News

On the last day of term the whole school went to the church for a celebration of the school year and to recognise those whose achievements have especially caught the eye this term. The service was really uplifting with a song to sum up the year from Colorado Class; a brilliant rendition of Oh, I do like to be beside the seaside from Danube, a song about looking after our planet from Waveney, a brilliant rap about the class members of Congo Class, written by the children themselves, and a moving leaving song from Yangtze Class. Thank you Rev Susan for hosting us.  

Those receiving certificates this term were: 

Reading Certificates and Book Vouchers: Verity Scott, Ernie Godbold, Sol Hunt, Bepe Biasi, Reuben Rankin, George Powell and Martha Dinsdale. 

Attendance Cup and Book Vouchers for 100% Attendance: Arieanna Ria, Liam Durrant, Chloe Martin, Bella Martin, Lydia Baskerville, Oliver Oldridge, Oscar Broadley, Amelia Oldridge, Jayden Durrant 

Mrs Tuthill’s Award for Politeness and Good Manners EYFS/KS1: Harper Chrystal 

Mrs Tuthill’s Award for Politeness and Good Manners KS2: Arthur Smith  

Mary Webb Art Award for EYFS: Rosa Mortimer 

Spice Award for Art in KS1: Phoebe Lake 

Spice Award for Art in KS2: Charlotte Cooper 

Lomax Trophy Sports Award: Levi Bennett 

Contribution to School Life Award: Chloe Martin 

Mrs Fenning’s Award for Progress in EYFS: Harry Goodwin 

The Fox and Goose Award for Progress in KS1: Darwin Mack 

The Chase Cup for Progress in KS2: Eden Scott

As is traditional at Fressingfield Primary School, the Year 6 Leavers were invited to challenge the Teachers in a game of rounders as a special leaving treat on Wednesday. However, in a (rain enforced) break from tradition, the rounders match became a giant indoor Dodgeball competition. For those that haven’t played this game before, rest assured that it is a game of no little jeopardy. The game is won by hurling balls at your opponents in an attempt to hit them between the shoulders and the feet. Needless to say, this gave both teams plenty of opportunities to exact revenge for any perceived injustices we may have felt over the seven years we have all been together in the same building! And, needless to say, despite never having played the game before, the teachers trounced the Year 6 children to maintain our 100% record of winning these tournaments.  

The match was followed by a BBQ lovingly prepared by Mr Schwier and Mr Davey under a tree in the pouring rain with burgers contributed by Mrs Tooley and Mr Schwier’s sausages.  

And the afternoon finished with the – also traditional – water fight. The children claim to have ‘won’ the water fight and it’s true that Mrs Waring and I were soaked to the skin. But, I don’t think there was a dry patch on any of our 19 opponents, so honours even is probably a better way to describe the outcome.  

It was a great afternoon. We will miss you Year 6s.  

Darwin, the Father of Evolution, was honoured at Fressingfield Primary School this summer as the children in Key Stage 2 presented their Summer Performance: Darwin Rocks! All the children in Key Stage 2 were involved in some from or another – either as Victorian Londoners, native Fuegians, sailors and officers, scientists, our ancient (unpronounceable) ancestors, or stage hands. And the children were also involved supporting (the wonderful) Mrs Foster with the musical accompaniment. 

And what a fantastic event it was: the children’s performances were awesome; the singing was more heartfelt and lustier than ever; and the acting was superb. 

We were especially impressed by the children who took on the challenge of singing duets or solos. So, well done Chloe and Amelia for a beautifully performed ‘Two Creations,’ to Daisy and Bella for a moving rendition of ‘Life Will Find A Way,’ and – astonishingly – Levi who knocked our socks off with a funky rendition of ‘The Groove Of Evolution.’ Epic! 

As always, we would like to acknowledge the contributions of everyone who worked to make our performance such as success. First and foremost, thanks to Mrs Foster whose piano playing ties the whole show together and elevates our performances to a higher level; she gives up so much of her time to learn the songs, help with rehearsals and on the evenings of the performance themselves and we are extremely grateful. Thanks this year to Carmen Wright who provided our fantastic backdrops – they were great. Thanks also to Mrs Drax and our team of Teaching Assistants – Mrs Scott, Mrs Waring and Mrs Tooley – who helped with tickets, props, stage management and everything else on the night. Thank you to FOFSA who provided refreshments on the evening. Thanks to all who helped with make-up on the night – we loved your creativity. And, finally, thank you to all the parents who provided fantastic costumes, supported the children to learn their lines and ferried children to and from school each evening.  

