Wednesday 4th May 2022

This bank holiday weekend, 4 riders from our school equestrian team represented the School at the NSEA Showjumping qualifiers at Rectory Farm Arena in Cirencester.  A popular day, with over 250 competitors attending from local schools in the region.  

The sun was shining, the start times were (for once!) very agreeable to the parents, the sausage rolls were fresh out of the oven, and the ponies were in the best part clean, and the children at least started that way!

A surprise visit from Mrs Newman, and an impromptu yo-yo competition, certainly spurred the riders on and saw them all jump particularly impressive rounds.  The team were exceptionally proud to have come home with a Team 2^nd in the 40 cm jumping, with Lily Meade celebrating individual 5^th for a beautifully ridden round.  A particular achievement for all, as this class is judged solely on style. 

In the 50cm class the Team secured a very admirable 5^th place after putting in 4 very speedy clear rounds, balancing a need to jump accurately but also pull in those quicker times.   

The team’s success means that they have now qualified on behalf of the school for the NSEA regional championships and for the NSEA Show Jumping Festival Championships at Hickstead in August at both heights, and Lily individually for the 40cm class.  

An amazing achievement for our young aspiring jockeys!

Wednesday 23rd March

Today we took a team of Year 3 and 4 pupils to the Malmesbury Cluster Football Festival.  Our team were amazing and showed great resilience and team spirit during the afternoon.  They demonstrated great football skills passing, defending scoring and saving goals.  We won four games, drew one and lost one. We came second in our group and went through to the semi-finals!  We showed more determination and team spirit in a very close game which ended as a 0-0 draw.  Unfortunately the other team went through to the final on goal difference but we were very proud of our achievement.  

Tuesday 22nd March 2022

Last week, Speech and Drama pupils from Luckington participated in the Mid Somerset Festival in Bath. We are really proud of their achievements, it is not easy to get up in front of an audience to perform and they did so with confidence and enthusiasm. Classes included mime, verse speaking, reading aloud and speaking of prose.

Notably, we came home with two trophies and were placed 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd in more than one class. WOW!

What a fantastic achievement. Well done to everyone involved. 

Wednesday 9th February

This was a very busy afternoon as we took thirteen children to the Westonbirt Cross Country Festival and eight children to the Malmesbury Cluster Netball Festival! 

Our cross country runners did exceptionally well.  The year 3 and 4 pupils ran a distance of 1500 metres and the Year 5 and 6 pupils ran 2100 metres.  We had several runners who finished in a top ten place for their year group.  Charlie came 8th in the Under 8 boy's race, Bode came 10th in the Under 9 boy's race and Jake came 7th in the Under 11 boy's race.  A big thank you goes to all the parents who helped train the children at running club.

At the Netball Festival the team played really well winning, drawing and losing their games. They scored goals and defended very well. A big thank you to Katherine Fisher for running netball club and coaching the team at the festival.

Friday 4th February

We took two teams to an indoor Cricket Festival at the Sports Dome in Chippenham. The Year 3/4 team played in the morning and the Y5/6 team played in the afternoon.  This followed on from some cricket coaching we had in school in term 2.  The children took turns at batting, bowling and fielding.  They had to learn a new set of rules and played really well in their teams supporting and helping each other. Our Year 3/4 team came 3rd and our Year 5/6 team came 4th.  Well done to both teams.

Wednesday 26th January

Today we took two teams to the Malmesbury Gymnastics Festival at The Activity Zone in Malmesbury.  We have been practising a floor routine and vaulting at our after school gym club and got to perform them in front of some judges.  We were all a bit nervous but remembered our routines and performed them brilliantly!  The vaulting box was a bit lower than we were used to at school but after a few practices we got used to it.   We also got to try out some other gymnastic equipment such as the beams, parallel bars, ropes and climbing frames.  We also got to jump from a springboard onto a crash mat which was great fun!  At the end of the morning we were thrilled to find out that Julie-Marie came third in the beginners floor routine competition and Tom came second in the advanced vaulting competition. 

Thursday 13th January

As a result of coming second in the Malmesbury Cluster Year 5/6 football festival our team were put through to the Wiltshire Small school's competition.  The team played excellently winning four games and drawing three.  They came second overall losing out on first place by just one goal.  The team were a credit to to the school in their behaviour, attitude and sportsmanship which was commented on by the tournament organisers.  Well done to the whole team!

