Firs Fest Week

It has been a very exciting week at The Firs Independent Primary Schooll! One of the amazing things that makes our school different is our festival weeks and this one has to be one of the best in recent times!

The children have been considering their aspirations and careers - thinking about the future and what that might look like for them. With that, a series of activities were planned for them with members of the school staff and outside providers. Furthermore, the children took part in the ‘Speaker Series’ every morning. A huge thanks must be extended to those people who took time out of their busy schedules to come and talk to the children about what they do:

• Kidsbank (a local charity, where donations made by our families were packaged by the children and taken away to make a difference);
• Storyhouse (delivering a drama workshop);
• St John’s Ambulance (delivering first aid training);
• Dr Kitchen (a paediatric brain surgeon);
• Mrs Bartley (an occupational therapist);
• Mrs Phillips (delivering a British Sign Language Workshop);
• Abbey Gate College Music Department (a music assembly, involving some Firs Alumni!);
• Our peripatetic music teachers (delivering a music assembly);
• Darren, a DJ from Dee Radio (talking about a career in the industry);
• Mr Shepherd and Harry Shepherd (talking about a career in agriculture, including a very cool tractor!);
• Mrs Collett (talking about working in Law);
• Chester Fire Service (talking about a career in the industry, before getting called out for an emergency!); and
• Chester FC (delivering a football workshop!).

As part of the celebrations, we also belatedly marked International Mother Tongue Day. Thank you to Mrs Ellison, Mrs Lins and Mr Lamire and Miss Merciris who talked about their culture and their home countries.

On Thursday, we had the KS2 Sports Day at Ellesmere Port Sports Village. The children competed in traditional athletics events and every one of them should be incredibly proud of themselves. Eight records were set and now those eight new names hold a proud place on our records tables! Congratulations to them. Furthermore this year, the Junior Sports Day was won by…. The EAGLES! A huge congratulations to them.

Also on Thursday, we hosted our first ever Parent Sports Session. As part of Firs Fest, we really wanted to re-engage the parent body and re-build a sense of community. Due to this, parents and carers were invited along to a friendly kickabout at The King George V Sports Hub (Chester FC in the Community). Itwas a really fun event, enjoyed by all! If you’d like to take part in something similar in the future, or if you have a different sport you’d like to try with the Firs Parent Body, please let Mr Girvan know.

Lastly, this week wouldn’t have happened without the incredible hard work of Mrs Lowry. Over the last couple of months, she has been liaising with the different guest speakers, activity providers and directing school staff to put a fantastic timetable together. The children have thoroughly enjoyed the activities and the learning and experiences had throughout the week will stay with them forever. None of this would’ve been possible without Mrs Lowry and we are so lucky to have her as part of the Firs Staff Family.