It was a special day for sport again today as over forty of our children in KS2 represented Earls Hall at the first Southend Group A Swimming Gala since before the pandemic! Hosted once again at Garons, the afternoon saw weeks of extra swimming sessions pay off as the children took to the pool in order to compete against other swimmers from five other schools. Supported by parents in the audience and staff by the poolside, the children all made everyone feel proud by showing such resilience in such a competitive atmosphere. The afternoon saw many of the children come away with individual and team achievements and the Year Six mixed relay winning the prestigious Potters cup. Well done to all of our children who took part and to Mr Knight and Mrs Ram for their coaching skills, we are proud of you all!

There had been more sport excitement in the morning as Mr Dorn hosted two special assemblies in KS2. The first assembly saw the final of the Earls Hall table tennis tournament take place in front of an enthusiastic audience in the hall. The final, between Tom and Lyla, was the final game of a tournament which had seen a large percentage of the year groups take part. The tense but fun game saw Tom crowned as overall upper KS2 winner with the lower KS2 finals taking place after half term. Well done to Tom, Lyla and all of the children who took part in the tournament. The second assembly for lower KS2 saw Mr Dorn inspire the children to take up the sport, perhaps for the first time, by sharing examples of how children had enjoyed the game in the past and achieved great success through perseverance.

Meanwhile, back in school, preparations for our Jubilee celebrations continued with many of the children independently researching the life and reign of the Queen. In Year Five the children prepared powerpoint presentations which they then shared with the rest of the class whilst in Year One and Early Years they developed their understanding of what a Queen does and learnt lots of facts about our monarch.

As Miss Kelly was assisted in looking after the animals by a group of children from Woodpeckers, Mrs Mellish and Miss Chandler were joined by the children in Badgers who used their Forest Friends session to create their own fragrances out of natural resources found in the woods which resulted in a range of interesting smells being produced! There was also time to create dens in the forest and play on the log swing.