Upham Church of England Aided Primary School News Feed - Latest News

Greek Day & Egyptian Day

Thu, 21 May 2026 13:08:44 GMT

Children in Badgers and Hedgehogs Classes enjoyed their dressing up days this week – it was lovely to see all the different outfits and their excitement. The days were more than just an opportunity to dress up though, they were about trying to give experiences where children can think about what life might have been like for those people, through the planned activities. These were both timed this week as outcomes of the topic children have been exploring all half term, a great opportunity to apply their historical understanding. Thanks to everyone for helping provide and create the costumes!

Year 6 SATs week

Fri, 15 May 2026 13:25:56 GMT

This week has been all about Year 6 and SATs week, mainly because we have to use the hall for the tests which means every other class has to stay in theirs and be quiet. The children worked really hard. After every test we asked them if they felt they had done their best – that’s all we can ask (they all agreed!). These are the first formal exams the children will experience so it’s important to us that their experience is positive; that they realise that if you prepare sensibly then you can overcome any nerves. Having now finished them they’ve proved to themselves they can do it. This self-confidence is an important life lesson; we all have moments in life that make us nervous, such as job interviews for example, but can cope with the feelings.

It's all about Egypt

Fri, 8 May 2026 14:15:00 GMT

Hedgehogs Class have been enjoying their learning this week. As part of their History lead unit about Ancient Egypt, they have learned about the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb. In History, they have explored the archaeology and the importance of this primary evidence of ancient life. In English they have tried to imagine what the discovery was like for Howard Carter. To help, they have built Tutankhamun’s tomb in their quiet area and taken turns to experience the discovery in order to inspire their creative writing!

Blue tits have hatched!

Fri, 1 May 2026 13:01:20 GMT

The children have been very excited this week – the blue tit eggs have hatched! I was talking about how the adults care for the babies and what they look like in worship on Tuesday and then by lunchtime, 5 eggs had hatched! Some others hatched later that day and breakfast club on Wednesday actually saw one of the last eggs crack open. The adults have been feeding caterpillars since then and everyone has enjoyed watching this amazing behaviour! If you would like to see our family for yourself, pop into school next Friday. Collect as normal on the playground and come into the hall for a quick look!

Visit to the Farm

Sat, 25 Apr 2026 14:19:15 GMT

Dormice Class (Yr R) had a lovely day at the farm yesterday. It was a beautiful day so a picnic lunch in the shade of the trees was very welcome. They met lots of different animals; fed the goats, collected eggs from the chickens, held chicks, bottle-fed calves, held guinea pigs and saw a family of pigs and piglets! All of this learning is about building awareness of farms and farming as a process, an important thread that runs through our whole school curriculum.

Welcome Back to the Summer Term!

Fri, 17 Apr 2026 14:17:03 GMT

Welcome back to the Summer Term and it is feeling very spring-like. Leaves and blossom are on the trees and it has been dry enough to play on the field. I spoke to the children about all the life which is suddenly so evident in worship on Monday. I then checked the bird box camera which I had put up just before the holidays and it had a fully built nest with 11 eggs! I showed the children the live video stream on Tuesday and we saw, live, the parent bird come in – a blue tit. At lunchtime, the children have been watching the video and observed both adult birds switching places to incubate the eggs, watch the adults feed each other whilst sitting and also been able to count 11 eggs! Over the next few weeks they will be able to watch the eggs hatch, the babies fed and hopefully fledge successfully!

Science Day

Fri, 17 Apr 2026 14:15:38 GMT

The children enjoyed ‘Science Day’ on Tuesday, I hope they talked to you about it. We reorganised the children into groups with children from each class – these groups then rotated around the four classrooms. In each class they explored some different experiments (pictured above)– trying to use pegs to build a bird’s nest but using a peg to represent the bird’s beak, chromatography on ink blotches to solve a mystery, testing fabric for absorption and find the best paper plane design for the longest time in the air. A cornerstone of our curriculum design is to create these cross-age opportunities for collaborative learning. The younger ones benefit from having learning behaviours modelled to them and the older ones have to think about how they adapt language to think of others.

Signs of Spring

Dress Down Day - Friday 21st March

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 12:05:04 GMT