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June 2022 news
The school has had a busy few months and it has been lovely to have many of the traditional school events back after missing them for the last two years. Our summer term started with a new larger shed being installed in our playground for all of our playtime loose parts. I am incredibly proud of the way in which playtime has been transformed at Hernhill this academic year. Taking part in the OPAL (outdoor play and learning) has been transformative; all of our children say that they love playtimes and the creativity, team work, resilience, determination and sheer happiness on display will confirm this. Anyone who has been lucky enough to visit, peep through the field gate or to walk across the village hall field between 12 and 1pm on any week day and hear the sounds of joy and laughter ringing from our playground, I am sure will agree. Long gone are the days of wide open expanses of playground and field with nothing to occupy the children except a range of balls and a few rackets. There is dressing up, den building, make believe play, digging, mud kitchen, water play, lego, scooters.... the list goes on. This transformation would not have happened without the hard work of every staff member and the kind donations of loose parts from all of our families and community. However, I would like to highlight the driving force behind this project because without them, it would not have happened. The passion, enthusiasm and sheer hard work of Kerry Thompson (our play leader) and Harvey Sharp, Sophie Greener and Fiona Palmer (our OPAL working group) has been inspirational. Huge thanks to them. What lucky Hernhill children. And it is a genuine offer when I say, any members of the community are welcome to visit any lunchtime to see for yourselves - just pop in!
And now onto school events.
Just before half term, we held an exhibition of all the children's creative curriculum work from across the year. And it was spectacular. Do take a look at our website for photos of the work on display. http://www.hernhill.
This term we started with a Jubilee tea party with everyone dressed in red, white and blue. It was lovely to watch our Maypole Team perform and, of course, it wouldn't be a British tea party without a downpour of rain at the end!
The following week, we held a wonderful instrumental concert where lots of children from across key stage 2 played their instruments and performed for their family members. Despite a lot of nerves, the children did brilliantly and at times there wasn't a dry eye in the house.
We have also been able to bring back our residential trips for Years 4, 5 and 6. Year 4 spent a night camped on the school field, taking part in activities such as archery and team building challenges thanks to the Creed Outdoor Learning team. It was a fantastic experience for all, although I have to admit very little sleep was had by anyone!
On Friday, we welcomed back our Year 6 from their week away at Kingswood. They had an amazing time away taking part in activities including leap of faith, bubble football, bushcraft, laser tag and many more. It was heartwarming to hear the positive comments from the Kingswood staff about how well behaved, polite, positive and determined our children were - what a credit they are.
Year 5 will be off on their two day, one night overnight camp with Creed in July and we have no doubt that they too will have an incredible experience.
And if you think the last few weeks of term is us winding down, think again. We have a number of class worships for parents, sports day, first aid workshops, a cricket tournament, the Year 6 production, PTAFA discos, Moving Up morning and a leavers' service to squeeze into the last 19 days! Wish us luck.