New Play Equipment

This afternoon, in assembly, the School Council unveiled some brand-new play equipment purchased for each of the classes. After much discussion and surveying during the term, the children chose and ordered a new balance bike for Red Class and a set of scooters for Yellow and Blue Classes.

They were very excited to show off their purchases, and reminded everyone about the importance of respecting the equipment by taking good care of it.

A team of year six pupils was tasked with the job of tidying the play shed at lunchtime, and did a marvelous job of organising the equipment. The new bike and scooters will now have a nice tidy home! Well done School Council for your hard work.

Pop-Up Café

This week the school council's hard work led to their first fundraising event: the Pop-Up Café. Following kind donations of cakes and biscuits from parents, and some diligent baking from pupils during the day, the doors were opened to paying customers, who were invited to take a seat and be served by the year six pupils and members of the PTFA. Drink orders were taken and plates given out. Customers were then asked to make their selection from the mouthwatering mountain of confection in the centre of the hall. It was hard to know what to choose, there being so many delicious-looking options.

The hall was heaving with people, and seats were soon full. A happy buzz spread through the assembled patrons, and money flowed almost as quickly as the tea and pink milk!

After some careful counting it can be revealed that the children raised a magnificent £220. UNICEF and Cancer Research are to be given 10% each of the money raised, with the remainder going towards the painting of the train - one of the chairperson's manifesto pledges. Who says politicians don't keep their promises!

A huge well done to the school council for all their hard work, and a big thank you to the PTFA for supporting them in the organisation and serving of drinks.

School Council Elections

Our school council elections were held last week and the first meetings have got under way. The chairman has clear plans and is very organised, with an agenda drawn up for the first meeting. Congratulations to all the candidates who succeeded in gaining a seat this year. To those who didn't, don't be disheartened. Keep trying and maybe it will be your turn next year.

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.

School Council Elections

On Thursday the school voted for this year's School Council Chairman and Vice Chair. Each of the three candidates pictured below were asked to write a letter of application which they read out in assembly on Tuesday. They each made a series of manifesto promises and the rest of the school were asked to judge them on their speeches and their ideas.

It was very tense as the votes poured in and the final tally was very close. With only one boy in year six this year, there was much talk about the possibility of a female Chair, but it was not to be. Our only year six boy took the role with 28 votes. With 23 votes, the position of Vice-Chair went to a young lady who only joined us last year and has clearly made a very positive impression.
Unfortunately not everyone could get the job, but the third candidate achieved an impressive 20 votes. Well done to all three of you for putting yourselves forward. The school looks forward to seeing the impact you will have this year.

More Photos from the Zoo

Colchester Zoo

Thanks to our School Council Chairman for some hard work and organisation, today the whole school set off to Colchester Zoo for an educational visit a fun-packed day out!

We divided into groups and enjoyed visiting the animals, as well as posing for photos.

The children behaved beautifully and everyone had a wonderful time. The pictures shown here are a selection of photos from three of the cameras we took. There are several other cameras with photos still to be downloaded, so check back for more pictures soon.

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.

School Council Elections

Yesterday the school turned out for the 'big vote' to elect a new chairman of the school council. There were only two candidates, so the pressure was on and it was a tense time as the votes were counted, but finally the result was announced in assembly.

As decision was made that although the winner of the vote would become the chairman of the council, the runner up would take on the role of vice-chairman.

Congratulations to both boys, pictured below.

Bring and Buy Sale

Earlier this afternoon, the School Council organised 'Bring and Buy' sale was held. The School Council decided that they would like to support the 'Treehouse' Appeal which is aiming to raise £3million to build a new children's hospice in Ipswich.
The children's efforts saw a tremendous total of approximately £160 raised when added to the recent income from the 'Come as you Please' day.
A very big, and grateful, well done to all of you involved.

New School Council Elected

On Wednesday 20th October, class elections were held for school council representatives from Reception to Year 5. This was followed by a whole-school vote on Thursday for the year six council chairman. This was a close-run election, and the winner came top by fourteen votes to thirteen.

I take great pleasure in announcing the new school council for the 2010-11 year.