Pupils from Heacham Infant and Heacham Junior Schools came together for an action-packed trip that brought their classroom learning to life and saw them get hands-on in nature.

The 54 children from Years 2 and 3 spent the day at Holkham nature reserve, where activities supported topics they have been covering in class.

Year 3 Class Teacher Harriet Munson accompanied the groups, along with Year 3 Teaching Assistant Harriette Pateman, Year 4 Class Teacher Katie Cornwell, and Year 4 Teaching Assistant Stephanie Johnson.

“The trip linked to Year 2’s current Science unit ‘Living Things and their Habitats’ from our knowledge-rich curriculum, and Year 3’s current Science unit on life cycles in nature where we have been focusing particularly on plants,” she explained.

“In the morning, Year 3 spent time in the Walled Garden where they explored the wide range of flowers, herbs, fruits, and vegetables that grow there. The children were given two big buckets of compost to have a feel of and learnt about its use.

“Picking up some trowels, we then had the chance to do some digging in one of the planters. The children loved seeing what they could dig up – particularly worms.

“Next we grabbed some mini glass bottles to make our ‘magic potions’ using herbs and flowers from the garden. The children were fascinated by the array of choice and aroma.

“Our last activity before lunch was to take some of the compost from earlier and plant our own seeds, including wildflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and peas in little trays for each child to take home.”

The Year 2 children had an equally active time hunting for bugs in the woodland area of the historic estate.

Ms Munson continued: “With brushes and magnifying pots in hand, the children got busy turning over logs, searching in the soil, and scrambling through the leaves to see what living organisms they could find.

“The children then matched their findings against the bug identifier sheet to see what kinds of things we had caught – we had some fantastic discoveries from snails and spiders to some rather large and colourful ground beetles.”

The pupils rounded off the session by making clay models of their discoveries, before releasing their catches and swapping activities with the Year 3 group.

The trip is a regular for the schools, which are both members of the West Norfolk Academies Trust – although this was the first time the two year groups had visited together.

Ms Munson added: “We try to go to Holkham every year, this year being the first we have visited across both Heacham Infants and Junior schools.

“The benefit to the children is that they get to explore a wide range of hands-on workshops outside of the classroom, and the opportunity to take home their creations, such as their planting trays, magic potions, and clay bugs – plus a wealth of knowledge on how plants grow and where bugs live.”

There was strength in numbers, when our young musicians joined others at Springwood High School to practise and play in a workshop which culminated in a music festival performance.

Organised by the West Norfolk Academies Trust, the event brought together more than 180 Year 3 to 6 children from the feeder primaries for the Trust’s four high schools, which include Marshland in West Walton, St Clement’s in Terrington St Clement, Smithdon in Hunstanton, and Springwood in Lynn.

Springwood hosted the workshop on Monday 6 July, as well as the four-day WNAT Community Music Festival, which kicked off on the same evening. Springwood students were also on hand to support the younger pupils.

Trust Peripatetic Music Lead Benjamin Howell organised the event and oversaw the children’s musical collaboration.

“The event featured two large ensembles: a String Orchestra and a Wind Band,” he explained. “The repertoire was carefully selected to appeal to students of all ages and abilities, running from ‘Hotel California’ and music inspired by Roblox, through to Vivaldi’s ‘Spring’. The Wind Band also performed pieces including ‘Supercharged’ and ‘Rising Up’.

“The workshop took place throughout the afternoon and concluded with an outdoor performance as part of WNAT Community Music Festival Week, where families, staff, and members of the local community were able to join us to celebrate the students’ achievements.”

Among the Trust primary schools taking part were Clenchwarton, Gaywood, Heacham Junior, Snettisham, Walpole Cross Keys, and West Lynn.

Mr Howell continued: “Events of this scale take place just once each academic year and provide a fantastic opportunity for students from across the Trust to rehearse and perform together.

“The workshop also built on the success of our recent Play Day held earlier this year, while supporting the wider aims of the Musical Instrument Tuition Initiative (MITI).

“Throughout the year, students work towards Bronze, Silver, and Gold awards, with events such as this providing a rewarding goal and an opportunity to showcase the progress they have made.”

Time travel was the theme when our children came together with others from across the West Norfolk Academies Trust for an annual celebration of dance, which featured music spanning decades from the 1940s to the modern era.

This year’s WNAT Dance Festival was held at Springwood High School on Wednesday 1 July and saw around 130 pupils from ten primary schools showcase their talents to an audience of some 200 people.

Besides host Springwood, whose dancers opened the event, Trust schools taking part included Clenchwarton, Gaywood, Heacham Junior, Snettisham, Walpole Cross Keys, and West Lynn. They were also joined by dancers from the Windmill Primary Federation schools of Terrington St John, Tilney St Lawrence, Walpole Highway, and West Walton.

