A Gallery of School Events

This section of the website shows events that occur across the whole school, capturing the moments as soon after they happen as possible.

Headteacher for the Day!

In Term Five Mr King  had the great pleasure of working alongside Ned from EYFS, who was the winner of the ‘Headteacher for a Day’ prize at the recent Summer Ball auction. Ned spent the day with him, getting to undertake some of the jobs that he does across the day or week. These included leading Achievements Assembly, visiting classes, writing reports and hosting Golden Tea! Ned and Mr King were also invited by Mr. Reid to have a meeting with him over at Amherst, followed by a tour of the school. This was a particular highlight of the day for both of them. 

Crowning of the New King!

It was fantastic to be able to enjoy our Coronation celebrations in the sunshine.  The children all thoroughly enjoyed their tea party and were chuffed to be able to show off their crown and plate designs to our parent helpers and special guests from the local community who joined us. A particular highlight was listening to our wonderful Year Two Choir who gave us a rendition of songs they had learnt especially for the occasion.  We thanked Mrs Browning, Mrs Kilpack and Ms Lyons for their hard work with the choir – they really are a credit to our school.

Easter Celebrations

During their R.E. lessons the children learnt about what happened in Holy Week and why Christians believe this shows Jesus was a special person and the Son of God. They discussed the different events leading up to Good Friday, why we eat Easter Eggs on Easter Sunday and enjoy hot cross buns!

A very big thank you goes to Josh and Andy from the Bessels Green Baptist Church, who brought “Jesus the Super Hero” to our assembly.  The children really enjoyed learning about the wonderful things Jesus did for us.

Here at Riverhead, an important part of our Easter celebrations is the Easter Bonnet Technology Day. Year Two visited their Buddies at Amherst and the Year Six children visited our Reception and Year One children to create beautiful bonnets. We had some wonderful hats which we are able to "show off" to parents at the Easter Parade.

KS1 Scooter and Skateboard Workshop

The KS1 children took part in a Scooter and Skateboard Workshop. They learnt how to stay safe whilst scooting and skating to and from school. The safety equipment they need and should always wear, and enhanced their skills by going round an obstacle course practicing their turning.

The Sound of Music!

Music touches hearts and minds, it can inspire joy, bring comfort, makes us reminisce and gives us a chance to celebrate. We had some wonderful opportunities to enjoy music recently which enhanced our music curriculum.

Sevenoaks School Partnership led three workshops for our children as part of the updated National Plan for Music Education. The children loved joining in, were engaged and found the experience of singing in their year groups very enjoyable. Thank you to the Sevenoaks School Students and teachers for coming along to inspire the children.

A huge "thank you" also went to Mrs Killpack, ably assisted by Miss Lyon and Mrs Browning, our Music Leader, for coaching our magnificent choir who performed their very first concert at the Pamoja Hall Performing Arts Centre at Sevenoaks School. We were so very proud of the children, who were the youngest there. They sang beautifully, stood proudly and bowed elegantly! Well done everyone.

Wonderful World Book Day

On any other day, a giraffe having a conversation with a nattily dressed fox whilst a skeleton and Mary Poppins wait patiently to have their say might seem strange; but on World Book Day that is all just part of the fun!

It was such a delight to see not only so many wonderful cosutmes, but also the range of books the children have covered.   We learnt about some new characters (Harley Hitch – thank you Elsie) and revisit some old favourites - thanks to Ferdi who was Mr. Bump.  A particular highlight was the children's parade of characters .  Thank you to all the parents and carers who joined us. 

The Book Swap was also another highlight giving the children an opportunity to choose a new book for a fantastic story-times at home.  Thank you to the PTA for their support running the Book Swap and to Mrs Swain for co-ordinating so many of the great activities.

Some of our children also sent in their extreme reading photos. Who knew that you could read a book whilst doing a handstand or playing football!

Another highlight was the visit from renowned author Chris Connaughton. The children were enthralled by his story telling and used his enthusiasm to retell their own stories with performances and illustrations in class.  Chris visited the classes individually and was delighted with everyone's creative ideas.

Gong Xi Fa Chai!

Thank you to Mrs Gibbins and her Mandarin Club who entertained us this week as we celebrated Chinese New Year. They sang the Chinese New Year song accompanied by musical instruments. This is the Year of the Rabbit and the whole school has been learning about the significance of the Chinese zodiac symbols.

