Whitehouse Common Primary -

PE Leading Aspect Award Presentation

Today was an exciting day as we were visited by several special guests. Former Aston Villa midfielder Ian Taylor attended our morning assembly to present us with our Leading Aspect Award for Physical Education. Ian was accompanied by representatives from Wilson Stuart Active Society, Wilson Stuart School and Aspire Sports. The award was presented to two of our pupils, Katy and Christopher who accepted the award on behalf of the school.

Following the presentation, Year 6 children enjoyed the opportunity to ask Ian Taylor some questions about his success as a professional sportsman. They all listened very intently and picked up some top tips for a budding future in sport.

We are so proud to have received this special accolade in recognition of the high level of Physical Education and Physical Activity we have at Whitehouse Common. Well done to all staff and children who have contributed to this achievement and shown the world we are a healthy and active school!

You can read the case study for our PE Leading Aspect Award online, [click here] to read it.

Christmas Shoeboxes

A big thank you all parents and pupils for their generosity and kindness with putting together a fantastic 127 shoeboxes for 'Operation Christmas Child'. All the boxes were collected today by a representative from Samaritan's Purse. Lots of children all over the world are going to be delighted to receive these super presents! For more information about what will now happen to your shoeboxes please [click here].

Day Five photos

India - Day Five : My last full day at school

So, today was my last full day at school and what afabulous day it was!

I was once again welcomed to the school with a great dance (this time a modern street dance which was excellently choreographed!) and a song by the school choir. I feel such a part of Bawa Lalvani school already and it is really heart warming that the staff and children want to share their talents with me each day. I really enjoy watching them perform.

After this I visited some classes to observe lessons and talk to the children. I saw an art lesson and a maths lesson and it was interesting to watch the teachers and children at work.

I spoke to different children to answre their questions about England and our school and was even asked to sing the national anthem as the children were interested in the words and tune. I hope I did it justice!!!

Later in the morning I was invited, by special invitation, to an assembly by the infant children. This was superb and I watched every infant class perform, sharing songs, dances and poems with me. All the children from age 3 to 6 took part and each one performed their act beautifully.

I followed the assembly by spending time with each year group in the infants to share stories and songs and we had lots of fun together. I also introduced them to Shay (4JH's class mascot) and they were excited to meet him and shake his hand.

I went to observe another lesson in a junior class, this time it was grammar and again it was interesting to watch how the teaching and learning takes place in the school.

Finally, to round off the school day we used SKYPE to allow some Year 4 children to talk to some Grade 4 children and this was very exciting. The children from BLPS were thrilled to get the chance to see and speak directly with children from WHCPS and, as soon as the SKYPE was over they were asking when we would be able to do this again. It was fun to share questions and answers and to talk to each other from such a distance apart.

After school, I went for a quick power nap before heading out to do just a little more shopping. I am a bit worried that my case will be far too heavy to carry tomorrow! Still, my evening was great fun and I had wonderful conversations and a lot of laughs with the two teachers who accompanied me.

I still have some more time in school tomorrow before I have to head to Amritsar for the start of my long journey back home but I think the visit tomorrow will be tough. I have loved every second of my visit and built strong bonds with the staff and children here who are all wonderful.

I will be sorry to say goodbye to them and I suspect it will be quite emotional but I also look forward to sharing all my experiences with the children and staff at WHCPS when I return and am excited to see you all again, especially my class who I have missed lots while I have been away.

I will try to blog tomorrow when I am en route home but I look forward to seeing you soon...

Miss Harper

More photos - Day 4 in India

Parent Workshop Information

We had some great Parent Workshops this morning in both the Acorns and Oaks buildings!

Following these, we have published the slides and information from each to the Parent Resources section on our Moodle.

Unlike all other secured areas of our Moodle, the "Parent Resources" section can be accessed by guests, meaning you don't require a log-on to see the information. [Click here] to access the course and look in the box titled "Parent Workshops 16/11/11". 

India Visit Day Four - A whole day at school

Hello again!

Today has been a busy one but I have enjoyed it thoroughly because I spent the whole day at Bawa Lalvani.

When I arrived, the children had once again organised a welcome for me. Some children performed a dance and then the school choir sang a song about their school. It was really good and I enjoyed it very much.

To start my day I met with a group of parents to talk about their part in school life and to answer questions about education in England. It was really exciting to be able to meet people who are linked to the school but are from the wider community and I learnt a great deal from it. The parents were all very friendly and showed a lot of interest in teaching and learning in our country.

After this I visited the infant block of the school and some of the Kindergarten, Grade One and Grade Two classes sang me the greeting songs which they learn. I also saw some Grade 3 children doing an art activity and talked to them about their work.

Some Grade 3 children had made salads for an activity they were doing and they asked me to visit them to look at (and taste!) their work. It was very creative and quite tasty too.

Later on I led a story activity with some children in which I read them a story (Giraffes Can't Dance) and talked about the events and character's feelings. The children asked me lots of questions and then they taught me some of a penguin dance that they had recently learnt and i loved joining in with them!

During the day I also met with some Grade 4 children to share our school website and to answer questions they ahd for me. They enjoyed looking at all the different information that we have on our website and asked a lot of questions about life in England, our school and what i thought about India.

After the children had gone home, I met with many of the teachers and talked to them about our teaching at WHCPS. They were very interested to find out about assessment and teaching methods and I will be sharing more with them tomorrow.

Finally, before heading back to my hotel I briefly visited Model town in Jalandhar for a bit more shopping! It was great to have some staff with me who could help me to haggle and get good prices on the things I bought.

Tomorrow will be another full day in school and I am really looking forward to it. It is the part of the visit that is the most rewarding and it is really making me think about and reflect on approaches to teaching and learning.

Right....time for bed but I will put some photos on here for you all to look at and will check in again tomorrow to update a bit more.

Miss Harper

50th Celebrations Video

Here is a video that never made it up onto the website previously as it was created while we were making the transition to our new website.

The video is all about the 50th Celebrations that took place on 1st July 2011 - it may be a little late but it's a fantastic compilation of what went on during the day and well worth a watch! Many thanks to Mrs Edwards for all her hard work in putting it all together.