The Bumble Bees and Butterflies had a fantastic day at Bristol Zoo last Friday. 

We had a lesson all about animals that live in polar regions and learnt how they stay warm in such cold conditions. We even made our own penguin huddle to see just how warm it would be!

The children loved exploring the zoo and seeing many different animals including the penguins and the seals. Some of thier favourites included the monkeys and the reptiles!

The children were very enthusiastic and represented our school brilliantly.

Thank you very much to all the parents and staff who came along to support the trip.

We welcomed Yvonne Halton, a local potter, into school to work with some of our Year 1 children. 

She demonstrated how to make a variety of woodland animals using clay and discussed several useful techniques. The children then chose their favourite animal and produced some amazing results. 

Thank you to Yvonne for giving up her time and for her inspiration and encouragement. Thank you to Mrs Hayden for arranging this exciting activity for the children.

Year 6 set off on their summer camp on Monday morning to the Forest of Dean. Arriving at the Activity Centre before lunch they chose two activities they wanted from abseiling, caving, climbing, archery and high ropes. 

After lunch they changed activity and then set off for the Wye Valley Youth Hostel.

Gloucester Cathedral was the destination for Tuesday morning and in the afternoon they went skiing and tubing at the Gloucester Ski Centre.On Wednesday the Year 6 were joined on the river by Mrs Hathaway and Mrs Brook for a day of canoeing and kayaking.  Well done to all the children who showed their resilience and had an enjoyable day. On Thursday they went on a long walk through the Wye Valley and enjoyed a game of rounders after lunch. They also pariticpated in nature art and drama activities.

Friday was the last day and the children enjoyed a day at the railway.

Thank you to Mr Baker, who organised the trip, Mr Godwin, Mrs Godwin, Mr Styles, Mrs Arden and Miss Evans for accompanying the children for the week. Thank you also to Mrs Kidd for all her assistance organising the camp rooms and administrative arrangements for the camp.

You can see a further selection of pictures of the camp as it happened on our school Twitter account.

Year 6 enjoyed a special Pilgrimage Day at Wells Cathedral in the summer term. They took part in collective worship with other schools from the Diocese of Bath and Wells and really raised the roof with their singing during the hymns. The children then split into small groups to take part in a range of activities, from walking tours and music to geometric drawing and drama. We then gathered back together (after a quick play on the cathedral green) to take part in a closing worship, where our own Katie G was chosen as a candle-bearer for the service. The children then walked through the west door of the cathedral to symbolise their journey to the next stage of their lives as they move to secondary school. Everyone had a lovely day so thank you to Mr Godwin and Mr Baker for organising the trip, as well as all the staff that accompanied the children. A final thank you to the children for representing the school so well at this important event.

In May Year 3 were lucky enough to be invited to one of our Wellsway MAT Schools, SBL, to see the author Cressida Cowell speak about her life and work. She inspired us with her creativity and we loved hearing all about how she writes and illustrates her books. Many thanks to Laura Richards (Librarian at SBL) for giving us this wonderful opportunity and to Mrs. Nethercott for arranging our visit.

On Tuesday this week our Year 5’s set off for Cheddar on their Camp.  The first stop was the Seaquarium in Weston Super Mare. The children were given a guided tour before exploring the displays, which they really enjoyed. This was followed by lunch on the seafront and a play on the beach.

They were then off to Brean Down for their first taste of the great outdoors walking over the headland to the old fort. The children were determined and enthusiastic walkers, which was lovely.

After an enjoyable first evening at the hostel, energy was regained with a cooked breakfast before heading into Cheddar village to begin the ascent to the top of the gorge. Starting out near the Lion's Head rock formation, they clambered up the path. Once again, the children were exemplary in their enthusiasm and behaviour on the walk. There were lots of smiles and no complaints. The children more than earned a trip into the shops at Cheddar.

This evening, the children will return to the hostel, where lots of children will chose to spend even more time outside, playing with the sports equipment.

After a thorough tidy up on Thursday morning, the children will make their way out of the hostel for the last time and on to the coach bound for Wookey Hole. In the caves, the children will enjoy an exhilarating experience in the '4D' cinema and then they will be allowed to explore some of the attractions on offer.

They will then made their way back on the coach for the journey home, a little tired, but no worse for wear.

Thank you to Mr Baker for organising this Camp, and to Mr Boyle, Miss Rudd, Mrs Parfrey and Mrs Arden for accompanying the children.  You will find further pictures on our twitter site.

On Wednesday and Thursday KS1 visited Chepstow Castle for a day to wind up our castle topic from last term. The children were treated with a tour led by a real archer - who told us many gruesome tales - and explored the castles and grounds in our groups.

After lunch, we enjoyed watching a brilliant archery demonstration and explanation of archery in medieval times. We were amazed by the speed of the arrows! A huge thank you to the parents who came with us and to Mrs Hayden who organised such an exciting and informative trip. 12.04.18.

Our year fours had a one-night stay at Barton Camp near the Mendips on a very snowy week in March.

The trip included a walk up Crook Peak, a visit to Puxton Park and plenty of activities at the accommodation. 

A big thank you to Mr Baker who organised the trip and to all the staff who accompanied it and contributed to the fun. We're already looking forward to a return visit next year, perhaps with slightly warmer weather!

The Bumble Bees and Butterflies had a fantastic day at Bristol Zoo on Monday 5th February.

