Helping Gaywood students achieve and grow with Christmas fun

There were Christmas biscuits, decorations, party games and even some elves when Gaywood Primary School celebrated the festive season.

Children at the school, which is a member of the West Norfolk Academies Trust, swapped their uniforms for Christmas jumpers and spent the last day of term on Friday enjoying a host of Winter and Christmas-themed activities.

---

​Headteacher Neil Mindham said: “For the last day of each half term, we collapse the curriculum and spend the whole day taking part in enrichment activities.

“Last half term the children took part in activities focused around the theme of Autumn – this half term we were focusing on Winter/Christmas.”

The school’s Early Year Foundation Stage children made their own Christmas biscuits, hats, tree decorations and cards in the morning, then enjoyed a Christmas party in the afternoon, complete with refreshments and games.

Meanwhile the Year 1 and 2 pupils became elves for the day, writing elf diary entries and making tree decorations and reindeer food, before relaxing in front of a Christmas film.

In the year above, the Year 3s got creative with a range of Christmas crafts, making a Christmas tree scene, Christmas cards using pasta shapes, and tree decorations from sticks and wool, as well as decorating a gift bag and learning how to make snowflakes.

There were festive word searches and acrostic poems in Year 4, along with beaded snowflakes, spiral snowmen, and 3D wreaths, while Year 5 learnt about and created Christingles, then made watercolour Christmas cards with winter poems inside.

In the afternoon, Year 5’s activities included making a moving elf and designing a Christmas door hanger and wreath, followed by a Christmas quiz, complete with prizes.

Gaywood's Year 6 pupils also made Christingles, as well as creating decorations using ribbons and found materials such as sticks and leaves.

They too designed their own Christmas cards, with each featuring a short acrostic poem.

Mr Mindham added: “We passionately want every child to gain experiences to help them achieve and grow.

“Our curriculum already includes an enrichment map which gives the children the opportunity to build their cultural capital, and the enrichment days are an extension to that.

“It was a fun and rewarding end to our busy Christmas Term.”