Gallery

The gallery provides an overview of the exciting opportunities and enrichment activities that make up the school year at Countess Gytha. Please head over to your class page to view more photos or  information on the opportunities/activities taken place.

2024-2025 - Current Year

Countess Gytha Primary Poetry Competition – What a Load of Nonsense!

The school took part in the Countess Gytha Primary Poetry Competition, and the theme was What a Load of Nonsense! Inspired by brilliantly bonkers poems like The Bumpton Boo, I Was Just Thinking, The School of Nuts and Nonsense and The Menu, our young poets let their imaginations run wild.

From talking teaspoons to schools where jellyfish teach maths, the entries were packed with giggles, gobbledygook, and glorious creativity. The children played with rhyme, rhythm, and made-up words to create their very own nonsense masterpieces.

The winners were Dylan, Keira, Anna, Alex, Henry, Layla, Phoebe, Enes, Evie and Jack.

Take your time to read them — you might laugh, you might gasp, and you’ll definitely be amazed by the imagination on show.

Nonsense never made so much sense!

Which is your favourite?

Preston Primary Academy Trust Conference 2025

Countess Gytha played host to over 180 Preston Primary Academy Trust staff on Thursday evening, as we held the 2025 Education Conference. Mr Gallagher did a fantastic job of putting together guest speakers, including alumni of Countess Gytha to inspire school and trust staff on the theme of, ‘Belonging.’

Bookman Challenge Winners

Year 4 and 5’s Thrilling Trip to LEGOLAND!

On Thursday, 4th April, our Year 4 and 5 pupils had an unforgettable day at LEGOLAND Windsor!

The highlight of the trip was taking part in an exciting rollercoaster workshop, where the children learned all about forces, gravity, and motion in a fun, hands-on way. It was a fantastic opportunity to see science in action!

After the workshop, we had time to explore the park and experience some incredible rides. From soaring rollercoasters to exciting attractions, the children had a blast testing their bravery and enjoying the thrills.

The trip was filled with laughter, learning, and plenty of excitement—definitely a day to remember! A big thank you to everyone who helped make this adventure possible. The pupils returned buzzing with enthusiasm (and maybe a little bit of tiredness!) after such a fantastic experience.

Author Onjali Rauf Visit

On Tuesday, 1st April, we were thrilled to welcome award-winning author Onjali Q. Raúf to our school! Best known for The Boy at the Back of the Class, Onjali captivated our pupils with a fascinating discussion about the powerful themes in her books, including kindness, friendship, and the importance of standing up for what’s right. 

The children had the wonderful opportunity to ask insightful questions, gaining a deeper understanding of the inspiration behind her stories. Many were excited to have their books personally signed, making it a truly memorable experience. 

It was an inspiring visit that left our pupils eager to read more and reflect on the world around them. A huge thank you to Onjali for sharing her time and wisdom with us - we hope to welcome her back again in the future! 

The Gytha Troops and their families had an 'eggcelent' afternoon decorating their Easter Eggs for the SSAFA's annual competition and came up with some very creative and innovative designs! 

WORLD BOOK DAY

Countess Gytha had a fantastic day yesterday for World Book Day. The outfits were incredible - thank you so much to all the parents for putting in an amazing amount of effort. The children absolutely loved seeing their friends and teachers dressed up too. The World Book Day activities were many for all of the classes this year. Firstly, the decorate your door competition was hotly-contested and was won by Pendragon. The entrants are below. Each class went to the Reading Cafe where they enjoyed hot chocolates and biscuits. The classroom was transformed by Mrs Sherry into a luxurious reading space. The World Book Day assembly went off with a bang with Mrs Trunchball finding out the culprit to who stole her chocolate cake and a special visitor arrived to give out the prizes as it wouldn't be World Book Day without Bookman. Finally, your entrants to the Book in a Jar and the Book in a Box competitions were outstanding this year. It was so difficult to choose but James, Evie, Bettsie and Darcy were the winners! Well done to everyone who entered. It doesn't go unnoticed the wealth of support that the parents have provided the children this year for World Book Day. Once again, thank you!

Castle Cary Carnival - Winners Shield returns to Countess Gytha!

Roman Day - King Arthur Class

King Arthur Class had an excellent end to the week, having all made a super effort to come to school dressed in a variety of Roman regalia! Activities included a costume parade, a Roman Numeral code cracker game, some gladiator roleplay and designing and painting a Roman fresco piece of artwork. 

As well as this, King Arthur Class also performed the song 'Invade' to the whole school in assembly, which they have been learning in music. Furthermore, the children prepared themselves a feast for the end of the day, making a variety of delicious Roman dishes! Please see class page for more photos

Magical Map Writing Competition

Our KS2 pupils were invited to write mini sagas (stories up to 100 words) about any time in any place with an opportunity to be become a PUBLISHED AUTHOR! This exciting National Writing Competition took place last term and entries were given to their teachers by many of our aspiring writers. Amazingly, we have had the results back and the following children are all winners and will be published. Congratulations to: Austin, Harriet, Jenson, Layton, Harrison, Albert, Isabelle, Phoebe, Molly, Elsie, Emily, Barnaby and Evie. 

Olympic Gold medalist shares her story

 In our assembly this week, we were delighted to be visited by Kate French, a gold-winning Modern Pentathlete, who has competed in the Rio, Tokyo and Paris games! Children listened intently to her personal journey and were able to ask plenty of questions about what it takes to be the best at something in the world! Some were even lucky enough to hold her gold winning medal from Tokyo!

