Term 2 Newsletter – December 2024
It’s my final newsletter here at Wilmington Primary and I would like to take this opportunity to thank you, our wonderful school community, it has been an absolute pleasure to work with you all. I feel especially proud of all we have achieved together, to see our school and its pupils thrive, develop and shine and I wish you continued success in all future endeavours. We have thoroughly enjoyed the many wonderful productions and events of the Christmas season … a perfect finale to my seven years at Wilmington Primary. I wish you a very happy Christmas and for us all to look forward to an exciting and productive New Year!
Jack Curry added “To all the pupils, staff and parents/carers in the Wilmington community, I would like to wish you all a happy and restful Christmas break with those you hold dear to you. I also wish you a joyful and prosperous new year.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mrs Scott for her support. She has put a tremendous amount of work into passing over her role to me in the smoothest possible way. It has certainly set me up for success.
Having met Mrs Scott a number of times now, it is obvious why she is held in such high regard by the community. I would like to join you all in wishing her the very best of fortune in her new role – we all know she will have a huge impact there. Good luck Mrs Scott! Finally, I am very much looking forward to us working together in the New Year – see you on the 6th January!”
Our pupils undoubtably put on the best Christmas shows! KS2 lit up the stage with a delightful musical rendition of the nativity and were in equally good voice, singing some proper toe-tapping numbers! I hope you all enjoyed watching their performance as much as our students enjoyed presenting it!
‘Drop everything and read’ is a much loved aspect of pupil literacy here at Wilmington Primary School. Reading and being read to, brings profound and wide-ranging benefits that can have a lifelong positive impact on pupil’s lives. Our well-stocked libraries encourage pupils to discuss recommendations, swap stories and make independent reading choices based on their interests and reading skills. I still to this day adore being read to, being swept up in a story or learning fascinating facts, except now it’s podcasts and audio books! The benefits of reading are many .. improvements to voaculary, cognitive ability and language skills are well known, but reading is a valuable tool to develop creativity, empathy and boost wellbeing.
Pictured below, me reading to Year 1 .. Wilmington Grammar student reading with a pupil, and pupils choosing their own reading books .. including a festive choice!
What a performance! Our Year 6 pupils were treated to a superb, abridged version of Macbeth by our Wilmington Grammar School for Boys Drama Club. The WGSB students had taken part in the Coram Shakespeare Schools Festival at the Woodville theatre in Gravesend and our pupils were mesmerised and incredibly impressed by the show! A wonderful opportunity for our school to share in the excitement of the competition and experience a live, professional theatrical performance.
Below, a picture of the cast and photos from their performance
Year 6 had another opportunity to see a theatrical production, this time at the Miskin Theatre where they got to see Ebeneezer!
Year 4 and Mrs Greenbank, our resident music teacher, were delighted to be invited to perform at the Village Market on 5th December in the Memorial Hall. Mrs Greenbank chose a programme of Christmassy songs and our children gave a wonderful and rousing rendition, together with accompanying moves and a big finish! There’s no doubt about it .. they were star attraction of the event and Mrs Greenbank got some really lovely feedback from visitors to the market who stopped to listen! Below, pupils practising ahead of their performance.
Year 5 pupils have been working on a STEM engineering topic, building bridges. Pupils started by investigating different shapes to find out which will be better at absorbing load before going on to make their prototype truss bridges (lattice, warren and pratt). In later lessons pupils will test the design of their bridges with a range of weights.
Year 3 pupils have been enjoying their science studies this term learning about the three types of rock found on Earth, igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary, and especially having the opportunity to conduct their own practical chemistry investigation! Working scientifically, our pupil scientists conducted a soil investigation. As part of the same topic pupils went on to learn about fossilisation.
Year 2 walked up to St Michael and All Angels church to take part in some fun advent activities run by their
Children, Youth and Families Minister, Sharon Stirman. Pupils learned about Jesus’ birthday and how Christians celebrate as well as sharing their own Christmas and celebration traditions. Thank you so much to our parents/carers who accompanied us on our trip and joined in the fun! St Michael and All Angels church has a programme of groups, including holiday clubs and under 5s playtime, click here for more.
Young People – St. Michael & All Angels Church
Reception pupils have been decorating their Christmas postbox ready to receive their special Christmas deliveries! As part of their child-initiated play sessions pupils took turns to paint the box and add their own Robin drawings and decorations! During these sessions each area of the classroom has stimulus and equipment to prompt play and discovery!
Year 1 have been considering community and the components and facilities that make up a village. We all went for a walk around Wilmington Village making a note of key buildings we saw and familiarising ourselves with our local area. On our walk we saw lots of Christmas decorations as well as horses .. and even some of our own homes. Thank you so much to our parent and carer helpers, our pupils really enjoyed you coming with us!
Join Our Friendly Teams at Endeavour MAT!
We are always on the lookout for passionate individuals to join our team and help us make a difference. If you’re interested in exploring exciting opportunities with us, visit our current vacancies page to learn more about the roles available and find out what it’s like to work at Endeavour MAT.
Current positions:
Premises Manager
Teacher of DT
Exam Invigilators
Behaviour Support Officer
SEND Specialist Teacher
Daytime Cleaner
Cover Supervisor
Part time Cleaners
For more information on current vacancies, please visit: Endeavour MAT Vacancies.
Forthcoming Dates;
Last Day of Term 2 – 20th December
First Day of Term 3 – 6th January 2025
Teacher run clubs start – 13th January (except Mrs Birch’s which start 6 January)
Open Afternoon for parents/carers to see pupils’ work – 15th January
Stay & Play Reception class (parents/carers to attend) – 6th February at 2pm
Last Day of Term 3 – 14th February
Best wishes,
Charlotte Scott and Jack Curry
