Sports Day

What an exciting afternoon! This year our sports day had an Olympics twist to it. We began with our own opening ceremony, with each of the five teams (one more than normal to match the Olympic ring colours) parading around the playground and performing their songs and pom-pom routines. Each team had prepared a flag to represent their discipline and they looked fantastic as the children held them aloft.

The parade was followed by a rotation of ten activities, with some old favourites plus some new challenges such as archery and badminton!

The afternoon was finished off with the track events: sack race, egg and spoon race, skipping race and sprints, and the final traditional team relay while the points were added up.

In the end, the red team took the trophy, but everyone had a great time and tried their hardest.

A very big thank you to Mrs Barker for all her hard work in organising today. Super job!

You can find all of the photos below.

Watching the Olympic Flame Go By

Wow! In an already eventful week, this afternoon topped it off. The whole school bundled onto coaches just before lunchtime and headed over to Wickham Market school where we first welcomed the Pyramid Flame from Sir Robert Hitcham, Framlingham.

We then joined the crowds on a very busy high street to await the arrival of the real Olympic Flame bearer.



After an exciting wait, the moment finally came. A thrill of excitement buzzed through the crowd as the procession began.



This built to a climax when the torch bearer jogged by.



Although it only lasted a a few moments, I'm sure the memory will be treasured by all those present. A huge thank you to all the people who made today possible.



Follow this link for all the photographs.

Carrying the Torch for Earl Soham

This afternoon, year five and six pupils set off on the second leg of the Pyramid Olympic torch relay, taking the torch made by pupils at Easton on to Charsfield.

The torch made a grand entrance on board a gleaming green tractor, whereupon it was delivered to a representative from Charsfield school.

Having passed on the torch we were then invited to an afternoon of sporting activities. The children participated in a rotation of different track, field and court events prepared by our hosts.

The torch will continue its journey on to Dennington tomorrow, in the lead up to the real Olympic torch procession through Wickham Market which we will be attending on Thursday.

Olympic Torch Relay Begins...

This afternoon there was great excitement as the TMHS pyramid Olympic Torch Relay set off from Easton Primary School. The whole of Earl Soham, plus Year 3 & 4 from Eastom were present to see the torch handed over (to our youngest and oldest pupils) in style, having been delivered by what can best be described as a very large red tractor! The torch (see below) was designed and created by pupils at Easton Primary School. Over the next few days, the torch will be transported to Charsfield, Dennington, SRH Framlingham and finally ending up in Wickham Market on the 'official' torch day - Thursday 5th July.

There followed an afternoon of sporting activities between the Year 3 and 4 children from both schools which appeared to epitomise the true Olympic spirit.

Year 5 & 6 Mini Olympics

This morning, children in Years 5 & 6 took part in the latest mini Olympics event at Debenham High School. This had a slightly different format to previous events with the children choosing one individual event (high jump, long jump, javelin or 75m sprint) and one team event (handball, tag rugby or hockey). For the team events, all of the different schools were mixed together to create the teams.
Fortunately, the rain held off and everyone appeared to have a great time. A number of individual and team medals were won and a number of wrist bands were given to children for their efforts and attitude.

Year 4 mini-Olympics, Thursday 14th June

On a surprisingly bright AND SUNNY  Thursday morning the Year 4 children took part in their mini-Olympics at Debenham. The activities were slightly different to those seen at the previous events, but nonetheless they came back bedecked with medals, just like their predecessors.
Judging by the smiling faces, they all had a great morning. Thank you again to the adults accompanying them.   Well done Year 4.

Susan Webber - Double Olympian

On Thursday 14th June, we were delighted to welcome Mrs Susan Webber to our school. Mrs Webber, Senior Deputy Headteacher at Framlingham College, represented her country (South Africa) at the 2000 (Sydney) and 2004 (Athens) Olympic Games at hockey. She was capped an incredible 153 times for South Africa and captained her country at the 2004 Olympics.

Susan Webber during her final appearance for South Africa against Spain in the 2004 Olympics

Her presentation to the school included the history of the games, going back to Ancient Greece, and the re-introduction of the 'modern' games in 1896 following the efforts of Baron Pierre de Coubertin. Mrs Webber then talked about her personal experiences of life in the Olympic Village, the opening ceremony, partaking in hockey matches and her fond memories.
What was amazing was when she spoke about her introduction to hockey which she played from the age of 6. Mrs Webber explained that she simply 'loved' playing hockey with her friends and that she had an inspirational coach which made her want to play even more.


Mrs Webber, herself, is an inspirational person as well as an athlete. She stressed the importance of playing sport for 'fun' and as a great way of making friends. Her proudest moment was when she was in the South African team which defeated the subsequent gold medallists (Germany) 3 - 0 during the 2004 Olympics.
Her best friend, Pietie Coetzee, will be representing South African in the hockey tournament in the London 2012 Olympics.

Designing the Olympic Site

Last week during our Olympic Theme week, the children in Blue Class were set the task of working in teams to design the site for the London Olympics. These photographs show some of their work in progress.

They gave group presentations on Friday to present their ideas and showed some impressive thinking and design skills.

School Council Olympic Day - pm

My apologies to the council for the delay in posting these photos from the afternoon session - the mislaid camera was found!!
The activities in the afternoon proved just as popular as the morning - with hockey, football and basketball shoot-outs, and the always competitive cup-stacking!

I was very impressed with the girls running the gymnastics session. They had a great warm-up routine to music which had everybody joining in...

...followed by a carousel of activities based on the BAGA awards...

...and concluded with a cool-down (well perhaps more of a go- to- sleep because we're worn out!!)

Well done School Council and everyone who helped out - not forgetting the ladies who supported you at the tennis courts all day on Wednesday, and the Earl Soham Tennis Club for the loan of the court and equipment for the day.

Olympic Theme Day

When our school council chairman was elected, one of his promises was to hold a special Olympic theme day. With the support of the rest of the school council, today he was able to finally deliver his vision. After a lot of organising (and reorganising) the children all took part in a full day of sporting activities, ranging from ball sports, such as hockey, basketball and football, to track and field events, like high jump, hurdles and sprints.

The children were in year-group teams as they took on the different challenges during the course of the morning.

In the afternoon, all those who had signed up to compete in the four mini-tournaments (hockey, football and basketball shoot-outs, and speed-stacking) set off again, while the remaining children were treated to a gymnastics session, delivered by five of the more experienced gymnasts in Blue Class, under the supervision of Mrs Barker.

It was a mammoth undertaking, but the school council worked tirelessly to make it happen. Thank you to everyone who helped make the day a success. From the wonderful smiles on the children's faces, it was clear they had a fantastic time.