Staff and pupils at South Walney Junior School are celebrating a successful start to the year with improvements to the learning environment and staff successes.

The scaffolding is now down at the school to reveal smart new render, windows have been replaced and other external renovations completed.

Alongside structural work outside, inside the hall has had an upgrade with new flooring and the walls painted.

The school council has also been involved in a project to install colourful and educational wall displays around the outside of the school.

Poems based on the curriculum, including the Jabberwocky which the children study, history timelines, maths puzzles and logic quizzes now feature on the outside of the school on Amphitrite Street.

Headteacher Zena Lines said she was delighted with the upgrades, which were undertaken with funding from the local authority before the school joined South Cumbria Multi-Academy Trust in 2023.

“Our school is vibrant and modern and now the outside better reflects the dynamic learning environment inside,” she said. “We are also really pleased to update the hall, which was a new addition to the school in the mid-90s and was ready for a refresh.”

Outside benches have also been repainted and a table tennis table installed, which she said is proving a hit with the pupils.

The school is also celebrating a number of staff success with our Year 6 teacher Natalie McKellar achieving her National Professional Qualification in Headship and Deputy Headteacher Michelle Banks securing the National Professional Qualification for Leading Literacy.

In addition, Year 3 teacher Diane Atkinson has been presented with an award to mark 30 years of teaching at the school.

“All of these achievements, on the back of our recent Ofsted good grading, mean that we are continuing to be able to offer excellent education to our pupils. Our school has been at the heart of its community for many years and we are futureproofing it for years to come.”

Children had a chance to be the hero of their own story when they took part in a specialist comic-writing workshop this week.

Year 4 pupils from Cambridge and Vickerstown primary schools created comic characters and stories about their own lives during the Comic Potential events.

The workshops were led by London-based architect turned visual artist Sabba Khan supported by former teacher Sim Leech.

He said the session helped to build confidence and showed how comics could enhance classroom learning as an effective tool.

“Children are more likely to pick up a comic than a novel. A lot of people think comics are about super heroes but we are encouraging them to write about what is important to them,” said Sim.

“For example, we will encourage them to look at themselves as a source of material, think about their day and generate a character from that.”

Comic Potential, which is funded through Paul Hamlyn Foundation’s Arts-based Learning Fund and delivered by the Lakes International Comic Art Festival, aims to improve reading enjoyment for pupils in the classroom and as a result impact positively on a range of other educational outcomes and personal skills.

The project, which runs over two years, has included work with staff and pupils at Cambridge and Vickerstown primaries, which are both part of South Cumbria Multi-Academy Trust, alongside George Hastwell on Walney and Sandgate School in Kendal.

Cambridge Primary School Teacher Rachel Ritchie said the comic structure was a way for the pupils to access subject areas in the curriculum.

“They love the comics and some of our reluctant readers are now accessing the comic library we have set up in school.

“We are using this kind of sequencing across other subjects for example we looked at the water cycle in science and created comics for that topic.”

The pupils also designed ‘exquisite corpses’ where they each had a turn at drawing a body part in secret and the results were shared with great excitement.

Cambridge Primary pupils Macie said: “I have enjoyed doing the characters where someone does the head and another the body and another the legs, it makes me feel happy because I can design them.” Her classmate Cole added it had been ‘very good’. “I like art and this is looking at drawing people creatively.”

Vickerstown School Headteacher David Holmes said the series of workshops, delivered by professionals, had been really well-received in the school.

“We are now looking at sharing what we have learnt through this project with other schools across our Trust as special sessions in June,” he said.

The project will culminate in an exhibition at the Lakes International Comic Art Festival in October 2024.

Aspiring writers and designers from Vickerstown Primary School have put their creative talents to good use producing a school newspaper.

The pupils – ranging from Year 3 to Year 6 – joined the ‘Press Gang’ project to produce a publication showcasing a full range of skills.

Matthew Silk, who edited the newspaper, said it had been a really interesting project to lead.

“We made a plan of what we wanted to include for our readers and then some of us wrote reports, others made wordsearches or drawings and we also included our favourite recipes,” he said.

Olivia Towers, who is interested in a future career as a journalist or an author, said she was proud of the end product.

“We all worked together and I liked the way we all had different jobs and could write stuff from our own perspective.”

Year 6 teacher Correen Watt said the pupils had sold 50 copies to family and friends with the proceeds going towards a set of watercolour paints for the classroom.

“They really enjoyed putting the newspaper together and raising money for some great products for us to use in art classes.”

Pupils from Chetwynde School are ready for the curtain to go up on their latest production running next week.

Costumes have arrived and the students have done a full run through in preparation for this year’s musical Beauty and the Beast.

Imogen Jones and Zofia Garbacz will alternate playing the lead role of Belle and Charlie Heigh has secured the part of the Beast in the Disney show.

Katherine Parkinson, head of creative faculty at Chetwynde School which is part of South Cumbria Multi-Academy Trust, said the show involved 65 children from across the senior school.

“They have worked hard to perfect their lines since before Christmas and are now putting the final polish on a show which is set to be one of the most spectacular we have ever done.

“We hired the costumes from a professional company so that everyone looks and feels the part of their characters and it looks absolutely brilliant when they are all on stage together.”

“Chetwynde is known for its strong focus on performing arts and we have some really outstanding pupils in the cast this year. It’s such a good experience for them all to be on stage performing to packed crowds and growing in confidence.”

The musical features popular songs Be Our Guest, Something There, The Mob Song and Gaston as well as dance routines.

There are a limited number of tickets left for the show, which runs February 6-7 in the school’s theatre.

Click here to buy tickets.

Pupils from other primary schools in the Trust are also invited to see a preview of the show.

Pupils from Newbarns Primary and Nursery School have been learning all about Chinese New Year this week.

They cooked a delicious egg fried rice for Deputy Headteacher Victoria Fitzgibbons to sample and told her all about the recipe.

Teaching Assistant Jin Caine showed the Year 1 pupils how to create the dish an explained why food is central to the celebrations.

“Rice and noodles are symbols of longevity and we gather as a family at Chinese New Year and have a big banquet as it is all about being together. The children have also been learning the Chinese Zodiac and how we gift bright red envelopes to wish our loved ones luck in the year ahead. ”

Mrs Fitzgibbons’ verdict on the fried rice – which included peas, peppers and pineapple – was ‘delicious’.

Well done Year 1!

#TeamNewbarns #TeamSCMAT