Cultural Capital

"You have brains in your head and feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose".

Dr Seuss

At Mattersey, one of our key aims is to give our pupils a wide range of opportunities and experiences to develop their cultural capital. As a school, we want to build our pupils’ knowledge and skills by immersing them in the world they live in.

Academic Year 2023/2024

Musical Production- 'Get out of my Swamp': July 2024

This year, we performed ‘Get out of my Swamp’ and filled our school hall with fairy tale characters. Pupils from Nursery right the way through to year 6 were involved and did Mattersey so proud. There was singing, dancing, special effects and more props and scene changes than I could count– it was spectacular and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house in both performances. Mattersey you are marvellous!

Burrow Class trip to Gulliver's Valley: June 2024

The Burrow had the best time on their class trip to Gulliver's Valley. Pupils and staff enjoyed the wide range of experiences the theme park has to offer, including a Dinosaur themed workshop to revisit learning from our 'Dinosaur Roar!' topic as well as a whole range of rides and attractions. We had a wonderful day to celebrate all our hard work this year.

Reading and Rewards Cafe: April 2024

We’ve hosted our first Reading and Rewards cafe. We were joined by parents and governors to sit together with staff and pupils to enjoy reading and refreshments. Staff across school then shared certificates with pupils to celebrate learning, progress and all of our What Matters at Mattersey learning characteristics– kindness, perseverance and enthusiasm were top of the list! The benefits of reading to children include helping them build language skills, learn about the world, and develop empathy and emotional awareness. Reading together also provides an opportunity for parents and children to connect. It was so nice to see everyone enjoying time together to read. We then presented our new class reading buddies- Burrow Bunny and Hive Bee. Pupils and staff will take our buddies home in turn to read to them and share their reading journey. Our next Reading and Rewards cafe will be next month.

Easter at Mattersey: March 2024

We’ve made some really special memories this week with our Easter celebrations. Our amazing PTFA put on a wonderful Easter Fayre with a whole range of stalls, games, chocolate eggs and cakes. Along with our Easter raffle, they’ve raised over £300 for school funds. Thanks so much to all our parents and families who supported us. We’ve enjoyed Easter crafts and egg hunts welcoming Mrs Perkins and her craft club into school to run Easter craft making– there really were some wonderful Easter bonnets! We’ve also learnt about the religious meaning behind Easter with our Easter Service at All Saints’ Church– many thanks to Rev. Mack and Tony Harris for an inspiring service. Our Hive Class readers also did us proud with their poignant readings. The pupils have ended the term with a celebration afternoon and all received an Easter Egg– the perfect end to a term with lots of hard work. Happy Easter everyone from the entire Mattersey family!

Life Saving Skills: CPR Workshop- March 2024

We were very pleased to welcome Nottinghamshire School swimming into school this week to deliver a CPR workshop to pupils. CPR stands for cardiopulmonary resuscitation. It can help save a life during cardiac arrest, when the heart stops beating. It is really important to support our pupils to develop these important life saving skills that mean they know how to respond in an emergency.

Hive Class Trip: National Space Museum- March 2024

To support learning in their Science topic, Earth and Space, the Hive visited the National Space Museum in Leicester. What an amazing and enriching trip! Pupils enjoyed touring the exhibitions to revisit their learning in school. This included: the movement of the moon relative to the Earth, knowing that the sun, moon and Earth are spherical bodies, knowing that the Earth’s rotation creates day and night and that the movements of the Earth and other planets are relative to the sun in the solar system. Highlights of the day included travelling to the top of the iconic Rocket Tower, home to Blue Streak and Thor Able rockets, to view a piece of the moon. The afternoon saw an amazing visit to the planetarium to take a virtual tour of the solar system. The Hive were curious and enthusiastic learners, and perfectly behaved. Well done to the Hive!

