Friday 15th July 2022

The Eastnor Express

"To Inspire and Achieve"

Reading Raffle Winners!

There were many reading raffle tickets given out across the school this week! Raffle tickets are awarded to those children who read 3 or more times during a week. A child from each key stage is then selected at random and, as our reading champion of the week, they get to choose a book to take home.

Our winners from this week are:

KS1 - Joe H

KS2 - Pippa

We know many of you are busy and the children have lots of other things to work on outside of school however, we can't stress enough how important it is to their reading and writing development that they read often.

Well done to those children who received raffle tickets this week. Keep up the fantastic reading, as not only will you be in for a chance of winning the raffle but you are helping yourself to become a confident and competent reader!

Term dates 2022 - 2023

Autumn term 2022

Term Begins: Tuesday 6th September 2022

Friday 7th October: Half Day - Cluster School Training/Curriculum Time (Afternoon Session)

Last Day of Half Term: Friday 21st October 2022

Back to School: Monday 31st October 2022

Last Day of Term: Friday 16th December 2022

Spring term 2023

Back to School: Wednesday 4th January 2023

Last Day of Half Term: Friday 17th February 2023

Back to School: Monday 27th February 2023

Last Day of Term: Friday 31st March 2023

Half Day - Cluster School Training/Curriculum Time (Afternoon Session)

Summer term 2023

Back to School: Tuesday 18th April 2023

May Bank Holiday: Monday 1st May 2023

Last Day of Half Term: Friday 26th May 2023

Back to School: Monday 5th June 2023

Friday 30th June: Half Day - Cluster School Training/Curriculum Time (Afternoon Session)

Last Day of Term: Friday 21st July

Teacher Training Days/Professional Days

Monday 5th September 2022

Tuesday 3rd January 2023

Monday 17th April 2023

Monday 24th and Tuesday 25th July 2023

Pupil Voice

Class 1 - Julia ”I worked hard to sound out the words”

Class 2 - Edwin and Mable were proud of their moving vehicles made on DT day.

Class 3 - Thomas - I'm proud of how my box looks and the way I've covered it.'

Class 4 - Milly: I’m proud of my steady hand game that I made in DT because it actually worked first time!

Welcome back Mrs Driscoll

Today, we welcomed Mrs Driscoll back to school following her maternity leave. The children and staff gave her a very warm welcome.

Leavers Disco

Last Wednesday was the end of term disco and what a fantastic night we all had! The sun was shining and the children were dancing the night away. It was wonderful to see all of the children dancing together, younger and older ones giggling and hugging and showing how much of a big family we truly are at our school. The teachers really enjoyed watching the children showcase their best dance moves and some even joined in themselves. A big thank you to the PTA for organising this fantastic event.

Eastnor Adventure Day!

What a fantastic day the children had on Adventure Day. The children had 4 different activities to complete throughout the day.

One activity was orienteering led by Mrs Dawe, the children all enjoyed working out the clues..

The children also completed a forest school based activity with Mrs Scull making leaf prints by hammering on hessian bunting. They followed this by making natural printed paper.

We had a very exciting activity to complete on the playground. The children had the opportunity to play in a Samba drumming band.

The final activity saw the children enjoying our castle grounds, in particularly the amazing adventure playground..

Leavers Day Out

The Year 6 leavers’ had a lovely day today to celebrate the end of their time at Eastnor. We headed to Wyedean Canoe and Adventure Centre at Symonds Yat for a morning of fun activities including canoeing, rapids and games. The weather was beautiful and it was lovely for the children to be able to be by water in order to keep cool. The instructors at the centre were fun and informative and the children had great fun. We then had a picnic after the activities and it was lovely to be joined by some parents of our leavers. We hope that this fantastic group of children made some more memories together before they head off to secondary school in September. Thank you for making it such a fun day for the adults too! Miss Patchett, Miss Watson and Julian had a great time.

Goodbye and Good Luck Year 6!

We have been so proud of the Year 6's this year. Despite the curriculum objectives and the SAT's tests for Year 6 children being reintroduced as in previous years, the Year 6's this year have met every challenge with a smile, a spring in their step and a positive attitude.

