Visit from WWSC – Lifesaving & Water Safety 

Visit from JC Grimshaw – Musician

Both schools had a vist from JC Grimshaw who performs in a variety of duos, trios and bands aswell as being an exceptional songwriter and composer, teacher, and outstanding multi instrumentalist, who plays guitar, mandolin, harmonica, ukulele and Hawaiian lap guitar with a deep-rooted passion.

Over the years J.C. has worked with many established artists ranging from Midge Ure in the pop world, to Bob Brozman in the acoustic blues world. He has played worldwide in venues ranging from huge stadiums to small folk clubs and art centres.

His interest in music is hugely diverse. He has played in numerous bands, making a name for himself in many different arenas: Blues,Vintage Jazz, Gypsy, Country, Folk and Pop.

The children absolutely loved hearing him and his wife play!

Pearl of Africa Children’s Choir

We recently had the privilege of having a visit from The Pearl of Africa Ugandan Children’s Choir. Pearl of Africa is a non-profit organization who aim to break the cycle of poverty for Ugandan children by investing in education, health, water and sustainable food programmes, in consultation with their Ugandan partners. https://pearlofafrica.org.uk/

The choir spent the day at both sites, teaching the children singing, drumming and dancing workshops before giving the school children and their friends/ families an uplifting, energetic evening performance at Freshwater and Yarmouth CE Primary! A fabulous time was had by all! Thank you to everyone involved in making the day possible and to everyone who came and supported!

Here are a few quotes from the staff and children:
It was really good. I liked the clapping -Bruce
The dances were amazing – Annaleigha
They were amazing! They sung acapella using only drums to keep in time. It was fabulous! – Mrs Harris
The exploded into the hall with so much confidence, they were so inspiring and left us all feeling elated – Mrs Whitehead

OUR VISIT FROM FREESTYLE FOOTBALLER … ASH RANDALL

We had the privilege of a visit from a professional freestyle footballer, Ash Randall, who showed us some of his favourite freestyle tricks and showed us some which lead to him breaking (and setting) over twenty-five world records and has put him in the books of Guinness World Records at least three times. He showed us pictures of his accomplishments (and one of when he met Pele). He also picked some of us to try to do some tricks (which managed to go very well) and encouraged us to always try again. Then he even got Mr.Westhorpe and Mrs.Poulton to try some tricks and later got them in a little competition against Malachi (Year 6) to see who could keep a ball from touching the ground, eventually Malachi won. Then he finished with some more amazing freestyle tricks and that was  the end. It was an incredible experience and we give all our thanks to him.

By Ryleigh Yr 6 Freshwater & Yarmouth

Kings coronation in Yarmouth Square

Thank you to all of you, that were able to join us at the Kings Coronation singing event in Yarmouth on Sunday. It turned out to be a lovely sunny day and the children were all amazing. They sang 5 songs & the national anthem, beautifully. Well done!

Freshwater & Yarmouth C of E Primary School Opening Ceremony

On Thursday 30th March 2023 our new school site was formally opened with a wonderful lively collective worship led by our pupils. Each year group contributed to the worship, singing songs, reciting poetry, showing artwork and even a comedy video created by year 6 pupils revealing their favourite bits of the new building. Local dignitaries, politicians, community leaders and parents were welcomed in the new school hall for the celebration. Rev Leisa Potter led the school community in prayers and the Bishop of Portsmouth, Jonathan Frost, finished the celebration with a short talk before cake and tea was served.

The former Victorian building that housed All Saints C of E Primary in Freshwater needed to be demolished as it was suffering from subsidence and structural problems. The new building was designed by Hampshire County Council architects and is more appropriate for modern educational needs. All the classrooms are accessed via a single corridor which has multi-coloured breakout rooms and roof windows allowing pupils to learn in light, well ventilated, free flow areas. There are hard and soft play areas, a bright inviting library, a music room, a technology suite and a special needs resource base to name just a few of the assets.

Some of the original stone from the Victorian building has been incorporated into the new frontage and we have managed to keep the beautiful stained glass window and a safe that was used by Lord Tennyson, which had been in All Saints primary. The display boards showing the winners of the annual Effie Pitman award have also been transferred from the former Yarmouth building.

Below are some photos of our new school building and our opening ceremony.

Dementia Friendly Choir

On Wednesday mornings children from Year 5 & 6 have been given the opportunity to join with the West Wight Dementia Friendly Choir.

‘The dementia choir has a wonderful atmosphere to it. The children of year 5 and 6 love going to the choir and leave feeling happy and excited to go again. At the moment in the choir we have been singing songs by Mary Poppins, one of our favourites being Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. People at the choir are really kind to us and very helpful. At the break we help hand round the snacks and sit with the people, talking about all the things we have been up to. When we are singing we have instruments like maracas, bells and mini drums. We are so grateful for this opportunity.’

By Annie & Summer

Farewell to Yarmouth School Site

We held a wonderful final farewell collective worship at Yarmouth Primary. The collective worship included some of our favourite songs. River and Coast class did a nativity reading, Ocean class a Christmas poem. Golden tickets were awarded to Malachi Y6, Scarlet Y3, Nina Y4 and George Y4. The sports award went to Isla in Y5. After the birthday celebrations, Solent Class presented the real meaning of Christmas. Memories were shared by the children and the teachers. Thanks was given by Mrs Grainger, prayers from the children and a final blessing given by Rev Leisa Potter.