Read below to find out more about some of the different activities we have been getting up to; from sporting and musical activities, to visitors and 'wow' days. We are looking forward to helping our children 'explore and grow' further in 2023-24.

• Easter Celebrations

  Thu 26 Mar 2015 M Davis

  Our Easter Celebrations started a little differently this year.

   

  We began our service in the school hall, singing together before beginning our walk up to the parish church behind a cross. Year 5/6 took it in turns to help carry  the cross in our own Walk of Witness. This prompted much discussion as each child found the cross, though initially 'light', got heavier as they walked. There was also discussion about the barbarity of crucifixion, and how this was a normal punishment in Biblical times.

   

  Once we arrived at the church, KS2 led us through the Easter story, interspersed with some enthusiastic singing. Cathy Dyson then said a few words before a rousing rendition of 'Celebrate'.

   

  Many thanks to the members of the congregation who provided drinks and hot cross buns before our walk back to school.

   

  Back at school there was egg decorating to be done before our Easter lunch, ably prepared by Lizzie.

   

  The afternoon heralded the traditional egg rolling, egg and spoon race and crème egg hunt. Well done to all those who won.

   

  A good day was had by all!

• Spotlight Dance

  Wed 25 Mar 2015 M Davis

  We have had two successful performances at the Spotlight Dance Showcase over the past two days.

   

  Our 'Carwash' dance was enthusiastic and well choreographed and the children were a credit to themselves and to the school, not only in the way they performed, but also in their exemplary behaviour backstage. It is never easy to stay quiet!

   

  Thank you to all those parents and relatives who ensured that the children arrived and were collected on time from the new venue in Stamford. We hope that those in the audience enjoyed it as much as those on stage.

• Solar Eclipse

  Fri 20 Mar 2015 M Davis

  We were outside with our pinhole camera paper plates this morning to try and see the eclipse as it happened. Once we had worked out how to use the plates and line up the pinhole, we were soon able to view the moon moving across the sun.

   

  It didn't go as dark as we expected, but we noticed that the birds stopped singing as it got darker, and we were able to see the shape of the sun change using the pinhole projections.

   

  Once the birds started singing again we went inside an enjoyed a day filled with Solar Eclipse themed activities. KS2 even considered what would have happened if the eclipse had got 'stuck' and the sun hadn't reappeared!

  

• A Visit from the Rt Hon Sir Alan Duncan MP

  Fri 20 Mar 2015 M Davis

  This afternoon we had a very important visitor to school. Sir Alan Duncan, MP, visited our school to see what we were doing and to speak to Mrs Davis.

   

  Mrs Davis wrote a letter to the Secretary of State for Education, Nicky Morgan MP,  a few weeks ago, telling her all about our school and what it is like to teach in a small school. She copied the letter to Alan Duncan as our local MP. Alan Duncan then contacted the school to arrange to come and visit us and see us in action.

   

  Alan Duncan visited each class and spoke to the children about the school. He asked Class 1 what they knew about the government and where he worked and they were able to share what they had learnt about taxes in their RE lesson on Zaccheus the day before! In Key Stage 2 the children were writing about the eclipse and talked to him about what it would be like if the sun disappeared permanently.

   

  Mrs Davis, Mr Chalkley (our Chair of Governors) and Mrs KK were able to talk to Mr Duncan about the challenges small schools face and a little about the way our school works.

  

• KS2 Rutland Water Trip

  Wed 18 Mar 2015 M Davis

  KS2 enjoyed some lovely weather today on our trip to Rutland Water.

   

  Following work with Mr Marks in the classroom looking at the creation and use of Rutland Water, we took a trip out to see it for ourselves and talk to people who work for Anglian Water.

   

  Our two guides were very informative.

   

  We started the morning on the dam at Sykes Lane, looking at how and when Rutland Water was made, how long it took to complete and when it was eventually full. We also talked about how the dam is constructed. (Did you know that when you walk on the top of the dam, you are actually walking on the top of a triangular prism?) We peered through the mist to try and see Normanton Church and also discussed the function of the limnological tower.

