Latest News

History Day

Tue 12 Jul 2022 Angela Brown

We have had a super History Day. The children all looked fantastic. We started the day with an assembly all about the history of our school. We saw historic photos and listened to a recount of Miss Catherine Granville who was a teacher at the school... can you believe she called the children 'wild beasts!'? The children in Trendle then used a real fountain pen to practise writing their name...some found this tricky. They then watched a snippet of The Borrowers which was originally written in 1952. Abbey class boys learnt about the school building and girls (as they would have done in 1940s) learnt how to sew. Just before playtime, we found out about the types of games children played in the 1940s and 1950s and at playtime, we took part in these games.
After play we learnt about what school was like. Children didn't wear school uniform because after the war, due to rationing, people used their rations to buy other clothes. We found out that all children walked to school...by themselves. Children started school after their 5th birthday and only moved up to the next class when they had learnt enough to move up. Judy showed us some old desks kindly brought in by Alfie Isles and showed us the ink well she would have used. She talked to us about discipline (which luckily is different to now). After this session, Giants and Trendle took part in a lesson children would have taken part in...a nature walk. Abbey class had a traditional arthmatic lesson.
For lunch, we enjoyed a 1940s/1950s style lunch of meatloaf or cheese, potato and onion pie and for pudding....jam roly poly!
In the afternoon, we had a talk by George Mortimer who showed us what Long Street looked like in the past. We then used boxes to recreate Long Street. These will be displayed at the event at the village hall on Tuesday evening next week.
Thank you to all the members of the community who came in today to share their knowledge. You really made our day special!

Our trip to see the Gaudier Ensemble in Church.

Fri 08 Jul 2022

The Cerne Abbas Music Festival is world famous and the whole school were invited this week to see the the Gaudier Ensemble play Berwald's Grand Septet in B flat major for Winds and Strings. The children were mesmerised and one little boy in Year 2 exclaimed when they had finished 'Wow I loved that I hope they play something else'. It was a real privilege to watch their rehearsal and a lovely experience for our children.

Jubilee Unveiling

Tue 05 Jul 2022 Angela Brown

Today we had the grand unveiling of our Jubilee mosaics. This was organised by local artists Sasha Constable and Becky Paton who worked with all the children to design and create these wonderful pieces of art. Local resident Kate Adie MBE unveiled these in front of the whole school and it was lovely to hear her talk about how these mosaics could be around for a very very long time. The children then sang their Jubilee Song to finish off the presentation.

Our Reflective Day

Mon 27 Jun 2022

Today we had a Reflective Day and everyone was encouraged to think deeply using a windows, mirrors and doors analogy. We started the day with the whole school gathering together and each staff member shared a special object or picture and explained why it meant so much to them. Children then visited each classroom in their teams and took part in activities to encourage deep reflection. Miss Trent's room experienced rock mindfulness and then painted their own rock, Mrs Brown had a prayer stations in her room to encourage children to think about various things they could pray about or reflect upon and in Miss Stephen' s room all of the children talked about and recorded why their objects, that they had brought in were special to them. We then gathered at the end of the day to share our thoughts about the day. We finished with a mindfulness activity and prayer led by the children. Spirituality is a golden thread of our curriculum and we love spending time just allowing ourselves to think more deeply about things.

Burying Our Time Capsule

Mon 27 Jun 2022

We buried our time capsule this week in the Peace Garden. It was filled with messages to the future children explaining what we did to celebrate the Queen's Platinum Jubilee and Jubilee memorabilia. We sang our Jubilee Song and every child in the whole school put some earth on top the capsule to help bury it. It was a very memorable occasion and very touching. The site is now marked with a plaque.

Our Jubilee Art Project

Wed 08 Jun 2022

To celebrate the Queen's Platinum Jubilee the children worked with 2 local artists Becky Paton and Sasha Constable to create 2 mosaics that represent the children's ideas and designs of the Jubilee. These will be placed outside of our school for all to see and remember this special event. Please enjoy looking at the photographs of the creation.

Our Jubilee Song and Day

Fri 27 May 2022

We had an amazing last day of term celebrating the Queens Platinum Jubilee. Activities included making crowns, parading them around the village, designing individual family crests for a commemorative tea towel and writing extracts for a time capsule which we plan to bury in our Peace Garden for future generations. The highlight of the day was our playground street party. The sun shone for us and it was a fun and happy day. As one child said 'it was the happiest day of my life.' Please enjoy listening to our Jubilee Song. (just click on the text below).

Our Jubilee Song

Rich Parker Inline Skater

Wed 18 May 2022 Angela Brown

We have had a fabulous and energetic afternoon with Rich Parker our inline skater professional athlete. He arranged a circuit for us all which was very tiring! He talked to us about his sport and the equipment he uses including all the safety equipment. He explained how important it is to wear helmets when on our bikes, scooters and skates. He talked about how he got into skating and his determination to keep practising. With lots of practise, he became the fastest skater in his class. He saw a competition called the X Games. He explained how he watched the best people in the world performing. Rich started on one small ramp and kept going until, at the age of 12, he was able to ride on the biggest ramps. Rich knows 40 different tricks. He started learning backflips at 13 and retired at 33 by which point he had done 10,000! At 17 he won the British championships and at 18, he qualified for the world championships where he was the only British competitor. Unfortunately, he injured himself and had to leave the competition. He talked to us about how he had two choices, to give up or to put it behind him and try again. He then won the European championships five times. He is very proud of his X Games medal. He talked to us about persevering to achieve your goals. We then watched him perform. Mrs Nottley was brave enough to accept his invitation. He then asked for another volunteer and Mrs Parry joined in.... and then Mrs Cresswell! Rich skated and jumped straight over them! He is so skillful! What an inspiration. Thank you so much Rich!

Easter Bonnet Parade

Fri 08 Apr 2022

We celebrated the last day of term before the Easter holidays with an Easter Bonnet Parade around the village. Lots of parents and friends turned up to see the children's wonderful creations. The vicar judged the best hat from each class and everyone joined us to see the presentations at the village hall. It was a lovely way to celebrate the end of term. Happy Easter everyone.

Mother's Day Singing

Tue 05 Apr 2022

On Sunday we celebrated Mother's Day in our church with our school choir called 'The Hummingbirds' and some of the children from our other classes. The choir sang a song that they had written themselves 'I Love You to the Moon and Back' and were then joined by the other children to sing'Higher and Higher.' It was an absolutely lovely service and all of the children sang beautifully. The service finished with the children handing out posies of flowers to the ladies in church. Well done children we were very proud of you all.