National Schools’ Film Week Years 4, 5 and 6

enjoyed visits to the

Vue Cinema at the

Brewery to

celebrate National

Schools’ Film Week.

Year 4 went to see

‘Rio’ on Friday, 14th

October, Year 6 saw

a screening of

‘Legend of the

Guardians, the Owls

of Ga’hoole’ on

Monday, 17th

October and Year 5

saw ‘Gnomeo and

Juliet’ this morning.

Pupils in Years 1 to 3 saw the film ‘Hoodwinked’ in

school. The screenings were linked to the

children's school work in Literacy, PSHE, Citizenship,

Geography and Science.

St. Edward’s Link

66th Edition - Autumn Term 2011

We have had a busy start to the new school year,

with a traditional ‘Indian Summer’ to cheer us as

Autumn approaches. Harvest Festival provided an opportunity to reflect

both on how food is grown close to home and the

needs of those in distant lands. Our harvest charity

this year, chosen by Upper School children, was

Water Aid and £186.85 was raised for this worthy

cause. Staff voted for our main charity this year and Great

Ormond Street Children’s Hospital (GOSH) was their

choice. Collections from our Christmas

celebrations, concerts, productions and other

special events will be donated to GOSH. On a personal note, I should like to thank everyone

for their warm good wishes, enthusiasm and

support this term, as I have taken on the role of

Acting Head.

Edwardtide Pilgrimage

On Saturday, 15th October, fourteen pupils

accompanied school staff on the National

Edwardtide Pilgrimage to Westminster Abbey.

They travelled to Waterloo and then walked

the rest of the way to the Abbey along the

Embankment. On arrival, they took part in

the traditional feet washing ceremony for

walking pilgrims and prayed at St Edward’s

Tomb. Later in the day, they attended a

Eucharist service and choral evensong, met a

14th century monk who told them about the

history of St Edward and Westminster Abbey,

made pilgrim badges in the education

centre, toured the Abbey and were filmed for

a BBC2 documentary. It was a wonderful day

and the children were complimented on their

exemplary behaviour.

Year 6 children with the Dean of Westminster

Harvest Festival Our Harvest

Festival

services this

year focused

on plants

and how

important

they are to

all of us - not

only for food

but for the many resources that are made

from them. The older children found out

about the fruit and vegetables that staff

had grown at home and local produce

used in our school meals. Pupils reflected

on the need to take care of our world, the

importance of water and the hardship

experienced when it does not rain for many

years. Nursery and Reception Year children

celebrated their Harvest Festival on

Thursday, 13th October. They learnt about

how plants are grown for food and shared

the story of Little Red Hen.

Children in Years 1 and 2 brought gifts of

food which were distributed to local people

in need. Upper School children brought

gifts of money which were sent to the

charity, ‘Water Aid’.

House and Sports Captains At the beginning of term, Year 6 pupils and staff elected this year’s House Captains and Sports Captains. The duties of the House Captains include: showing visitors around the school; leading house assemblies; organising fund raising, competitions and paper recycling. This year’s House Captains and Vice Captains are, as follows: Eagles House Captains Bethan Freeman-Oram Mason Hyde Vice Captains Jessica Gough-Cooper Ezekiel Oranu Hawks House Captains Helena Kavanagh Harleigh Stenning Vice Captains Elizabeth Olley Thomas Robinson Ravens House Captains Rosie Hopwood Adam Ford Vice Captains Rachel Appiah Daniel Cansell Swifts House Captains Freya Karlettis Rotimi Osunsami Vice Captains Hannah Paisley Eriife Kusoro

Sports Captains assist in the organisation of a number of sporting activities during the school year, including Sports Day and the storage of sports equipment. This year’s Sports Captains are: Tianna Chambers Joshua Garraway Charlotte Grundy Elliott McDonald Congratulations to all our house and sports captains, both on their election to these important positions and the excellent start that they have all made to their duties.

Town Hall Visit On Friday, 7th October, our School Council

and Eco Schools representatives in Years 1

to 6 visited the Town Hall and met the Mayor

of Havering, Councillor Melvin Wallace and

the Leader of Havering Council, Councillor

White. The children asked the Mayor ques-

tions in the council chamber, learnt about

the traditions associated with the role, tried

on the mayoral robes and paraded with his

mace. They also learnt a lot about how the

council works and enjoyed some delicious

healthy refreshments. Everyone really

enjoyed their visit. Havering Museum

During the half-term holiday, there are a

number of special events for children at the

Havering Museum. These include two

sessions led by the African Academy of Arts

to mark Black History Month - ‘African Arts

and Crafts’ on Wednesday, 26th

October and ‘African Music and

Drumming’ on Friday, 28th

October. Admission is £3 per

person. If you are interested

please phone the museum on

01708 766571.

Visitors from Kenya On Friday, 30th September, ten head

teachers from Kenya and three

representatives from the Diocese of

Chelmsford visited the school. After lunch

with Year 6 pupils, our visitors had a tour of

the school and attended the Upper

School presentation assembly.

