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.
Lion King Live Music and Movement Workshop- January 2023
The whole school took part in a movement and music workshop based on the theatre production of ‘The Lion King’. We joined a virtual session, via Zoom, led by choreographers and dancers from V & A Schools Live to learn some of the dances and songs from the famous show. Pupils learnt the ‘Circle of Life’ and how to move like different animals. It was lovely to watch the confidence, particularly of some of our youngest children in school. The Burrow Class could also make some great links to their Science learning about different types of animals.
Working with the Canal and River Trust- January 2023
An important part of our work in school is to support our pupils’ personal development and part of this is linked to preparing pupils well for success in life. This half term, our PSHE topic is ‘Keeping Myself Safe’ and we have been exploring different elements of being safe. To support this, we had a visit into school from Claire Cavendish the Learning & Skills Coordinator (Yorkshire & North East) from the Canal & River Trust. Claire worked with pupils in the Burrow Class and then the Hive Class on the importance of water safety. Did you know the main reason for accidents with water last year was linked to mobile phone use? The pupils were really interested to learn that distractions caused by mobile phones led to the most accidents with water. We also learned about how to stay safe near water, potential hazards and what to do if we see or get into danger. The pupils were so interested and engaged and Claire delivered some really important and hard-hitting messages in a really child-appropriate way. They are all now well prepared for how to stay safe near water. Well done, Burrow and Hive Class!
Visit from the Youth Mayor- Bassetlaw Youth Council- January 2023
We were really pleased to receive a visit from the Youth Mayor for Bassetlaw Youth Council, Malachi Carroll. He spoke to our pupils in assembly about his role and his work. It is so important for us to see key figures in our local community and learn about the difference they can make. Bassetlaw Youth Council is made up of young people (11-19 years) from across the whole of Bassetlaw who want to influence local decisions about the District. They are passionate about the place where they live and want to ensure that young people’s views are heard. We were so grateful to Malachi that he gave up his time to come and visit us. He’s also going to be sharing with us an exciting competition to take part in...watch this space!
'An Easy Cheesy Nativity' Performance - December 2022
Our Nativity performance show cased the amazing talents of our pupils. The Easy Cheesy Nativity made our audience laugh and cry and involved real teamwork with our youngest to our oldest pupils taking part...learning lines, songs and preparing to perform took lots of hard work and resilience, but also involved lots of fun with Team Mattersey supporting each other and coming together to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas. Live theatre is such a wonderful experience for our pupils and we all appreciated the great audience turnout to see our performance.
December 2022: Christmas at Mattersey
We've had a wonderful time in school with all of our Christmas events- some that are a Mattersey tradition and other new experiences to enrich our pupils' time in school. Our PTFA hosted a Christmas Market as a fundraiser for school and this included a visit from the Haughton Park Reindeers. We were curious to learn all about them: how they are looked after, their coat and what they eat as well as other features of these amazing animals. The pupils really enjoyed asking questions and showed great enthusiasm and confidence showing them to their families as well.
We held our Nativity Service in School- An Easy Cheesy Nativity -where pupils were a wonderful team from EYFS to Y6 singing, acting and helping every one feel in the festive spirit. It is so important to give our pupils opportunities to perform to a live audience. We then had a whole school theatre treat and visited Trinity Arts, Gainsborough to watch their pantomime 'The Wizard of Oz'.
A highlight was our Christmas craft morning when volunteers from Ranskill's craft group led workshops with our pupils and staff for a range of Christmas-themed crafts. We then walked to church for our Christingle Service led by Tony Harris. We learnt all about the meaning of the Christingle after making our own.
A really special event was welcoming our whole community- parents, families, governors, volunteers to Christmas lunch. We all matter at Mattersey and it was the perfect way to come together, thank those who've helped our school and wish everyone a Merry Christmas, The Hive Class performed festive music on their toots too.- this is only the second time they have performed to a live audience and they were a credit to our school. Well done everyone and Merry Christmas 2022!