Red Nose Day, Fundraising and Enrichment PE- March 2024

We’ve been fundraising this week. Pupils enjoyed a fabulous PE enrichment session with ‘Glow in the Dark Dodgeball’ as part of our day raising funds for Comic Relief. Pupils also enjoyed buying red noses for £2 and we’ve raised £100. In exchange for wearing non-uniform, pupils also supported our PTFA by donating chocolate easter eggs that will be used in our Easter raffle by our PTFA. Thank you so much everyone for your support!

British Science Week: March 2024

We’ve had a fun-filled week celebrating Science at Mattersey. The STEM subjects are so important– Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths. Pupils in the Burrow and the Hive enjoyed a visit from Premier Foods to explore science in food and conducting a range of experiments including the power of yeast and chromatography. The Hive then visited QEHS for their STEM Fair and participated in a range of STEM activities. This included: the psychology of the brain, Team Red Bull and the journey of a bolt, How popcorn pops and coding to operate robots. We’ve had an amazing time to enrich our learning and passion for Science.

Mothering Sunday: March 2024

Pupils across school enjoyed making special cards and gifts for our lovely mums, step mums, grandmothers and other special ladies. Supported by our wonderful PTFA, our Pupil Leadership team ran a gift shop so that pupils could purchase presents for someone special. Pupils really enjoyed this, and it offered important life skills in using money correctly linking into this term’s PSHE topic of Rights and Responsibilities. Well done everyone! Happy Mother's Day!

World Book Day: March 2024

Pupils, staff and governors enjoyed a day of celebrating reading. We joined in live reading events run by the Write Stuff and BBC Teach, as well as hosting our own book shop in school so pupils could use their world book day tokens to choose a new book. Mr Bailey, our Chair of Governors, (aka The Mad Hatter) came to judge the competition for the best dressed character and had a very tough choice from a whole host of characters from Hermione Granger and Gangster Granny through to Eliza Hamilton and Tinkerbell! The whole school took part in a range of activities together including a whole school read.

Pupil Leadership Team- Portrait of King Charles: March 2024

The Pupil Leadership team met again this week. One of their agenda items was to discuss the new portrait of King Charles that has arrived in school. They have agreed where to hang it in the hall on display. A whole range of public bodies including schools, local councils, police and fire stations have been gifted these portraits to be a reminder to our communities of the ultimate public servant.

Hive Class Special Assembly- the Protected Characteristics: March 2024

Using Picture News, which is one of the resources we use in school to support our work in assemblies and with pupils' personal and social development, the Hive attended a special live webinar to support their understanding of the protected characteristics and diversity.

Dance and Gymnastics Festival: February 2024

The Burrow had a fantastic time at the Elizabethan Academy taking part in their dance and gymnastics festival. Some pupils were quite nervous about performing in front of others but showed fabulous resilience by overcoming their fears and showing off their skills. They have done MPS proud by showing excellent behaviour.

Burrow Class-People Who Help Us topic: February 2024

The Burrow Class have really enjoyed their topic for Spring 1- People who Help Us. The EYFS pupils have particularly loved their role play hospital and been busy nurses and doctors. The Year 1/2 pupils have been learning all about Florence Nightingale in History. In Design and Technology all pupils have loved making their own emergency vehicles. This week we had a special visitor to help us with our learning. Dr Armstrong (husband of Mrs Armstrong) came in to talk about his job as a GP. The pupils thought about questions they would like to ask and very sensibly listened to his answers. Dr Armstrong brought his doctor’s bag in with some special medical equipment inside. The children had the opportunity to use his stethoscope to listen to their heart beat and also they checked their heart rates and blood oxygen level. Thank you to Dr Armstrong for coming in to talk to us, we really enjoyed it.

Safer Internet Day: February 2024

Safer Internet Day is a celebration of online safety. This year focused on change online, including young people’s perspectives on technology. We want our pupils to know how to be safe online, but also to explore the range of possibilities that technologies give them. After joining the BBC’s live lesson, the Hive really engaged with their work using a micro: bit. This is a pocket-sized codeable computer designed to introduce pupils to the fascinating world of software and hardware interaction. Pupils loved exploring how it worked. The Burrow focussed on their behaviour online and how to keep safe, as well as exploring their digital footprint.

