Latest News
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CEO's Blog - 18/12/2020
Fri 18 Dec 2020Thank you
I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone in our Rivers family for their hard work, positivity and commitment during this long and challenging term. I particularly want to thank our newly qualified teachers, who have had such a tricky start to their professional careers. I have been impressed by the way they have prioritised the learning and safety of their pupils whilst continuing to meet their own training commitments.
A massive thank you must go to all our teachers, who have continued to provide high-quality education even whilst working remotely (something that I was lucky enough to see in action this week). Our support staff and governance team also deserve a special mention for their tireless work both in and out of the classroom. Finally, I want to thank our leaders, who have ensured that pupils’ learning and the safety and wellbeing of pupils and staff have remained a priority across the trust. Amazingly, I can report that they are all still smiling!
In fact, smiles were everywhere this week as pupils enjoyed getting into the Christmas spirit with schools sharing online pantos and all pupils enjoying a Christmas dinner within their bubbles – a wonderful end to the term!
Wishing you all a safe, relaxing and peaceful Christmas,
Kate Brunt
CEO
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Counting down to Christmas at St Peter's Droitwich CofE Academy
Thu 17 Dec 2020The pupils at St Peter’s are all currently involved in an alternative advent as they countdown to Christmas.
The Jesus And Me (JAM) group met to plan advent with a focus on acts of kindness and Christian values. Their plans included a display Christmas tree in every classroom and all the children being involved by decorating a bauble to hang on their class tree. However, these were baubles with a difference. On the reverse of each bauble there would be a value such as friendship, peace, courage, forgiveness.
Each day, the numbered bauble is turned over and an act of kindness or value is revealed. At the end of each day, the children agree and celebrate the classmate who has demonstrated that value during the day.
Miss Importante, Reception class teacher and member of JAM Group, said, “This year, our advent is about giving rather than receiving and is the perfect way to encompass the spirit of Christmas and the values that underpin all we do in school. The children have enjoyed all aspects of this advent, from decorating and choosing values through to celebrating their classmates. It is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the kindness of all our children and shows how little acts of kindness can make a big difference.”
The school is also reaching out to the community with acts of kindness. Christmas packs containing Christmas decorations made by the children, poems and prayers written by the children and a CD of songs recorded by the children will be sent out to some of the local care homes and local parishioners. Mrs Mills, the Deputy Headteacher, has arranged a Collective Worship via Teams with the residents of Droitwich Mews to take place on Monday 14th December, when Year 2 will be singing, reading poems and prayers.
Children of EYFS have written letters of thanks to those that help us, including the police, a hospital unit and a care home.
Photographed here are some of the advent trees and decorations to be included in the Christmas packs.
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Celebrations at St Clement's Pre-School
Thu 17 Dec 2020We are hurtling towards the end of term and pre-school children have recently had a great time learning about Diwali, the Hindu celebration of the triumph of good over evil and light over darkness. Their activities included colourful mark-making and painting, creating pictures by “pinch flicking” glitter and sharing stories from other cultures.
The children then moved into celebrating Nursery Rhyme Week and painting pictures of their favourite nursery rhyme characters. After a quick parents’ poll, it became apparent that the children knew nursery rhymes that some of the staff (the older ones!) weren’t familiar with, so there was some role reversal as children started teaching the staff! One child even recited a Polish rhyme! It is amazing to watch how the confidence of these young children is growing.
Then, with a flick of the Christmas fairy’s wand, the children started preparing for their 2020 online Christmas recital, which I am sure will be magical.
Merry Christmas from everyone at St Clement's Pre-School.
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Paddington Inspired Writing at St Clement's CofE Primary School
Thu 17 Dec 2020At St Clement's, Year 4 have been using Paddington to inspire their writing. Here is an excellent piece of writing by Xylia that shows that she fully understood the rules for writing speech and added detail to show how the person was speaking, making it all the more interesting to read. The piece is set in the neighbour's house. He notices a bear arrive across the road at the Brown's house and his curiosity leads him to investigate further.
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African Culture at North Worcester Primary Academy
Thu 17 Dec 2020This week, Head Teacher Emily Calvert introduced the Year 1 classes to Patrice Naiambana, a friend of 18 years. Together they took part in an exciting workshop over Zoom. Patrice began by sharing his story and talked about different African cultures. The children were intrigued to find out about his role as the lion in the Tinga Tinga Tales and his role as Aslan in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe at the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC). Patrice was open to questions about his story and was eager to share his answers.
The children then went on to learn about an array of different instruments, including the bamboo flute and the African drums. Year 1 pupil, Leo, said that his favourite part of the workshop had been when Patrice played the bamboo instruments for the children.
Patrice began to tell a traditional African story, which he will explore further when he returns to North Worcester Primary Academy to complete his story-telling workshop for the pupils. He finished by saying that, “Both groups were a credit to your school for their listening skills. What a happy school!”
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School Direct Teacher Training with Rivers Teaching Alliance
Wed 16 Dec 2020Rivers Teaching Alliance is an outstanding provider of the School Direct Teacher Training Route into primary teaching.
