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We had some flooring work carried out in Class 1.  Just before Easter the contractors found the time-capsule which we buried when the classroom was built in 2011!  On the last day of term Mrs Setchell opened the capsule in front of the whole school to discover messages and pictures from pupils and staff.  To our delight there was a poem written by Miss Marlow (Teaching Assistant) who used to be a pupil at the school.  Miss Marlow read her poem to the school and we showed everyone a photograph of her when she was a pupil in Class 2!  We have now buried the time-capsule once again and added to it recent pictures and news about the school.

We were very impressed with the number of entries for the Easter Bonnet Competition and Egg Head Competition at the end of last term. Clearly much effort and creativity had gone into the designing and making:

In the Autumn Term OCC initiated a campaign to design 20mph poster competition.   Thank you for all the children who took part.  We can now confirm the winners: Holly Rukin (KS1) and Imogen Cordy (KS2).  Their designs will be made into road signs and put up in the local area.

The Year 5 & 6 representatives from our School Council attended a meeting with the Faringdon Learning Trust schools. The topic of the meeting were the Six Pillars of Learning (trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship) how they were used in each school. The children represented our school well and were a real credit to Shellingford.

As part of our Shakespeare Week celebrations this week, Classes 3 and 4 had the privilege of working with the company, 'Finding the Will'.  During their workshop, pupils used a variety of visualisation and drama techniques to act out key scenes from the play Macbeth.  Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the experience and gained an understanding of the plot, as well as having the opportunity to explore character at a very practical and relatable level.  What a wonderful experience for all involved!

For Science Week we welcomed Lesley Lightning from 'Sublime Science' for a series of workshops across the school.  The children took part in a range of experiments and demonstrations, including slime making, forces investigations and 'climate chaos' experiments.  They finished off the day with an amazing rocket show on the playground!

We also celebrated World Book Day in March and this year we were extremely impressed with the variety of book characters. The whole school worked in small groups to create a ‘Once Upon a … Fairytale’ and co-wrote and illustrated their own adventure story.

Class 1 & 2 pupils visited SCEEC, a 19 acre nature reserve with woodland, meadow and ponds which is a haven for wildlife even in the depths of winter. A skilled education team led our day, engaging our pupils’ heads, hearts and hands as they learnt respect for the natural world and how wild animals survive.

Class 3 & 4 pupils were given an introduction to the exciting world of engineering by using K’Nex to produce a solution for a given problem. Mr Dorey led the workshop and the pupils experimented with structures, gears and other mechanisms while modelling their design.  The pupils were also introduced to some of the careers that are associated with STEM and some of the routes into these careers.

We are excited to now have a link to Bethany School in Ethiopia.  Throughout the year we will be exchanging communications with Bethany School and fundraising for them.  We have installed a sign-post on the field to direct our attention to the local area and to represent important people in our lives such as family and friends. It also sign-posts the direction of Bethany School in Ethiopia and their pupils and staff who will be in our hearts and minds going forward.  The School Council have also written a School Prayer for the pupils and staff at Bethany School. We are excited with this link and we will be exchanging communications, updates and photographs with Bethany School.   We are very much wanting the children to take ownership of this project and each class will be planning and promoting fund-raising initiatives throughout the year to raise money for Bethany School.   Thank you for your generous donations this week (£116.00 was raised) and everyone looked very colourful dressed in the colours of the Ethiopian flag!