Christmas comes but once a year and across The Corinium Education Trust we enthusiastically embrace the festivities. We celebrate the true meaning of Christmas through our actions and calendared events. All schools have involved the wider community, with carols being sung in churches and care homes and cards and parcels being sent to those in greater need at home and abroad.

 

‘I have been impressed by the generosity of spirit across The Corinium Education Trust this Christmas. Pupils have shown tremendous empathy and have learnt the value of giving in a variety of different ways as well as of receiving! I wish everyone a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.’ Chiquita Henson, Chief Executive.

 

In each of our primary schools, pupils of all ages have had the opportunity to share their talents by taking part in nativity plays and donate gifts for their annual Christmas Fayres. We are grateful to our families who have generously contributed to and support these festive events.

 

‘We are so proud of all our wonderful children who performed so well in our nativity plays - whether they spoke, sang or acted, all the children did so well. A huge thank you to all the staff involved. Once again they have done us proud! All of our visitors said how much they enjoyed the plays – a wonderful way to get us in the Christmas mood!’ Carol Dougill, Executive Headteacher, Kemble and Siddington C of E Primary Schools.

 

Across The Corinium Education Trust pupils have made and exchanged cards and gifts. At Deer Park, Year 7 pupils took this to new heights and designed cards with increasing sophistication in a new paper engineering module in their Design lessons. This included traditional pop-up cards and, more ambitiously, those with circular motion as a result of including gears.

 

While all pupils at Kemble and Siddington C of E Primary Schools enjoyed ‘Cinderella’, the pantomime at Cheltenham’s Everyman Theatre, pupils at Chesterton took advantage of a more local performance and walked from the school to see ‘A Christmas Carol’ at Cirencester’s Barn Theatre. This trip was supported by the school’s PTA and it was definitely appreciated.

 

‘We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who helped make the trip to see A Christmas Carol at the Barn Theatre such a success. We are also grateful to The Barn Theatre production team who kindly arranged for one of the actors to meet the children before the performance.’ Karen Venner, Headteacher.

 

‘The play was amazing. My favourite part was when Marley came out from the trap door with smoke coming out of it and when the chains were clashing and banging on the ground.’ James, Year 5.

 

‘My favourite thing was when everybody was singing and it was beautiful. I loved watching them act out things that I didn’t know. The actors looked like they enjoyed it and they were smiling and that made me smile too.’ Katie, Year 5.

 

Each of our schools has celebrated Christmas in its own way reflecting their distinctive characteristics. Cirencester Deer Park School’s annual Carol Service in The Parish Church on Tuesday 10 December 2019, was the first herald the season of advent and this was followed by the annual Christingle and Carol Services at Kemble and Siddington C of E Primary Schools. At Siddington C of E Primary School pupils took care to create their own Christingles while they learnt more about what the different elements represented as Christian symbols.

 

At Cirencester Deer Park School, the very popular Christmas Jumper Day coincided with the school’s Christmas lunch and, for the privilege of wearing these cheerful tops, pupils gave generously to the local food bank and Save the Children.

Across The Corinium Education Trust we aim to help our pupils become responsible and caring citizens. We encourage them to take part in global stewardship and help them find a voice in current debates and in planning for the future.

 

Pupils in Year 6 at Chesterton Primary School responded to the call for questions for the Cotswolds’ parliamentary candidates at a general election debate on the climate change emergency. Their questions were very pertinent and reflected their concerns. They included ‘What are your top 5 tips for children to help slow down climate change?’ and ‘What are you currently doing in your everyday life to help reduce plastic?’

 

'The children held a lively mature classroom debate to establish their key questions and subsequently watched the filming of the event to discover how their concerns are being addressed by the parliamentary candidates. The children are beginning to discuss how we can reduce our own school environmental footprint.' Karen Venner, Chesterton School Headteacher

 

Climate change and, in particular, reducing plastic in our oceans, is a strong theme across The Corinium Education Trust. Pupils new to Year 7 at Cirencester Deer Park School had the opportunity to explore this further by participating in an enrichment weekend, ‘Plastic fantastic?’ in November. Pupils worked collaboratively to developing and propose sustainable solutions from the perspective of Island Nations in the Pacific. All activities at The Slimbridge Wetlands and Wildfowl Trust Centre and their diligent preparation culminated in an impressive Model United Nations debate which included drafting policy and negotiating amendments. (Read more...)

 

‘The pupils are a credit to the school for pushing on in adverse weather conditions. They didn’t give up and made the most of their time with me and the wider visit. It was lovely to see their enthusiasm and interest.’  Sue Belej, Learning Manager, Slimbridge.

 

‘Across two jam-packed days our pupils displayed incredible resilience and brilliance! The quality of the debate on Saturday evening was amongst the best I have heard from pupils.' Jonathan Ferne, Humanities Team Leader, Cirencester Deer Park School.

 

‘I have had a brilliant time this weekend. I have learnt a lot about what problems the world has and how we can stop them.’  Summer, Year 7, Cirencester Deer Park School.

 

Other interested pupils at Deer Park also found a voice and were able to contribute to raising awareness of Climate Change by singing along to a protest song - Earth Song - initially shared by the girls of Torquay Grammar School during Climate Action Week in September 2019 (Read more...) and, closer to Christmas, pupils subsequently took part in another protest song, premiered at the school’s annual Carol Service and this time shared globally, The Resolution Song #resolution2020. (Read more...)

 

Furthermore, pupils at Deer Park took part in The World’s Largest Lesson in September 2019. This focused on what action can C40 cities take to tackle climate change and to mitigate its impact. (Read more...). A small delegation of committed GCSE geographers, led by Rebecca Lillington, Associate Assistant Head, rose to the challenge of A level content lectures and workshops on a trip to the Museum of Natural History, Oxford in November 2019. Samantha in Year 11 commented ‘It was a really challenging experience as we discovered the impact of our own carbon footprint and it opened my eyes to a more sustainable way of living. I loved the workshops.’  (Read more...)