Schools Team Up to Clean Up
Children from Chilton Primary’s Tidy School Team and Ramsgate Arts Primary’s Eco Warriors teamed up with town mayor Raushan Ara for her annual spring clean.
Pupils from Year 4 in both schools were armed with bags and litter pickers to help the Ramsgate civic leader with her quest to keep the town looking neat and tidy.
Cllr Ara met her young team at the top of the High
Street and discussed the importance of community spirit. She gave the children the equipment they needed and they made their way down the high street picking up any litter they found.
Both schools are very keen on playing their part on maintaining the environment, both on their own sites and in the wider community wherever possible.
Chilton’s Year 4 teacher Michaela Gale said: “The children were so excited to be making such a positive contribution to the community. A number of members of the public commented on how well behaved they were and thanked them for their help in cleaning up the town.
“The project contributed to our wider work in school surrounding the environment. The children that went along make up part of our Tidy School Team. They litter-pick around the school each lunch time.”
RAPS teacher Kate Maclean who works with the Eco Warriors added: “Our pupils
were incredible. They worked very hard and tirelessly to hunt down litter and bag it up – they were even gifted with some biscuits from Corby's Tea Room for doing such a good job.”
And the end result was that working together with town mayor, the children from both schools played a big part for their community by teaming up to clean up.
*The Great Ramsgate Spring Clean is organised by the Ramsgate Litter Forum and every year it holds a series of short local litter-picks across the town, aimed at tackling the areas that attract lots of litter.
The forum brings together individuals, and groups of people, working with local businesses and Ramsgate Town Council and Thanet District Council to push for cleaner streets and more responsible disposal of waste.
Chilton Primary and Ramsgate Arts Primary are members of the Viking Academy Trust together with Upton Junior School in Broadstairs.
Children demonstrated their love and enthusiasm for the spoken word at the Viking Academy Trust’s challenging annual public speaking competition.
The competitors from Years 3 to 6 tackled their subject in a range of different ways to hammer home their arguments.
they wished. The content varied from rainforests in England, girls playing football to you wouldn't believe but, I have no idea what I'm going to say.
Judges assessed the tone, clarity and confidence of speech; how they hooked the audience; and the content of their presentation. They also gave feedback and after making their selections congratulated every participant for the way they put across their speeches and for the high standard exhibited throughout.
“Their confidence whilst delivering their speeches was outstanding. It was the kind of afternoon that reaffirms why we become teachers. The children really were phenomenal.”
The finalists were:- Holly, Savannah and Aliza from Chilton; Annie, Betsy and Willow from Ramsgate Arts Primary, and Esme, Isabella and Rose from Upton.
Children from Ramsgate Arts Primary have been working with artists behind the current thought-provoking exhibition called Banned! at the Turner Contemporary.
They also discussed empathy and understanding, social justice and equality, environmental awareness, and civic engagement issues generated by the exhibition’s theme.
“It was a wonderful opportunity for our children to work face-to-face with artists and to become part of this culturally-important exhibition.”
The importance of children’s communication skills – talking and listening – is at the heart of an ongoing initiative at Ramsgate Arts Primary.
sessions, while local poet Harry Baker was involved with workshops and a whole school poetry assembly.
“At RAPS we teach oracy in two ways. Firstly, discretely through a progressive curriculum that aims to help children develop knowledge and skills in oracy. Secondly, our teachers use a wide range of strategies to promote talk in every lesson to ensure children develop their vocabulary, articulation and confidence in speaking.”
children. He added: “It is important for us to provide lots of opportunities to learn and express learning through talk to become a strong and effective communicators.”