Tuesday
It was badge week at Gymnastics.  So I wonder, who's brilliant idea was it to the fitness badge in this heat?  I passed all the sections we tackled in spite of the stifling conditions but it's a two-parter at least I think so we'll have to see how I get on with the rest of it.  I came home totally cooked and a newly discovered shade of bright red!

Wednesday
So the peak of the heatwave and the only thing thats kept us going has been the supply of ice pops in the freezer.  So it was a grim day when we discovered wobbly jubblies in there.  No one wants a wobbly jubbly.  It was hard to pin down the exact cause of the malfunction as it sounded like it was working, the fridge above was fine too.  There was reasonable suspicion that maybe someone had left the door open...it has been known to happen before on a few occasions.

Thursday
With the heatwave in full swing still there was nothing else on our agenda than another trip to the outdoor pool.  Dad and I were the advance party with mum coming down to meet us straight from the hairdressers.  Haha, she soon had pool hair.  With no other kid sin our party and strangely, no one else I knew down there (oh, except one girl from gymnastics) I got Dad involved in a diving session at the deep end when it was sufficiently clear of idiotic teenagers.

It must have been a hot day as the people at the pool had actually changed the expected daily temperature to 30 degrees, even though it was a good few notches higher than that.

Friday
In terms of my friends being about this week, it's been a bit thin in the goround as they have all been at the St Barts summer school.  They finished a bit earier today though so wehn Luca came round to deliver the disclaimer form for his upcoming birthday party I was more than happy to go down the park with him.  Well, until it stared thundering and then raining pretty heavily.  I ran home in slippery flip flops as quick as I could.

Saturday
We were rudely beaten out of bed for a shopping trip today.

It wasnt too bad though, Ned was on reasonable form and was actually rather amusing.

We went to Southampton, I got myself a new school bag and a couple of new swimming costumes. I nearly got some new football boots and school shoes too, but they weren't quite right.

Ned actually got hmself some new stuff too for once, rather than just complaining he hasn't got anything to wear anymore because it's all too small.

I was home in time for Luca's party, Wobsticle down at Northcroft.  It was great fun and good to see eceryone after a week in a bit of a wilderness.

Sunday
Well today was rather notabel, it rained.  It really rained, pretty much all day too.

We had a roast dinner which I was most excited about as we hadn't had one in a couple of months I reckon?

Obviously i'd never admit to being bored of the school holidays already, but today, I started todying my room....

Monday
Had a proper long lay in today which was nice.  I did finally get out of bed to go and see the Incredibles 2 with Mum and Dad once he was home from work.  We'd all been looking forward to this one and I think we all felt a little disappointed with it.  I mean it was good, but just not as good as the first one.

I admitted over tea that I would actually quite like to start at Park House now and not wait another five weeks.  I'm so excited to go and meet my new friends....

Tuesday

Deep into the end of year run down we're up to all sorts to fill our days.  Today we had a Talent show.  I got together with Lola, Sasha, Amelie and Elsa.  It was a big time event, in the main hall and everything.  We got four votes for our cheerleader inspired dance routine which wasnt enough for the win but was very respectable compared to others.

Had a trip to twon with Mum and Dad to pick up some cards (Ambers birthday and a thank you card for Mrs Rance) 

I took a well earned rest in Parkway:

Wednesday

Our ongoing for quest for worthwhile activities continued at school.  Today was more like some sort of Victorian workhouse while we moved earth from the trim trail area up to the garden bit behind the storage containers.  It was actually a lot of fun, racing the wheelbarrows up there.

We also practiced singing a million dreams (from the greatest showman film) for our leavers assembly.  Mrs Rance cried....I hope our singing wasn't that bad?

It was Ambers party in the evening, a trip to the new Redkangaroo trampoine park in reading.  It was great fun, we got very hot and sweaty but had a great time.  We also had pizza.

Thursday

Jess gave herself three knees on the ladder bridge in the school playground today when she trapped it beteween the rungs it was so swollen.  We thought she'd broken it.  Sasha was doing a sponsored day in a wheel chair so that was lucky, we turfed her out and pushed Jess back to the school buildings to get her checked out (she was on the whole).

