We went to the panto…… OH YES WE DID!

On Tuesday we took all of our children and staff to the wonderful Georgian Theatre Royal in Richmond to see Pinocchio the panto, and what a delight it was! Congratulations to all of our pupils whose behaviour was impeccable. Staff were thrilled to see just how much our children were delighted by the panto – another joyous event to make a very welcome return after the last two years. Huge thanks to our fantastic PTFA for buying the panto tickets and transport – what a treat!

Alex and Maisie report: “The panto was Pinocchio and it was really funny. I (Maisie) had to wear a Pinocchio hat and I felt a bit embarrassed. Miss Atkinson and Miss Telford got sent up onto the stage to dance to ‘Dance to Your Daddy’ and it was hilarious! We all got to throw knitted fish onto the stage! The best part of the panto was the song called ‘shut up-a-ya-face’!”

Christmas Dinner was DELICIOUS

Aaron and Sidney report: “On Wednesday Mrs Chapman and Mrs Alderson cooked us the most wonderful Christmas dinner. There was turkey, stuffing, carrots, sprouts, mashed potato, roast potatoes, pigs in blankets, parsnips, gravy. It was delicious! We enjoyed crackers with party hats and terrible Christmas jokes! We enjoyed welcoming governors to join us as well. Charlie was jealous of Mrs Harrison because she had the biggest pig in a blanket!”

Huge thanks to our amazing cooks who prepared, cooked, and served this delicious festive spread!

Party Time

Thursday saw each school celebrate with their own parties. Anna and Elsie report: “We played loads of great games including musical poses, strawberry laces, washing machine (under the parachute). There was dancing and prizes and we really enjoyed it. We also had a special guest – father Christmas. He was great fun and told some good jokes and he brought us presents!”

Thank you to all of the staff for making this a special and exciting time in our schools, and to Father Christmas who took time out of his busy schedule to be with us.

Christmas Shops

Our children were delighted to have the opportunity to buy gifts for family and friends at the Christmas shops provided by our amazing PTFA. A wide range of gifts were browsed and purchased, from lip gloss, to chocolates, to perfume! Thanks again PTFA – we are very privileged.

St. Oswald’s Christmas Tree Festival

Thank you to our Y6 children who decorated the BAWB Christmas tree in St. Oswald’s with all the decorations that our children have made over the last week. If you get chance, please do pop in to have a look at the wonderful trees!

Christingle

At the time of writing this, all of our children have made their Christingle and have talked about the meaning of all its components. Why not ask your child what each part symbolises? We look forward to seeing you all in St. Oswald’s this afternoon for the Christingle service: a peaceful and joyful end to the term.

• The orange represents the world.
• The candle reminds Christians of Jesus who they believe to be the light of the world.
• The red ribbon goes all round the ‘world’ and being the colour of blood, reminds Christians that Jesus died.
• The four cocktail sticks could have either of two meanings; the four seasons or the four corners of the world.
• The sweets (or sometimes dried fruit) remind Christians of God’s gifts to the world including kindness and love.
• The foil is only there to catch waxy drips from the candle.

Assessment Results

You may recall us having assessment week a couple of weeks ago. Our children worked really hard and impressed us with their resilience. As promised, their results and papers will be shared with you so that you can see how they are doing. In order to give staff time to collate and analyse all of the information, this will be with you in the new year.

We still had time for science!

This week the Swallows worked scientifically to complete an investigation into how many drops of water could fit on 1p and 2p coins. The Swallows made a prediction for the 1p, carefully carried out their investigation observing what happened and then used their observations to make a prediction for the 2p.

Thank you

We would like to say a huge thank you to the ‘Cross Lanes Primary School’ charity in West Burton who have donated £600 to the school as part of the legacy of the former ‘Cross Lanes Primary School’. In the new year we will work with the children to determine exactly how to spend the money which will be used to develop the outdoor space.

Open Pantry

Please remember the The Open Pantry in St Oswald’s Church – there to help in difficult times. Click on the image for more information.

Christmas at St. Oswald’s and St. Margaret’s

Click here to read more about the wonderful events taking place in our churches this year:

• Friday 16th December, St. Oswald’s, 2:00pm, School and Community Christingle
• Saturday 17th December, St. Margaret’s, 4:00pm – Instant Nativity, including carols by candlelight
• Sunday 18th December, St. Oswald’s, 10:30am – Carol Service
• Tuesday 20th December, St Oswald’s. 7:00pm – Christmas Tree Festival Concert
• Saturday 24th, St. Oswald’s, 5:00pm – Carols around the tree – bring a lantern
• Christmas Eve, St. Oswald’s, 11:30pm, Midnight Communion
• Christmas Day, St. Margaret’s, 10:30am, Communion
• New Year’s Day, St. Oswald’s, 10:30am, Communion

Calendar

Did you know you can synchronise our calendar with our school calender? Click here to visit the calendar and click the link at the bottom of the page that says ‘subscribe to calendar’ – this will enable you to push events out to your personal calendars.

Cycling For All!

In conjunction with the Lottery Community Fund and Stage 1 Cycles Hawes, YES @ Areté Learning Trust are hosting a six session cycling programme for all abilities. These sessions will be fun, game led and skilled based, and will be tailored to meet individual needs. Please take a look here to find out more information!

The overall termly winner of ‘Best Learning Environment’ goes to… WEST BURTON! Congratulations to all the children and staff based there who received hot chocolate with marshmallows and cream on the last day of term!

Spring Term

Please remember that Tuesday 3rd January is a staff training day. We look forward to welcoming the children back on Wednesday 4th January.

Merry Christmas!

Thank you to all of our families and friends for your ongoing support and involvement with school. The festive events of this term have been a joy, especially after the last two years, and we have really felt the Christmas spirit once again.

On behalf of all the staff at The BAWB Federation, we wish you a peaceful, fun-filled, and happy Christmas and send every good wish for the new year.

Charlotte Harper