Yesterday we all enjoyed our Christmas parties. We were very excited as we arrived in our party clothes. We played lots of games and did rather a lot of dancing!
Afterwards we had party food in our classrooms and more music. Mrs Nicholls started a Conga in Year 5 and this travelled all the way around school to the other classrooms. The children were then very fortunate to be given a Christmas present and KS1 had theirs hand delivered by Father Christmas. We all had a fantastic time.
We would like to wish all our children, parents & grandparents a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
On Thursday 15th December we held our evening Christingle event. Children in year 5 and 6 made Christingles with their teachers and these were lit on the night. The junior hall looked magical when the hall lights were switched off and the candles glowed in the dark. Once again, the musicians from Shavington High School played carols and our own instrumentalists and singers took part.
This year the minister from St.Mark's Church in Shavington, Geoff Breffitt, joined us to explain the symbolism of the Christingle. The evening was the ideal opportunity for Mr.Mitchell to announce the two charities that the school will be supporting this year: Age UK and Starlight. The evening ended with mince pies and mulled wine.
Rehearsals are well underway for our Reception, Year1 and Year 2 Nativity 'Prickly Hay'. It is the story of Sam, a stable boy, who thinks he has a thankless and worthless job keeping the stable clean and the hay fresh for all the animals. No one seems to notice his hard work, and his ever-faithful friend, Shrew, tries to keep his spirits up, but Sam is finding it hard to feel important at all. That is until Sam receives some very special visitors to his stable!.....
Sam is played by Archie, Arthur is his trusting friend Shrew, Abigail and Max take on the roles of Mary and Joseph in this twist on the Nativity story.
On Friday 25th november, year 1 visited St.Mark's Church in Shavington. In their R.E. lessons they are looking at the topic of 'belonging' and so they visited the church to learn about Christenings. Everyone had a special job to do. Mia was the Mum and Max was Dad. Then we had Godparents, family, friends, two photographers and two caterers. Some children chose to change into their best clothes for the occasion. At the church, Reverend Breffitt christened a doll. We chose the name Mary for our baby because it is getting close to Christmas. After the Christening we enjoyed opening Christening presents and then we had a party to celebrate.
Thank you to everyone who helped to make the afternoon so enjoyable.
Year 2 went on their trip to Gladsone Pottery Museum last Monday. Upon arrival they were taken on a tour of the museum and told a little bit of history about how children as young as five had to work in the factories to make pottery. Their work had to be up to standard to earn their pay, and usually this was only enough to buy a loaf of bread and a chunk of cheese.
They were shown how clay was made by mixing the raw material so that it looked like cream and then pressing the water out of it to make clay. The potter then explained that if they made fine bone china, it would have real, finely ground animal bone added to it and if you hold a china cup up to the light, you should be able to see the shadow of your hand through it.
Kate then demonstrated how you would 'throw a pot' and used a manual potter's wheel to shape her lump of clay into a vase. The circular motions dried out the clay and reduced the air bubbles that were trapped inside. This was necessary as the vase would explode in the kiln if there was too much air.
The children then had the opportunity to make their own masks out of clay. They rolled it out and cut a design of their choice, some chose aliens, monsters, babies etc.
Year 2 had a very enjoyable and informative day.
Children in Need day was a great success. We raised a 'whopping' £565.62! This was achieved by dressing up in our pyjamas for the day, teachers included, and leaving our 'bedhead' hair. Hot dogs were sold at break time, to the delight of the children, and then each class visited the annual year 5 Children in Need fayre.
This consisted of many stalls, run, organised and promoted by the children in Year 5. There was penalty shootout, lucky dip, facepainting, wet sponge throwing, darts, bracelet making and vast amounts of cakes and biscuits! The children worked really hard in the week leading up to the fayre by making posters to put up around school, making games for stalls and making sure they had all the equipment they needed to make it a great success.
Well done to everyone who supported and contributed to Children in Need.