We got to carry out our sports day victory lap of honour today so that felt good!

Friday

So it was finally here, my last day at John Rankin.  It's been looming on the horizon for so long and now it was actullay here.  Mum made sure I had a shower and did my hair properly so I looked presentable for the leavers assembly.

I went in as normal and we waited until it was assembly time.  We went into the hall in front of the upper school and a sizeable contingent of parents taking to the benches at the front of the hall.

The presenter double act of Mr Rayner and Mrs Watkins (back from maternity leave for a special appearance).

The baby photos were grat fun of course, some more so than others.  I was pleased with the one Mum and Dad submitted for me, despite my friends thinking that was chocolate in my nose when it was actually a scab:

In good family tradition, I sucessfully avoided winning an award.  I wasnt bothered, I know how well i've done over my time at John Rankin and so do Mum and Dad.  I did at keast get the glory of having our story of the birth of my name Pomatoe No 1 came into being.

It took a while to get through nearly 60 of us leavers on an individual basis and presenting us with our pen and pencil set, but it was so entertaining it was actually a shame when we were all finished.  We sang our song, huge swathes of the grown ups were reduced to tears and there was a slideshow playing of various photos from around the school, a trip to the park and of course our Rhos trip. 

The rest of the upper school filed out and we broke ranks to cuddle our friends and our parents, I might have had a few tears myself at this point in all honesty despite maintaining all along that I wasn't bothered about it.  I gave Mum and Dad a cuddle, it was nice to have them there.

We went out for lunch time, played for a bit and did the customary signing of shirts with sharpie (I took 4 colours of course).

We came back in to the classroom for one last time, all together, 6 Birch.  The end product of a few class mix ups over the years  but i'm glad we all ended up together, a real good mix of personalities that for the vast majority of the time got along splendidly.

Then it was out onto the field for the traditional whole school end of term picnic:

Mum came along, we sat with Laura and Darcey who will be coming up to Juniors next year of course.  I left them too it after a polite amount of time and disappeared off with my friends.

By the time Dad came home I was half asleep on the sofa binge watching Hetty Feather on the Iplayer. He convinced me (quite easily) to go to Mr Moo Juice for an Oreo shake.

We had a quiet evening, going through my exercise books I had bought home,it was nice to realise just how much progress I had made in the last year, so a massive thanks to Mrs Rance and of course Mum for their efforts.  I know they are very proud of me and my efforts and achievements. 

I am seriously looking forward to going to Park House though....I certainly feel ready and know it's time I moved on.  

Saturday

So after a few false starts over the years we finally took a Camping trip with the Halfords (and Andy).
We left at a very civilised time in the morning and as we were only going to the Witterings we were soon pulling into the campsite.  It was already a very warm day so setting up was a sweaty endeavour.  It was a good job Dad had bought his new industrial strength tent pegs as the ground was like concrete.
The Halfords transformer-trailer-caravan 'Dolly' was seriously cool and watching them set it up was really interesting, a very ingenious piece of equipment.
They also bought Hartley along which was brilliant, I got to fuss him loads and loads, he's so laid back and lovely.
So once we'd set up camp we needed a swim to cool off, so down the beach it was:

It was low tide so there was plenty of sand which was far easier on the feet.  The sea itself felt really warm, nit at all like down West where it always feels a bit chilly.  We splashed about and threw the vortex about, making ever more elaborate and dramatic catches.

We pumped up the kayak and took it for a few trips out and back but it was pretty choppy which only made it more fun.  It was lovely to all be in the sea together.

We headed back to camp for a barbecue, some gymnastics, and a lark about for the evening:

Sunday

Any hopes of a lie in were soon quashed by the several thousand noisy kids from an adjoining group getting up at 7am for a number of noise based activities, so thanks a lot to them for showing such consideration to their fellow campers. 

We had a nice breakfast, sat out in the morning sunshine which made a pleasant change from hiding within the tent like we normally do on our more climate-challenged camping trips.

We got our gear together and headed off to East Head Spit, which was a short walk from the car park but certainly worth it to get away from the crowds at West Wittering.  It was like being abroad, hot, cloudless blue skies and beautiful blue sea.

We swam.  A lot.

