Some highlights aside from the excellent learning and teaching taking place every day in school.
Each week, we have been taking a group for an hour long cycle followed by riding drills to refine their ability on rough terrain. In this weather it involves lots of mud and hard work. At the end of each session everyone feels as though they have achieved something. As spring takes hold, the children might even finish the session with clothes of the same colour. (See the website for a full list of clubs)
On 7th February, Class 3 attended a Dance Festival along with other schools from the Watlington partnership. They practiced hard and obtained a lot of praise from the other schools for their performance.
Class 4 finally went to Chandlings Manor School last week, after the snow postponed the first date. Everyone was very impressed with their effort especially after a technological cassette-tape catastrophe left them singing with no music. Following the event the county adviser for Modern Foreign Languages came to Ewelme School to thank all the children personally for their participation.
Furthermore, over the last few weeks, links between the children of Ewelme School and Nolay School have been formally forged. Ewelme School children have had the chance to look at correspondence from Nolay School children and have begun to write emails in return. We hope that this partnership continues to grow in strength until a community visit to Nolay takes place. As our French teacher, Mrs Spence has also given every child in school the experience of a French lunch (food and language combined).
Class 1, 2 and 3 visited the Botanic Gardens last week. This involved a lot of compost but none of the children came back taller. Amongst other things they told me they saw pink bananas. As always the school was commended for the levels of behaviour and attentiveness displayed by the children.
The Eco Council successfully carried out a Swap Shop in Class 1 last week. Many items were bought and exchanged. The event had an excellent atmosphere and not much was left at the end. House Groups are not meeting this term but the School Council (Ewelme House Group Committee) continues to debate school issues from the children’s point of view. Most recently they have changed the school Grace and decided on a school resolution.
On Thursday 8th March between 9.05 and 9.40am the school invites anyone from the local community to make use of the school’s wireless laptops. This is not an open day, rather a chance for those who do not have a computer and/or broadband at home to make use of the school’s resources. I hope that this will become a regular and useful event for the benefit of the community. The school will gauge the response to this initiative to ensure it is worth continuing.
Did you know that Sunday Teas start again on Mothering Sunday (18th March) in the school hall. It is run by the Friends of Ewelme School (FOES) and, by tradition, is led by the males on Mothering Sunday.
The school website (www.ewelme.oxon.sch.uk) is in place with only a few pages left to construct. It contains information relevant to all members of the school community, not just children and parents. In the future the website will have a ‘forum’ style section. This will be used for constructive, interactive debate around school issues. In the meantime if you would like to make a comment or query please email office.3752@ewelme.oxon.sch.uk.
Andrew Markham, Headteacher