Well done to the Chess Team who won the QPP Friendship Cup with an impressive 38-21-7 victory in June.

We had an exciting visit from Gujerati dancers and musicians from India ...they were great!

On June 1st we were awarded the ArtsMark Gold Award by the Arts Council. You can see lots of our arts activities below and on our 'Clubs Page'.

Mrs Hughes has started a ukulele band in Class 4 ...see how hard they are concentrating!

We now have the Flag of Estonia to add to our magnificent display thanks to Tormi Vahar -seen here with former pupil Craig Holroyd. The collection of 70+ international flags has been donated, over the years, by pupils, parents, staff, students and friends of Russell Hall School, past and present.

Members of the Chess Club who qualified for the Yorkshire 'megafinal' in York did very well on Bank Holiday Monday.

Members of the Art Club displayed their Easter Cross at West End Methodist Church

Y3 & Y4 pupils(and staff) dressed-up for a day of Saxon feasting, dancing, weaving and pottery-making!

Doing something funny for money!

Dutch Band 'The Backbones' joined in with the Red Nose Day fun (it doesn't happen in Holland!) on 13th March.  Here they are with members of the schools own band -Bearfootin')

We all had fun and raised over £440 for good causes....

Year 5 & Year 6 went to Bradford Industrial Museum, in February, to visit the Mill and the Classroom and learn what life would have been like for their great-great-grandparents.

Congratulations to our Y4 gym team who won gold medals in a championship at Thornton School. Mrs Howcroft ICoach) is delighted that they're now going forward to the all-Bradford finals.

Our Y5 violinists performed for the school, in February, with their teacher, Ms Cook.

(Pics - Miss Delehaye)

In January Memo Gonzales & the Bluescasters visited school -Bearfootin' opened the concert!

William won a signed CD for writing the best review of the concert.....

"On 26th of January 2009 Memo Gonzales and the Bluescasters came into school. The Bearfootin' Band was the support group. They were phenomenal but I was anxiously waiting for Memo Gonzales and the Bluescasters. The unusual thing was, Memo Gonzales, the harmonica/vocalist, Kai, the lead guitarist, Erkan, the bass guitarist and Henk, the drummer, were all from different countries!

Finally, my long wait was over and the best blues band ever came on the stage! They were out-of-this-world, amazing, brilliant. They sang my favourite song; 'You Got Me Rolling'! I loved it. The children were ecstatic, their faces glowing with excitement whilst the teachers danced the day away.

It was an outstanding event. It was great, it was exciting, it was amazing! I especially liked the part where Kai easily played the guitar behind his back, although the 'Rolling Song' wasn't far behind. It was brilliant, and Memo Gonzales was great fun!

At the end, Memo Gonzales gave away his own personal harmonica to the best dancer, it was Asdhley Baxter. The Bluescasters were from all sorts of countries such as : Turkey, Germany, Holland and the USA. They are all based in Germany now. I think it is incredible that they all work together. I would thoroughly recommend this to anyone who loves to dance! "

Class 2 became the first winners of the 'Russell the Reader' award for progress in reading.

Reception Class performed our traditional Nativity Play four times for parents and fellow-pupils in December.

The Chess Team retained the 'QPP Friendship Cup' for thge school with an emphatic 33-20-11 victory at Foxhill School in December.

The School tag-rugby team 'Russell Hall Bears' continued where they left off last season with a closely-contested victory in the QPP Tournament against Foxhill, Shibden Head and Stocks Lane. The 'Bears' won all three games scoring 9 tries and conceding only one.

The school swimming team 'took the plunge' in a QPP Gala in November finishing a commendable third and impressing all with their sporting attitudes.

Pupils enjoyed a entertaining look at the world of science in 'Cartoon Science' in November.

The winner of the first PTA girls writing competition ....£50 book token!

Children in N, R, Y1 & Y2 enjoyed a visit from Bite Size Theatre Group with 'Little Red Riding Hood' in October.

Y3 visited Salts Mill in October to study some of the Art and Architecture on display there.

French/ American / Canadian trio 'The Groanbox Boys' played for Y3 & Y4 (and visitors from Shibden Head School) in October. To see review in Guardian Newspaper click -        

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/oct/28/folk

Alfred Hickling (left)- a journalist from 'The Guardian' Newspaper - gave tips to Y3 & Y4 on how to write a review.......

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....and here's the winner of our competition to write a review of 'The Groanbox Boys'

Year 6 pupils visited Grinton, North Yorkshire, and stayed two nights in October.

Mrs Robertshaw (our Catering Manager) is delighted with our kitchen upgrade which was completed in September 2008.

2007-8

Pupils from Y6 officially opened our new traverse climbing wall on 9th June. It's proving to be very

popular with all pupils.

Both teams of 'tag rugby' 'Bears' performed well at Odsal Stadium in June ....the dream of a fourth successive all Bradford championship was not to be though, our 'A Team' falling to the eventual winners, Haworth. The team went on to be Yorkshire RU championship runners-up and Carnegie Challenge Shield winners!

The PTA first annual treasure hunt was a great success!

Postman Pat (and his 'real-life' creator John Cunliffe) visited us on World Book Day -even our work-placement students were impressed!

Y5 & Y6 pupils who attend the Christian worship group each day were invited by john Froud to a performance at Bradford Cathedral.

Bradford Bulls players are coaching our Y1 pupils. It's great fun!

More flags! Thanks to the ingenuity and generosity of some of our 'globetrotting' parents we now have the flags of Chile and Sudan to add to our huge collection.

Young Shakespeare Co. visited to present 'Hamlet' to Y3, Y4 & Y6