Whole School Events

2025-2026

22nd March 2026 - Chess Tournament

We were delighted that four of our children had the opportunity to represent Mary Elton at the Children’s Chess League on Sunday 22nd March.

Invited to take part alongside other primary schools and clubs, the team entered a fantastic day of competitive chess at the inaugural event held at Bristol Bridge Club. With 65 children aged 5 to 11 taking part and hundreds of games played across the day, the atmosphere was buzzing with excitement and enthusiasm.

For three of our four players, this was their very first chess tournament, making their efforts even more impressive. Over five hours, the children played 12 games each, showing resilience, focus and great sportsmanship throughout and not a screen in sight.

All participants received a medal and certificate to celebrate their achievements and we are incredibly proud of how well our children represented the school. They were a real credit to us all.

21st March 2026 - Swimathon

On Saturday 21st March, staff and children from Mary Elton Primary School gave up their time to take part in and support the Swimathon. Everyone swam with fantastic determination, teamwork and enthusiasm throughout and should feel incredibly proud of what they achieved. It was also wonderful to see the support of parents and carers in making the event possible.

The children represented Mary Elton Primary School brilliantly, approaching the challenge with positivity and great effort and helping to make it a great day for everyone involved.

The event organisers shared some incredible statistics from the day. Across all teams, a total of 5230 lengths were swum, which is roughly 81 miles, an amazing achievement.

As well as being a fantastic experience, the children and staff were also tasked with raising sponsorship for Portishead Rotary Club to give to a range of local charities, making the day even more meaningful.

Another very successful Swimathon and a great example of the school community coming together.

20th March 2026 - UN French Language Day!

We had a wonderful time on Friday 20th March celebrating UN French Language Day across the school. Each year group took part in a range of engaging activities to explore French language and culture and it was fantastic to come together at the end of the day to share our learning in assembly. The lucky certificate holders will get to enjoy a ‘chocolat chaud’ with ‘Madame Brown’ this week! ☕️

EYFS learned a French song and performed it beautifully. Year 1 explored colours in French and enjoyed listening to the familiar story The Very Hungry Caterpillar in French, kindly read to us by Mrs Bird’s husband. Year 4 took inspiration from French artists and created their own impressive pieces of artwork. Year 5 focused on family vocabulary and followed French instructions to complete a family related task, showing great teamwork and listening skills. Year 6 explored French fashion and enjoyed a lively game of boules.

A huge thank you to the HSA who very kindly treated every child in the school to a croissant, which was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

It was a fantastic day that brought French language learning to life and celebrated French culture across the whole school.

9th / 16th March 2026 - Creation Station!

On Mondays 9^th and 16^th March, Mary Elton Primary School hosted the Creation Station who offered two art workshops for 60 lucky children from EYFS to Y6. The theme was 'I am awesome'! The children looked at examples of portraits from a range of artists before creating their own multimedia pictures. The children LOVED it - what a creative bunch!

9th - 13th March - British Science Week!

The children have enjoyed celebrating British Science Week by being curious and asking lots and lots of questions!

EYFS used magnets to explore which items in the environment are magnetic. They also tested a variety of objects to see whether it would roll down a ramp or not.

Year One enjoyed being curious on a variety of investigation stations - the children discovered what made a good boat, what sticks to a magnet, how to make the longest/strongest bridge, which pegs were the best, how to make the cars go faster/further, as well as finding out 'what's inside' on the tinker table.

Year 3 have been looking closely at the natural world for their Science week activities. First, we attempted to use string to create our own ecosystem and find all the links possible between different animals and plants. Next, we looked more closely at birds and how they create their nests before we had a go at making our own, using pegs as a beak! Finally, we created short presentations to show the process of pollination and fertilisation which gave the children an opportunity to develop their speaking and listening skills. It has been great fun!

Year 5 held a year‑group paper helicopter challenge. Working in teams, the children tested the template design before experimenting with different variables to create their own helicopters. There was plenty of trial and error, brilliant problem‑solving and lots of thoughtful discussion as they worked to design the model that would stay in the air the longest! We also joined a live Picture News lesson all about the mysteries of the ocean depths, exploring the big question: “What lies beneath?”

