Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.

• A whoppsy afternoon with the BFG

  Wed 19 Oct 2016 Mr Phoenix

  The whole school enjoyed a winksquiffling fizz-whizzing afternoon all about the BFG today.

  Working in house team groups, the children spent the afternoon thinking up dream ideas, drawing dream jars, making dream-country leaves and painting a full-size BFG. The older children searched through the text of the BFG book to find interesting quotes to illustrate, and we thought about the science of Frobscottle, and what would happen to a drink if the bubbles did indeed only go downwards.

  Using the iPads was one of the most popular activities of the afternoon, as the children learned about the BFG and Roald Dahl using the Discovery Espresso resources, and found all sorts of interesting backdrops to create 'cloaks' to photograph behind a BFG cutout picture.

  All in all, a very busy but fantabulous afternoon!

  

• Gold Medals for Hampsthwaite Swimming Champions

  Tue 18 Oct 2016 Mr Phoenix

  Congratulations to our swimming team, who were crowned Harrogate Area Champions at the finals of the Tolly Richardson swimming gala.

  The Hampsthwaite swimming team put in an excellent performance, and were in a strong position throughout the finals at the Hydro pool. Taking first place in most of their races, the children were full of determination and enthusiasm. 

  "All the children swam amazingly," said Ms Reynard, who accompanied the team to the event, "they showed excellent technique, stamina and speed."

  By the second 4 heats of the competition, Hampsthwaite were in 1st place, which they held onto in the relay events. 

  Our Hydro buddy, James Franklin, ex-pupil of Hampsthwaite school, supported our team throughout. "Keep swimming the way you are," he told the team, "and you'll be bound to come in the top 3 places."

  But the Hampsthwaite team did better than that! Their hard work paid off and they were delighted to be declared the champions. All the children received individual gold medals and were presented with the Harrogate Area Swimming trophy by the Mayor.

  The children thoroughly enjoyed the event, and are very proud of their achievement. "I know some of the other swimmers, because I swim with them in squads" said Lucy, "but I managed to come in first place this time!" 

  Winning by just 17 points, the team put in a fantastic effort and have represented the school brilliantly. Very well done to you all! 

  

• Shoebox Assembly

  Mon 17 Oct 2016 Mr Phoenix

  We welcomed  special visitor, Mrs Knight, to our assembly this morning. She came to talk about the Operation Christmas Child shoebox appeal, and explained to the children about the shoeboxes. She described each shoebox as a gift of love to needy children, who might otherwise not get any gift at Christmas. We watched a video and saw children delightedly receiving and opening their shoeboxes, and we realised how thankful these children are, even for such simple gifts.

  Mrs Knight said "You will never meet the person who receives your box, but that person will never forget you."

  Our children were very good at remembering what can and can't go in a shoebox, and Mrs Knight showed us two lovely examples of the kinds of ways a shoebox might be packed. It is often boxes for older boys that are needed, as this tends to be the group fewer people make shoeboxes for. Mrs Knight showed us one of these, with lots of older-boy things in, such as stationary items for school, solar calculator, bouncy balls, handkerchief, model glider kit and so on.

  Children have brought home a leaflet about the charity, and if you able to support in packing a shoebox, we will be collecting these after half term until 14th November.

  

• Harvest Celebration

  Mon 10 Oct 2016 Mr Phoenix

  It was great to see a packed church for our annual Harvest festival service, and lovely to have every child in school contributing to our harvest celebration.

  This year, our theme was 'Sharing' and we thought about the need to share in a world where we all share one sun, yet our harvests are so unequal. We learned about the wide range of products that are available as Fairtrade - in which we can be sure a fair share of profits goes to the producers.

  Along with whole-school songs, poems, drama and artwork, the school choir gave a very moving performance of John Rutter's 'Look at the World', as we moved into reflection on the good things that we have and the farmers and producers who supply our food.

  The service finished with a rousing song 'Harvest Samba', with our Reception children dancing down the aisle in their fruit costumes, and the congregation joining in with percussion instruments.

  A wonderful celebration to end the service!