Look what we have been up to!
Rock Steady Music
What a Booktastic Week!
What a week it’s been here at the Willesborough Schools celebrating our love of reading and all-things-books!
We kicked off the week with the book fair at Willesborough Junior School alongside the start of our ‘class reading swaps’. Year three and year six, year two and year five and year one and year four all paired up and visited each other to share a story together. The atmosphere during these class swaps was amazing! Year two also got the opportunity to visit EYFS and impress them with their amazing reading skills. Some children even got to read to their younger siblings!
Across the week children continued to complete their book bingo activities, reading quizzes and read-a-thons which was super. Lots of children managed to read in all sorts of different places including under a tree, in the bathroom and even to a pet! Many children also managed to read over five books across the week – wow!
On World Book Day, we here at the Willesborough Schools were blown away by the incredible costumes that the children dressed up in. It was like walking into a library with all the characters jumping out the books! We could see how much time and effort had gone into the costumes and it was lovely to see how much the children enjoyed dressing up as their favourite book character. Some children also received a special book prize for their costumes – congratulations! It was also great to see how the adults around the school put in a lot of effort to dress up as a book character. All children and adults looked fab!
We also had a special World Book Day Celebration Assembly where some lucky children who took part in the book bingo/reading quizzes received a special reading medal for their efforts.
To round the week off, every teacher chose a text or an extract from a text to ‘advertise’ outside their classrooms within their year group. Children within that year group then got the opportunity to choose which teacher that would like to listen to based on their choice of book. This was another very exciting opportunity for the children, not only to visit a different classroom and listen to a different adult read, but also to experience different stories and continue to develop the strong ‘reading for pleasure’ ethos we have.
Roll on next year!
International Week
What a fantastic week to celebrate our amazing and diverse community! Children at WIS and WJS thoroughly enjoyed learning about their focus country. Thank you to all the parents who came in to speak with the children. The Lions and Pandas enjoyed listening to Mrs Waghorn read ‘The Gruffalo’ in French. Merci beaucoup, Mrs Waghorn!
The infant children thoroughly enjoyed a karate workshop, led by Lisa Collins. Sensei (teacher in Japanese) Lisa, taught the children some basic karate moves and a self-defence technique. Sensei Lisa emphasised the importance of respect, and how the karate moves should not be used outside of the workshop. The children also learnt how to count up to five in Japanese!
At the juniors, each class had the opportunity to learn a dance that reflected their chosen country. Kate, from The Education Group, did a fantastic job in choreographing and teaching each class a dance routine tailored to their specific country of choice. Across the juniors, the children have learnt a variety of new moves, ranging from, the can-can to Greek dancing, African dancing to Bollywood! All in all, it was a brilliant two days, full of fun, where each child has developed their dancing skills whilst continuing to learn something new about their class’ country!
The International Fair showcased some of the incredible projects and artwork that the children produced during International Week. Parents and children enjoyed ‘visiting’ each country’s display and locating the country on a world map. There were also some tasty international food treats to sample. Thank you to Wagamama’s and the Everest Inn for the kind food donations.
The success of International Week and the enthusiasm shown by both the children and staff is a testament to our school community, and the importance we place on embracing diversity and fostering a love for learning.
Fire fighter talks for the whole school
All year groups enjoyed a visit from a fire fighter who taught them four key messages:
-To regularly check their smoke alarms
-To stop, drop and roll if they are near someone who's clothes have caught on fire
-To call 999 if there is a fire
-To shout "fire fire" if they see a fire
The children were all clear on these rules and enjoyed meeting the fire fighter. We are sure that they will be encouraging you all to check that your smoke alarms work at home to ensure that everyone is safe.
Thank you for the fire department for these informative talks for our children.
EYFS had a visit from the fire engine
Despite the rain, reception all thoroughly enjoyed our trip from some Ashford firefighters. We found it very exciting to see a real fire engine and some fire fighters as we've been learning about how they help us. They kindly showed us some of their equipment that they use in emergencies to rescue people. We got to try on their helmets and even got to sit inside the fire engine. We couldn't believe how long their water hose was and that it would have been able to stretch all the way from the infants to the junior school! We enjoyed learning about their uniform and were able to ask some questions about how it kept them safe. We thought it was very clever how it protected them from any fire!
Before we went back into class we said thank you to the fire fighters for coming to see us and we told them how brave we thought they were. We're sure this little visit is really going to impact our work this week and will inspire us all is our writing.
'Pets at Christmas' Blue Cross Workshop
Year 1 Dogs Trust Workshop
On Thursday 7th December, year 1 had a visit from Phil Marsh, the Dogs Trust Education Officer for Kent. Phil was accompanied by Larry the Labrador, his toy dog. Phil’s visit was designed to encourage safe behaviour around dogs. Phil and Larry taught the children five important safety rules. See if your child can remember them.
EYFS Animal Visit
On Friday reception received a visit from Micheal, the Animal Man. The children met several animals linked to the story 'Percy the Park keeper' and 'A Snowy Night'. They met and were about to stroke; a snake, hamster, duck, hedgehog and a rabbit. The children were all very considerate of the animals need for them to be gentle and quiet around them.
Road Safety Magic Show
On 11th October, year 1 and year 2 were visited by David Tricks. The children were treated to a fantastic fun-filled Road Safety Show, loaded with serious and important safety messages. The children really enjoyed the engaging show and were very impressed with the magic. The message about road safety was clear and the children understood the importance of staying safe on the roads.
Year 1 Exotic Animal Dressing Up Day
On the last day of term 1, the year 1 children thoroughly enjoyed dressing up as exotic animals. A whole array of different ‘animals’ came to school that day: parrots, tigers, lions, lizards, butterflies and many, many more! The costumes were fantastic! Thank you, parents, carers and children, for your extraordinary efforts in making this such a fun-filled experience.
Leadership responsibilities
Year 1 local walks
Our chicks have hatched!
Please hatch!
Willesborough is a wonderful place to learn, take a look at the slide show to see how our children have been shining this year.
