Nursery to Year Six Highlights

Nursery Celebrate with Colour!

On Wednesday this week in Nursery, we went outside to take part in some colourful splatter painting to celebrate Holi, a major Hindu festival. The children had a wonderful time exploring bright, vibrant colours and experimenting with different ways to splash and splatter the paint. It was a fantastic opportunity to mark this special festival, which celebrates colour, joy and the arrival of spring, while also developing our creativity and fine motor skills. The outdoor space was filled with excitement and lots of beautiful, colourful artwork!

Introducing Sphero Bolt!

Kindergarten pupils are always excited by new technology and quick to embrace this. They were therefore very excited to see a new device arrive in Westbourne this week. On Monday the pupils were introduced to a Sphero Bolt! A Sphero Bolt is a coding robotic ball with sensors and LEDs. It is controlled using an iPad app. The pupils all had the opportunity to interact with the new technology and explore coding. As predicted, they greatly enjoyed the experience. The staff were impressed by how quickly and confidently they learned to use the app. Well done Kindergarten!

Terrific Tomatoes!

Reception girls have been busy learning all about tomatoes as part of our topic work. We began by finding out where tomatoes come from and discovered that they grow on vines. The girls looked closely at pictures and real tomato vines and talked about how the tomatoes grow along the plant. One of the highlights of the week was our tomato tasting activity. The girls tried cherry tomatoes, beef tomatoes and salad tomatoes. They used their senses to look, smell and taste each type before voting for their favourite. It was wonderful to see everyone being so brave and willing to try something new! After tasting, we held a class vote to decide which tomato we liked best. We counted the votes and talked about which tomato was the most popular. We then printed some patterns with the leftover tomatoes! To finish our learning, the girls each planted some tomato seeds. We discussed what plants need in order to grow and the children shared lots of great ideas such as sunlight, water, soil and care. We are excited to watch our tomato plants grow over the coming weeks.

Dr Truchanowicz shares her stories of Poland!

Year One enjoyed celebrating Mother Language Day together. We were very lucky to welcome Aethe’s mum, who came in to talk to the children about Poland and share some of her language and culture with us. The children also had the opportunity to take part in a special show and tell in their classrooms, where they shared traditional outfits and talked about different languages spoken at home. To link with our celebrations of Chinese New Year, the children created colourful masks and enjoyed collaging the Chinese zodiac animals, discovering whether they were born in the Year of the Pig or the Year of the Rat.

Year Two Tour the United Kingdom!

Year Two have been on a fantastic geographical journey this week as they continued their learning about the United Kingdom. The girls have shown great excitement as they focused on each of the four countries, exploring the flags, emblems, traditions and cultures of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Their curiosity was especially sparked when we were lucky enough to welcome special visitors, Mrs Humble and Mrs Boocock. They spoke to the year group about Wales and Northern Ireland, sharing fascinating facts and personal stories from their own childhoods. With the help of engaging props and photographs, they truly brought the learning to life and inspired lots of thoughtful questions from the girls. It has been wonderful to see the girls’ geographical knowledge grow and their enthusiasm for learning about the wider world flourish. Many now have new destinations added to their list of places they would love to explore in the future!

Year Three discuss The Polar Regions!

As part of their Geography topic on the Polar Regions, Year Three have been exploring the Arctic in depth. They have identified the countries that lie within the Arctic Circle and thoughtfully compared the daily lives of the people who live there with their own experiences. Using Google Maps, they virtually visited Iqaluit in Canada and were fascinated to discover how different a local school is from Edgbaston High School. A particular highlight of their learning was a live lesson delivered by Steve Backshall for World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), where he shared insights from his expeditions to the Arctic. The children were inspired by his experiences and developed a deeper understanding of the region’s unique environment and the challenges it faces.

A special performance of "Odyssey"

Year Four pupils enjoyed a memorable cultural outing this week when they visited the Elmhurst Ballet School to watch a special performance of Odyssey. The children were treated to a varied programme featuring pieces of traditional ballet alongside three contemporary dances. Pupils were especially excited by the second piece, which linked directly to their current art project on the famous artist Edgar Degas, whose paintings often captured dancers in motion. Teachers said the visit helped bring both dance and art to life, giving pupils a deeper understanding of movement, expression, and creativity. The trip sparked lively discussions back in class, with many children eager to share their favourite moments and try their own Degas-inspired artwork. It was a wonderful opportunity for pupils to experience professional ballet up close and connect their classroom learning with the world of performing arts.

Year Five Girls Discover the Joy of Reading Together

The Year Five girls have been making the most of their weekly Library sessions, embracing every opportunity to explore new stories and share their love of books with one another. During these sessions, the library has been filled with excitement as pupils browse the shelves, recommend their favourite titles and settle down with a good book. From thrilling adventures to heart-warming tales, there has been something for everyone to enjoy. A highlight for many has been the chance to hear their peers read aloud. The girls have shown great confidence and expression while sharing extracts from their books and their classmates have been supportive and encouraging listeners. These moments have not only helped to build reading skills, but have also strengthened friendships and boosted self-confidence.

By sharing stories and discussing their favourite characters and plot twists, the Year Five girls are discovering that reading is not just an individual activity — it is something that can bring people together. The Library sessions continue to be a much-loved part of the week, inspiring a lifelong enjoyment of reading for all involved.

Stop Motion!

Our Year Six children have been developing their computing skills through an exciting Stop Motion animation project. Stop Motion is a filmmaking technique where a sequence of photographs is taken, each showing a small movement, and when played together they create the illusion of movement on screen. The children explored how animations are created by capturing individual frames and combining them using digital software. Working in small groups, pupils planned their animations by creating storyboards, planning characters and organising scenes before filming. They then carefully captured each frame, edited their footage and added finishing touches using a range of digital tools. This project supports the Primary National Curriculum for Computing, as children designed and created digital content, applied sequencing and logical thinking, and developed their understanding of how digital media is produced. Throughout the process, they strengthened their problem-solving, creativity, teamwork and evaluation skills.