Shaping Learning For Life
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Young Voices 2026
Rehearsing for 4 months, singing 16 songs, a huge trip to London are all just part and parcel of the experiences our Year 5 & 6 children engage with at Stockbridge and this year was no different. Our 37 children joined an 8600 strong choir to sing memorable medleys, one off, specially written numbers and join in with the world record breaking ‘Wicked’ sing along at the O2 this January.
What an experience! The awe and wonder as we entered the seating area (we were very lucky and had 3 official ‘suites’ at the O2 this year) was worth all of the hours of rehearsals! The lights, the singing, the dancing and the awesome band and conductor make this event really special.
Of course, in true Stockbridge style, we made a real ‘day’ of things with an early coach to London to get us into Greenwich where we topped up on a warm lunch at Pizza Express. This meant we arrived at the O2 in good time for rehearsals to begin but not too early that we were hanging around for ages. We then launched into 4 hours of rehearsals to ensure our performance was perfect and in sync with the other 8600 children before having an extended break from 5pm – 7pm. The lights went off at 7pm, screams rang loudly across the arena before launching into song at 7pm to an audience of all parents, family and friends.
Creating memories that will last a lifetime.
Future Scientists
Our Upper school, Years 4-6, spent an exciting day at INTECH in Winchester Science Centre in early November as they embarked on their ‘Out of this World’ topic, learning all about electricity and space. This heavily science based topic revolves around children asking and investigating questions they have asked about how our world works – where better to visit?!
They were inspired by the opportunities for hands on learning and enjoyed a workshop all about refraction of light. The children were able to wear special glasses which refracted light and showed them the colours of the rainbow and, using lasers, they were able to ‘bend’ light – all fascinating science learning. The night sky also came into focus as they spent time in the planetarium and focused in our solar system’s planets and what’s ‘in between’.
Back in school, children have been working with an electrician from local company MG Cavill’s to explore different circuits which they will incorporate into their Mars Rover designs.
Grounds working party
This photo shows two members of the Maple family hard at work on Saturday 18th October when we opened our school gates for a quick 2hrs of help in managing our extensive school grounds. The Maples weren’t the only family that turned out to help! The Homans, Camerons, Bryants, Kings, Jefferies all turned out and with so many hands, 2hrs flew by and we got so much done!
We’ve planted up the Early Years area with grasses and interesting flowers for year round colour which will also be used in the mud kitchen to make all kinds of wonderful potions. Bushes and shrubs were trimmed back to ensure the pavements along Old London Road are as wide as possible and help families be safe when walking into school and the beds and borders were dug over too!
We concluded with a chocolate cake, Victoria sponge and a number of freshly cooked hot dogs. All in all, a great morning’s work. Thank you to all who took part.
Girl’s footballing success
We value highly the opportunity for our children to compete against other schools at various sporting events throughout the year. We have started 2025-26 superbly with wins and placed childrne at the cross country event and then our team of Year 6 girls smashed it with a great team performance at the Girl’s footballing event mid-October. They kept a clean sheet with no goals conceded and an emphatic win – you can see their triumph in the photo!
What was particularly special about both events is how well our children supported and encouraged each other to be the best they possibly could. The girls took turns in being subbed in and out, encouraged and worked well as a team for success and took time to shake hands with their opposition after each match. Well done girls!
Fiver challenge Summer ’25
Our year 6 children turned into budding entrepeneurs during June and July as they plotted and planned to grow their £5. Each child is given £5 and the challenge is to make it grow. Grow enough that it will fund their (ambitious!) plans for an end of year trip that is completely self-funded.
This year we invested £5 for each of our 22 Year 6 children. Through ambitious projects of car washing, self-made Harry Potter style wands, loom band bracelets, homemade sweet treats, drinks and more the groups raised over £800 for their end of year trip – what heroes!
Parent lunches
It’s important to us that parents know and understand how lunchtimes work in school. They are the one time in the day where children are not under direct adult supervision in teh same way as in class and food is such a critical aspect of life, not only for sustenance and health but also for bringing people together. Our lunchtime routines are well established as you might imagine and children took immense pride in showing their parents how they get their lunch from Michelle and Kelly in the kitchen, to sitting in the hall, clearing plates and even how to walk down the corridor! Small things but when you’re 5, they are the centre of your world! Parents were also able to try our cooked lunches and we had a superb turnout. They even joined in with hula hooping and playground games outside.
Santa dash and Apache landing
Children at Stockbridge took part in the annual santa dash – an obstacle race around some Santa themed props in order to raise sponsorship money for the great causes that FOSS support. Our PTA are brilliant and this super event was a real hit with children weaving in and out of present stacks, carelessly left behind by Santa’s elves then under the camo net – a sure fire way to catch cheeky elves out! They then took a run around the North Pole, went through a snowstorm and finally had to leap over Rudolph and Dancer’s hay bales to complete their dash.
To top it all off, the big man arrived in style with an Apache heralding his arrival and then Santa himself arriving in a brilliant army jeep. Despite popular belief, his suit is NOT fire retardant!! The Apache was piloted by one of our parents and landed safely, even allowing time for our children to be inspired by having a good FAQ with the crew and a walk around the helicopter.
We are so grateful to all involved in the events on this day – none of it happens by accident, only through sheer determination, organisation and creativity can these events go ahead and they will become long lasting memories that children recall in many years to come. The menacing Apache landing on the school field, Santa bringing every child a present and racing with your parent or grandparent is truly unforgettable.
Thank you to all.
Born in a barn
Christmas really started on Friday 13th December with our annual nativity, held in St Peter’s Church on the High Street. For a week, children from lower school have traipsed up and down to rehearse and it was all worth it as they performed brilliantly for the nativity matinee and evening performance.
The tired angels and camels made it through the second performance and shone brightly as the animals in the barn where Jesus was born, narrated the story really clearly. It is Year R’s first exposure to performing and they did a brilliant job, not being too over awed at the large audiences who had come to support them at both performances.