The sea was really weird, you could go from ankle deep to over your head deep in about two steps:

We pretty soon worked out that you could take a running leap into the deep water which lead to all sorts of nonsense:

Our signature move was the 'Silly Salmon' which was sadly undocumented.

We played cricket with the Falkland Cricket Club's Players Player of the year (Emma) and one of her coaches (Dean), we took Hartley for a paddle and we dug of course:

And then we went back to base for a siesta:

Once we were rested, we were hungry so it was a walk along the beach:

To the Boulevard restaurant, to revisit the Boule Buster:

Ned ate his half, I picked a few bits off the top and declared myself full.  Dad had wisely cancelled his pudding order when he got wind of what we were up to and gamely pitched in to help out.

Both he and Ned completely overdid it and moaned and groaned the whole way back to camp.

We bid Andy a fond farewell as he had to be back to work on Monday which was a shame.

We wandered along the moonlit beach, caught a bit of an aerobatic display in the distance with fireworks seemingly attached to the aeroplanes and then put ourselves to bed.

Monday

So mum and dad had a day off, meaning we could stay for another day of sun soaked beach fun.  Back to the Nerf throwing and trying to body surf on the waves that were trying their hardest to form up.

We had a picnic on the beach, searched for those rounded little bits of coloured glass you can sometimes find amongst the pebbles and did more swimming. 

We couldn't deny it any longer though, we had to pack up and head for home.  It didn't take too long and we were soon saying our goodbyes.  It was great to spend a whole weekend with Leo, my new classmate come September.  We got on so well and really enjoyed our time together.

Then it was home to several hundred Whatsapp pings and all the inter-secondary-school rivalry that's infiltrating all our group chats......shame.  

Tuesday
We did our dress rehearsal in front of the year 2 lot and a sprinkling of keen parents this morning.  It went really well, I don't think anyone mucked their lines up or anything.  The audience certainly seemed to enjoy it and I got some good feedback from Darcey.
We were given our SATS results in a nice big envelope too.  I wasn't that bothered about what was contained within to be honest, neither school or Mum and Dad have made much of a big deal about it but the contents made for very satisfying reading.  It's nice to see my efforts have paid off over this year and it's good for the school to see too.
The hot weather is playing havoc with gymnastics attendance recently. Still, this week it meant that Maddie and myself got pretty much a private lesson with our instructor, Maya who also used to go to John Rankin.  We got to really push on with things we were learning and despite coming out as pink as a very pink thing it was brilliant.

Wednesday

It was our first evening performance of our show tonight.  The start time was bought forward a bit so we didn't miss the England football match.  Both our year 6 teachers are sports fanatics and most of us kids are too so there would have been a mutiny before we had even started Pirating on stage!
Anyway, I left the house in plenty of time without a hint of nerves, met up with everyone and got ready.  It went really well, everyone really enjoyed it and we got plenty of laughs so that was good.  I came home pretty hyped up and excited, most of the usual football barbecue gang were in the garden already:

So it was England against Croatia in the semi final.  One match away from the final.  Sadly it didn't go England's way this time and they were knocked out which was a bit of a shame.

We did have an epic Nerf Battle though......

Friday

Well it was our final performance of our show tonight and we couldn't wait to get stuck in.

Our production was called Pirates of the Curry Bean and my character was called Deadeye Dinghy, a real Pirates Pirate, chief mischief maker, I can't think why I got the role?  I had some good lines to deliver at key moments of the story but it wasn't too much to learn so it suited me fine.

I was the Uncle of the Perriwinkle family at the centre of the story and it was me that set the whole caper going:  So here I am in one of my first scenes with Jess as Pearl:

It all went really well, we all performed without any sort of nerves and threw ourselves into it really enjoying just doing something together on stage.  Even Luca struggling with a palm tree stage prop was brilliant.....it really did not want to stay upright despite his best efforts and unending optimism that it would.

Our singing volume was by all accounts seriously impressive, even more impressive seeing as we are the first year 6's to do their end of school show without the back up of the year 5's as well.  Mum, Dad and Ned were in the audience so it was lovely too see their faces smiling, although now I'm older I'm a lot more professional on stage than I used to be so didn't wave at them or anything like I may have done in years gone by.
We took our bows and gave another rendition of one of the songs before leaving the stage to collect our now customary ice lolly before meeting up with the parents in the hall and heading home.
Another end of school ritual completed....


