It was a proud day for Earls Hall sport today as six groups of children were awarded medals in recognition of their cross country achievements! Before the Easter holidays, every child in school took part in cross country sessions and the fastest four boys and girls from each year groups times were put forward to represent the school in the Southend inter-schools cross country competition. Our EYFS boys and girls, Year One boys, Year Three girls, Year Four boys and Year Five boys all gained an amazing third place in the whole of the borough! Well done to all of the children in school for trying to beat their personal bests and a special well done to all of the children who were awarded their bronze medals, we are proud of you all!

Aside from the sporting pride, there were high levels of excitement in Year Two today as the children started their day with a mystery! The children arrived at school to fund that the Owls classroom had been disturbed and their treasure had disappeared! A note and some clues, including a series of footprints, were left behind which led the children to believe that they had been visited by the gruesome pirate, Blackbeard, who they had learnt all about yesterday. The children were exploding with ideas so worked in groups in order to capture their thoughts on paper. They then had the idea to create WANTED posters that they could pop up around the school. Many of the children chose to use a thesaurus so that they could find the best adjectives to describe the culprit. The children were most put out by his intrusion so decided to design and make their own traps. They shared their creations with each other along with gasps of delight as the explanations of what they had created became more elaborate. What will tomorrow bring?!

Meanwhile, there was lots of outdoor fun and activity as the children in Year One enjoyed continuous provision in their outdoor area. The children in Foundation Stage used the Early Years garden to erect a tent, explored the digging area and investigated melting ice. Whilst the children in Kites and Kestrels enjoyed swimming in the pool, the children in Oak took part in a fantastic Forest Friends session where they worked in teams to undertake a series of challenges!