It was a special day at school today for many different reasons. The morning saw us greet Kirk Edwards from the Southend Primary Sports Association who came to join us for assembly. Kirk spends the end of term visiting schools from across the borough in order to present them with sporting awards. The awards are few and far between so to be visited once again is quite an honour.
The first award was presented for ‘Team of the Year’ and Kirk explained that it was awarded in recognition of the fact that the team won in Southend, Essex, the regional finals and the South East before going on to the national finals and coming second and fourth. Our table tennis team was judged to be the best team in Southend out of all the many, many teams and we could not have been more proud as they were presented with their trophies.
Next, Kirk explained that there were ten awards for the whole of the borough, five girls and five boys, and that two of them were to be presented to pupils from Earls Hall. The winners had to have been successful in a wide range of sports and so the children were delighted when Kayleen and Connor were recognised for all of their hard work in sport.
Kirk then spoke about the most prestigious award of all, ‘The Southend Sports School of the Year’ and the fact that Earls Hall had won the award for the past three years. He then explained that to win the award for a fourth time would be remarkable and unprecedented in the history of the sports awards. There was a huge cheer when he then announced Earls Hall as the winners and presented the award to Mr Smith, Will and Hannah. To win yet again is a phenomenal achievement and is testimony to the hard work of all of the children and, of course, to Mr Smith. We are so lucky to have such a talented coach as part of the team. Well done children and Mr Smith, we are proud of you!
It was an end of an era today as we marked the retirement of Mrs Babak and Mrs Fry after twenty four and thirty one years service respectively. The team held a cake party for them in the staffroom where their friends were able to wish them well before the children from Foundation Stage and KS1 held a special assembly for them in the downstairs hall. Mr B thanked them for their decades of hard work before the children sang them ‘A Million Dreams’ from ‘The Greatest Showman’. The children then presented them with cards and banners that they had made and shared memories of working with them. On behalf of all of the literally thousands of children both ladies have supported over the years, I would like to thank them for the dedication that they have shown to the school over the years.
In the afternoon there was time for one final ‘AOK Club’ mission as Mr B was helped by a group of children from Year Six to clear the front of the school on Carlton Avenue of weeds and litter. The children came up with a chant, “We Need the Weeds” and worked brilliantly together as a team. Mr B was delighted to present the children with their special badges in recognition of their kindness. Well done children, we are proud of you!
Also in the afternoon, upstairs in the hall, the children from Years Two to Five were treated to a performance from the ‘Steps Ahead’ performing arts group. The group performed their showcase of ‘We Will Rock You’ and really impressed their audience. Well done children, we are proud of you!