Term 3 Newsletter – February 2025

To the Wilmington community,

As I reflect on my first term with the Wilmington family, I could not be happier in my new role. Parents/carers, staff and, most importantly, pupils have been incredibly welcoming. Wilmington is an amazing school community and there is so much more to come. I believe that by working together we can go from strength to strength. Below, I outline my experiences so far in more detail.

I have spent much of this term getting to know our wonderful school and its pupils, staff and families. I value all support, feed-back and new ideas that have been shared and will continue to canvas pupils for their views and aspirations for their school.

Last week, our School Council had the opportunity to quiz our local MP on wider community matters, and I was incredibly impressed (and rather proud!) of their sensitive and pertinent questions.

One request our pupils made for their school has already been actioned – pupils now have free access to sporting and play apparatus at breaks and lunchtime. There are important physical, social and cognitive benefits that come from unstructured play which helps us develop skills that build self-confidence and helps keep us physically healthy. These fun and unstructured sessions are an essential tool in childhood development. We have all enjoyed this additional opportunity for outdoor play – and I have particularly enjoyed the opportunity to join in the pupils’ football matches! Excitingly, there will be more playground developments next half term – I cannot wait to share them with the pupils.

Play Leaders, in hi-vis jackets help support younger pupils, managing the allocation of bikes and safety of the cyclists in their area of the playground!

Year 3 pupils have been working on a cross-curricular topic as they learn about St Pauls Cathedral. Pupils first learned about the architectural features of a cathedral and the history surrounding this London monument. Pupils went on to create their own St Pauls Cathedral artwork experimenting with the different kinds of artist shading techniques; hatching, cross hatching, blending and stippling.

Our Year 4 Musicians have been exploring the genre of rap and Hip-Hop music. Pupils have been practising rhythm and pulse as well as developing their performing skills. Pupils collaborated in pairs to compose The Wilmington Primary Rap which they performed brilliantly!

Our Year 4 Wilmington Rap!

Our Teacher is Mr White

I promise you he won’t give you a fright                             Huwie & Albie S

I like to play with my friends

When we play we never want to end!                                 Tommy & Oluchi

Our Headteacher is Mr Curry

And he always has to hurry                                                 Zayn & Carter

We eat our lunch in the hall

I wish we had a swimming pool!                                         Mimi & Albie T

Our Teacher is Mr White

He is as brave as a knight                                                    Lorcan & Callum

My favourite subject is PE

I also really like DT                                                                Mihal & Charlotte

Our Headteacher is Mr Curry

He loves rapping in a hurry                                                   Kaiyan & Tasnuva

We eat our lunch in the hall

We love to play with a ball                                                    Alana & Alfie

I like to play with my friends

And I hope it never ends                                                       Mark & Amelia

We eat our lunch in the hall

And we love to play football                                                  Teddy & Gurkeert

Our Teacher is Mr White

He is very, very bright                                                             Bonnie & Arjan

I like to play with my friends

I always hide behind the bends                                              Emmanuel & Isaac

Our Teacher is Mr White

And almost all of us are the same height                               Zack & Lilly

Our TA is Mrs Nye

She will help us when we cry                                                 Charlotte & Ted

At home time we go to the IT suite

On the astro turf is where our parents meet                         Marlie & Midas

Wilmington Primary is our School

As a school it’s really cool!                                                     All

Year 2 have been exploring algorithms in their computing lessons. Pupils worked with the BeeBots as they learned control, directional language and programming. This highly interactive lesson gave pupils practical experience of algorithms enabling them to write their own simple programmes. Well done everyone!

Year 1 have been working on a new topic – seasons! We have been learning new descriptive words and considering what types of weather typifies each season! In this interactive task pupils worked together to solve puzzles and correctly identify the season depicted!

Reception’s ‘Stay and Play’ sessions allow our parents and carers to actively participate in their children’s early learning journey. Stay and Play provides valuable insights into pupils’ learning and development. One of the loveliest aspects of ‘Stay and Play’ is witnessing the joy and enthusiasm shared between parents/carers and children as they engage in various activities together. Thank you to all the parents and carers for attending these sessions.

As part of their regular music lessons, Year 5 pupils have been practising their ukulele skills. Ukeleles are a great ‘introductory’ instrument for pupils boosting coordination, listening skills and general musicality! In this lesson, pupils have been working with Mrs Greenbank exploring a range of different music genres including country and rock!

As part of our Chinese New Year Celebrations Year 5 pupils have been learning about traditions and festivals to mark the Spring Festival. In art, pupils designed and made dragon dance masks before creating a dragon dance routine to perform in their PE lessons!

Year 6 Pupils proved themselves to be excellent potters during their sculpting vases topic. The pupils designed, made and decorated their vases using the theme of either: water, fire, earth or animal print.

Last week, Laura Trott, MP for Sevenoaks and Swanley and Shadow Education Secretary, paid us a visit. I, together with our Trust CEO, Mr Guthrie had a conversation with her concerning priorities and aspirations for schools in the local area before she was grilled by the School Council who asked some particularly challenging questions.

Forthcoming Dates;

24th February – INSET DAY

25th February – Children return to school

25th February – Teacher run clubs start

3rd March – No Teacher run clubs (except for Mrs Birch’s clubs & pro Futures)

5th March – Parent Consultations 3.30 – 6:00pm (ParentsCarers to attend)

6th March – Parent Consultation 3.30-6:00pm (Parents/Carers to attend)

6th March – World Book Day

18th March – NHS Hearing screening for Children in Year R and NCMP Absentees from previous visit – Children in Year R & 6

31st March – No teacher-run clubs

1st April – Spring Concert 2.30pm (parents/carers attending of children performing only)

4th April – End of Term

As this half term comes to a close, I would like to wish you all a lovely half term with your families. Next half term, I am looking forward to pressing ahead with improvements to our sports provision, further updates to the playground, further work on the school values and rewards system. I will of course, keep the community abreast of any developments.

Thank you again and best wishes,

Jack Curry

Headteacher