Control Technology with K'nex

Children in Blue Class have been working on a project which combines DT, Science and ICT, to create controllable vehicles using K'nex.

The children began by following instructions to make a simple K'nex vehicle. They then worked out how to connect a motor to make the vehicle move.

Alongside this work, they were also learning about circuits in Science lessons, and how to write computer programs using flowcharts (control technology) in ICT lessons.

The children were set a final task of combining all that they had learnt to create their own vehicle, which would hold a FlowGo box.

These boxes could be programmed using Flowol software and have various outputs (e.g. motors and lights) connected, to bring the vehicles 'to life'.

Here are some of the resulting vehicles. Click on the pictures to see larger versions, and scroll down to watch some videos of the vehicles in action.

Christmas Wreath Competition Winners X2!

Children from Red Class were informed earlier today that they were winners of the Key Stage 1 category for their entry in the Suffolk Recycling Christmas Wreath Competition. Their design included a great deal of 'packaging' included in boxes recently delivered to the school.




There was further good news in the afternoon when Yellow Class were informed that they too had won a prize for their wreath which used a number of unwanted cds.


Well done to all children involved - really clever use of materials which would traditionally be 'thrown away'. For more details please visit www.suffolkrecycling.org.uk

Getting Ready for Christmas

Plans are well under way for Christmas. We've looked at the meaning behind Christingle.

We've looked at Advent.

Yellow Class have made wreaths of of recyclable materials and entered a Suffolk County Council competition.

Children have written gift tags for what they'd like for Christmas - well worth reading...

And children have made decorations for the tree, at home, having used recyclable materials. These have been absolutely brilliant so far and are still coming in.

Lunchtime Tchoukball Starts!

A new lunchtime club for children in Years 5 & 6 has recently started. Organised by the Fun At Breaktimes (FAB) team and Mrs Cardin, the first round of matches have been played.


There are 5 teams of 4 who play on a round-robin basis. Games last for a total of 10minutes.


Tchoukball is an attack-minded team game with few rules which makes it a high-scoring and end-to-end game.

Teams: Pack of Aces, Bolt Champions, Terminators, Girl Power and Bat Girlz. Looks like everyone is enjoying this so far...

Suffolk County Schools' Cross-Country 'A' Race

The fantastic exploits of our two cross-country finalists continued this morning at the Royal Hospital school, Holbrook. With nearly 90 finalists (from Years 6 & 7) who had qualified from all four corners of Suffolk, our two girls yet again did themselves, their families and school proud.

It was a beautiful winter's morning with a clear blue sky and the air filled with a mixture of muscle rub and bacon sandwiches!






Both children did tremendously well to finish in the top 50, with Imogen putting in a fantastic burst over the last 200metres to finish 8th.
Girls, we are so proud of what you have achieved, running against children older than you and from much larger schools. Thank you for your efforts - a really great start to the weekend.

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.