04/03/2022
The children and staff are extremely excited that the school library has been relaunched and librarians appointed to organise books and make recommendations.
The children each get a chance to select a book of their choice from the library boxes for each class and then share their opinions with classmates when they finish the book and return it to swap for another. It has been wonderful to see so much discussion centred around a love for reading.
Many thanks to the generosity of the PTA for a kind donation towards new books.
03/03/2022
Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, superheroes, Matilda, Dorothy, animals, cats in hats, Gangsta Grannies and many, many more characters (…and even a dictionary!) joined us at St. Werburgh’s today for an amazing celebration of reading to mark ‘World Book Day’ and to relaunch the school library.
It was lovely to see all the children and staff step into the spirit of ‘World Book Day’ and everyone looked wonderful in their ‘alternative school uniform’ for a day of activities focused upon the joy and magic of books.
Classes each enjoyed lots of books and children made their very first choice of book from the school library to take home and enjoy before returning it and swapping for another to let the joy continue.
Reading is such an important part of what we do here at St. Werburgh’s and within our sister schools across The Moorlands Primary Federation. Reading is a genuine pleasure and it opens the door to so many new experiences, so much new learning, and lots and lots of fun!
Children also each received a £1 book voucher to take home which they can spend on a number of newly-launched £1 books, produced especially for today.
Huge thanks to all of the parents/carers, grandparents, great grandparents, friends, aunties, uncles, brothers, sisters, Godparents and others for your help in making the day so special!
Love to learn, love God, love one another
…and love reading!
28/02/2022
A Prayer for Ukraine
God of peace and justice,
We pray for the people of Ukraine today,
We pray for peace and the laying down of weapons,
We pray for all those who fear for tomorrow,
That your spirit of comfort would draw near to them,
We pray for those with power over war or peace,
For wisdom, discernment and compassion
To guide their decisions.
Above all, we pray for all your precious children, at risk and in fear,
That you would hold and protect them.
We pray in the name of Jesus, the Prince of Peace.
Amen
Archbishop Justin Welby & Archbishop Stephen Cottrell
14/02/2022
St. Werburgh's is committed to developing children's learning behaviours and to support the young stars in becoming more confident learners, especially when facing new challenges.
As part of our whole-school focus upon developing learning behaviours, we are developing children's understanding of resilience and, as such, are hosting a 'Resilience Week' in school. During the week, each class will be learning a new activity, or meeting a new challenge as a class.
The challenges for each class were revealed in a golden envelope and children and staff each have a week to work towards their new skill.
'Resilience Week' builds upon the success of the recent 'Teamwork Day' and also helps to support children with essential skills which can support their mental wellbeing.
Love to learn, love God, love one another.
11/02/2022
St. Werburgh's C.E. Primary were proud to stage a week-long series of events to support children and raise awareness of ways to stay safe and happy during 'Children's Mental Health Week'.
A number of different events and tasks were enjoyed across the school which introduced the importance of using different ways and different strategies to stay safe, stay happy, take time to relax, and to grow together.
'Growing Together' was the theme of this year's event, which is an important part of our annual school calendar. The week began with a special assembly introduced by 'Blue Peter's' Lindsey Russell, and featuring Oscar-winning actor Olivia Colman and 'Strictly Come Dancing' star, Oti Mabuse.
Children's Mental Health Week also aligns wonderfully with our school focus upon developing children's learning behaviour. Indeed, Teamwork and Resilience are the two areas covered through special events this half-term and developing these two skills can also help children and staff to look after their own mental wellbeing and that of others.
Supporting mental wellbeing is important and we are delighted that we have three staff trained as 'Mental Health First Aiders'.
...love one another.
08/02/2022
As part of our ongoing commitment to keeping children safe, and to help children to understand ways to stay safe, we were delighted to celebrate 'Safer Internet Day'.
During 'Children's Mental Health Week', a lot of focus in school has been upon the importance of supporting mental wellbeing: and learning about ways to stay safe online is part of this, especially for our older children.
Starting with a whole-school assembly, 'Safer Internet Day' allowed children to build upon their understanding gained through their Computing lessons where children are taught how they can be safe in an online world.
...love one another.
04/02/2022
On Friday 4th February, we staged a special non-uniform day full of activities linked to mathematics, which raised awareness of an important cause.
'NSPCC Number Day' started with a whole-school assembly which shared the purpose of the day and the importance of the organisation's work and how this can help all children.
Children enjoyed taking part in lots of different problem-solving tasks and learnt about how maths is in many areas of life, including in most jobs.
Doubling-up as a non-uniform day, we raised £108 for the NSPCC (National Society Prevention of Cruelty to Children) which will go towards making life better for children experiencing difficult times.
...love one another.
27/01/2022
We were delighted to hold a very special day to celebrate the impact and strength of teamwork.
Throughout the day, we staged a range of activities in each class to support children with their understanding of how to work as part of a team and how this can help to support one another and to achieve well. ‘Teamwork Day’ is the first of our programme of events aiming to further develop children’s learning behaviours. This is part of a whole-school vision of children becoming increasingly comfortable, confident and happy when approaching new learning opportunities and challenges.
The staff team identified key learning behaviours which can help all of the wonderful children to grow in confidence and be in a stronger and more positive position when encountering new learning opportunities, especially given the challenges of the last two years.
The school family had a great time taking-on team challenges and working together to solve problems. We looked at why teams are important and successful, and to how many different teams we all belong, including family, friends, class, school, TMPF (The Moorlands Primary Federation), church and others.
This is the first of a series of events to support children with their learning and also their wellbeing, and we look forward to our next one, which will be ‘Resilience Week’.
24/01/2022
On Monday 24th January, a group of 20 pupils from Years 5 and 6 visited one of the major theatres in the West Midlands to perform on stage in a special festival of dance.
The children entertained the audience at the Regent Theatre by performing beautifully to a song from Mary Poppins in the '022 Dance Festival'. The performance marked a return to the show for our school, who had taken part for many consecutive years but were unable to do so in 2021 due to its postponement caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The children worked extremely hard in after-school rehearsals over several weeks to learn the skills and moves needed and then to apply these into a routine with all of the other dancers.
After a morning in school, the dancers travelled by coach to the theatre for their afternoon rehearsal slot, prior to the show in the evening. Just as for the professionals, the children had their own dressing room and were walked through the sight lines on stage so they deepened their understanding of theatre and how important stage positioning is. How professional!
The boys and girls showed their talent and excellent behaviour and attitude throughout. Whilst on stage, they even danced with some props as they became chimney sweeps to perform 'Step in Time' from Mary Poppins.
The performance was brilliant, the audience applauded and even clapped along to 'Step in Time' to show how much they were enjoying themselves!
We are very proud of all of the wonderful Werburgh Dancers and are sure that the parents/carers who joined us had an amazing, foot-tapping, hand-clapping time!
Step in time, step in time...
Love to learn...
20/01/2022
Pupils in Years 4 and 5 took to their bikes to learn how to stay safe on two wheels as part of the bikeability scheme.
Children in both year groups had the chance to develop their skills of balancing, steering, indicating to change direction and the older children even got to apply these on the roads around school.
We are delighted to be able to help the children stay safe on their bikes as we know how much fun cycling is and how it can keep you fit and healthy.
