WALTON PRIORY PUPILS CELEBRATE THE CHINESE YEAR OF THE DRAGON - JANUARY 2012
To celebrate Chinese New Year on Monday 23rd January, Mrs Gilly Foxley, Catering Supervisor at Walton Priory Middle School, cooked a special Chinese menu at lunchtime and decorated the dining area with Chinese pictures and symbols. The menu included sweet and sour chicken with rice, vegetable stir fry with noodles and raspberry fortune cookies.
The photograph shows
Oliver Harris (12), Mrs Foxley and Kacey Foster (9)
HELP FOR HEROES COUNTY CO-ORDINATOR VISITS WALTON PRIORY - DECEMBER 2011
On Monday 12th December Walton Priory Middle School were visited by Mr Jeremy Hobbs, Help for Heroes County Co-ordinator for Stafordshire. Mr Hobbs came to collect a cheque for £200 which was donated by the pupils and staff during a recent fundraising day.
BOOK WEEK AT WALTON PRIORY MIDDLE - NOVEMBER 2011
Pupils at Walton Priory Middle School enjoyed a festive end to their Book Week by coming to school dressed as circus characters. The day ended with a parade and prize giving for the best costumes. The annual celebration comes at the end of a week where reading is highlighted. Activities included a visit by children’s author Pete Johnson who signed copies of his latest book ‘The Vampire Hunters’, a book fair and additional class based reading activities.
The photograph shows Pete Johnson with Ashleigh Moseley (11) and Bryony Middleton-Pickerill (11)
EUROPEAN DAY AT WALTON PRIORY - SEPTEMBER 2011
During the recent European Day at Walton Priory Middle School the staff and pupils enjoyed eating a French breakfast of brioche and croissants with French Teacher Monsieur Kadri and preparing and eating French Snails with Science Teacher, Mrs Cope.
At lunchtime the catering staff served up delicious French, Spanish and Italian meals.
Throughout the day each teacher greeted their class in a different language so by the end of the day the children had learned to say hello in at least 6 different languages.
Monsieur Kadri said “The aim of the day was to stimulate and enhance the language curriculum and provide an opportunity for the pupils and staff to practice their foreign accents.”
STONE LITTLE THEATRE PERFORMS AT WALTON MIDDLE - JULY 2011
Named after Helen Shapiro’s 1961 number one hit, ‘Walkin' Back To Happiness’ is a musical celebration of the 60's and includes over 30 classic songs from artistes including The Beatles, Gerry & The Pacemakers, Sandie Shaw, Billy J Kramer and Cilla Black. There are live, on-stage excerpts from the best of British radio, television and film comedy including 'Coronation Street', 'Hancock's Half Hour' (The Blood Donor) and 'Dad's Army'.
There is a section dedicated to sixties musicals including ‘Fiddler On The Roof’, ‘Half A Sixpence’ and ‘Oliver’ and lots of interesting facts and news stories about the sixties including ‘The Great Train Robbery’ the advent of the Jumbo Jet and Concorde and the fight to keep many local railway branch lines open following ‘The Beeching Axe’. One of the show’s original songs has been dedicated entirely to this. The famous broadcasts and speeches of John F Kennedy, Harold Wilson and Martin Luther King are also featured as is England's success in the 1966 World Cup and The First Man On The Moon.
Photo shows Kyle Frid, Jack Austin and Izaak Derbyshire in ‘Party Political Broadcast’.
WALTON PRIORY STUDENTS AT BIKEABILITY EVENT - JUNE 2011
On Wednesday 29th June (National School Sports week), EliteCircuit Race Series came to Stafford. The event showcased the UK's top cyclists as they raced around the streets of Stafford. Stafford GP invited year 7 pupils from Walton Priory Middle School to compete in a relay event prior to the main race. This relay was loosely based on the Olympic Team sprint event and two teams went head to head in a knockout competition. Staffordshire County Council's Bikeability team have delivered level 2 training to 200 pupils at WPMS this year. Due to this commitment, WPMS were able to send 20 pupils to the race night with their bikes to complete a lap of honour prior to the start. Pupils wore bikeabilty t-shirts and were awarded with a goodie bag. Both of these were great opportunities to take part in one of the most prestigious cycle races in the uk calendar. The evening was thoroughly enjoyed by all pupils and offered them a chance to get involved with the local community.
WALTON PRIORY MIDDLE AT ALTERNATIVE TIME TABLE DAY - JUNE 2011
Walton Priory Middle School year 6 pupils recently took part in an alternative timetable day linked to the Staffordshire Hoard – the biggest trawl of Anglo Saxon treasure yet found!
Mr Stewart Taylor (Head of History) said “The day was linked to local history and is aimed at both developing the children’s understanding of Anglo Saxon life and their historical skills through a series of interactive activities”.
The pupils have been making shields and performing a drama about Anglo Saxon life.
EMPLOYEES FROM LOCKHEED MARTIN VISIT WALTON PRIORY MIDDLE - MAY 2011
Ian Ross and Peter Shone employees from Lockheed Martin – presenting solar equipment to the school. Of all the UK schools who visited the Big Bang Event in London only two schools were recognised by the company; Walton Priory Middle School being one. Peter said that the pupils stood out above others because of their enthusiasm and team work.