November 2022: Visit from our Local District Councillor
We were so pleased to welcome Cllr Gerald Bowers, Bassetlaw District Council and Member for Ranskill Ward, into school for a tour and assembly with our pupils. We learnt all about his role and the work of district councils to make a difference in the community. The visit timed well with the recent election of our new pupil leadership team and Cllr Bowers shared his journey to becoming a district councillor, democracy and the important ways we can help our local community.
October 2022: Harvest Festival at All Saints' Church, Mattersey followed by our Macmillan Coffee Morning
Pupils and staff walked together to church along with parents and governors to celebrate our Harvest Festival. Burrow Class and Hive Class both shared poems and songs, and the children thought about the importance of farmers and gave thanks to God. We have a generous hamper of food products to donate to Bassetlaw Food bank. Afterwards pupils were joined by their families at our coffee morning in school where the Hive Class entertained with a performance on their Toots and children fundraised for Macmillan through baking and making bracelets to sell. A morning full of community spirit. We also raised over £140 which is a fantastic effort from our small school community.
October 2022: Go Green Eco Heroes
We had a whole school topic event welcoming Go Green Eco Heroes into school to work with our pupils. They were introduced to the superheroes Reduce, Reuse and Recycle to learn all about the importance of looking after our planet. This links to our learning in one of our Science on Environments so it was a great, practical way to learn all about the importance of protecting the environment.
September 2022: Hive Class visit to the National Justice Museum, Nottingham
The Hive Class are studying change over time in their History Topic on Crime and Punishment so to immerse them in their learning, they visited the National Justice Museum. It was a really engaging experience where they visited the dungeons and 'dark cell' from Georgian times, met a Georgian gaoler who put them through their paces and explored the prison routines and punishments from Victorian times. The pupils ended the day in the court room, taking on the roles of judge, clerk, usher, witness, defendant, solicitor and barrister. This really helped them to remember their learning in school of the layout and procedures in a court room.
Autumn Term 2022: Music lessons for the Hive Class
We are very lucky to have Mr Poole from Inspire Music in school every Thursday this term to teach the Hive Class to play the toot. It hugely benefits the pupils work with a music specialist and they are learning how to play melody parts on tuned instruments with accuracy and control and developing instrumental technique linked directly to the skills in our music curriculum. They are developing their skills in order to build to an end of term performance focussing on the skills of keeping in time with others and communicating with the group. As well as delivering our music curriculum, this is giving the pupils a wonderful experience of working with a musician, enjoyment of live music and building their confidence in performance.
Summer Production 2022: Summer Nights
Our whole school production was a triumph: pupils vibrantly performed with confidence and enthusiasm. Music, dance and drama are an important part of our creative curriculum at Mattersey and we really value the experience that this gave our pupils. A real team effort!
Visit from the Fire Fighters from Retford Black Watch- July 2022
We were so lucky to have a visit from the fire fighters from Retford Black Watch. The pupils enjoyed learning about fire safety, meeting the team and looking round the Fire Engine.
Sports Day: July 2022
Thank you so much to all our parents and families who turned out to support us for Sports Day. There was such a lovely atmosphere and our
Mattersey pupils doing what they do best – older pupils supporting younger pupils and all supporting each other. Fabulous team Work, resilience and kindness on show from Team Mattersey!
Austerfield Study Centre: Hive Class Residential- 11th/12th July 2022
The Hive Class enjoyed their residential- our first school residential since Covid. The pupils had a ‘hands-on minds-on' learning experience to enrich both their academic and social development. The pupils enjoyed spending time taking part in outdoor activities- we completed Pond Life, Wild Art, Survival Skills and the Animal house. They were a credit to Mattersey- resilient, curious and amazing in their support of each other with their team work. It was a really fabulous experience for our pupils to have the adventure of being with their friends away from home and to develop our 'What Matters at Mattersey' learning characteristics.
Harley Gallery, Wellbeck- The mystery of the Portland Tiara - 7th July 2022
The Hive Class showed curiosity and respect on our visit to the Harley Gallery for their art detectives workshop. The pupils enjoyed touring the gallery and investigating the mystery of the missing Portland tiara. What a beautiful place to visit and appreciate an interesting collection of art work- the pupils particularly enjoyed their time in the education room writing newspaper reports and making their own tiaras.
