Flamingo Land was the destination for the Rewards trip on Monday. Two hundred excited students enjoyed rides, ice creams, visiting the zoo and spending some quality time together as a reward for their consistently high standards throughout the year.
Following inclement weather conditions last Friday, all our hopes were resting on a fine day on Wednesday for one of the absolute highlights of our school year, Sports Day. With field events taking place across the last couple of weeks and during the Wednesday morning session, the whole school congregated on the field for the track events. Accompanied by Mr. Cockerill’s own particular style of DJing with tracks from the 80s to present day, teams across the year groups showed great speed, resilience and teamwork as they battled to score points for their form group, cheered on by their peers. Just as the final baton was passed in the relay, the raindrops started which was indeed perfect timing. Students then had to wait, in eager anticipation, to hear the winners announced at our whole school assembly today.
Yesterday the Woodland Trust Group had a great day at ‘Hackfall’. Mr. Woodward reports, ‘The Woodland Trust group had a “tree-mendous” day out at Hackfall Woods near Grewelthorpe where we did some leaf identification which revealed a wide range of species in the woodland. We also took part in some Shinrinyoku, the Japanese art of forest bathing, a meditative practice which translates as “absorbing the forest atmosphere”. Having stilled our minds and become “at one” with the forest, students then listened to “The Peace of Wild Things”, a poem by Wendell Berry and set about writing their own version in the presence of the trees. It wasn’t all work, though. We had time to build a dam (and deconstruct it afterwards so as to not disrupt the flow of the water!), explore the woods and play a multitude of games including “Forest Fire”, “Creeping Coyotes” and “Predators”. A wonderful and wild time was had by all; the perfect end to a busy term!’
We found out today that we’ve been awarded the Woodland Trust Gold ‘Green Tree School’ Award. Congratulations to Mr. Woodward and Team!
And so, to mark the end of another productive and successful year, we all made our way to the Sports Hall today for our end of year whole school assembly. We started with in house musical entertainment then students clapped and cheered as they watched photos of the wide range of activities that they’ve participated in across the year. Subject awards were next on the list with students being given certificates acknowledging the excellent work that has been produced and high standards achieved. Sporting awards followed and then came the moment that we’ve been waiting for since Sports Day on Wednesday – the big reveal of the winners. Here they are, 8JW, 9SF, 10DR and 11JF. All in all a great celebration of all that we value in our school community.
A reminder that, a good Summer read would be ‘The Blue Book of Nebo’ by Manon Steffan Ros, shortlisted for the Yoto Carnegie Medal, which we’ll be discussing in our first Book Club for students and staff in September.
With the Summer holidays now upon us, on behalf of the staff team, I would like to thank you for your ongoing support and wish you and your family a great Summer break. Students return to school on Tuesday 5th September.
