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What a fabulous end of term we have had today!

Our day started with our end of term Collective Worship. Year 6 were all expelled for coming dressed in the most dreadfully wrecked uniforms and lots of children received awards and certificates for 100% Attendance, Swimming, Young Inventors and Wider Opps Keyboard lessons.

Then we gave Miss Patston a good St Ippolyts send off for her forthcoming wedding day. We happen to know that Miss Patston doesn't like having her photograph taken and also is worrying about coping in a wedding dress all day in hot weather.....So we decided to help her along with that by giving her a beautiful wedding dress to wear (all day!) and letting her practise posing for wedding day shots with her lovely bridesmaids, Mrs Hoar and Miss Ingle. If you have a look in the photo gallery you will see lots of photographs that we think are just as beautiful as her real ones will be! All the classes made cards to give to Miss Patston and she was presented with a gift from the grown ups in school. 

After Collective Worship, Year 6 went to Church with Revd Ann to receive a blessing for their move to secondary schools and all the children enjoyed gathering signatures on their school shirts. It was picnic lunch day today so we enjoyed sitting out in the sunshine with our lunches and another opportunity for Year 6 to say their goodbyes.

Finally at 2pm as school closed for the summer and Year 6 left the building for the last time, we all gathered outside to see Mr Jefferies and Mr MacInnes 'in the stocks' and have a go at throwing wet sponges at them - lots of fun and well worth 50p!

It has been a lovely, memorable day for everyone and we hope everyone has a fantastic summer holiday. We wish Miss Patston lots of love for a wonderful wedding day and also Mrs Hoar who is finally able to jet off on honeymoon!

For Year 6 it is the final goodbye; they are a wonderful bunch of children, brimming with talent and character, ready to take on the world and we are so very proud of each and every one of them.  We send them on their way with our love and prayers and I just know they will go on to do great things. As Revd Ann said in Church yesterday - "go and change the world"!

Do take a look in the photo gallery for pictures of our end of term fun and I look forward to seeing you all in September.

Mrs Peddie 

What a fantastic end to a busy school year! We have had a wonderful weekend at the school field camping under the stars - wonderful weather, sports fun, parachute games, a delicious BBQ, ice cream, camp fire singing, laughter and friendship - what more could you ask for? All topped off with a yummy breakfast on Sunday.

Thank you so much to everyone who took part and helped - such a lovely way to round off the summer term.

Photos are now in the gallery!

What a fabulous show!

Every year they get better and better! A HUGE well done to all the children in Classes 3, 4 and 5 who entertained us all with this year’s production. I am sure you will agree, they did amazingly well to learn all those lines and songs in a short few weeks; we are so very proud of them all and hope that you all enjoyed it.

Thank you so much to parents for supplying such wonderful costumes and to all the staff involved for their hours of work and preparation, especially Mrs Stewart. Thank you also for your generous contributions to our drama collection at the end of each performance – we will have a total for you soon.

Photos now in the gallery!

The 2015 Summer Fair takes place

this Friday 26th June after school!

Here are some important reminders:

Monday 22nd June: Summer Fair donations day. This is NOT non-uniform, but there will be a prize for the class who brings the most!

Class 1 & Class 2 – Yellow, blue, green and white items for the children’s tombola

Class 3, 4 and 5 – a bottle for the bottle tombola

From Monday: all other donations - toys, books, raffle prizes, gift items etc can be brought in any time this week

Tuesday 23rd June: This is the deadline for ordering our new and improved picnic teas

Please remember to sell your raffle tickets to friends and family

Years 3, 4, 5 and 6: Get your booking forms in ASAP to secure a slot on the fantastic Climbing Wall!

Years 4, 5, 6: Don't forget the 'St Ippolyts Bake Off' competition, bring your decorated cupcakes on the day of the fair

Children's Competition for all Year groups: bring your entries in on Friday, don't forget to put your name and class on it

Donations for the Cake Stall can be brought in on Friday please

And finally, don't forget that Friday is 

NON-UNIFORM Day for all children

Let's make this the best fair ever!

Don't forget to book your place on the Bake-Off Cake Decorating Workshops! Spare booking forms are available from the carousel in the main entrance. 

Well, we are all safely home after a fantastic, action-packed weekend in Devon. To see for yourself what a great time everyone had, there are lots of photographs in the gallery. 

A reminder also that the children's journals need to be brought back in to Mrs Stewart on Wednesday and there is a special assembly for parents on Friday at 2.30pm, hope you can make it!

We have had a beautiful sunny day here at Barton Hall, perfect for all our activities.

Today we have done canoeing on the lake, archery, mountain biking and abseiling. The children have been fantastic, really trying their best at all the new challenges and in some cases facing their fears!

This evening we are at campfire singing some very interesting action songs and having lots of fun.

We have a lot of tired children tonight and I'm sure they will sleep well ready for the journey home tomorrow.

Our busy day has been topped off with fun in the swimming pool. Everyone is now in bed, and strangely, much quieter than last night!
Check in again tomorrow for further updates!

Our day started with the civilised 'get up' time of 7am, although quite a few children had woken well before that, excited to get on with the day. Everyone slept really well last night....eventually!

Today's activities are Zip Wire, Aeroball, Climbing Wall and Jacob's Ladder. Almost everyone was brave enough to try the zip wire, even Mrs Peddie! Aeroball was a very energetic team game on a trampoline which was lots of fun, and Jacobs Ladder and the Climbing Wall activities certainly tested the limits and strength of our legs!

So far everyone is eating really well; Barton Hall has a new chef apparently and the food is even better than before! There is a great selection and everyone is finding plenty to eat.