As well as seeing the penguins and seals they also had a very informative lesson all about animals that live in polar regions. You can see from these pictures how much we all enjoyed the trip.

Thank you very much to all the parents and staff who came along to support the trip.

In the spring term the Butterflies and Bumblebees learnt all about People Who Help Us and were very lucky to have lots of kind visitors come in to tell us all about their jobs.

The Butterfly Class were very lucky to have a visit from Dr Andrews who taught us lots of things about being a doctor. We learnt about some of our organs and had a go at things that doctors do like weighing and measuring babies and putting bandages on.

Both Reception classes were very lucky to have a visit from Mrs Ferris who told us all about being a nurse. She spoke to us about germs and showed us how important it is to wash our hands.

Another special visitor we had was Dr Smith-Collins who came to talk to us all about being a paediatrician. He showed us some instruments that doctors might use and he even let us pretend to be doctors too.

We had a visit from Mrs Singh to talk to us about being a Parking Enforcement officer. We learnt why it is so important to park your car safely and what the Parking Attendants have to do and wear every day.

This term we have been lucky enough to have visits from paramedics and police officers. Mr and Mrs Brett came and speak to us about being paramedics. They told us about the equipment they use and taught us how they might treat somebody who had hurt their arm. We even got to look inside the ambulance. PC Sean and PC Steve bought a police van in and taught us all about what police officers do and how to stay safe. They let us print our fingerprints and showed us how to use the radio.

A huge thank you to all of our visitors for giving up their time to make our learning so exciting.

Do see our Twitter page for some photos of these lovely visits!

The first week of February was History Matters Week at school. As part of the week each class in KS1 and KS2 went to the Saltford Heritage Centre, next to St. Mary's Church. Whilst there, we carried out various activities including looking at historical artefacts found in and around the Saltford area, sketching, finding facts and completing quizzes. We also had an opportunity to visit the Church itself and to explore it in more detail.

We would like to express our huge thanks to Phil Harding and Andrew Stainer from the Saltford Environment Group (SEG) and their colleagues for taking the time to share their knowledge and enthusiasm with the children over the three days. It is really appreciated.

The children certainly came back to school enthused and with a much better awareness of the long history of Saltford and the surrounding area.

If you would like to further your child's interest in their local history then you may like to look at the SEG's website: www.saltfordenvironmentgroup.org.uk/history or the SEG’s facebook page.

As part of the Bath Children’s Literature Festival we have organised a visit for our Year 6 children to attend one of the exciting events at The Guildhall on 5th October 2017. The day will include transport to and from Bath and entry to a talk and performance by author and poet John Agard .

We will be leaving school at 10.45 and returning to school at approximately 1.15pm. The children will need to wear their school uniform and bring a packed lunch with them to eat on our return to school. We would be very grateful for parental help on this visit – please indicate on the comments section of the School Gateway if you are able to help. Mr Styles and Mr Godwin.

To support our ‘Food and Farming’ topic all the children in Key Stage One have the opportunity to visit Warleigh Lodge Farm. They will learn about the day to day running of a farm, visit and feed the animals, participate in harvest activities and navigate their way round the farm. Class RH will visit on Monday 25th September Class NJ will visit on Tuesday 26th September Class SEH will visit on Wednesday 27th September and Class ED will visit on Friday 29th September.

Please refer to the letter that was sent home for full details.

She was born in 1934 and grew up in a little village near Crewe in Cheshire. The children were shown photographs of Mrs Thornhill during the war (including a photograph of a VE Party in her street) and letters she had written to her father who was a regular in the Army but stationed overseas. Although she was not evacuated herself, the village and her family did take in evacuees who then attended her local school. Mrs Thornhill then answered questions put to her by the children about her experiences. Mr Jenkins said, "The children were given a valuable insight into how growing up in wartime Britain was so different from growing up here today. I would like to thank Mrs Thornhill for taking the time to come in to talk to the children about her experiences when she was a similar age to them. Mrs Thornhill commented to me afterwards how well behaved and engaged the children were." July 2017.

 On Wednesday and Thursday Years 3 & 4 (Classes ESPN, RJ NB & HR) visited STEAM (The Museum of the Great Western Railway) in Swindon as part of their World War II topic.

The children took part in different activities including an air raid and an evacuation experience. To add to the experience the children dressed up in 'authentic' World War II clothing, carried their own gas mask and box and brought a packed lunch based upon food eaten in the 1940's. They even wore an evacuation label on their clothing!

Mr Jenkins commented, "The quality of the workshops was excellent and provided a fantastic experience for the children with opportunities for drama and role play. They really enjoyed and benefitted from the day as it brought our exciting World War II topic to life!”

Thank you to Mr Jenkins for organising this exciting visit, to all the Lower Key Stage 2 staff for accompanying the children and all the parent helpers who came on the visit and for entering into the spirit of the day by dressing up in 1940's style clothes as well. 30.06.2017.

Years One and Two had an amazing time at Slimbridge this week, and learnt a lot for our science topics too. The children particularly enjoyed visiting the otters and watching them twirl around while they were getting fed! Everyone loved feeding the birds and some of the cheeky ducks even nipped their fingers!

Thank you to all the parents who came to help us on the trip, to Miss Jupp for organising the visits and all the KS1 staff who helped on both days. 30.06.17.