Summer is upon us and we are certainly enjoying the sunshine when it graces us with its presence! We are trying to focus our children more on thinking about nature and the world around them and using the opportunity to take our learning outside and into the real world as much as possible.

Reception children have been loving their Friday Forest School sessions on our school field, led by Mrs Becky Rice. Each week they have a new focus but every week is about getting outdoors, enjoying nature, learning new skills and experiencing hands-on activities, culminating in (safe) fire-lighting in their final session! We have also ordered an outdoor mud kitchen and outdoor science classroom which we are expecting delivery of after the summer holiday – these items were funded by our wonderful PTA and will really enhance the fieldwork we are able to do next year.

On Friday 27^th May, we commemorated the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Each year group learnt about the Queen in an age-appropriate way and all children were taught the national anthem. We then went onto our school field to sing together and wave our Union flags to celebrate Queen Elizabeth’s reign. Each child in EBPS was gifted a book from the DFE and a commemorative coin – again funded by our wonderful PTA. I know many children also enjoyed other celebrations in the village or nearby over the half term.

One of our key areas for development this year has been children’s writing. I am pleased to say we are starting to see real gains and improvement in this area thanks to the dedication of our teachers and the determination of our children. An important factor in this has been giving children a real purpose and audience for their writing to inspire them and make them want to do their very best. We have had some real successes with the children writing to real people and getting wonderful replies and gifts; most recently Sir David Attenborough wrote back to Georgina and Maisie in Year 5! Meanwhile, Year 1 are patiently waiting for their reply from Her Majesty or Buckingham Palace...

 Plans are well underway for our whole school sports day which this year we are holding on Earls Baton recreation ground (the “rec”). Thanks to the Parish council for allowing this to go ahead and to the Youth Club for allowing us use of their facilities on the day. Plan A is for Thursday 7^th July with a wet-weather back-up date of Thursday 14^th July. On these dates you will see 470 children proudly competing in their Commonwealth Country groups, trying to earn points for their team. We will be starting the morning around 9:30am with our opening ceremony dance and concluding with the medals ceremony around 12 noon.

I hope you have noticed the displays on our school railings on Broad Street: one welcoming Ukrainian refugees and the other celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee - both made by one of our fantastic teaching assistants, Mrs Kay Smart. I think they are a fitting tribute to the work which goes on in our school and are an outward sign of the values we live, breathe and promote to our children every day.