ASTRONOMY CLUB AT WALTON PRIORY MIDDLE - APRIL 2011
Emily Betts (11), Matthew Pontin (11) and James Stevens (11) with the Astronomy Club’s new telescope.
WALTON PRIORY MIDDLE PUPILS HOLD COMPETITION TO DESIGN AN EASTER HAT - APRIL 2011
This photograph shows the winner and runner up of a competition held at Walton Priory by Mrs Williamson (Year 6 teacher) to design an Easter Hat.
The winner was Elisha Walker (11) and the runner up Izaak Derbyshire (10) pictured with Mrs Julie Williamson.
WALTON PRIORY MIDDLE OFFICIALLY OPENS FOOD TECHNOLOGY ROOM AND LAUNCHES ASTRONOMY CLUB - MARCH 2011
Our new Food Technology room was opened on Tuesday 29th March followed by the launch of the Astronomy Club. Paul Wood, Michelle and Joe (local chefs) cut the ribbon. The school was very pleased to welcome Roy Kenny (Mayor of Stone).
This is a very exciting time after nearly a year of planning. The Food room offers state of the art cooking facilities.
Scott Marley Assistant Educational Development Officer for the Bradford Robotic Telescope gave a talk following the opening.
WALTON PRIORY PUPILS TAKE PART IN 1 MILE FUN RUN - MARCH 2011
On 20th March, youngsters and families had the chance to sample the big race atmosphere of Stafford Half Marathon day by taking part in the town’s fun run. The School and Family Fun Run took place on the same day as the popular half marathon.
13 pupils alongside staff and parents from Walton priory took part in the 1mile fun run organised by Stafford Borough Council. The event saw many youngsters getting active and also having fun in their fancy dress costumes as they ran through Stafford Market Square.
Miss Victoria Atherton (PE Teacher at Walton Priory) said “I hope it will inspire the children to one day run in the half marathon itself.”
The photograph shows Miss Atherton dressed as Snow White with the Walton Priory Fun Runners.
STONE IN BLOOM COMMITTEE VISIT WALTON PRIORY - MARCH 2011
Walton Priory pupils recently enjoyed a visit from three members of the Stone in Bloom Committee who gave us trees to plant in our grounds. The Committee had 450 trees donated by the RHS to celebrate National Tree Planting Day on 26th March and wanted schools to join in with the celebrations.
The photograph shows
Top L – R Mrs N Gilman (Deputy Head), Antony Lucas and Jill Hood (Stone in Bloom)
Bottom L – R Annabelle Hodnett (9), Yasmin Dickens (10) and Joe Hadley (9).
WALTON PRIORY PUPILS VISIT THE BING BANG FAIR - MARCH 2011
Recently members of Walton Priory’s STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) Club were delegates at the Big Bang Fair at the Excel in London. The Big Bang Fair brings schools and industry together to celebrate STEM education. The National Finals of the STEM awards is also judged at the event.
Walton Priory pupils won the ‘Hydrolics for Frolics’ workshop where they had to make a hydrolic arm and Phoebe Turner won a model RAF plane when she was the highest scoring pupil on a simulated computer game – Well done everyone!
Mrs Cate Cope, Head of Science, said “The pupils came back buzzing about their experiences armed with bags of goodies. Walton Priory pupils were once again commended on their excellent behaviour and attitude by the Fair organisers and other teachers”.
WALTON PRIORY CELEBRATES FAIRTRADE FORTNIGHT - MARCH 2011
Important guests helped pupils from Walton Priory, Pirehill and Manorhill have a brilliant time celebrating Fairtrade Fortnight.
Year 4 children from Pirehill and Manorhill joined our Year 5’s to find out what Fairtrade was all about and learn how it helps farmers in distant places to have better lives. We were very fortunate to welcome Juliana Sampana, a Ghanian shea nut farmer, who spoke to the children about her life and explained how important Fairtrade was to her family and community. She told them about her home and her job and how the Premium that Fairtrade provided for her community. We also welcomed Julia Franklin who works in London for the Fairtrade Foundation. She gave us lots of tips about how easy it is for everyone to be involved in Fairtrade as such a wide variety of foods and products are now available to buy in lots of shops.
BOOK AUTHOR MICHELLE HARRISON RETURNS TO WALTON PRIORY MIDDLE - FEBRUARY 2011
Award winning author Michelle Harrison recently returned to Walton Priory Middle School to launch the latest and final book in her ‘Treasures’ trilogy.
She read excerpts from ‘The Thirteen Secrets’ during a special assembly then spent time with the children discussing writing techniques and explaining how she became an author. This was followed by a signing session in the school’s Learning Resource Centre.
CHARLOTTE’S WEB PLAYS AT WALTON PRIORY MIDDLE - JANUARY 2011
As part of their English lessons this term Mrs Hulme’s class (5H) have been studying Charlotte’s Web by E.B.White. Following a focus on writing their own imaginative story based on a certain event in the story, in groups, the children chose a story and re-wrote it as a play script. The children designed and made their own costumes and masks and then performed their plays to their Year 8 reading partners. All children involved thoroughly enjoyed the experience and it was a lovely end to our paired reading scheme here at Walton Priory.