   

  We then travelled further round Rutland Water to Whitwell to look at and discuss the different groups that use Rutland Water and how Anglian Water provide for all the different activities.

   

  Our last stop was the Bird Watching Centre at Egleton, where we ate lunch before spending time designing our own reservoirs. We started the activity by looking at a map and deciding the best place to put our reservoir. This was more difficult than it first looked as we had to consider contour lines, towns, villages, woodland, roads, bridges and archaeological sites! Once we had decided on our location, we were then asked to decide what activities we should provide. This also led to some interesting discussions as to where the money comes from to build reservoirs!

   

  The children had a lovely day, as did the staff, and it was great to complimented not only on the behaviour of the children, but also on the varied and interesting questions that they asked.

• Red Nose Day 2015

  Fri 13 Mar 2015 M Davis

  The school was a riot of red on Friday 13th March for Red Nose Day.

   

  The school council organised a variety of activities to raise money for Comic Relief. The children all came in non-uniform and many of them had made their faces 'funny for money'. During the day the children took the opportunity to guess the number of sweets in the jar. The results were announced in assembly, and Ellie was very pleased to win the jar of sweets with the closest guess to the actual number (132). Then came our 'funniest joke' competition. All the contributions were funny, and Mr Marks and Mrs Davis may 'magpie' a few ideas for the next pantomime. After a lot of discussion by our expert panel (thank you Olly, Sky and Mr Marks), Katie was declared the winner. She not only told her joke, but dressed to match the punch line!

   

  Mrs KK is still counting our total, which will be added here as soon as possible.

• Assembly on Judaism

  Thu 12 Mar 2015 M Davis

  Our assembly today was led by one of our governors, Mrs Linda Edwards, who came to tell us all about her faith, Judaism.

   

  Linda came to share with us what it is like to be Jewish and particularly what happens on the Jewish Sabbath.

   

  Linda has two different sets of crockery; one for meat and one for dairy. She also has different sets of saucepans and different washing up cloths and brushes for the two different sorts of food. We learnt all about the tradition of sharing a family meal together on a Friday night. We heard some of the prayers that are said and saw the family candles and crockery that Linda uses each Friday when she shares her Sabbath meal with her family.

   

  The children always look forward to the special food that Linda brings with her when she visits. This time she bought some special bread to share with us, and we also all shared some grape juice. These are both shared by Jewish families at the beginning of their Friday night meal.

   

  We are very grateful to Linda for coming in and sharing her faith with us. She is always very supportive of the school in her role as a governor and we are very lucky to have her on our governing body. The children always enjoy her assemblies.

• Whole School Non-Fiction Writing Morning

  Thu 05 Mar 2015 M Davis

  On World Book Day years 1-6 worked together in the hall to develop their non-fiction writing using the 'Grammar Rainbow' created by Jane Considine. This followed on from our Fiction Writing Morning in November.

   

  We began the session by sharing our World Book Day costumes, then played some concentration and coordination games to get our brains moving.

   

  We again took the fairy tale of 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears' as our inspiration, but this time, instead of writing our own version of the story, we were to become newspaper reporters and write a newspaper report.

   

  First we listened to the story, and then we split into small mixed age groups and were challenged to write a quick report about the story. It was very interesting to see what we already knew about report writing, and to see how difficult it is not to just retell the story.

   

  We then used real newspaper reports to look at example headlines, including those that use puns, then we used the Grammar Rainbow to help us brainstorm headlines for our reports. We then chose our favourite one for each group.

   

  After a quick break, we came back to practise adding detail to sentences using the grammar rainbow. We looked at adding adverbs, and how these can be moved around the sentence. We also added adjectives. Then we looked at how to use subordinate clauses to add more detail.

   

  Finally we worked together in our groups to rewrite our reports, this time making sure they were definitely reports, not stories! You should be able to spot the change in language, the opening sentence, clear headline and quotes.

   

  You can see both our first and final attempts on the powerpoint in the gallery. http://www.extonschool.co.uk/gallery/

   

  It was a great morning, and the staff again enjoyed learning alongside the children. It was lovely to see older children supporting younger children, and everyone working together to produce some fantastic work.