Whaley Bridge ERAssemblies, Personal & Cultural Development
Assemblies, personal and cultural development
At WBPS "Every Child has a chance to Shine" and to become Amazing Individuals, Caring and Green and Lifelong Learners through a comprehensive range of personal and cultural opportunities throughout the year. These complement our curriculum and are woven throughout our assembly programme, themed days, special events and visitors to school.
Assemblies
During assembly learners are introduced to a range of topics, values and cultures and provide the opportunity to reflect on our shared school values, to sing collectively and to celebrate each other's success as well as taking inspiration from the achievements of others both inside and beyond our school.
Our assembly programme is aligned with, and designed to highlight, the British Values: Democracy, The Rule of Law, Individual Liberty, and Mutual Respect and Tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.
Topics within the assembly programme are carefully chosen to support learners develop an age- appropriate understanding the Protected Characteristics: Age, Disability, Gender Reassignment, Marriage & Civil Partnership, Pregnancy & Maternity, Race, Religion or Belief, Sex and Sexual orientation,
Learners in Key Stage 2 also learn about national and international current affairs, and have the opportunity to reflect and develop their own opinions, linking to British Values and Protected Characteristics
Whole school assemblies are on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday, with class assemblies on Tuesday and Thursday.
Assembly themes 25-26 Autumn & Spring
Forest School
At WBPS we are proud to offer regular forest school sessions to all our pupils in our own beautiful woodland setting.
Children in Reception have forest school sessions led by an accredited forest school leader all year, and all other children receive a block of sessions throughout out the year.
Forest Schools
MEGA Playtimes
Following a pupil survey to learn more about children’s experiences during playtime we found that the children had lots of great ideas about how to make playtimes even more exciting, so, as a staff team we explored how to ensure our playtimes are Meaningful, Engaging, Good fun and Active — MEGA!
Our MEGA playtime initiatives are now well underway. During assemblies, we have begun introducing new pieces of equipment for the children to explore. We talk together about how they can use their imagination and problem‑solving skills to get the most out of each item.
The children are particularly enjoying the grab boxes, which are filled with exciting toys such as LEGO, Duplo, cars, trains, small‑world figures and play food. The crates and planks have been a huge success too, offering opportunities for teamwork, balancing, creativity and building resilience.
We have also purchased a large shed packed with new resources, and we are looking forward to introducing even more exciting play items.
When the weather is dry, children can access our spacious wooded areas. Please be aware that this may sometimes mean muddier shoes — feel free to send in a change of footwear for playtimes if you wish.