. It was certainly a fight to the
end. Ben won 100 points for his house and Ammarra 50. Mr Tranmer was super pleased with their spelling ability.
Competition Three – Year 3, 4 and 5
Representing Hill = Oliver, Bridge = Harry J (who had stepped in at the last minute for Rufus who originally made it
through) and Church = Harrison, Ailsa and Eve
Again it was a hard fought battle as I tried to trip them up with tricky
tricky words. Unfortunately ‘tongue’ was the one that
got them in the end giving Eve the overall win and 100 points for Church. Ailsa = 80, Oliver = 60, Harrison
= 40 and Harry = 20 points. Mrs Dodd as Church’s lead teacher was extremely pleased with the
representation
presentation Church had in our spelling bee.
Mrs Dodd will be announcing our Spring One house event in the New Year. Watch this space.
Finally today (the last day of term) we are all in our Christmas jumpers to raise money for Save the Children. It is
important to think of others at this extravagant time of year. All of the staff entertained the children as they came
into school by singing and playing Christmas carols. Who knew they could shake jingle bells so well. Please don’t
think we have stopped learning.
arning. I have just been for a wander round the classrooms, Class 4 are designing cards and
finishing responses to marking, Class 3 are doing a Science experiment, Class 2 were completing some maths and
Class 1 were discussing deciduous and evergreen trees.
trees We never stop learning here.
We lit the third candle on our advent ring this week and will light our fourth before we go home today.
The third candle represents ‘joy.’ Joy at the thought of the birth. This was the feeling the shepherds had
when the angels
ngels brought the great news of Jesus’ birth. I shared with the children a poem written by my
father and I share the last verse here with you.
‘Joy is being alive, and meeting each day’s problems
Joy is enjoying life and ignoring daily stumbles
So do awayy with worries, enjoy life to the full
Sing, laugh, dance, see life as grand and ever beautiful.’
Allan John Moncur
After we read the poem, the children thought of a time when they felt great joy and we then put that feeling in an
imaginary bag and tied it up with a red ribbon. I said to the children carry your bag of joy with you and when things
don’t go according to plan
lan open up your bag and remind yourselves of the joy in your lives. I invite you to do the
same.
Our fourth candle represents ‘love.’ It is the love that Mary felt for Jesus when he was born and the love she had for
him for always. Take time to love one another this Christmas time and remind yourself of the 2000 year old nativity
story.
It has been a fabulous term and we are all looking forward to the Spring term once we’ve had a break of course!
Thank you for ensuring attendance remains above the national
national average at 97%. Last week was a bit scary – 99% and
I haven’t even learnt the Charleston yet. I can see I will have to get practising. Thank you for supporting your
children’s home learning and ensuring they are ready for school each day. I need to say
say a big thank you from all of
the staff and children to the governors who support and challenge our school from behind the scenes. They are
always there when we need them and I know they are looking forward to whatever challenges 2017 brings. A
massive thank
nk you of course to all of the staff who are such a delight to be with, they are dedicated, creative and
want the children to be the best they can be. Thank you also to all of the children who brighten each and every day.
All it remains for me to say to you all is, have a very happy, peaceful Christmas. Treasure each day and moment you
spend together as a family. Take time to stop and breathe and go out into our beautiful countryside and appreciate
our world. As we move into a brand new year take time to remember those in our world who are suffering in
conflicts or are without a home or family. Have a great new year and we look forward to seeing you all in 2017.
School reopens for the children on Wednesday 4th January. God bless you all and remain safe
in each other’s care. Merry Christmas
Mrs Humphriss
Our spiritual value is Trust and our school value is Kindness Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful
ful Counselor, Mighty
God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Attendance 95.8% overall this week, (overall school target is 96% Mrs
Humphriss is just a bit sad, but she is still
Class 1
96.5%
Class 2
95.5%
because it is Christmas!!
Class 3
94.1%
Class 4
97.1%
House points - The overall winner for this year is Church with 1516
points. Congratulations
Congratulati
to all pupils in Church!
Reception
ception Weekly Learning
Reception letter sounds for this week – we have been
recapping on all the friendly letters and the words we have learnt this term.
Letters
etters home this week – Crib Service
Christmas Eve letter from Becki Bickerton,
Eckington Church,, please contact Becki direct
Illness – Please be reminded children who have any sort of
sickness or diarrhoea must not be in school for 48 hours.
hours This is the
Department of Health advice and also school policy. Please refer to the
website
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/a
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/fi
le/522337/Guidance_on_infection_control_in_schools.pdf
Reminders
Upcoming Events
School Dinners Class Catering’s contact number
for cancellations/queries
queries 01684 772623 from
8.00 am to speak to Laura. Please contact them
direct.
3rd January 2017
TED day
Sickness If your child has a sickness bug please
keep them away from school for 48 hours after
the last sickness/diarrhoea episode.
Absence If your child is ill please telephone
school at your earliest opportunity and send in a
quick note when they return explaining
ning their
absence. Thank you for your co-operation.
operation.
4th January 2017
Children back to school
9.30am Church Service, Holy
Trinity Church
W/c 4th January 2017
Big Write Week
Water Bottled Please
lease ensure children come to
school with their water bottles each day! Thank
you.
Merry Christmas and a happy New Year from all the staff at Eckington
First School!