Thursday 6th January 2022

On Saturday December 18th, we sent 3 teams (The Luckington Flyers, Bouncers and Unicorns) to compete at the National Schools Equestrian Association qualifiers in Somerset.  

A 5am start saw 7 blurry eyed but enthusiastic riders, ditching their usual breeches and jackets in favour of Christmas jumpers and tinsel, sing their way down the M5 to where their show jumping courses awaited them.  Their even more blurry eyed (and initially slightly more mute) parents and  grandparents came armed with flasks of hot chocolate, warm sausage rolls, sweets galore and oodles of encouragement.

After a super fun and informative course walk with Harry Meade, and lots of reciting their focus points, every team member gave what was a stirling performance.  A strong team certainly isn’t made by the highs alone, and in true Luckington style the children celebrated one another’s resilience and positivity when needed.

Special mention to Lily who individually won her class, and Xander who gained a special award for his perseverance, the Teams came home with Lily’s individual qualification for the regional championships, and 2 team qualifications. 

Special thanks to the organisers of the event which provided a lovely start to the Christmas break, the parents (aka grooms, sweet wrapper holders, cheerleaders and more) and especially to the children and their ponies who proudly represented their school.

Tuesday 7th December 2021

It's been another busy few weeks here at Luckington. The build up to Christmas has been slightly disrupted by COVID but we are determined to carry on!

We have decided to do special Christmas recording this year, rather than our traditional nativity. The older children have been given parts to learn and in true Luckington style many of them had them off by heart within 24 hours!

It was a lovely treat welcoming Quantum Theatre to school this week. Their performance of The Night Before Christmas was so magical; it was brilliant to see the children's faces light up. It felt like it had been while since we had done something quite like this and our new year's resolution will be to book another soon.

Wednesday 10th November

Today four children from our school attended the Tops Activity Festival at The Activity Zone in Malmesbury. This was an opportunity for them to try lots of different sports and use different kinds of equipment.  They all enjoyed taking part and came back to school exhausted!

Monday 8th November 2021

What a busy start to term we've had! 

We've really enjoyed having cricket coaching in Class 2 - not quite the right time of year, but a bit of icy rain doesn't put Team Luckington off! I'm always amazed at how resilient our children are under unusual conditions - kind of sums up the last year really!

Over the coming weeks we hope to begin preparing our nativity. It's hard to say what the next month or so will bring, but it is such an important part of the build up to Christmas that we are determined to do something - one way or another. 

We're looking forward to seeing all of you over the coming days for your parent consultation meetings. Your children have done you all proud and we can't wait to share it.

Mr Cook

Friday 15th October 2021

A massive thank you to our parents and governors who helped out with our Open Morning today. It was great to meet lots of new people and it was a real pleasure showing everyone our amazing school!

Another very sporty week; Year 5/6 did incredibly well in the rugby tournament, winning 4 of their games. I am always amazed at how willing our children are to give new things a go and how those that are more experienced support their friends. Well done to Mrs Newman and the team.

Class 2 had a great time learning with the SCARF Life Education team earlier in the week. We hope that one day we will get back on the bus!

Mr Cook

Wednesday 13th October

Today we took two teams of Year 5 and 6 children to a tag rugby festival in Minety. We have had the benefit of a rugby coach from Bath rugby club working with us in our PE lessons who has helped us learn the rules of the game and the skills needed to play.  Our team was very organised and worked well together to score tries and defend by tagging their opponents. Both teams did really well with team 

1 coming 4th and team 2 coming 5th overall - a great achievement.   Everyone especially enjoyed the hot dogs at the end of the festival!

Mrs Newman

Friday 8th October 2021

Another lovely week here at Luckington. We've been very busy! 

We were very excited to receive our Gym Run badges this week. It was great to how much our physical fitness has increased since the last visit. Mr Weeks will be back in summer to see how we are getting on.

Well done to our Year 3/4 rugby players too; they did incredibly well in the local tournament this week, managing to win two games AND score loads of tries!

