I was lucky enough on Friday to be invited to watch our school orchestra perform their first finished piece during their weekly practice ...and it was fantastic!  The orchestra was only established after Christmas and is being led by Mrs Love, a parent and music teacher.  One of the key skills for playing alongside a range of other instruments is the ability to listen whilst following your own music; it's not easy!  The orchestra are planning to perform to the whole school and parents towards the end of the year so watch this space!

Today saw the announcement of the winners of the first ever Farsley Springbank Writing Competition. The children were set the challenge of producing a piece of writing of their choice before half-term and we have received some fantastic entries. From stories to poems to newspaper articles there was a whole host of genres of writing that were an absolute joy to read. Such was the standard we decided to call upon our patron of reading and writing, author Hilary Robinson, to make the decision for us. Hilary took the writing over the weekend and spent time going through the entries before finally settling on a winner in each age group. We announced those winners in assembly today where there were presentations for both the age-group winners as well as certificates for highly commended pieces of writing. It was thoroughly exciting and the beginning of what we hope will become an annual event.

 

The winners of the competition were as follows:

 

Category 1 - Years 1 and 2:

 

Winner - Morris McCann.

The Mystery by Morris McCann

 

Hilary's Notes:

'The narrative was skilfully and imaginatively woven and careful thought had been given to the plot, the element of suspense and the denouement. Direct speech was expertly entwined and readers develop a real sense of place.  Well done!'

 

Highly Commended - Charlie Love, Emily Lower, Harry Ward.

 

Category 2 - Years 3 and 4:

 

Winner - Hannah Targett.

The Congo by Hannah Targett

 

Hilary's Notes:

'A well structured and considered response to the implications involved in undertaking a major change in life.  Writing about emotional situations in our lives can help to process our thoughts (therapeutic) and, in this case, prepare us for change. The Congo exemplified this perfectly in that it broke down the essential elements involved in preparing, adjusting and adapting to a new, but ultimately, exciting new way of living!'

Highly Commended - Nathan Dutton, Sophie Greenbank.

 

Category 3 - Years 5 and 6:

 

Winner - Zak Fairclough.

The Eruption of Mount Merap! by Zak Fairclough

 

Hilary's Notes:

Interesting approach to writing in that this observational account could have been adapted to fit several formats -  a story, a report/feature or even a letter home.  Imaginative use of vocabulary, a sense of wonder, awe, tension and fear was well communicated through tone and structure.  A great illustrations of how geography and science can be expertly woven into exciting, fictional narrative.  It is also a beautifully presented piece of work.'

Highly Commended - Esther Umoru, Miriam Molokwu,

Gretel Price, Ria Clarke.

 

If you wish to read any of the entries then please go to the 'Class Pages' section of the website where you will find the 'Springbank Writing Competition 2019 folder' - this also contains all of the photos from the event.

Today we have worn red in school in support of the Children’s Heart Surgery Fund who support children and adults born with congenital heart disease across Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire. They work with Heart unit at the LGI.  We have raised £369.30 which will be sent to the appeal. Thank you to everyone who donated.

A huge congratulations to the Springbank Athletics team who secured the incredible achievement of breaking into the top four teams in the entire city. Our outstanding athletes have continued to train through January following their trophy success in the West Leeds Finals in December. Their latest challenge saw them pitted against the best of the best in a city-wide semi-final at Trinity University where they were facing all the champions of the recent rounds. This is always a hotly contested competition and a real test of the mettle of our athletes and just what they are made of. The team got off to a blistering start with back-to-back victories for the boys’ and girls’ obstacle team. This immediately boosted moral and focused the minds for a brilliant competition of running, jumping and throwing. By the time the final event came round we were confident of beating last year’s placing of tenth in the city but unsure as to whether we had done enough to reach the final round. The points were read out and Springbank’s name had not yet surfaced until the last gasp when it was revealed we had claimed second place and a position in the Grand Final on February 12^th. This is only the second time in recent memory that we have progressed to this phase of the competition and the children deserved their moment in the spotlight for an outstanding performance. Well done to everyone involved – now back to the training ground!

On Tuesday 15th January, 24 children from Key Stage 2 took part in The Young Voices concert at FlyDSA Arena in Sheffield. This was a very exciting day for us all as the children have been working hard to learn songs, harmonies and dance moves as part of Singing Club since September.  The day started with a long but really fun rehearsal in which the children really gave it their all for almost 3 hours. After a break of tea, families started to arrive. This year, we were very lucky to have seats down at the bottom, which meant that our families could come and say hello so that was really lovely for our children.  When the lights went down and the children began to sing, it really was a magical moment. Amidst over 5000 other children from schools all over Yorkshire, I have to say that our children really shone. Their energy and enthusiasm was evident throughout the whole concert and they sang their hearts out. Their behaviour was second to none and I am beyond proud at how they conducted themselves all through the day and evening.  Well done to all the children who took part and thank you to families for all your support. We absolutely love being part of the Young Voices choir and we can’t wait until next year.

The children’s first week back after Christmas has been filled with creativity and imagination to celebrate our annual Arts Week. This year the theme was ‘Animals’. Each year group focused on a different set of animals and produced art which inspired them. The children also had the opportunity to work alongside a visiting artist who helped the children to produce collaborative art work that depicted the animal mascot for their house team. Each child in school created a small picture of either a lion, tiger, jaguar of panther which were put together to create a large image of their house team’s cat. We hope to display the collaborative pieces in the school hall for all to enjoy! Throughout the week we had a variety of experiences for the children to immerse themselves in the arts. Animal Fair, were a group of musicians who performed and told a story whilst reception and KS1 moved and danced to the music with ribbons. Trio Globo came to perform for KS2, playing songs from around the world and giving the children the opportunity to experience traditional dances from different countries. The children also enjoyed a day of activities that exposed them to a wide range of skills such as; drawing, printing, poetry, drama, singing, 3D art amongst other engaging, arts experiences. Arts week was a fantastic start to Spring term, the children showed great enthusiasm and perseverance!