Greenfylde School pupils show just what they have been upto in Ilminster last term

But pupils at Greenfylde School in Ilminster can have no excuse this month having had much to inflame the imagination.

The children have had a handson education on subjects ranging from cooking, through to local politics and learning how to be safe on the internet.

Head teacher Claire Oaten talked The News through exactly what the classes have been up to this term.

She said: “The children have continued the ‘Farm to Fork’ initiative with Tesco with cookery lessons at the local store.

“The sessions with Key Stage 2 children have encouraged children to not only be healthy but also think more about the range of foods they can try and discover.

“As a school, this has been a wonderful offer as it allows us to develop our cookery teaching within the new curriculum in a fun and exciting way.

“Encouraging children at this young age to take part in cookery will hopefully help them to develop a keen interest in nutrition and cooking in the future.

“Secondly, Christmas may be many months away but the children are already thinking about their Christmas decorations thanks to a very generous donation from Tesco.

“Many shoppers may have seen the large artificial tree on display at the entrance to the store last Christmas and this has now been donated to Greenfylde C of E First School for the children, staff and families to enjoy.

“As a school we are very thankful for the generosity of Tesco and we are looking forward to next Christmas when the children can put the tree on display for all in our school community to share.”

The Ilminster group of schools, made up of Greenfylde, Swanmead and Wadham, held their second joint school council meeting in the Ilminster Town Council Chamber.

Representatives from all three schools went along with questions to pose to the Mayor of Ilminster and discussions took place on a wide range of issues including sports facilities, rubbish collections and development of open spaces, to name but a few.

Ms Oaten said: “The children who came along are very interested in their town and enjoyed the opportunity to discuss local issues that are important to them with the Mayor.

“Having this opportunity to see democracy in action has a very positive effect on the pupils and promotes to them the responsibility that they will have as citizens of Ilminster.

“Our thanks go to Emma-Jane Taylor, the Mayor of Ilminster, and Joy Norris, the clerk to the town council, for giving their time to the young people and allowing them to hold the meeting at the town council offices.”

The school also marked Safer Internet Day with an e-safety day to talk to children about how to stay safe online at school and at home.

As part of this, ICT teacher Lois Bowery held sessions to talk Children learn about healthy eating and staying safe online – and question town Mayor to parents about how they can support their children in being safe explorers of online resources and letting the children show parents some of the computing skills they learn every week.

The head teacher added: “All of our children have been born into a digital age and willingly embrace every aspect of new technology that comes along.

“For parents, the pace of change digitally can seem quite amazing and it can be difficult to keep up with all the new areas children want to explore.

“We know the digital world offers a wealth of opportunities for our pupils – however we want to ensure, with families, that children can not only access this confidently but in a safe way both now and in the future.”