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Events at the Junior School |
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In the A team some fantastic goals were scored by Hughie Vyse, Devlin Welch, Josh Rowe and Miles Lemon. The B team also played well and Edward Newman made some brave saves as their goalie. |
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In school assembly on Friday 14 November, Wellington Junior School had a visit from Mr Guy Clothier of SWAP (Somerset Waste Action Programme) who talked about how those left-over apple cores and banana skins from break-times can be composted. Guy brought along a large compost bin which he gave to the school so that waste can be recycled and make nutrients for the school garden. |
Nursery Sausage Sizzle Nursery children – with lots of help from very willing parents! – enjoyed a trip to Wellington Monument for a ‘Sausage Sizzle’, our annual celebration of Bonfire Night.
The path to the Monument was carpeted with golden autumn leaves and some marvellously splashy puddles! The children loved catching the fluttering leaves and making a wish. They also enjoyed examining the roots of a fallen tree, spotting evergreen trees and finding soft damp moss.
When we returned to the car park, we were greeted with the delicious smell of sausages, cooked on the barbecue by our very able parent chefs! Many thanks to them, and to our other parent helpers for coming with us. |
Geography and Maths Curriculum Evening Parents enjoyed a stimulating evening learning about how their children are taught Maths and Geography in Wellington Junior School. Maths Curriculum Managers Samantha Dinham and Jan Wheller set a problem for parents to solve which illustrated vividly the challenges of early mathematical learning. They then described the development of sound practical foundations during the Early Years through increasing formality so pupils are ready to transfer to the Senior School. Matt Hoile described how and why Geography is taught and left us all looking forward to the next field trip and the children learning about real people in real places.
Click here to view the Geography presentation.
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The Nursery has been alive with the sights, sounds and smells of Autumn this week! The children enjoyed a sunny walk in the Senior School grounds and returned with many Autumn treasures which were used for making beautiful collages. Crunchy leaves, spiky sweet chestnut cases and smooth brown conkers were amongst our haul! A lovely pumpkin was given to us by Ella and Dylan Leonard and the children enjoyed looking inside at the bright orange flesh and the smooth, creamy seeds. Pumpkin soup proved popular with everyone – both the making and the eating! |
The Princess Royal Sports Complex echoed with the excited sound of cheering on Saturday 11th October during the Family Fun Day. The day was open to all children in Years 5-8 at Wellington School (and friends and siblings). Various sports were played including a mixed football tournament which went to a nail biting penalty goal kick off to decide the winners. Hot dogs and ice lollies kept everyone going during the prize giving when a wide range of treasures were awarded, including party blowers for the family most enjoying the event, a bag of spinach for the strongest player and a wooden spoon for the Maradona of Wellington School! Thanks to the Friends of Wellington for organising such a great event.
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Nursery and Reception children celebrated Harvest with their own special service in the school hall. Led by Miss Reed, we remembered that Harvest is a time for saying thank you for all the food we enjoy. We sang The Dingle Dangle Scarecrow and joined in with The Red Hen Rap enthusiastically. Our harvest table was groaning with all the food gifts we brought in to share! Well done to the very youngest children in the school! |
Please come to our Curriculum Evening on Thursday 6th November, focusing on Maths and Geography. |
Homes in the past Year 2 children were very excited to have a visit from the past this week. As part of our topic about homes in the past , Mrs Farrow came into school to tell the children what homes were like 75years ago, when she was a girl. They handled a flat iron, polished some wood and brass and snuggled under a patchwork quilt with a bolster.   |
Year 3 at Bristol Zoo Year 3 pupils had a truly fantastic time during their trip to Bristol zoo on Wednesday. They saw a wide variety of animals and learned about their natural habitat, their diet and their eating habits. You can find out more about the trip by visiting the Year 3 classrooms where they will be displaying work based on their visit. Thank-you Bristol Zoo for a great day! |
Year 2 discovered all about life in Victorian times at Tiverton Museum. They were able to dress up in appropriate clothes and have a go at many of the domestic tasks that families would have had to manage during ‘Wash Day’. The thought of missing school for wash day was quite appealing until they realised how hard it would have been without washing machines and tumble driers! Thanks to all the staff at Tiverton Museum for creating such a memorable day. |
Nursery children, staff and parents had a very happy first outing to Vivary Park in Taunton with the added excitement of Train Rides, courtesy of Taunton Model Engineers. Outings are a very important part of life in the Nursery and this first one is always special as we get to travel on board the big bus for the first time and meet Andy our friendly and helpful driver! Many thanks to Mrs Bowles and Mrs Owen for coming with us and to the Taunton Model Engineers for opening the train rides just for us! |
We are all very excited about the woodland activity centre (Forest School) which started for Reception and Year 1 classes this week. We have access to a fabulous woodland area not far from school and the children can get fully involved in a wide range of outdoor activities under the supervision and inspiration of Mrs Wheller and Miss Reed. This will greatly enhance the children’s educational experience as they discover and explore – within a safe environment – the wider world. They learn to become independent, but equally how to work as a team on specific tasks. Mud and ‘wellies’ are the order of the day. |
We have just learned that an article about last term’s Eco Week has appeared in a national pupils’ newspaper called First News which reports on national and international issues as they affect children’s lives. Also covered are various initiatives undertaken by children. The children were thrilled to see their article on the work the school did during Eco Week complete with picture in the latest edition of the paper – 19th September 2008. We hope that this will be the first of many such articles to be printed in magazines with more than just a local readership. (see photograph below) |
Staff in the Nursery have been welcoming new families to the school as well as lots of younger brothers and sisters! All the children are settling well and enjoying the challenges of their new environment. They have been finding their way around the school with visits to the library, the music room and the ICT suite and they are already fantastic sitters and clever listeners! We are all looking forward to our first outing to Vivary Park next Tuesday where steam train rides will be provided for us, courtesy of Taunton Model Railway Engineers. |
16th September 2008
Dear Parents,
Not that term is in full swing and the initial dust is settling, I felt I ought to write a short message to let you know about some of the exciting things that are currently taking place. The new pupils have all settled remarkably quickly. Nursery children are thriving in the new setting with their ‘Key persons’, our playground is still improving and there is such a vibrant buzz about the school. You can obviously read in our Newsletter, Janus, about weekly events and who has been made Prefects, Head Boy, Head Girl, Sports Captains etc. there are numerous pictures of pupils doing all sorts of activities. Better still come and visit on Open Morning -Saturday 27th September - which is an ideal opportunity to have a good look around the whole school and see for yourself the changes that are taking place – as well as see our real-live Dalek!!
