Super Science

This half term Super Medics ran their new 5 week afterschool club – ‘Super Science’. The children learnt about the human body and how it works by completing practical experiments, while having lots of fun. Subjects included the heart, brain, stomach, lungs and bones. Each child receives a t-shirt, heart squishy and certificate on completion of the course (not to mention their scientific creations from the lab). Places for next term’s club (starting on Wednesday 26th February) can be booked via https://impulsefirstaid.com/i/super-medics-super-science-after-school-club-feb-mar-2020/ Many thanks, Hannah Alsbury-Morris (aka Dr Curlyhair)

End of Term Assembly

This morning we held a very special awards assembly. Many Congratulations to all our award winners. It ended with a very important ‘phone call’ for Mr King. Mr King and Mrs Powell believed they were off to Turkey for the Weekend. The staff then entertained the children in dance and song before Mr King and Mrs Powell returned to the school hall dressed as inflatable turkeys! Merry Christmas Everyone and our very best wishes for 2020.

Christmas Lunch

Today we had our Christmas Lunch. Combined with Christmas Jumper Day this was a very festive and enjoyable time for all! Thank you to PAKSA and Eco Club for the eco-friendly Christmas Crackers. Well done and thank you to our amazing Chartwell’s Team and also our staff who were on hand to help and also provide some entertainment!

Netball Tournament at Collyers in Horsham

On Wednesday afternoon 6 members of our Year 5 and 6 Netball Team set off for Horsham to play their first netball tournament in the Horsham League. Everyone played extremely well and learnt a huge amount. We lost the first match against a much more experienced team than ours and then came back to win the next 2! Well done to everyone and a massive thank you to the Mum’s who gave up their time to drive children to Horsham and stayed to help cheer them on.

Netball%2B11th%2BDec.jpg

KS1 Nativity -Prickly Hay

This week our younger children performed their Nativity Play to parents and grandparents, our staff and older children and also other members of our local community. The production was ‘Prickly Hay’ and it was wonderful to see all our children enjoy themselves and act and sing so well in front of so many people. We are very proud of their achievements. Thank you to all our families for helping with lines, costumes and props and to our KS1 team for such a great production. Thank you also to PAKSA for providing refreshments.

Year 5 and 6 visit to the Other Plaistow in London

Year 5 and 6 had a fabulous trip to Selwyn Primary School, in Plaistow, East London, this Thursday. We travelled by train and underground on Thursday morning and were met by our Selwyn friends as we emerged at Plaistow Underground Station. We walked together to West Ham Park (a certain year 6 teacher was very excited at the prospect of a claret and blue park .... but it was actually green!!) where we dared to go and speak to our new friends; it really helped when we found a huge pile of leaves to jump into together!

We then walked to the school and were amazed by all their absolutely amazing wall displays, their dedicated ICT suite and all their other facilities and resources. What an incredible school. Every child gets a free lunch which is freshly cooked within the school. We had tours around the school led by their Head Boy and Head Girl, plus other members of their school council. After eating lunch, we had fun playing together on the playground. It is amazing how quickly sport quickly breaks down barriers.

 After visiting the school, we walked to Green Street and tried to buy something that we couldn't buy in 'our' Plaistow, People bought amazing bangles, henna, unusual lama toys, chilli sweets and much more.

Miss Clark, Mrs Cave and Mrs Powell want to thank all the parents for giving their permission for their children to take part in this trip which we feel is hugely enlightening and meaningful for us all. We also give our heartfelt thanks to all the adults who accompanied us on the trip - we could not have done it without you! Fingers crossed that Selwyn will be able to visit us in the Summer Term.

A lovely evening hosting dinner for Edward from Mitoto Primary School

Our family were lucky enough to host our school’s guest Edward, the Head Teacher from Mitoto Primary School in Kenya on Tuesday evening. We collected Edward from school with the children at 3.30pm and had a coffee together and spoke about basic life in Kenya - sharing information and learning about each other’s cultures.

 It was such a privilege to have been given the time with Edward and learn about school life in Kenya. Children at Mitoto travel up to 5km each way to school by foot, bicycle and some by motorbike. We discovered that the learners at Mitoto are divided into 8 different classes, each with mixed age groups and that there was one teacher to approximately 80 - 90 children. Mitoto school has the same number of teachers as our school, but has 900 children rather than 200!  Learning about life’s basic difficulties and also that life without technology is often far simpler! 

 We spoke about life in our family, and how we are so lucky and blessed to have the things and opportunities we do. One of our daughters read a book with Edward about the human body, showing him the different parts of the body with 3D glasses. Hannah then chatted about her love for teaching and the children’s Super Medics course that she has written and taught to the children at school. We shared a meal together, and it was such a pleasure to have a tiny insight into life in Kenya. We now feel that we would love to be more involved and perhaps visit Mitoto. Edward spoke of the relationship that Mitoto have with Plaistow and Kirdford school (over the last 10 years) and how the school have fundraised to provide 4 new classrooms in addition to a cow, which has now had a calf and provides milk to make porridge for those who cannot afford breakfast at home. 

Thank you Mrs Jesse for arranging the experience, and for allowing us to invite Edward into our home. It was very special, and we look forward to hearing more about Mitoto, and seeing both Edward and Jayne in school again soon.

 Hannah & Matt

Our 150th Anniversary Celebrations

Today we celebrated 150 Years of our School. We held a very special party on the school playing ground and all our children provided some wonderful dancing, singing and entertainment throughout the afternoon. Thank you to all our guests for coming along and also to everyone who was able to provide photographs from years gone by in the school. Thank you also to Dame Julie Walters who came along for the afternoon and cut the ribbon on our new playground bench and wonderful Cake made by one of our former parents, Karen Pelham.