Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

After two weeks of incredible Christmas productions, the Autumn term has come to an end. Over 900 parents, friends and relatives enjoyed impressive singing, dancing, acting and signing from Early Years, Years 1/2, Years 3/4 and Years 5/6. Generous family members dropped coins in buckets when they left performances and raised £930 for the three charities chosen by our School Council: Great Ormond Street Hospital, Save the Children and the RSPCA. A huge well done to all the children who filled us with Christmas spirit; we are very proud.

Without a doubt 2014 has been another very successful year for our school. Primary Key Stage 2 results were recently published by the Department for Education and pupil progress was exceptional, placing us comfortably in the top 5% of schools in the country and in the top 5 schools in Havering. This would be considered outstanding by Ofsted. We have also just been informed by the DfE that we were in the top 300 schools in the country for progress made by Pupil Premium / vulnerable pupils and this has been recognised with a special £1000 award from the DfE. Achievements like this could not happen without the continued dedication and support from our staff and parents. Thank you.

Throughout the year, our pupils have enjoyed a wide range of engaging and enriching educational experiences. We now look forward to all that 2015 has to offer: it promises to be another fantastic year for Hacton Primary School.

May we take this opportunity to wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! We look forward to seeing you back at school on Tuesday 6th January.

Year 4 Flower Arranging

In the run up to Christmas, Year 4 were lucky enough to have a masterclass in how to design and create a table arrangement. Mrs Fairburn, a talented florist, came to our school to demonstrate and assist in the making of the floral decoration. The children thoroughly enjoyed creating their own wonderful arrangements to adorn the Christmas table.

Guidance for Parents Taking Photographs During School Productions

We're all excited about the Christmas plays that are being staged soon, your children have been working really hard learning their lines and practising their songs. We know that most family members would like to have a record of these important events in their child's school life and we are happy for you to take photographs and short videos during performances. However, when taking photographs, we must abide by certain rules to ensure the safety of all children in our school:

• Parents are not permitted to take photographs or videos for anything other than their own personal use* 
• Do not post images or videos on social networks (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube etc) as these may include children who must not have their image online
• Please zoom in on your own child to minimise the number of other children who are included in your photos and videos
• Please be considerate of other people in the audience: turn off the sound on your camera or phone; only take short videos; do not use large screen devices that may distract others

As you know, most parents signed a consent form giving permission for their children to be photographed by the school so we will, as usual, be posting pictures and videos from Christmas plays on our blog. We will also be videoing the Christmas plays for family members who could not attend the performances. A copy will be available in the school office for you to borrow.

*The Information Commissioner’s Office states photographs taken by parents at nativity plays do not breach the Data Protection Act so long as they are only for personal use. Digital video and images shared on Facebook, Youtube and other social networking sites need consent from the parents of children in the photos (source: ICO)

Hacton 8 - 0 Elm Park

The Hacton girls' football team recently claimed an impressive victory in their match against Elm Park Primary. Emily (Year 6) reports:

Excitement filled the air as the ref blew his whistle to signal the start of the match against Elm Park. Elsie ran in for a tackle. Passes were made followed by a whack of the ball from Katie and the whistle was blown. 1-0. The crowd went wild and, with determination, 2 more fantastic goals were scored by Katie. 3-0. The whistle was blown and Maddie made a long run up the field before she passed to Emily. Defender blocking her way, Emily sneakily smacked the ball in between the girl's legs making it 4-0. Once the centre kick was taken, Amy took possession of the ball and made a long pass to Elsie. A shot was made, but unfortunately it was saved with the goalkeepers feet. Emily was determined to score a goal and went in for the rebound making it 5-0. Time flew by and Hacton were on the road to victory when Katie tapped the ball into the top right-hand corner of the net. 6-0. Suddenly, the tides turned and our opponent's striker came charging into our half. Grace made an excellent tackle, but Elm Park recovered quickly. They had a shot and it was looking bad for our girls, but Jade made a spectacular save. 5 minutes were left and Katie received the ball from Alex and walked it into the net! 7-0. The Elm Park midfielders drove the ball slowly towards our goal as our team tirelessly tried to stop them. Megan made an excellent tackle and passed up to Kayleigh Ann, as she ran up the field. Crossing it to Katie, she knocked it in leaving the score at the final whistle 8-0.

Well done girls!

All England Junior Ballet Champion

Congratulations to our Year 6 pupil who recently became the British Theatre Dance Association (BTDA) All England Junior Ballet Champion. She has worked very hard to become a brilliant ballerina and we are all impressed by her amazing achievement.

"I went with my nan and my mum to Leicester. The drive took about 3 hours. We had to stay in a hotel that had a swimming pool, sauna and jacuzzi - it was really cool! I had to do a ballet dance lasting about 2 minutes. I was competing against fourteen other girls, some were older than me and some were younger. I had to line up on stage with the other girls and we were called on to wait and listen to the results. They started with fourth, then third, then the runner up and then the winner... when they called out my name I was so shocked, I couldn't believe it! I got a massive trophy and a huge certificate. It was the best day ever."

Year 5 Visit Eastbury Manor

Year 5 pupils thoroughly enjoyed their Victorian Christmas at Eastbury Manor. They learned how to make a Victorian Christmas pudding (nothing too fancy as the Victorians felt rich foods could make children too excitable!); decorated a Christmas tree; and then each pupil produced their own cornucopia. It was interesting too see how many children produced large cornucopias once they learned they would be able to hold more sweets!

In the afternoon, everyone took part in popular Victorian parlour games such as ‘Basket’ (which tested pupils’ memories) and skittles. These games became particularly competitive when the two class-teachers played ‘Fish’ - a game which required two paper fish to be propelled along the floor using the air from some frantically waved newspapers! To the delight of 5SM, Miss Munday’s fish crossed the finishing line first and she won a handful of chocolate money; quite an expensive treat in those days!

"5SM and 5PS went on a once in a life time adventure to a historical place where the is an opportunity to experience the feeling of being in the Victorian era. 
Our favourite activity was playing the Victorian games because everyone got to get involved but the people who were caught out got to look for people who were doing the opposite of what they were meant to do so they would be OUT! The volunteers that taught us about Eastbury Manor were called Tom and Dave. Tom was the man who helped 5SM make a cornucopia and Dave was the one who showed 5PS How to make a Christmas pudding and then we swapped around. We had a great time!"

By Mia and George (Year 5)

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 28th November 2014’ on audioBoom

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