A Special Trip to London!

For those with good memories, you may remember that this time last year, we were celebrating in the Diary Dates our friendship tree with messages from our partner schools around the world. We are delighted to say that a year later, the school has received the British Council’s highest award for its language, cultural and international offer!

Book Club Library Trip

Both Year 6 and Year 3 book clubs went on their trip to Yeovil Library on Thursday. We had a tour of the library, completed our book club sessions, explored the amazing books, visited a book shop where we bought new books for ourselves and a bakery for some sweet treats. The weather unfortunately didn't hold out and all of us got soaked walking back to the bus. However, a great time was had by all!

 Mendip Cake Sale beats current record!

Thank you to all who supported the Mendips cake sale on Thursday, Tommy and Thomas – House Captains for Mendips – are pleased to report a total of £105 raised. All monies raised will be totaled following the final house cake sale in the summer term and put towards school extras!

Bookman Christmas Reading Challenge!

Well done to the children who completed the Christmas reading challenge! Bookman is absolutely delighted that you have completed so many of the challenges. Look out for your special certificates in next week's assembly and fingers crossed you win a prize from the raffle. A massive thank you to the PTFA who provided the book prizes. Here are a sample of photos from some of the children who completed the challenge. 

All hands on deck to decorate our school Christmas tree!
Every child in the school placed a decoration on the tree this week ready for the Christmas Fair and the upcoming nativity performances. 

Eco and School Council representatives from Lancelot attend inaugural event
The Somerset Sustainable Futures event was held at Taunton Rugby Club on Tuesday this week. Selected member from the Eco and School Council from Countess Gytha Primary School attended the launch. The event consisted of interactive green careers events, youth voice activities and a fantastic young keynote speaker. The children gained a huge amount from the sessions and confidently shared their own ideas of their roles in the future of how they could make a difference to the future of Somerset's sustainability and the impact of Climate Change on the world we all live in.

A surprise visitor to Countess Gytha this week!

Pudsey arrived on Tuesday afternoon to say thank you to Countess Gytha pupils for raising an amazing £220 in aid of Children in Need this year. Pudsey was in great spirits as he visited each class and the School Council.

The children couldn’t believe that this amazing national icon visited their school. What a great cause!

Primary Engineer Macrobert Medal
Countess Gytha staff members travelled to Glasgow this week to await the anticipated results from the summer terms Primary Engineer project. Over 78,000 designs were put forward initially which then were  condensed down to the ten finalists, where a prototype was made.
Staff were joined by Ben and his parents; although at times a little nerve racking they were all thrilled to be announced as the overall winner of the gold medal! Well done to all staff that played a role in this prestigious engineering project. 

Children in Need 2024

Topping off a brilliant week at Countess Gytha, children came dressed in their finest pyjamas accompanied by their teddies too! It was a wonderful way to mark Children in Need 2024 and word on the street is that we will be receiving a special visitor in the coming weeks to say a great big thank you for the staggering £220, raised on the day. On behalf of the school and charity, I would like to take this opportunity to thank families for their support and generosity.

THANK YOU!

A big thanks must go to all the parents who bought books, pens, rulers, pointers and much more at the book fair in the past few weeks. We were awarded over £450 in rewards for the school. With the help of our reading champions (Wilf, William and Harriet), we have bought 68 books for the school to be distributed to each class library. We can't wait to start reading them! Thank you again. 

Castle Cary Carnival 2024

With a Lego theme to our costumes this year, Countess Gytha pupils did themselves proud in the rain on Saturday night at the annual Castle Cary Carnival. We await the results but fingers crossed for another successful year. Thank you to Mr Plumbley for working with the children and making and designing the Lego heads.

Children talk to Lord Weymouth
Lancelot and Excalibur were delighted to be joined by Lord Knight of Weymouth, guiding the classes on a virtual tour of the House of Lords. The children asked some brilliant questions about the history and then the current work of the chamber, as well as what the future for the House of Lords might look like.

Bookman Summer Reading Challenge!

Well done to the children who completed the summer reading challenge! Bookman is absolutely delighted that you have read so many books this summer. Look out for your special certificates in next week's assembly. Here are a sample of photos from some of the children who completed the challenge.

Older Posts

Countess Gytha Feature in Times Top 500 Primary Schools!

Based on our most recent Key Stage 2 outcomes, Countess Gytha was ranked 47th out of 16,783 schools in England, putting us in the top 1% of schools. Only four other primary schools in Somerset were placed within the top 500 and we are the first school other than Preston Primary in the PPAT trust to feature in this distinguished table.We are thrilled!

We must recognise the outstanding achievement by those children as well as the excellent teaching, support and care that we provide as a whole school community.

Whether a newly-joined parent or a multi-generation family of Countess Gytha, the school could not thrive in the way it does without the incredible support of this special community – thank you

Race for Life total amazes us all! Updated total £4000!

The biggest event of the week has to be mthis year’s Race for Life event! Children raised sponsorship money in readiness for undertaking a 2km race around the school field. Even the sun put in an appearance for the event which all thoroughly enjoyed.Well done to all who made it around the course, including over 20 parents! Collectively, the total now stands at a staggering £2500 – truly incredible – what a community we have here at Countess Gytha!