Parliament Trip

Our Westacre Pupil Parliament had a great day finding out what life is like as an actual Member of Parliament. We left school at 6:00 a.m. to travel to the Palace of Westminster. Our friendly coach driver pointed out some landmarks and interesting sights to us on the way, including Wembley Stadium, Paddington Station, The London Eye, The Shard, Westminster Abbey, The Mall (with Buckingham Palace in the distance). 

Upon arriving in Westminster, we saw the sand-coloured stone of the Houses of Parliament and the famous clock tower, holding the bell of Big Ben. We entered through the Education and Visitor Centre, where we met our guide. Each of us put on a headset, so that we could hear the tour of the Houses of Parliament. 

Westminster Hall took our breath away, as it is huge and had a section of wall that is over 900 years old. It was really special to see the gold plaques in the floor, to show where Queen Elizabeth II lay in state, before her funeral. Leaders from many nations have addressed Parliament in this part of the building, including Nelson Mandela and Barak Obama. One of our favourite facts about this room was the discovery of tennis balls in the ceiling that have now been dated back to the time of Henry VIII. These tennis balls were lodged in the ceiling by Henry VIII himself, who is thought to have played tennis in this great hall!

Walking into the lobby (the centre of the building) we stood between the corridors leading to the House of Commons, with dark green benches and the corridors leading to the House of Lords, with red benches. 

During our visit we were lucky enough to sit in the gallery of the House of Commons, listening to the MPs waiting for the speaker of the house to allow them to share their views on funding for public transport. We watched the MPs ‘bobbing’ up and down hoping to be invited to speak on behalf of their constituents.   In the beautifully decorated House of Lords, we saw the Lords and Baronesses taking part in a debate on the enabling of those with disabilities to access opportunities to work and how those unable to work are currently helped by government. 

Our visit also included a interactive workshop in the Education Centre, where we played games to help us to learn about daily life in Parliament and the role of the Palace of Westminster in the U.K. 

We were very fortunate to be joined by our local MP, Nigel Huddleston. He encouraged us to ask questions about his work and his time in Parliament. He was really enthusiastic about his role as an MP and told us he feels very lucky to spend a lot of time in Westminster. 

The teachers were really proud of the exemplary behaviour, good manners and well-considered questions demonstrated by our Westacre MPs. 

It was certainly a day for making special memories!

Liliana- I really enjoyed watching the debate in the House of Commons. Although a lot of the words were difficult to understand, it was fun to see it happen in front of us. 

Lucy and Sophia- Our favourite part of the visit was going to listen to the House of Commons debate because we have seen it on T.V. and it was great to actually be there. 

Harvey-I thought it was special to go into the House of Lords because the discussions from the House of Commons are passed on to the Lords. Also the room was really grand, with a lot of gold ceilings and furniture. 

Elijah – I enjoyed watching both debates because as one person placed a good argument, another person came back with their views building an even better argument. Meeting Nigel Huddleston was also a great experience, as he wanted to hear my views about the world. 

Wyatt- It was amazing to see a real debate. Especially as it was about the issue of pupil transport, which is relevant and important to everyone. 

Rufus- I really enjoyed looking at all the landmark that we saw during our journey into London. 

Alanya- Meeting Nigel Huddleston was one of my highlights of the trip because not everyone gets that opportunity and he had interesting stories to share about his work. 

Grace- I enjoyed going into the House of Commons and to see the ‘ping pong’ of the debates. 

Amelia- My favourite fact from the day was learning about Henry VIII hitting tennis balls into the ceiling of Westminster Hall!

Danni- Meeting Nigel Huddleston was great because I actually got to meet an MP. 

Harry- I really enjoyed our workshop in the Education Centre. Guessing the artefacts in the feely bags and discussing how they related to Parliament was good fun. 

Kelsi- Having the chance to visit the Houses of Parliament today was just the opportunity of a lifetime.

Christmas Assembly

We ended the term with a special whole school Christmas assembly! The main event saw all four houses competing against each other in three festive challenges - present wrapping, T-shirt designing and paper chain making! Bannister were crowned winners of the event after finishing 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the three activities! They now receive an additional 100 house points. The assembly included the whole school coming together to sing and dance along to 'You're Christmas To Me' and 'Merry Christmas Everyone'. A perfect ending to the term - Merry Christmas everyone!

Bannister House Celebrate

As we approach the end of Autumn term, it is time for the special reward to all of the children in the house that earned the most house points. All pupils can earn house points for their particular house by earning certificates linked to our 6Rs Learning Values, as well as through participation in our various house competitions. This term’s winning house is Bannister. The children and staff in this house showed much effort in incorporating as much blue into their clothes as part of a special non-uniform day! Well done to all of Bannister house for the achievement this term, as well as all of the pupils in the other houses who offered their congratulations on this day of celebration!

Christmas Lunch

During Christmas Jumper Day, children enjoyed a special Christmas Lunch in the school hall.  As well as a delicious lunch, the children enjoyed dancing and singing along to some festive Music alongside their teachers! The festive spirit has definitely reached Westacre Middle School!

