PTFA Glow Party

A fantastic time was had by everyone who attended the PTFA Glow party on the evening of Friday 10th June 2016.

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.

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.

PTFA Welcome Party

Our fabulous PTFA held a welcome party this afternoon in the school hall to share some of the work that they do and get to know some of our new parents. The aim this year is to raise £4,000 for the school and fundraising events will start soon.

Today was a chance to get to know people over a cup of tea or coffee and a plate of sandwiches, crisps, fruit or cake, with the children enjoying a fun treasure trail around the school grounds for the chance to win that ever-popular prize: a balloon!

Welly Racks

A huge thank you to the PTFA for buying the new welly racks -they look great! Thanks too to Mr Baldry for making and installing them for us.

School Fete

We were blessed today with the perfect weather for our annual Summer Fete. The stalls were set with plenty of produce, and staff, parents, friends and pupils (past and present) were on hand to take advantage of all that was on offer. 

The highlight of the afternoon was the Watery Payback activity. Willing members of the PTFA and Mr Mansell sat in the firing line as wet sponges were hurled - with venom! - at their heads.

Of course, the fete would not be complete without the usual fun of the waterslide. The looks on their faces say it all!

A huge thank you to everyone who had a hand in organising the event. It was a great afternoon and I'm sure plenty of money was raised. Keep an eye out for the final figure when the coins have been counted.

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!

Welcome Party!

Last weekend's Welcome Party was a fantastic evening of dancing, food and the occasional beverage. An opportunity for parents and children, new and old established to get to know one another, the evening was organised by our wonderful PTFA. As usual Glenn provided the entertainment with an eclectic mix of music for all tastes, and the children (and some of the adults) enjoyed boogie-ing the night away and seeing how many balloons they could pop before it was time to go home.

Thank you everyone who came to support the event and all the behind-the-scenes people who worked so hard to make it a success.

School Fete

Despite all that the British weather could throw at us, yesterday's fete was a huge success. We enjoyed pony rides, a delicious BBQ, glasses of Pimms and lemonade, plus lots of the traditional games and stalls. There were even hair, nail and (fake) tattoo salons in operation, which proved extremely popular and resulted in many children going home with a different colour hair to when they arrived.

Early indications suggest that a good amount of money was made. As always, events like this need a lot of planning and hard work to make them happen, so we would like to thank all the members of the PTFA and everyone who had a hand in running stalls on the day.

Another Fabulous Family Fun Night

What a fantastic evening! We are so lucky to have such fantastic kids, wonderful parents and such a hard-working PTFA. We avoided the thunderstorms and enjoyed a beautiful summer's evening packed with fun. From the bingo and the quiz, to the films and the food, everyone had a brilliant time. And it was lovely to be able to sit up and chat through the balmy June night in great company.

As I lay awake in my tent at 3:00am listening to the sounds of the owls, early-rising cockerel and pheasant, and the distant 'eee-awww' of a peacock, I looked forward to the bacon butty and cup of tea in a few hours, and despite the lack of sleep, reflected on what a wonderful school we have.

Thank you to everyone involved in making the night so successful.

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.

PTFA Party

Despite the aches and pains brought on by excessive dancing, I had a fantastic evening at the PTFA party last night. There were lots of families enjoying the food and company and it was nice to see new pupils and returning ex-pupils getting stuck in on the dance floor.

Nights like this don't happen without a lot of planning and preparation and we must say a huge thank you to all the members of the PTFA who pulled out all the stops to make it a night to remember. 

School Fete

Today was our annual school fete, and what a day it was! The weather was perfect and pupils past, present and future turned up, eagerly dragging their parents behind them. There were stalls a-plenty run by parents, staff, members of the PTFA and pupils.

It was clear that everyone had spent a lot of time and effort preparing their stalls for the "best dressed stall award" and judging was very difficult. In the end, however, the adults' prize went to the Refreshments stall, which looked like something from the pages of Country Living magazine. The junior prize went to the French portrait artist who had captured the essence of the fete in his poster and taken the 'dressing' part of best-dressed stall personally.

Ever popular was 'Soak the Teacher' with a long queue of people putting their throwing skills to the test with very heavy wet sponges. I wished at times that I hadn't taught them how to throw so well!

Certainly the most popular activity of the afternoon was the water slide, with children queueing half the length of the field to have a go. Thank you to Mrs Barker for returning to man the hose!

A huge thank you must also go to all the members of the PTFA who worked tirelessly to organise, prepare and deliver a fun-packed afternoon. Now comes the job of totting up the takings. Thanks to everyone who put their hands in their pockets and dug deep for our lovely school.

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. 

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.

PTFA Summer Fete

This afternoon saw the annual PTFA Fete take place. The weather, considering the forecast, was extremely kind an a great afternoon was had by all.As always, it was great to welcome back so many past pupils and reminisce about 'the good old days'.

There was singing, a range of stalls and games, an on-site artist, hairdressing, scrumptious cakes, yummy burgers, sizzling sausages, plenty of liquid refreshment and the now traditional water slide and soak the teacher/headteacher/governor.

