The start to the week was a magical for children across our Foundation Stage and KS1 classes as they had the chance to see a very special visitor who had magically arrived in school! A beautiful grotto had appeared, thanks to our PTA pixies, and class by class the children went down to it in order to have a special moment with none other than Father Christmas!

Father Christmas talked to each child in turn about their wishes for Christmas, their behaviour throughout the year and what they enjoyed about school. The children each left the grotto clutching a special gift and the excitement reached fever pitch! Thank you to Father Christmas for taking time out of his schedule at his busiest time of the year in order to make today such a memorable one for our youngest children. The children from across KS2 will get to visit him when he returns tomorrow.

There was more excitement today, this time away from the school itself, as children from across KS2 represented Earls Hall at the Southend inter-schools indoor athletics competition. A team from Years 3/4 and another from Years 5/6 competed against other schools at Garons and did incredibly well! Our Year 3/4 team were placed overall third whilst our Year 5/6 team were placed overall second! Well done to all of the children who took part, we are proud of you all!

Meanwhile, back in school, the children in Squirrels sent mouth watering smells down the corridor as they spent time baking gingerbread biscuits! The children worked in groups to follow a recipe, bake the biscuits and then decorate them. They were even kind enough to take one down for Mr B to enjoy in his office.

Whilst Squirrels were baking, Badgers were experimenting with musical instruments. The children talked about instruments they could identify and then experimented with a range of percussion instruments to see what different sounds they could make. Next door in Woodpeckers, the children developed their team building skills. Mrs Hewitt challenged the teams to make as tall a a tower as possible using only newspapers. The children worked together to try and make their structures as strong and tall as possible with some amazing results.

After school Mrs Robinson oversaw an exciting Chess Club. the session today saw the climatic finale of the terms club with the children playing each other skillfully against the click. The atmosphere could be cut with a knife!