It added up to a memorable occasion, when our students joined others from across the West Norfolk Academies Trust for the first ever WNAT Year 10 Maths Challenge.

Hosted by Springwood, the competition featured teams from all four of the Trust’s high schools, with the others including Marshland, St Clement’s, and Smithdon.

Each of the 17 participating teams consisted of four students, who worked together to solve a series of Maths problems, accruing points across several rounds.

“The students had to work as a team to compete in four different rounds named ‘Merry Go Round’, ‘Encryption’, ‘Practical Interlude’, and, lastly, a ‘Relay’ round, all aimed to extend the knowledge they have learned in the classroom,” said Maths Teacher Lucy Edwards, who is Lead for Academic Progress and Enrichment in Maths at Springwood and organised the event.

“Throughout the rounds, the competition was extremely close, with only ten points separating all of the teams. In the end, two Springwood teams gained the runners-up and winning positions.”

Winners Jack, Dylan, Prateek, and Theo narrowly edged ahead of second-placed Vanessa, Leya, Harriet, and Nicole, with both teams receiving certificates from WNAT Lead for Maths Connie Loizou.

“Sixth-form student volunteers ensured the event ran smoothly by supporting teams to have the correct materials and marking students’ work,” continued Miss Edwards.

“Maths teachers from visiting schools and Springwood were extremely supportive throughout the event, especially with the scoring for each of the teams.”

The success of the Year 10 Maths Challenge means it will become an annual event in the WNAT calendar, while the format will also be extended to younger year groups within the Trust.

“Events like this are extremely important to inspire students to not only study Maths to a higher level beyond secondary school, such as at sixth form or university, but also to have an enjoyment for the subject,” added Miss Edwards.

“It is so lovely to see students working as a team to engage with challenging Maths materials, which they will not have seen within the classroom, to push their learning even further.”

There was something for everyone, when musicians from our school joined others from across West Norfolk for a performance at St Nicholas Chapel in King’s Lynn.

Organised by the West Norfolk Academies Trust, the WNAT Play Day event saw primary school pupils perform alongside older students from 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.

“The Play Day brought together students from across the feeder primary schools to the four WNAT high schools, spanning the breadth of West Norfolk, from West Walton through to Hunstanton and the surrounding areas,” said Benjamin Howell, who is Peripatetic Music Lead at the Trust and helped co-ordinate the event.

“The event featured primary school musicians alongside high school and sixth-form students, who came together to perform as a large Trust ensemble.”

The musical offering was equally wide-ranging, covering themes from television and film as well as classical pieces, while there were also guest performances from some of the schools’ music groups.

“The musical programme was varied and engaging, ranging from the dramatic theme from The Traitors, music from How to Train Your Dragon, Hungarian Dance No. 5, and both the ‘Habanera’ and ‘Toreador’s Song’ from Carmen,” continued Mr Howell

“In addition, we were delighted to feature performances from the Springwood Concert Band, the Sinfonia String Group, and the St Clement’s High School Band, whose performances further demonstrated the musical progression available to students across the Trust.”

Some 187 musicians were involved in the day, which concluded with a concert performance for WNAT staff, trustees, family members, and friends.

Support was provided by WNAT Peripatetic Team members Jo Kemp, Music Lead at St Clement’s; Mary-Ann Robertson; Emily Savage; David Maddison; Nic Bouskill; and Helen Johnson; along with David Stowell from the Norfolk Music Hub; while the event was organised by WNAT Director of Music, Robin Norman, with the assistance of Emma Pearman and Sam Johnson from the Trust.

“We are very appreciative of the Trust Administration Team, Senior Leadership, and Trustees for their support – particularly CEO Andy Johnson,” added Mr Howell.

“Our thanks also go to St Nicholas Chapel for hosting the event, and to the many parents, carers, families, and friends who attended the concluding performance.”

History was brought vividly to life, when students from St Clement’s High School spent the day at RAF Marham.

The Year 8 and 9 group received a tour of the Aviation Heritage Centre and Air Traffic Control Tower, courtesy of curator Steve Roberts, MBE, who outlined the history of the Royal Air Force from World War One to modern times.

“The tour allowed the students to view over 12,000 artefacts and memorabilia that reflect the history of the Royal Air Force in Marham, East Anglia, and beyond,” said Jenny Ford, Librarian at our school, which is a member of the West Norfolk Academies Trust.

“The displays were arranged in chronological order to help the students understand the historical timeline from the Royal Flying Corps, the First World War, formation of the RAF, World War Two, Suez Canal Crisis, the Cold War, the Falklands conflict, and Gulf Wars, up to the present day.”

Organised by our Head of History, Anton Modica, it was the first time the visit had taken place.

“The students were particularly interested in viewing armaments used by RAF Marham aircraft, including the Sidewinder and Brimstone missiles,” continued Mrs Ford, who accompanied the group alongside Mr Modica.

“Another highlight was a WE177 Freefall nuclear bomb, a significant artefact from the Cold War era. Another item of interest on display was a Victor Bomber ejection seat and historic aircraft propellers.”

There was also an interactive element to the visit, with some students able to experience for themselves the drama of World War Two, thanks to a flight simulator which took them on a 1943 night raid over Berlin via Virtual Reality Headsets.

“The students could join the aircrew virtually and listen to communication over internal radios,” explained Mrs Ford. “This allowed the students a brief insight into the bravery and resilience of the personnel from Bomber Command.”

