Here are the posts for June 2009

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The Governing Body has agreed to undertake a complete upgrading of our computing facilities.

The ICT room, one of the first specifically designed for a primary school, has been getting very slow and tired. It has been redesigned so that we can now accomodate 35 computers, enough for one per child. This will allow the children to further develop their computing skills and to undertake a wide range of additional research.

In addition to this superb new facility, we will also be upgrading all of the classroom computers to allow children additional access to ICT.

A Team

On Sunday 28th June the Netball A team went to Tunbridge Wells High School to play a netball tournament for the Cardiomiopathy Charity. All the money that would be raised would go to that Charity.

We started off playing against Horsmonden. Despite our continuous efforts we lost 4-5.

Our second match was against Southborough. They were very strong players, but we tried really hard to get the ball up in our end of the court. We drew the game 3-3.

Just after our second match we all did the shooting competition. Afterwards we went to our third match against Pembury. But when we got to the court we found out that they hadn't showed up and so we won by forfeit.

After, we played against Langton. They were really good and we played our best but unfortunately we lost 3-5. We then played against St.Augustines, who won 6-4.

Finally our last match was against Speldhurst. They were really good and we lost 4-5.

As is was a very, very hot day we came 6th out of 6 schools! But it was all for Charity so we didn't mind as we raised over £2,200 and it was great fun. In the middle of the day an RAF fighter plane did a special fly over for us, but unfortunately they went a bit off course and instead of going over Tunbridge Wells High School, they went over Beechwood!!

Thank you to Mrs Waller, Mrs Mesher and Mrs Schone for supporting us, and well done to everyone who helped to raise all the money.

Report by Sasha and Nadine.

'A' Team; Sasha, Nadine, Maddy, Megan, Lauren, Suzan and Emily.

B Team Report

On Sunday 27th June, St James B Netball team, along with two year 5’s, Isabel and Hannah, went to Tunbridge Wells High School to play five matches for charity.

Our first match was against St Matthew’s School. They play very well but thanks to our excellent shooters, Olivia and Zoë, we won the match 5-2.

Our second match was against Speldhurst School. Again, our shooters were excellent. They were a bit better than St Matthew’s but everyone in our team played excellently again and we won 4-2.

Next we played Langton Green. All of our team were playing so well despite the heat and so were Langton. The final score was 5-2 to us.

Then we played Horsmonden. If we won this match, we were in the final. Their centre was very fast so it was hard to catch up with her. The final score was 2-1 to us so that meant we were in the final so we had one more match to play.

Our final match was against St John’s School. We were all very tired and were suffering with the heat however they played brilliantly. The final score was 5-2 to them. We came third overall in the league.

Thank you to Mrs Mesher for coaching us and Mrs Waller for organising it.

Report by Jessica H and Eloise P

B Team: Jessica H, Eloise P, Zoë B, Jodie S, Hannah J, Isabel F, Francesca D and Olivia L.
 

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On Friday 27th June, Yasmin, Olivia, Sam, Max and Oscar went to Canterbury High School to take part in the Kent School Games.

We were selected for Speedstacking.

Everyone there had already won a competition so it was very hard. Everyone in our team tried their hardest, but sadly didn’t win, but we all really enjoyed ourselves.

Thank you to Mrs Hemsley for organising a great day.
 

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Thank you to everyone who helped at our Sports Day. Thank you too, to all the supporters – our biggest crowd ever.

In the morning the children went around in mixed age group teams, taking part in 8 different activities. There were throwing, jumping and team relay events. The final scores were remarkably close with all houses scoring over 6000 points. Scott House were the winners with 6,860 points. Congratulations to them.

The teams scored for good sportsmanship and politeness as well, which we believe is very important and the results of this were close too. The winning house was Livingstone. Congratulations.

In the afternoon we ran an amazing 88 races, plus the toddlers and parents races. Apologies for over-running, but we hope you enjoyed it. It was a very hot day and the children were really grateful for the ice-lollies from the PFA afterwards, so thank you to them. The winners in the afternoon were Wellington House. Congratulations.

Well done to all the children. There is a year to recover, before we do it again!

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In the morning we did some workshops including barber-surgeons, chandlers (candle makers), perfume making and lots of others. We had sudden interferences of news flashes on the way Anne Boleyn would be executed. We were also told the maid had left the ice house door open and maggots had crawled in and eaten the meat and fish! She would be punished at the banquet! At break, our person running the day said 'no playing in the haystacks', but two boys went and did just that! Then we went and practiced our banquet entertainment. After lunch we had our banquet, the moment we had been waiting for! We ate bread, cheese, gingerbread and biscuits. Our entertainment was; singing, acting, jesters, jugglers and dancing. We had the maid and the boys who rolled in the haystacks punished.

We all had a great day and thanks to Liz, the Lady of the Manor, for running the day.

Report by Josh M and Harrison. 5 Alpha

It really felt that I was a Tudor, with everyone around me looking Tudor and stalls where we could make candles and leather book marks. We enjoyed making things and learning to speak quite 'posh' like a Tudor. Everyone looked stunning and you could tell who was poor and who was rich.

By Alex 5A

It was really fun dressing up and doing the exciting workshops. I really liked the gossip too. We learnt about how the Tudors thought and how they felt about Anne Boleyn. It was really like we had gone back to the Tudor times in a Tudor Manor house.