A great week of curiosity, creativity and scientific thinking!

British Science Week

5th March 2026 - World Book Day!

Today, our school was bursting with colour, creativity and characters as pupils (and staff!) dressed up as their favourite book characters! From magical wizards to mischievous animals; we loved seeing the incredible effort everyone put in — and special prizes were given for the winning costume from each class! 👀🏆

We kicked off the morning with a whole-school assembly featuring four Mystery Readers… the excitement of guessing who they were was all part of the fun! 🤫📖

One of our favourite events of the day was our Book Blind Date! ❤️📦 Around 200 books were wrapped like presents, each with little clue labels about their story inside. Children swapped books they had finished with and discovered brand-new reads chosen by their peers — a perfect way to share the joy of reading. And to top it all off, every child received their £1 World Book Day voucher, which they can exchange for a free book. 🌟

Thank you to our wonderful pupils, families and staff for making World Book Day truly magical. Here’s to celebrating stories, imagination and the joy of reading! 💛📚

3rd March 2026 - Primary Chess Tournament

A group of pupils from Miss Brown's chess club took part in an exciting inter‑school chess tournament this week, hosted at Bristol Grammar School. It was a brilliant afternoon of competition, focus, teamwork and sportsmanship.

Our CSC coordinator, Jane Norton, shared her delight at the children’s performance, saying: “Oh my goodness - what an afternoon that was! I am so proud of how the children conducted themselves, how they supported one another, and the standard of chess they produced. It was a real pleasure to watch.”

The tournament was divided into two sections:

Qualifiers – for each school’s strongest A‑teams
Challengers – for the B‑teams

Mary Elton entered two teams:

A‑Team (Qualifiers): Dylan, Tommy, Jonty and Matthew.
B‑Team (Challengers): Rhoswen, Teal, Lizzie and Sofia — notably the only all‑girls’ team in the entire tournament, earning admiration from many attending.

After four intense rounds of chess:

Our A‑Team placed 15th out of 18 in the Qualifier section.
Our B‑Team girls achieved an impressive 6th place in the Challenger section and finished on a full‑point final round.

Jane added:

“They all did you proud. It was incredible to watch. Well done to all of those who took part — they were amazing!”

Event organiser Graham Iwi from Bristol Grammar School also expressed his thanks:

“Many thanks for your support of yesterday’s tournament here at BGS. It was fantastic to be able to welcome so many young chess players and I hope that they all enjoyed the occasion.”

Well done to all our young chess stars - you represented Mary Elton beautifully!

10th February 2026 - Safer Internet Day!

To celebrate Safer Internet Day today, all year groups took part in activities and discussions, exploring how AI and technology are used in everyday life and how to make safe, sensible choices when using them. There was a strong focus on understanding both the benefits of AI and where caution is needed.

In EYFS, children met Roo and learnt about ‘Roo’s friend’. The story helped to explain what a voice assistant is and understand that it is not a real person.

Year 1 learnt about voice assistants and how to use them correctly. They discussed where this technology might be used at home and in school and practised asking voice assistants clear and appropriate questions.

Year 2 explored whether smart speakers are ‘magic’, comparing human characteristics with AI technologies. They also looked at the difference between a smart speaker and a voice assistant.

Year 3 focused on using AI technologies safely and responsibly, thinking carefully about what information is safe to share and what should be kept private.

Year 4 explored the positives of AI but also considered how it can be misused. They became ‘agony aunts and uncles’, responding thoughtfully to scenarios where people had experienced negative uses of AI.

Year 5 joined a live lesson with Tech She Can, learned about chatbots - how they get their information/how they work and designed their own voice assistants.

Year 6 looked at AI chatbots in more depth, discussing the positives and negatives, where to exercise caution and the importance of remembering that chatbots are not real people. They shared their learning through informative posters.

It was fantastic to see thoughtful discussions, creativity and responsible digital citizenship across the school as we continue to support children in becoming confident and safe users of technology.

