Whole School Events

St Philips Church – Local Community Links

On Tuesday 16th November Pine 2 went to visit the local Church – St Philips. Over the past couple of months’ leaders at Rowan Tree have been working hard to build up local community links. Rev Tracy came to visit Rowan Tree and talked through all of the things the Church could offer school and leaders from school spoke about the opportunities they wanted for the pupils and some lovely ideas on what they would like to gain from the community links.

Pine 2 have been busy making stars of the Church Christmas display and today went to visit to have a look around the Church in preparation for the Christmas service we have been invited to at Church in December.

Diwali

On Thursday 4th November all classes in school looked at the celebration of Diwali. Diwali is a festival of lights and one of the major festivals celebrated by Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and some Buddhists. The festival usually lasts five days and is celebrated during the Hindu lunisolar month Kartika.

All pupils learnt about the festival through stories, we particularly looked at the story of Rama and Sita. We also incorporated our PSHE targets throughout the day as there is a big focus on family and sharing time together at Diwali.

All classes enjoyed time in the Immersive learning room watching and creating sounds of fireworks. Pupils created Rangoli patterns, made tea light holders and explored different colours whilst making fireworks.

One of our families who celebrate Diwali sent in an activity pack for every child plus lots of lovely food to taste – all pupils had an amazing day and learnt so much about the festival.

#learningeverymoment

Rowan Tree Shine at Kurling Competition!

 Three pupils from Ash 1 represented Rowan Tree at a Kurling competition at The Orchards Federation in Farnworth. Lots of other special and mainstream schools attended from around the area. Ebony, Oracle and Justin all learnt a new skill and had lots of fun playing and meeting new people. All pupils represented Rowan Tree very well and we are all so proud of them! We got through to the semi-final and came 3rd!

Aqualease Rock Pool

All classes across school have spent some time accessing the Aqualease Rock Pool. Aqualease’s extraordinary rock pool experience compiles 7,723 miles of British coastline into one small, digestible learning session. Individually classes had the opportunity to view the rock pool tank closely, touch, observe and hold some of the animals, asking questions to the friendly marine rangers on hand.

We are delighted to learn that our new friends will be coming to visit us regularly throughout the year.

Music in Mind

Music in Mind is run by two experienced musicians, singers, qualified teacher and performers who are gaining popularity facilitating fully interactive and inclusive music sessions.

We are both delighted and proud to share that Ian and Al will be leading our Music Assemblies every Tuesday afternoon at Rowan Tree Primary School.

Ian Unsworth is an experienced guitar and Ukulele teacher with over 30 years experience. He currently teaches one to one at Wigan’s Music 90 music school. Al Hart is a qualified teacher and has researched the effects of music on the brain and nervous system using EEG Brain Wave monitoring hardware. Al is also an experienced performer, singer who can play a wide range of instruments.

Spooky Literacy Competition

This week all pupils have been taking part in a differentiated, inclusive literacy competition. Pupils could enter one of 3 categories – best mark making picture, best colouring/drawing and best spooky story. The competition was judged by our Head Teacher and Literacy Lead and was such a hard decision as all entries were fantastic.

We are super proud of all entries and winners, well done everyone!

Gold Medal Winners

Classes choose one Gold Medal winner from their class each half term. The gold medal winners are pupils who have made exceptional progress over the half term in any specific subject area or key skills. We are very proud of all our pupils at Rowan Tree, however we would like to say a massive congratulations to our Gold Medal winners for Autumn 1.

The Big Listening Festival

On Tuesday 12th October members of the Rowan Tree School Council met with two members of the Local Council as part of the Big Listening Festival.

School Council members give their ideas and opinions on Wigan Council. They answered questions relating to the environment, safety, and school plus give their opinion on how Wigan could be a better place.

Thank you so much for meeting us today at school. It was lovely to talk to you all and to hear what you enjoy and what you would like to do when you are older. It was so nice to hear about how you look after the environment and how you help your friends when they are sad. You should be very proud of yourselves for telling us about the things which are important to you.

– Wendy Froggatt, Wigan Council

 

National Fitness Day

On Thursday 23rd September all pupils at Rowan Tree took part in National Fitness Day. They showed off various skills by taking part in different activities throughout the day including scoring goals in football and basketball nets, catching balls on the air juggler, jumping on the trampoline and throwing hoops over the cactus. As well as developing their gross motor skills pupils also developed skills in other areas of the curriculum for example; counting throughout each activity, recognising the different coloured balls, waiting for their turn and sharing with friends.