It has been a very busy term for the school. We are all enjoying working in our new building and it was wonderful to see so many people during our Open Week in October. I had some lovely letters from many of our visitors, some of whom remembered the old school when it was opposite the church. We have come on a long way since then! The Bishop of Dorking, the Right Reverend Ian Brackley, officially opened the new building in a special service. He dedicated the building and blessed an olive tree which is the first plant for our Bible garden. This is a garden with plants and trees linked to stories in the Bible.

Classes have been working hard as usual and have already made several visits as part of their topics this term.  Year 1 went to The Weald and Downland Open Air Museum in Singleton.  They were finding out about living in the past and had the chance to handle objects from the late Victorian period such as a typewriter and a carpet sweeper. Year 2 went to Farnham Fire Station, as part of their topic on "Fire" and were thrilled when the firemen brought their fire engine to the school a few days later. Year 4 are studying the Ancient Egyptians and went to the Bloomsbury Theatre to see a performance of the "Awful Egyptians". The play brought the era to life and gave a wealth of interesting facts in a humorous but gruesome manner! They learnt, for example, about mummification and at one point there were various body parts flying across the stage which amused everyone. Year 5 went on a residential trip to Swanage for a week as part of the geography curriculum, to compare another town with Elstead. We had lots of fresh air and fun, whilst learning about the area. Surrey SATRO visited the school last week to work with Year 5 and 6. Year 5 investigated electrical circuits finding faults and rectifying them.  Year 6 did some data logging. They collected data such as temperature, light and sound levels at different locations around the school using remote sensing devices. They plugged the devices into the computer which collated the data to produce tables and graphs which the children could analyse. These were very practical sessions and much enjoyed by the children. Year 6 also went to the Maritime Museum as part of this term's topic on "Explorers". Year 3 have been studying the Ancient Greeks. They spent a day with a theatre workshop where they sampled traditional Greek food and role played life as a child in ancient Greece. We were very lucky to have about 40 volunteers from local company, Bovis Lend Lease, come to work in the school for the day. They did a huge amount of work for us; clearing our wildlife garden which had become so overgrown with bracken after all the rain we had this summer; making a path to our wildlife pond; building a garden pond, making new beds around our polytunnel and building a series of compost bins so we can recycle our waste. We are immensely grateful to them for all their hard work and enthusiasm and hope to persuade them to come back next year!

Finally, if you were unable to visit during open week and would still like a tour of the school, you are most welcome to contact the school office to arrange an appointment.