Christmas Party

The Christmas party was held straight after our Christmas dinner, and the children had a fantastic time 'busting some moves' to the latest tunes. The PTFA supplied snack bags and drinks and we had an exciting visit from the man in the red coat - Father Christmas!

Thanks to all who helped make the afternoon so special for the children. 

There are lots of photos to look through below, so grab a mince pie and a cup of tea (or a glass of sherry if you prefer!) and settle down to see the highlights.

Christmas Dinner

On Thursday lunchtime, members of the school community came together to share a delicious Christmas dinner. The children sat down with members of the PTFA, younger siblings, staff and governors to enjoy Caroline's amazing cooking. It was a fantastic meal; thank you for all your hard work, Caroline!

Christmas Carol Service

On Monday we held our traditional carol service in St Mary's Church. The children gave readings of the Christmas story, while children in red class formed a nativity tableau. We enjoyed performances from soloists, a recorder duet, and group carols and songs. It was a fantastic evening, and the church was packed as always. The service was followed by mulled wine (for the adults) and mince pies back in the school hall. Thanks to the PTFA for organising this. 

Well done to all the children. You gave amazing performances and sounded beautiful. We are very proud of you all.

PTFA Christmas Fayre 2015

Yesterday we held our annual Christmas Fayre, organised by our super PTFA. The hall was packed with people playing games such as 'pin the hat on Santa', and eating sandwiches, cakes and confections. There were Christmas craft activities to keep the kids busy, and a secret room where the children could find the perfect gift for mum and dad. The choir gave a performance of four Christmas songs, and it was great to see past pupils popping in to say listen and say hello. There was even a stall selling reindeer food and droppings!

Thank you to everyone involved in making the Fayre a success.

Christmas Party

This afternoon's fantastic Christmas Dinner (thank you, Caroline!) was followed by the children's Christmas party. The PTFA laid on food and drinks and the children danced to some "sick beats" - I think that means they were good songs...

The snow machine was a hit as always, and Father Christmas put in an appearance to deliver presents to all the children.

All in all, it was a wonderful way to end the term. Enjoy the photos below!

Christmas Carol Service

Yesterday evening the church was once again packed for our Christmas Carol Service. The children read beautifully and our reception pupils formed the Nativity tableau, bringing a tear to more than one eye.

They sang with gusto and made us all very proud. The service helped get us all into the Christmas spirit and ready for the exciting week of Christmassy (is that a word?) activities ahead.

Thanks again to the PTFA for providing mulled wine, sausage rolls and mince-pies back at school. Your efforts were much appreciated.

Christmas Party!

What a great afternoon the children had today! The PTFA pulled out all the stops and produced another fantastic Christmas Party, with a super DJ (complete with snow machine), delicious party food, and a very special visit from Father Christmas.

Everyone had a brilliant time, as can be seen from the photos below.



Thank you to everyone who made the afternoon so special.

Christmas Carol Service

On Monday evening children, staff, parents, grandparents and friends congregated in St Mary's Church for a celebration of all things Christmas. The service was an opportunity to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas, and involved all members of the school community. Many children had the chance to do readings and poems, and everyone enjoyed singing Christmas songs and Carols. There was the usual offering from the staff - this year a sketch and song (I'm Dreaming of a Quiet Christmas).

A parent captured most of the service on film for us, for which we are very grateful, and this is embedded below (in three parts).

Christmas Craft Afternoon

Thanks to lots of hard work by the School Council, this afternoon we had a fantastic afternoon of Christmas Craft activities.

Some of the results can be seen in the slideshow below. Everyone had a great afternoon and produced some super decorations to take home.

Talent Show

On Thursday we gathered in the hall for the highlight of the school year - The annual Earl Soham School Talent Show. What a feast of talent there was this year, with songs, dances, piano recitals, sketches, magic and even burping the alphabet!

Here are some of the highlights of the afternoon.

Wolsey Theatre Trip

This afternoon children in years 2 - 6 visited the Wolsey Theatre in Ipswich to see the latest Rock 'n' Roll pantomime, Sleeping Beauty...

King Candlestick Camelot is all of a dither. The Wicked Witch Morgana has put a curse on his little baby daughter and he needs all the help he can get. So he summons the fabulous Fairy Fanciful, her tomboy assistant Frederica, and his unlikely district nurse - the outrageous Dame Taffeta Trott. We saw their attempts to foil Morgana's evil plan to make her son Mordred King... 

