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This year we are commemorating the offical opening of Ridgefield Primary School 20 years ago. In that time the school has grown, changed staff and seen some difficult times. However, one thing has remained throughout – that the school has been at the centre of a buzzing community at all times!
Each year we have themed weeks throughout the year. This term we have had an English focus week and our theme has been Ridgefield’s 20th Birthday.
One of the English events was for children to make a Birthday Bake which they could enter, along with the recipe and ingredients list. You can see some of the entries on the next page.
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We also commissioned our school caterers to make a big birthday cake for Ridgefield and lots and lots of smaller cup-cakes for the children to have as pudding on the final day of the half-term! Thank you to everyone who entered a bake!
Ridgefield has been gripped with panto-fever for the last few weeks of the summer term! Oh no it hasn’t! Oh yes it has!
This year Key Stage 2 banded together to create a smashing performance of Aladdin Trouble, the classic tale from 1001 Arabian Nights. Whilst the main actors were drawn from our willing volunteers in Year 6, children from across all 4 Key Stage 2 classes took part, with roles from chorus to choir open to children from Years 3 – 6. The main role of Aladdin was performed by Isaac, whilst Jasmine was performed by Frannie. Wishy and Washy were played with huge enthusiasm Nehan and Aleks, whilst the hilarious pantomine dame, Widow Tanky was performed by Winona, and Luca performed as Jasmine’s father, the Sultan. Noah performed brilliantly as the Genie of the Lamp, brilliantly supported by Sofia, Zahra and Yu Xuan as the three wishes. Of course, every story needs a villan, and ours was performed admirably (or should that be dispicably!) by Addie, ably accompanied by Ella and Billy in the roles of Wantu and Wantu… a pair of magically brain-addled rhyming twins!
The cast performed to the rest of the school, then to the parents at three separate performances each with high levels of energy. The children loved having the chance to tread the boards and it was clear from the singing that all their efforts paid off! All in all, it was a fantastic experience with too many standout performances to mention everyone! And as for Aladdin’s final wish – “Let’s put on a production like this every year”: Your wish is my command!
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On Friday 31st March, the whole school came to the hall festooned in a huge array of spring-themed Easter hats.
The children sat around the outside of the hall, creating a ‘parade ring’ in the centre. Class at a time, the children came out into the centre and danced around the circle, showing off their wonderful creations and reveling in the end-of-term-ed-ness!
Each class was judged and prizes were awarded to the winners, however, everyone who took part was worthy of a prize because the children (and the adults!) threw themselves into the celebration with great gusto!
The winners were Isaac (6), Aleemah (5), Mia (4), Derin (3), Hannah (2), Ben (1), Anna (R) and Teresa (N). Well done to all of them!
On Friday 3rd February, we were visited by Daniel Zeichner, MP for Cambridge. Daniel visited Ridgefield following a visit by Year 6 to the Houses of Parliament in November. He started by talking to all the children in KS2 about his role and what it means to be an MP. This was followed up by around 15 minutes of questions and answers.
Following on from this assembly, Daniel moved through with Year 6 to their classroom, where they asked more detailed follow up questions for another half-an-hour.
The children quizzed him on his motivation for becoming an MP, his family history and whether he enjoys his work or not. Daniel said that he had not been
asked so many questions about himself for a long time! He is often asked about policy decisions or what his political party would do differently if they were in power. However, the children were far more interested in understand what the role entails and why anyone would want to do it.
After Daniel was grilled by the children of Year 6 it was his turn with Mr. Axten-Higgs! They discussed the state of school funding and the impact that the recent strikes were having on the primary sector. Mr. Axten-Higgs was particularly motivated to press upon him the impact of the chronic underfunding of Special Educational Needs within education and the impact that this black hole was having on schools across the state sector.
All in all, it was interesting to have a visit by an MP to Ridgefield. The children were incredibly welcoming, incredibly interested and polite. This visit now completes a kind of hat-trick particularly for Year 6, who have now visited the Houses of Parliament, meet a member of the House of Lords and met a member of the House of Commons all within 4 months!