They have tried their very best, and have really relished all enrichment opportunities, such as their residential trips and arts projects, and have had a thirst for knowledge and a desire to learn.

We wish each and every one of them the very best as they make the next steps in their journey, and hope that all of them keep their creativity, enthusiasm and zest for life.

We will miss you all and hope you come back to see us one day!

DT Day

Class 1:

What a busy day we had in reception on DT day this Monday. The children designed, made and reviewed their very own monster puppets thinking carefully about the best way to attach their decorations and how they would ensure the monsters were able to stand up. Some children designed friendly monsters who would help them to sleep and others designed ferocious monsters. The children have also been very busy junk modelling all week, focusing on joining methods and use tabs to secure different boxes and tubes together.

It was fantastic to see the children’s designs come to life and to see them overcome challenges and problems as they arose. Well done Class 1, you never fail to amaze Miss Fisher and Mrs Layton.

Class 2:

Class 2 were challenged with a mission to turn a box into a moving vehicle. After looking at some moving vehicles and learning about the wheels, axle and axle holder, we explored making an axle with wheels. We then moved on to some trouble shooting, helping to solve problems about why some vehicles weren’t working. Finally, we designed our own moving vehicles before making them. The children showed great team work, perseverance and problem solving skills. Well done!

Class 3:

On Monday, Class 3 had an amazing time making toys using a pneumatic system using a box and a balloon. Having discussed what pneumatic systems are the children investigated the power of air and what they could lift with just breathing. After designing their box, the children began constructing their toy. They all did a fantastic job, in making their game work, so that when they blow into the tube, the lid or the top of the mouth in some cases would lift up and you would see the balloon which the children had drawn on it, using their design. The children used such great teamwork, resilience and a 'can do' attitude to achieve such great results.

Class 4:

On Monday, Class 4 had a fantastic time making electrical steady hand games from scratch using their design skills and knowledge of electrical circuits from Physics. Having designed the shape of their wire and considered how difficult they wanted their game to be, the children then began to put the circuit together. This was a process that required resilience and problem solving skills because, on lots of occasions, the circuit did not work the first time and the pupils had to find and fix the fault. All of the games are different and show the children’s unique style; it was brilliant to see them feel such a sense of accomplishment. I can only apologise in advance for the beeping that you will hear when they bring them home!

Bircham's Grange Visit

On Tuesday morning, five year 5 children were invited to Bircham’s Grange to share some poetry. The children sat outside with some of the residents and took it in turn to read some poems. The lovely ladies and gentleman from Bircham’s Grange shared some poems that they had found about summer time and one about school memories. The Eastnor children shared some poems from our core text and two also about summer time. It was a pleasure to spend this time at Bircham’s Grange and to chat to the residents, some of whom are people who the children have shared correspondence with at Christmas and Easter in months gone by. We hope to make some more plans for activities, crafts and quizzes next year. Many thanks go to the management at Bircham’s Grange for inviting us as part of Ledbury Poetry Festival.

Ledbury Masons Visit

We were delighted to welcome Harold Sparrey and Paul Finlay, from Ledbury Masons, in to school on Tuesday to see the iPads that they had donated.towards in action.

The children were so engaged in their learning and loved showing off their computing skills from making an imovie with a green screen to making Word Art to review their core text.

Goodbye Miss Patchett, Ziggy and Miss Fisher!

We will be saying a fond farewell to Miss Patchett, Ziggy and Miss Fisher next week. They have all been loved and respected members of the Eastnor team and will be missed by everyone. As they begin their new adventures everyone would like to thank them for the wonderful contribution they have made during their time at Eastnor.

Goodbye and good luck Miss Patchett, Ziggy and Miss Fisher!

Miss Patchett has promised that Ziggy will be a regular visitor to school.

New Benches!

What a lovely surprise coming in to school and seeing two beautiful new benches in the playground. They have been kindly donated by and Darren Cooke and Seb Fell from SF Benches. Seb is much loved former Eastnor pupil.

LEAF Fun Day

Glazydayz Winners!