The Reception Children read the story of "The Great Race" and made some wonderful Chinese lanterns. They also learnt and performed the Dragon Dance accompanied by drums which scared the bad luck away and brought in the good luck!

Bird Week

Once again the whole school took part in this year's RSPB Big School Birdwatch.   In school we learnt about the different species of birds which visit our grounds. Our Reception children transformed their investigation shed into a bird hide, using their binoculars to find the different birds.Year One looked at appropriate materials that could be used to create a bird feeder. 

In particular, the Year Two children joined Mr. and Mrs. Puttock who lead them in a bit of bird spotting. 

Goodbye Mrs Bligh!

Sadly, the end of Term Two marked the departure of a much-loved and valued member of our team – Mrs Bligh. The tremendous contribution Mrs Bligh has made to Riverhead throughout her 30 years at the school has been amazing.  We wish her great success and happiness in her new role at Hever Primary School.

The Children joined together to all take part in one last "Golden Tea".  We waved flags and wore badges with her picture on and wore golden crowns. We also presented her with a plaque to mark all the hard work she has achieved in our new outside area. She will be greatly missed by us all.

Christmas at Riverhead

Watching each of the Christmas performances is an obvious example of how well each of the classes in Reception, Year One and Year Two have come together to create one large team for each of these shows. The children supported one another and clearly demonstrated our value of determination by working so hard to learn lines, dance routines and songs. They also showed their enjoyment and love of learning by presenting with wide smiles and happy faces all the way through each performance. 

Equally, the adults in all of the classes pulled together - creating costumes, leading rehearsals, guiding children from one position to another and being there to support those little thespians who may suffer a tinge of stage fright!

This spirit of togetherness isn’t just present at Christmas. Over the course of Term Two we have seen so many examples of the ‘Riverhead Team’ pulling together for a common cause. That team extends to our wider community also and is seen in the work of the PTA, the time given (voluntarily) by Governors to help move our school forward and by everyone who has volunteered time and resources in support of the children and the school.

International Day

We celebrated the diversity of cultures and nationalities making up the Riverhead Infants' School for our International Day. During the day the children and adults came to school dressed in something that reflected a country they have links to. Each year group researched a different country, speaking phrases in a different language, finding out about the countries traditional dress, national dishes and culture.

Important PSHE Days

Term Two's PSHE topic was "Celebrating Differences". As a school we discussed how we are physically different, the different things we like to do, and the different ways we like to learn. We decided that we all have similarities and differences and that we should celebrate this - being different is O.K! This tied in nicely with Anti-Bullying week and it was so lovely to see the children and staff wearing their "odd socks" to reinforce and raise awareness of bullying.

Keeping safe and knowing right and wrong is also an important part of PSHE. We welcomed Yasmin and Clare, our local police and PCSO officers, to school to lead an assembly about road safety. They talked to the children about how and where to cross the road safely, particularly outside school, and making sure that we are always seen by other road users, especially in the winter months. They also launched a competition to design a safety poster for the school, and asked the children to remind their parents about how to park responsibly and with consideration for our local residents.

Fire Safety Day

With all the excitement of Bonfire Night, all the children took part in a Fire Safety Day. They learnt about the rules for firework safety and wrote a list of instructions on how to keep safe on Bonfire Night. These included instructions about keeping pets safe, wearing appropriate clothing and staying a safe distance from any fireworks.

They also had a discussion about the "stop, drop and roll" routine and safety around fires and drew some fantastic firework pictures and made some amazing firework rockets!

Harvest Festival

We celebrated Harvest and welcomed James Blair from the Bessels Green Unitarian Church into school to lead our celebrations. It was such a pleasure to watch the children performing a range of Harvest songs and poems.  As always, Harvest is a special time of year where people from across the community come together to help support those experiencing hardship. This year, the donations collected in school were passed onto the Loaves and Fishes Food Bank.  There are many people both locally and nationally who are struggling under current circumstances and it is important to imbue children with the spirit of helping others - even from a young age. One of our school’s core values is ‘Belonging’ and it was wonderful to see that value extend beyond the school and out into our local community.  Mrs Miles, our chef, made the wonderful Harvest Loaf and Basket. Not only did they look good but they were delicious and were shared amongst all the classes, which has become a tradition at Riverhead.

