We were all about trees in our PSHE lesson on Friday….Family Trees! We began our lesson by looking at very old family trees, we loved the way they were presented with old drawings and black and white still photos. We then looked at modern versions of Family Trees; these were a lot easier to read! We then spoke about the word “generation” and what it meant in relation to our subject. Then the fun began, we used whiteboards to create our own Family Trees! Some of us had huge trees; some of us had smaller ones including Mrs Semple! But, each family tree that was created, was really very special.

Today in school we had an America Day. Some parents generously gave of their time to come in and tell us all more about the United States of America. We found out about the size of the country compared to Great Britain and where it was in the world, along with all about the early sailors, settlers and native Americans. We learnt about the festival of Thanksgiving and the importance of not asking God for more but being thankful for what we have. All the children have decorated their own leaf with things they are grateful for and these were displayed in the hall. During breaktimes, our guests joined us in the playground and showed us some throws and catches used in American football and taught us some cheerleading calls and moves. For lunch the children had the chance to enjoy a Thanksgiving dinner of roast turkey followed by a very popular helping of homemade apple pie and ice cream. Key stage two classes were each invited to a workshop this afternoon to find out how school in the USA is similar and different to school in this country and everyone had the opportunity to ask questions. A huge thank you to all the parents for organising the day and for teaching us so much.

This week in Year 2 we have been thinking about what makes a good friend. To begin with, we looked at a poster that represented what qualities a great friend should have, we then took some time to reflect on ourselves and qualities that we have. After this we created a “Fantastic Friend list" that reflected all of the elements that we would like to see in a friendship. We all agreed that friendship takes patience and can be challenging but is totally worth it! To end our lesson we all attended…”The Fantastic Friendship Awards” where Eagles Class thought about a special friend that they would like to dedicate an award to. Each child gave a speech about why this person was a fantastic friend and presented them with a trophy. Eagles showed brilliant maturity and congratulated each winner. Well done Year 2!

Last week, Year 4 had an amazing day at Sunny Sands Beach School! Our first activity was a beach safari. With our buckets and nets in hand, we combed the shoreline and rock pools, discovering all sorts of incredible marine life. One of the highlights was finding a baby starfish, which everyone agreed was absolutely adorable! We also found crabs scuttling across the rocks, tiny shrimps darting through the water, and even some unusual shells and seaweed that we carefully collected to examine more closely. Some of the children worked together and built some spectacular sandcastles. Others drew pictures and wrote their names in the sand. Of course, no trip to Sunny Sands would be complete without a little free time standing at the water's edge and enjoy the fresh sea breeze. We can't wait for our next adventure!

On Sunday there was a special service in Church, it was a Choral Evensong with the translation of the Relics of St Eanswythe. It was lovely to see such a huge congregation attending this service which was streamed across the world. Eanswythe died in 640AD at the age of 26. It is believed that the bones were hidden when the Church was founded in 1137. Builders discovered the lead reliquary in 1885 containing the human remains and in 2020 osteoarchaeologists tested teeth and bones and determined they were consistent with the history of Eanswythe. A new glass reliquary has been created which looks amazing. Our Church is one of a very few that has some of the bones of their Saint, we are so lucky. Several of the Worship Leaders from our school retold the story of our Patron Saint. Using narration and acting, they told everyone about her life and her miracles. All the children were so brave performing and were a credit to the school. Eanswythe showed dedication, faith and discipline throughout her life as well as a love for her neighbours. These values continue to inspire us as members of the St Eanswythe's Primary School family. At the end of the service, the Relics were positioned back into their resting place up near the main alter in the North wall and then Father Chris locked the little door.

Last week in science, Year 5 carried out an experiment to test which material was the best thermal insulator for a cup of warm water. The children were given different materials and had to cover a cup in the chosen material. Each cup's temperature was monitored carefully over the course of 10 minutes. The results were very interesting but most showed that the foil was the best thermal insulator. The children were able to think scientifically and suggest reasons for their results. They followed instructions carefully and handled all the equipment with care ensuring that we had a fun but also safe science lesson. Excellent work Year 5!

Last week, KS2 began their Skip2BFit challenge. This takes place every Thursday, each week the children skip for two minutes to try and beat their personal best. The incentive is that it promotes fitness, attitude and perseverance- it isn't about being the best in the class, it’s about challenging yourself each week! We are looking forward to seeing how each child progresses over year.

Last week in story club, the story of the week was Alice In Wonderland. We shared the story and made our very own crowns for a mad hatters tea party. Of course, biscuits were involved! The crowns were very creative and the children showed lots of artistic imagination. Well done story club!

In our lesson today, we explored the friendships that we have in our class. We began by thinking about one friend in our class and what makes them special to us. We then started to make friendship strings to represent our friendship with this one person! To start with our strings only had two friends on them. Then we thought, we can have more than one friend and our strings began to grow! Suddenly, we all thought, we are all friends in Owls class, so let’s make a super friendship string that we can all be a part of! How lucky we are to have so many friends.

This term our DT theme is Nutrition and we will be making our own soup. This week, in preparation for soup making, we explored pumpkins. We started our session by reading the story Pumpkin Soup. We acted out the story, where Owl and Squirrel made a pumpkin soup but they were missing one special ingredient...milk. They travelled to the nearby farm and visited their friend cow. Together the three friends made the most scrumptious soup. After the story, we got to feel the outside of a pumpkin and the inside of a pumpkin. The children had to describe how the pumpkin felt. They came up with some fantastic adjectives: wet, cold, hard, slimy, soft and slippery. Finally, the children got to eat some pumpkin soup. Lots of the children surprised themselves, as they were not looking forward to trying the soup but it smelt so delicious that they couldn’t resist dipping in some bread and tasting it. I wonder if pumpkin will make it into our own soup?

It was so lovely to spend time with some old and new members of story club! The session started with sharing some stories in the library and the children telling me what sort of stories they enjoy. Our story of the week was Cave Baby written by Julia Donaldson. The children particularly loved the illustrations in the book. We then made our way to the Year 5 classroom to create some cave baby pictures using charcoal- sorry for the messy uniforms! I think you will agree, the creations are wonderful! As we had five minutes to spare at the end, the children recreated some imaginative art pieces on the playground. It was a fantastic first week in story club and I am very excited for all the fun this term holds!

Together in our assembly today, we were thinking all about relationships! We decided that the definition of the word relationship means “the way in which two or more people are connected.” This could be a friendship, a couple, family members, class mates and many more! We then reflected on our relationships at St Eanswythe’s; we are all a team at our school, we are all connected at our school and we all need to work together to make our school a happy place to be. We then put this to the test with a whole school game! We had to make a chain and pass a hoop between us without breaking the line. Everyone was cheering and supporting each other during the challenge creating a wonderful atmosphere for us all. It was fantastic to see the positive relationships we all have within our school!