Bake sale and lucky dip! 1st May 2026
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A group of Year 4, 5 and 6 children from HOPS decided they wanted to raise some money for both charity and the school. Almost totally on their own, they organised a bake sale and a toy lucky dip. They made their own posters, handed them out, wrote to parents, advertised their event and then manned the stalls. They decided what they wanted to charge for each stall and ensured the pricing was fair yet competitive! In total, they raised £135. The girls have decided to buy some new art materials for each class including a pack of oil pastels and new paintbrushes. They have donated the remaining £50 to Cancer Research. A big thank you to River, Nia, Lexie, Amelia, Maisie, Willow and Paige!

Ash Class Career Talks 25th Mar 2026
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A huge thank you to Saidie's mum and dad and Blake's dad in Ash Class for coming in to talk to the children about their jobs. The early years children were fascinated by the talks, learning about building design, law and bus driving!

Great Athlete Event - Saffron Severn visit 25th Mar 2026
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On Wednesday 18th March Athletes UK come into school for the morning. Saffron Severn, the UK Olympic gymnast delivered an inspirational assembly to the children on setting goals and striving to overcome challenges- it was brilliant to see the children so inspired and interested in what she was saying. The children then took part in their sponsored circuits on the playground. We exercised to loud music and lots of cheering each other on from the sidelines - was such a brilliant experience for the children and staff!

KS2 cross-country at Ongar Primary School 25th Mar 2026
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A huge well done to our KS2 children who attended the cross-country on Tuesday 3rd March. It was a tough course, very wet underfoot and has some significant uphill parts however they ran their socks off and did their very best, showing resilience and perseverance whilst representing HOPS.

World Book Day 2026 25th Mar 2026
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During week begining 2nd March we celebrated World Book Day - always a favourite! The children looked absolutely fabulous in their outfits. Thank you to children and parents/carers for all the effort put into these, it was a brilliant day and the children were so excited to see each others' costumes. A highlight for the children is always decorating their classroom doors, these were done very creatively based on their favourite books and have added a burst of fresh colour to our school. The children thoroughly enjoyed sharing their books (and biscuits!) with family members at the end of the day.

Australian pen pals! 25th Mar 2026
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Children from the Oberthur Primary School in Bull Creek in Australia have received our letters and were very excited to read them. They have written their letters and they are on their way back! We are eagerly awaiting the responses from our Australian Pen pals!

Girl Guiding Assembly 25th Mar 2026
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We celebrated 'World Thinking Day' with our children who attend Brownies coming to school dressed in their Brownie uniforms and a visit from Mrs Moppett, also know as Brown Owl from 1st Ongar Brownies. Mila, Alice, Lily, Isabella and Brown Owl delivered an assembly on what it means to be a Brownie, helping others and challenging themselves. The girls spoke confidently about the badges they had earned and the challenges they had undertaken. Details below are included for any children that would like to join a local Brownie group.

Public Speaking Competition 25th Mar 2026
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On Thursday 12th of February, we took a group of children to the Bridge Academy Trust Public Speaking Competition. This year we have had a focus on oracy within the classrooms as well as practicing our speaking skills in more public forums and so this competition was a wonderful opportunity for the children to showcase all that they have learnt! The children learnt a range of speeches, poems, extracts from texts, andperformed these in front of a huge auditorium of people with confidence and enthusiasm. I was so proud of each and everyone of them. We came away awarded winners of the Year 3 rounds, Year 5 and overall winners of Key Stage 2 out of 8 schools!

Australia Day 4th Feb 2026
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Part of our school focus this year has been on learning about beliefs, cultures and ways of life that are different to our own. As part of this focus, on Friday 30th January, we had an Australian teacher come to visit us. She shared what it means to be an Australian and the ways of life and beliefs of the indigenous people of Australia. The children asked some fantastic questions and were keen to find out as much as they could. Each class took part in painting Aboriginal art on boomerangs, using the traditional symbols. Each class then wrote letters about themselves to Australian children that have been delivered to the school by our visitor and we hope to hear back from then soon! It was wonderful to see the children so keen to learn about a different culture and history that was different to their own.

