Westdale Junior School news

May 2008

LOTS of interesting things have been happening in the Westdale Garden over the past few months, and more exciting projects are now underway. Check for updates on our new notice board, which is located in between 3S and 6J.

THE BIG SCHOOLS’ BIRDWATCH
Back in January we took part in the RSPB’s Big Schools’ Birdwatch, and had a pleasant lunchtime watching and counting the birds in the school garden. Our results are on the notice board, and the national results are now on the RSPB website at www.rspb.org.uk/schoolswatch

WILDSQUARE
We have also recently registered to take part in Wildsquare, another activity being run for children by the RSPB. Groups are asked to carry out surveys about wildlife in their square, and send in the results. Each Wildsquare is 1km by 1km and ours is the square km around school, including these streets: Digby Ave, Lambley Ave, Westdale Lane (near school) Holyoake Rd, Roseleigh Ave, Fernleigh Ave, top of Marshall Hill Drive, Unity Crescent, Newstead Ave, Oakleigh Ave, Blenheim Ave. The current survey is about Mammals, which runs from 12th March 2008 to 29th June 2008. We are asked to look out for mammals and record how many we see and when, or if we spot any tracks made by mammals. At school we have only spotted a few squirrels so far. (And a frog but he doesn’t count!) If anyone spots any mammals anywhere on the streets named above, please note down the date and time and let me know, so I can add them to our results. A list of possible mammals you might see is on our notice board, or you can print your own list with pictures from the website at www.rspb.org.uk/wildsquare

GROW YOUR OWN POTATOES COMPETITION
We are very excited to be one of around 8000 schools taking part in this competition, and will hopefully even be able to eat our results! We planted our special competition seed potatoes in March and they are now growing well and we are furiously watering! You can follow the progress of our plants by checking the height chart and photos on the notice board. We will be emptying our pots and weighing the potatoes towards the end of June, ready to submit our results to the competition organisers.

BIG LOTTERY GRANt
We were very pleased to receive a grant for £3,750 from The Big Lottery Fund, in January, to develop our school gardens. We are planning to create a wildlife area including a pond, and an outdoor classroom area where groups or classes can go to work. Watch this space!

ECO-SCHOOLS
With all this hard work going on Gardening Club is also going to encourage the school to work towards gaining its first Eco-Schools Award. The awards are all about helping schools become more sustainable, and increasing awareness about and responsibility for environmental issues. We will look at topics such as saving energy, reducing litter and increasing recycling. Hopefully we will be awarded our Bronze Award before too long.

GO GREEN FOR SCHOOLS ASDA VOUCHERS
Asda are running a voucher scheme for schools until the end of June, where they give customers vouchers every time they re-use a carrier bag or buy a ‘bag for life’. Schools can then collect these vouchers and exchange them for fun eco-equipment to help children help the environment. I realise that Asda is probably not the nearest supermarket for most people, but if you happen to go, please take your own carrier bags with you, collect the vouchers and bring them in to school. We will see if we can collect enough to get any equipment.

CHARLIE DIMMOCK
A competition called ‘Be Ace of Spades with Charlie’ has been launched by EBLEX, formerly the English Beef and Lamb Executive, to get more children growing their own fruit and vegetables. Schools and members of the public are being asked to nominate pupils for a gardening lesson with Charlie Dimmock! We think this is just what we need! Anyone can nominate a school by emailing tuckin@goodrelations.co.uk or by visiting http://www.beefyandlamby.co.uk/scripts/iaxpage.php?sub=beef&header=tuckin before 16th June 2008. We would like as many people as possible to nominate our Gardening Club, as we are working very hard to grow as much as possible in our gardens, and to develop our wildlife area and outdoor classroom, and would really appreciate some guidance from an expert!

DONATIONS OF POTS OR PLANTS
Gardening Club is always pleased to receive any donations of surplus plant pots, plants or seeds you may have at home. Thank you for those already donated, some of the seeds were planted last week! Also, if any parents, grandparents or friends would like to join us, we have a large area to garden, and lots of enthusiastic helpers! We meet every Wednesday lunchtime (weather permitting), and you would me most welcome. Just let one of us know that you would like to come.

Many thanks,
Mrs Tupholme, Miss Birkett and Mrs Roberts.

Labels: 2008, club, news

Year 6 went to Caythorpe from Friday 7th to Sunday 9th March for an activity weekend.

When we got there, everyone was full of life and couldn’t wait to get started on the activities. We met our leader, Belle, after we got off the coach and we were shown to our rooms. As soon as we had done some unpacking, we went to a field behind the apartments to play some games with PGL leaders while Belle went to talk to our teachers. We were split up into teams and played a series of games. Then all the children, accompanied by the teachers, went to the dining hall and ate their tea.

After tea the children went on a tour around the site, Belle told us which activities they would be taking part in and, what time we would be doing it. When it was dark, we all met in a field to play some unusual relays and a team competition dropping an egg in a cup attached to a balloon from a great height. The children were split up into four teams called The Cheese Brains, The Super Smurfs, The Demented Smurfs and The Funky Doorbells to try to protect their egg as much as possible!

The next two days were busy with an amazing series of activities which included the High Ropes, the Low Ropes, Jacobs Ladder, Abseiling, the Climbing Wall, Outdoor Initiatives, Archery and Fencing. As well as these great challenges, we had a disco on the Saturday evening and we also enjoyed sleeping in our bedrooms with a small group of friends.

Labels: 2008, Caythorpe, report, visit, Y6