A huge thank you to the Friends of Winterfold for the Christmas Market they put on for our children.  There was a great turn out, despite the weather, and friends and family joined our pupils for an afternoon of Christmas festivities.  There were excellent market stalls, with everything from Christmas crafts, beauty products, photography to hand made jewellery and even samosas.  In Penryn Hall, we were entertained with music from the String group and Junior Band, with some delicious, warming refreshments on offer in the tea room.  The tombola was a great attraction for children and adults alike.

The Packs enjoyed their usual stalls and games, whilst our younger children had the opportunity to visit Santa.  There was a lovely buzz around the School as everyone truly “Stepped into Christmas.”

Our Prep pupils entertained parents in the Performing Arts Centre on Thursday 12th December with a very accomplished Mini Me Concert.  It was a great opportunity to showcase what pupils have learned with Miss Berry this term.  Well done everyone!

Children from KG2 and Reception entertained a pack Penryn Hall with their Music Makers concert this week.

Everyone enjoyed hearing the Christmas songs, with everything from Ho, Ho Santa Claus, to the 12 Days of Christmas with audience participation, to a rousing rendition of Jingle Bells to round off the performance.  Well done everyone!

Year 1 had a great time at Conkers in the National Forest this week when they visited Winter Wonderland.  After delving into the life of a British Woodland with their indoor interactive exhibits, the children enjoyed a craft session where they made robins, then wrote their letters to Santa. They loved meeting Santa, with his elves and reindeer in the woodland grotto, followed by a trip on the Santa Express.

Year 4 have been busy at our new Forest School site, collecting natural materials as part of their Outdoor Learning programme. From this, they have made stars, mini Christmas trees and decorations to dress a  tree for Worcester Cathedral’s Christmas Tree Festival.

Following the Opening Ceremony with the Mayor of Worcester, Winterfold’s Christmas tree is now on public view, along with trees from other organisations, which form avenues of glittering trees. The Winterfold Christmas tree will be included in the ‘People’s Vote’ run by Worcester Cathedral. A shortlist of 10 finalists will go through to the public online vote this year. Admission is free – please do go along and take a look and share your pictures on social media and tag us @winterfoldhs @WorcCathedral.

The Festival runs until 1^st January and is open from 9.00am-6.00pm.

The Senior String group and Girls’ Harmony Choir performed splendidly this morning to our parents at coffee morning.

We had a lovely array of carols, from We Three Kings, to Away in a Manger and a cheery Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.  Well done everyone!

Early Years  children wowed their audience on Wednesday 4th December with a variation of the Nativity Story.

At a Bethlehem inn, six children live with their parents – a kind innkeeper and his wife, who have just had a new baby. However, the children aren’t too keen on the new addition – they’d rather have a dog, a donkey, or even a camel!

In an effort to escape all the baby talk, the children go in search of their friend. On the way, they meet Mary, Joseph, three wise men and some shepherds, who are all talking about another baby – baby Jesus.

However, all’s well that ends well and the birth of the baby Jesus was celebrated with the song “Everybody Join in the Party”.  Well done to all of the children and staff on this endearing take on the traditional Christmas story.

Year 4 recently spent an enjoyable day in Birmingham visiting Birmingham Art Gallery and Museum to support their study of Ancient Egypt. They took part in a fun but informative hands-on mummification workshop, where the pupils enjoyed taking on the roles of a variety of gods and then judging whether Pharaoh Eddy should be allowed to travel to the afterlife!  Year 4 were also fascinated by the mummies in the Egyptian gallery and in particular, loved seeing the mummified cat and snake.  Additional highlights were the Greek and Roman galleries and learning about how the Staffordshire Hoard was discovered.

Year 4 visited Birmingham Library and had the opportunity to visit the vast selection of children’s books housed on the ground floor. The children completed a Christmas trail and sat reading books of their choice.  The children also found the section of Braille books and imagined how life would be being blind. The children all behaved well and had an enjoyable, educational day.

Parents, staff and children were given a treat on Tuesday 3rd December, when a star-studded line-up of nativity celebrities from Years 1 and 2 gathered in the stable once again to celebrate the amazing events of that first Christmas.

The judges gathered their scorecards, and gave many tens in their ‘Strictly’ styled judging of the performances.

With a retelling of the story of Jesus’ birth, alongside a fabulous range of dance styles, from gospel to hustle and ceilidh to conga, a packed Penryn Hall audience was truly entertained by the children, who were all stars in this performance.

Christmas has officially begun at Winterfold!  Parents and staff were treated to some lovely carols at coffee morning.  The choir will be singing again next Friday from 8.30am onwards – all welcome!