Mr Cook

Wednesday 6th October

Today we took a group of Year3 and 4 children to a tag rugby festival in Minety. We have had the benefit of a rugby coach from Bath rugby club working with us in our PE lessons who has helped us learn the rules of the game and the skills needed to play.  This was the first sports festival for most of these children and they really enjoyed taking part and representing our school.  The team  got better and better at tagging and scoring tries with each game we played.  We came 7th overall which was a great achievement. Everyone especially enjoyed the hot dogs at the end of the festival!

Mrs Newman

Friday 1st October 2021

So, we find ourselves in October - where did the summer go? I always feel incredibly fortunate, that because of our location, we get to experience and enjoy the changing of the seasons. At this point in the year, we always get out our big yellow playground brooms; ready for the falling of the leaves over the next few months. We are lucky to have a number of different species of tree on our site, but they do require a good deal of cleaning up after!

Last week was a busy one. On Monday, we welcomed Richard Pomfrett from the Stay Safe Initiative to school. Richard worked with all our children on how to stay safe online, followed by a well attended parent workshop. The thing that stood out most to me, when it comes to online safety, is the importance of us having an ongoing dialogue with our children - rather than a serious 'sit-down' chat. Richard used the phrase 'little and often' and I think he's spot on. Our children are part of a digital world and as they grow, there will be no avoiding this. Therefore our job is to prepare them for the challenges and experiences they may face.

Physical fitness is an important part of our culture at Luckington. We've always been proud of the amount of sport that we do; we take up every sporting opportunity that we can. On that note, we also welcomed back Mike Weeks from Gym Run this week. The children did a number of exercises that helped determine their fitness level and they will receive a coloured badge to match their level. Mike will be back in the summer, so between now and then we are going to work hard on those exercises to see if we can get even more fit!

Enjoying nature, physical fitness and online safety are three important aspects of positive mental health. When you get a quiet minute, chat to your children about all of the things they learned this week, you will be as amazed as I have been!

Mr Cook

Friday 24th September 2021

Every day the children at Luckington make us proud. However, earlier this week, there was one event that really encapsulated what makes our school so special.

Our Year 5/6 football team took part in a tournament in Malmesbury with our local cluster schools. As you know, we are a very small school (one of the smallest in the county!) but that did not stop us getting to the final - unbeaten. The boys had so many shots on goal, but the opposition, Malmesbury Primary, won one-nil.

Here are the results:

Group Stage 

Luckington 2 - 0 Sherston

Luckington 1 - 1 St Joseph's

Luckington 3 - 1 Lea and Garsdon 

Luckington 2 - 1 Minety 

Semi-Final 

Luckington 1 - 0 Crudwell 

Final 

Luckington 0 - 1 Malmesbury

Well done to all the boys for their amazing attitude - we are so proud of them!

Friday 16th September 2021

Another fantastic week here at Luckington! We now have two trained Play Leaders: Will and Ellie-Rose. On Wednesday they visited Malmesbury School for their training and came back full of ideas. It's great to see such maturity in our Year 6s; they're a great example for all the younger children.

A massive thank you to Cathy and FOLS for organising two great events last weekend. Our BBQ was a great success - it was great to see lots of little people from Pumpkins there! We also raised over £1000 at Castle Combe Car Boot sale. Thank you to everyone involved.

Mr Cook

Thursday 9th September 2021

What a wonderful start to term we've had!

It has made me so happy to see the children mixing again; we've missed this over the past 18 months.

We've got lots of exciting things coming up in the next few months including: the Space Dome; 'Safer Internet' workshops for pupils and parents; Bath Rugby; and the return of Mr Weeks and Gym Run.

Mr Cook

12.07.21 - Nearly there...

Well, it's been some time since we last wrote a blog entry! However, despite the turbulence of the last year or so, we've continued to do lots of exciting things.

Last week we had a guitar workshop with @jackdawsmusic. The children played instruments alongside two guitarists and enjoyed it very much.

The week before, we had an opera workshop where we learned to sing Toreador from Carmen and Nessun Dorma; the hair on the back of our neck was definitely standing up!

Sports' Day was a great success and Blue Team won; the trophy has been firmly in the hands of Yellow Team for a number of years, so well done Blues!

29.11.19 - A Busy Autumn Term!

We've had a very busy term so far, with lots more to come! We marked Anti-Bullying Week with a virtual reality workshop looking at some real life situations. We had to discuss what the right thing to do was and how important it was to tell someone if we are ever bullied.

