Thankfully, Covid now seems part of the dim and distant past as the school has returned to something normal with the children enjoying a full enrichment programme, school trips, Sports Day, Gala Day and other engaging activities. In addition to this, our pupils seem to have shaken off the Covid shackles. They have demonstrated real growth and development and embodied the values instilled into our wonderfully tight-knit community at every opportunity. We’re thrilled that our reputation is spreading, and we look forward to welcoming additional pupils and classes in September.
Teaching and Learning
It has been a wonderful term for teaching and learning, focusing on providing a well-rounded education. Alongside trips and extra-curricular activities, there has been a concentrated effort to inspire and engage the pupils inside the classroom. From September, we will introduce more creative learning opportunities for the children to enjoy and improve their skill set.
Charity Ambassadors Excel
The charity ambassadors were appointed in February. Their dedication, along with the generosity of our parents, has led to remarkable fundraising; the Tower College community is making a real difference to those in need. Here’s a small sample of what we have accomplished.
- Poppy Appeal £454.35
- Comic Relief £278.00
- Blue & Yellow Day (Ukraine) £787
- Alder Hey Children’s Hospital 254 Eggs collected
- Ukraine Appeal – copious donations of clothing and supplies
The ambassadors are busily preparing their 2022/23 programme. Firstly, there will be a Macmillan Coffee Morning on September 30th, 2022 – further details to follow.
Trips and Events
This year’s residential trips, especially Colomendy and Culmington Manor, have been a huge success. The children have also visited the cinema, a pantomime, the theatre, a bowling alley, a ski centre, Winter Wonderland, Gullivers World, Air Nation, and Blackpool Pleasure Beach. We were delighted to return to running our traditional events: Speech Day, the Carol Service, Sports Day, Gala Day, and Graduation Day. We received some lovely emails from happy parents (thank you) praising the organisation of the events.
The next academic year promises to be even better, with residential trips already filled for Willersey Castle, London and the Easter ski trip. We also hope to travel to Spain (read about this later). But perhaps the most adventurous is our African Project. The Duke of Edinburgh pupils and our charity ambassadors will have the opportunity to work as volunteers in Kenya – safari included! There will be an information evening regarding this in September.
Enrichment
Our enrichment programme (which includes after-school clubs) has been a key area of development since the ISI inspection and we are looking to enhance the provision further in September by offering more activities. After-school clubs will run from 3:45pm to 4:30pm. More information will follow in September. Below is a list of the activities that will be available throughout the year.
- Zumba with Miss Nash
- World Traveller with Mr Taylor
- Football with Mr Southward
- Judo with Sensei Kerry
- Netball with Mrs Davies
- Maths Club with Mrs Gibson
- Book Club with Miss Deane
- Basketball with Mr Southward
- Coding Club with Mr Glover
- Playground Games with Miss Nugent and Miss Porter
- Library Club with Mrs Christian
- French With Mrs Turner
- Handball with Mr Southward
- Tennis with Mrs Boyd
- Nature Club with Mrs Miles
- Crafts with Mrs Riley
- Cricket with Mr Southward
Spanish Report
Since we joined the school at Easter, it has been a joy to teach Spanish to our lower, middle, and upper school pupils. It is delightful to see our young people’s passion for language learning ignited and their appreciation for other cultures developed.
We had a wonderful term learning about festivals in Spanish-speaking countries, from the crazy Tomatina festival in Valencia to the mysterious Day of the Dead festival in Mexico. We also studied some Spanish-speaking icons, such as the great artist Frida Kahlo. Year 5 produced some incredible artwork in the style of Frida and was also inspired by all things Mexican and made salsa, mariachi instruments and more. We very much enjoyed sampling the salsa! Speaking of food, pupils have explored and sampled delicacies from many different countries in Culture Club enrichment sessions. The Spanish tortilla was a hit!
We have also been highly impressed with the end-of-year test results and are confident they will excel as they move up a year in September.
We will be announcing a school trip to the south of Spain in the new academic year, 2023. Keep a look out for more information coming soon. Meanwhile, if you are fortunate enough to visit any Spanish-speaking countries during the holidays, speak lots of Spanish, take lots of pictures, and tell us all about it when you return.
Buen vacaciones!
Mrs Turner & Miss Riley
And finally,
We want to thank our teachers, support staff, parents and pupils for their contributions, and we wish you all a summer break filled with rest, relaxation and sun!
Mr Glover, Ms Gregory and Mr Taylor (Assistant Principals)