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.

• Pantomime Trip

  Thu 07 Jan 2016 M Davis

  On Thursday the whole school set off to Nottingham to the Theatre Royal to see Aladdin.

   

  It was a magical performance, with a huge animatronic snake and flying carpets to amaze us! We enjoyed all the jokes and songs. Favourite moments for the children included not only the snake and flying carpets, but also when Widow Twanky's leg fell off by accident and all the cast got the giggles!

   

  Ice creams were devoured at the interval, before we settled down to find out if Aladdin won the day. All was well in the end, although there were some scary moments along the way.

   

  Two of our children even got to go up on the stage and meet Widow Twanky (Christopher Biggins). Harvey played a big bass drum and Skye played a triangle and we all sang along. I think we gave the biggest cheer when our school was mentioned too!

   

  After our own pantomime and nativity performances before Christmas, it is great to be able to take the children to see what can be achieved in a professional production, from the special effects, to musical accompaniment from a band. However, We are sure that they  must have tiptoed into the back of Exton & Greetham School Hall to steal a couple of our jokes, as we spotted some of the same ones!

• Christmas In a Day

  Thu 17 Dec 2015 M Davis

  Thursday 17th December saw Exton & Greetham CE Primary School's traditional 'Christmas in a Day'.

   

  After arriving at school, the children put on their hats and coats and we set off through the village for our Carol Service at Exton Church. The older children took the congregation through the different parts of the story of the Nativity, while reinforcing the true meaning of Christmas. The younger children created a tableau of the Nativity at the front of the church. This was interspersed with a range of Christmas Carols, finishing with a rousing 'Hark the Herald' with added descant! Thank you to Mr Davis for coming to accompany the carols on the organ.

   

  We then walked back to school for a quick playtime and some craft activities, before meeting in the hall for Christmas Dinner, where we were joined by the Nursery. Well done to Lizzie for serving up over 70 Christmas Dinners!

   

  Once we had eaten our fill, we had another quick playtime, before changing into our party clothes and going to the hall for our Christmas party. Thank you Mrs Fowler and Mr Marks for leading the games, including our traditional '6 corners' game, before our special visitor arrived!

   

  Father Christmas bought presents for all of the children, and had to answer lots of questions from the reception children, who were very interested in his reindeer!

   

  It was then time for a quick rest, before Disco Steve began the Christmas Disco! Many thanks to FOEGS for organising this and sorting decorations and refreshments.

   

  Phew! What a busy day.

  

• Christmas Performances

  Wed 16 Dec 2015 M Davis

  The children did two fantastic performances for Christmas this year.

   

  Class 1 put on the 'Wriggly Nativity' which gave them plenty of reason to wriggle and jiggle! The singing was brilliant, as was the dancing, and every word was clear. It was lovely to see every child on the stage, each with their own words to say. What little stars they are!

   

  KS2 then put on their annual pantomime. This year's offering was 'Sleeping Beauty', penned by Mr Marks, Mrs Davis and Mrs Lowe. The children played their parts brilliantly, and there was much laughter ringing around the hall. From the youngest year 3 to the oldest year 6, there were some super performances, and definitely a few thespians in the making!

   

  Some photographs of the younger children are attached below.

  

• Christmas Community Lunch

  Thu 10 Dec 2015 M Davis

  We had another successful Christmas Community Lunch on 10th December. With 30 visitors to the school, who tucked into another of Lizzie's fantastic lunches, it was a busy meal. The community enjoyed a traditional Christmas Dinner with turkey and all the trimmings, followed by Christmas Pudding and coffee.

  The children came in to entertain, sharing songs from their nativity and pantomime. It was a good opportunity for the children to practise performing in front of an audience.

  Thank you to all who lent a hand serving and clearing away.

   

  

• Christmas Fayre

  Wed 09 Dec 2015 M Davis

  Wednesday 9th December saw the first Christmas Fayre in the school for a long time. There were games a-plenty and very well stocked Tombola and Second hand toy and game stalls, as well as face painting and tea and coffee.