We hope you enjoyed it all as much as we did. With thanks from Ms Perry, Mrs Buckenham and Mr Leicester.

There were absolute scenes (as the sporting cliché goes) here at Fressingfield Primary School on 7^th July as the children competed for their teams in our Sports Day. 

The children competed in their houses: Apus (red), Aquila (Green), Columba (yellow) and Cygnus (blue) for the honour of being crowned Sports Day Champions.  

A range of track and field events took place through the afternoon, with points being available for all competitors in all competitions. But it was the track events that were most hotly anticipated and which drew the greatest crowds.  

Each year group took part in shorter distance sprints, a longer distance race around the whole field, a team relay and, of course, an obstacle race.  

Congratulations are given to all the children for competing with a sense of purpose and enjoyment and also for being so encouraging of each other. Well done all.  

At the end of the afternoon, once all the points had been counted by Mrs Drax, the colours on the winning trophy were Aquila’s. Well done Green Team.

Oliver keeps reminding me that I haven’t yet put up the Day 3 Hilltop pictures, so here they are with my apologies. Day 3 is always a bit of a whirlwind, with bag packing and room tidying and emptying being the priority before breakfast and immediately after. 

However, once all this has been done and all the left-over bits and pieces on the racks have been reunited with their owners, the focus turns, once again to having fun and pushing ourselves into the ‘Challenge Zone.’ For my group this meant leaping off an enormous tower onto a giant inflatable bag. The tower is so tall, it’s possible to see the sea from the top, but – as you can see from the photos – that didn’t stop our intrepid leapers. Meanwhile, others were completing the Tree Top Challenge and coping with the wobbly wires and bridges and other high obstacles whilst managing their own safety harnesses. And others still were embarking on the epic walk to the sea and back with their groups.  

A final lunch was followed by photos and goodbyes before we boarded the coach back to school. What a great adventure it has been and what a personal journey of taking on challenges and growth. Well done all.

Fressingfield and Charsfield Year 6 Visit to St Catherines College, Cambridge 4th July 2023

Our Year 6 pupils had a wonderful time at St Catherines College, Cambridge on Tuesday 4th July. The purpose of the trip was to give Year 6 children an idea of what studying at university is like, what can be studied and to discover what wider opportunities higher education can offer.

The day started at Fressingfield Primary School before the drive to Cambridge. Once at St Catherine’s the children were given a talk on universities in general and met some 3rd year students. The children were amazed at the range of subjects taught and the number of societies, everything from chocolate appreciation and tiddlywinks to the fine art society and sports.

Following lunch, the children were taken to the Sedgewick Museum to receive another talk about the large dinosaur exhibits, fossils, geology, evolution, and how current students use the collection for their studies. The pupils then had the opportunity to look around the museum and ask more questions.

The afternoon was spent touring St Catherine’s to gain a better understanding of the facilities, and how student’s live and study at university. During the tour the pupils were shown the libraries, lecture rooms, dining hall, gymnasium, chapel, laundry room, halls of residence and the student social areas.

All the children had a very enjoyable day, and the visit opened a lot of discussion about the possibility of going to university in the future.

“Growmeown, Growmeown, wherefore art thou Growmeown?” are, of course, Waterette’s famous lines from the allotment-based version of Shakespeare’s classic play. Let’s hope this weekend isn’t a tragedy though as the school’s Sensory Garden, featuring our two wonderful star-crossed scarecrows – Growmeown and Waterette –  is thrown open as part of Fressingfield Open Gardens Festival! The garden was developed initially by children in Year 6 who were keen, following the disruptions of Covid, to develop a space in the school where children could take time out – a calm space away from the busy playground. They wrote to local businesses and our district councillors and raised the money used to create the space. The bench in the centre of the garden was built by Mr Cossey and Ted earlier in the year, and we think it’s great. The shed in the corner of the garden is our Reflective Shed. This was provided by Rev Susan as a contemplative, spiritual space and the two spaces work very well together. On the right, the school gardeners are growing an area of swishy grass and wild flowers to provide colour and support for wildlife.

The scarecrows themselves were made by members of the Gardening Club who meet on Tuesday lunchtimes. They are supported by the wonderful Mrs Lyndsey and Ms Kalinauckas to whom we would like to say a huge, “Thank you!”