Expressive Arts Workshop- 4th July 2022
Mrs Cowan from the Elizabethan Academy, our feeder school, came to join us for an Expressive Arts workshop and to talk to the pupils about art scholarships to the Elizabethan Academy. Our pupils were fantastic in their efforts with the Queen tribute performance and we were very pleased to invite parents into watch their performance. All Y5 pupils were given the form to apply for the art scholarship and we had many interested pupils who are enthusiastic to share their talents in music, art and drama.
Elizabethan Family Sports Day: 30th June 2022
The Hive Class showed resilience, enthusiasm and team work competing against the family of primary schools at the Elizabethan Academy's Family sports day. Amazing efforts from Team Mattersey!
Trampolining and Basketball Event: June 2022
This week our Reception and Key Stage 1 pupils from the Burrow class took part in a trampolining event at our feeder secondary school, The Elizabethan Academy. As you can see, although it had it’s up and downs, it was an extremely fun day! All of our pupils showed amazing Teamwork and Enthusiasm.
DAaRT Life Skills Education: June 2022
The DAaRT Life Skills Education primary programme was delivered to our year 5 and 6 pupils recently. The programme equips pupils with a range of knowledge and skills which they can use as they transition to secondary and beyond. This week saw the DAaRT alumni graduate with PC Ros Manson presenting them with their certificates. Well done to all of our pupils, and a special mention to Alexa, Scarlett, Joshua T, Eliza and Emily for taking the lead in the graduation assembly. Special thanks to Officer Manson for coming back to celebrate with us.
Jubilee Tree: June 2022
On Thursday the sun shone for us again for our Platinum Jubilee Oak Tree Planting Ceremony. It was wonderful to welcome parents and governors to school to join in our service which was led by pupil leaders Joshua and Alexa. Many thanks to the Tomlinson family for making the fabulous bench and plaque and also to Mrs Teasdale for accompanying the children on the keyboard with their singing. In honour of Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee 2022, each family were presented with this once in a lifetime history book for children which tells the story of a young princess who grew up to become our longest reigning monarch, and celebrates the achievements, people and places that have become part of her remarkable legacy. Thank you to everyone who made this such a special day.
Assembly with Nottinghamshire Police: June 2022
PCSO Stothard visited school to talk to all of our pupils about how to keep safe. Year 5/6 pupils then had a special presentation in accordance with National Knife Crime Week. This is an incredibly important message to get across to young children, especially at this age when they could be vulnerable to peer pressure going up to secondary school.
KS2 Athletics Event at Retford Oaks Academy: June 2022
Great news! Mattersey came 6/13 competing schools at the athletics event at Retford Oaks. Ahead of us were some pretty big schools so our team performed fabulously coming first in many events! Here are some images showing great teamwork and resilience from our Mattersey pupils.
Mattersey's Party in the Park for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee: 2nd June 2022
We were so delighted to be asked by Mattersey's Parish Council to be part of a fantastic party in the park to commemorate the Queen's Platinum Jubilee. Staff, pupils and parents came together in the half term break to celebrate- running a marvellous cake stall, tombola and refreshments. The pupils entertained guests at the event and had a wonderful time alongside the rest of our village community. We very much wanted to be part of our local community for this special event, but we also managed to raise nearly £500 for school funds which is truly incredible. Special thanks go to the staff, PTFA and pupils who came along. True team work- we all matter at Mattersey!
Key Stage 2 Boys Football Event: May 2022
Boys from the Hive Class visited Retford Oaks Academy to take part in a Football event organised by Worksop Town FC. They had a wonderful time, demonstrating enthusiasm and resilience as they were put through their paces. Well done, boys!
Visit from the Conservative Member of Parliament for Bassetlaw: May 2022
We welcomed an important visitor into school today; Mr Brendan Clarke-Smith MP who is our Member of Parliament representing Bassetlaw. We were able to show him around school visiting each class then we had a questions and answers assembly in the hall.
