28th June 2007

• To continue our preparations for the new School year, this is another reminder to parents of children currently in Reception Class or Year Two that there will be a meeting on Monday 2nd July at 3.45pm.  The meeting for parents of children who are now in Reception Class will take place in 1KS class room, whilst parents of pupils currently in Year Two should go up to Sunnylands Hall.  This will be an opportunity to meet with the new class teacher who will be able to talk to you about the structure of next year’s curriculum and give an outline of the class routine.
      
• Please return your Founders’ Day reply slip tomorrow if you have not yet done so, as we need to plan seating, as well as picnics for pupils whose parents are not attending Founders’ Day. At the risk of repetition, but with the aim of being helpful, here is another rundown of arrangements:

The morning pupils’ drop-off will operate from 9.30am, when you are welcome to also leave your labelled picnic hamper at the same time, allowing you time to find a permitted parking space in roads near the School. Your picnic hamper will be stored in a cool area of the School and brought up to the marquee for you after the Prize Giving ceremony.  This later start allows staff to prepare the marquee.  Once the marquee is prepared you will be able to take your seat from 10.00am.  Pupils will be supervised by teachers in the playground until 9.45am when the bell will ring.  Registration will then take place in classrooms, and following a quiet reading session and some mental maths, children will be led by teachers into the marquee ready for the ceremony's start at 10.30am. In the event of poor weather the plan is for the marquee to be used by families that would still wish to go ahead with the picnic, and chairs would be stacked quickly in order for this to occur.  It is expected that picnic time would run from approximately 12.30pm. There is an opportunity from 1.30pm for families to look around both of the School buildings.  Whilst we have had two ‘share your work sessions’ this year, there has not yet been an opportunity for parents to look at the work and wall displays of pupils in other year groups, so it is hoped that many of you will want to take advantage of our Open Afternoon.  Tea, cakes and cold refreshments will be available from 2pm until 3pm in Sunnylands Hall. Please note that, as last year, there will be no Early or Late Club, as all staff will be involved in preparations for the day and then for the PTAFA events in the late afternoon and evening. As this is a ‘special’ school day there will be an informal approach to its end.  You are welcome to take your child home at any point in the afternoon, after first signing out at the School Office.  As there will be no Late Club on Founders’ Day, children whose parents are unable to attend Founders’ Day will need to be collected from their classrooms by 3.30pm.Thanks to the work of the PTAFA, there will be a disco, barbeque and bar during the evening, which starts at 6.30pm and ends at 9pm. 

• French Day took place for pupils in Nursery, Reception, Year One and Year Two on Friday.  There was a great deal of excitement about the day, with pupils taking part in various games and songs, incorporating vocabulary for animals, numbers, parts of the body and movements. 
    
• Please send any remaining Readathon sponsor money in to School by tomorrow, with cheques payable to Readathon.  We would like to give you the updated final amount before the end of term. 
   
• Yesterday’s Sports Day took place despite the gloomy weather forecast.  In the morning pupils in Key Stage Two took part in field events, representing their houses: Grafham, Pitsford, Rutland and Thorpe.  Long jump, triple jump, javelin, skips, shot, discus, ball bounces and seated ball throw were set out on the main field, with pupils taking part in each event on a rotational basis, in mixed year mixed house groups.  We were pleased to see so many parents supporting the morning session.  Track events took place in the afternoon, with a variety for our younger pupils.  In addition to running races, there were also skipping races, skills races, novelty races, beanbag races and relays. In Key Stage Two there were a mammoth 50 races, with pupils giving their all in the pursuit of the all important point for their House, as well as any extra points awarded for being placed.  Once again, there were records broken. Rachel Kings holds the record for Girls Javelin Y5&6 with a 17m throw. With a 20m throw Harry Dennis Jones has set a new record for the boys Y5&6 shot-putt.  The standing long jump record is held for girls by Hope Carpenter and by Alex Taylor for the boys.  James Fitzpatrick-Diamond is their new holder of the Y3&4 boys standing triple jump, with a record being held in the same event for Y5&6 boys, by Albertus Van Rensburg.  The record for the seated ball throw is now held by Alice Langston, with a 8.30m throw.  The final positions were Rutland in fourth place, Grafham in third, Thorpe as runners up to the winners, Pitsford.  Well done to children in all sections of the School.  By some miracle the rain fell once the proceeding were completed and we were all safely in the Hall enjoying tea and cakes! 
   
