Earl Soham's Anti-Bullying Campaign

To fit in with Anti-Bullying Week, a series of assemblies have been held relating to the subject. We began by looking at the story of 'Patch the Botherer' - showing how being unkind affects so many others when the 'character' involved may not even realise what they are doing is wrong.

We also looked at the different kinds of bullying (verbal, physical, exclusion and cyber) and how these could be dealt with. The important message was that bullying cannot be allowed to happen and that the most important thing we can all do is make sure that we tell someone. Very often this is the first step to bullying being eradicated.

We also looked at the fact that bullying can really hurt our 'insides' and that this isn't visible like many other ways that we can get hurt.

A group of children in Blue Class were keen to show how we can all deal with bullying and wrote and performed a short play at the end of the week.

Blue Peter Appeal - Operation Smile

Members of the School Council have done a fantastic job in advertising and promoting our efforts to support the 'Operation Smile' appeal being co-ordinated by Blue Peter. They held an assembly and wrote a letter to all parents explaining their plans.

The afternoon of Monday 23rd November saw all three classes mix up and work together, many children with their brothers and sisters.





They produced a fantastic 67 operating gowns which children in india, undergoing operations for cleft lip and palette, can wear saving £3 per operation.

Remembrance Day

All children at Earl Soham marked the passing of Remembrance Day with the traditional two minutes silence. The bells St. Mary's church fell silent as children and staff took part in an impeccable act of remembrance.

On returning to class, many children watched coverage of the service from Westminster Abbey where the brother (who is in the Coldstream Guards) of one of our pupils was carrying the Union Flag. This really seemed to bring the whole occasion 'home' for the children.

Children in Blue Class worked on making poppies and 'peace' angels and developed and wrote messages of peace. They were all extremely thoughtful, with the following by Alexia and Luke being particularly so:

'Hope brings peace and peace brings hope.'

Children also visited the war memorial in the church grounds, paused for reflection and laid crosses.

'We will remember them.'

Guy Fawkes Morning

To celebrate the capture of 'Guido' and the foiling of the Gunpowder Plot, Yellow Class spent the morning undertaking a variety of activities related to the event of 1605.

Children wrote poems...

Rockets were made...

Interactive quizes and firework safety activities were completed on the internet...

Children put the events surrounding the Gunpowder Plot in the correct order...

All-in-all, the children had a great time and learnt a fair bit about why we: 'Remember, remember the fifth of November'.

REMEMBER:

Fireworks are great to watch, but please be careful and follow the FIREWORK CODE:

Keep fireworks in a sealed box or tin

Use them one at a time, replacing the lid immediately

NEVER put fireworks in your pocket

Read the instructions carefully, using a torch or hand lamp NEVER use a naked flame

Light fireworks at arms length using a taper or firework lighter

Stand well back and NEVER return to a firework after it has been lit

NEVER throw fireworks

Keep all pets and animals indoors

Take care of sparklers, use gloves to hold them and dispose of sparklers in a bucket of water as soon as they are finished

Enjoy and stay safe

Autumn is Definately Here!

The children returned to school yesterday , following a much needed half-term break, on a beautiful autumn day. There were leaves scattered all over the playground and some 'hardy' volunteers set about sweeping them up and putting them in the composting bin.

However, time at school certainly doesn't stand still and another group set about planting bulbs which will (hopefully) burst into life during spring.

Today, we were given the 'full dose' of what autumn can bring with torrential rain and soggy children. What joys our unpredictable weather brings us!