Hollesley Primary School

On Tuesday 4^th February 2020, Years 1 and 2 went to Colchester Castle to learn more about their topic ‘Towers, Tunnels and Turrets’. Logan said, “We walked from the coach to the castle and then got shown where the guards used to sit.” After listening to the castle rules, they were split into groups and went to different stations with guides. They saw necklaces, rings and all kinds of jewellery. They were able to try on some items like a helmet and clothes. Austeja said, “The helmet was shiny, hard, heavy and gold. It was so heavy that my head nearly went inside my tummy!” Logan said, “My favourite part was when we went to the top of the roof.” Austeja said, “We went to look at the dungeon but it wasn’t scary!” They all said they had a great day and learnt a lot.

On Wednesday 12^th February 2020, Years 3 and 4 went on a trip to Sutton Hoo. They went there to learn more about their topic of ‘Traders and Raiders’. The children had a guided tour of the Anglo-Saxon burial grounds, explored the museum and also became History detectives by handling replica artefacts and predicting what they had been used for in Anglo-Saxon times. Chloe said: “It was actually quite scary but fun.” She told us that they saw shields, real gold and swords. “We all had lots of fun and it was very exciting!” she said.  

We would like to thank the Friends of Hollesley School for funding our bus travel for these trips, and others. They make it possible for us to visit lots of exciting places to help us with our learning.

By Millie, Billy and Lauren

On Thursday 16^th January 2020, all year groups up to Year 4 had a Chinese Lion Dance workshop as part of our learning about Chinese New Year. A visitor came into school to talk about the traditions of the dance and taught the children how to do it. They really enjoyed taking part, and wearing the fantastic lion costume. Jennifer in Reception told us that, “I was in the middle, Huw was the head and Isla was wiggling her tail. It was so much fun”.

Key Stage 2 children have started a Reading Challenge. Our target is to read a book a week in order to earn credits. The number of credits we earn is based on the category we choose the book from, from the list in the booklets we were given. Every time you read a book, you must fill in a book review and hand it in to your teacher. The aim is to read a variety of books and earn enough credits (700) to go on a special trip at the end of the year. The categories are things like: ‘Michael Morpurgo books’, ‘books about a new life’ and ‘a story with a journey’ etc. For most categories you win 25 credits, but some give you 50 – these are categories like ‘a book translated into English from another language’, ‘a book written over a hundred years ago’ and ‘a book from the Book Trust top 100 children’s book list’ (either aged 9-11 or 6-8). There is an opportunity to win an extra 10 credits every day when you read with your parents for at least 20 minutes, and you can sign in the spaces at the bottom of the page (in your booklets) to say that you have read. If you were wondering, some books from the Book Trust top 100 books are ‘Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson’ (9-11 category) and ‘The Sheep Pig’ by Dick-King Smith” (6-8 category). We are really enjoying our new challenge!  

By Millie, Billy and Lauren

BT Trips

On Wednesday 6^th November, Year 6 went to BT to take part in Rescue Simulation (CoSpace). CoSpace is a coding competition where you program a robot to go around collecting and depositing coloured blocks which are worth points. There are traps which take your points away if you go in them. One of our teams came 6^th place in the competition. It was great fun and we learnt a lot.

On Friday 15^th November, Year 4 also went to BT. This time they learnt how to program a robot to kick a ball, which was inspired by the 2016 robot football tournament in Japan. Lucas said “I really enjoyed it, and I would definitely like to go again!” They all seem to have really enjoyed it!

Sports Tournaments

On Monday 4^th November, some Year 5 and 6’s went to Ransomes Sports Centre in Ipswich. “Ruggers was AWESOME!” Billy told us when he came back. “We won 3, drew 1 and lost 1, so overall we did pretty well.”

First of all, they went outside and practised catching a ball. “Then I got hit by one!” Millie says. After that, they went into their first match. They tried their best, persevered, and didn’t argue. Then they went to their other 4 matches and played well again. At the end, they awarded the Fair Play award to one person in each school. Ours was Josh because he persevered even when he injured his hand, and always congratulated the opposition. Everyone thought he deserved it and it inspired everyone else to play like him.

On Tuesday 5^th November 2019, some Year 5 and 6’s went to a football tournament at Ipswich High School.  First they practised their shooting and defending skills. After that, they ate their lunch and got ready for the match. They lost, only scoring one goal unfortunately (scored by Billy), but they still enjoyed it.

By Millie, Lauren and Billy

On 23^rd and 24^th September 2019, year five and a few year sixes did Bike Ability – a course that children can take that helps them with their bike safety on the road.

First of all they had to discuss all the different parts of the bike and how to keep it safe to ride, such as checking if the chain was rusty or if the brakes worked. After that they formed a circle and rode around it on their bikes, each time they went between the blue cones doing whatever the instructors had called out e.g. one hand on the helmet, or pointing to the right. This helped them with indicating practise. This was a little bit tricky, but a vital part of the learning, because, to pass the test, they had to be able to indicate easily and without hesitation. Then they had playtime and a little rest.

Next, they learnt how to look over their shoulders when cycling. This was so they could check for cars, before they got on the bike, during the bike ride, and before and after getting off the bike. After lunch, the people who passed the morning went on the road. They learnt 3 positions on their bikes, including holding, start and stop, and sharing position. They also learnt how to stay safe on the road. Next, they learnt how to do a U-turn: ride down the road a little way then stop, look behind your shoulder then do a U-turn then ride back to the start. Lacey said, “ I enjoyed it a lot, I really liked it, but it was quite nerve racking because I kept slipping on my bike and heard cars behind me but I got back on and just kept on going.” So it looks like they learnt a lot and it really helped them to stay safe on the road. All of them said they would do it again if they could.

By Lauren and Billy