• From time to time teachers send pupils over to my office to show me some extra special work a child has completed, usually linked to numeracy, literacy or project work.  On Friday I was presented with something a little different….a lollo rosso lettuce, courtesy of Gardening Club, who with the help of Mrs Tye are making good use of the seeds donated by Mrs Hunnings earlier this term.  The skill of growing food is one that seems to be re-emerging, and we are being encouraged from all angles to support local markets and avoid Food Miles.  I was delighted to see some of our youngsters leading the way!
• Friday saw the return of Year 5 and 6 pupils from their residential trip to Norfolk, which had set off from School on Tuesday morning.  Mrs Payne had put together another fantastic itinerary, based around activities and places near to the trip’s residential base, Letton Hall.  The first adventure took place at Duxford, with children marvelling at aircraft representing various stages of aviation history. There was an educational talk given about the home front during World War Two.
• Day Two’s highlights were trips onto the Norfolk Broads and to Norwich Castle.  The boat trip brought our explorers closer to a range of natural habitats, and the history of how peat was excavated to form the waterways was also presented to pupils.  A team quiz was the catalyst to pupils working hard to remember all of the facts given to them by the Broads Rangers that day!  The trip to Norwich Castle brought with it more factual recall practice, this time on the more gruesome topic of Roman weaponry.  With the miracle of good weather still present despite the ominous forecasts, our travelling team threw themselves into some outdoor activities during the early evening, with a scavenger hunt, cricket, volleyball, and use of the Hall’s adventure playground.  With all of this exertion, the staff were certain that an early night would be had by all of our pupils….I will leave you to draw your own conclusions as to the accuracy of their predictions!
• Day Three began with a trip to the workhouse….at Gressenhall, the Museum of Norfolk Life.  There, pupils suffered the wrath of the Victorian school mistress, but it has been reliably reported to me that she wasn’t a patch on Mrs Payne and her daily classroom regime!  There was a trip to the museum, followed by a nature trail and a tractor ride, and this amazing day drew to a close with a bowling trip in Norwich.
• Day Four brought with it the reality that a packed case does not necessarily hold the items that were originally placed into it four days earlier!  Before the journey home, a stop was made at Langham Glass, where the children watched a demonstration of glass blowing, and then decorated their own tumbler with a design of their creation using special paints.  By some miracle, it was only at the last point of the whole residential trip that the rain fell!
   
• There was a trip out on a smaller scale last week, when Reception Class walked down to Kettering Station.  Along the way they were reminded of stop-look-listen road safety rules.  This was also a chance to practice numeracy as it exists in the world around them, with numbers on houses being read out, as well as car number plates!  At the station, pupils were encouraged to read words they recognised and to watch the time on the station clocks.  They were all given a ticket as a souvenir and wrote about their ‘great adventure’ afterwards. 
   
• With Years 5 and 6 at Letton Hall, pupils in Years 3 and 4 gloried in having the School grounds outside Sunnylands to themselves at morning and lunch breaks.  In readiness for our pupils moving up a year group, and some moving into new key stages too, a range of sports activities took place, involving 2GM, 3CVR and 4AH.  Year 3 and 4 were responsible for setting out the teams and organising the batting order, and the teachers ‘stood back’ a little, to give them the opportunity to also demonstrate and explain the game to younger players, a task they performed well.  2GM pupils also had the chance to get to know pupils in Year 3 again, as well as their new teacher for September, Mrs Van Rensburg.  All of this will certainly help their transition to Key Stage Two in September.
   
• Reception Class has also been preparing for September’s move to Key Stage One, and to this end a Games session was organised with 1KS.  Again, the aim was to familiarise pupils with working together as a team and, coexisting in Key Stage One from September.  The games played were Skittles which gave pupils a chance to show off their mental maths skills in keeping the scores.  Basketball and Lacrosse were also played, and there was a beanbag target station set up too.  All of these activities once again also promoted the importance of good sportsmanship, in the approach to Sports Day.
   
• On Tuesday pupils and staff in Key Stage Two went on their annual Summer Term outing.  This year’s destination was Stratford Upon Avon.  The first stop was The Butterfly Farm, where pupils enjoyed watching hundreds of the world's most spectacular and colourful butterflies flying all around. They were able to see them feeding and flying in a wonderful tropical environment as well as see their amazing lifecycles in the Caterpillar Room. In the Insect House they could observe Stick Insects, Beetles, Leaf-cutting ants and many more remarkable creatures. Our braver pupils got close to the more dangerous creatures in perfect safety in Arachnoland, which was home of the worlds largest spider as well as a scorpion colony and many different spiders. After a picnic lunch, there was an opportunity to look around Shakespeare’s birthplace in Stratford.
   
• There will be a PTAFA Cake Stall held in Sunnylands Hall on Friday.  This is the last cake stall of this academic year, so if you have time to bake or buy for it, then please do, as your efforts will help the Royal National Lifeboat Institute  The last cake stall raised £35.30 for Help The Aged.  Thanks to all who helped in this.
   
• The PTAFA Summer Fayre takes place on Saturday 7th July.  We need extra help for the running of stalls.  The aim is to give all helpers a one hour slot on a stall, so that they can also enjoy the Fayre with their family before or after helping.  In order to do this we need more help.  Please contact Mrs Tye or telephone the School Office if you can help, so that time on a  stall can be allocated to you.
   
• Thanks to all pupils who entered the PTAFA Art Competition.  The winners will be announced at the Summer Fayre. There were some fabulous entries!
   
• The PTAFA Barn dance was a resounding success.  Attendance was very high.  Thanks to all who supported it.  Thanks are conveyed also to organisers of the event: Mrs Kilsby, Mrs Walshaw, Mrs Tye, Mr Flatman, together with Mr Fedorowycz and other parents who helped in the frantic interval rush to the barbeque!  The evening would not have been possible without Mr Hilsdon kindly hosting the event at Home Farm.
   
• The PTAFA AGM will take place on Thursday 20th September.  All parents of pupils at the School are automatically members of the PTAFA, so please come along!  Last week’s Cheese and Wine social was a super event that I hope will be repeated next year. 
   
• Information regarding pupils’ end of term arrangements will be conveyed next week by Key Stage Coordinators.
   
• The first day back for pupils is Thursday 6th September, and Early Club will run on that day as usual from 8am.
   
• The first bulletin of the new academic year will be issued on Monday 10th September.
   
• As we approach the end of this academic year, I look forward to reporting to Governors, parents and pupils at Founders’ Day, upon the highlights of another eventful academic year!