On Thursday 14th June, we had a wonderful Performance Platform featuring a wide range of musicians.
As many of the older pupils were away, we took the opportunity to showcase some of the younger talent in the School. For some of the pupils it was their first ever concert. All of the pupils were really well prepared for the concert and played with confidence and clarity.
Well done to everyone who took part. ‘An ounce of performance is worth pounds of promise’ – Mae West.
On 13th June, Year 4 attended Singers Hill Synagogue for an exciting and informative visit, to enrich their learning about Judaism and Jewish culture. Home to the Birmingham Hebrew Congregation, Singers Hill has been the focal point for Jewish worship and community life for 159 years. Known as the cathedral synagogue, it is Birmingham’s most important and influential Synagogue.
The children thoroughly enjoyed listening to Geoffrey Goodman whose family have been members of the synagogue for the last century. Having been brought up in the faith, he was extremely knowledgeable and the children had plenty of questions to ask him.
Whilst Geoffrey’s take on his religion was serious, it was punctuated with humour and he really brought the faith to life for the pupils. They enjoyed modelling kippur prayer hats and examining the decorative Torah scrolls which had all been scribed by hand, in Hebrew.
The girls were particularly pleased to learn that the reason Jewish girls receive their Bar Mitzvah before boys is because, naturally, they are born more spiritually developed.
This was a splendid trip, enjoyed by everyone involved.
Congratulations to Harry F, Noah H, Oliver B and Eleanor D who all did themselves proud at the County Athletics Championships on Saturday 9th June. They performed superbly and although they did not qualify for the next round, (Noah came close, finishing third in the Discus competition), they will all get another chance next season, as they are all ‘a year young’ for their age group.
Year 5 were inspired during their recent residential trip to Swanage, having learnt about some of the threats to the World’s oceans and coastlines.
When they got back to school, they investigated the problem further and the pupils put together an assembly to share their findings with the rest of the school. Focusing on single use plastic, they educated everyone on the impact it has on the world and encouraged their peers to consider reducing their use of plastic, re-using and recycling.
The children performed a lively rap to reinforce their message and got pupils to participate in a one minute ‘Beach Clean Up’.
Well done everyone.
On Thursday 7th June, Year 6 were welcomed to Malvern College for a “Magic of Science” Day. The children began their day with a demonstration from Dr Nick Barker, a chemist at Warwick University who entertained and educated everyone with an array of fascinating experiments. Acids, & alkalies, rubber gloves & liquid nitrogen were seamlessly brought together to explain how the colour purple took old-fashioned alchemy and transformed it into modern day chemistry!
The day was then spit into classes, giving the children the opportunity to experience Biology, Chemistry and Physics lessons at a senior level, with numerous hands on tasks.
The children investigated the five senses and mixed chemicals to form new substances whilst following strict safety guidelines. They then looked into how to create the perfect bubble in laboratory conditions, as well as seeing one of the Malvern teachers create a fireball in the laboratory. All this before joining Dr Baker again for a final explosive and mind-blowing conclusive demonstration.
On 7th and 8th June, the hugely talented Year 8, supported by the select Year 5/6 choir, performed the production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
The acting of the principal cast was excellent, with a special mention to Pippa F, who played an outstanding and convincing Joseph. Eleanor D was brilliant as the story telling narrator, supported by the enthusiastic gang of conniving brothers.
The songs were entertaining and the choir helped create an energetic and exciting vibe within Penryn Hall. Every member of Year 8 took part in the performance, from helping with the lights, to acting on stage. Other standout performances including the soloists, Jenson T, Poppy P, Alice P and Patricia S. Each performance was well attended and £200 was collected for the Ncemaneni “Shoes that Grow Appeal.”
On Friday 8th June, Mr Geoff Strong, one of the School Governors, presented the cast with a special signed picture from Tim Rice, congratulating them on a successful, entertaining performance.
A huge thank you and well done to all the cast and staff who played their part to make the performances so successful.
Year 5 pupils spent an exciting day on Tuesday 5th June at MOD Kineton. Three teams from Winterfold had made it through to the Regional Final of the RAF’s Fly To The Line Challenge, in conjunction with RAF Cosford.
During the challenge at Kineton, pupils were tasked with designing and constructing a new glider. The Camo team won the most innovative design at regional level for their RAF Destroyer. A group from the School then went on to be interviewed by the British Forces Broadcasting Services about the Challenge.
On the morning of the Challenge, one young pupil, Archie Samuel was so looking forward to his visit, he telephoned Chris Evans at BBC Radio 2 to take part in the Kids’ Fanfare – ‘what are you doing for the first time today’. On Wednesday 6th June, Archie was back on the programme to let the nation know how he got on. Chris Evans said “how fantastic to go to a school where you can make gliders and fly them on your trip”. When asked to mark himself out of 10, Archie replied “100, to mark the RAF’s 100 years.”
As part of their ‘People Who Help Us’ topic, Reception children spent time on Tuesday 5th June with Mr Iain Davies, one of the West Midlands CARE Team’s Clinical Leads. In addition to showing the children the equipment used by the Team, Mr Davies spoke generally to the children about some of their work responding to 999 calls, alongside West Midlands Ambulance Service.
The West Midlands CARE Team was established more than twenty-five years ago and is a registered charity providing on scene, high performance, critical care to those who have sustained major trauma or life-threatening illness.
The expert team of trained volunteer nurses and doctors offer their time free to save lives and support the regular ambulance service.
http://www.wmcareteam.com
