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• Connor's Bakery Assembly

  Fri 29 Jan 2016

  The children had a special assembly this morning. The owner and baker of Connor's Bakery visited the children to talk about their business here, in Hinckley. 

   

  We found out that bread had been made for many years and we had the opportunity to look at different types of breads that could be bought at the bakery. Some of these were from different parts of the world, including Poland. We looked at some of the ingredients that are needed to make bread. Can you remember the name of the ingredient that causes bread to rise?

   

  At the end of the assembly, we had some of our questions answered and discovered that the baker worked extremely hard, having to wake up and start working at midnight! 

   

  Our visitors kindly left different types of breads for us to try, including white, brown, granary and sour dough. Which type was your favourite?

   

  Later on this year, we will be making bread in school, but why not try making some of your own at home. It smells fantastic when it is baking in the oven!

  

• Lanterns Farm to Fork Trail

  Thu 28 Jan 2016

  Today it was finally the Lantern's turn to visit Tesco for their Farm to Fork trail. We all had a fantastic time learning about food and tasting lots of different cheeses and fruits and vegetables. Did you know that cheese can come from 4 different animals? Ask a Lantern to find out which 4 ans see which cheese they liked best! We also visited the fish counter as well as going inside the storage freezer and fridge! An excellent time was had by all and the grown ups were very proud of the Lanterns excellent behaviour and knowledge.

   

   

  

• Catherine Wheels and Glowsticks Trip to Tesco

  Tue 26 Jan 2016

  The Catherine Wheels and Glowsticks  had a brilliant time when they visited Tesco today. We learnt which animals different cheeses come from and went into the very cold fridges and freezers! Brrrr!! We were also able to try out lots of different foods, some of us enjoyed some others didn't!

  Thank you to the staff at Hinckley Tesco, especially Wendy and Kirsty, for giving up their morning to show us around the store. Overall a fantastic trip!

  

• Roman Candles and Sparklers trip to Tesco

  Mon 25 Jan 2016

  The Roman Candles and Year 1 Sparklers enjoyed a trip to the local Tesco today. It was a very informative and fun visit in which we were able to try out lots of different foods.

  The children were very open to trying the different foods and learning about where they come from. We were able to look around the whole of the store and visit areas of Tesco we didn't know existed. We want to say a big thank you to the staff at Hinckley Tesco for giving up there morning to have us and for their generosity. Overall a fantastic trip!

   

  Have a look at the photos below and keep your eyes peeled as more will be added when the Catherine Wheels visit tomorrow...

   

   

  

• Year 1 Fire Engine Visit

  Tue 19 Jan 2016

  Year 1 are learning all about super heroes this term. We have been looking at real life heroes in our history lessons and, as a class, discussed what qualities make a hero.

  We decided that heroes have to be brave, kind and helpful amongst many other things. Firefighters definitely have these qualities and we were very lucky to meet some firefighters today. The crew came to Westfield Infant School in their fire engine and showed us how everything works....it was amazing to see a fire engine and all its equipment so close up!

  We had such  a fun time learning more about the real life heroes that are firefighters and they answered all the interesting questions we had.

   

  We thank them for giving up their valuable time to come and see us and wish them well. From class 4, class 5 and class 6.

   

  

• Assembly about Trip to India

  Fri 08 Jan 2016

  During assembly this morning we missed Miss Hussey as we needed to sing the Birthday Song. Mrs MacLauchlan had a go at playing the piano but it was not a brilliant performance!

  Mrs Dakin and Mrs Parkes shared information about their trip to India.The children were amazed at the time it took Mrs Dakin, Mrs Parkes and Brumas to fly to Dubai (8hours) and then on to Chennai (4hours). On arrival they visited the Rock House the St. Mathias Hostel for girls and we all got to see some of the flood damage not only to the floor but also to the girls’ clothes. We learnt that the girls had to wash their clothes and bedding through before drying them out. They showed us some amazing photographs. 

   

  Our Connecting Classroom projects this year have focused on developing Health and Well-being so our two teachers had the task of sharing and teaching some of the lessons and games we do at Westfield. By the looks of the photographs the children and Mrs D and Mrs P had a great time playing Circle Time concentration games, playing with the parachute, balls, skipping ropes and elastics! These were all resources that Mrs Dakin and Mrs Parkes took with to India! We watched a brilliant video evidence of them giggling and playing some of our favourite parachute games. It was overwhelming to see where these games were being played though because it was on the brand new playground – the one that we helped to fund! This has made a REAL difference the children’s school life and health because the ground is no longer dusty in the wind and heat nor boggy and sludgy during the monsoon season. Westfield Infant School helped to raise money for the improved playground surface and it has made such a difference to the lives of the pupils.

   

  It was great to hear and see how Mrs D and Mrs P introduced the 150 whiteboards and pens to Sister Rose’s school. We thought it was quite funny that the children there thought that Mrs Dakin was ‘magic’ as she rubbed her writing off the whiteboard.  Our teachers were once again able to show the teachers in Pondicherry how to use these whiteboards in phonics and this was supported with more sound cards that were given to them.

   

  It was very clear that the children in the Nursery loved the new toys and stories that were bought for them and read. They certainly had fun with Brumas and even tried his hat on! Mrs Parkes explained how different learning is for the children in India but explained that they all work very hard. We had a look at their handwriting – can you remember what language it was written in?

   

  Obviously we are very proud of our teachers and the skills that they put into practice whilst in India, particularly their ICT skill! The laptops from a couple of years were still there in the computer suite however the teachers had found it a bit tricky to carry on with the Education City software that Mrs Guest and Miss Hamilton had kick-started for them last year. Teachers and their pupils were able to work alongside our staff again to play some phonic games to support the pronunciation of some of the alternative sounds that we have in English (like g in magic and c in circle).

   

  Mrs Parkes loved telling us about how careful they both had to be whilst crossing the road because of the many cows, tut-tut cars and masses of people around. Although it was very busy and noisy, it is definitely something that they will both remember. She made us laugh when she told us that one cow very nearly followed her into a beautiful shop full of saris. Can you remember why they cow couldn’t get in? To remind us of what the dress was like for special occasions 
  they bought three girls outfits and 3 boy outfits which were modeled by two representatives from each year group. We will definitely be sharing them around our year groups and will look forward to Golden Time all the more now. Thank you!

   

  Mrs Dakin presented gifts that had been sent by Sister Rose to Mrs MacLauchlan, Andrew Child’s and Phil Nevett. Many teaching staff were also given shawls and sparkly scarves.

   

  The School Council then presented a cheque for £650.00 to Mr Phil Nevett. This money was raised as the result of our Christmas Performances and will be used to further improve the facilities at St Mathias School. Mr Andrew Childs also joined us for the assembly and he explained to everyone that over the past 5 years the donations from Westfield Infant School has made a tremendous difference to the lives of the children. Mr Childs lives in India for part of the year and he is able to visit St Mathias Schools and see first hand the improvements we have been able to help to make.

   

  Thank you to everyone who attended the Christmas Plays and made donations. Look out for further details about how the money will be spent.      

  

• New Year Disco

  Thu 07 Jan 2016

  The first WISA event of 2016 was the New Year Disco! The children had the opportunity to change out of their school uniform into their favourite outfits. Everyone looked amazing and Mrs MacLauchlan is now looking out for a dress in her size with flashing lights!

  Everyone joined in with lots of dancing, games and fun to welcome in the New Year!

  Well done to all the children for fantastic Westfield behaviour. As you can see from the photographs everyone had a great time!

  A reminder to all parents/carers that the next WISA meeting will be held on Monday 11 January 2016 at 2.15 p.m. in the staff room.