Dot Day

We were all intrigued about "Dot Day"! The day was based around the book "The Dot" by Peter Reynolds, with the central message being that everyone can draw as long as we all make a mark and let our self-confidence and creativity flow.

The Year One and Two children were inspired by the book, and joined children in 170 different countries, to make some amazing unique art of different styles, mediums and colours.

End of Year and Summer Production

The end of the school year is always a busy time.  Everyone performed their favourite James Carter songs and poems beautifully at the Summer Production; Reception and Year One visited their new classrooms and met their new teachers; Year Two prepared to move to Amherst and we said "goodbye" to some of our families and members of staff.

At this time of the year the Year Two pupils and school staff nominate the children who have consistently shown our school values.  This year's winners were:-

Love of Learning

Eloise Pearce - Bumblebee Class

Max Lockyer - Dragonfly Class

Belonging

George Carmichael - Dragonfly Class

Brooke Miles - Grasshopper Class

Independent Thinking

Ollie Gallagher - Grasshopper Class

Imogen Horton - Dragonfly Class

Determination

Harvey Celarski - Bumblebee Class

Lydia Keley - Dragonfly Class

Head Teacher Awards

Max Perry - Bumblebee Class

Valentina Calle Genovese - Grasshopper Class

Carnival Fun!

We had an amazing time at our Carnival!  Because of the very hot weather, we decided not have the bouncy castles, but there were lots of other fun activities for us all to take part in.  Everyone tried their luck at guessing the sweets in the jar; used their skills in "beat the goalie"; hooked lots of ducks; enjoyed an ice cream; practised their circus skills and dance movements; took part in the space hopper races; and laughed their way throughout the morning!  

Sporting Stars

We were delighted to be able to host our Year Two Heptahlon event again. Eight local Primary Schools joined us to take part in events such as target throwing, obstacle races, dishes and domes, and hurdles.  Congratulations to the Riverhead Infants' School Team of Felix and Valentina in Grasshopper, Max and Billie-Jean in Dragonfly and Harvey and Frankie in Bumblebee who won the trophy for us this year!  Thanks also went to Mr. Taylor and his team of Year Six Amherst helpers who were brilliant in keeping things running smoothly and recording the scores, and of course to Mr. Costigan for organsing the event as our PE Lead. 

Sports day was another wonderful, colourful event.  The children cheered on their team mates, tried their hardest to win every race and were gracious in their defeat!  Blue Team were the winners. At the end of the day we had our traditional optional “fastest boy and fastest girl” race which were won by Ella in Bumblebee and Max in Dragonfly.

Her Majesty's Platinum Jubilee

What a wonderful Jubilee celebration we had at Riverhead Infants' School.  The sun shone and it was great to have the support of so many parents, along with governors, to share this memorable occasion.  We were delighted to be joined by residents from Rivermere and Kippington, making it a real community event! When the rain came, it did nothing to dampen our patriotic spirits and several parents reported that the children’s rendition of the national anthem continued well after our celebrations had ended!  We received some saplings as part of the Queen's Canopy project and once they have grown sufficiently, Eco Club will transplant them to ‘The Oaks’ to provide a reminder of this amazing event for many years to come.  

Also linked to the jubilee celebrations, we were invited to make decorations for the Riverhead Parish Council “Picnic in the Parkland”.  Miss Rodaway, our apprentice T.A., led this project in conjunction with our School Council.  All the children decorated a piece of bunting which we took to the parkland to adorn the trees.  We were also asked to help decorate the local area by knitting red, white and blue flowers.

St. George's Day

It was lovely to see our children who are members of the Rainbows and Beaver groups come to school in their smart uniforms to celebrate St George’s Day. As you know Baden Powell, the founder of the scout movement, chose St. George to be the patron saint of Scouts as he wanted St. George’s Day to be a time to reflect on the Scout Promise and what it means to be a Scout.

Special Visitors

In Term Four the children enjoyed some exciting enhancement opportunities starting with a lot of fun and creativity with the poet, James Carter, and an inspirational visit from international sprinter and national gold medallist, Frederick Afrifa.  They learnt his mantra Fred taught them (Keep moving forward!) that fits with our school value of determination, which the children demonstrated during their fitness challenge. Sponsorship money raised went towards supporting GB athletes as well as physical activities here at school.

