An Active Autumn and Advent Approaching
Why was the Advent Calendar afraid?
It knew its days were numbered…
“Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns” wrote Mary Ann Evans aka George Eliot, perfectly capturing the love lots of us feel for this very special time of year. As well as providing a swirling landscape of texture and colour and giving us the opportunity to dig out our warmer clothes to cover our knees and elbows, Autumn is the start of the new academic year with all the opportunities and excitement that provides. The Federation of Widford and Hunsdon JMI Schools, which although no longer new, is certainly still shiny, and is continuing in its mission to not only survive, but to thrive against a backdrop of small school closures. Here are just a few of the exciting activities we’ve been getting up to.
One of the first events that we hold in the Autumn Term is the MacMillan’s Tea Party. Fortunately, we had remembered to book the sunshine and as well as enjoying each other’s company whilst eating lots of cakes, we raised over £600 for this fabulous charity, which is an amazing amount for our little federation!
A generous group close to our hearts are the lovely school parents who make up our FRIENDS. This body of people give up their time and energy to support the school by running events such as the ever-popular Fireworks Display. The Fireworks Display was again magnificent and raised an amazing amount for the school which will be spent on supporting the school to maintain the breadth of curriculum and providing the children with ‘wow’ experiences which enrich their days here.
Here at Hunsdon we are great believers in our ‘wow’ days. When the children reach the end of Year 6 and stand in front of their families and friends to tell of their school memories they don’t talk about the lessons where they sat working hard, however much planning the teachers put into them! Instead their memories are rich with the experiences they have had here; the trips to far off places, the matches they played in, the adventures they’ve had with friends new and old, and the special days when ‘normal’ school was postponed for a day and everyone donned costumes and tried their hand at weird and wacky activities – often involving food and always involving fun and laughter! In November we held two special events both fundraising for our new Sensory Room! The first event was our Sensory Day where the children and staff all donned their most comfortable clothes, be they jeans or onesies, and took part in themed activities throughout the day. The second part involved the children carving pumpkins for a unique hall display including prize giving in a special whole school assembly. Both events were generously supported, and we managed to raise over £3000!
In the spirit of creating valuable memories, we’ve also been very pleased to welcome Altru Theatre back into school to perform a play and provide workshops on the theme of Bullying and how to deal with it. We know that children learn in such a variety of ways, and whether that’s classroom based or through drama, if the lessons are learnt, then the experience is a success. An example of learning out of the classroom is our Year 3 trip to The Celtic Harmony Camp for a special Stone Age Experience hosted by the one and only Wolf! Another wonderful, memorable day – apparently even the cold was authentic!
However, there won’t be much time for us to look back; we’ve got Christmas parties, celebration assemblies, music concerts and a whole school trip to the pantomime to enjoy Snow White to pack in!
Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year,
Jonathan Millward
Image by Nadine Slawik from Pixabay