9th/10th February 2026 - Digital Leaders Assemblies

A huge well done to Miss Brown’s Digital Leaders who delivered fantastic assemblies this week to celebrate Safer Internet Day. This year’s theme focused on AI and the children did an incredible job explaining big ideas in a clear, thoughtful and age-appropriate way.

The group have worked consistently during their lunchtimes this term, showing real commitment and teamwork to prepare for this moment. One group delivered an assembly to KS2, while another adapted their content brilliantly for EYFS and KS1.

Both groups created their PowerPoints, slides and scripts independently. Despite feeling understandably nervous, they spoke with confidence, clarity and maturity and should be extremely proud of themselves.

A brilliant example of leadership, resilience and responsible digital citizenship. Well done Digital Leaders – you were amazing!

W/C 15th December - Christmas Services at St Andrews

Year 3, Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6 all gave truly heartfelt performances at St. Andrew’s Church this week. The Christmas Story was beautifully retold through a series of thoughtful readings and joyful carols.

1st December 2025 - Emirates Chess Visit

Six children from Miss Brown’s Chess Club enjoyed an exceptional day of chess learning and competition at the London Chess Classic event held at the Emirates Stadium on Monday. The visit was made possible through Chess in Schools and Communities and regional coordinator Jane Norton.

Throughout the day, pupils took part in a series of high-quality activities led by professional chess tutors and grandmasters. The children received expert coaching, listened to engaging talks about strategy and resilience in the game, explored the stadium and took part in a two-against-one challenge match with a grandmaster in which two of our pupils won a book prize.

In the afternoon tournament, all six children represented Mary Elton with confidence and maturity. Every child performed brilliantly with one achieving a medal for his success with amount of points accrued. Their enthusiasm, sportsmanship and commitment to improving their chess skills were evident throughout the day. They definitely did Mary Elton proud!

This opportunity was particularly special as the pupils were selected by Chess in Schools from Miss Brown’s chess club which runs weekly at Mary Elton and is led by Chess in Schools tutors. The club aims to build problem-solving skills, confidence and concentration as well as a love of the game. Experiences like the London Chess Classic is just one of the many opportunities that Chess in Schools and communities provides for their chess club children across the year.

We are very grateful to Chess in Schools and Communities for providing this opportunity and to the parents who accompanied their children and enabled them to take part.

5th December 2025 - Hawthorns Christmas Card Competition

Massive congratulations to Grace for her fabulous Christmas card design. The residents of the Hawthorns Clevedon voted and thought it was absolutely beautiful indeed. They had all children from every single primary school in Clevedon join in so the competition was tough! Aggie Jasinski from the Hawthorns came to present Grace with her goody bag of prizes plus a £250 cheque for the school!

2nd December 2025 - New EYFS roof!

Our new roofing has been completed! We had a grand opening to celebrate our fantastic new dry area in the EYFS garden! We are looking forward to improving our garden with some quality resources, generously provided by the HSA.

27th November 2025 - Pantomime!

We were lucky enough to watch a panto from the comfort of our hall! The children had a brilliant time interacting with Robin and his Merry Men. (Oh yes they did!) A massive thanks to the HSA for funding this wonderful experience for all the children at Mary Elton for yet another year. We are so grateful! A great way to get us all into the Christmas Spirit.

11th November 2025 - Remembrance Day

Today, we paused to remember. Children from a range of clubs and organisations proudly wore their uniforms as we gathered together on the playground for a whole-school silence. We came together to pay our respects to those who have served and sacrificed for others.

5th November 2025 - Police Horses Visit

Our whole school enjoyed a special visit from the Avon and Somerset Mounted Police who are based just outside Clevedon. Two police horses came to raise awareness of how to stay safe around horses on the road. We were also joined by Lawrence Knight from the British Horse Society who helped share important safety messages with the children.

24th October 2025 - Harvest Festival

Our school came together today to celebrate Harvest Festival. We sang songs and thought about why we celebrate harvest. A representative from the local food bank collected our generous donations and informed us that they will help to support many people within our community. Thank you to everyone who contributed.

9th October 2025 - World Mental Health Day!

