Friday was an amazing day as the whole school was taken over by the visit of the Mighty Zulu Nation Theatre Company. The children from Nursery to Y6 clapped and screamed their way through an opening show of drumming and dance, then took part in drumming workshops, gum-boot dancing and vocal harmony sessions.  

 

This ended in an extravaganza at the end of the day with parents watching an exciting show featuring the children. Fabulous end to the week at Norman Pannell!

 

(more pictures to follow soon)

Well done to our newly formed Table Tennis team from Y5/6 who competed at Gateacre in an inter-school tournament last week.  After only a few practices outdoor at lunchtime, the team competed brilliantly against some well-established teams and finished the competition 5th out of 8 teams.  Thank you to Miss Harrison and Mr. Barbour for their support.

So much has happened during the summer holidays, the end of July seems like a lifetime ago!  An army of people have been busy on a number of changes around school which will combine to create a much enhanced learning environment for children, staff and parents (see photos below).

 

Work completed include:

• Bluebells Nursery moving into old Y5&6 classrooms, adapting spaces for children from 0-4
• Widening of path at the back of the building and installation of low-level wall; altering walk-ways between classrooms to ease congestion
• Deep clean of the whole school
• Installation of new carpet in all classrooms to enhance learning environments
• Upgrade of smartboards / projectors in each classroom
• Alterations to toilets to accommodate classroom moves
• New cloakroom for Y4 & Y5.
• Conversion of old community room into new Y1 classroom
• Bi-folding doors between Nursery and Reception to give option of acoustic barrier between classes during quiet times e.g. phonics
• Removal of ivy from chimney at front of the building

 

Thank you very much to Mal O'Rourke (caretaker), Ms. Linforth and the cleaning team for the tremendous effort they put in to improve our school during the holidays.

We are really pleased to welcome Miss Lewis, our new deputy head teacher, to Norman Pannell.  Miss Lewis will have a number of key roles in the school, teaching children on various days from Y2-Y6, as well as leading Mathematics and ICT.

 

I am sure everybody will make Miss Lewis feel welcome at Norman Pannell - please make sure you see her on the yard and say 'Hello!'

Congratulations to the girls football team who competed at Belle Vale Primary School in a multi-school competition last week.  The team won all but one drawn game during the qualifying stages, winning their group, with Teri Clarke top-scorer with 10 goals!

 

In the overall final, the team drew 0-0 and tragically lost on penalties - a cruel way to finish a wonderful day.

 

We look forward to further success for the girls as they have been entered into the girls competitions for next year.  Thanks to Mr. Barbour for his coaching and commitment to the team.