St. Anne’s Upper Primary’s Pure Imagination Day - 208/2024

As part of our World Book Day celebrations, the pupils and staff at St Anne's participated in various book related activities throughout the week. Embracing an initiative from a colleague at our neighbouring lower primary school, Notre Dame, our year 5 and 6 pupils welcomed visitors from year 1 and 2 and took the opportunity to show them our school library, answer their questions about life at St Anne's and most importantly, share some valuable reading time.

It was towards the latter end of the week however, that the school came to life even further, with our first iteration of a 'Pure Imagination' Day. Having been set the brief of creating a workshop based on a children's book that inspired them, all 34 teachers were asked to take pupils on a journey 'beyond the cover'. To add to the challenge, teachers were informed that their workshops would include a mix of pupils from all four year groups and therefore, had to be appropriately pitched, accessible to all and encourage teamwork and communication.

Resultantly, a varied and inspiring menu of experiences was produced with titles such as 'Nancy Drew: Child Detective', 'Potions 101', 'Times Table Trattoria: A Math-Fueled Restaurant Adventure', 'A Closer Look at Comics', 'Bringing Fairy Tales to Life Through Drama' to name a few. Taking every opportunity to promote the study of different languages, we also had titles such as 'Osito Tito' and 'First 100 Words in Italian'. There really was something for everyone with the 34 workshops covering disciplines such as character studies, illustration, mindfulness, dance, storytelling and plenty of practical workshops where pupils left with keepsakes like BFG dream jars, Willy Wonka chocolates, or participated in team challenges.

Having created the experience menu, all 452 pupils from across the school were asked to select 10 of the 34 workshops that they would like to participate in, always with the understanding that they may not get their top choices as they would be allocated to 4 workshops at random. Reflecting on the experience, one year 5 pupil said, "Being able to mix with children from other year groups was really cool because we don't normally get to mix and it was exciting making new friends in every workshop." Another pupil from year 3 commented that he, "had lots of fun and really liked making my own chocolate and never knew storytelling could be so funny." A year 6 pupil who accesses the Learning Support Facility at St Anne's said, "It was a great day because there was lots of stuff to do that we don't normally get to do and learning more about comics was awesome!"

Faced with the logistical issues of having 452 children moving around the school between workshops, the team of acting English Leads armed each pupil with a personal timetable which they filled in with the support of their class teachers; site-maps both shared in class and displayed at key points around the school; and ensured that every workshop room was clearly identifiable with its own sign. Any apprehension felt by staff in anticipation was very much misplaced with pupils exceeding expectations and moving around the school responsibly and brimming with excitement.

Commenting on the entire experience, St Anne's Head teacher, Mrs Andrews, said, "There was an infectious energy buzzing around the school on Pure Imagination Day. It was heartwarming to see our older pupils supporting and encouraging our younger pupils as they moved from workshop to workshop - a testament to the impact of our new behaviour policy. The entire experience far surpassed expectations and of course, that would not have been possible without the creativity and imagination of the incredible team of teachers that I feel blessed to have here at St Anne's. They really know how to go above and beyond for their pupils!"

ENDS