Archives for Jul,2025

Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 had an exciting afternoon at Cheltenham College Sports Centre, taking part in a fun-filled multi-skills session led by the Move More team.

The day began with a lovely picnic under the trees, giving everyone a chance to relax and refuel before the activities began. Once back on their feet, the children joined in a high-energy Zumba dance warm-up, setting the tone for an active and enjoyable session ahead. Following the warm-up, pupils rotated through a carousel of skill-based stations, each designed to support their development of ‘FUNdamental’ movement skills. These included balance, kicking, catching, jumping, object control and more – all essential for building confidence and coordination in sport and physical activity.

What really stood out was the way our young athletes embraced the School Games values throughout the afternoon:

• Respect
• Honesty
• Determination
• Self-Belief
• Teamwork
• Passion

Their positive attitude and enthusiastic participation were recognised with wristbands celebrating their commitment to these values.

Last week, Hopelands was buzzing with creativity, collaboration, and scientific thinking as the entire school took part in our annual STEM Day. From Nursery through to Year 6, every pupil got involved in this year’s exciting challenge — designing and building ball or marble runs!

Early Years Exploration
Our youngest engineers in Nursery and Reception had a fantastic time working outdoors with a variety of equipment, including traffic cones, stools, and drainpipes. They explored how different sized balls moved through their custom-built tracks and enjoyed experimenting with speed, slope, and materials.

KS1 Teamwork and Big Ideas
Key Stage 1 worked alongside their teachers and our brilliant Year 6 helpers to turn their ideas into reality. There was a great sense of teamwork as they built imaginative and impressive structures, learning through trial, error, and lots of laughter.

KS2 Engineering in Action
Years 3 to 5 put their engineering hats on to independently design and build marble runs from scratch. With each new addition to their track, they carefully tested, tweaked, and refined their designs to ensure a smooth—and slow—journey for the marble. We were particularly impressed with the scientific thinking behind some clever ideas to slow the marble down, rather than just extending the track length.

Celebrating Innovation and Collaboration
What stood out most throughout the day was the problem-solving, resilience, and collaboration on display. It was a joy to see pupils of all ages learning together and supporting one another.

A huge thank you to all our class teachers for their enthusiasm, our TAs for their support, and of course our wonderful Year 6 helpers who guided and encouraged the younger pupils throughout the day.

Thank you also to everyone who donated tubes, boxes, and materials over the past few weeks — they made all the difference!

We’re already looking forward to next year’s challenge. But for now, congratulations to all the winning teams who achieved the slowest marble runs of the day — what an achievement!

Well done, everyone!