Pearl of Africa Children’s Choir

We recently had the privilege of having a visit from The Pearl of Africa Ugandan Children’s Choir. Pearl of Africa is a non-profit organization who aim to break the cycle of poverty for Ugandan children by investing in education, health, water and sustainable food programmes, in consultation with their Ugandan partners. https://pearlofafrica.org.uk/

The choir spent the day at both sites, teaching the children singing, drumming and dancing workshops before giving the school children and their friends/ families an uplifting, energetic evening performance at Freshwater and Yarmouth CE Primary! A fabulous time was had by all! Thank you to everyone involved in making the day possible and to everyone who came and supported!

Here are a few quotes from the staff and children:
It was really good. I liked the clapping -Bruce
The dances were amazing – Annaleigha
They were amazing! They sung acapella using only drums to keep in time. It was fabulous! – Mrs Harris
The exploded into the hall with so much confidence, they were so inspiring and left us all feeling elated – Mrs Whitehead

Kings coronation in Yarmouth Square

Thank you to all of you, that were able to join us at the Kings Coronation singing event in Yarmouth on Sunday. It turned out to be a lovely sunny day and the children were all amazing. They sang 5 songs & the national anthem, beautifully.
Well done!

Harvest Festival

We collected 13 boxes full of food which we donated to the Food Bank. The ones pictured are just a few! The children also made Vegetable and Fruit Sculptures.

On Friday 30th September, Year 6 children had the opportunity to be taught lifesaving
CPR skills by the Ambulance Service. They were taught the signs to look out for, what to do
to keep themselves and others safe and then how to use a defibrillator and to give chest
compressions. All of the children enjoyed the experience.

Here are the photos of our school play – Through the Decades. It was a look through the decades, what had happened, been introduced and what was on the music scene. Each decade 1950s to 2020s was accompanied by a song and a dance routine performed by a small group of year 5 and 6 children, with the remainder of the cohort singing in the background!

The show was finished off by everyone standing up to sing the National anthem!
The children did an amazing job, one that we are all exceedingly proud of! Well done Year 5 and 6.

Jubilee Banners

Every class was asked to study a decade of the queen’s reign, starting with year 6 looking at her first decade, 1952-1962. With a canvas, they were then asked to decorate it with events from that period.

PEACH – Relationships Art Exhibition at Quay Arts

In collaboration with the Executive Head-teacher Group, IWC Public Health worked with key stakeholders to co-produce and develop a new ‘whole-school’ framework for Island primary schools. This partnership, known as PEACH: Partnership for Education, Attainment and Children’s Health focuses on four domains:

• Personal, Social, Health and Economic education (PSHE)
• Physical activity
• Healthy Eating
• Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health

Excitingly, the ‘Relationships’ Art project allows us to bring PEACH into the wider community, showcasing and celebrating both the great work that takes place in Schools and the creativity of our Island pupils.

The exhibition brief for Schools was “creatively demonstrate what ‘Relationships’ mean to you? This could be around friendship, family, relationship with oneself or even linked to community and wider planet through the likes of the Island’s UNESCO biosphere status or COP26 agenda.”

Earlier this year both Yarmouth and Shalfleet schools were invited to take part in an exhibition in collaboration with PEACH and the Quay Arts Centre, in Newport. Schools from across the Island took part, interpreting the theme of “Relationships”. As one of our school values, it was a theme close to our hearts and the children had a wonderful range of ideas and interpretations.

It was an amazing opportunity for some of our most talented artists from all year groups to see their artwork in a real gallery. I also managed to work with Reception at Yarmouth to create the beautiful heart of handprints, something the children really enjoyed. The children were involved at every stage of the process, from brainstorming ideas and deciding on materials to designing and painting the final pieces. Each week children gave up their time to meet and work together on their artwork.

They all worked so hard and can be very proud of their achievement. It was a proud moment for me to see their work in the Clayden Gallery at the Quay Arts Centre and to receive such wonderful feedback from those who had managed to view the exhibition with their families.

By Gemma Whitehead (Y4 Teacher at Yarmouth)

Rachel from Natural Enterprise in association with  the Isle of Wight Royal Agricultural Society came to both schools to plant trees as part of the Queen’s Green Canopy for the Jubilee.

At Yarmouth, we have planted an Oak tree that we will move to our new site in Freshwater next year. The tree was planted by the Year 6 children so they will have an ongoing connection with the new school. Who knows, perhaps one day they will be able to tell their children about the history of this special tree.

The tree we planted at Shalfleet was grown from an acorn from a 700 year old oak tree at Nunwell. We will be able to watch this tree grow and nurture our own little acorns for many years to come.

We were very proud to help celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee by planting our trees. Do look out for them when you are visiting our schools.