What a glorious sunny day for our sports day and picnic. The children have had an action packed day at the infant school. Thank you Mr Pritchard for once again kindly lending us the school grounds. Thank you to all of our parents for coming to support the children and helping to escort them to and from the infants. It was lovely to see you all joining us for our picnic at lunchtime too.

Year 4 had a magical trip to the Warner Bros. studio tour on Monday. They had a great day learning how the Harry Potter films were made, exploring the sets and looking at how the setting descriptions from the books had been brought to life by the set design teams.

Do pop in and see our new front entrance artwork. Over the half term holidays we have had some lovely art work put up with all the birds our classrooms are named after.

We have had such fun morning preparing for our Parkgate day picnic with the infant school. We have been making wreaths from fabric, peace doves, paper dolls, designing tea cups and medals, and creating a diorama. We have enjoyed a picnic lunch and played games in the playground.

We have been enjoying receiving regular updates from Mrs Croxford, Mrs Paterson and Mrs Wallis with all of the exciting things the children have been getting up to in Sweden. Not even the rain could dampen their spirits. They have enjoyed getting to know the children from the school in Sweden and have been singing, dancing and making souvenirs to bring home. We are looking forward to hearing their stories of the trip after half term.

Good morning- a morning update from Sweden:
We all slept very well- some rooms cosier than others! We had to wake the children for breakfast- a lovely continental meal. We are now on a coach with the Swedish children and staff, being driven into the woods. We will be dropped off and then we will all be walking about 9km back to school through the woodland and country paths. We are all in good spirits, despite the weather turning colder and drizzly. More rain is expected. There is a BBQ awaiting us at lunchtime, so that might encourage us to get going! See you on the other side!!

Morning! I have an overnight/morning update from Stockholm!
Day 2 am: 
*Some* of us (shall remain nameless) were up at 2.30am, dressed and packed, and back to bed again so they wouldn’t be late for breakfast!!!
Everyone slept pretty well. A lovely continental style brekkie with lots of hot chocolate and a special drinks machine for Mrs Paterson to play with!
On the coach now to Tarnsjo, where we are expecting a lovely welcome from the school. We will spend the rest of the day at school and meeting the children and staff- there may even be some dancing involved! More from us later!

Later on …

hej från Sverige!
I did contemplate writing the whole message in Swedish …

Day 2 pm
*A day of learning and eating (and eating and eating….!)*
With singing on the coach, encouraged by our lovely driver, we arrived at Tarnsjo school to a lovely smiley welcome from the children. We had lunch (chicken stroganoff ) and then a great break time where the children enjoyed learning new games and playing a more familiar one (football, of course- on a pitch as large as the whole Parkgate school site!) 
After lunch break, the whole school performed some great dancing, and most of us joined in!
Then it was lesson time, with quizzes, games and some maths and geography. At the beginning of our visit, the children were nervous to communicate with the Swedish children, but soon they were all working together in teams and chatting away! More food and games, and then off to unpack in our accommodation - 2 railway carriages! After a time at the park, we were invited back to the school for ‘Taco Tuesday’ -prepared for us by the teachers and staff. Everyone ate *very* well.  Just showering and getting ready for an earlier bedtime, as tomorrow we are on a 9km walk in the woods! 

god natt!

Oops- forgot to add some quotes for today:
Ruhani: my favourite time today was playing in the playground and learning new games 
Farwah; my favourite part of today when we were in the coach and singing silly songs
Kiera: I liked today because I got to make new friends - it was like we were celebrities! 
Mariam; my favourite part of the day was experiencing how Swedish children go to school

Monday

We have spent most of the day travelling, but it was ok because the children ate their body weight in sweeties! A good flight and arrived in Stockholm with plenty of sunshine ☀️ 
After settling into our rooms in a *very* nice hostel,Mrs C took us on a stroll around the area, including the old town. We saw the royal palace, some beautiful architecture (which the children really appreciated!) and finished off with a nice sit down by the fountain and ate our burgers and chips. Just quietening down now with diary writing and showers before down time and an early morning tomorrow !
Millie says “it’s really pretty and I wish I could live here!”
Julia says “the scenery is very beautiful”
Matty says “today was one of the best days and I can’t wait to see what more this trip has in store”
Ethan says “a day to never forget”
distance covered by foot : 11.3km- practising for Wednesday!

Well done to these children that took part in the HFL Education Year 4 Mathematics Challenge Heats. The Maths challenge for this month will be held in school but you will find it on Google classroom.

Yesterday we commemorated the 80th Anniversary of VE day with a 2 minute silence. We also had a visit from an ex pupil who old us about VE day and his experiences. He talked about rationing and the sing songs that were held in the hallway of his house as they didn’t have a bomb shelter.

On Friday, 23rd May, we will be having a joint VE Day with the Infant school. We will complete arts and crafts activities in the morning before the Infant school come and join us for a picnic.