Eco Warriors have been busy litter picking on their lunch break! We searched the school field and playgrounds, and used our litter pickers to get litter from tricky places – even through fences! We found a mixture of waste materials which would’ve otherwise continued to damage our local community. Well done Eco team!!
The Librarian’s story club has been very successful over the last few weeks, with lots of children choosing to be imaginative and create stories, characters, settings and fact books in their lunch time. We have had lots of adaptations of the Rudyard Kiplings ‘How the Camel Got its Hump’, where children described how different animals acquired their features. Alongside this we’ve had Christmas stories, horse stories, magical food stories and lots more!
With many applicants, and even more great ideas, the roles have been assigned to these students as our ‘Pupils as Leaders’. They will ensure that all pupils have a say in the decisions which affect them, and will work alongside different members of staff, volunteers and charities to see how we can implement these ideas throughout the school.
Our first meetings have taken place, and we look forward to seeing their ideas in action!
The children have been brainstorming and have gathered ideas to improve the local park – we have contacted the local parish council with our suggestions and are awaiting to hear updates. The Pupil Governors have proposed wild flowers, upgraded play equipment, compost bins and better maintenance of the parks surrounding areas. Stay tuned!
They have also taken a strong approach to some charities we are looking to support this year, where they will work alongside the Eco Team.
Alongside their Pupil Governors, we have been busy organising ways to combat fast fashion in the local area. We have arranged a ‘jumble sale’ alongside the PFCS to encourage sustainable fashion, especially during the Christmas period. The group were very passionate to support the idea of donating and reselling old toys, clothes, teddies (and so on), to enhance our ‘reuse’ of things we no longer need. Please join us at the Chiddingly Christmas Bonanza to sustainably shop! More information to follow soon!
The play leaders have taken their responsibilities in their stride and have organised endless fun on the playground. They have created a timetable of activities to lead and monitor at play times, including tennis table matches, skipping competitions, dancing and obstacle courses! We have also added a ‘Buddy Bench’ to the playground, to support those who are looking for help or new friends on the playground.
Librarians have been busy organising and maintaining our two library areas, keeping these easily accessible. They have been supporting Oak class to choose their reading for pleasure books, to promote an early love for reading. Additionally, we are considering some different literacy based activities to promote reading for pleasure, starting with a Monday lunch time ‘story club’. We will create story maps, write our own stories, create imaginary characters and settings, and even create some puppet shows.
By having Pupils as leaders in our school, we provide children with the opportunities and support to play a role in making decisions in school that affect them. At the start of the new school year, the children reflect on the previous year and think about the year ahead. They then think about the skills involved in each different job role and apply for the roles they feel they would succeed in. Once assigned a role they will have key adults within the school to help plan and implement any activities.
These children will play an active role in the decisions made within our school. For example choosing charities for fundraising events, helping to make decisions about events held at school or how certain aspects of school are run. Two pupils from each class are selected and will then meet with their key adult to discuss any decisions needing to be made, they will then meet with their class to discuss the issue and feedback.
This year, the Pupil Governors were voted for by their class and they have a special role of being the voice for their class, collecting ideas for events and new things to buy for the school. They are in the process of collating ideas for upcoming events and will shortly be putting these forward to the headteacher.
These children work with everyone in the school to keep our school and environment clean, save energy and help us to recycle. They are also the children who help our Forest School lead and the Reception children to dig up, bag up and sell the vegetables grown in our vegetable plot.
This year, the Eco Warriors are incharge of making sure all the cloakrooms are kept spotless (and safe!) and, in celebration assembly, give the ‘The Golden Broom’ award to the tidiest class. They will embark on more eco projects as the year progresses.
These children are selected from the older classes, they help to organise playtimes and lunchtimes. They meet the MDSA’s at the start of the year to plan and design a timetable of play equipment and games selected for all children. They learn how to plan ahead, use a weekly timetable and then implement their ideas. They are responsible for setting up both physical and interactive activities to support the children during their playtimes. They also look out for children who might need support at these times and include them in different types of play.
This year, the play leaders have set up a rota for play duties, have kept the play equipment cupboard tidy and have supported the new reception children to integrate into the busy playground. They also organised a talent show for the children and this ran one lunchtime. This was a hit and will be happening every term!
The librarians are responsible for keeping the library neat and tidy and are involved in promoting a love for reading around the school. They learn skills such as how to organise and team work.
So far, the Librarians have set up ‘Chiddingly Calm Corner’ for pupils to have somewhere calm and relaxing to enjoy reading and discussing books at lunch time. They will also be involved in the new reading initiative whereby children who read 3 times a week will be entered into a draw at the end of term to win a voucher to buy a new book.