The children posed some very good questions ranging from whether he had met Boris Johnson, our Prime Minister; whether he had seen the Queen; whether he had visited Downing Street; and who was the most famous person he had met (Joanna Lumley was the answer)!
He then told us about his role as a member of parliament and the sorts of things he gets involved in both in his constituency as well as in the House of Commons. The children had learned about 'bobbing' in class and were amazed to hear that MP's do it during Prime Minister's Questions! If you don't know what 'bobbing' is, ask one of your children! He was really impressed with questions the children posed and our little school!
Hopefully, the children may even have the opportunity to visit the Houses of Parliament over the coming year on a special educational trip.
Road Safety Workshops- visit from Via East Midlands Limited: May 2022
We had a visit from road safety officers from Via East Midlands to run workshops on road safety for all of our pupils in school. Children learnt about traffic signs and the importance of wearing seatbelts and using car seats. We also explored how to be safe when walking to school and riding on our bikes and scooters. As our pupils develop their independence, it is really important that they know how to keep themselves as safe as possible. Older pupils listened to a talk and watched a video about road traffic and accidents- Year 5 and 6 pupils are preparing to transition to secondary school and so guidance for keeping themselves safe when catching buses and getting to school independently is an important part of this transition so we know that they leave Mattersey, prepared for the next steps of their lives.
Mega Rugby Festival and Girls Football Tournament: Retford Oaks Academy April 2022
Our pupils enjoyed opportunities to work competitively with coaches from Worksop Town Academy as they visited Retford Oaks. A girls football event and then a rugby festival organised by Bassetlaw School Games. Our pupils experienced the sport facilities and working with coaches, as well as demonstrating what matters at Mattersey: enthusiasm, teamwork and respect. Well done KS2!
Plant a Tree for the Jubilee: April 2022
The Queen’s Green Canopy (QGC) is a unique tree planting initiative created to mark Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022 which invites people from across the United Kingdom to “Plant a Tree for the Jubilee”.
With a focus on planting sustainably, the QGC will encourage planting of trees to create a legacy in honour of The Queen’s leadership of the Nation, which will benefit future generations. As well as inviting the planting of new trees, The Queen’s Green Canopy will dedicate a network of 70 Ancient Woodlands across the United Kingdom and identify 70 Ancient Trees to celebrate Her Majesty’s 70 years of service. Mattersey Parish Council kindly asked the children of our school to play their part to enhance our environment by planting these trees on our school site. Along with the kind help of Mrs Fullwood and Mrs Skelton, the children planted 30 saplings including rowan, birch and beech. Each child/family wrote their names on the plastic protectors so they could identify them as their own tree in future.
Easter Service 2022:
After snowfall (yes, in March!) changed our plans, we welcomed Rev. Becky and Tony Harris into school hall for our Easter Service. Hive Class pupils read from the Bible with confidence and respect, and our Burrow Class pupils enthusiastically shared their class Easter poem and their fabulous chick-themed art work. Special thanks to Rev. Becky and Tony Harris whose warmth, humour and passion really supported our pupils in their understanding of the meaning and importance of Easter for Christians.
We were also able to draw our Easter raffle which our PTFA have worked so hard on, raising £400 for school funds.
British Science Week 2022 : 11th-20th March
We thoroughly enjoyed Science week at Mattersey. Hive Class pupils visited QEHS in Gainsborough and enjoyed a range of activities at their STEM fair– the earthquake simulator, RAF robotics and squeaky pop test seemed to be the favourite workshops amongst our pupils.
We also welcomed Premier Foods into school on Thursday where pupils found out all about growth with food and did a bottle investigation with yeast, as well as making their own bread.
Comic Relief 2022:
We raised funds for Comic Relief by celebrating red nose day with a non uniform day. We sold red noses and special red nose day themed cupcakes too.
Southwell Minster Time Travelling Pilgrimage: March 2022
Pupils explored prayer, communion, pilgrimage, creation, choristers and the Chapter House in the magnificent Minster.