We celebrated World Mental Health Day by inviting children to wear yellow to show support and raise awareness. Across the school, classes took part in a range of activities including mindfulness, reflection and discussions about how to look after their own and others’ mental health.

Promoting positive mental health is such an important part of helping our children to feel happy, confident and ready to learn. Taking time to talk, listen and be kind to ourselves and each other makes a real difference.

Thank you to everyone who donated. We will share the total amount raised once it has all been counted.

6th October 2025 - After school chess club debut

We were thrilled to celebrate the first session of our after school chess club, run by two tutors from Chess in Schools and Communities for years 4 to 6. The session had a fantastic atmosphere, with children fully engaged, concentrating hard and enjoying the challenge of each game.

There was a great mix of children, from total beginners to those already confident in their skills, all learning and supporting each other as they played.

During the session, children not only played games but also learned new strategies and tactics, developing their ability to think ahead, plan moves and adapt to different situations on the board. Chess is a brilliant way for children to develop key skills including problem solving, strategic thinking, patience and focus. It also helps build confidence, resilience and sportsmanship as they think critically and learn from mistakes.

26th September 2025 - European Day of Languages

Across the school we celebrated our children who speak other languages. It was so interesting to learn about their cultures and hear some of their words and phrases – thank you to all who shared with us.

Each year group took part in exciting activities to mark the day. EYFS learned some Romanian. Year 1 explored Polish and flags. Year 2 learned Italian numbers and designed pizzas. Year 3 played a linguistic game and discovered international sign language. Year 4 took part in an outdoor scavenger hunt where they found flags and learned how to say hello in 14 languages. Year 5 also joined the scavenger hunt then designed posters for the EDL competition, thinking about how to portray the motto Languages open hearts and minds. Year 6 explored etymology and the origins of words.

We shared our learning in assembly and KS2 sang the EDL anthem beautifully. It has been a fantastic day celebrating the joy of languages across our school.

2024-2025

W/C 9th June - Sports Days

What a brilliant series of Sports Days we’ve had across the school! It’s been a joy to watch the children take part with such enthusiasm, effort and fantastic sportsmanship. They showed great teamwork, encouraged each other throughout, and should all be proud of their achievements.

A huge thank you goes to all the staff for the time and effort put into preparing the children in the lead-up to each event, and to the volunteers who kindly gave up their time to help things run so smoothly on the day. We are also incredibly grateful to our wonderful HSA for their continued support and contributions – these events simply wouldn’t be the same without you.

Well done to everyone involved for making each Sports Day such a positive, enjoyable and memorable experience!

13th June 2025 - Y5/6 Quad Kids

Last week Year 5/6 took part in Quad Kids and Laser Run competition. There were four rounds to compete in; 75m sprint, 600m Endurance, Vortex Howler Throw and Standing Long Jump. All the children gave 100% effort and showed fantastic sportsmanship.

To finish the day there were three rounds of a Laser Run Relay in which Mary Elton placed 1st, 2nd and 1st! This meant that overall, Mary Elton placed 2^nd out of the larger schools and secured a place in the finals representing North Somerset. This means that we have made it to the county finals!

8th May 2025 - VE Day 80th Celebrations

It was wonderful to see all the different celebrations for VE Day across the school yesterday. We held a whole school minute silence after break time and those from Brownies/cubs etc wore their uniforms with pride. With live assemblies including guest speakers to EYFS/Sunbeams picnic and the KS1 ‘street party’, the day was marked well 🥳 Thank you again to the Crocombe family for decorating the front of our school again for us!

20th March 2025 - UN French Language Day

Every year, on the 20th of March, people across the globe celebrate United Nations French Language Day. This special event was created to recognise the importance of the French language and to promote multilingualism. At Mary Elton, we have spent the afternoon celebrating in the following ways;

EYFS: Have been singing Frere Jacques, learning how to say, 'Thank you' in French, found France on the Globe/ Atlas, discussed how people travel to France and tried to recreate the Eiffel Tower with bricks!

Year 1: continued to use their already learnt French greetings and learned a few more as well as the names of colours.

Year 2: learned a French song, the names of colours and the days of the week.