  Thank you to all those who made cakes, donated prizes, searched for second hand toys, games and books. Thank you also to all those who gave up their time to run a stall, face paint, set up or tidy up afterwards. A particular thank you to Annie Allison for all of her hard work behind the scenes.

  The Fayre was a great success, and something we will repeat next year. Over £200 was raised for FOEGS.

   

  

• Carols Around the Tree

  Fri 04 Dec 2015 M Davis
  It was lovely to join with the local community to lead the singing at Carols Around the Tree on 4th December 2015. The lights looked beautiful when they were turned on, and a good crowd joined to sing carols lustily. Thank you to all who came to support, and especially to Jo Downton for organising the lights on the tree. Christmas has really begun!

• Casterton Primary Arts Day

  Wed 02 Dec 2015 M Davis

  Casterton College, Rutland invited all of our Year 5 and 6 children across to the secondary school to take part in a Primary Arts Day.

   

  Along with children from four other primary schools, our children worked together with students from Casterton and staff from the music, art and drama departments to put together a showcase for parents by the end of the day. Our children had opted into either the art or the music sessions (perhaps we are doing too much drama at school at the moment with our pantomime rehearsals!)

   

  The children who chose art worked together to create some beautiful hanging paper creations, including stars and baubles. Two children (and the headteacher!) took up the challenge of learning the ukulele in just one hour, in order to be able to play as part of a band. It was tricky at first, but we soon managed it! Olly worked with other children who already played instruments, to create a wind group. His 'oompah' on the tuba was very impressive! Most of us also got the opportunity to create a samba band as well.

   

  At the end of the day we took part in performances of samba and 'Jingle Bell Rock' as well as displaying art work. We also had the opportunity to watch the drama group perform their work.

   

  It was great to have the opportunity to visit Casterton and share some of their staff expertise, as well as having the opportunity to meet and work alongside other year 5 and 6 children.

   

  Thank you to Casterton for inviting us - we look forward to another opportunity soon.

• Christingle Service

  Sun 29 Nov 2015 M Davis
  On Sunday we formed a joint choir for the Christingle Service at Greetham Church. Working together with children from St Nicholas Primary School was a new venture, and we very much enjoyed joining forces to create a choir to sing a carol for the Christingle. We all learnt about the meaning of the different parts of the Christingle before singing 'In the Bleak Midwinter' together. There were a total of 22 children from the two schools, and they made a beautiful sound singing together. We hope this will be the beginning of some future joint ventures. Thank you to all the parents and children who gave up their Sunday afternoon to come and sing and support.

• Year 5/6 Basketball

  Thu 26 Nov 2015 M Davis

  Our intrepid Year 5 and 6 children set off full of enthusiasm for the County Basketball competition. With six children in year 5/6, and needing 5 on a team, it was a busy competition for all the children, with little time to rest! Mrs Ranson and Mrs Wingrove were very proud of all the children, who focussed well and developed skills throughout the competition. Although they did not win any games, they pulled together as a team and showed excellent sportsmanship, improving on last year's goal total by one!

   

  A huge thank you to Mrs Ranson and Mrs Wingrove for taking the team, and congratulations to all the children from taking part.

• Friday Afternoons Concert

  Sun 22 Nov 2015 M Davis

  On Friday 20th November 2015, KS2 went to Oakham School Chapel to take part in a 'Friday Afternoons Concert' to celebrate the work of the British composer, Benjamin Britten. They joined together with children from other schools to sing songs composed as part of a song cycle by American composer Nico Muhley.

   

  We enjoyed learning the Benjamin Britten folksong arrangement of 'Down By the Salley Gardens' which we performed alongside children from other schools. We also performed a tricky piece called 'Rain', in which the primary school children had to keep an ostinato going while the Secondary School children from Casterton College sang a melody over the top. Perhaps our proudest moment was when we sang our own school contribution, a piece called 'Birds'. It was lovely to have the opportunity to sing in a larger building and join our voices with other children in the county.

   

  Concerts were going on simultaneously across the UK and in other parts of the world, where everyone was singing the same songs. These can be seen (and hopefully clips from ours too) on www.fridayafternoonsmusic.co.uk.

   

  A huge thank you to the Rutland Music Hub for organising the event.