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Christmas Lunch
We had a sumptuous Christmas lunch on Wednesday prepared by Lisa and her team. They did a wonderful job and the children had a great feast. Thank you.
St Faiths
Last Friday, some of the Young Voices choir visited St Faith's Nursing Home. They delighted residents with many well-known Christmas carols. The children really enjoyed the experience and did themselves proud. Well done all!
We have finished our peace chain for the Christmas Campaign “Primary Picture News” challenged us with. Our final chain measured 21 metres! We have sent off our final result to be added to other schools.
Year 6 thoroughly enjoyed their educational music trip to Cheltenham Ladies College last Thursday where they learnt about the workings of a pipe organ and also had a go at playing. The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurised air (called wind) through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. A special thank you to Mr Williams for such an enriching experience for the children – they learnt lots about this instrument (including composition) and were totally inspired!
Key Stage 2 welcomed Carol Francis on Thursday morning who led a service to celebrate Black History Month. Mrs Francis shared her story and some of her proudest achievements, one of which was becoming the first black female councillor to be elected to Gloucester City Council. There was also an opportunity for the children to ask questions. Thank you for inspiring us! Here is a link about her: https://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/your- community/black-history-month/black-history-month- bhm-2022/proud-to-be-who-i-am-your-stories/
Thank you to Ms Birchley (one of our parents) for putting us in touch.
As you will all be aware, this week we have enjoyed iSing Pop concerts at Christ Church. They were AMAZING and the children did themselves proud. We want to say a huge thank you to Emily from iSing Pop who has boundless energy and made this a brilliant experience. Thank you also to the parents and carers who were able to attend. A few parents have asked about the £1 charge - this was to part fund the concert (workshops and performances): apologies for not making this clear. Thank you to Christ Church for also contributing and for letting us use the church. This was a fabulous event that brought the school family together.
Year 6 listened to and joined in with an interactive talk with Thomas Taylor at the Literature Festival. He spoke about the inspiration for his books, ways in which he got his ideas on to paper, the editing process and lots more. The children were able to think of and ask questions and were inspired by this author!
Year 2 were fortunate to get tickets to see Michael Rosen, our favourite poet! He read new stories and performed many silly poems including his famous “Chocolate Cake” one! There was lots of laughter and we enjoyed the experience. Thank you to our parent helpers and staff who made the trip possible. We’re excited our new poetry book has a CD so we can hear him perform his poems with his brilliant voice and expression.
Year 4 had an amazing time at this year’s Literature Festival, meeting Tom the Story Teller, enjoying a picnic lunch in the warm autumn sun and being highly captivated by Pamela Butchart, author of the highly entertaining ‘There’s a Beast in the Basement’.
Year 5 had the wonderfully entertaining Helen Rutter (author of The Boy Who Made Everyone Laugh) all to themselves to delve into the world of writing stories. They came up with some amazing ideas and I know many have already been inspired to start their own tales.
On Tuesday, Year 3 had a fantastic morning at The Wilson Museum. They learnt about the Stone Age and took part in lots of different activities including: cave painting, spinning wool, digging for hidden clues about the past and holding real artefacts! They were able to go behind the scenes of the museum to see Stone Age artefacts that were found around Gloucestershire.
Year 4, 5 and 6 were treated to a performance of live music by students from Dean Close on Tuesday morning. The children learnt about different styles of music, heard renditions of many classical pieces and were able to ask questions to inspire their musical knowledge.
Year 4 enjoyed a wonderful Hinduism workshop on Monday...artefacts, deities and Indian stick dancing were just some of the things explored in this hands on experience.