On 12th February, Year 5 spent a fantastic day at Blists Hill Victorian Town, Ironbridge. Sitting nicely at the end of their learning topic on the Victorians, the children had the opportunity to experience what life might have been like in the 1890s.

Dressed in Victorian costume, our pupils experienced aspects of a child’s life at school which included tasters of maths, literacy and geography lessons. They took part in a drill lesson in the school yard and learned about the disciplined routine the children would have been subject to.  Our left handed children struggled a little with the Victorian insistence of writing with their right hand!

After lunch, the Victorian town was explored, with visits to the Grocer, Chemist, Baker, Printer and last, but not least, the Sweet Shop.

An excellent day was had by all and the pupils were a credit to Winterfold.

A huge well done to all of the Poetry Recital Competition finalists who performed to a packed Penryn Hall on 15th February.

The poems were recited clearly, with excellent expression and intonation. The judge for the afternoon, Mrs Chris Withers, was delighted with the performances and provided feedback to all of the children involved.

Congratulations to Arun N, who won the Winterfold Cup (Years 3 and 4), Willem VDHB, who received the Thurlow Cup (Years 5 and 6) and Lily W, who was presented with the Miles Trophy (Years 7 and 8).

It was a lovely afternoon of poetry and an opportunity for all of the Prep children to come together to enjoy the spoken word and support their fellow classmates.

On 12th February, our Senior musicians gathered in the Performing Arts Centre for a thoroughly enjoyable evening of entertainment.

There were many instrument groups represented, together with vocal performances, with a vast array of talent on show. Congratulations to everyone who performed and to the overall winner Rosie B, whose performances on the violin and voice were outstanding.

Rosie’s Chanson de Matin by Elgar was particularly commended and Willem V’s Viola Concerto in G by Telemann. Other highlights were a song from the musical Parade and a performance of Allegro Appasionato by Saint-Saëns and the Prince of Denmark’s March.  The standard this year was incredibly high and we look forward to hearing the winners in assembly.

Thank you to the Chief Adjudicator, Jonathan Brown from Malvern for sharing his expertise with our musicians.

On Tuesday 12th February, Year 1 had a lovely trip to Eastnor Pottery.  The children learned rolling and hand joining techniques and showed lots of artistic flair.

Parents, staff and pupils were entertained and inspired by our Year 3 and 4 musicians on the morning of Tuesday 12th February.  There was a wide range of instruments on display, played with confidence and flair.

Congratulations to all of our young musicians and to those who received commendations for their performances.  Well done to the overall winner of the competition, Alex D, whose vocal performance of Walking in the Air was beautiful.

On Saturday 9th February, Winterfold opened its doors to prospective families.

It was a successful event, with lots of wonderful activities, from tubular bell making in DT, Science experiments and fingerprint analysis, Year 5 monologues, Scalextrix and model railway clubs, Groove Diggers in the Performing Arts Centre, Badminton, a Matcha table highlighting the benefits of Green tea, algebra, yoga sessions, to hot coffee and croissants in our French and Spanish cafe! Thank you to everyone for coming and to all pupils and staff who helped make the morning a success.

Next week sees the launch of the Read for Good campaign, where pupils in Years 1 to 8 take part in a sponsored read.  Formerly known as Readathon, the sponsored read is an excellent way of encouraging pupils to read for fun.  It also enables the children to discover which books, authors and genres they enjoy the most.

As well as providing pupils with excellent motivation, the money raised enables Read for Good to provide a regular supply of brand new books and storyteller visits to children in hospital all over the UK.

We earn 20% of our overall sponsorship total in free books, so please do get involved.  All the sponsorship money will need to be in School by Friday 1^st March. As always, there will be book prizes for the most money raised in Prep and Pre-Prep.

For more information on the work of Read for Good, click here http://readforgood.org/.

Kindergarten 2 have celebrated Chinese New Year with a Dragon Dance. Well done everyone.

Kung Hei Fat Choi from all in Reception, who have had a fun filled day making lanterns, hats, dragons and enjoying chinese snacks.

On Tuesday 5th February, a group of talented musicians taught by Mrs Price played at the Mini Me concert in the entrance hall.

There was a wide range of standards on show, from a Year 2 pianist, to a Grade 5 scholarship level violinist. The concert culminated in a piece that the Year 3 pupils taught to the older children, which was a huge success. Well done to all who took part and for their work throughout the year.