The school saw a flood of important visitors walk through our doors today, and all had different and special reasons to pop into Earls Hall.

With today being St Andrews Day, the morning assemblies welcomed a special guest in the form of native Scotsman. and parent of one of our children, Mr Shields. Mr Shields explained to the children the story behind St Andrew and how and why people in Scotland will be celebrating the special day today.

Scotland was identified on a map and the Scottish flag was explained as a link to the crucifixion of St Andrew. He displayed a series of pictures on the large screen which were all linked to Scotland such as haggis, bagpipes and Loch Ness and explained their significance to the Scottish people.

Mr Shields was in full Scottish traditional clothing and explained how a kilt is worn by wrapping material of great length around ones waist. He showed the audience the small knife called a Sgian Dubhs, which is tucked inside his sock, and explained that nowadays it is blunt and decorative but traditionally is used to eat haggis with. Mr Shields also showed the children his sporran and explained that it was traditionally used to store oats but nowadays is just as likely to be used to keep a mobile phone!

At the end of the day Mr Shields came back into school and read a story to the children in Hedgehogs, ‘The Gruffalo in Scots, having previously read a passage of the story to the younger children in their assembly.

Later in the morning Mr Badcock welcomed local MP David Amess to the school. A regular visitor to Earls Hall, Mr Amess was shown around the building and showed a great interest in the renovations which have recently taken place.

In the afternoon Mr Badcock chaired the first ‘Family Council’ meeting of the year in the community room. The council agreed a code of conduct for the group before discussing and prioritising a series of agenda items to focus on throughout the year. Issues briefly discussed today which will be followed up in future meetings included the provision and organisation of clubs, communication and the website, school dinners, homework and 11+ preparation. The council will meet each month and are always on the look out for new members to join in the discussions.