By Hannah 5A

I didn't know what to expect when I first come into school, but the day turned out to be really fun and exciting.
My favourite part of the day was the feast. It was funny because of the different acts, acrobats, dancers, singers and the players.

by Autumn, 5A

My Tudor Day by Amy 5A

My Tudor day was so much fun. I loved playing my part as a Tudor girl in a Tudor world. It felt so real because of all the people dressing up as fun people from the past. I was a dancer in the Tudor Day Feast, there will never be a better day than the day I had on Tudor Day.

On Wednesday 24th June, some year 5 and 6 children went to Southborough School to participate in the Pentathalon.

The Pentathalon consisted of five events; Long Jump; Hop Step and Jump; Shuttle Run; Football Throw and Tennis Ball Throw.

Everyone played consistantly well in their events and with everyone's help we managed to earn a great number of points.

With all our efforts, we built up 148 points. Unfortunately, with one point in it, we came second to Southborough. All of our team played exceedingly well and displayed some fantastic sportsmanship.

Thank you to Mrs Lewis, Mrs Ingman and Mrs Woolgar for driving us there and thank you to Mrs Waller for organising and supporting us.

Report by Matilda and Toby W.

Team; Toby W, Toby R, Ollie H, Max O, Alice W, Jodie S, Olivia L, Matilda S, Mungo R, Max L, Spencer C, Joe T, Joe B, Alice R, Sophie R and Isobel F.

Kwik Cricket B Team Report

On Wednesday 10th June the Kwik Cricket A team went to the Borderers Cricket Club to play in a mixed tournament.

Our first match was against Claremont A. We tried really hard and won the game 233 to 215.

Our next match was against Rusthall. Thanks to Mrs Ingman coaching us, we won 210 to 209 so it was extremely close!

This meant we got into the semi-finals so we were all very excited.

Unfortunately we lost against Bidborough 182 to 247. So our next match would determine if we were 3rd or 4th.

Lastly we played against Southborough, they had one amazingly strong player who won them most of the runs, so we lost the game 189 to 272.

Thank you to Mrs Lewis for driving us there and to Mrs Ingman and Mrs Waller for supporting us and organising it.

Team; Olivia L, Sasha RW, Toby W, Fraser C, Nadine K, Thomas P, Tristan J and Daniel J.

Kwik Cricket B Team Report 

On 10th June, Mrs Ingman and Mrs Waller took children to Tunbridge Wells Rugby Club to play against 5 other Kwik Cricket Teams.

First of all we played against St. Marks we off well, but unfortunately they just beat us by 21 runs. Next we played against Paddock Wood, they only beat us by 2 runs, the score was 207 runs to us and 209 runs to them. After that we played Bidborough, unfortunately we lost by 5 runs. Then we played against St. Pauls, we won 271 to 213. Our last match was against Soughborough, we lost by 20 runs. Thank you to Mrs Lewis for driving us there and thank you to Mrs Waller for umpiring us.

Team; Bethany H, Isobel F, Victoria T, Alice R, Joe B, Spencer C, Josh M, Kyle M and Sam J.

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Reports written by the children will feature on this page soon.

Hope you enjoy all the photos.

Thursday

Yesterday everyone had fun canoeing in lovely weather. They had some rain in the evening, however a few braved some games. After a good sleep they have woken to sunshine again today, and sung 'Happy Birthday' to Mrs Holdstock before breakfast.

Wednesday

After a good nights sleep everyone looking forward to canoeing and spending time on the beach today.
Celebrated Joshua's birthday yesterday, with cake.
Everyone having a great time. Hope we will receive more photos today.

Tuesday

Beautiful blue sky and hot sunshine again today. All survived the night and staff were up and showered and even had time for a quick cup of tea before breakfast!
It is hoped they will be able to send some photo's back, but it is dependant on internet access - watch this page for daily updates when received.

Monday

All arrived safe and well after a good journey. Beautiful sunshine greeted them.

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This year we blasted off into Book Week with all our classes having a visit from poet, Mike Jubb. He worked with all the children to help them create a wide range of poetry. On Friday we shared some of our class and individual poems in assembly.

Everybody has the chance to play around with words coming up with both funny and poignant poems.

If your child has been inspired, you can visit Mike Jubb’s website for more ideas www.teachkidspoetry.com

We have also used Book Week to encourage children to read more, or read different types of books. Many children took part in the Readathon. The more books they read, the more money they could raise for two children’s charities - the Roald Dahl Foundation and CLIC Sargent. Please do send in any outstanding sponsorship money during the first week back.

Every lunch time children had a chance to ‘relax and read’ out on the playing fields. They shared books and comics and swapped ideas. Thanks to Archie in Year 3 who brought in some of his own comics to boost our supplies!

The Book Fair gave everybody a chance to buy new books. The ‘Buy one get one Free’ offer brought delight to many faces – especially the parents! We raised just over £600 which means that we can buy more new books for the classrooms.

5A focused on stories and books for their class assembly too. They shared some book recommendations, some of the myths they have written and finally performed The Lion and Albert – a narrative poem. St James’ hall resounded with 34 Northern accents making Mrs Ingman feel right at ‘ome!

Finally the children dressed up as their favourite book characters. What ingenious costumes! The judges found it hard to award winning prizes but eventually they gave one prize per class. Congratulations to the winners and all who took part.

Prizes were also given to winners and runners up in the Book Cover design competition. Some striking images were created showing off illustration and computer graphics skills. Well done to all those who entered and especially to our 8 winners seen here.

A huge thank you to everyone who helped us raise money for the Readathon and for new books for school.

REMINDER! We are still collecting Books for Schools tokens. We did extremely well with our first tranche of books so please do keep collecting tokens so we can order a similar amount in July.