Whole school news and updates

Remembrance Day
 
Children at All Saints' Junior School in Warwick held a two minute silence at 11am today during a whole school assembly. These children in uniform also took part in the Remembrance Sunday parade in Warwick on 10th November. All Saints' is proud to be an ICON ( International Cross of Nails) school - a special global community of organisations recognised by Coventry Cathedral for their work towards peace and reconciliation. You can find out more about this by following this link:  https://emscote-infant-all-saints-junior.eschools.co.uk/web/peace_and_reconciliation/622928

Christian Aid Global Neighbours Gold Award

We are delighted to share the news that we have achieved the Gold Award status in Christian Aid’s Global Neighbours scheme, in recognition of our initiatives to encourage children to think of others throughout the world. We are only the fifth school in the country to achieve the Gold award!

We are thrilled to be recognised for the work we have done as a whole school community to raise awareness of the extreme inequalities across our globe and perhaps more importantly, the steps we can take to address these. The children gain an understanding of injustice in our world through regular learning about global issues, including the Global Development Goals (https://worldslargestlesson.globalgoals.org/ ).

Our children may have shared with you that they have been learning about examples of people who faced adversity and overcame this to be courageous advocates for change.

These stories have challenged us to think about how each of us can make a difference in our local community and globally.

Our world is increasingly connected and our hope is for our children to grow as responsible global citizens who care about issues such as the environment and access to healthcare. The children have especially enjoyed the ongoing link we have with a school in Sierra Leone which informs our curriculum, assemblies and ongoing campaign work.

At the end of her visit, the assessor recognised that we are a ‘very special school’ and we couldn’t agree more! We hope you enjoy reading her report below.

Oz & James' Great Cycle Challenge came to All Saints'
Oz Clark and James May visited All Saints' on Wednesday to take part in a singing workshop as part of their cycle challenge. They are cycling around the country to help raise money for Armonico Consort and the work it does for those living with dementia.
Warwickshire Junior Book Award (WJBA)
 
Over recent weeks, some of our Y5 and 6 children have been reading the 4 titles shortlisted for this year's award. They voted on their favourite and today they attended the award ceremony at King's High School in Warwick. Three of the four authors attended and talked to the children about their books and signed copies of their books afterwards. The winning title was 'Finn Jones Was Here' by Simon James Green - our children loved that book and all of the others too. We had a great morning! The photo shows our children with Beth Lincoln who wrote 'The Swifts' which was the overall winner for our children. 
Composting Assembly By Warwickshire Waste Services

BBC CWR Star School

We were thrilled to be chosen to be the BBC CWR Star School of the Week in the week beginning 15th April 2024. We were nominated for our inclusivity and personal development of pupils, something we are very proud of. Dan from BBC CWR visited our school on Friday 12th April and interviewed Sam, Esme, Ethan and Scarlet about  what is currently happening at our school; they also gave him a tour of our lovely grounds. Dan also spoke to Miss Jackson, Miss Cherry, Mrs Shah and one of our governors, Mrs Dyer.  

We hope you enjoy listening as much as we did! 

STAR SCHOOL: Tell us about a brilliant school we should visit. Hear from All Saints Junior School in Warwick all this week on BBC CWR. https://bbc.in/3VXbXua
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STAR SCHOOL: Do you know an amazing staff member at your school? All Saints Junior in Warwick love Miss Jackson's humour. https://bbc.in/4aEsMhG
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World Book Day
Young Voices 
After months of practice and dedication, our school choir attended Young Voices concert on 22/2/24 in World Resorts Arena in Birmingham. They performed with a live band as part of 5,400 children’s choir in front of an audience. The two hours long concert was filled with celebrities, stage effects and most importantly lots of fun. It was a day that will remain in everyone's memory for a very long time. Congratulations to all the children who took part in this special event.

Choir visit 31st January
Today, a community choir came to perform during assembly and the performance was greatly enjoyed by all staff and children. The children even had a chance to sing alongside the choir and perform together. It was also very interesting to learn about the different elements of a choir.
 