This week we had a visit from Janet and her guide dog Acorn. Janet explained how important guide dogs are and how she trained Acorn. It was really interesting.

Children in Need was a great day; we all dressed up in our bedtime clothes, did a colouring competition and a 'guess the sweets in the jar' competition. We managed to raise nearly £200.

We also said hello and goodbye to Shania, our Swiss student.

As usual we have done plenty of sports tournaments: cross county, football, netball and tag rugby.

Both of us are really looking forward the to the nativity and our Christmas party at the Ship!

07.10.19 - Rugby and Football Festivals

Over the past few weeks, Year 5 and 6 have played in both rugby and football tournaments. We did extremely well in both and represented our school brilliantly.

The rugby festival was brilliant but it wasn't the nicest of days - we won three matches, drew two and lost two. We all had a great time even though it was raining and very cold!
 

Football was also great - we won most of our games, but a scoring mistake meant that we didn't make the quarter finals. Once the referees had added our scores up, they realised that we should have made it to the finals but by then it was too late - most of us had gone home!

Fergus and Jack

20.09.19 - Tomb Raiders

Becky, our R.E. teacher, came in to school on Wednesday and said that we were going down to the church yard. When got there, we watched 5 men put a piece of stone on a grave. It was incredibly heavy - 350 kg! There were people buried about 6 feet underneath.

The man told us that there was wood under the stone and he asked us how we thought they'd take the wood out. It turns out they use sort of 'sugar cubes'. They then pour hot water on the sugar cubes. 

Year 3 and 4 looked inside the church while Year 5 and 6 stayed outside. We looked at some holy artifacts like the font - we wrote about it and drew pictures too.

Afterwards we went out to the graveyard and learnt a bit more about the graves. We saw all the decorations on each and every one of the graves. The man told us to take a bit of actual gold and when we rubbed our fingers, it disappeared! He said that in the olden days if a person was rich, when they died, they would have 23 carat gold sprinkled on them!

Tom and Jake

16.09.18 Switzerland

This week, we have been learning about Switzerland. We are lucky enough to have a Swiss teaching student to coming to our school for the next few weeks.

Mr Cook  split us up into groups. He set up very fun activities.

The first activity was to make cuckoo clocks. Mrs Newman helped us make them from cardboard. They were a house shape with spinning handles for the clock face. Underneath we made a little door with a paper bird inside.

We then did some cooking - delicious Swiss snacks. Each group made something different with Miss Schrader. We made a cheese tart, the second group made a chocolate tart, the third group make potato rosti and the final group made custard tartlets. 

For our third activity, Mrs Kirkham told us a traditional Swiss story. We had to act out the story and add music.

We also did some map work with Mr Cook. Some of the maps we drew were amazing and we learned lots of interesting facts about Switzerland. 

By William and George

08.07.19 Bristol Museum

At 9:30 am on Friday we got on a coach and went to Bristol Museum. When we arrived we put our bags on a trolley. We then went off in our groups to look around the museum.

We looked at dinosaurs, paintings and stuffed animals. At 11:30 we all met up and ate lunch. 

Once we had finished we did a workshop on the Stone Age to the Iron Age. We looked at old axe heads and how they had changed over thousands of years. 

At the end of the day we all got back on the bus - what a lot we learned!

By Barney and Rory

03.07.19 Art of Science 2019

When we got to the university we met a lady called Dr Joanne. We looked at an exhibition called the Art of Science which had had our pictures in it! You can see them in the picture below.

We looked at the children's ones and the ones by sophisticated artists. We had to vote for our favourites.

After that we made gigantic brain neurons from pipe cleaners with Dr J. We then when went to look at a huge microscope called an electron microscope with Dr Sally Hobson. She showed us some pictures of extremely close up items and we had to work out what they were. Here is one, can you guess what it is?

This is a picture of broccoli but magnified thousands of times!

Next we went to a laboratory and looked at lots of animal skulls. We use coloured paper and lights to make them look like they were shining different colours. It was quite spooky! Joanne then took us back upstairs to look through some microscopes and draw pictures of what we saw.

We finished our day by having lunch and ice-cream in the university gardens before playing in the mirror maze. What a great day we had!

By Nico and Grace