At West Butterwick, the School Council is preparing to meet with a number of Parish Councillors on the 23rd January. This meeting will give our School Councillors a chance to find out what being a Parish Councillor entails and will also allow for some discussion about shared local priorities that the school may support with and vice versa. ‘Is there anybody out there?’ This is the question class 2 at West Butterwick would like to seek answers to this term, as the Junior pupils study the Earth and what lies beyond our atmosphere. They have already thought of questions such as ‘Is the moon made of cheese?’ – Wallace and Grommit might help with that one in connection with literacy as the children work on creating science fiction stories of other worlds and aliens. Another question generated by the class to inspire learning and investigation this term is; ‘what would happen if there was no moon….would there be only daytime?’ Research in Class 2’s science work will help them in finding out! Furthermore, West Butterwick school has invited in local artist ‘Martin Maywood’ to work with pupils on creating ‘our own universes’ and ‘big bangs’ with unique and exploratory art forms using paint. They will certainly be having a busy and exciting time! Infants at West Butterwick have been exploring space too, learning about the various planets and creating some of these from papier mache. Pupils learnt about Neil Armstrong, and successfully designed and made a moving picture with hinges, levers and pivots linked to skills development in Design and Technology. Over these next few weeks of this Spring term, the Foundation Stage (Nursery and Reception) is going to be focusing on Traditional Tales, starting with Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Keep an eye on that porridge! Similarly to St Martin’s there is also going to be some exploratory work done on the locale, investigating how West Butterwick village has changed over the years. West Butterwick School’s involvement in the St Mary’s Family Services continues. The next one is to focus on Candlemas. Our Lighting the Candle Group of Pupil Worship Leaders plan their next short (20 minutes) Community Worship for Friday 7th February. The group will re-tell the story of David and Goliath and consider the theme of ‘faith and courage in oneself and God’. So, all in all, a busy and enthusiastic start to 2014. Happy New Year to you all!

For more information on both schools please visit www.trentsidefederation.co.uk Mrs Josephine Buckle, Headteacher, Trentside Federation of St Martin’s and West Butterwick Church of England Primary Schools.

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