‘Time Travel Through the Decades’ took the audience on a whistle-stop musical tour of the last eighty years, with dances performed to tracks such as ‘In the Mood’, ‘Rock Around the Clock’, ‘Surfin’ USA’. ‘You Should be Dancing’, ‘Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go’, a nineties mash-up, and ‘Zoo’.

Emma Hunt is Executive Headteacher at the Windmill Primary Federation, and worked with WNAT Administrator Emma Pearman to coordinate the event, which was taking place for the fifth time.

“Some of the highlights of the Dance Festival were seeing primary school children embrace the opportunity to perform with enthusiasm, confidence, and pride in front of their families and communities,” she said.

“Another particularly rewarding aspect was bringing together students from many different schools to share a common experience together. As Helen Keller said, ‘Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.’”

Kate Whyborn and a team of choreographers from KLW Dance worked with the children on the routines, rehearsing with them in the weeks leading up to the performance.

Mrs Hunt continued: “Events like this play a vital role in providing students with opportunities to explore new interests, develop new skills, and challenge themselves in a supportive and encouraging environment.

“They inspire students to step outside their comfort zones, build self-confidence, and realise that they are capable of achieving things they may once have thought impossible. These experiences foster creativity, resilience, critical thinking, and an appreciation for teamwork, respect, and kindness.”

She added: “One of the most rewarding outcomes is watching students who may initially feel uncertain or reluctant grow in confidence, take pride in their accomplishments, and enthusiastically share their talents with others.

“Beyond supporting individual growth, these events strengthen connections between the school and the wider community, creating opportunities to celebrate students’ achievements and the positive impact of working together.”

Our top spellers went head to head in an annual competition where pupils from ten West Norfolk Academies Trust schools were challenged to showcase their skills.

The WNAT Primary Spelling Bee featured 30 Key Stage 2 children from Years 3 to 6 across the Trust’s member primary schools, which included Clenchwarton, Walpole Cross Keys, West Lynn, Gaywood, Snettisham, and Heacham Junior, alongside Terrington St John, Tilney St Lawrence, Walpole Highway, and West Walton from the Windmill Federation.

The event took place at Heacham Junior School and was overseen by Emma Hunt, who is WNAT English Lead as well as Executive Headteacher at the Windmill Federation.

“The event forms part of a programme of activities organised by the Trust throughout the academic year,” she said. “These events are designed to build pupils’ confidence, provide opportunities to interact and socialise with peers from other schools within the Trust, develop new skills, and, above all, ensure that pupils enjoy themselves.”

It was the fourth time the Spelling Bee had taken place, with three entrants from each primary qualifying via previous stages held in individual classes and schools. Primary Trust Assistant Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Coordinator (SENDCo) Darren Furzey was on hand to call out the words.

Mrs Hunt continued: “Pupils pick a number from a hat  – this matches a chair for competitors to sit in. Spellings are called out and individuals answer. They remain in the competition until they spell a word incorrectly, then they sit down until a winner is found.”

Words successfully tackled by this year’s competitors included ‘accommodate’, ‘government’, ‘sincerely’, and ‘quadrilateral’, while the winner was Olivia from Clenchwarton, who correctly spelled ‘accomplishment’ to win a Kindle Fire tablet. Everyone participating received a certificate and chocolate.

Mrs Hunt added: “The Spelling Bee is a particularly valuable event, as it helps pupils develop a deeper understanding of the English language, while expanding their vocabulary.

“Beyond learning to spell words correctly, participation encourages planning, preparation, perseverance, and effective study habits, all of which contribute to pupils’ overall academic development.”

Children from Heacham Junior School were hitting all the right targets, when they joined others from across the West Norfolk Academies Trust to test their skills in an archery competition.

The Upper Key Stage 2 event was hosted by our school, and saw 30 Year 5 and 6 pupils from across the Trust’s six primary schools compete in teams in a series of challenges.

Among the activities were a ‘pizza game’ where pupils had to hit coloured segments of a target representing ‘base’, ‘sauce’, and ‘toppings’ in the right order to build up a pizza, and a contest to score the highest points in a set time limit. Each participant received a certificate to mark their achievements.

Besides our school, other participating WNAT primaries included Clenchwarton, Gaywood, Snettisham, Walpole Cross Keys, and West Lynn.

“Events hosted by our Trust are important because they help children build confidence, focus, and teamwork, while trying something new and inclusive,” said our Class 4 Teacher, James Agate, who oversaw the event.

“They also give schools a chance to bring students together, encourage participation in sport, and support wellbeing and personal development. These events create positive experiences that can inspire children both in and outside the classroom.”