This page provides a summary of information news about events that have been happening in the school throughout the academic year. Please look at the newsletter section for the current, most up to date infomation: www.stbedewinchester.co.uk/newsletters-1/

• HSA Summer Fayre 2024

  Fri 21 Jun 2024

  It was wonderful to see so many people at the summer fayre on Friday 15^th June, we were so lucky that the weather held and enabled the community to come together for this wonderful occasion. A huge thank you to all who attended and to those who set up, ran stalls and cleared up afterwards. The event has raised over £3,600- what an amazing amount- thank you!

• Winchester Swimming Gala – June 2024

  Fri 21 Jun 2024

  At the beginning of June, St. Bede took part in the Winchester District Schools Swimming Gala at Winchester Sports Centre.  Over forty children put themselves forward to take part in trials, with eight making the final team.  Against seasoned club swimmers and private schools with impressive swimming facilities of their own, St. Bede were able to hold their own.

   

  Both the boys and girls team put in performances they could be proud of, making the finals in both the ‘Freestyle’ and ‘Mixed’ events. The girls ended the day with two rosettes for their 6th place finishes and the boys won two of their own, placing 4th in the ‘Mixed’ and 3rd in the ‘Freestyle’. A really fantastic effort from everyone involved, great racing and faultless attitudes.

   

  Well done all involved, a huge thank you to Ms Barwick and Mrs Quirk who led the team and to the Standens, a St Bede family, who donated swimming hats, which the team wore with pride!

• Year R Fun Run:

  Fri 24 May 2024

  Year R children took part in a charity fun run on Wednesday 22^nd May.  As part of their current learning topic, Amazing Animals, the children ran up to three laps of a route around the playgrounds to raise money for WWF.  The Year 6 Sports Captains came to support the event and led the children through a series of warm up exercises, making sure that everyone was ready to run!  All the children tried their best to run 1, 2 or 3 laps of the running route.  There were many tired but happy faces by the end of the run!  The children should feel very proud of themselves for taking part and for trying so hard.  Thank you for the money you have been sending in which will be sent to the WWF charity after half term.

• HMS Music Enrichment

  Fri 24 May 2024

  We had a visit this week from Music teachers from the Hampshire Music Service for our younger children in Year's R, 1 & 2.  Year R were led through a fun music session which involved scarves!  All the children were given a colourful scarf to use while different music was playing.   Everyone joined in with some simple repetitive songs and had to do things in time to the music such as drop the scarf, hide the scarf, wave the scarf and more.  All the children loved the session and didn't want it to end! 

   

  Children in Years 1 & 2 took part in Samba drumming sessions, again led by teaching staff from Hampshire Music Service.  The sound of drums could be heard in the corridors and again, the children had so much fun and learned so much about sound and rhythm.  All sessions were paid for by our HSA and were an enrichment offer for our younger children in line with the school disco offered to children in Key Stage 2. 

• Swimming gala

  Fri 24 May 2024

  Mr Hiscock and Ms Barwick led a large group of avid swimmers from Years 4, 5 and 6 to the annual Gala Trials in May.  Each child who put themselves forward really gave their best and made us feel incredibly proud of them.

   

  “It was wonderful to see the children really give it their all. There was some fantastic swimming on show and everyone there should be proud of their efforts. It is just a shame that I can only take so few to the gala,” commented Mr Hiscock.

   

  The team has now been selected for the Gala in June and we wish them all the best.  Thank you again to the parents who were able to support the running of the event. They were vital to its success. It was really appreciated.

• Creature teachers visit to Year R

  Fri 24 May 2024

  On Wednesday 8^th May, we were very lucky to be visited by the Creature Teachers! This was a special treat to go alongside our ‘Amazing Animals’ topic. The Creature Teachers brought some amazing creatures for us to hold, look at and learn about. We met Kingsly, the boa constrictor, Steve the blue tongued skink, Sunny the ferret, an amazing millipede and a final special treat, a kookaburra!

   

  The children were incredibly brave, holding the creatures and even giving the ferret a sniff! We were very impressed with the children’s fantastic knowledge about animals and their patience whilst waiting for their turn to discover the next creature. Well done Ladybirds and Butterflies and thank you to the Creature Teachers!

• Chamber Music Festival

  Fri 24 May 2024

  Earlier this half term, Year 5 enjoyed working with members of the Winchester Chamber Festival to create their own songs inspired by some famous pieces of classical music.  Waynflete and Austen classes gave the world’s very first performance to the school of Lost In The Woods and The Path Ahead and this was followed up by taking part in a Winchester Chamber Music Festival concert. 

   

  The children performed to the public with an incredibly talented string quartet at St Paul’s Church. The children had a wonderful time, performed fantastically and loved the opportunity to work with some professional musicians. We were so proud of all their efforts!