National Storytelling Week Author Visit: January 2024

This fantastic annual event is a joyful celebration of the power of sharing stories. Stories teach us about the world, they allow us to step into someone else’s shoes and feel empathy, they help us to relax and escape and they can help develop essential literacy skills. We had a fantastic time in school celebrating National Storytelling Week and were delighted to welcome author Gareth Baker into school on Wednesday to help us to celebrate such a special event. What a wonderful morning we had in the Burrow. Gareth read and acted out ‘The Gingerbread Man’. Pupils enjoyed joining in with the actions and sitting around the campfire to listen. Gareth also read extracts from his book ‘Super Rabbit’. In the afternoon, the Hive had a super time listening to Gareth’s novel, ‘Brackenbelly -Dragon Duct Forest’. Pupils designed characters for the story and developed their oracy skills with storytelling. Special thanks to Gareth for a wonderful day and well done everyone for all your efforts.

Christmas at Mattersey: December 2023

We've had lots to celebrate as the Autumn term draws to a close. The staff and pupils have worked so hard all term and have deserved the celebrations in school. We’ve had a learning focus on Design and Technology: the Burrow have been busy designing vehicles for Father Christmas, whilst the Hive have enjoyed a Biscuit Bake-Off competition judged by Mrs Wilson.

The whole school enjoyed a Christmas themed craft-making morning on Monday and special thanks go to Mrs Perkins and the Ranskill ladies for their hard work and efforts for our pupils. We were amazed at the variety of things the pupils made including wreaths, snowmen and baubles. On Wednesday, some of our pupils visited Lound Hall to sing and bring Christmas cheer to the residents. We really value our community and pupils were caring and respectful to the residents. Then to end the week, we’ve had our Christmas party to celebrate the festive season in style. Well done everyone. We All Matter at Mattersey.

Nativity Musical Performance: December 2023

We are all very proud of our wonderful pupils after two fabulous Nativity Performances of ‘Hey Ewe!’. Pupils from Nursery to Year 6 took part, singing beautifully and performing with enthusiasm. We were joined by parents and families over two performances on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon, with governors and special guest Rev. Becky at our final performance. We even had a former Mattersey teacher, Mrs Wood, join our audience and nostalgically remember past performances. It really was a team effort so as well as congratulating the children, we also say a huge thank you to the staff team for all their efforts to make the occasion wonderful. Well done to everyone. We all matter at Mattersey.

Hive Class Trip to Sherwood Pines: Jingle Jog- November 2023

The Hive Class had great fun taking part around the course in the beautiful setting of Sherwood Pines. Our Y5/6 pupils took up the challenge to run the course, whereas Y3/4 pupils had a steady walk and jog. Well done everyone. Miss Cheyette even managed to get the pupils their Santa suits - it has got us all in the mood for Christmas!

Hive Class trip to London- November 2023

The Hive Class had a memorable experience this week as they were invited to the Palace of Westminster for the day to learn all about the history of the Houses of Parliament which spans over 900 years from the Anglo-Saxons to the present.

What an incredible experience! It was a long day, leaving Mattersey at 6:30am to make the journey to London. Pupils and staff were greeted by our local MP Brendan Clarke Smith and his team and passed through airport-style security to enter the famous building. As part of the day they visited places such as Westminster Hall and the House of Lords learning all about them on the educational tour. They also enjoyed a Q&A session with Brendan Clarke Smith next to the Jubilee Suite. The pupils were escorted to Westminster terrace to view Big Ben, the River Thames and the London Eye amongst other landmarks. They enjoyed walking along Westminster Bridge and passing Downing Street and other key landmarks. Our pupils were brilliant ambassadors for our school with their excellent behaviour.

We are so grateful to have been given this opportunity on what was an incredibly busy day in London– as they toured the area, pupils came close to the House of Commons where the Chancellor was delivering the new budget! Special thanks to the staff team and Mr Bailey our Chair of Governors, and to our wonderful parent helpers: Zach’s dad, John’s dad and Leelan’s mum.