Our School Direct programme provides school experience from the start of September together with high-quality subject training delivered by expert practitioners. It is designed to support all requirements for meeting the Teachers’ Standards and gaining Qualified Teacher Status (QTS).
You will be trained in an extremely supportive environment based in high-achieving, aspirational schools. You will also achieve a PGCE (Postgraduate Certificate in Education) awarded by the University of Worcester.
We offer both early years and primary routes into teaching. Please contact us if you wish to discuss your options on 01905 950700 or email teachingschool@riverscofe.co.uk
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School Council Interview at St Clement's CofE Primary School
Wed 16 Dec 2020Herbie, a Year 6 pupil at St Clement's CofE Primary School, was recently interviewed via our online learning platform about his application to become a school council representative.
From his answers below, I am sure you will agree that Herbie will be a fanstastic role model to other pupils and we wish him all the very best in fulfilling his duties as a successful school council representative.
1. What made you apply for the school council representative post?
I applied to the post because I am a good listener and I always wanted to do the job.
2. What qualities make you a good candidate?
I take everyone’s opinions on board and I am an approachable member of year 6.
3. When writing your speech, where did you get your inspiration?
Well, I looked into famous speeches like ‘I have a dream’ by Martin Luther King and Einstein. I also included some quotes from Churchill - all inspirational leaders.
4. Why do you think your peers voted for you?
Because I am a good friend and companion and we have known one another for ages so they trust me.
5. How did you feel when you found out the results?
I couldn’t believe it; I was so happy and proud of myself.
6. What ideas are you hoping to take to your first meeting?
I’m hoping, firstly, to listen to the ideas of the other reps and, also, to talk to the candidates that stood in year 6 and take forward their ideas too.
7. What would you say to anyone thinking of applying next time?
Go for it! Do the best you can and remember, “You can’t succeed if you don’t try”.
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Rivers Christmas Card Competition
Mon 14 Dec 2020The Rivers CofE Academy Trust recently launched an exciting competition to create and design our official Christmas card for 2020.
All pupils across the Rivers family of schools were given the opportunity to take part and were invited to send in their fabulous designs for consideration. We received many wonderful, inspiring, and imaginative creations from pupils across all year groups and this made the decision a difficult one for our CEO, Kate Brunt, who judged the entries and picked the winning design.
Kate Brunt, CEO, said, “I would like to thank all of the pupils who took part in this MAT wide competition. The arrival of the Christmas card entries brought wonderful festive joy to the MAT office and I was delighted to see how creative and artistic our pupils are.”
Congratulations go to Vida Mc Neela, a Year 2 pupil at Summerhill Primary Academy, for the winning design and to Zara Pearson, a Year 5 pupil at Heronswood Primary School, who was our runner up. Both pupils will receive a book token as their prize and their designs have been made into a digital e-card, which you can view on the link below.
We decided to use a digital format this year to help spread Christmas cheer far and wide and wish all our existing and prospective families, staff and stakeholders alike a very Happy and H’elf’y Christmas.
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Ice, Ice Baby Science Day at Heronswood Primary School
Wed 09 Dec 2020Heronswood scientists took part in Rivers’ Ice, Ice Baby afternoon and enjoyed working scientifically on an icy November day. Each year group chose an investigation to undertake which involved ice, for example, discovering why we use salt to ice our roads and finding out which material could keep ice frozen for the longest amount of time.
During the afternoon the following various activities took place:
Pre-school children rescued penguins from the ice by experimenting with warm water and pipettes, using their hands as warmth or submerging the ice cubes in water to melt the ice. They also enjoyed painting with frozen paint and creating lava lamps with oil and water.
Year 3 learned that salt melts ice. They used this knowledge to make fishing rods from ice and string. It was great fun and lots of mess was made!
Year 4 investigated ways to make ice melt more quickly and slowly using various materials as insulators.
Year 6 investigated how long it takes for different ice-creams to melt.
During the afternoon, children across school identified misconceptions, predicted, performed tests, recorded results in a variety of ways, discussed what they found out and evaluated their experiments.
Mrs Botfield, Science Lead at Heronswood, was extremely pleased. “The Ice, Ice Baby afternoon was a huge success, with lots of our young scientists working scientifically to find the answers to questions and presenting their findings.”
Everyone at Heronswood is looking forward to the next Rivers science afternoon in March.
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Science Day at Northwick Manor Primary School
Wed 09 Dec 2020On Monday 23rd September we held our MAT Science Day with the theme ‘Ice, Ice, Baby!’
Year 1 children labelled the parts of a penguin and thought about how penguins keep warm in the Antarctic. They also packed a suitcase for a person who wanted to visit penguins in Antarctica.
Year 2 pupils were challenged to keep their ice trolls cold so that they did not melt.
Year 3 and 6 children watched ‘Teachers in the Freezer’ where a group of teachers visited Antarctica to carry out some research. Year 3 children considered the snacks that the teachers should eat as well as what they should pack in their suitcases to keep warm. After watching the video clip, Year 6 were challenged to design a tent to withstand the harsh cold and windy conditions in the Antarctic as well as a suitable means of transport over the ice.