Year 3: held a mini French imaginary cafe where the children could learn and practice types of food and the language around ordering. They also played a traditional French game.

Year 4: Learned how to play 'Boule' and created a French flag using collage techniques.

Year 5: Had a focus on families and learning the vocabulary associated with this. They then completed a family colouring challenge.

Year 6: Completed artwork in the style of Claude Monet and learned the names of colours in French.

We must say MERCI to the HSA who kindly provided a croissant for every child on this day!

19th March 2025 - Y5/Y6 Netball

The year 5 and 6 Netball team travelled to the BGS ground for an intensive Netball tournament. They played 6 other teams, many of whom had been playing together for nearly two years and they did brilliantly. They held their own, defending well, communicating well and working as a team. What was great was the way the girls supported one another even if they were not on the court, they were supporting from the sidelines. We can't wait to organise some more matches soon!

18th March 2025 - Eco Summit!

Eco Summit 2025: Speaking Up for the Planet

We took part in an exciting Eco Summit, where the children explored ways to protect and care for our planet. The summit focuses on four key themes: Understanding the World, Biodiversity, Energy Consumption, and Food Waste.

Throughout the event, the children learned about the importance of biodiversity and how every living thing plays a role in keeping our environment healthy. They also discussed energy consumption, discovering simple ways to save energy at school and home. Another focus was tackling food waste, where students shared ideas on reducing waste and making more sustainable choices.

It was inspiring to see our children so passionate about protecting the planet! We look forward to putting these ideas into action and continuing our journey to becoming an even more eco friendly school.

Eco Summit 18th March 2025

6th March 2025 - World Book Day!

World Book Day 2025 at Mary Elton Primary School was another huge success! The whole school enjoyed dressing up as their favourite book characters, winning prizes for the best dressed, taking part in a ‘Blind Date Book Swap’ – over 100 children took part and took a new/recycled book home – watching their teachers take part in the Running Book Reading Race (ask them how puffed out the teachers were after that!), receiving their £1 book token (make sure you use them at ‘Books on the Hill’ in Clevedon) and other World Book Day related activities.

We cannot thank you, your children and our staff enough for the positive support given which resulted in a school-wide shared enjoyment of reading today.

11th February 2025 - Safer Internet Day!

This week, we have been celebrating Safer Internet Day 2025, and the theme this year is "Too Good to Be True?"—helping children develop the skills to question and think critically about what they see online.

Our amazing Year 6 Digital Leaders have led assemblies across the school, sharing important messages about online safety and introducing this year's theme. We are incredibly proud of their confidence and leadership in educating their peers!

On Tuesday afternoon, each year group took part in exciting and thought-provoking activities to help them recognize online risks, spot scams, and become more digitally savvy:

🔹 Reception & KS1 – Learning through stories, the children explored the idea that not everything online is real. They discussed ‘trust’ and discussed what is safe to click on. They sorted personal information into whether we should or shouldn't share as well as becoming scam spotters.

🔹 Years 3 & 4 – Focused on phishing, spotting suspicious links and understanding why we shouldn’t share personal information online. They created their own phishing scams to try to trick each other and posters with top tips to help avoid being caught out.

🔹 Years 5 & 6 – Took on the role of ‘scam detectives,’ investigating real-life examples of online scams, deepfakes, and too-good-to-be-true offers. They worked in teams to sort online safety 'dos and donts', analyze fake messages and discuss the dangers of misinformation.

💡 Top Tips for Parents/Carers:
✅ Think before you click – If an offer seems too good to be true, it probably is!
✅ Check the source – Look for spelling mistakes, unusual web addresses, and pressure tactics in messages.
✅ Talk to your child – Encourage open discussions about what they see online and remind them to ask an adult if they’re unsure.
✅ Use child-friendly search engines – Websites like Kiddle and Swiggle help provide safer search experiences.

Check out the e-safety page of our website for more information, useful guides and links: Mary Elton Primary School - E-Safety

We encourage all families to continue the conversation at home and explore online safety together. Thank you for supporting Safer Internet Day 2025 — let’s help our children become smart, responsible, and safe digital citizens!