We recently had a visit from Kate who is a specialist dog trainer and behaviourist.

Kate held a very engaging and informative assembly to help the children understand how to behave around dogs and ensure they stay safe.

In her role, Kate educates children on understanding dog body language and practicing safe interactions with dogs. She helped the children recognise situations where it may be unsafe to approach a dog, and how to read dogs body signals both inside and outside of the home.

Last week we had a great trip to Brighton and Hove Museum and Art gallery. The children experienced a ‘Mummifying Workshop’, where they used a life-size rag doll to go through the process of an embalmer. The two important Egyptians were called Amir and Mo Salah and they even had their hearts weighed at the end of the session! There was so much to look at during the morning, there is a wonderful, thought provoking wildlife photography exhibition on at the moment. One of the rooms is named after Mrs Elaine Evans and some of the children managed to chat to her about how she helped to sponsor the exhibit of local people through the ages.

We had the most beautiful trip to Berwick Church. Catherine Marsh Lewis and Reverend Peter Blee organised a creative and informative morning. When we arrived we were shown around the grounds of the church, listening and looking for interesting plants as well as discussion about the sundial, a commemorative bird bath (instead of a headstone) and the war memorial. Afterwards, we went inside and shared the beautiful paintings which we tried to put in order of Christ’s life. One of our pupils was allowed to fill up the font and light the Paschal candle, another rang the church bell and two pupils read a short passage from the Bible. The passage was based on the Christmas story and linked to the main painting. We looked at the altar and shared the significance of it. We discussed the beautiful paintings by Duncan Grant, Vanessa Bell and Quentin Bell.

Willows have had such a lovely Christmassy end of term and really enjoyed performing their nativity. The children did so well and we are very proud of them.

Oaks Class had fun decorating biscuits and fairy cakes for Children in Need. The class really enjoyed making posters, setting up the stall and organising how much we should price different items.

Last Thursday, Maples had a really lovely day out at the Herstmonceux Science Observatory.

When we arrived we visited the Water Planet and created a working dam. Next stop, was the Robot Workshop where the children had to control the robotic hand by moving the switches and controls.

Later, they explored the science corridor full of exciting inventions.

Lastly, they watched the science show full of interesting facts about space.

Thank you all for the food you very kindly donated to the Hailsham Foodbank for Harvest Festival. We collected a total of 70 kg of food, which is absolutely amazing!

Thank you to all the parents and carers who were able to attend our assembly, the children really enjoyed performing for you.

The Year 6 pupils were lucky to have the opportunity to go to a Safety in Action session at Bushey Wood. The sessions are held to to enable them to develop their skills with the Ambulance/Fire/Police service/Railway safety and Coast Guards. They are very important sessions, especially as the pupils start being given more responsibility and independence as they start looking towards their secondary school transitions.

They were a credit to the school and were able to react quickly to different situations with good answers.

Well done Year 6!

Oaks have been visited by Chef John from a charity called ‘Table Talk’. He is helping our Year 5/6 pupils develop their interest in food and will visit Oaks for several sessions over the term.

During his first visit John helped the children explore the idea of using all of our senses to explore a small selection of food stuffs (honey, tomato, green ginger jelly, red peppermint jelly, samphire, sour dough bread) on their plates. They discussed the word ‘umami’ when tasting tomatoes. The children all had their own chefs hat and white apron – they looked great in them!

At the end of last term, Maples class visited Wakehurst place as part of their science learning. The children found out about seed dispersal by looking around the grounds and seeing which plants grew there. In the lab, the children used microscopes to study each separate part of a flower. Lastly, the children created some Andy Goldsworthy inspired art from foraged materials. A big thank you to our Maple children’s adults who supported us on the day and made the trip possible.