E-Safety Day

During one of our inset days, staff took part in online safety training, which is part of our safeguarding training.   Mrs Browning, our Computing Lead, organised our E-Safety day with the KS1 children taking part in a workshop explaining the importance of staying safe on-line through fun activities, role playing, signing and games. All the children read “Digiducks Big Decision” which tells the story of how help arrives just in time for Digiduck when his friends and himself are faced with a difficult decision about being responsible online. The Year Two children also took part in a quiz organised by the Sevenoaks District Council which highlighted different potential online risks to be aware of.  We hope that parents also learnt something from your children’s posters and booklets showing the understanding of what they were taught.

Fantastic Fred Experience

Our Year One and Two children took part in the NHS Fantastic Fred Experience. Fred's name represents -

Food - Eating the right foods.

Rest - getting enough sleep

Exercise - Being active

Devices - Managing time on digital devices.

The interactive workshops centered around children's mental health and helped to explain the link between physical and mental health. We learnt that feeling healthy makes us feel good which helps us improve our lifelong emotional resilience. Everyone really enjoyed the performances and each child was given a FRED wristband as a reminder of the day, as well as some home resources.

Mental Health Awareness Week

This year's Mental Health Awareness Week's theme was nature. Evidence shows that time spent in nature can reduce stress and anxiety whilst increasing children and young people's confidence and creativity. Something as simple as stopping to listen to birdsong, taking care of a house plant or the smell of freshly cut grass can all help change our mood. This was certainly evident at school with children and staff sharing outdoor activities, encouraging each other to take part in the daily challenges, and thinking about what makes us feel happy and who we should talk to when we are worried about things.

Well done to everyone who took part in our "Walk to School Wednesday". Some children walked with their new puppies and dogs; some left early and challenged themselves to two laps of the common before coming to school; some scooted; some climbed their favourite trees ;and some made the most of our beautiful surroundings and walked through the parkland. 

Pirate Week

The pirate themed week was a wonderful way to welcome children back to school, with staff and children really getting into the spirit of it. The classrooms became pirate ships which fortunately were all back, having sailed the seven seas, for the crews to be taken home on time. 

Our Creative Curriculum

All aspects of the National Curriculum are taught through our creative theme-based curriculum.  As you know the key skills of English and mathematics are taught daily plus guided reading.  Other subjects such as music, P.E., DT and computing are also embedded throughout the curriculum and provide children with enjoyment and the skills to prepare for the modern world.

We are extremely lucky that Mrs Adebekun and Mr Smith have both been able to provide videos of the music and P.E. lessons for the children who are not at school and we hope that you have all enjoyed them.

The children really enjoy their D.T. topics and we have had some lovely home learning projects. Reception read the story of Callum's Incredible Construction and made their own crazy houses just like the story. In Year One the children have been learning about weaving and have made paper weavings. In Year Two the children have been making their 3D masks for their Superhero characters. They painted a mask shape and embellished it using materials such as pipe cleaners and feathers. 

This year's eSafety week theme was, "An Internet we can trust", and the children were able to access an eSafety activity set for them by Mrs Browning, our IT Lead. The campaign focused on how we decide what to trust online and explores how influence, persuasion and manipulation can impact young people's decisions, opinions and what they share online.

SUPERB STEM WEEK

What a fantastic start we have had to the term with our brilliant STEM Week.  The week was packed with exciting learning opportunities for all the children.  The Architect Workshop encouraged team work to solve mathematical problems to build small and large triangular shapes which are the strongest to use for building structures.  In the Lego Robotics workshops, pupils worked in pairs learning about algorithms to design and bring to life working models of fairground rides.  Professor Bubbleworks visited us on Friday bringing a fun filled day of science with the everyone joining in with exciting and sometimes messy experiments!  Some children invented their own maths games which they played with their peers.  We had “space bingo”, animal top trumps, mazes and world maps.  

We were so grateful to the parents, aunts, uncles and friends who visited us and spoke to the children who have been inspired by their interesting jobs in the science, technology, engineering and maths industries.  They really enjoyed learning about the different industries, asking lots of questions and thinking about their future careers!