On Monday 30th September, Hazelwood had a very special guest - Dr Fuzz, the author of ‘Poppy the Pea’! Dr Fuzz started the day with an inspiring assembly, where he shared how a pea flying off his plate during dinner inspired his book, ‘Poppy the Pea’. He also spoke about the ups and downs of his journey to becoming a writer, encouraging the children to show resilience and courage in pursuing their dreams.
Throughout the day, Dr. Fuzz held exciting workshops with different year groups:
Year 2 took part in a ‘Fear & Courage’ workshop, where they watched clips from the ‘Poppy the Pea’ audiobook. Dr Fuzz explained how Poppy’s journey involved conquering her fears and encouraged the children to reflect on their own moments of bravery.
Year 3 participated in a ‘Dreams & Plans’ session, exploring how to turn big dreams into achievable goals. The children were challenged to think about the steps they would need to take to realise their ambitions, such as becoming an athlete or scientist. They discussed key elements like staying focused, practising regularly and researching their passions.
Year 6 attended a thought-provoking workshop on ‘Setbacks & Comebacks’, where they explored stories of famous figures like J.K. Rowling and Michael Jordan, who faced obstacles but persevered. The children were invited to share their own experiences of setbacks and reflect on how they could turn challenges into opportunities, some linking the discussion to their recent experiences at the PGL trip.

The Year 6 production of ‘Matilda’ was simply magical. The children performed incredibly well, having learnt their lines, the songs and the dance moves over the past few weeks. Whilst they might have been singing about being “revolting children”, they most definitely were not. Everyone played their part, from the usual characters of the Wormwood family, Miss Honey, Bruce, Amanda Thripp and the very scary Miss Trunchbull, to the lesser known characters of our story, including the Backstreet Boys! Every single member of the cast put in a performance to remember! Not forgetting the technicians, who worked tirelessly to ensure that the props, music, lighting and staging was always on point! 
Huge thank you to all of the adults who helped to make the show so special: Mr Jack, Miss Rosalind, Mr Constantinides, Mrs Kelly, Mrs Watson, Mrs Conner, Miss Gardiner, Ms Reid, Mrs Walls, Mrs Hammond, Miss Bispham, Mrs Chappell... and, of course, Miss McBride for directing the show! And a special thank you to Laura, Sara and Eva who helped with the artwork, choreography, singing and staging - we are very grateful! 

Our Year 5 children were delighted to welcome children from Meridian Angel to join them for an 'Election Eve Debate' facilitated by John Gilbert.

What a special Sports Week we had last week at Hazelwood! We hope that every child had an enjoyable week, learnt new skills and gave their best effort in their sports day event. Huge thank you to Mrs Hammond and Mr Bowstead for organising an incredible week. Thanks also to all of the parents, carers and staff who came along to Sports Day and contributed to the cost of the amazing range of events we had! 

And the results are in....

Year 1,2&3 sports day winners Marcus Rashford 267 points
Year 4,5&6 sports day winners Simone Biles 290 points

What a fabulous way to end the Half Term we had, with our final of Hazelwood's Got Talent 2024. We had hundreds of families watching, with popcorn, cakes, candyfloss and ice creams in hand thanks to the wonderful volunteers from HPSA. Our guest judges were in place: Mrs Brown - leaving us after over 20 years at Hazelwood; Elizabeth Bower - CBBC presenter; and Graeme Sievers - chairman of Conway Tennis Club. Our 9 finalists were fabulous and showed much courage and confidence as they took to the stage with their performances. We had singing, dancing, science experiments, comedy acts and piano playing - a huge variety reflecting just how special our children are. 

Huge thanks to Miss Bispham for organising the music, Steve for ensuring that the sound was all perfect on the day, and Martin from Anthony Webb for presenting the medals and trophies. 

It really was a wonderful event! 

Hazelwood Takes on the Marathon!
I was honoured to be invited by Mrs Hammond to take part with approximately 80 Hazelwood children and many of their parents in the TCS Mini Marathon, organised a day before the London Marathon. The children ran a mile leading up to the end of the iconic course, cheered on by thousands of people. It was a truly wonderful experience! Thank you so much to Mrs Hammond for organising it for the Hazelwood team!