We look forward to seeing you at Open Morning when you will have an opportunity to meet staff and ask any questions you may have.
With all good wishes,
Harry H McFaul Head of Junior School
Dear Parents and friends,
It hardly seems possible but, as I write this note, there are two weeks left until term starts on Wednesday 3rd September. I hope you have been enjoying the break despite the poor weather – at least the have been great Olympic performances by our athletes in Beijing to keep us feeling positive! Our family holiday back in July seems a distant memory!
A great deal has happened during the holiday period on all sorts of fronts. Miss Cullis is now Mrs Card and enjoying married life. Mr and Mrs Hitchin are the proud parents of Daniel John who arrived in July weighing in at a goodly weight of over 9lbs. I gather all is well and we look forward to seeing him in due course. Miss Murray gets married next week and we wish her every happiness!
Another arrival in the Hitchin domain has been the gold Dalek which was won in a special BBC competition. It is very impressive and will doubtless be on display in various parts of the school.
When you arrive back you will also notice a considerable difference in the playground as the area has finally been extended - although the planting will not have been done. You can get an idea of what has been going on from the photograph below. I would like the children to be involved and to take responsibility for caring for the different sorts of plants I hope we can soon enjoy.
We were awarded Highly Commended for our playground environment by Wellington in Bloom which was judged just at the end of term – we were a late entry. Next year we want to go for gold and can achieve this by creating and caring for a more vibrant environment. This may mean growing our own seeds. So there are lots of exciting things to look forward to.
Last, but by no means least, we welcome Mrs McDermott to the Reception desk as she takes over from Mrs Rimmer and I am sure you will all make her feel at home very quickly!
All that remains is for me to wish you a great final fortnight. I hope we may yet have some proper sunshine so that I can have at least one barbecue before term starts!
With every good wish,
Harry H McFaul |
Champion Athletes: 8 members of the Wellington School U11 Athletics team gave up another day of their holiday to compete in the final event of the Tone Schools Partnership Athletics ‘Central Venue’ League Final. In beautiful sunshine they competed well and although very close runners up on the day, they won the overall league. The squad on the day included: Ashton Caddick, Yasmin Cannell, Jack Eaton-Jones, Tabitha Forester Bennett, Ed Fuller, Joe Lewis, Lucy Roberts, Kit Sidlow. The season’s squad also included Ed Halse, Rosie Maunder, James Palmer, Olivia Rose and Kieran Wachsmuth. Thanks and congratulations to all the pupils and their supporting parents who helped with this success. Particular thanks to Bridget John for her enthusiastic management of the squad during the season.
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Wellington Junior School’s Pupil Council declared a ‘Non-uniform Day’ on Thursday 20 November in aid of the School Charities, Shelterbox and the PHA (Pulmonary Hypertension Association). Wellington Junior School pupils raised over £181 by giving a minimum of £1 for the privilege of not wearing school uniform for the day. 
On Friday 17th November Wellington Junior School’s Under 7’s played a friendly football tournament at Taunton School, playing against Kings Hall, Taunton and St Andrews. We took two 7-a-side teams with two subs and took part in 5 matches. 
On Tuesday 18 November Saul Eisenberg via Superact! (a Wellington company joining local communities with talented musicians) visited Wellington Junior School to give two workshops in ‘Junk Orchestra’ in which he brought together various items of ‘junk’, e.g. tin cans, dustbins, cardboard boxes, tin trays, to make an orchestra. Year 5 entered into the event with enthusiasm and thoroughly enjoyed their time making music from junk.
Visit to Wellington Junior School by Somerset Waste Action Programme
Nursery children enjoy Autumn!
Family Fun Day
Early Years Harvest service
Year 2 went to Tiverton Museum.
All Aboard at Vivary Park!
If you go down to the woods… 
Hot off the press!
New Faces in the Nursery!
