It was a start to the week with a theme of challenge as the children in both key stages were visited by Reverend Colin who told them all about a massive challenge that he is about to undertake!

Reverend Colin is cycling over 1000 miles as part of our 1000×1000 campaign to raise £1m. The ride starts from Chelmsford Cathedral on July 7th. Colin told the children that over the course of eleven days he will cycle to most of the Cathedrals in the Canterbury Province – from Essex and East Anglia, through the Midlands, across to the south west, Truro being the furthest point. Then along the south coast, and back via London. His challenge is part of a bid to raise an initial £50,000 in order to build a brand new centre at St Stevens Church. The children wished him luck with his mission and looked forward to hearing all about it once he has finished. Forms for anyone who wishes to sponsor Colin will be sent home with the children this week.

The office and library area were once again suspiciously busy as Mabel, the new school puppy, spent another day in school. Mabel, who undertook her first official puppy training session this evening, enjoyed a very relaxed day being visited by children and her behaviour was tip top all day. Mabel will visit a few times a week between now and the end of term, as she gets used to her new surroundings, before coming in every day in September.

Meanwhile, outside the front of school, the children in the Foundation Stage used their ‘Forest Friends’ sessions to investigate the life of the bumble bee! The children learnt how to behave around bees in order to stay clear from being stung and investigated a beehive first hand. Afterwards they played a game where they acted out the roles of bees collecting nectar from flowers and returning to the hive- taking on the role of worker bees and doing a fantastic job of it!