Castle Hill Castle Hill Blog 07/03/25
World Book Day fever swept the school as a consequence of the exceptional planning and imagination of Ms Dean our English subject lead. It was definitely the best one yet with so many exciting activities for all the pupils to access and enjoy. A massive thank you to all the staff for their enthusiasm and hard work to make it such a fantastic day of learning experiences and fun!
If Castle Hill Ran the Circus
Inspired by Dr Seuss’s book ‘If I Ran the Circus’, we turned the sports hall into a big top by inviting The Circus House to deliver a series of workshops. With 120 of our pupils learning some jaw-dropping new skills - from balancing peacock feathers on their chins to plate spinning, hula-hooping, and flower sticks - we might need to think about starting a circus of our own.
If your child is interested in furthering any skills learned this week, The Circus House offers a range of youth classes. More information can be found here: https://thecircushouse.co.uk/classes
Look at this fantastic piece of imaginative work inspired by the workshop!
How the Grinch Stole Our Library
It might be starting to look like spring, but with the help of our incredible music teacher Holly, we turned the library into a chilly, green Christmas concert. Ignoring the golden rule of “quiet in the library,” we played a variety of instruments as we sang loudly to ‘You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch,’ as well as other Dr. Seuss classics.
Seussical: The Musical
After the success of last year’s Matilda dance workshop, Miss Lucy from the Poynton School of Dance returned to teach a dance to the Broadway musical ‘Seussical: The Musical.’ During this workshop, pupils learned the choreography for the song “Oh, The Things You Can Think.” There was no doubt that pupils were enjoying this fun, silly, and incredibly catchy song inspired by Dr Seuss’s beloved characters.
More information about dance lessons with Miss Lucy can be found on Facebook or Instagram (@Poynton_School_Of_Dance).
Other Things Around the School on World Book Day...
Castle Hill forms turned their classroom doors into Dr Seuss’s entire anthology. Each form was given a book title for them to let their creativity and artistic flair run wild. Keep an eye out on Castle Hill’s Twitter feed next week to help us crown the winning form. With an amazing 24 forms taking part, it’s going to be incredibly difficult to choose.
Heads down, eyes on the prize! Castle Hill took part in a Footie Bookie quiz on Thursday morning in a livestream with thousands of schools up and down the country.
19 little cats from Cat A to Cat Z escaped from the book ‘The Cat in the Hat Comes Back!’ It was up to pupils at Castle Hill to count how many had escaped and get them back underneath the Cat’s Hat before they caused any more mischief.
Every year, I am blown away by the amazing costumes (both bought and homemade) by pupils at Castle Hill. Pupils took inspiration from a range of books, including Grace’s Mrs. Trunchbull, Ethan’s Dogman, and Harry’s Pokémon Trainer. Here is Kirsty dressed as the remarkable Worst Witch!
The book lanyard competition was back and bigger than ever. 55 members of staff had a picture of a book they couldn’t put down on their lanyards. Answers will be counted, and prizes will be given out next week to the winning form. A special shout-out to 10Y for being the first form to get their sheet back to me.
'Teechers' Theatre Trip
Ms Smolka took on the epic responsibility of planning and leading 9J,9M,9H,9D, the year 10 and 11 GCSE drama classes and the year 10 communication skills class to The Forum Theatre this week to see the show ‘Teechers’! The pupils really enjoyed the show and there was lots of laughter throughout the comedic performance! The pupils even got to meet the cast and have a QandA session with them and we even got to stand on the stage and have a picture with the cast! 
Looking Ahead...Dates for the Diary:
|
Date |
Event |
|
Mon 10th March (1.30-2.30pm) |
Parent Group (anyone welcome)
|
|
Wed 12th – Fri 14th March |
Year 11 London Residential |
|
Fri 21st March |
Year 11 Duke of Edinburgh walk |
|
W/c 24th March |
Year 11 Work Experience Week |
|
Tues 25th March (9.15-10.30am) |
HUB Parent Group |
|
Wed 26th March |
World Maths Day (various activities throughout the day) |
|
Thurs 27th March |
Year 13 Duke of Edinburgh walk |
|
Wed 2nd – Fri 4th April |
Year 7 Kingswood Residential |
|
Friday 4th April |
Welly Walk – whole school (pm) |
|
Tues 8th April |
Year 9 Church Trip - morning |
|
Fri 11th April |
Break up for the Easter holidays – finish at 1pm |
|
Mon 28th April |
Back to school after the Easter holidays |
|
Tues 29th – Wed 30th April |
Year 9 Alton Towers Trip (half of year group) |
|
Wed 14th – Thurs 15th May |
Year 9 Alton Towers Trip (half of year group) |
Fantastic Forest School!
The Acorn Class from St Bernadette’s Primary Brinnington, were given an extra special invite to partner up with Castle Hill and enjoy our fantastic forest school. This was arranged by Harrison one of our lovely Yr12 students who does his work experience placement at St Bernadette’s. Harrison wanted to give back to the school providing him a placement. What a brilliant idea. It is amazing to see what can be achieved by schools working together. The Acorn class loved it!!
Easter Craft Parent Event
We are holding a parent/carer Easter Craft workshop on Friday 28th March 12:40-2:40pm in school. Our talented florist, Anne Cleaver, will guide you in the creation of an Easter table arrangement. A light lunch will also be provided. £10 per person. Please sign up: https://signup.com/go/hwbAdUA
And finally...
I am always thrilled when I discover the many talents of our pupils. This week Lucy Jones showed me some of her incredible illustrations. The level of detail is really magnificent and definitely deserves high praise. Well done Lucy!
