Day 2!

Today we learned something new…once one is awake, they’re all awake! But the sun was up with them and there was excitement as they got ready to head off for a lovely breakfast before tackling some new challenges. Today we had ‘Gauntlet’ – this is an extremely wobbly high rope activity with rope ladders and tyres thrown into the mix. Did this stop Willow Class, nope, they harnessed up and off they went each one setting themselves a challenge! With challenges achieved, they set off for the next ones, zipping off a high pole with smiles and determination and tackling the ‘Leap of Faith’ – rather them than us!   It definitely was a day filled with thrills and fun and lots of chattering and giggling along the way. We finished off with very loud ‘repeat after me’ songs and lots more that I am sure they will share with you tomorrow. Well done, Willow Class, you have certainly impressed us with your skills and determination once again.

Greetings from Willow Class. We have arrived safe and sound, and have done 3 exciting, energetic activities where climbing, pedaling and team work were involved. You’d think they’d be worn out, but a shower and a hot chocolate has re energised them – the night is very young! They are loving their new abode and have made themselves at home already! Tomorrow is another busy day with zipping around the place and tomahawk throwing – we hope we find a good hiding place! We hope you all are enjoying the peace and quiet and not missing us too much!

Another week has flown by… that probably has something to do with it being a 4 day week for some of us and a 3 day week for others. However, a short week doesn’t stop us from doing lots of fun learning!

Today the whole school celebrated the Coronation of King Charles III as he becomes our new monarch this weekend. We celebrated by wearing something red, white and blue and some of us even wore crowns. We were delighted to be met this morning by King Charles himself- who knew he would come all the way to Little Hadham. Thank you Mrs Battle for lending the cardboard cut-out, we loved it!

Unfortunately, the weather stopped us from having our planned picnic but we had had a fantastic coronation lunch ‘street party style’ indoors. We had so much fun even… if we did reach a fair few decibels above normal!

The children have been learning all about the King’s coronation and making fantastic crowns and wreaths. Here are 10 facts for you:

1. The coronation takes place at 11.00am on Saturday 6^th May 2023.
2. The official dish of the coronation is a coronation quiche!
3. We get an extra bank holiday day for King Charles’ coronation.
4. The coronation will take place in Westminster Abbey, London.
5. The coronation procession route is much shorter than Queen

Elizabeth’s.

6. During the ceremony, Charles will sit in an old wooden chair called the Coronation Chair, which was made in 1300!
7. King Charles will wear the St Edward’s Crown and Queen Camilla will wear Queen Mary’s crown.
8. The King has asked for 12 musicians to create music for the coronation.
9. There are 2,000 people attending.
10. King Charles III has a special coronation emblem

A big welcome back to you all.  I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful couple of weeks with your families over Easter. We certainly enjoyed plenty of chocolate and adventures in our household! It seemed earlier this week that spring had sprung. Hopefully the weather will continue to get warmer so the children can enjoy the wonderful outdoor environment that we have at Little Hadham Primary.

This week I’ve been blown away by the start to term from children across the school, with a purposeful and highly engaged return to school. Whether it’s our EYFS children making wonderful progress with their writing, watching Lime children sing their hearts out or Year 2 and Year 6 making such strides in their SATS preparation – I’m one proud Headteacher!

Remember to look at the class pages to see what your child has been learning this week.

Congratulations to our Year 5 and 6s who took part in a local schools competition at Bishop’s Stortford Rugby Club.  Mrs Goodger was proud of their excellent teamwork, and said they displayed fantastic passing and held an excellent defensive line. So much so they came joint first- well done everyone, what a fabulous achievement- you might be ready to take on Ireland next!

I would also like to give a special mention and thanks to the everyone for helping to get them their and to Peter’s mum for helping out and to Mrs Goodger for all her hard work organising and even washing the kits- we are lucky to have you!

Year 6 pupils have just completed the Bikeability course.

First pupils had to develop cycle handling in an off-road environment (the playground) to prepare for cycling on the road. Next the children learnt how to cycle on single-lane roads and simple junctions with moderate motor traffic flows. Apparently, they have been the best school so far this year so an extra well done to all who took part. Keep cycling!

Golden Morning is enrichment time, with a wealth of opportunity to practice, to enjoy or to learn something new.  Enrichment activities help our children here develop a love for learning in their own time, expand their mind and gain skills that will help them in the future. Learning outside the classroom also gives our children the opportunity to experiment which helps to build confidence as they learn new skills and immerse themselves in new experiences.

Each term we try to offer new and exciting activities for the children to participate in. Today the children had the choice of sport, cooking, coding, computer science, arts and crafts, origami, cheerleading and even had a go at being a Scientist.

The school was buzzing with excitement. In one class the children carried out an ‘owl pellet dissection investigation’. They used a bone chart to identify the bones they had found in the pellet and were able to identify rodents and shrews. Thank you Jono, for sharing your expertise. Also, it’s great to hear that Riley and Peter are scientists in the making!

Others were busy taking a computer a part and learning all their functions before putting it back together. Thank you to Sam our computer whizz for giving us your time- much appreciated and the children loved it! Also, well done Violet, I hear you may be taking over his job!

The cheerleaders learned some new moves and a routine in under 90 mins- well done and thank you Mrs Harvey! The aroma of baking scones was drifting through the school and I heard a child a saying isn’t that smell just beautiful- I agree, though they didn’t want to share! Thank you to Mrs Forgham- patience and delicious recipes- what a talent!

What can I say, Little Hadham Primary is a culturally and artistically rich environment for our children to  learn within, where our staff teach to the whole child (head, heart, and hands). This could definitely be seen today with the variety of arts and crafts on offer. We do pride ourselves on offering a wide range of creative opportunities that go beyond the National Curriculum and are so thankful for such creative staff to allow these activities to take place.

Today we were honoured to launch our very own in house Little Hadham Primary School ‘Off By Heart’ performance.

All our children from Saplings to Willow class performed a class poem ensemble. The children performed absolutely brilliantly and we are very proud of all of the children as they shared their poems beautifully – well done! Remember a joy when reading poetry is that you don’t have to read whole books in one sitting. You can dip in and out, share a poem and let it linger, talk about a poem, perform it and let it live within you.

Thank you to Mrs Tweedale for organising, it was such a fabulous way to spend a wet morning. I can’t wait for the next one.

Eight of our Year 5 mathematicians entered the HFL Education annual Year 5 Mathematics Challenge Competition and qualified for the final. This is a national competition for Year 5s across the country and is organised by the Herts for Learning. There were 260 teams, from Herts and all over England, both State and Independent Schools. Both teams entered the final stage and they got the 3rd and 4th places!

Thank you to Mrs Sassis, our Maths Coordinator here at Little Hadham Primary for organising and supporting the children. Mrs Sassis said that our pupils impressed with their team work and mathematical skills. Also, throughout the challenge they were smiling, working hard and eating snacks!

Well done to all, you were fantastic representatives of our school.

Today our Junior Dragons from Willow Class, had fun raising money for a charity called Space. This charity supports families of children and young people who are neurodivergent. They have now raised just over £400. In their Dragon sessions they came up with the idea for a Little Hadham Bake Off.

We are very proud of them as it is so lovely to see so many children working hard to help others. Thank you to Mrs Lloyd Williams for organising to take part in the Dragon’s again. They have really enjoyed learning from this experience and it’s so lovely to see them giving back to the community.