Saturday

Ned woke up and told me I was very good in the show last night.  That was nice to hear.  He was in a good mood for two reasons though.

Firstly a McDonalds breakfast and secondly it was his driving day thingy he had for his birthday.

It was at the old Top Gear test track on Dunsfold Airfield too, which was pretty cool.

We got picked up in a minibus to take us to the pit area in the middle of the track, I never knew a minibus could go so fast as it joined part of the track getting overtaken by Mclarens, Porshe's, Lambo's and Ferarri's.

His first car was a Ferarri 360, I cannot believe they let him drive it really, but here he is:

He loved it because there was no roof and the engine was just behind his head and by all accounts it sounded brilliant when he put his foot down.

He looked pretty comfortable around the cars to be honest:

He drove surprisingly quickly and overtook loads of others out on the circuit too.

Next up he drove a Nissan GTR, not as exotic maybe but he loved using the paddle gear shifters at the right time:

I noticed there were no girls having a go?  Weird, i'll be trying to readdress that imbalance in the next few years for sure, I really fancied having a go:

I really enjoyed being up close to the cars and pointing out design and technical features to Dad.

Next up for Ned was a hot lap with an instructor on the main circuit.

A rather unassuming looking man pulled up in a 3 series BMW, Ned buckled himself into the front seat and as soon as it clicked home they took off.

Sideways through a line of parked up supercars.

Screaming tyres.

Billowing smoke.

I think they went sideways for about half a mile before they straightened up.

The gathered crowd waiting for other cars loved it.  As they made their way around the rest of the track I don't think we had ever seen a car go so fast as if flew past all the more exotic stuff out on track.  Ned looked a little bit paler than usual when he got out but it was pretty clear he had loved it.

He was as almost as animated and excited as he would have been if he'd had an epic wave in the South West.

We had another super high speed minibus ride out of the circuit and a had a nice picnic on the airfield:

We asked Ned if his driving lessons had been a help for this sort for this sort of thing...he said not really, but Forza on the XBOX was!
We got back in time for me to get to Taits party, a football match at the city playground and then back to his house for a barbecue.
When I arrived the other girls were sitting under a tree on their phones but I wanted to get stuck in to the football so got stuck in.  We made our way back to their house and carried on with various games and larking about and also marvelling at their pet rabbits luxury accommodation.


Sunday

Another leavers institution, the leavers picnic, and of course we had a beautiful day for it!
The main attraction was of course the slip and slide:

It was massive fun, of course there were a few knocks and bruises to be expected but on the whole we are a friendly bunch so we didn't mind at all:

In addition to the picnic there was the most welcome visit of an ice cream van as well as a leavers cake but the slip and slide was pretty much my sole focus.  Factor in a few random balls and water pistols and what could be more fun?  Even Mrs Rance and Mr Swan had a go which we loved.

After two hours of soap filled fun we were finally cajoled into having a group picture taken:

So that's another end of school tradition ticked off......only the leavers assembly to go no.
It was the world cup final, France against Croatia so we made our way over to Finlay and Millie's for a final sun soaked get together.  We got there just before half time so hadn't missed all of it.  There was a good set up outside with the TV under a selection of umbrellas and gazebos' but I was more interested in having a kick about and playing on the trampoline.  France emerged victorious which will no doubt please Luca and Will at school.
So we aren't the biggest football fans in the world but we've certainly enjoyed the social aspect of the world cup and the weather has certainly played a part not to mention England's performance.  We worked out that by the time the next world cup rolls around Ned will be 18 and Mum and dad will be into their 5th decade!!!

Monday

Well here we go, my last week at Primary school.

Obviously we're winding down big time and spent pretty much the whole day involved in sporting competitions against Mr Swans class...I'm glad to report we won the majority of them too.

My final school report came home today....I couldn't wait to see what had been written about me as I was quietly confident.  I was right to be, it was fantastic, easily my best one ever.  The very best comments were in relation to my sporting efforts and the more technical sort of subjects along with lovely personal comments.  Lets see how this translates into secondary school shall we?