We have set up a folder in the photo gallery and will keep adding a few photos when possible.

Well, all is quiet (so far!) 

Everyone ate a hearty dinner this evening and had a lovely time playing 'Passport to the World'. The children are all tucked up in bed now and most are already asleep!

We are looking forward to a full, busy day tomorrow and we have a lovely weather forecast too. 

Check back tomorrow for further updates!

Goodnight

We have arrived!  Everyone is fine and the sun is shining!

Congratulations to Team Wembley who were

crowned the winners at this year's Sports Day!

Thank you to all the parents and families who came along to support the children's Sports Day this afternoon. We hope you could see that our new athletics style format meant that all the children were able to participate in a much wider range of activities, all earning valuable points towards their team total. 

Of course Sports Day wouldn't be complete without the popular track events of long distance, sprints and relays which are always very exciting! We're sorry that we ran out of time and couldn't do the toddler or parent races, but rest assured we will adjust the timings so you don't miss out next year! We were very grateful for your patience as we ran over-time; this was the first year of our new format so we will look at this closely for future events.

As you saw at the field today, a HUGE amount of effort has gone into the new Sports Day; thank you to everyone who helped - especially the staff and governors and the PTA for keeping everyone fuelled with refreshments.

Above all, an ENORMOUS thank you to the wonderful Mrs Hoar for planning, organising and leading the entire event, ably assisted by Mr Jefferies. They have put hours and hours of time into making sure the children had a fabulous afternoon and I am sure you will agree, it showed!

Finally, WELL DONE to all the children who were fantastic as ever, but especially to Team Wembley who were crowned the winners! They were presented with our brand new Sports Day trophy which is now decorated in blue ribbons for the coming year.

Photos are now in the gallery, take a look!

It was a beautiful morning for the PTA's first ever fun run today. 

After an energetic warm up session, the athletes set off for the 5K course along the beautiful countryside around Gosmore. It wasn't long before the first runners made it back to the finish line in a very impressive time!

There was a bouncy castle, skittle run and delicious refreshments to add to the family fun in the sun. A fantastic success!

Thank you so much to everyone who contributed by organising, helping, marshalling, baking and of course big congratulations to all the runners!

There is a selection of photographs on the photo gallery page. If you have any pictures that we could add to the gallery, please email them to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Early Bird Club: Starts after half term

We are pleased to announce the launch of our Early Bird Club, providing an early drop off childcare facility, daily before school.

Booking forms will be sent out ahead of each half term; forms to book places for the second half of term, commencing June 1st, were sent out on Friday. Bookings for September will be open later in the summer term before we break up.

The booking form is also available to download on the website: see the section headed 'Wraparound Care' under the Office section.

Pupil numbers are limited, so early booking is essential to secure places.

A wide range of holiday activities are on offer across the area for the forthcoming May half term. Full details of the activities and how to book can be found in our newsletter section.

PLEASE SEE THE  INFORMATION LEAFLET IN THS NEWSLETTER SECTION ABOUT CHANGES TO THE FORMAT FOR THIS YEARS SPORTS DAY.

In order for sports day to run smoothly and safely for all children we ask that you stick to the following guidelines:

• All children need to have appropriate PE kit, trainers or well-fitting plimsolls and a sun hat or cap.
• If you wish your child to wear sunscreen, please apply this before school in the morning. You will not have access to your child during the event.
• All children should have a bottle of water to take up to the field with them. Cartons or bottles of juice, snacks etc are not permitted during the sports day.
• The school building will be locked while everyone is up on the field so there will be no access for parents to use the toilet facilities. 
• When sports day is finished the children will all walk back to school with their classes and you may collect them from the usual places. We would also really appreciate help to clear equipment from the field after the event!

Thank you for your cooperation. A reminder also that the PTA will be selling refreshments up at the field and ice lollies near the school gates at home time. There will be NO AFTER SCHOOL CLUBS on this day.

FOR SAFETY REASONS PLEASE DO NOT PARK IN THE LANE OR LAYBY NEAR THE FIELD AT ANY POINT DURING SPORTS DAY

We hope you can make it!

This week's Comet newspaper (Hitchin edition) has an article on page 2 of the children's recent Bring and Buy Sale for Nepal. 

In case you don't get a copy of the paper, we have put a PDF version in the newsletter section for you to see.

Thank you so much to everyone who contributed to the children’s Bring & Buy Sale today!

We were overwhelmed by the generosity of our school community, through donations of items to sell, baking cakes and of course buying things too. We raised a fantastic £355.06 which will be donated through the DEC (Disasters Emergency Committee).

We are so proud of how our Young Worship group were galvanised into action to support the people of Nepal following the earthquake and how the rest of the school supported their efforts; it is particularly appropriate as this half term’s value is compassion. You can find out more about the appeal by visiting www.dec.org.uk/appeals/nepal-earthquake-appeal

There are some photographs in the gallery of today's sale. We still have some 'stock' left over and this will be sold at the Class 2 Cake Day on Friday; items will cost 10p, 20p or 50p.

A HUGE well done to William in Y6 who has won first prize in a GSK Science Competition: The Dr Frank Ellis Schools Award. He came first out of 125 entries and has won £100 of Science equipment for our school. We are really proud of him!

Take a look at his fantastic winning entry:

A reminder that this coming Wednesday (22nd April) is a non uniform day, in exchange for children bringing in a filled tombola cup for the Hitchin Schools Fair in the Square (no jeans please). Cups were sent out before the holidays, but if you have misplaced yours, extras are available at St Ippolyts Village Stores.

The Fair in the Square takes place on Saturday 25th April, 10am - 2pm in Hitchin Market Square. Do pop along if you can!