somers park primary school malvern vale primary …...simpson’s and miss ward’s classes, from...

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Somers Park Primary School Malvern Vale Primary School

Executive Headteacher: Mr. Chris Hansen BEd (Hons) NPQH Head of School: Mr Byron Williams BEd (Hons) NPQH

Somers Park Tel: 01684 572949 | Web: somerspark.com | Twitter: @Somerspark1 Malvern Vale Tel: 01684 574497 | Web: malvernvale.com | Twitter: @MalvernVale

Dear parents and carers,

Welcome back. We hope your children had a really good, well-earned break and that they enjoyed the Childrens’ Challenge- Project Plastic. The responses we have received and the enthusiasm with which the children have spoken about it shows it was a big success! Thank you, as always, for the support you gave to your children with this task.

Project Plastic responses from Class RGS

Project Plastic Next week we are continuing the theme with Project Plastic themed curriculum week. Earlier in the week, you will have received our ‘Project Plastic Pledge’ and ‘Project Plastic waste free lunch’ flyers. These are just a bit of fun to raise awareness should you wish- please note there is no expectation or requirement to have a go at either of these things should busy lives get in the way, but we thought they would be interesting discussion points for you and your children. Please share your ideas and top tips with us via Twitter or tagging @Somerspark1 so we can celebrate. Mrs Russell is also planning on putting a ‘top tips’ leaflet together with the Eco Committee- if you have any suggestions, no matter how simple, please email them FAO Mrs Russell to the school office [email protected] who will pass them on.

Come and join us… On Friday afternoon next week, you are invited to come into school to see what we have been getting up to during Project Plastic Week. For Somers Park Years 1-6, our open afternoon starts at 2:30pm, running until 3:10pm, and for Mrs Simpson’s and Miss Ward’s classes, from 3pm until the end of the day. At Malvern Vale, our Open Afternoon runs from 2:30-2:45pm.

Morning assembly at Chumbageni

Chumbageni School This year’s visit to Chumbageni School in Tanzania was highly successful. I returned to Chumbageni again this year, along with Miss Ward who visited for the first time. During our visit, we spent time working in the classrooms and overseeing the projects which we undertake jointly with our colleagues in the city of Tanga. As it was Miss Ward’s first visit, she has put a few words together later on in this letter, to let you know how it was for her.

Plastic bottles for Pre-school Inspired by the children in Tanzania, next week pre-school pupils will be making toy cars from plastic bottles. Parents, please remember to send a bottle in on Monday.

Year 5 Viking Day On Thursday 7th November, Year 5 had a Viking themed curriculum day. Fearsome

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Newsletter: Autumn 9 Friday 8th November 2019


and gruesome, they had a great experience as they learnt more about life as a Viking.

‘The Viking day was so enjoyable! We learned about how they buried horses with the bodies when people died in Viking burials so they had a form of transport in the afterlife!’ Lucy Cu

‘I really enjoyed the Viking day because it was interesting learning about all the different weapons such as spears, swords, axes and knives.’ Annabelle

Ready for Viking battle

‘I loved the day because we got to hold a real weapon and learn about it.’ Eddie

‘The day was really fun and enjoyable because we learned about all the Viking tools and weapons and how they were used in battles.’ Lauren

‘The day was so interesting and educational - we loved it! We even got to act as part of a Viking long ship sailing across the North Sea,’ Alana

‘I enjoyed seeing and holding all of the knives and swords. The best part was having a shield war with all of my friends in our Viking costumes!’ TJ

Malvern Vale- Library visitor Yesterday all of the children at Malvern Vale had a visit from Ali from Malvern Library. She told them all about the wonderful books and resources that the children can use at the library and urged

them all to join up so that they can borrow a whopping 12 books at a time! Oak Class were given a beautiful brand new book from BookTrust to take home to keep too. What lucky children.

Using our library at Malvern Vale

Wizard of OZ Pantomime

‘On Monday 4th November 2019, Years 2-6 watched a production of The Wizard of Oz by M&M Productions. FOSP contributed towards the cost of the show and we can say it was totally worth it and we thank them for enabling us to have this experience in school. Here are some quotes from some pupils: ‘‘The show kept us on our toes and the humour was great.’’ Riley B 6ME ‘‘It was a great performance; it was magical!’’ Finley F 6ME “The changes were very impressive and quick.’’ Jasper 6ME “It was very funny and I liked it a lot.’’ Agatha 4CD “There was a lot of music and dance.’’ Sam 5SS “It was really good because the songs were well performed.’’ Lily P-J 3ER “I liked it because the tornado was well created and thought through.”Mylo 3ER “I liked it because the jokes were very funny.” Libby 3ER “It was very good but a little scary at times when the witch appeared.” Noah 2LB “I loved it because the actors and actresses were amazing.” Hannah 2AM’



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By Sihan and Harvey 6ME

‘My Chumbageni Experience’ By Miss Ward

When I was offered the opportunity to travel to Tanzania, I was ecstatic as I had always wanted to experience a school in a developing country, although I was a bit nervous!

