Years 5 & 6 have enjoyed French cafés this term! Organised by our staff and supported by French-speaking visitors, it was a great opportunity for the children to practise their French and enjoy French cuisine.

We took part in National Science Week!

Our Year 4 girls representing us at the Wallingford Netball Tournament.

The largest children’s choir in the world! Crowmarsh children have the opportunity to perform live with 5,000 other children and professionals at the Resorts World Arena Birmingham

“I was so impressed with the Young Voices concert, what a fantastic mix of music & dancing. It was a brilliant uplifting eve. We had great seats in the audience too. Thanks for organising, really hope the school does it again!”

“I just wanted to email to say thank you for organising and taking the children to Young Voices. All the time and effort is really appreciated and what a wonderful experience for them all. Anja looked so happy the whole time it was so lovely and when I asked her if she enjoyed it she said 'Mummy it was brilliant'”

“I was completely blown away by how good it was! The kids were phenomenal and it really was a proper big venue music concert. It was lovely to see all the Crowmarsh Gifford kids and teachers doing the actions to the songs. I also particularly enjoyed the 90s dance section where we got to boogie!”

Every year, classes across the country head away on residentials, our class being one of them. And this year we were lucky enough to stay at Kilvrough Manor in South Wales. It was a wonderful experience, showcasing many challenges and lots of moments I continue to reflect on with a smile. One of these was caving.

As you walked to the mouth of the cave, it was easy to get nervous as you stared at the looming rock, thinking, “What’s beyond here?” but what was actually there was a great opportunity to build confidence. As well as awesome rock formations, the cave held little challenges for the more confident in the groups. The little challenges ranged in confidence levels, with some a crawl and a bend and others a commando crawl through a tight gap. All of these would often make me feel I wanted to abandon ship, but as I pushed through (figuratively and literally!) I realised that I could do them and doing them made me feel successful. The cave itself was a wonderful place, with amazing rock pillars, stone water slides and an underground river where you could catch fish! It was incredible to think that we were under our minibus and in the earth’s crust. Being next to an underground river was extraordinary, but on a body of water in a canoe was just brilliant.

But of course, the fear of falling in a canal is obvious, and I felt this nervousness when I stepped into my canoe, but as you get the feel of the boat, that fear decreases until you are rocketing along the canal. Canoeing was the gentlest of the three major activities, and was set in a calm and quiet canal that wasn’t too deep – only 5 feet deep, apparently- and had no boats on it, so was perfect for less confident people. The one downside is that the start is below an A road so you can hear the vehicles roaring by. Despite this, the canal is very picturesque and is a wonderful sight when the sun is setting, reflecting on the water as normal, there were a few challenges but all were low key such as ducking under low hanging branches and opening and closing lock gates faster, all of which could be done with minimal effort and (fingers crossed) a smile. We did have to load and unload the canoes but for the experience, it was worth it.

This trip was really wonderful and built up confidence in areas that weren’t well developed, such as caving. But most of all, the trip focused on teamwork, supporting and helping each other-be that a leg up or emotional support, there was always an alternative way if you didn’t want to do it, and even if you didn’t, the instructors never forced you to do anything, but encouraged you when you did. In every challenge you would do, it was easy to feel nervous – me no different - but when you came out, it felt like you had conquered the world. On one occasion, I entered the wormhole leading my group and, due to the rocky interior, I found it wonderful to see the head torch of my teacher / tutor. As an overall experience, Kilvrough was great. Its food edible, activities great and memories made even more so.

The week spent at Kilvrough was one I won’t forget, and I think would be loved by many other year groups after us. It catered for all needs and had a daily rotor, not unlike my very own, and I think it will serve as a suitable residential platform for many other lucky Year 6’s after us.

• Year 6 joined forces with EYFS to narrate the Christmas story. Their public speaking was exceptional.
• Years 3, 4 & 5 warmed us with their moonlight Christmas songs and the recital of a Christmas Carol.
• Year 1 & 2 delighted us with their version of the Christmas Story and made us laugh so much.
• Jo and her kitchen team cooked us all a Christmas lunch.
• Santa’s Sleigh visited the community and raised £500 for Crowmarsh School. Thank you to everyone who donated and volunteered.
• The children made Christmas cards and raised £305.
• The PTA set up a committee to organise a Christmas Fete and raised £3,003.96

On Wednesday 3rd May the whole school took part in the RAF Coronation fly past. We all stood outside and waved as Benson our local RAF base flew over.