We have had a very busy but enjoyable term at school with a wide variety of activities for the children.
We continue to visit the Ebworth Estate each week, taking part in a variety of activities led by staff and parents. This opportunity is extremely valuable to the children’s learning experiences. We are placed in a beautiful environment and the children benefit from their experiences of the natural world, learning to appreciate, respect and understand their surroundings. There is now a new Education Officer at Ebworth and we look forward to sharing ideas and projects.
The children have had the opportunity to participate in a range of sports. We have entered teams in netball and football tournaments and one child represented Stroud District in the Gloucestershire County Cross Country race. We have also had a group of dancers participating in the Stroud Country Dance Festival.
The older children in the school have worked very hard to learn a variety of songs which they performed in the Stroud Music Festival, singing ‘pop songs’ that many of us will remember!
Class 3 had a visit from Celia Hargreaves in her role as a magistrate. She spoke about our justice system; this was followed by a visit to Stroud Court. Following this the children were given a scenario for a Mock Trial competition, which was entered by many schools in the county. The children did much work in class and a good case was prepared. The children rose to the challenge and won their case. Viola Lloyd won the overall prize for Court Reporter and was presented with a £25 voucher and a dictionary.
The children have attended various workshops offered by visitors to our school, which included dance, singing presented by ‘Black Voices’ and using a potter’s wheel to create some beautiful clay pots.
Once again we all enjoyed taking part in our traditional Easter activities of Egg Rolling, egg decorating and the Easter Egg Hunt organised by FOSS.
The whole school visited the Everyman Theatre to see an African musical called Elephant. This was a quality theatre experience for the children full of colour, music, song and dance with a strong moral to the storyline. We all had a wonderful time.
A new Head teacher has now been appointed. Mrs. Helen Symes will be joining our team in September and we look forward to welcoming her.
Our term culminated with a Health Week where we welcomed representatives from the Police, Fire Service and Council to work with the children. Parents and other members of the community have also supported our work.
We are in the process of developing an outdoor learning and garden area in the school grounds, which will include a pond. It would be lovely to have members of the village involved in this project. If you are a keen gardener or naturalist and would like to share your interest or expertise with the children it would be lovely to hear from you.