Mr Dieppe and Mr Brinkley travelled to Ncemaneni Primary in S.Africa during the Easter holidays as part of the inaugural Winterfold/Ncemaneni staff exchange.

Following an amazing and emotional welcome from the School who lined up, waving South African and Union Jack flags whilst singing songs and an incredible assembly that included excellent speeches from the learners, our teachers set about the task of teaching forty-seven Grade 7 pupils English and Mathematics respectively.

Read more about their experience –  https://www.winterfoldhouse.co.uk/news-and-information/ncemaneni-news/

Year 4 pupil Róisín was presented with her Guild of Stephen medal on Easter Sunday at Our Lady and All Saints RC Church in Stourbridge. The Guild of St Stephen is an International Organisation of Altar Servers founded in England in 1904 by Father Hamilton McDonald when he formed a Society of Altar Servers at the Convent of the Sacred Heart in London.

Róisín serves at the church regularly and I am sure you will agree that she looks very smart in her cassock and medal!

Our Year 7 scientists have been working alongside Chief Wiggum of the Springfield Police Department to help the CSI team discover who shot Mr Burns. They have been analysing the ink from a note found at the crime scene and comparing it to the ink from pens of each of the suspects using chromatography. Suspects were narrowed down to Homer Simpson, Krusty the clown and Waylon Smithers. Apparently before the results were out, most suspected that it was Krusty  that fired the shot. It therefore came as no surprise to them to find out that they were right!

On Wednesday 18th April, Year 1 spent the day learning about Moses as part of Faith Week. The children studied the differences between the Israelite slaves and the Egyptians and dressed up in the fashions of the day.  Learning about Israeliste and Egyptian homes was followed by a re-enactment of the story of Moses floating along the river Nile in a basket and the Pharoah’s daughter bringing up as her son.

After drawing one of the ten plagues and writing their own commandments, the children enjoyed making and tasting Matzah (flat) bread.

Joe B will be setting his alarm early this week and next to offer his shoe shine services to our pupils and parents as part of his Young Apprentice Challenge.  All proceeds will go to Ncemaneni Primary School in South Africa.

Joe has been running his shoe shine for a few weeks at home and has been cleaning family and friends’ shoes when he can.  So far,  he has raised £46 but hopes to get over £100 by the end of next week.

Don’t forget – Joe is happy to offer a take-away service too.  If anyone has shoes that need cleaning, he can take them home to be cleaned and deliver them back to School the following day.

Inspired by the work they have done in class on Ancient Greece, Year 4 pupils have been busy re-creating the Parthenon in model form.  Two of our more adventurous pupils, exceeded their Technical Challenge by creating the Parthenon out of cake and biscuits.

On Saturday 7th April, a group of musicians from Bromsgrove and WInterfold took part in the National Concert Band Festival as part of the Bromsgrove Big Band.

The band had qualified earlier in the term for the finals of the competition, however, due to holiday commitments for many of the band members, Winterfold musicians were asked to participate. At the end of the day, there were sixteen musicians in  the band and it was great to see that ten of them were current, or ex-members of the Groove Diggers.

Following their rehearsal, the band travelled to the Royal Northern College of Music to share a stage with some of the best school bands in the country. The Big Band won a Gold award on the day and played really well.

It was fabulous for Winterfold pupils to be invited along to such a prestigious event and we trust that this joint collaboration will be repeated in the future.

Our Kindergarten 2 children have enjoyed a singing lesson with vocal coach Mrs Richardson.  They accompanied the songs on xylophone and had a great time.

Year 2 enjoyed an RE discovery workshop on Monday 16th April as part of the School’s Faith Week.

During the day, the children explored the life and times of Joseph, from being sold for a life of slavery in Egypt, his gift of a multi-coloured coat, how it was made and its effect on this brothers, to his release as an important Official working for Pharaoh, interpreting his dreams and controlling the grain during the seven years of famine.

The class really enjoyed combining history with RE.  Year 1 are looking forward to learning all about Moses on Wednesday 18th.