Our Year 6 children, Mrs Law and Miss Langley attended the Diocese service for Year 6 leavers in Ripon Cathedral on Tuesday 3^rd July. The theme of the service was ‘Shine your light’ and included a talk, hymns and a lovely candle lit prayer.

On Wednesday 27^th June we held our Sports Day. We were fortunate to have a cooler start to the day followed by sunshine. All children took part in running, beanbag on head, egg and spoon and obstacle races. There was even a toddler race! Thank you to FOGHS who provided lovely refreshments for everyone.

In the afternoon children worked in their house teams and tried four activities, archery, nerf throwing, netball targets and den building. The den building activity was part of Save the Children Den Day and we will send a donation to the charity. Thank you to Mrs Law and Mrs Taylor for organising a super day.

The winning house team for the whole day was Ash – well done!”

On Tuesday 26^th June we held our first Summer Music Evening. The choir and recorder groups performed and lots of children played the piano. We were very impressed by the standard of playing and singing and it was a very enjoyable evening.

Tony and Marion from York Youth Church (Yo Yo) visited school to lead a Collective Worship and classroom workshops focusing on the Bible story Jonah and the Whale. The Yo Yo team always bring warmth and positivity to school and help us explore Bible stories in a fun and interactive way.

Everyone wore blue clothes to celebrate World Ocean Day. We also welcomed Power Down Pete who led a whole school assembly and workshops in classes to help us learn about the impact plastic has on the ocean. The Eco Council are now looking at ways of reducing the use of plastic in school.

All of our Key Stage 2 children took part in the cluster sports day at Great Ouseburn which was organised by Mrs Taylor and Sporting Start. The children entered many events and we had great success in the lacrosse and rounders competitions.

On Wednesday 23^rd May we held a family picnic at lunchtime. Mrs Cook and Mrs Tennant did a brilliant job of providing lovely lunch bags, and some families chose to bring their own picnic. We were very fortunate to have warm weather, and it was lovely to see so many families enjoying a picnic together on the school field.

We have had some lovely feedback about the art exhibition in church. We displayed work completed by the children who had visited Ripon Cathedral and also pictures by Class 1 which were inspired by St Thomas’s. Thank you to everyone who donated cakes, and to the parents who helped with the sale. We raised £66.39. The theme for Christian Aid Week this year is Stronger than Storms and money raised will support families in Haiti who have been affected by an earthquake and hurricane. 

Thank you to everyone who helped to make our first Scarecrow Festival such a success. There were so many scarecrows to visit and the lovely weather encouraged lots of families and community members to complete the trail. Refreshments were served at school and in Whixley and the event finished with a Scarecrow Hoedown in Whixley Village Hall. Well done FOGHS!

On Thursday 10^th May the school choir took part in the Queen Ethleburgh’s Choir Festival. We joined with seven other schools, who all sang songs on their own and then performed four joint pieces. It was a lovely event which the children, staff and parents all thoroughly enjoyed. Thank you to Miss Coulthard for accompanying us so well on the piano and to Mrs Brotton who helped us during the rehearsal. Well done to all of the children in choir who sang beautifully and were excellent ambassadors for the school.