This weekend, from 23rd – 25th January, is the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch. Liz has been working with the Nursery and Junior Prep children preparing bird feeders, and spotting birds around the school grounds. Yesterday, they had a wonderful afternoon, and spotted Nuthatch, Robins, Blue Tits, Wood Pigeons, Sparrow, Blackbirds, Crows and Great Tits. Although they experienced sunshine and showers, that didn’t bother the birds – they just kept on coming!
Senior Prep pupils had the privilege of experiencing their very own concert this morning headlined by Capri Everitt. She is Canadian singer and children’s activist who is best known for receiving a Guinness World Record for “most national anthems sung in their host countries in one year.” She sang the national anthem in 80 countries between 2015 and 2016, and was only eleven years old at the end of the tour!
She inspired the children with her wonderful singing and invited a number of them to come up on stage and dance along to a number of the tracks. She then presented a powerful and thought-provoking piece on the difficulties having an online presence can cause. She gave sound advice about the ways to be empowered online and to maintain integrity when faced with difficult situations, such as falling out with a friend. The pupils were able to ask her questions as part of this PSHE focused session and had the opportunity at the end to meet her in person and receive an autograph. Her performance was amazing and enjoyed by all!
This week, we also welcomed the NSPCC’s Speak Out Stay Safe programme into school. On Monday, pupils attended an assembly (split into Juniors and Seniors) which focused on helping children understand their right to feel safe, recognise when something doesn’t feel right, and know that it is always okay to speak out. On Tuesday, pupils in Forms 1 and 2 and Forms 5 and 6 took part in follow-up workshops, giving them the opportunity to explore the messages in more depth through discussion and activities, and reinforcing the importance of talking to a trusted adult if they ever have a worry or concern.
This week in our celebration assembly, Penelope D, Orlando and Sasha all received an award for Academic Excellence. Ava, Sonny, Anna, Charlie, Seb, Manu, Oliver and Finlay all received a Well Done Certificate. Beatrice and Seb won the award for Commitment, Penelope G-F and Charlie for Compassion, Millie and Oscar for Courage and Phoebe and Daisy for Creativity. We also congratulated Rosa whose poem will be in a newly published anthology entitled ‘I have a dream’.
Reception class have been learning about the weather, and this morning they flew their wind socks that they had made to look at wind direction. The blustery day was just perfect today!
We hope you all enjoy another wet and blustery weekend – please don’t forget to do your Big Bird Watch!
David