A great deal of effort had clearly gone into making today, not only a memorable occasion, but also into an event to generate money to enable the PTFA to continue in their sterling work in supporting the school.

A very big thank you, on behalf of the school, to everyone that made today possible in many different ways.

Creating the Fete Banner

This morning, the children who entered the 'Create a Fete Banner' competition, saw their designs become reality. We walked through the village to 'Ashwell Signs' where we were greeted by Nick Ashwell who had uploaded the designs onto a computer to create a final design which contained something from everyone's initial ideas.
With a flick of a switch, the large printing machine leapt into life and gradually the banner was produced. Mr Ashwell had kindly produced a magnet of the design for every child to take home. We look forward to seeing the banner outside the school early next week!

Celebrating the Queen's Diamond Jubilee

What a wonderful afternoon we had today! Princes and princesses, dukes and duchesses, courtiers and soldiers turned out in their finery. The hall was bedecked in red, white and blue, as were many of the staff and parents of the PTFA, when the children came out on parade around the playground.

After a rousing chorus of God Save the Queen, we settled down to watch the Queen's coronation. Following the pomp and circumstance which befitted the occasion, we began some celebratory games, including Queenie, Queenie, who's got the ball?, Pin the crown on the Monarch, Royal statues and a Jam Tart Relay. 

True to form, the British weather tried to dampen our spirits, but with a stiff upper lip we did what Brits have always done - reverted to plan B!

Some fantastic singing, including a performance of the Jubilee Song, Sing, composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Gary Barlow, gave us a respite from the worst of the weather. We then continued our games indoors.

Returning to the hall, the children were awed by the transformation. Thanks to the amazing efforts of the PTFA, the tables were lined with red, white and blue cloths, plates and napkins and a wonderful display of cupcakes in the form of the Union flag dominated the front table.
After a toast to the Queen, cucumber sandwiches, jam tarts and jelly were served to the ravenous hordes, who quickly demolished the lot.

The smiling faces show just how much the children enjoyed the afternoon, and I am sure it will be something that they will remember always. 

As with all events of this nature, without the hard work and efforts of the organisers it could not have gone ahead, and we owe a huge thank you to all the members of the PTFA who baked, served, washed, cleaned and tidied, and waved their flags vigorously to help us celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. 

PTFA Summer Fun Evening

Saturday 19th May - A headteacher's view

I decided to arrive well before the crowds to erect my tent following my tribulations last year. This did mean that I would be protected from prying eyes watching my frustrations (and blood blisters on my hands) grow. After an hour of struggling, I finally gained the upper hand having decided to read the instructions!

I was fortunate that soon after some of the 'cavalry' arrived and the process of setting up the hall could begin. By the 'magic' hour of 4 o' clock (the time for fellow campers to begin assembling their tents - see below) the hall was ready, the bingo cards were cut, the pens were in place and the quiz sheets were itching to be written upon.

 A rather professional looking barbecue quartet arrived a little unsure of whether the charcoal was of the correct grade to enable their cooking skills to be fully displayed. A quick trip to the garage rectified that, although this did mean we were a little behind schedule. However, a marvellous barbecue soon roared into life and soon the air was filled with the queueing masses using such terminology as, 'Can I have another, I've dropped mine?' 'Have you got any chicken?' 'How well done would you like yours?' and 'Make sure you save one (or two) for Mr Pearce.'

Then it was time for Family Bingo! The crowd were quite expectant as I fired the machine into life and tried to recall the correct bingo 'language' - unfortunately I think I visited the wrong website for that, so had to make some hasty changes.
After four rounds of bingo, the evening moved on to the Family Quiz. It was now 6.30pm and an eagerly anticipated burger (with onions) finally arrived. Gratefully received and devoured, it was now time to proceed with a challenging quiz with culminated with a picture round of 20 cartoon dogs. This was always going to decide the winners with Dum Dum (from Touche Turtle), Huckleberry Hound and Henry the Mild-Mannered Janitor (from Hong Kong Phooey) being the decisive answers. Well done to the winning team who fully deserved their hamper.
A short break and a change round in the hall (plus strawberries and cream, of which mine were mislaid) saw the start of our first film 'Puss in Boots'. This was followed by hot chocolate and cookies (mine were mislaid, again) and tehn our late night screening of 'Johnny English - Reborn'.
Plenty of laughs later, it was time for sleep. Well, not sleep, sort of being in a tent listening to lots of noise would better describe the next few hours. To be honest, not fully inflating my airbed didn't really help. There then followed some very funny moments which proceeded the dawn chorus (4.30am) and some children deciding at 5am that it was time for a game of football.
I dragged myself out of my tent at 6.30am to turn on the heating and water urn. Soon a group of fellow helpers keenly appeared as bacon rolls were made (then devoured) and dished out with lashings of hot tea and coffee.
Tents were gradually dismantled, cleaning commenced and things were looking good. In fact, we won't mention the bacon that was left in the oven, not after just one hour's sleep!
Seriously - a magnificent team effort with many people to thank for making such a successful event. Looking out on the playground last night made me feel very proud of our lovely school, everyone seemed so happy - thank you for all your support, hard work and dedication which enabled this to happen.
Time for a snooze!

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.