It’s Half Term this week – a welcome opportunity for us all to recharge and relax – but there’s still been rather a lot going on at Westbourne! From snowmen, pancakes and beach art, to German poetry and debating, here are some of the highlights in another fun-filled Westbourne Weekly…
It was a frosty start to the Westbourne week, with some beautiful snowy scenery in Penarth. Our boarding school students had great fun in the unexpected blizzard, building snowmen, having snowball fights, and Dominic, Ivan and Kinga even went for a brisk run in the snow, which was extremely impressive!
Also this week, the boarders said a big happy 18th birthday to Minh, who celebrated with a wonderful party, surrounded by her Westbourne friends. Happy birthday, Minh! What a milestone!
A group of five Westbourne students – Prarthna, Markus and John from IB1, and Issy and Lilian from Year 11 – took on sixth form students in the Wales Schools Debating Championships, a national competition run by the Welsh Centre for International Affairs.
Prartha represented the school in the individual competition, delivering a strong speech and answering questions on the motion, “This house believes that social groups should call for the recruitment of more minority police officers as opposed to the defunding of the police”.
Issy and Lilian were in the team competition against Cardiff Sixth Form College and were the opposition debate to the motion, “This house would financially incentivise paternity leave”.
Markus and John were also in a team together, this time against Cardiff Academy as the opposition for, “This house would create a bursary for students of colour to access additional opportunities during their primary and secondary school lives”.
It was a very intense day that demanded quick-thinking, eloquence, and nerves of steel under the constant gaze of the judges! An absolutely huge well done to the students who took part and who represented the school with such flair. And special thanks to Prarthna, who is currently in Malaysia and practised with the team at 1am due to the time difference – now, that’s dedication!
Our Pre-IB German students are taking part in the ‘Express Yourself in Lockdown’ event organised by the British Council and the Association for Language Learning to show how languages can thrive in lockdown. Language learners are invited to record themselves delivering a short poem, presentation, sketch or dialogue in their chosen language, in no more than 90 seconds.
Next week we’ll be sharing a selection of the wonderfully creative Westbourne entries on social media with the hashtag #CelebrateSpeaking, in time for the submission deadline on 28th February. Watch this space!
Our French and Spanish students from Year 2 to Year 11 took on a mouthwatering culinary challenge that saw them roll up their sleeves and enjoy a cookery-themed wellbeing session.
After watching videos explaining different food traditions, and armed with French and Spanish recipes, the students had to choose between cooking crepes or galette des rois (for the French chefs), or between patatas bravas, tortilla or churros with chocolate (for the Spanish chefs).
Everyone really enjoyed getting stuck in to create some delicious treats with their families at home.
As part of our ongoing Children’s Mental Health Week activities, our Year 6 Art class is currently working on land art projects, inspired by the work of Andy Goldsworthy and James Brunt who use natural forms within natural settings.
If Barnabe’s fabulous submission is anything to go by, then the standard is going to be incredibly high. Well done, Barnabe! We can’t wait to see what his classmates produce for the official deadline next week…
Life at Little Westbourne was very busy this week as the children enjoyed making and decorating pancakes for Shrove Tuesday. With a selection of tasty toppings to choose from, from fresh fruit to chocolate, the children demonstrated great concentration and artistry in making sure that their creation was as delicious as possible…
What better way to end this week’s Westbourne Weekly than with lots of happy, smiling faces enjoying FaB School? Here are our Reception adventurers getting muddy and having brilliant fun in their forest dens, making the most of the school’s beautiful surroundings. Fantastic work, everyone!
