Well done and thank you to so many of you who enjoyed our recent maths SHARE morning on calculations.  It was a pleasure to have you all.  The children really enjoyed it, and we hope you also learned about more about how we teach maths in school.  The PowerPoint used is here if you would like to spend more time going through examples of each number operation.

This morning, the children of KS2 walked down to the Parish Church to pay tribute to the three servicemen buried in the churchyard.

The children in Year 6 introduced the activity by reminding us about the First World War and the importance of remembering those that left their families and friends to go and fight on the battlefields of France and Belgium. Many of them were never to return again and are buried near to where they fell overseas. However, there are also over 800 servicemen buried in churchyards in Suffolk: these are the servicemen who came back to Britain but who later died of their wounds.

We then visited the three graves of Private James Rumsby, Private Herbert Vincent and Deckhand John White and learnt more about their lives. Private Rumsby grew up in the Old Workhouse on Chediston Street and joined the Gloucestershire Regiment, whose soldiers were famed for their courage; Herbert Vincent had been a furniture maker and dealer based in the White House on Laxfield Road (a house that his father had built); and John White had been a farm labourer and had married Mary Carter, the daughter of the village postman in 1915.

The children then gathered together again for an Act of Remembrance: Year 6 children read a short prayer and the Ode of Remembrance before listening to the Last Post and sharing a minute’s silence, which the children observed perfectly.

The children of Key Stage 2 had ‘A Day To Remember’ when they visited Norwich Cathedral yesterday. The visit was the culmination of their learning in History – The First World War – and RE – Reconciliation.

The day began with an opportunity to meet Edith Cavell, the Norfolk-born nurse who was shot for nursing soldiers on both sides of the conflict during World War I. We learnt about her life story, and how her faith in God had given her strength following her trial in Belgium.

The children then split into three workshops. The first, called The Cathedral Remembers, was a tour of the Cathedral and Cloisters looking at the symbols and memorials of remembrance. The children were fascinated by the bronze pelican, the crucifixes and the stained-glass windows. The second focused on the theme of ‘Reconciliation’ and the children explored this concept through freeze-frame drama and model-making. The third focused on the life of Edith Cavell and gave the children an opportunity to visit her grave and see the amazing paintings of her life by Brian Whelan. In this workshop, we also looked at the clothes worn by the Bishop and the symbolism of the Bishop’s crook.

The children were fantastic all day: they were polite, engaged and active with their questions and contributions. Several members of the public approached us to comment on their respectful behaviour. So well done all.