Reducing Plastic Waste Assembly
We were visited by Ruth from Warwickshire County Council, she came to talk to us about plastic waste (in particular, single-use plastic). She gave us some shocking statistics about the rate of decay of single-use plastic and demonstrated the lengthy process used to create plastic. 
She discussed ideas for ways in which we can reduce our use of plastic and help to protect our planet. We used this as an opportunity to talk about some of the writing that we have been doing across the school, regarding plastic and the environment (Year 3 talked about their letters to Tesco about plastic packaging and Year 5 about letters they have written to Matt Western - our local MP - about Climate Change and plastic). 
We then reminded ourselves of all the plastic we recycle in school and the work that is carried out by both the Eco Council and the BO representatives. We will be continuing to monitor our plastic use with future events such as: Earth Hour, World Ocean Day, Big School Birdwatch and The Big Plastic Count...how will you reduce your use of plastic? 
West End in Schools - Dick Whittington Pantomime 

Y4 and Y6 Christmas concert

 On Monday 18th December, Years 4 and 6 performed a concert to all their parents in All Saints’ Church. Each year group sang separately, then together and a number of children performed the instruments they are learning. It was a wonderful event and was enjoyed by all who attended.

Federation Christmas Assembly

On Wednesday 20th December, we held a Federation Christmas assembly in All Saints’ church. It was the first time this term that all of the children in both schools have come together and it was just a wonderful opportunity to do so. The assembly opened with a performance from our choir and then continued with a song performed by Y2 children, followed by a song from all of the Emscote children. Hallelujah was then performed by Rev Diane on piano, Mrs Garrett on cello and Ania and one of our parents singing the verses, with children joining in for the choruses. It was a very moving performance! Children in Y4 performed ‘Hope of Heaven’, the song they sang during the Christingle Service at Coventry Cathedral, which was beautiful. All Saints’ children performed two songs to the Emscote children and then we all sang a further song together.  The assembly ended with a lovely ‘goodbye and good luck’ to Mrs Dawe, who is leaving Emscote after many years and will be missed by all.

Japanese Visitors
Last week, Year 6 were visited by Japanese Students from the Fukuoka Girls' High School (Japan). The students introduced themselves and presented a powerpoint all about their school, they taught us about everyday life in their school and Japan in general. They also taught us about fashion, in particular, the kimono and its many uses. 
We spent the afternoon having fun and getting to know our visitors...there were over 30 Japanese students who visited, it was very loud but exciting! The students taught us lots of Japanese games and ran all of the activities themselves, this was part of their 'International course' that they are studying for at High School. All the students spoke in English and had prepared instructions in English as well.
We carried out lots of activities, such as using chopsticks, playing 'Rock, Paper, Scissors' (Japanese style), drawing Japanese cartoons and trying to interpret Japanese language. The students gave us gifts that they had created (origami) and also presented Mrs Sutherland with a gift of sweet biscuits...Mrs Sutherland wasn't allowed to open the gift in front of our guests, this is a Japanese tradition. 
We had a fantastic afternoon with our guests and are looking forward to learning more about Japan through our forthcoming geography and art units. 
 
Grandparents' Afternoon Tea
We held our annual grandparents' afternoon tea on Friday 10th November. It is always a lovely event and this year was no exception. All of the grandparents enjoyed the opportunity to spend time with their grandchildren in school. Thanks as always to Lidia, our school cook, who made all of the food - after already making all of the school lunches! 
Firework Evening
On Thursday 9th November, we held our federation Firework event, organised and run by our wonderful PTA. It was a hugely successful event, the firework display was amazing and the family atmosphere was lovely. A big thank you to everyone who helped to make this such a success
Remembrance
During collective worship sessions in the week beginning 6th November, children learned about the significance of the poppy to commemorate Remembrance each year. 
On Friday 10th, we had a special assembly where we thought about peace and reconciliation around the world, linked with our Cross of Nails status and held a silence at 11am. Many of the children photographed also participated in local parades on Remembrance Sunday. 
Harvest Festival

On Friday 14th October All Saints classes took turns to sing a Harvest themed song. We sang other songs as well in including “Imagine” which is about God’s wonderful creation and “Never Give Up” which encourages us to stand up for justice and hope. Year 6 children had written prayers and Mrs Sutherland thanked parents for providing food items which the church will donate to the Foodbank.