Photographs from our Forest School 3rd Feb 2026
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BAT Sports Day 29th Jan 2026
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We took 34 children to the Bridge Academy Trust Sports Day. It was an excellent event involving all schools from the Trust. The secondary school children led events and the primary children competed against each other. We came 2nd in the cheerleading competition and won multiple bronze, silver and gold medals throughout the day. Well done to all the children who came along and represented HOPS.

Move It! 29th Jan 2026
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The Year 6s performed their show ?Move it? to their parents and family. It was a brilliant performance involving a variety of singing, dancing and acting. A special mention to Jonny who played ?Sam?- excellent acting and vocals!

Adventure Island, Southend 29th Jan 2026
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Year 6 reward trip to Adventure Island at Southend.

Residential trip to Stubbers 29th Jan 2026
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We took a group of Year 5s and 6s to Stubbers in Upminster in September, for their residential trip. The children were impeccably behaved, demonstrated excellent manners throughout and were a joy to take away! Myself, and the other staff, were so proud of their willingness to have a go at all activities, despite being nervous or unsure. The activities included camping, the high ropes, paddle boarding, banana boats, archery and laser tag. So many of the children experienced things for the first time and were so proud of what they achieved. It was also lovely to see the children forming new friendships and supporting each other to succeed. The children were an absolute pleasure to take and represented HOPS better than we have ever seen before!

Forest School 29th Jan 2026
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Years 1-6 enjoyed their first Forest Schools day of the year on Friday 26th September. It was wonderful to see the children exploring natural resources, hunting for bugs and identifying some very rare Stag beetles.

Rosh Hashanah Assemby 29th Jan 2026
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We were delighted to welcome our special guest Rabbi Yossi, who spoke to the children all about Rosh Hashanah - the Jewish New Year. We were shown special items that are used during the festival including a shofar, prayer book, kiddish cup and a ?tallit which is a prayer shawl.?

Harvest Festival 29th Jan 2026
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Well done to our EYFS, Year 1 and Year 2 children for their wonderful harvest assembly! They presented their autumnal art, harvest poems and songs beautifully with confidence and huge smiles.

Shoe Box Appeal 28th Jan 2026
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A big thank you to all the children who donated items to the Shoe box Appeal. Wendy Pike was blown away by the number of things donated and St Mary's church made up 106 boxes on Sunday which will now be sent overseas to needy families. A big thank you to Bonnie in Ash Class and Sam in Maple Class who went along to the church to help pack the boxes. Wonderful community spirit shown by the children of HOPS!

Kindness Celebrations 28th Jan 2026
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Our kindness points celebrations with a hot chocolate and cake treat!

Essex Multi-Skills Event 28th Jan 2026
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Our Key Stage 1 children took part in the West Essex Multi-skills event on Wednesday 12th November. It was a non-competitive sporting event where the children had various obstacles and races to take part and were able to showcase their athletics skills alongside other schools. A big well done to all the children that took part and tried their best! A group of our Key Stage 2 children took part in the West Essex Schools Cross-Country event at Ongar Primary School on Thursday 13th November. They competed alongside local schools. Despite the challenging course, every student gave their best effort and showed great determination, refusing to give up. Their sportsmanship and resilience were truly inspiring!

Night Owls Visit 28th Jan 2026
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On the 20th January we had a visit from 'The Night Owls' team. They bought along a selection of Barn Owls, White Face Scops Owls and Asian Brown Wood Owls. The children learnt about their habitats, their diet and how we can help to protect them in the wild. The children then had a chance to have a photograph with the owls perched on their shoulder..

The First Christmas and Knock Knock The Nativity 28th Jan 2026
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It has been fantastic to see our littlest children in Ash Class performing ‘The First Christmas’. They did amazingly well, spoke with confidence, remembered where they needed to go and sang beautifully! Beech and Elm classes also performed their brilliant version of ‘Knock Knock Nativity’ - again wonderful performances of acting, singing and dancing with confidence and enthusiasm. Watching the nativity performances is the favourite part of my job as headteacher, and this year it didn’t disappoint! A big well done to all of the children and the staff for the hard work they have put into these and thank you to the parents, grandparents and siblings that have come to support the children.

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