Our "city of flowers" tiles are back from firing at Glazydayz now and wow, what a creative bunch of children we have at Eastnor. For the competition side of the project Reverend Joan was our adjudicator and commented "This might be the hardest thing I have ever done, they are all so beautiful and individual and the children should all be very proud of themselves." however, after some careful consideration Reverend Joan selected one tile from each class, who will now be in with a chance of winning a family pass to LakeFest.

The tiles through to the final are:

Class 1 Lilah (Crown)

Class 2 Josh O (Star)

Class 3 Anna O (Heart)

Class 4 Izzy L (Square)

The tiles will now be posted onto the LakeFest social media where the public will decide the winner, so keep your eyes peeled and vote for your favourite!

Fantastic Flute and Piano results!

Congratulations to Lorna in Class 3 who had fantastic results in her piano and flute exams, with a merit and a distinction. We are very proud of you Lorna.

Class 1234

Class 1 -

What a wonderful year it has been and it has been so difficult to pick a highlight when we have had so many. My personal highlight has been getting to know all the children and watching them flourish and grow. I can’t quite believe the tiny, shy children who joined us in September are now the confident, kind and enthusiastic children who are such an integral part of the school. Every child has brought a smile to mine and Mrs Layton’s face every day and we both have every confidence they will continue to Thrive in Class 2. I also thoroughly enjoyed the trip to The Cotswold Farm Park, seeing the children interact with the animals and learn all about lambing was a joy to watch and I especially enjoyed the bouncy pillow where every child (and every adult) had lots of fun bouncing, sliding and laughing together. Here are a few of the children’s highlights.

“I like seeing the Gruffalo when we went on the bus to the Gruffalo trail. We had a picnic.”

“I liked it when Jovi came to visit and taught us all about Guide Dogs and how they help blind people.”

“I liked it when the police man came in and he locked me in his van.”

“My favourite part was the bouncy pillow at the farm park because we were all bouncing really high, even the teachers.”

“My favourite was when we made pizza, it was delicious.”

“I like playing with my friends at forest school and jumping in the muddy puddles on Welly Walks.”

Class 2-

After a discussion, Class 2 decided our most favourite memories this year were our trips to West Midland Safari Park and the Mosque in Gloucester. We were wowed by the animals at the safari park and had such a fantastic view of them from our coach. The mosque was so interesting for both the children and adults who visited and we learnt so much about Muslim worship. Other highlights of our year were the whole school production of Oliver, the Summer walk and the ‘Great Fire of Eastnor’. We also all said one of the best things about this year was being together. Class 2 have been amazing this year and I have loved being their class teacher. I wish them all happiness and sunshine for the summer and good luck in their new classes in September. I will miss you all.

Class 3- What an amazing year we have had in Class 3, it has been so good to be able to take part in so many extra activities that used to be 'normal'.The children make every day special and always impress everyone who works with them with their resilience and great attitude to learning. When asked, the children's' favourite memories are: Our trip to Toddington Railway and being evacuees for the day, learning the songs and taking part in Young Voices, Lifepath, welcoming Molly and William to our class, Swimming, all the sports teams, the Easter egg hunt, the return of the Eastnor bells and being part of Oliver. It has been a very busy and enjoyable year. I wish you all an amazing, fun filled Summer and can't wait to welcome you all back in September.

Class 4- It has been a fantastic year in Class 4, made particularly memorable by opportunities to take part in enrichment opportunities that have not been possible in previous years due to Covid. When asked what their favourite parts of this year in class 4 have been the children listed: residential; sport’s day; DT day; moving up in September; the return of hot dinners; our trip to Worcester Commandery on the train; PE and sports fixtures; the Easter egg hunt; Art lessons; celebrating the Jubilee; the school production of Oliver!; meeting Michael Rosen; Bikeability and many more. Chatting to them about their highlights of the year has reinforced just how busy it has been and how much fun we have had. It has been a pleasure to watch the children in Class 4 learn, have fun and grow this year and all of the staff who work with them feel privileged to do so. I would like to wish the Year 6 leavers all the best of luck in the future and cannot wait to welcome the new class in September.