Autumn One and Two

Nov 19, 2024

 Autumn One and Two has been a period of welcoming back, settling in, and getting to know our new starters. As well as our Reception cohort, since September we have been lucky enough to welcome two new starters into our Nursery, with two more two-year-olds due to start in the New Year.  So far, we have had a stimulating and engaging term packed full of extra-curricular activities and exciting learning topics. 

 In September, we took part in Breakfast Week and linked this to our work in PHSE and Science, thinking about keeping our bodies healthy and exploring a range of less familiar foods. Everyone enjoyed trying all the delicious breakfasts and discussing which foods were their favourites. 

To end the month, Oak class went on an out of school visit to Eden Rock Indoor Climbing Centre, where they all showed great resilience and courage as they tried something new and developed new physical skills. This was followed by a local history walk around Carlisle city centre, following a picture trail and looking at the different buildings and their uses over time to link with our History curriculum work. We then visited Warwick Bridge corn mill and had a fascinating tour of the mill and learned about the milling process from grain to loaf. We were able to refer to our learning about the history of agriculture and the growing stages of plants in Science. 

 Acorn and Sapling Classes went on an out of school visit to Brampton to look at the range of buildings and their uses and they combined this with a visit to one of Brampton’s newest businesses, Ice Cream Bar Moo’s and the library.

At the start of October we hosted our Harvest Community Lunch followed by our Harvest Festival Celebration. The delicious two course meal was well attended by families of the school and many from our wider community. It was wonderful to see so many there to share the special event with us. 

During October, Oak Class took part in a football tournament hosted by William Howard School, alongside many other primary schools from the Brampton Cluster. We made a hybrid team with Gilsland CE Primary School. They followed this up by attending Gilsland School for another Football Match in November, allowing them to further form friendships and continue to develop their sports skills. 

 The whole school took part in RE week in Mid-October, when we learned about Christianity around the world, focusing on Romania. We were visited by Rachel from NISCU, Reverend Edward and Father Andre during the week, which culminated in a joint celebration with other LISH schools at Lanercost Priory, where the children presented their learning and fantastic artwork. 

We are ensuring our pupils can access and wide range of physical exercise, which supports both their physical and mental wellbeing. As well as a weekly P.E club that runs free of charge for all pupils, there have been a wide range of extra-curricular sports activities so far this term. Oak Class have been able to attend a horse care and horse-riding session at Lads Lodge, as well an annual Cross Country event at Talkin Tarn, plus Lacrosse at William Howard School for Year 5 and 6 children. 

 Staff and children attended the Remembrance Service at St Mary’s Church, Walton. Staff and children presented readings, prayers, and musical accompaniment. It was a very special ceremony, and pupils represented our school beautifully. This was followed by us observing a two-minute silence on the 11th at school, which was marked by the two oldest children ringing the school bell. 

Sapling Class recently joined Gilsland CE Primary School for a trip to Susan’s Farm, where they were able to collaborate with other learners as part of our PSQM journey and consolidate some DT skills by making cheese scones to bring back to school. The scones were fantastic, and everyone had a brilliant day out at Susan’s Farm where they had the opportunity to collect eggs, feed sheep and look after the geese! 

The whole school were able to take part in a workshop led by SCARF, which focussed on both the mental and physical health of children and how to make healthy choices. Children enjoyed meeting Harold the Giraffe and learning all about how he keeps himself healthy. 

Oak Class were invited to attend a STEM Lego workshop hosted by Gilsland CE Primary School. This was an excellent opportunity to collaborate with another school, provided a valuable transition opportunity for pupils and helped the children to develop their skills and knowledge in STEM subjects in a fun and engaging way. 

We have a very exciting PTFA Pudding Night Fundraiser coming up on November 30th. The Pudding Night promises to offer many different, delicious desserts and sweet treats. This event is open to all to attend, and if you would like to come along please do get in touch with the school office. Tickets are £10 per adult and £5 per child. 

The run up to Christmas is here and we are beginning to think about lots of exciting Christmas events. The PTFA are kindly providing a Pizza and Film night for all pupils in early December. This will be great opportunity for children to enjoy a special treat together out of school hours. We are also looking forward to starting rehearsals for our Christmas Performance and can’t wait to practise lots of new songs.  

Children will also enjoy our annual school Christmas Party, where we all celebrate the joy of Christmas together, sharing a special Christmas buffet, games and dancing. We have also been reliably informed that a very special guest is going to come all the way from the North Pole to deliver some early Christmas presents too!

Children will be heading to Walton on December 17th for Carol Singing around the village from 2pm. Do keep a look out for us, and perhaps even join us for some songs if you can! On December 18th we will be hosting our final Community Lunch of 2024, with our fantastic Christmas Lunch. This will be from 12noon and is open to all. If you would like to come along, please get in touch with the school office. It is sure to be a full house so get booked in as soon as possible! 

On the final Thursday of term, Reception to Year 6 pupils will be heading off to Keswick to Theatre by the Lake to watch a performance of The Jungle Book. This is a wonderful end of term treat and we are all very excited for it. 

After such a busy term, we will all be ready for a peaceful and restful Christmas Holiday. We hope, when the time comes, that all our pupils, their families and all of you from the wider community have a truly blessed Christmastime and a very happy New Year.