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 2025-26.

• Safer Internet Day

  Tue 08 Feb 2022 M Davis

  We hope your children came home from school on Tuesday talking about some of the things they had learnt on Safer Internet Day.  Safer Internet Day is celebrated across the globe in over 170 countries, with thousands of children joining in across the UK. It’s a day when we celebrate all the great things about being able to be online, as well as reminding ourselves how we can stay safe.

   

  We started with a whole school assembly where we talked about all the amazing things we can do online - including video calling, chatting to friends, watching videos and playing games - and how important some of these have become through COVID.

   

  Many of our children talked about ‘playing’ on Youtube without parents in the room. We would encourage parents to check what their children are ‘clicking through to’ whilst on Youtube. Often the ‘suggested clips’ that appear down the right hand side are not always age appropriate, and can lead children to see things that perhaps are not so suitable, particularly if there is no child filter on your computer.

   

  The vast majority of our children indicated that they play games online. Whilst it was great to see lots of hands up showing that their parents know what they are playing, there were a few who indicated that their parents don’t always know what games they are playing on. Many children also indicated that they talked to people in chat rooms alongside these games - mostly with people they know in the ‘real world’, but also with people they have met online. The most important thing we shared with the children was around being honest with parents about what they are doing online and who they are talking with. If something happens that makes you feel uncomfortable, it is much easier to seek help from an adult if they know what you are doing!

   

  We would encourage all parents to ask their children about the games they are playing and who they are talking to, to help keep communications open. We stressed to the children how important it is to work together with their parents to make sure they are keeping safe online. There are some short films on keeping your child safe online for parents on the school website, in the parent section under ‘useful links’.

• Christmas in a Day

  Fri 17 Dec 2021 M Davis

  Thursday was our traditional Christmas in a day.

   

  We started by walking up to Exton Church to share our Christmas Carol service. Children from Cobalt and Navy classes led us through the story of the nativity, ably assisted by children from Teal and Aqua creating a nativity tableau. The story was interspersed with carols and Christmas songs, including an Exton favourite - 'Sheep, Sheep, Sheep'. As promised, as the children sang so well, Mrs Davis sang the descant for Hark the Herald! 

   

  We then returned to school in time for playtime and some Christmas activities, before we sat together to eat a delicious Christmas dinner prepared by Lizzie. Thanks, Lizzie - it was scrumptious!

   

  After lunch we changed into our party clothes before joining together in the hall for our Christmas party. Musical statues and four corners were played, before a special visitor arrived... We were very lucky that Father Christmas was able to make a brief visit and we wished him luck on his travels over the next week or so. 

   

  It was lovely to be able to be together again for a traditional Exton & Greetham Christmas after spending last year in bubbles. A good time was had by all!

• Snow White and the Multiple Dwarves

  Wed 15 Dec 2021 M Davis

  This year's pantomime was another resounding success - oh yes it was! Cobalt and Teal classes excelled themselves with their comic timing, dancing, singing and great characterisation. We will all remember the poor prince, desperately trying to persuade someone to marry him, and eventually finding Snow White, as well as the wicked stepmother, wooden Woody and the multiple dwarves. 

   

  Thank you to the staff for working tirelessly to ensure that the children were word-perfect with their lines, footwork-perfect with their dances, and song-perfect with their singing. What a triumph!

   

  Thank you to our audiences for joining in readily with both the traditional pantomime responses and with the song at the end. The audience put the icing on the cake!

   

   

• Lights, Camel, Action!

  Wed 15 Dec 2021 M Davis

  On Tuesday and Wednesday, Aqua and Teal Classes put on a dazzling nativity entitled 'Lights, Camel Action!'. Using the format of Strictly Come Dancing as a basis, each set of characters from the nativity visited the judges to share a dance and their part of the nativity story. There were some amazing dances, as well as beautiful solo singing from Mary. 

   

  We were very proud of how well all the children did, with lines shared clearly and great characterisation from our judges and other characters. The audience enjoyed joining in by cheering and booing depending on the scores given by the judges, and in celebrating the real 'winner' at Christmas in the last song, where we celebrated the birth of Jesus. 

