Our Year 6 pupils were among 200 children who were given the red carpet treatment when they visited Wales Millennium Centre to see the première of their very own film.

Created with the help of Gritty Films, WNO worked with school children to create the film, based on themes found in Sweeney Todd. The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. A Musical Thriller. Our Year 6 pupils earlier this term worked with a WNO composer, instrumentalist and an animator on the project. Together they learnt about the staging of Sweeney Todd, created their own stories of music and madness using digital animations, shadow cinema, musical composition and voice.

There was also a musical workshop run our Youth Opera team, and a chance to hear members of the Sweeney Todd cast perform. The day ended with prizes, and a tour of Wales Millennium Centre.

Congratulations to Callum Bates for his 'Oscar award' for having the best technical understanding of the process involved. Well done to Mason Gristock-Collier who also had an 'Oscar' for the best musical compilation to accompany the animation!
Members of the public will be able to see the film, which is being shown in the foyer of the Centre over the weekend while Sweeney Todd is being performed in the main theatre.

-See more at:
http://www.wno.org.uk/news/sweeney-teach-project#sthash.Giocwcyf.dpuf

https://vimeo.com/147043364

In October, Miss Davies visited a primary school in Bordeaux, France to see first-hand how the education system works and create a link between our school and a French village primary school called Romagne.
Miss Davies was made to feel extremely welcome by all the French teachers and pupils at the school. She discovered how different the French education system is...no whiteboards, computers, iPads, a two hour lunch and no school on a Wednesday afternoon!
She experienced Literacy, Maths and Geography lessons taught through French and even had the opportunity to teach the pupils English and some Welsh. The children’s Welsh was very good being as it was their first time hearing and speaking the language. Miss Davies gave them a Welsh flag and Welsh dragon for their classroom and taught them all about our country Wales and our capital city of Cardiff.
She also spoke about our school system and how we have to wear uniform to school. The French children were very surprised to hear about this as they don’t wear uniform in France. One child asked if we wear uniform at home and on the weekend!
Miss Davies visited a wine factory on a school trip. Children learn in Geography about where wine comes from and how it is made; this is especially important as Bordeaux is a huge wine-making region. We are very much looking forward to returning the favour and welcoming a French teacher, from the school, in April. I am sure we can make her feel at home and give her a wonderful Welsh experience at Willowbrook!

Willowbrook Primary School has been awarded the British Council’s prestigious International School Award for the second time in recognition of its work to bring the world into the classroom.
 
The International School Award is a badge of honour for schools that do outstanding work in international education, such as through links with partner schools overseas. Fostering an international dimension in the curriculum is at the heart of the British Council’s work with schools, so that young people gain the cultural understanding and skills they need to live and work as global citizens.
 
Willowbrook’s international work includes fostering excellent relationships with schools in Switzerland, Pakistan, the USA and France which have developed into sustainable partnerships. Part of this process has been a focus on relevant global themes for study as well as providing the perfect environment for placing these themes within a specific contextual framework for the benefit of both students and staff.

Our thanks to Mrs. Ellis for her work in overseeing the application process to achieve this prestigious award! The photograph attached is our French Club which is so popular that Miss Davies has to run two groups! A sign indeed of the international interest the pupils of Willowbrook have!

Our group of talented writers have had what is the school's fourth book published this month (September). They spent last year working with Mrs. Macdonald as part of one of our after-school clubs on a selection of their very own short stories. The book is called 'The Big One' and can be purchased from Amazon for £4.99 (hard-copy) or £0.99 as an e-book. Well done Willowbrook Writers, for your hard work, talent and commitment to achieving this great success!