As the children complete their time at the school, we ensure that they are all offered a wide range of opportunities and experiences. These activities are often linked to the curriculum we cover at the school to enrich, stretch and further develop their skills or knowledge; however, on occasions the activities are provided to simply introduce the children to hobbies, sports or interests that they may not have experienced previously. The remainder of this page outlines just some of the experiences and opportunities the children have recently been given.
Curriculum
Art Gallery Event
The children from each class looked at work from a chosen artist and then created their own interpretations. Each class then voted for their favourite pieces which were displayed in the school’s ‘Art Gallery’. During the Art Gallery Event, all of the children had the opportunity to view the art. Before leaving, they had to vote which year group had produced the best work. The display created by Year 2 made them the eventual winners. After the event, families had the opportunity to buy their child’s work framed.
Around the World in a Day
Each class chose a country to learn about. After learning about areas such as:
The children created a range of work in the form of texts, short videos and art work to represent the information they learnt about their chosen country. A week later, the children presented their work to the rest of the children in the school.
Poetry Competition
Every year the school holds a poetry competition which is designed to provide every child with the opportunity to take part in a poetry performance. Each class choose, rehearse and perform a small group piece and a large group piece - every child within the class must be in at least one of the performances. During the competition, each class will perform their poem to the rest of the school. After all of the performances, there is a class discussion with the adults in the class before the children vote for who they feel should win each of the categories. Once all of the votes have been received, the winners are presented with trophies.
International Lego Day
In January, we celebrated International Lego Day with a day full of Lego fun. The children from Nursery to Year 2 created a range of models whilst also learning about the history of the Lego company. STEM learning is an important area that the school is currently trying to improve. It is our hope that with the school’s newly acquired Lego sets along with the school’s focus on developing STEM opportunities we will inspire the children to consider future opportunities in the world or engineering and design
Historical Events Day
At the beginning of February, the children in each year group prepared work linked to different historical events. This work was displayed in the Hall at our ‘History Museum Event’. The children in each class had the opportunity to enter our ’history museum’ and looked at the work that had been completed by the other classes in the school. The historical events covered can be found below:
Nursery - The existence of Dinosaurs
Reception - The history of Chinese New Year
Year 1 - Space Travel
Year 2 - The Titanic
Sport
Athlete visit
The children had the opportunity to meet James Beevers a Fencing Olympian. During the visit, all children attended an assembly with James who spoke about his journey from child to Olympian. He discussed the challenges he faced and how he persevered. After a short Question and Answer session with each year group, each class completed a practical session. During this session the children learnt sport specific language, stance and movements.
Sporting competitions
The school’s PE Leader works hard to ensure that our children are exposed to a range of competitions. During PE sessions, the children across Key Stage 1 are provided with opportunities to explore and practise 12 different sports. This provision enables the children to not only gain a broad experience of physical opportunities but to be extremely competitive in competitions. In recent years, we have won the following tournaments:
These tournaments take place between our school and other local schools in the Castle Point area.
Sports clubs
During the past few years, we have offered the children a wide range of sporting clubs. These clubs are designed to provide the children with a broad range of different sports. The sporting clubs we have or currently offer can be found in the list below:
Charity
Poppy Appeal
During November every year, the children have the opportunity to buy poppies and a range of wrist bands. The children in Reception, along with the support of their teachers and support staff, lead the school’s Poppy Appeal. They create videos which are shared with the children within the school about the importance of the Poppy Appeal whilst also sharing information about how to donate. The children in Reception then sell the products to the rest of the school. To mark the end of our Poppy Appeal, the school holds a remembrance service (11th November) where selected children from each class are chosen to lay the wreath that has been created by their class.
Children in Need and Comic/Sport Relief
The school raises money for both Children in Need and Comic/Sport Relief by arranging events and activities. Individual year groups are tasked with leading the events.
Don Sheppard Charity Day
Don Sheppard is a World War II veteran and has worked closely with the school for many years. To mark Don’s 100th birthday, the school created a charity day in his name with the junior school. Every year on Don’s birthday the two schools compete to raise as much money as they can for Don’s chosen charity - Prostate Cancer UK. Each class is invited to create their own charity event with the aim of each class individually contributing to the school’s overall total. Whichever school makes the most money each year wins the Don Sheppard shield. In our first year the two schools were able to raise a combined total of just under £5,000.
Local Charity Day
During the Summer Term, the school holds a charity event with all of the proceeds going to local charities. The children are able to make suggestions as to which charities could be supported. As part of this suggestion the children can make short videos or posters to champion their cause. Once all nominations are in, the children vote to select the final three. One the day of the charity event, the children have the choice to decide which of the three charities they would like to give their donation.