Leaver Church Service
On Friday 21st July, we held our Leavers service in church. Each year group performed a specially re-worded song - these were so cleverly done and enjoyed by all. Y6 children shared some of their memories from their time at All Saints', shared a prayer and also sang a song. It was a really lovely service, including saying goodbye to Mrs Cossins as she starts her retirement, with exciting times ahead for her. We love singing together so we ended the service with the Leavers Song, and even some of the parents then joined in to sing 'Reach for the Stars!' 
SIAMS Celebration
On Monday 10th July,  we held a celebration in school which was attended by Bishop John, the Bishop of Warwick, accompanied by Jen Jenkins from the DBE. The visit was to celebrate our 'Excellent' SIAMS judgement but was also Bishop John's final school visit before retiring. We had a lovely assembly sharing children's work for the Spirited Arts competition, then everyone enjoyed some cake! 
 
 

Warwickshire Junior Book Award 2023 – Award Ceremony

We love taking part in this reading challenge each year; 12 children in Y5 read the four short-listed books then vote for their favourite. This year, the award ceremony was held in the Benn Hall in Rugby and all four of the short-listed authors were able to attend. Our children really enjoyed the ceremony, hearing from the authors about their creative writing process. The winning book this year was ‘The Unmorrow Curse’ by Jasmine Richards; this was also the favourite of our children. Other children in school can look forward to reading these books, which have now been added to our library.

Friends of Bo assembly

While our visitors from Bo in Sierra Leone were visiting, Mrs Garrett and the children in our Friends of Bo club led an assembly to update the whole school about the linked projects being completed. Ms Elizabeth Allie, who works in our link school – New Gerihun Road Upper – was also part of the assembly. She sang the National anthem of Sierra Leone and explained that people salute while singing it, then we sang some other songs together. It was a very special assembly!

Father’s Day breakfast

We held our annual Father’s Day breakfast on Friday 16th June. As always, it was a great success, and lovely to see so many dads with their children.

West End in Schools

Coronation Celebrations

On the day before the Coronation, we held a picnic on our field with all of the children from Emscote Infants and the parents from both schools. The children came dressed in red, white and blue for the day; they carried out various related activities during the morning and at the end of the picnic, they sang a song which had been composed for the occasion. We were also very lucky that the weather held out for the picnic as heavy rain had been forecast. As always, it was very special being able to bring our school community together.

Marionette After School Club
 
Message from Course Instructor -
Isaac, Celie and Elaine are absolute legends, bursting with creativity, imagination and enthusiasm and it was my absolute pleasure to work with them. It's quite amazing what they managed to achieve in just 6 hours! 
World Book Day 2023
PTA Valentine Bake Off
Severn Trent Assembly and Workshops
On the 7th February, Severn Trent came in to talk about the importance water. 
 
In the workshop, the children measured the amount of water that was needed for different activities- having a four minute shower or having a bath. Then, they discussed different solutions on how we can all save in everyday life. 
Royal Institute of Science Day
We had an amazing day in school on 18th January when we were visited by Zane from the Royal institute of Science. The day started with a whole school assembly and then Years 5 and 6 had a workshop in the morning, with years 3 and 4 having their workshop in the afternoon. Later that afternoon, Zane led a community Science show for our parents and children; we had around 100 people attending, and it was an exciting event with lots of amazing demonstrations, bangs and fire, as you can see in the photos! 
 
 
Young Voices at the Genting Arena
On Wednesday 25th January 2023, our school choir performed at Young Voices concert at the Resorts World arena. It was a fantastic event with hundreds of schools and 6240 children attending! It was a once in a life time experience for all of the children involved, who represented our school with great pride and  enthusiasm. Chances are they might not remember what they did yesterday but they will definitely remember when they did Young Voices! Congratulations!  
Santa Dash
'Warwick a Singing Town'
We are delighted to be in our second year of being a Singing School as part of 'Warwick a Singing Town', an amazing initiative which has the following aim and motto: Happiness and Health in Harmony. All of our children receive specialist tuition in singing from Jeremy Dibb, (Research and Delivery Lead for the project) who visits every Thursday for the whole afternoon. The children love his sessions and engage with great enthusiasm. For more information, follow this link:
 
 
Children learning the violin performed to the whole school and did so brilliantly. It takes a lot of courage to perform for an audience - well done to all those involved! 
End of Year Church Service