Homework Reward

Each term we reward those children who have successfully met our homework expectations. All of the children who completed their Maths and English homework throughout the term were invited to a special celebration, where they got to choose from a selection of available rewards! Following consultation with children earlier in the term, those involved could choose between spending extra time playing football on the Muga, enjoying Just Dance in the hall or doing some festive Art over in The Studio. In addition, children who have achieved all three of their Accelerated Reader targets this term took part! We look forward to repeating the same event at the end of next term.

Attendance Reward

This term's attendance reward took place in the hall, with all children with 100% attendance for the term being treated to a doughnut, a drink and some festive Music. Well done to everyone involved!

Whole School Theatre Trip

For this year's annual whole school theatre trip, staff and pupils from all year groups made the journey to The Malvern Theatre to watch a production of Sleeping Beauty. Everyone had a wonderful time with many staff members and pupils suggesting it had been one of the best shows we've ever seen! We also received lots of positive comments from staff at the theatre and members of the general public, including:

• The theatre was cleaner at the end than when the general public attend.
• The children were extremely well behaved, polite and a real credit to the school.
• Thank you for being so organised as a school.

Christmas Production

Well done to all of the children who took part in this year's Westacre Christmas Production - a performance of 'Scrooge'. This year, children played their part both on and off the stage, with members of Production Club working so hard behind the scenes, including creating the props and working the lighting during the performances. In the end, there were three live performances - one to the rest of school in the morning, following by two performances to parents and family members during the afternoon and evening. All of the audiences were thoroughly entertained by the group of very-talented narrators, actors, singers and dancers, who demonstrated so many of our school values during the weeks of rehearsals and indeed the live shows!

Premier League Trophy Visit

In recognition of school's engagement with the Premier League Primary Stars resources, Westacre was chosen for a very special, exciting opportunity - a visit from the actual Premier League Trophy!

Staff from the Premier League Primary Stars group delivered a special assembly about their values of Being Ambitious, Inspiring, Connected & Fair and helped the children understand how to apply those values into their own lives inside and outside of school.

As part of the visit, all classes enjoyed the chance to have a 'team' photo with the trophy before a Q&A session with our visitors about the trophy, the league and football in general.

As part of the day, coaches from the West Bromwich Albion FC Foundation also came to Westacre, inspiring our youngest children in Year 5 with a football coaching session out on the school fields!

Choir Performance

Our school choir were thrilled to be able to perform during this year's Droitwich Christmas Lights Switch On event! The children performed at the Droitwich Community Hall and thoroughly entertained the full crowd, who gave the children a rapturous applause after each and every song the performed. We are incredibly proud of each and every one of the children for representing Westacre so well and helping to get the town into the festive spirit!

Remembrance

For Remembrance Day this year, we all came together as a school community to take part in our own Remembrance service. We held a minute's silence to remember all of the sacrifices made in past conflicts and also displayed the poppies children in all classes had made last week to remember fallen soldiers from the local area. Beanda and Katie in Year 7 read the Flander's Fields poem, while Violet in Year 7 read a war poem that she had written herself after being inspired by some of her recent History lessons! Some of the children's poppies have been displayed by our front entrance if parents and carers wanted to see them and take their own moment of remembrance.

Primary STEM Challenge

Over thirty of our most able mathematicians and scientists in Years 5 & 6 took part in this year's Stemworks Primary STEM Challenge. This involved the children working together in pairs to design and create their own vehicle for moving earth before then presenting to the rest of the group about how they felt that had met all of the design criteria. Sarah from Stemworks commented on how impressed she was with the children's reasoning and problem solving! In the end, she chose Ava and Charlotte from Year 6 as the overall winning pair - the girls will go on to represent Westacre in a Worcestershire STEM event later in the school year. Well done to every single pupil for their achievements with this challenge!

Author Visit

We had the pleasure of welcoming Tola Okogwu into school for our first author visit of the school year. Tola spoke to each year group separately about her life as a reader & writer in school and during adulthood, signed copies of her books and even had a tour of our school library meeting our very excited librarians! A truly inspiring day for everyone at Westacre!

Pupil Voice & Leadership Roles

Following lots of impressive written applications, Year 7 children have now been appointed the roles of Prefect, House Captain, Sports Captain and Sports Leader. During a whole school assembly, the roles were announced and the children received their special lanyards to wear throughout the year. The children are incredibly excited and we look forward to seeing the impact they have this year. Children in all year groups have also been elected for the many Pupil Voice roles across school, including members of our Westacre Parliament this year. Well done to everyone elected and good luck with your roles this year!

Head Boy and Girl

Here are Head Boy Harry and Head Girl Sophie. They have been chosen to take on these vitally important roles for the 2024/25 school year. They will work alongside the other MPs in the Westacre Parliament but will also work closely with Mrs Evans, Mrs Doolin and Mr Barber in making important decisions about school life. Well done Sophie and Harry for your appointment - we are sure you will be amazing role models this year!