Silver Award At the end of September, we were notified

that we had achieved our Food for Life

Partnership Silver Award. The award will be

presented at the beginning of December

and reflects the school’s commitment to

healthy school meals, the practical

teaching of sustainable growing, food

preparation and cooking and providing

opportunities for children to learn about

food production by visiting local farms.

Black History Month Black History Month was launched in

assembly at the beginning of October and

each year group given a different focus, as

follows:

Year 1 - Art and Artists

Year 2 - Medicine

Year 3 - Authors and Poets

Year 4 - Musicians

Year 5 - Sport

Year 6 - Leaders and

Politicians

The children researched and presented their

findings at special sharing assemblies on

Wednesday, 19th October. Year 1 made

Wayo Masks and Unity Wreaths of hands.

Year 2 researched the life of Mary Seacole.

Year 3 found out about the life and work of

Benjamin Zephaniah and read one of his poems, ’I luv me mudder’ in assembly. Year 4 learnt about Black musicians and listened to some of their music. Year 5 produced power point presentations recounting the lives and triumphs of Black sportsmen and women. Year 6 made portraits and wrote accounts of the lives of Black leaders who had influenced the way people live

today.

Music for Life Concert

Independent Travel Talk On Monday, 10th October, William

Wybrew, a representative from Transport

for London, came into school to talk to

pupils in Year 6 about safe, independent

travel, in preparation for their transfer to

secondary schools. The talk was both infor-

mative and enjoyable, providing pupils

with the knowledge and skills that they will

need in the future.

Please remember all children will return to school after the half term holiday in winter uniform.

Members of the Woodwind Band from

Havering Music School visited us on

Tuesday 18th October for a short concert.

The children learnt a lot about woodwind

instruments, including their names and

pitch, as they listened to a variety of

pieces of music. It was a great

experience to hear all the instruments

played together.

Romford Nativity Project The Romford Nativity

Project will take place

at the Brewery from

10th to 24th December.

There will be a wide

range of events

happening that we will

publicise nearer the

time but there is a music

competition that children can enter now.

Pupils are challenged to write a brand new

Christmas Carol celebrating the story of

Jesus’ birth. The deadline for entries is 30th

November 2011 and entries must be sent on

a CD, as an MP3 or as a written score. The

winning entrant will have the opportunity to

record their song and their track may be

played on TimeFM!

Send entries to the Romford Nativity Project,

Romford Elm Centre, Wheatsheaf Road,

Romford, RM1 2HD or e-mail to admin

@romfordelimchurch.co.uk. For further

details, please contact Helen Yousaf on

01708 767029 or 07595 345044.

Operation Christmas Child Once again, we are collecting shoe boxes wrapped in Christmas paper and filled with gifts for the Samaritan's Purse, Operation Christmas Child Appeal. If you would like to take part in this charity appeal, shoe boxes should contain only new goods and it is suggested that gifts should include: toys e.g. dolls, trucks etc.; educational supplies e.g. coloured pencils, pens, rubber, etc.; hygiene items e.g. toothbrush, toothpaste, soap; sports e.g. tennis ball, baseball cap, stop watch etc.; other items e.g. sweets, gloves, scarf, cap, bracelet. The following items must not be included: medicines; food (including chocolate); clothing (other than stated on flyer); war related items; fragile items (e.g. glass, that could be broken); liquids of any kind; novels; dangerous items e.g. marbles, scissors, razors; anything of a political or racist nature. Samaritan’s purse also ask for a small monetary contribution towards transportation costs. Children should take completed shoe boxes to Miss Steward or place them opposite the medical room. Thank you for your support.

Walk to School Week On Wednesday 3rd October, all of the sports captains walked to St Edwards Secondary school for a WOW event. We completed lots of different activities like basketball, dance, hockey, football and javelin. Our first activity was an Olympic Quiz where we joined with St Edwards Secondary School. We worked hard and achieved second place. Amazingly, we saw the Olympic torch lit and met a rowing gold medallist, Mark Hunter. We even got to touch his gold medal! We had a lovely day. Elliot McDonald, 6G

PTA News – WE NEED YOUR HELP!! Fliers have already been issued this term for the Upper and Lower School quizzes, ice skating and the lucky numbers lottery. You should have also received a blue bulletin detailing information for the forthcoming Christmas Bazaar. The Christmas Bazaar is one of our biggest fund raising events and will not be as successful without various donations including prizes, toys, mince pies, new goods and, most importantly, your time. We really do value the support given to this event by all those who help in any way. Please consider running a stall - it really is fun helping to raise monies in such a festive atmosphere! Complete the volunteer slips when they arrive home in the book bags and help us raise money at this difficult financial time. The funds raised provide the children at St Edward’s with a variety of extras and so far this term we have pledged money towards the purchase of class Bibles, resources for the gardening club, thirty sets of new running spikes and, finally, replacement smart sacks for the children to use in class. Total pledge amount: approx. £1200-£1500.

If you want to get in touch but don’t know

who to speak to, either pop a note into the

white PTA box in the school foyer or visit our

website www.stedwardspta.org.uk for

details of how to contact us via e-mail.

The school sports captains with Mark Hunter