Hitcham's Blog

Bright Smiles Ahead!

2026-07-15T11:25:00.655+01:00

Sarah from Dentaid visited all the children from Nursery up to year 4 to remind them about the importance of looking after your teeth. The children had some very engaging conversations and were shown the right way to clean their teeth. Some of the children in year 1 and 2 reported “I found it good to find out about cleaning twice a day”; “it is important to go round and round with the toothbrush” and “we need to use a pea size amount of toothpaste, and we mustn’t swallow it.”

Some of the older children said “we need to drink through a straw so that the drink doesn’t go on our teeth as much” and "I didn't realise that there was so much sugar in squash!" Sarah showed all the classes terrible pictures of an adult and a child who didn’t look after their teeth. Some of the children (and staff) were very shocked! All the staff felt the children had learnt a lot and it was so good to have the reminders. They all went home with a new toothbrush and some toothpaste. Thank you to Sarah and Dentaid for providing this useful opportunity for the children.

Water safety assembly

2026-07-14T09:58:05.337+01:00

With the holidays fast approaching, we turn our thoughts to holidays and days out by the sea, rivers and lakes. We were extremely grateful to Emma from Stradbroke Swimming Pool who visited us to give the whole school valuable skills and strategies to use if they were to get into difficulty. She shared about the "float to live" and also told us about which flags to look out for at the beach and their meanings. Thank you to Emma for sharing such important facts with the children.

Chrissie Sains - author visit

2026-06-23T17:27:43.463+01:00

As part of our new literacy curriculum with "Literacy Tree", we have been lucky to enjoy a range of books this year and also welcome some great authors and today, was no exception, where we have had a very inspirational and uplifting day with Chrissie Sains, the author of such books as ‘Alien in the Jam factory’, ‘Slugs in Jam’ and others. The children heard about Chrissie's first attempt at writing, which she shared and was proud of as it went on the classroom wall!! She spoke honestly and openly about her struggles with writing as a child. She also shared that “Alien in the jam factory” was inspired by her god-daughter who had Downs Syndrome and so she helped Chrissie write this first novel.

After this introduction, year 3 and year 4 were invited to create their own ‘creature’ using a variety of ideas from her “Treasure chest of ideas”. See the picture below which the children helped to draw and was designed by voting for each part from a choice of features. Reception and nursery enjoyed singing a song all about strawberry, banana, orange and apple jam with actions. Year 1 and year 2 designed their own jam:- “Strawberry jam with chocolate sprinkles, pink icing and flying dust” all voted for by the children from certain features. They then each designed their own jam. Year 5 and year 6 – see separate blog post.

Some of the comments from the children:- “she was so good – I’m going to go home and write my own story”; “I loved listening to her and loved the magic that came out of treasure box”; "I loved designing my own beast” and “It was so good – I can’t wait to start drawing”. Some of the teachers were also in awe of her inspirational box of ideas! It was such a lovely day.

Thank you to “The Friends” who kindly supported this event and thank you to Chrissie for being so inspiring to us all!

Year 3 and 4 football World Cup

2026-06-22T14:43:40.451+01:00

Year 3 and 4 children have enjoyed playing in their own football world cup at lunchtime. The teams have been going through the group stages ending with Spain v Argentina in the final, with Argentina winning! Well done for all the children who played, you all showed great skill, sportsmanship and team work.

Baking Bread

2026-06-19T08:32:41.826+01:00

Yesterday, Class RJ, Class KN and Class KHLH enjoyed baking rolls and making delicious sandwiches. Inspired by our book "Baker By The Sea", we designed and baked beautiful bread rolls. We thoroughly enjoyed learning to mix, knead, prove and bake, with the finished product being a wonderful feast!

We finished the afternoon sharing them together, having a picnic in the pagoda.

Thanks so much to all who helped. It really was an amazing experience for the children.

A little bit of Courage.....

2026-06-12T12:00:24.641+01:00

This week the Worship team and the year 6 house captains led our whole school assemblies around the value for this half term - courage. The year 6 house captains told the school about personal experiences where they had to show courage. The worship team shared three bible stories and explained how courage was shown in them. The story of Jonah; David and Goliath and Daniel and the Lions. We continue life around school showing courage and also following our vision of Learning, Caring and Inspiring in the Light of Jesus.

Dance Workshop Tomorrow! Wear PE Kit!

2026-06-04T11:10:24.020+01:00

Year 3 and Year 4 get baking!

2026-06-03T16:11:17.420+01:00

Year 3 and Year 4 launched their new text by making and baking some delicious buns. As part of the school's exciting new literacy based curriculum, we will study "The Baker by the Sea" by Paula White over the next few weeks. We are looking forward to meeting the author too.

During the lesson we identified many imperative verbs when reading the recipe. We all tried a bun in the afternoon and each took one home. Some children were reluctant to try but once they did they really liked them. A great team effort to create some lovely buns.

Seek Ye First The Kingdom Of God

2026-05-21T20:41:11.211+01:00

During assembly on Monday the children sang the hymn 'Seek Ye First The Kingdom of God' in a round. This was inspired by the Year 5 Easter service when the children had performed it in the church.