Mr Mansell had another fabulous afternoon as Dame Taffeta Trott took a shine to him... again!

Christmas Party

The children enjoyed a fantastic Christmas party with a disco and a visit from Father Christmas!

Thank you to the PTFA for all their hard work in organising it. 

Christmas Carol Service

Last night St Mary's Church was heaving with people coming together to celebrate Christmas at our school Carol Service.
The service opened with a medley of Christmas Carols performed by the recorder group, which was followed by readings, poems and songs. Red class made a Nativity tableau, the choir sang beautifully and the staff choir finished the evening with a surprise sketch and Italian carol. What a fantastic night!



All of this excitement was followed by a party in the school hall to say a fond farewell to Mrs Barker, who is retiring at Christmas. We wish her all the best as she embarks on a new phase of her life, and hope that we will see her pop into school in the near future.

Christmas Crafts

We have been making use of our natural resources for some Christmas Craft activities this year. Our willow house was in need of a trim, and we decided to use the off-cuts to produce some woven Christmas stars. The children decorated them using floristry ribbon and will be bringing them home soon. We hope you like them.

PTFA Christmas Fayre

The afternoon saw the whole school community come together for the Christmas Fayre. There was plenty for the children to do with sand art, making Christmas decorations, hair styling and 'Gueuss where Father Christmas is' to name just a few.
Scrumptious refreshments were on sale and appeared to be enjoyed by many.
The hall had a lovely 'Christmassy' feel to it, with the marvellous tree really catching the eye.
The school choir performed magnificently with their two sets and brought the hall to silence and then rapturous applause.
It really was a marvellous event with a great deal of effort put into proceedings by our extremely supportive PTFA - thank you for another great occasion.

Merry Christmas

Wishing everyone, everywhere, a very 'Merry Christmas' from all at Earl Soham Community Primary School.

Last Day of Term - SNOW!

Just how much more can happen this week!?
At the end of this morning's 'karaoke' Christmas, much excitement was in the air as the first few flakes of snow descended. By lunchtime, the earlier 'wet' snow had turned into rather large flakes. It seemed too good an opportunity to miss, so those that wanted to had five minutes fresh air. Rosy cheeks and broad smiles in abundance.

Christmas Parties

The annual Christmas party, funded and organised by our wonderful PTFA, was soon in full swing this afternoon. The children (and staff) enjoyed dancing and singing along to a great set of tunes at the disco, and enjoyed an array of crisps, cakes and drinks.

Mr Pearce "got his groove on", setting the standard for the dancing...

...& the children adored the snow machine.

Everyone had a fantastic afternoon. A very big thank you to the PTFA for organising and paying for the disco and food.

Rock 'n' Roll Panto Trip

This afternoon, children in Year 2 - 6 went to see a fantastic performance of 'Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood' at the Wolsey Theatre in Ipswich. This traditional annual trip to see the Rock 'n' Roll Pantomime was yet again tremendous fun.It was a truly great afternoon with plenty of singing, dancing, innuendo, double entendres, slapstick and laughter.How we cheered brave Robin Hood and booed the nasty (or maybe just misunderstood) Sheriff of Nottingham.
However, the highlight for all connected with Earl Soham was how the pantomime 'dame' (Nelly) took a shine to our very own Mr Mansell - and didn't he just love it!Yet again, the children were a joy to take out and it was great to see them enjoying themselves so much.
Thank you to the PTFA for funding the transport.

Talent Show

On Tuesday afternoon, the children took their seats for the big event of the year: the Talent Show. On offer this year were a range of talents - singing and dancing, playing instruments, comedy, impressions and even a Zumba Fitness workout routine.

Below are some of the highlights of the afternoon.

Piano Recitals

"We Three Kings"

The Pink Panther Theme Tune

Theme from The Piano

Instrumental Pieces

"I Predict a Riot" by The Kaiser Chiefs

"Talking About a Revolution"

"Granite"

Dance

Smooth Criminal

Zumba Fever

Singing

"Jingle Bells" in Latvian!

"We Wish You a Merry Christmas"

And finally, with the winning entry...

"The Ash Grove"