Lancaster go potty over pottery

This week, Lancaster Class were lucky enough to get expert help in creating some wonderful pottery. Ursula Codrington, who is one of our school governors introduced us to Marion Walker, an experienced potter, who came in to work with the students and create bowls using a proper potters' wheel. Below are some pictures showing our students working hard and being extremely creative. Thank you so much to Marion for her expertise and for given her time up to come and let our student experience this activity:

Inclusion Afternoons are GO!

We have recently introduced Inclusion Afternoons on Friday. The sessions are designed around our Rights Respecting School (RRS) statements. The purpose is to get pupils working with a wider variety of other children to improve social interactions and share experiences. It is early days, but already we are seeing some wonderful activities and outcomes. Below are a selection of photographs of some of the learning opportunities:

 RRS "Shelter Me" - DT project on shelters

 RRS "Let me be creative" - DT and Art projects

 

 RRS "Let me Speak" - Sensory Stories

 

 RRS "Let me be creative" - school choir

 

  RRS "Let me be creative" - school choir

 

 RRS "Let me be Healthy" - Yoga

 

 RRS "Let me be Creative" - DT and Art Projects

 

RRS "Let me be Creative" - DT and Art Projects

Fun day out at the Race Track

Last week, Conway Class had a wonderful day out at Thruxton Dace Track. They had a lovely day looking at all the amazing racing cars. They even met Tiff Needell, who used to be a presenter on Top Gear! He said some lovely things about the pupils and staff. Here are just two of them:

"You are amazing and are doing a fantastic job looking after the children" 

"The children are well behaved, thank you for all you do"

Here are two pictures from the day. Everyone really enjoyed it:

 Here is Tiff Needell with Conway Class

 

The pupils celebrate a lovely day at the track

 

 

Many thanks to the lovely people at Thruxton Motorsport Centre for a wonderful experience.

Children In Need

 

Thank you to everyone who donated to The Castle School Children in Need. We raised an amazing £430 for Children in Need - Well done everyone.

"Monday's child is fair of face"

 



 

"Tuesday's child is full of grace"

"Wednesday's child is full of woe"
 

"Thursday's child has far to go" 

"Friday's child is loving and giving"

Here is a picture of all the wonderful leggings that pupils and staff wore on Friday

 

 

Thanks to everyone who was involved or donated to this very worthwhile cause.

Newbury Weekly News Article

We are on the Newbury Weekly News website and also in the paper (page 18) this week to celebrate our wonderful "Outstanding" OFTSED result. Please click here to read the article and see the picture.

Just to address one omission from the newspaper article - I would like to wholeheartedly thank our "outstanding" governing body who have worked tirelessly on a voluntary basis to support and challenge the school to enable us to reach this wonderful position. I would like to particularly thank Brian Connolly, our brilliant chair of governors, for his expertise, guidance and strength in the role.

If you are interested in joining this exciting and dynamic team then please don't hesitate to contact the school on 01635 42976 and we will put you in contact with one of our governors to chat through how rewarding it can be and what is involved.

Parking at Love Lane

As you may be aware, we are currently having some building work carried out at our Love Lane site. This has meant that we have lost a significant amount of parking whilst the build is completed. Up until now, we have been using an area of field as an overspill. However, due to recent changes in the weather, it is no longer safe to use the field.

As such we are now extremely limited with parking and will be for the next two weeks. This will mean that anyone visiting the school during the day may find it hard to find a suitable place. I would ask if this is the case that you try and park safely somewhere on the school site, even if this is on double yellow lines. If you are able to park off-site and walk to the school then this would obviously be very much appreciated, although I understand that this would not be convenient for everyone.

I hope that within the next two weeks we will be back to normal.

In the meantime I thank you for your support with this.

Jon Hewitt
Headteacher