It was a little bit overcast after school, but I'd heard rumours that there were a few down the outdoor pool so I was keen to go and Dad didn't need much persuading.  The sun had come out by the time we got there and we met up with Auntie Christine, Darcey, Finlay, Millie and Chris.  Fortunately auntie Christine had bought more substantial supplies than Dads two bottles of water.  I did take him for a diving session up the deep end though which was fun.  Mum and Laura turned up a bit later too so it was quite a gathering for a Monday night.

Tuesday
Well the world cup is still rumbling on and England are still in it.  We had a trip to Abi and Faye's for this match against....Colombia, yes, that's it. The weather is still proper summery so we're getting quite used to spending so much time outside.  It was another eventual win for England after what the adults assured us was a more usual extra time and penalties.  We were assured that an England penalty win is quite a rarity.

Wednesday
I had been seriously excited about my Park House visiting day and it was finally here.  I walked up with Amber and we all made our way to the hall. The day was a bit if a blur really, but I had a great time.  I found out that I'm in the same house as Ned, Elm, the Blue one. 
I'm also in with Leo, which I am utterly delighted about.  We hoped this would be the case.  I've also got Eloise, Amelie and Molly from John Rankin. Bonus.
It was Mum and Dad's turn to go for a visit in the evening, they got to meet my new tutor and have a mooch about, not that they needed it as they are pretty familiar with the setup, they went with Emma and Dean though so that was nice for them.

Thursday
In another long-waited-for event, the outdoor pool finally opened.  Miraculously this didn't coincide with the weather turning rubbish.  By the time I got home from school Mum and Dad were chomping at the bit to go, so we convinced Lily to come along with us and we were off.
It was lovely down there (except for the fallen pine needles sticking in your feet) and it wasn't even that busy:

Friday
Another big day lined up....Sports day, after school football match against year 7 (last years year 6 team) and then our leavers disco.
So sports day, cancelled last week as it was too hot.....saved for today which was equally hot!

It was the usual format, with events sprinkled about the playground and the field.

I did at least get one goal on the netball which was an improvement:

Standing long jump went well, full commitment as you can see here:

And we won the relay in a very convincing fashion:

The real icing on the cake though was beating the Mr Swan's other year sic class at the tug of war.  Mrs Rance class are a very strong and cohesive unit!

It was too hot for the victory parade for the winning house in the afternoon so Mr Rayner took the results home with him for the weekend!

After school we had a bit of an end of term ritual, playing the old year 6's (now year 7's) at football and Netball.  We managed to keep the football at 0-0 during a pretty action packed game.  We eventually sneaked a winning goal deep into stoppage time with a little help from Mr Swan.
Leavers disco then, great, no annoying youngsters to get in the way and Mum banned from being a helper for the night.  I got picked up by Dobbie and we went down to school together without the parents in tow.  We all had a great night, plenty of dancing and decent music and no Mum volunteering to be a helper either.

Saturday
We had a big group outing to the Outdoor Pool today, Us lot, Andy, Finlay, Millie, Kimi, Marny, Nate and Joel and all the associated adults too.  We had a great time, splashing about in the warm sushine.  We stayed for a bit of a picnic too before the pool started emptying out....it was like there was somethong gping on?

Oh yeah, there was, England were playing Sweden in the quarter final of the world cup.  We carried on to Andy's (by bike) for a barbecue and to watch the game.  Well, I didnt pay much attention as I took my hammock along. I plugged myself into my music and actually drifted off to sleep for a while before sharing it with the others for a bit:

It was a comfortable win for England, so thats the semi final and another get together!

Sunday
We were off to Alans for lunch and the day didn't get off to a great start when I accidentally deleted Whatsapp on my phone. 

I was quite philosophical about it and we had a great time playing with Nate and Joel.

Monday

Well we waited all weekend to find out that my house, Craven had won sports day!

We were thrilled and it makes such a change for someone else to win.  

Shame we didnt get our victory parade on sports day but hopefully so,ething else will happen on that front.

I got home and gave myself an eye mask treatment, to much laughter from mum and Dad saying it made me look years younger and got rid of the non existant bags under my eyes,