Tuesday November 26th 2024

Dear Diary,

I think Waterwells Primary Academy definitely got their money’s worth during today’s FREE school visit! We somehow squeezed TWO assemblies AND four workshops into one day. I’m still trying to figure out how we managed to fit it all in!!! Things kicked off with two back-to-back assemblies. One was a cosy affair for KS1, the second was with a much larger KS2 audience — but despite their differences, both were tremendous fun! The pupils at Waterwells Primary are exceptional listeners. They sat beautifully throughout, with hands shooting up into the air to ask and answer questions. They had some inventive ideas about what they’d do if they had magic at their fingertips, too. (I’m sadly too tired to remember any of them now, though.) It was then time to pull tables out in the hall for the first workshop, and with the help of some of the children, this took no time at all. In fact, throughout my whole visit, the pupils at Waterwells proved to be exceptionally kind, considerate, and helpful. My first session of the day was with 60 Year 5 pupils. This workshop was very noisy, but incredibly productive… and over far too soon. Next, it was onto classroom visits for each of the Year 6 classes, who wowed me with their fantastic creativity and the speed at which they got their ideas down on paper. During the second of the Year 6 workshops, we had so many super raps dreamt up and performed… some of these pupils had never even rapped before, but fancied giving it a go! They’re a braver lot than me!!! After a quick lunch, it was time for the fourth workshop of the day… a mighty session for 90 Year 3 & 4 pupils. Once again, the children in this group were so talented, creative, and imaginative. And although this session was the longest of the day, it still seemed to finish far too soon. It was lovely to see the pupils choosing to create more than one character, and watching them return to select new character prompt sheets over and over again. I handed out so many certificates today, too. But in all honesty, EVERY SINGLE pupil deserved one, either for the quality of the work they produced, their behaviour, or the effort they put into all the activities. Waterwells pupils strive to be the best they can be, and that was very evident throughout my visit. It was an absolute pleasure to spend the day there, and I really hope to return again next year. Jen and all the staff were fabulous, and it was a fast-paced yet wonderful day!!! The pupils all came up with so many standout stories, but I was so impressed by the collaboration Eva-Mae and Tobin came up with. I hope they both work on more stories together in the future. And I hope to hear from LOTS of Waterwells pupils, via the website, with any stories they come up with going forwards.