On approaching Chumbageni School early on the Monday morning, my nerves quickly disappeared when we pulled up to the gates, as I could already hear the beautiful singing from the children. I was overwhelmed with emotion and hadn’t even made it into the school! All the teachers and children were tremendously welcoming and couldn’t do enough to make us feel comfortable in their school. Later that day the children performed a Welcome Ceremony and it wasn’t long before we were dragged off our seats to join in! It was a lovely way to be welcomed into the school community. Throughout the visit everyone was always so friendly and welcoming, and you could really feel the appreciation for the partnership. During the evenings the teachers’ hospitality continued as they opened their homes up to us. It was lovely to meet their families and experience some culture outside the school.

The atmosphere at the school was incredible; for how little the teachers and children have, their positive attitude never depleted- the attitude of the teachers was truly inspirational. Each class had between 70 - 100 children in and every child was engaged and enjoying learning. Teaching a class that size was very humbling, it would be a huge challenge to have that many children in a class and to get a good understanding of them as individuals. During the lessons I taught, I found it a huge task to be aware of all the children throughout. However, I did thoroughly enjoy teaching as it made me feel more in touch with the children. During their lunchtime the children’s acts of kindness never failed to amaze me. One day a child was knocked into and her cup of uji fell on the floor, I could see the panic grow in her face from the thought of not getting a meal. However, a girl who saw what had happened came over, picked up her cup and poured half of her own uji into it and handed it back. I was in awe watching such a selfless and kind act from such a young child. During a visit to another school we were shown their SEN class, this was an eye-opening experience as there were over 60 children with only two teachers to support them. Although the school had good provision in place to support the children, it was very limited due to lack of money. This was only one example that reinforced to me the importance of what we are doing as a school to raise money. It showed me that



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only small amounts of money can provide the school with so much and it really does make a difference. On my last day, two female teachers took me under their wing to teach me how to cook a meal for the staff (the gender role difference still remains as a part of Tanzanian culture). We started by going to the market to buy all the ingredients and the ladies explained that they buy local produce to keep money in their community. After a lot of haggling, we had everything we needed and went back to the school to cook the food. It took 3 hours in an extremely hot room to make coconut rice, pea curry and fried fish. It is safe to say I have been taking the convenience of supermarkets for granted!

In just one week I went through a roller-coaster of emotions and with all that I have experienced, I wouldn’t have changed a thing! I can’t express enough the importance of keeping our school links strong as we are changing children’s lives. I am extremely grateful to have been given such a wonderful opportunity and the things I have learnt and experienced I will treasure for ever.

Miss Ward

For more information about the visit to Chumbageni School, please take a look at our blog which can be found on the school website: http://somerspark.com/Curriculum/Global-Links-Tanzania-2019-2, or for more photographs, see @SomersparkRAW on Twitter.

Miss Ward teaches ‘Standard 1’ at Chumbageni School, Tanzania

Coming up… Date Event Mon 11th Nov 9:15am- Somers Park

Reception hearing tests

Tue 12th Nov Tempest photos – all children

Wed 13th Nov Year 5/6 girls’ Olympic hockey training at MSJ

Fri 15th Nov Year 5/6 netball and football league at Dyson Perrins

Fri 15th Nov Project Plastic Open Afternoon- see article for timings

Fri 15th Nov FOSP discos- 6pm- Year 1-3 7:15pm- Year 4-6

Anti-Bullying Week National Anti-bullying Week takes place next week, however as we focussing on

our Project Plastic theme, we will be moving our anti-bullying activities until the week after, beginning 18th November. We place the upmost importance on teaching our learners about these important subjects and look forward to hearing about what they have been up to.

Have a super weekend

Best wishes

Chris Hansen



http://somerspark.com/Curriculum/Global-Links-Tanzania-2019-2

http://somerspark.com/Curriculum/Global-Links-Tanzania-2019-2

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Community Links LANTERN-MAKING WORKSHOP Saturday 9th November, 11am-2pm, Great Malvern Priory

Come along and make a Christmas lantern! All materials provided; lantern lights will be available to buy for £2.50 each. All ages welcome, but all children must be accompanied by an adult. Lanterns can be carried in the Malvern Christmas light switch-on parade on Saturday 23rd November.



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Community Links



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somers park primary school malvern vale primary …...simpson’s and miss ward’s classes, from...

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