World Book Day 2022
We celebrated our love of reading by dressing up as a favourite book character or author. The pupils went to so much trouble it was very difficult to select our costume winners. We shared a new book, ‘Love is...’ by Sarah Maycock and Lily Murray. The Hive Class then completed some beautiful watercolour paintings linked to the illustrations in the text.
Bikeability January 2022: pupils in the Hive Class have started their Bikeability training and completed Level 1. Bikeability is a government recognised scheme to support children to become confident and responsible cyclists. Year 5/6 pupils will progress to Level 2 next week.
It's a Nativity:
The pupils and staff welcomed our community into school; parents, families and friends, governors and members of our village community to perform, 'It's a Nativity'. It was so wonderful to perform live for our audience and special guest Rev. Becky supported us to celebrate the Christian meaning of Christmas. The heartfelt singing and confidence of our pupils made us all very proud.
Community visit: December 2021. Pupils from the Hive Class visited Lound Hall Care home at the end of term to sing Christmas Carols to the residents. This was such a lovely thing to be able to do within our local community, and we ensured that we were Covid safe by standing under a gazebo outside. Great enthusiasm and kindness was shown by our pupils in doing this to bring a smile to the residents’ faces so close to the festive season.
Pantomime Trip December 2021: The whole school enjoyed a trip to the theatre, Trinity Arts Centre Gainsborough, to see their production of 'Aladdin'. It was a fabulous production and the perfect treat for the staff and pupils after a busy term. We even got to meet the cast at the end!
Children in Need November 2021: our pupils have chosen a day of fundraising for this very worthwhile charity.; we’ve all taken part in a non uniform day and selling Pudsey biscuits to raise money. Well done Team Mattersey!
Anti-Bullying week (November 2021) We raised awareness by wearing odd socks to school and then pupils and staff worked in groups to edit our anti bullying policy together.
Remembrance Day:2021 we were so lucky to receive a visit from Ann Hickman from the Royal British Legion to lead an assembly with our key stage 1 and 2 pupils about why we remember. She told the pupils all about the work of the British Legion and why it is so important. Such a pleasure to welcome Ann back into school and so important for our children to hear things from her point of view. Olivia and Emily from the pupil leadership team have been selling poppies at break time.
Orienteering: To develop their practical skills in PE and Geography, the Hive Class are working with orienteering expert Mr Parkinson every Friday afternoon. Orienteering is an exciting and challenging outdoor sport that exercises the mind and the body. The aim is to navigate between control points marked on an orienteering map. Each week, the pupils have different maps and challenges to complete.
Enrichment PE: Miss Cheyette has organised our enrichment activities with Archery for both classes in school:
Science at Mattersey: Dr Young from Worksop College visited us to give Key Stage 2 a Chemistry workshop. Pupils were so enthused with the experiments- lots of excitement- we love Chemistry at Mattersey!
Shakespeare Rocks: We believe the Arts are a really important part of developing our pupils creativity and talent, and we were very proud to perform 'Shakespeare Rocks' in our outdoor theatre setting for a live audience. Our production involved all of our pupils in a range of roles from acting, singing, set design and prop making- a real Team Mattersey effort! What was also wonderful, was how much our pupils loved learning about William Shakespeare, his life and his works. 'Macbeth' was a particular favourite in The Hive Class. Enter text...
Butterfly Conservation: We were so lucky to have a visitor in school from the East Midland’s Butterfly Conservation team. We learnt all about this important work and even took part in a butterfly hunt:
Show and Tell: We love Show and Tell sessions at Mattersey, and we were totally inspired with Zoom learning during the lockdown periods as it meant children could share their pets and features of life at home with their peers. We’ve continued this in school as the pupils got so much out of it, and have welcomed many visitors to school since then…puppies, ducklings, hamsters…the most recent being Valais black nosed sheep. Such meaningful experiences for our children to see and hear about different animals, but so fantastic that our children will confidently talk about their pets and answer questions. Here we learnt all about this special breed of sheep, how to look after them and their distinctive features:
Thorpe Road
Mattersey
Doncaster
South Yorkshire
DN10 5ED
01777 817265
office28@mattersey.notts.sch.uk