In addition to the Heritage Centre, the visitors toured the Air Traffic Control Centre at RAF Marham, where they met staff and saw a variety of aircraft monitoring equipment, as well as learning about airfield operations, and the role and functions of the Air Traffic Tower.

“We enjoyed the unique view of the airfield from the tower, and were very fortunate to observe a F35 fast jet taking off during the visit,” added Mrs Ford.

“Some of our students wish to pursue a role in aviation and the Armed Forces, and this visit was very beneficial to learn about the opportunities that are available to them.”

There was a definite military air around a recent super-learning day held at our high school.

Members of the RAF medics team brought their specialist knowledge to the classroom for a special day with students learning about their role and how to do basic first aid.

The day saw the RAF Marham medics in combat gear visit the school and take students through the processes they would utilise in emergency situations. Splints were administered and tourniquets applied – just for demonstration purposes.

The visit marked the first time military medics from the Airforce had attended our school, a member of the West Norfolk Academies Trust.

“The visiting professionals shared their expertise and provided hands-on, practical sessions that allowed students to develop vital first aid and medical skills,” said school Librarian Jenny Ford.

Students had the opportunity to handle medical equipment, ask questions and create realistic scenarios to test their skills and knowledge. They were given sessions on shock, the recovery position, fractures, breaks and dislocations with additional workshops by school first-aiders who covered resuscitation, burns, slings and bandages.

“The interactive nature of the sessions helped bring learning to life and allowed students to experience what it is like to respond in medical emergencies,” said Mrs Ford.

One of the medics who attended said the super-learning day had been a great change to spread the word about first aid.

“The students were engaged thoroughly throughout the day, and we were pleased to see that many had basic first aid knowledge already, which means basic life support and first aid is becoming well known from a young age,” he said.

It’s supposedly the most wonderful time of the year – but it can be a challenging one for children and young people who are caring for family members. At St Clement’s High School, we were working to redress the balance by holding a special Christmas Celebration for our young carers.

The day-long event on Thursday 18 December included a festive film, complete with popcorn, followed by a giant inflatable snow globe, and gifts for all of our young-carer students.

“The young carers made their way over to our village hall, and we watched Home Alone 2 with popcorn and hot chocolate and marshmallows,” explained Robyn Fisher, Pastoral Officer and Young Carer Lead at our school, which is part of the West Norfolk Academies Trust.

“From 2.20pm, we had a giant inflatable snow globe, and each young carer received a Christmas present. All 92 young carers were invited from Years 7 to 11.”

Generous donors ensured that there were plenty of Christmas goodies to go round, with enough for each of the 37 young carers in the Trust’s seven primary schools also to receive a gift.

“We had donations from St Clement’s staff, the local community, and local businesses,” continued Mrs Fisher, who organised the event. “This year I wanted to get enough donations so that each of the young carers had one, and so I could provide a present for each young carer in our Trust primary schools.

“So, in total, I wrapped 129 presents! We had donations of make-up, Christmas jumpers, toys, gadgets, books, ten coffee-and-cake vouchers from the Norfolk Pedler in Burnham Overy Staithe, board games, puzzles, scarves, hats, gloves – the list was endless.”

We hold three events each year for our young carers, including a summer party and the Christmas celebration.

“It is so important for these young carers to be recognised at this time of the year,” added Mrs Fisher. “Their Christmas may look very different to ours, and whilst we are sitting around with our families on Christmas morning opening presents, they may have to help their parent or relative out of bed, administer medication, or any other number of things before that were even to be a thought in their mind.

“These children may often go without, through no fault of their own or their families, and showing that little bit of kindness really means the world to them.”

London is calling for a group of legally-minded students who have made it to the national finals of a prestigious competition.

A tough day of competition at the Crown Court in Norwich resulted in a team our school triumph in the Eastern Regional Heats for the Young Citizens Bar Mock Trial competition.

We have seen international success at its first time of asking. Students won their way through to competing in Chicago in the Empire Mock Trial World Championship last year.

All the students involved put in hard work outside of school hours to ensure they are as prepared as possible for the competition.

This year is the second time a group of our students are taking part, and when school returns after the Christmas break they will begin fundraising for their trip to London and the national finals which are expected to be held in the spring.

There were three rounds in the Norwich heat, with the prosecution team completing two rounds and the defence team one. Each student was awarded a score out of ten for their performance by the judge. Criteria included clarity, argument quality, accuracy and timekeeping.

The St Clement’s team competed against seven others, most of which were sixth-form students - the contest is for young people aged 15 to 18.

Abby Morton, Head of Citizenship, said the competition was important for students as they benefit from gaining an in-depth knowledge of the criminal law system while seeing the same case from two different perspectives - the prosecution and defence.

Students take on the roles of prosecution and defence lawyers as well as judges and even court staff for the ‘trials’ in the competition created by the Young Citizens organisation. Students are given resources, including written cases, to help them prepare their legal arguments.

“For those who study GSCE Citizenship, this knowledge will help them with their exam preparation, but for all those who took part, they will find the skills they have used useful, for example critical thinking, formulating arguments and how to support ideas with evidence,” she added.

A former student and member of the international team at the school, Olivia Simms, made ‘invaluable contributions’ to the current team by mentoring members and guiding them on how to prepare.

The competition is also important to help develop self-belief and confidence in the participants, said Ms Morton.

“It is important for the confidence it has given these students to not only take part in a prestigious event, but also to realise that with enough hard work and determination, they were able to succeed in their goal to get to the nationals!”