• Kindness Ambassadors visit Unit 12 Winchester

  Fri 19 Apr 2024

  At the end of the spring term, our Year 6 Kindness Ambassadors had the chance to visit Unit 12 Food Pantry in Winnall to learn more about the support service they provide to the local community for food and clothing.  As part of the visit, the children learnt about all the different ways the support staff work together to help others and how the items that are available change on a daily basis depending on what has been donated from different places.  The children also had the chance to help the staff to stack the shelves with a variety of items that had been donated to the pantry.  Well done to all our Year 6 Kindness Ambassadors for representing the school so brilliantly during the visit.

   

• St Bede Sport Springing into Action - Spring Term 2024 Summary

  Fri 19 Apr 2024

  Over the course of the the spring term our children showed their very best at a range of different sporting events - here’s a round up of events and achievements!

   

  Badminton County Championship

  On the first week back after half term, St. Bede took part in the Hampshire Schools Badminton Championship. The team of Noam, Jude, Carson, Ellie, Stella and Miri dominated their group stage contests, winning 15 matches in a row to progress to the top tier of the competition. The team was already on a 12 match winning streak from the previous tournament, so were confident moving into the knockout stages.

   

  In the semi-finals, it was not to be as they lost by an agonising 3 points to the eventual champions, pushing them into the 3^rd/4^th playoff. Unfortunately, after a long day of matches, the team ran out of steam and lost again in a very close and competitive match against another very strong school. But, that meant that St. Bede ended the day as the fourth best School’s Badminton Team in Hampshire- what an achievement! This talented group of young players should be very proud of their efforts and can reflect on the lessons learned from taking part in such a challenging tournament. We are already looking forward to next year’s contest. A huge well done to our St. Bede Badminton Team and to all who take part in our Badminton Club building skills, perseverance and team work skills.

   

  Cross Country County Championship

  The Winchester and Eastleigh team included many talented runners from St. Bede, as it took part in the Hampshire Schools Cross Country on the 5^th of March. On a wet and muddy track, the runners all performed exceptionally, drawing praise from the Hampshire School Games organisers for their efforts. 130 of the quickest runners were racing for the personal win, but also to help their team win the overall prize. The fastest 8 runners would also qualify for the County Championships, taking on the best U12’s from across the country. Our pupils did particularly well, with Ema finishing 26^th and Elsa 40^th. In the boys race, Dexter finished 24^th, Seth 9^th and Oliver 7^th.

   

  The results for all the runners were fantastic. It puts them among the top runners in the county. It also means that Oliver qualifies for the Hampshire Team and Seth finds himself as first reserve. Our fingers are crossed for Seth as we hope he makes the team and we wish Oliver and Team Hampshire all the best in the next round.

   

  ‘Unconfirmed reports’ have stated that the Winchester and Eastleigh won the team event, with the best overall finishing places from across all of their runners. Mr Hiscock is waiting for confirmation from the event organisers.

   

  Girls’ Football County Championship

  On Friday 8^th of March, St. Bede, fresh from their 2^nd place finish in the Winchester and Eastleigh Tournament, made their way to Stoneham Sports Ground for a day of competitive football. St. Bede entered the youngest team in the competition, but had confidence that the team would stick together and perform well. The team did find the going tough at times, but played well, showed excellent sportsmanship and learned important lessons for future engagement in tournament football. Coach Charlie praised the group’s togetherness. “They were such a unit, all working together with no moaning or groaning about anything. It was lovely to see the support they had for their teammates.” Well done to Rose, Reese, Holly, Ivy, Nora, Saffron, Halle, Addisyn, Vivi, Evelyn and Adri for your determination and teamwork.

   

  Netball Winchester and Eastleigh Tournament

  Due to poor weather, this tournament was postponed. We were unable to attend the rearranged date. Well done to the children from the netball club who were selected to represent the school. We hope to arrange games against local schools in the summer term. There are places still available in Thursday’s netball club for those that wish to join in and develop their skills. Please email the office for more information.

• Winchester University Mental Health Workshops - March 2024

  Fri 19 Apr 2024

  On Friday the 15^th of March, a team of students from Winchester University led a series of workshops for our children across the school. These sessions focussed on one of five key areas: Resilience / Self-care / Relationships / Self-worth and Hope / Optimism. These sessions were part of the ‘Stormbreak’ initiative, a charity that aims to improve children’s mental health through movement, equipping them with sustainable, transferable skills and coping strategies that help them to thrive during the complex demands of growth into adult life. If you would like to find out a bit more about Stormbreak you can go to: https://www.stormbreak.org.uk/about-stormbreak