Nursery Visit Tropical Wings

Last week, morning and afternoon nursery children enjoyed trips to Tropical Wings. Despite the weather forecast, the sun smiled on both days as the children ventured into this fascinating zoo. The young explorers discovered butterflies and hungry carp in the hot and humid rainforest environment before watching the adorable wallabies with their joeys lazing in the warm sun. After a delicious lunch (thank you mums!), children saw the birds, meerkats, lemurs and a particularly giant tortoise. To end the visits, children took advantage of the good weather and used up their remaining energy playing in the park. Many children had an understandable snooze on the journey home, returning to school refreshed after their fun and educational trip.

E for Effort

Every week, teachers recognise pupils in their class who have made an extra effort. These pupils are awarded the E for Effort cup in front of the whole school during our Friday morning assembly. Listen to the reasons why pupils have been given the award:

listen to ‘E for Effort winners 16th May 2014’ on Audioboo

Congratulations to the wonderful children who have made an extra effort this week.

Nursery - Learning to Care for Living Things

Just when you thought it couldn't get any cuter: Nursery children with little fluffy chicks! Nursery have been looking after some eggs in an incubator as part of learning about life cycles. Children were so excited to see cracks appear in the shells and to hear sounds coming from inside. Some lucky children witnessed the magical moment when the birds hatched while others were delighted to arrive in Nursery to find six fluffy yellow chicks running around, merrily chirping away. The rare breed birds will return to Hadleigh Farm over half term where they will have the space that they need. Nursery children have had a wonderful first hand experience of life cycles and are now learning how to care for the chicks, to treat them with respect and kindness.

The Hacton Times - Get Your Copy Now!

Issue 2 of The Hacton Times is now available. Produced by pupils in Year 5/6 Newspaper Club, this fun and informative read features over 30 pages packed with news from around the school, interviews, fascinating facts, jokes, puzzles and much more! It will be on sale Monday-Wednesday this week at playtime for Key Stage 2 pupils and in class for Key Stage 1. Children interested in buying a copy of the newspaper should bring 20p to school. Year 5 and 6 pupils have worked  hard to put the newspaper together so we know they would appreciate your support.

 

SATs Week Treat

Congratulations to our Year 6 pupils who completed the Standard Assessment Tests (SATs) this week in Reading, Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation and Maths. The papers have been sent away to be marked and results will be available before the end of the school year.

As a reward for all their hard work, the children enjoyed an energetic extended P.E. lesson in Hacton Park. With the sun making a welcome appearance, the children had a wonderful time playing football, basketball, rounders, and cricket, along with using the fitness equipment available in the park. After a morning of laughter and friendship, the children trundled back to school sharing their happiness that SATs week was over. Well done Year 6!

Mrs Dible to the Rescue

Year 2 noticed something moving in the Key Stage 1 outdoor area this morning and, on further investigation, staff were alarmed to find a hedgehog trapped in some netting. The poor thing was obviously in some distress so there was only one thing for it: call for Mrs Dible! Armed with a small pair of scissors and wearing some tough gloves, she carefully cut the hassled hedgehog from the net and placed it gently in a box to check for injury. Thankfully it looked fine and, after a quick visit from some fascinated children, the lucky animal was released back into the wild. Before scampering into the undergrowth, we're sure we heard it snuffle: "thanks Mrs Dible".

Year 1 Visit Barnards Farm

Year 1 have been learning about sculptures in their Art and Design lessons. To support this, they recently took a trip to Barnards Farm in West Horndon. With over 70 stunning sculptures to explore in beautifully managed gardens, the children had great fun running around while they marvelled at the  spectacular outdoor artworks. Year 1 did a good job of identifying the different materials used to create the sculptures, which tied in well with their current science topic. Barnards Farm is only open to the public on specific days so our pupils were lucky to have had the run of the grounds. It was an amazing trip and the children clearly had a wonderful time.

Year 5 Maths Mini Olympics

Linking their maths lessons with this term's topic of Greece, pupils in Year 5 enjoyed organising their own 'Maths Mini Olympics' to investigate data handling.

After an energetic morning competing in the beanbag shot put, hurdles and long jump, children used the data they had collected to produce bar charts on their iPads. This pupil led activity proved to be a rewarding cross-curricular learning experience, bringing together Maths, PE, History and ICT with great results.

Mad Materials Science Show

Pupils were delighted when the Pro-Education Science Show entitled 'Mad Materials' visited our school. Naturally the children wanted to see a few 'explosions' and they weren't disappointed! Did you know that a quarter of an ordinary Alka-seltzer tablet can produce enough carbon-dioxide to make a canister shoot high in the air? You don't always need a flame to create a fire? Dropping a heated drinks can upside down in cold water will make it implode? These were just a few of the demonstrations that thrilled Hacton's budding scientists.

Brilliant Backflips

We spotted some impressive gymnastics on the field today. How does a Year 4 pupil become so good at backflips?

"I go to gymnastics club in Romford, 3 nights a week for 3 hours (that's 9 hours per week!). I've been going since I was 4 years old - about 4 years. I love doing gymnastics. People sometimes ask me to do things and I'm more than happy to show off! I'm proud of my gymnastics but I feel like I could always be better, that's why I practise a lot."

 

Junior Travel Ambassadors Promote the Green Cross Code

We are the Junior Travel Ambassadors (JTAs) and our job is to educate people to stay safe. Recently, we wrote and performed a play in Key Stage 2 assembly. We chose some pupils who we thought would perform it well. The play was about a girl who got hit by a car because she did not use the Green Cross Code: stop, look and listen. In the end, the play was a success - we got a huge round of applause. It was enjoyable to put on the play and we think we helped pupils understand the Green Cross Code.

