Dear Parents,
It’s been another wonderfully busy week at school with lots of visitors and many highlights:
Year 5 Thaxted Music Festival
A report from Mrs Brogan… Members of the Brandenburg Sinfonia joined Year 5 this week. Dave and Ed (later joined by other orchestra friends) helped us create and compose a themed piece of music based on a haunted, abandoned house on a medieval street. We learnt how to write music with lyrics using a wide variety of instruments including: trombones, saxophones, the French horn, drums, ukulele’s, guitars, the piano and a keyboard. Every single one of us had a great time and were involved, whether we were experienced musicians or not. It was amazing to be able to write a story and create music to accompany it, hearing it come to life! We were able to perform our piece in assembly and felt extremely proud of what we had produced.
We were given tickets for the Thaxted Music Festival on the Friday evening which was held in the awesome Thaxted church. The acoustics were fantastic, echoing the beautiful music throughout the church and it was lovely to have the opportunity to see Dave, Ed and their friends playing together so wonderfully.
We were so pleased to receive many positive comments from parents and Governors. Here is a sample:
‘The performance was spine-tingling…Parents were really wow’d by the results – everyone clearly worked hard and had lots of fun preparing the performance. It was original, emotional and very much from the heart, and more than anything, all the children, whether they consider themselves to be musically-talented or not, clearly loved the experience. The performing children were so composed, attentive and quite rightly proud of what they were sharing…the rest of the school watched beautifully throughout. Thanks to Thaxted Music Festival and the school for making it happen.’
‘You should be very proud of the children who represented the school and attended Friday’s Thaxted concert… those that went were all amazing and a real credit to the school’
Trevor Hounslow, Artistic Director of the Thaxed Festival, has also emailed to say:
‘I want to record my thanks and congratulations to all involved in the recent project which was wonderfully brought together in the performance last Thursday afternoon. As an educator and musician, for me it is really important that the Festival supports the involvement of professional musicians like Dave and his team, to inspire a new generation of pupils. All of our evidence indicates that children who learn an instrument make wonderful scholars and have confidence, know about teamwork and have self-discipline which transfers to other subjects.
The excellent impression that the pupils created was enhanced by their concentration and fantastic behaviour at our concert the following evening. It was a real tonic to see them with Dave at the end and he felt like a pop star with his fans.’
Author and illustrator visit to Early Years, Year 1 and Year 2
A report from Mrs Espie…. On Wednesday we welcomed author and illustrator Peta Rainsford in to work with Reception, and Key Stage 1. Focusing on a different book for each class, the children became immersed in her rhyming texts and undertook a mix of English and Art activities. The children produced lovely illustrations, and were then hugely inspired to write their own stories. The children reported that they had had “the best day ever!”, and Bobby in Year 1 just wants to “keep on writing!”
District Sports – Wednesday 19th June
A report from Miss Branch… Members of KS2 went to Carver Barracks to compete in District Sports this week. It was brilliant to see how supportive the children were of each other – checking how they did after the events, encouraging and cheering as they ran past and even running with them up to the finish line for some extra encouragement. It was a super morning and the children seemed to really enjoy it. It was lovely to see the children competitive, but showing great sportsman behaviour at the same time!
Key Stage 2 Quad Kids – Friday 21st June
A report from Miss Branch…. A busy week for KS2 as on Friday some children went to quad kids at Newport after District Sports on Wednesday. The children represented the school well – both in their events and their support and encouragement of each other.
Review from Alec in Year 4…At Quad Kids we had 4 events one after another – howler, sprint, middle distance and standing long jump. We did all of these events – 4 children from each year group.
| Headteacher Awards – w/c 10th June | ||
| Effort: | Charlie – Year 2 | Zayn – Year 6 |
| Manners: | Bobby – Year 1 | Megan – Year 4 |
| Positive attitude: | Scarlett P – Year 1 | Hannah – Year 5 |
| Headteacher Awards – w/c 17th June | ||
| Effort: | Jack – Year R | Luke – Year 3 |
| Manners: | Ella – Year 2 | Oliver – Year 5 |
| Positive attitude: | Dot – Year 1 | Luke – Year 4 |
Finally, a huge thank you to the parents from Year 5 have also been busy finalising plans for the school
fete this Saturday 29th June. We look forward to seeing you all there, along with family and friends.
Coming up:
Wednesday 26th June – Y5/6 Rounders Competition at Howe Green
Wednesday 26th June – Reception Class 2019 – 1st induction session 1.45-2.45pm Thursday 27th June – Year 6 attending Crucial Crew
Thursday 27th June – Essex High Fives Finals Friday 28th June – Cake donations
Friday 28th June – KS1 Striking Skills Festival
Saturday 29th June – Henham School Fete, 12noon – 3pm
Tuesday 2nd July – Reception Class 2019 – 2nd induction session 1.45 – 2.45pm Tuesday 2nd July – Reception Class 2019 – Parents meeting
Friday 5th July – Class photos (not individual) Monday 8th July – New class taster morning
Monday 8th July – Year 6 taster day at JFAN and SWCHS
Tuesday 9th July – Mental Health Awareness Day – more details to follow Wednesday 10th July – Year 5 Road Safety Walk pm
Thursday 11th July – Year 6 taster day at Bishop’s Stortford schools
Friday 12th July – Sports Day – more details to follow
Tuesday 16th July – Year 5/6 Production dress rehearsal and filming
Wednesday 17th July – Year 5/6 Production to family and friends – pm and evening Wednesday 17th July – Reports to parents
Thursday 18th July – Whole School Open Evening – 3.15pm – 5.00pm Friday 19th July – Reserve Sports Day
Wednesday 24th July – Year 6 Leavers assembly Wednesday 24th July – Last day of term – 1.15pm finish Thursday 5th September – First day back for children