Lead by Mrs Brown, Years 5 and 6 sang together whilst years 1, 2, 3 and 4 joined to sing the staggered verses. The effect of the children singing together in this style has really resonated with staff and left a lasting impression. We hope it connects and resonates with you all too.

Here is a recording of the hymn featuring our SRH pupils.

Music Assembly - Senior Choir recording

2026-05-21T13:35:09.305+01:00

"Learning, Caring and Inspiring" assembly

2026-05-15T12:47:01.373+01:00

Rev Chris Davey joined Mrs Cann in our assembly to share the "School Vision " and to talk about spirituality and how this affects us all. The children gave some great examples including how they have been inspired and have a sense of awe and wonder of events in their lives including previous inspirational speakers we have had to visit us.

The Key Stage 2 children, who are doing Robin Wood as their enrichment at the moment, presented a beautiful, huge collage that they all helped make to celebrate Sir David Attenborourgh 's 100th birthday. This really was an inspirational piece of work and will adorn the walls in the hall shortly. Thank you to Mrs Skeggs and Miss Eliot who have created this with the children.

Art Club

2026-05-14T16:52:14.971+01:00

After attending a shadow puppet workshop with some children in KS2, Miss Turner was inspired to use and teach the skills she learned in art club this half term with the Year 3s.

Year 3 have really enjoyed making shadow puppets. After constructing different characters using black card , split pins and sticks they imagined interesting stories for them. Finally, the children presented a show and acted out their stories for each other as well as Mrs Cann.

Our Schools, Our World celebrate Sir David Attenborough

2026-05-10T11:34:00.000+01:00

As part of the Friday Enrichment, "Our Schools, Our World" group wrote a collaborative acrostic about Sir David Attenborough. We talked about his incredible life; the global impact his TV and films had in making us all aware - adults and children - about the need to help look after the planet. The discussion that we had amongst the group about the impact of climate change was a revelation sharing thoughts and concerns together.

David digs deeper into learning about nature

Always passionate about Antarctica

Very little bugs are still important to the world

Inspires us not put rubbish in the sea but to dispose of it correctly

David shows and inspires us to help save the planet

All habitats – giant deserts, rainforests, oceans and hills are studied

TV presenter showing us what a wonderful place the world is in nature

The rainforests shouldn’t be chopped down

Endangered animals around the world are being protected

Naturalist who has encouraged people to look after the world

‘Blue Planet’ made us aware of the plastic impact around the globe

Our world matters and we need to understand the world is important

Realising the truth of the impact of climate change on the world

Our ice-caps are melting, we need to take action

Undiscovered lands yet to be found

Global warming is affecting the habitats, the animals and plants

Humans are destroying our planet but he is trying to solve the problem

David Attenborough's tribute assembly

2026-05-08T15:51:00.002+01:00

Key stage 1 and Key stage 2 joined over one million other children from around the world in this special assembly to celebrate Sir David Attenborough's 100th birthday. There were lots of new facts shared; he gave a short note of thanks for all the kind wishes and then Steve Backshall joined the assembly and gave a really interesting talk about how Sir David has inspired him himself to become the naturalist that he is today. Happy 100th Birthday Sir David!

Visitor assembly

2026-05-08T12:02:00.000+01:00

Major David Squirrel from the Salvation Army delivered a super assembly fitting in with our value for this half term - 'Truth'. He shared a story with the children about a shopkeeper searching for light and discovering the truth. After this he read a short extract from the bible.

Dressed in blue and green, we then recognised David Attenborough's 100th birthday and shared facts that we had learnt during the morning finding out about his life and his values. We discovered that he wants people around the whole world to know the 'truth' about what is happening to the animals and plants with regard to climate change.

Truthful assembly

2026-05-01T11:46:00.003+01:00

Julia Rose led a very engaging assembly about truthfulness showing a video which the BBC aired about spaghetti trees. The children were very engaged in finding out and discussing this but it turned out it was shown on April Fools Day 1957 and was not true!

Harnessing the understanding of truth, Julia turned to the bible where we learnt about King David. Julia also shared references that Jesus made in the bible about truthfulness and Jesus saying "I am the way and the truth and the life" (John 14:6).

How Do You Eat an Elephant?

2026-04-29T17:41:00.006+01:00

Simon Roche, the headmaster from Framlingham College Prep School, visited us and inspired us with his personal story of his journey that he faced running the ‘Marathon des Sables’ covering 6 marathons over 250 kilometres over seven days in the Moroccan desert. It brings together over 1,000 runners from more than 42 countries. It is not just a race but truly was a lesson in resilience.

On day three alone, he ran the equivalent of two full marathons back-to-back across the desert with sandstorms, difficult terrain; dunes, rocky hills and steep climbs. He explained that it is a self‑sufficiency race ie every competitor carries their own food, clothing, medical supplies and sleeping equipment, sharing a simple canopy with up to eight others each night. There were scorpions and snakes too. The questions from the children at the end in the Q&A were brilliant and touched a lot on this element.

