School Fest
School Fest.
Bunbury Aldersey CE Primary school is passionate about developiong the whole child during their time at our school. Whilst we strive for high academic standards we also know that children can 'let their light shine' in so many different ways than within the classroom. Schools Fest was born out of the school recognising that during the 2 years of the pandemic our children did not experience many of those developmental experiences which are not recognised by statutory testing at the end of a Key Stage. Schools Fest is a week long festival held on our school site which involves exciting, alternative experiences that benefit all children in school. The event involves a whole week of exciting outdoor challenges, incorporating physical games and expressive arts activities, all being held on school premises. As a staff we are always aware that education is more than the acquisition of knowledge, by improving young people’s skills, values, relationships and personal development we can significantly enhance learning and achievement. We see huge benefits to our children from hosting a School Fest project and knew that this event would create memorable learning experiences for all involved.
School Fest was first held during summer term 2021 and returned in May 2022 then June 2023. Children in Early Years and Key Stage 1 undertook several daytime activities over the week, and years 3-6 enjoyed multiple daytime challenges and one overnight camp per year group. Activities have a strong emphasis on problem solving and encouraging collaboration but ultimately, they were an opportunity to create memorable learning experiences and to have fun with their friends. The children themselves had been heavily involved in planning the event: selecting the logo for our school fest t-shirts and deciding on some of the activities and experiences. Our Year 6 children have also been writing to local businesses for support and during the week produced their own Newspaper reports on the event.
The scouts have been extremely generous and have offered to loan their tents for the children’s sleeping arrangements, additionally they permanently donated a large bell tent, which will be erected on the school field, for outdoor activities.
As always at Bunbury we have multiple committed staff who have volunteered to support the School Fest provision and we look forward to being able to build on the success of such a project in 2024
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Despite the strangeness of the outside world, wonderful things continue to take place behind our closed doors.