St Mary's CEVA Primary School

15/12/2011
Autumn term Highlights

Special events, with pictures

18/01/2012
Author Visit

Author Helen Moss visits - and adds us to her web blog!

13/02/2012
Spring Term - First Half

News summary this term, with pictures

You can view and download our latest newsletters online in PDF format from our Newsletters Page now...

Autumn term Highlights
(Added to website: 15/12/2011)

Special events, with pictures

Autumn Term 2011
All the children participated in an exciting ‘Everybody Writes’ event when we uncovered an old ‘time capsule’ full of dusty artefacts from the school’s past. The children all gathered together to inspect the contents of the ‘time capsule’, which then inspired lots of creative writing opportunities. The children had lots of ideas and produced lots of writing, including stories, diary entries and newspaper reports.
As part of the National Society’s celebration of 200 years of Church Schools, we held a special service, led by Helen Matter, the schools’ adviser from the Diocese. We were delighted to see former staff members join us to celebrate the school’s history. During the service, children shared their research about the history of Hadleigh schools and shared facts about what life was like 200 years ago. The special candle we lit during the service will be travelling to many other schools over the coming weeks. We are very grateful to all those who visit the school to contribute to Worship.
The Year 6 children enjoyed a fabulous residential trip in north Norfolk. Throughout the week the weather was glorious! Staff from the Aylmerton Field Study Centre ran workshops on habitats and coastal erosion. It was exciting for the children to see the evidence of this first hand in Happisburgh! Also, the children had a wonderful time exploring the marshes and beaches at Blakeney Point, where they were fascinated to see the seal colony on a boat trip. The children had a great time while also learning a great deal about the world around them. Thanks to all involved in making the trip such a success once again!
Our celebrations of 200 years of Church schools continued with a service at Westminster Abbey. A group of our children joined three other schools from the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich and other schools from around England and Wales. In total there were around 1700 children at this special event. One of our pupils was the proud banner-bearer for our Diocese when all the Diocesan banners were processed down the aisle. After the service, our group of schools was treated to a fascinating tour of the Houses of Parliament where the children learned all about elections, how laws are made and the daily goings on in the House of Commons and the House of Lords. We are very grateful to the researchers who showed us around and who engaged the children with interesting facts and stories. Apparently, the Queen was in Westminster Hall when we arrived in the building but sadly our paths never crossed!
Thank you to the children and parents who came to the service at St Edmundsbury Cathedral where the Diocese held its own special service to celebrate 200 years of the National Society and Church schools. The children paraded through the Cathedral with our own school banner before being entertained with singing and dancing. Thank you to everyone who helped to make our special banner, which will be displayed proudly at school. There are approximately one million children in Anglican Church schools in England and Wales and it is special to be part of this huge ‘family’ of schools.
For our Christmas productions from Early Years Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1, see under "Pupils - Productions".