We made a short video of it too. You can watch it here »

Thank you, and remember: stop, look and listen!
(The Junior Travel Ambassadors)

Maths Challenge Winner

Congratulations to the winner of last week's Maths Challenge 'Write as many facts as you can about 100'. As usual, we had some great responses. Well done to our Year 6 pupil who came up with a wide range of problems that had 100 as the solution.

"I thought it would be a bit of fun to do the Maths Challenge. I was happy with my ideas but I never expected my name to be called out in assembly - I was shocked! I won some sweets which I ate while I watched Eurovision (I did let my brother have a couple) - they were really nice."

Hacton Dance Club featuring the Hacton School Choir

Hacton Dance Club worked very hard on their routine for the 2014 Primary Dance Festival so, as a momento for the children, we have made a video of their dance. We utilised the talents of our school choir to create a very special version of the soundtrack song. A snippet of the routine is available below but pupils can download the complete video and soundtrack from the MLE (login required). Congratulations to the brilliant dancers for a great example of what can be achieved with enthusiasm, perseverance and terrific teamwork.

E for Effort

Every week, teachers recognise a pupil in their class who has made an extra effort. These pupils are awarded the E for Effort cup in front of the whole school during our Friday morning assembly. This week, the winners from years 1-5 were joined by the whole of Year 6. The special E for Effort award was presented to Year 6 for all their hard work preparing for next week's SATs - we have been so impressed by the extra effort they have made.

Listen to the reasons why pupils have been given the award:

listen to ‘E for Effort winners 9th May 2014’ on Audioboo

Congratulations to the wonderful children who have made an extra effort this week and we wish Year 6 the very best of luck in their SATs.

Amazing Artists

Children in Reception have produced some stunning paintings inspired by the work of Claude Monet. They looked at several of his famous masterpieces and voted on which painting they would like to recreate. The children used a stippling technique to produce their versions of 'Wild Poppies'. The enthusiasm and concentration of our budding artists has resulted in some sensational paintings. Fantastic work children!

School Meals

Havering Catering Services have recently provided pictures of school dinners to help pupils choose their daily meal (see below). The menu is presented on a three week rotation. Children have a chance to try out a variety of new foods including dishes from around the world, such as chicken tikka fillets, enchiladas and Moussaka. Please see the dinner menu below together with pictures of the meals being offered:

Pictures: Week 1 • Week 2 • Week 3

Hacton Nursery - Learning About Life Cycles

Our Nursery children (and staff) are very excited to have 6 eggs in an incubator and are eagerly awaiting the arrival of fluffy chicks. Hadleigh Farm has kindly provided the eggs, due to hatch on 14th May, so that our children can learn about life cycles. These are eggs from Ixworth chickens - a rare breed that is pure white with a bright red comb. The children have been carefully candling the eggs (putting a light behind them) and have been amazed to see tiny movements inside.

Maths Challenge Winner

Congratulations to the winner of last week's Maths Challenge 'Write the name of objects in life that are square'. As usual, we had some great responses. Well done to our Year 3 pupil who managed to squeeze the names of 23 square objects onto one Post It note.

"I was surprised when my name was called out, I didn't think I would win. Mrs Muskett gave me large bag of Maltesers as a prize (I've eaten them already!) and I got a certificate. I was really happy to win."

Primary Dance Festival

Hacton Primary School had the pleasure of performing at this year's Primary Dance Festival held at St Edward's Secondary School. After weeks of practice and perseverance, expertly lead by Miss White, 19 dedicated children remained and were eager to perform their piece to Havering schools. Hacton pupils arrived at the school in plenty of time only to find that they were the last group to perform. They waited very patiently and were able to watch all the other dances before they had to perform in front of hundreds of parents. The big moment had arrived...

The children truly outshone themselves. They smiled, jumped and even sang their way through the performance to 'That's What Makes You Beautiful' by One Direction. On leaving the stage, children congratulated each other with heartfelt high fives. Miss White was left with a tear in her eye - the children's hard word had paid off with a polished performance full of fun and energy. Perfect!

Well done to all the children involved. You should be very proud of yourselves.

E for Effort

Every week, teachers recognise a pupil in their class who has made an extra effort. These pupils are awarded the E for Effort cup in front of the whole school during our Friday morning assembly. Listen to the reasons why pupils have been given the award:

listen to ‘E for Effort winners 2nd May 2014’ on Audioboo

Congratulations to the wonderful children who have made an extra effort this week.

Ofsted's Interim Assessment of Hacton Primary School

Dear Parents

I received a letter yesterday informing me that an 'interim assessment' had been carried out on our school based on all the current attainment, achievement and attendance data as well as your comments from Parent View. I am very pleased to inform you that, due to the sustained high performance of our school, we will not be inspected until at least the summer term of 2015.

Sir Michael Wilshaw has asked me to send a copy of the letter to all parents and carers of registered pupils at our school. You can read it here »

Thank you for your continued support in all aspects of your children's education here at Hacton.

Yours sincerely
Mr Emes

Commemorating the Centenary of WWI at Sanders School

Pupils from years 5 and 6 were recently invited to take part in a special event to commemorate the centenary of WWI. They have written this report:

On Wednesday 30th April 2014, we visited Sanders School for an amazing brain-filling history lesson about WWI. We went there to commemorate the 100th anniversary and remember those who fought for our country. Firstly, we learned about the history behind the poppy and then decorated poppies to wear around the school. Afterwards, we went outside into the greenery to plant poppy seeds in memory of those who died, whilst we listened to the famous poem ‘In Flanders Fields’ followed by a minute's silence. Smiling, brightly in front of loads of cameras, we had a picture with the Mayor of Havering and the Royal British Legion. For all our hard work, we left with some poppy cakes and some phenomenal history in our minds.