   

  A huge thank you to all the staff who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to create such a fantastic nativity, and of course, to all the children for being wonderful!

   

  Pictures to follow.

• Carols Around the Tree

  Fri 03 Dec 2021 M Davis

  Friday evening heralded the return of Carols Around the Tree at the pub in Exton, with carols led by Exton & Greetham staff and children. This year the village is graced with two trees - one at either end of the village- and funds raised from the trees is very kindly being donated towards replacing the EYFS bikes and trikes. 

   

  It was wonderful to hear voices raised together in song across the community, and to see so many gather together to sing after a year off last year with COVID restrictions. 

   

  Thank you to David Healey for putting up the trees and to the Fox and Hounds for inviting us to lead the singing, for raising funds for the school and for providing delicious mince pies and mulled wine!

• Problem Solving Days

  Tue 30 Nov 2021 M Davis

  All of the children had a fantastic time on Monday and Tuesday this week exploring problem solving, teamwork and resilience through a series of puzzle workshops. 

   

  Each class had two workshops, one on Monday and one on Tuesday. On Monday the focus was on problem solving and working together to complete physical challenges. On Tuesday there was more of a mathematical focus, with an emphasis on how maths knowledge can be used to solve problems involving shape and space. The children had to work hard to listen to each other and share ideas in order to ensure that each problem was solved. 

   

  A huge thank you to Resilient Rutland who funded the workshops. 

   

  More pictures can be found in the gallery.

  

• Teamwork and Resilience!

  Thu 11 Nov 2021 M Davis

  On Wednesday 10th November we were visited by Warrant Office Kev Heron and the British Army Engagement Team from the 7th Brigade (Desert Rats). They spent the morning working with our year 4, 5 and 6 children developing their teamwork and resilience through physical activities. The children had an amazing time working together to complete different tasks, including needing to collect things from under a scramble net and work together to move a tyre tower from one end of the field to the other. 

   

  Not only did the children have the opportunity to work together in solving problems and developing their communication skills, but they also got very muddy, as the pictures show!

   

  The children had a great time, and asked if they could come back every day! Thank you so much to Kev and his team for such a memorable morning -we shall certainly be inviting you back soon!

  

• RLT Art Competition

  Fri 15 Oct 2021 M Davis

  At the beginning of term we were challenged as a school to ask all the children to create pieces of artwork entitled 'Our community is....' We were asked to consider different cultures and artists, reflect on our school values and British values and the cultures around us. We were then tasked to produce pieces of art to reflect what our community means to us. 

   

  Each class took this in a different direction. Aqua Class focussed on hands, and the idea that our community helps each other; Teal Class focussed on our school ethos - 'we are kind, we are honest, we forgive'; and Cobalt and Navy classes discussed ideas around British values and how our society should be inclusive. 

   

  All of the pictures will be displayed in school, but a few are attached that have been shared back to the team at RLT.

  

• RLT Basketball Festival

  Thu 14 Oct 2021 M Davis

  What a fantastic job our year 5/6 basketball team did at the RLT Basketball festival! We may not have won, but the team got better and better in each game they played, and there was some amazing defence in our last game against the overall winners. Indeed, they said how hard we made it for them!  We were the smallest school there by a long way, and the children were amazing ambassadors for our school.Well done.

• RLT Spelling Bee

  Fri 08 Oct 2021 M Davis

  During September, all of the children from year 1 to year 6 were invited to take part in the inaugural RLT Spelling Bee. This took place over a number of weeks, with heats first held in school; followed by an online semi-final and then a live final this week.

   

  We were very proud of how well all of the children did - and it was a tightly fought competition in school to see who would represent us in each year group. When it came to the online semi-final, it was the top three who went through, and a number of our children were 'pipped to the post' in fourth place. 

   

  Izzy was selected to go through the year 5 final, and after a closely fought battle came second - huge congratulations Izzy!