As the title of the talk suggests, "How do you eat an elephant?" helped Simon as he felt that when faced with a challenge, he could think of it as needing one small bite at a time! He explained about his fear of failure and letting others down and how this can be overwhelming. In life, when we are faced with problems and challenges that feel too big to solve alone, we must plan, adapt and ask for help.

His message was simple but profound. We will face challenges in life, like running across the desert for days at a time in the relentless heat and hard conditions but with preparation, courage, and a sense of friendship, you can face these challenges. Simon shared that he had to help his friend out during the race who was suffering from severe heatstroke. He could have been selfless and passed him by but he stopped and helped him sacrificing his own personal goal. Endurance is what truly matters and Simon reminded us: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

The day I floated over Framlingham

2026-04-24T12:21:00.000+01:00

We had a real treat in assembly today! As part of our literacy‑based curriculum, every class across the school has contributed a chapter to our very own school book, The Day I Floated Over Framlingham. We listened as each teacher proudly read their class’s chapter, and it was wonderful to see the excitement and joy on the children’s faces as they realised they had become authors themselves.

(PS - if anyone knows of anyone who could help us print an illustrated version - please get in touch - it would be so exciting for the children to see their work published).

Farm Fair Trip Year 3 and 4

2026-04-17T17:02:00.001+01:00

Class RJ, KHLH and KN had the most wonderful day yesterday at the Farm Fair at Trinity Park in Ipswich. With an incredible variety of activities ranging from watching sheep, bloodhound and ferret shows to learning all about the journey from potato seeds to delicious crisps, the children had such a brilliant time. The sun shone most of the day and we are so proud of the pupils for being so well behaved and respectful to other schools all day. Other highlights include craft activities, trying delicious sausages and an exciting tractor ride. We also picked up three beautiful trees which were donated to the school. Thanks so much to Suffolk Council and all of the wonderful farmers for enabling us to learn so much.

Thank you for the Music!

2026-03-20T16:58:00.005+00:00

Yesterday, our KS2 children took to the stage for the annual House Singing Competition.

This year’s theme was ABBA, and all houses performed “Thank You for the Music” and then they presented their own individual piece:

Bulstrode > Waterloo
Howard > Super Trouper
Hitcham > I Have a Dream / Medley version
Mills > Money, Money, Money

Each performance was filled with enthusiasm, energy, and pure delight.

We were incredibly impressed with the creativity and individuality each house brought to their performances. The children truly lifted the roof—and it was fantastic to see both pupils and staff savouring such a vibrant, joyful atmosphere.

We were joined by three judges who took on the unenviable task of selecting a winner. After much deliberation, Mills proudly lifted the House Singing trophy for 2026.

A huge thank you to all staff who supported the children with their performances and brought so much energy to the stage.

We are also grateful to Mrs Clare, Mrs Barclay, and Mr Lockyer from Thomas Mills for judging this exciting event.

At the end of the day, the children came together once more to perform “Thank You for the Music” for parents on the playground.

We have shared the audio recording of the contest with parents via a link through email from Arbor.

Tractor visit to school

2026-02-12T15:12:00.000+00:00

Ben and Ed from Hall Farm brought their tractor to school today to visit the year 3 and year 4 children. This is part of the 'Field to Fork' campaign which the year 3 and year 4 children will be involved with over the next half term. They brought buckets of rapeseed, barley and wheat and also a huge sugar beet to show the children what products were made from these grains which were rapeseed oil, flour, ale and sugar. The children were surprised at how big the tyres on the tractor were and enjoyed guessing and listening to the facts that Ben and Ed shared with the children.

The First Drawing - Class RJ

2026-02-06T13:34:00.002+00:00

Over the last couple of weeks, Lower Key Stage 2 have been enjoying reading, re-enacting and producing writing based around The First Drawing by Mordicai Gerstein. This week, Class RJ produced freeze frames to help them to sequence the story. We loved their creative ideas and are really proud of the work they have produced, inspired by the story. We hope you'll enjoy seeing their written work next week when you come for parents' evening.

Exploring the Hindu religion in Class KHLH

2026-02-05T20:53:00.000+00:00

Class KHLH have been finding out about Hinduism. We examined the story of Rama and Sita along with Lakshman and Hanuman discussing their dharmas (duties) and the important roles in which they all had. We discovered the traditions about Diwali along with Hindu wedding ceremonies using many artefacts to highlight the importance of these traditions. We carefully used the murtis for observational drawings and wrote some "coat hanger" poems about different aspects of the Hindu religion.

Wonderful World of Music!

2026-01-09T11:41:00.000+00:00

We all enjoyed a fabulous concert yesterday courtesy of County Music Service (CMS).

A huge thank you to the four talented instrumental teachers who inspired, entertained and informed us about woodwind, brass and percussion instruments.

It was fantastic, thank you County Music for this opportunity.

Carol Service

2025-12-19T16:16:00.003+00:00

A wonderful service at St Michael's Church, with a packed congregation of parents.

Well done to the children in Year 3 & 4 who led the service, and to all the staff who have helped prepare them for today.

Thank you to Rev Chris for the blessing, and to Mr Jones for playing the organ and piano so beautifully.

Listen to excerpts from our service on our website Music page here.

We wish you all a peaceful Christmas.