Literacy Week: Hogwarts at Hacton

Thank you for all the effort that went into providing your children with Hogwarts costumes for today's celebration of Harry Potter. Perfect Potters, sneaky Snapes, hard-working Hermiones and even michievious Malfoys filled our classrooms ensuring a fantastic end to a magical Literacy Week.

Happy Birthday Mrs Ware!

Not only was today a special themed day for the pupils of Hacton school, but Mrs Ware celebrated a very special birthday. We are not allowed to mention the age; however, the children wanted to show her how much they value her involvement in their lives. Performing her favourite Ronan Keating song, children sang her a birthday treat whilst showing the words that had chosen to describe her.

Happy birthday, Mrs Ware - we all love you!

Science Club: Chemical Reactions

During a recent Science experiment, children in KS2 had the opportunity to work with a range of different materials and substances to create a variety of chemical reactions. They used baking soda, food colouring, citric acid and many other substances to create some wonderful potions (some of which became very messy). The super scientists then changed the amount of the things they were mixing (adding more of some ingredients and taking away others) to see if this affected the type of reaction they were getting.

Hogwarts Takeover!

Hogwarts has officially taken over Hacton today as even the staff have transformed in to characters from the book!

Literacy Week: Howlers

Year 6 have been looking at the difference between formal and informal language. As part of their Harry Potter work, the children have written short stories about different characters receiving 'howlers' from grumpy relatives about their Hogwarts behaviour. Have a listen to the howlers: do you think they have been written in a formal or informal tone?

Girls' Football Team: New Kit

After a successful, fun season and reaching the quarter final in their recent tournament, the girls' football team enjoyed trying on their smart new kit!

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 afternoon assembly.

Congratulations to all the wonderful children who made an extra effort last week.

Early Years: Snakes Alive

Early Years were treated to a very special visit from some amazing creatures linked to our Literacy Week theme: 'Winnie the Witch'. The children met an iguana named Deano, a tarantula called Rose and two snakes (which were met with some initial shock), as well as a tortoise, lizard and toad. The children were fascinated to hear about each animal's diet, habitat and lifespan, before being able to handle and stroke them. Our pupils were inspired by the visit and they wrote about and drew pictures of their favourite creature. Many fears were conquered (especially among staff!) to make this a thrilling learning experience for Early Years children.

A Magical Start to Literacy Week

As children arrived eagerly at school this morning, they discovered that Hacton had been transformed into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. After proceeding past Platform 9 and ¾ and catching the Hogwarts Express directly to their classrooms, children were greeted by their cloak-wearing teachers who have a fantastic week of learning planned. Thank you to Bower Park Academy for the loan of your fantastic Harry Potter resources - we love them! Watch this space for more information about the work we are doing to celebrate Literacy Week.​

Red Nose Day: £600 Raised for Comic Relief

Today was a brilliant 'fun raising' day at school with our pupils excited to be dressed in red to raise money for Comic Relief. Red noses, brightly coloured outfits, deely boppers and fabulous painted faces could be found in every classroom. A busy bake sale helped add to the fundraising total and, at the last count, a fantastic £600 had been raised. Thank you to parents and pupils for your support.

Nursery: Goldilocks and Three Bears

The Nursery children performed Goldilocks and Three Bears to their parents and guardians on Friday 24th March in celebration of Mother’s Day. The children had been acting the play out all week and singing their songs in preparation for their show. The children put in a lot of effort and they sat & sang beautifully throughout. They ended the play with a song dedicated to Mother’s Day. The parents seemed to be thrilled with the performances and we were very proud Nursery team!

Cooking Club: Red Nose Day Bake Sale

Cooking Club have enjoyed making delicious cakes for their sale on Red Nose Day, 24th March. Treats made during Cooking Club include Malteser squares and Rocky Road. The conscientious cooks have also been baking at home and Year 1 are helping the fundraising by making chocolate Rice Crispy cakes. All cakes will be priced at 50p and will be sold in both the Infant and Junior playgrounds at break time tomorrow.

Infant Music Festival

Year 2 participated in the Infant Music Festival alongside Langton’s, Upminster Infants, Branfil and Oakfields. The children thoroughly enjoyed performing the songs and playing the instruments.

Reception: Fairytale Ball

Children in Reception completed their mini topic of Cinderella with a Fairytale Ball. They were resplendent in their outfits and took to the role of prince and princess with ease. During the afternoon, the children joined in a wedding celebration just like Cinderella and her Prince Charming before taking to the dance floor for some ballroom dancing. The children rehearsed a dance routine and danced to the classic 'Bolero', twirling their partners with a flourish. Here, the princesses found their handsome princes. They ended their day with a wedding celebration cake that they had baked and decorated.

It was a truly enchanting day and, luckily, not one princess lost their glass slipper!

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 afternoon assembly.

Congratulations to all the wonderful children who made an extra effort last week.

Year 1: Reading Corner

The children in 1FB use the opportunity to read a book in our reading corner as often as they can. They love the finger torches as this seems to help them concentrate!

Year 3 Maths: Perimeter

Year 3 have thoroughly enjoyed a brand new term in Numeracy recently: Perimeter. The children have discovered not only how to calculate the perimeter from shapes with given lengths, but also to measure all sides of shapes and objects around the classroom and then calculate the perimeter independently. Year 3 put their new skills to the test with an exciting 'dinosaur enclosure perimeter investigation'. They were given 6 clues about the enclosures e.g. 'This dinosaur needs an enclosure bigger than 180.5m'. Then they were given a wide range of enclosures and had to calculate each perimeter and carefully match it with its correct dinosaur owner.

Well done to all magnificent mathematicians for helping the dinosaurs find their correct homes!

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 afternoon assembly.

Congratulations to all the wonderful children who made an extra effort last week.

Havering Rotary Quiz: Round 1 to Hacton

Congratulations to our Hacton quiz team who today won the first round of the Havering Rotary Quiz. After 10 rounds of challenging questions the final scores were announced. In a close competition, all contestants worked well in their teams and demonstrated their fantastic general knowledge. 

• Hacton 48 
• Harold Wood 45
• Mead 30

Reception: Fairy-tale Word Hunt

The children in Reception have been busy on a Fairy-tale character word hunt in the garden. They had to find the number on their sheet, match it to the picture and copy the word. The children used their phonic knowledge to then read the words back to the adults. Some of the children even wrote their own sentences to match their favourite character.

Year 4 PE: Gymnastics

Last week in gymnastics, Year 4 made sequences using the balances and shapes they had been learning over the past term. In addition, they also learnt two new rolls to help connect their sequences. Their routines needed to contain two shapes, two connecting balances, one roll and at least two of the following moves: Tuck, Straddle, Pike, Star, Front Support, Back Support, Dish, Arch, Egg Roll, Log Roll, Forward Roll.

Year 4 created some very impressive routines!