Memories to last a lifetime for us all.

Children in Need Fundraising- November 2023:

Pupils and staff have enjoyed fundraising for this very worthy cause by holding a non-uniform day and selling Pudsey biscuits. We were also treated to a special dance performance from students from our feeder school, The Elizabethan Academy who paid us a visit as part of their fundraising efforts. Special thanks to Mrs Foster and Mrs Goddard for making the Pudsey biscuits for us and to Frankie, Jacob and Freddie for selling them. We’ve raised £81.40 so far. Well done and thank you everyone!

Anti Bullying Week - November 2023:

This year’s Anti-Bullying Week had a particular focus on understanding the difference between ‘banter’, ‘arguments’ and ‘bullying’. Pupils have worked on this very important topic in assemblies which started the week led by Miss Cheyette with odd socks. Pupils have also worked on this in PSHE lessons, as well as enjoying a special assembly led by Tony Harris the Children & Families Team Leader.

Remembrance Day- November 2023

To mark Remembrance Sunday, we took part in the live online Remembrance Assembly with the Royal British Legion and led by the National Literacy Trust. As a whole school we came together to observe the two minute silence to mark the Armistice. This was a really memorable assembly that brought us all together to remember but also used music, art and poetry to create a unique live-streamed experience to help our pupils to understand why we continue to remember.

Our Hive Class pupils also made their own poppy wreaths and have been selling poppies all week in school to raise funds for the Royal British Legion.

Halloween Art and Design morning and Spooky Disco- October 2023

We’ve really enjoyed a spooky time as part of our Halloween-themed craft events and disco to celebrate the end of the first part of the Autumn term. Special thanks to our wonderful PTFA and DJ Sam for a fantastic disco. Our pupils made such an effort with their costumes– they looked amazing! We would also like to thanks Mrs Perkins and her Ranskill Craft group for putting on an amazing morning art and design morning where pupils got to test out their art and design skills, making a whole range of spooky items! We liked the spooky spiders the most...

Hive Class 'Meet the Author' event- October 2023

To promote our love of reading, the Hive Class were lucky to take part in a ‘Meet the Author’ event on Zoom this week with writer Stephen Pass talking all about his new book, Madge the Mermaid. Our pupils took part in a range of activities and asked lots of questions. What an amazing opportunity to learn the writer’s craft. We had so much fun!

Hive Class- Tag Rugby at Retford Rugby Club- October 2023

Many thanks to our feeder school, the Elizabethan Academy for hosting a Tag Rugby event for our local primary schools. The Hive showed team work, resilience and enthusiasm as they competed against key stage 2 pupils from the feeder primaries at the event at Retford Rugby Club Go Team Mattersey!

Bikeability training for Year 5/6- October 2023

We welcomed the BIkeability trainers into school to work with some of our Year 5/6 pupils. Cycling is a life skill and cycling safely with confidence is key to enjoyment and participation. Cycling also helps to develop lifelong physical activity habits. This is a government approved programme for national standards in cycle training.

Harvest Festival Service: All Saints Church, Mattersey- October 2023

We had a wonderful Harvest Festival this week. Joined by parents and governors, the pupils and staff walked to church together for the service. Our pupils showed art work, shared a poem and performed readings, as well as singing some of our favourite Harvest songs and hymns. Special thanks to our wonderful church community, and a warm welcome to Rev Liz Mack who led the service with Tony Harris.

Burrow Class trip to the Elizabethan Academy: Multi Skills Festival- October 2023

The Burrow enjoyed their visit to our feeder school this week to take part in the Multi Skills festival alongside other primary schools. What a fabulous event– our pupils showed teamwork, enthusiasm and perseverance. Go Team Mattersey! Huge thanks to the EA for being wonderful hosts.

Fundraising for Macmillan- September 2023

Pupils, staff and parents came together to raise money for Macmillan with a fabulous coffee morning. The Hive Class enjoyed baking to prepare for the event, and pupils from across school and their families donated cakes and treats for us to sell on the day. We raised over £140 which is amazing for our small school. Well done everyone!