A Wonderful Start to Advent at Wimborne St Giles
What a truly special week it has been at WSG as we stepped into Advent with joy, gratitude and a deep sense of community!
We began on Monday with the most magical afternoon when some of our Oak Class children visited the Village Hall to join our friends - In Jolly Good Company. Together the children delivered handmade Christmas cards, sang carols and spent time chatting with residents from the village. Their warmth, kindness and confidence shone through a beautiful example of our values of Love, Hope and Joy in action.
On Thursday, the whole school gathered for a special Advent worship led by Rev Angus. The children took part in a dramatic retelling of the beginning of Advent; helping us to reflect on hope, light and the meaning of this season. It was a thoughtful and joyful moment to pause together as a school family.
We were also delighted to receive the most beautiful Christmas tree from our wonderful PTA this week thank you so much! The children loved decorating it this afternoon - just in time to welcome families into school for our termly Learning Showcase this afternoon!
The showcase was a joyous celebration of the learning, creativity and flourishing that has taken place across the whole school this term. Thank you to everyone who was able to join us and share in such a special community moment.
We are also very proud that our children have launched our Reverse Advent Calendar campaign. Each day through Advent, they will be donating items for the Trussell Trust Food Bank; helping to support local families at a time of year when it is needed most.
As we reflect on a wonderful week, heartfelt thanks are owed to the Flippance/Goodall family for the stunning Christmas wreaths now adorning our doors they look truly beautiful and have brought such festive warmth to our school.
As we continue through Advent, we are grateful for a week filled with connection, curiosity and celebration and for the children who bring such light to our school every day.
#LoveHopeJoy
#Advent
#TogetherWeGrow
#TogetherWeGive
#injollygoodcompany
What a fantastic forest school session in WSG Wild Woods for Elm Class this afternoon! We had a great time - playing, exploring and making bird feeders. Thank you Jen! #TogetherWeGrow #forestschoolfun
We've had a wonderful day taking part in the RSPB's Big Schools' Birdwatch! The children were brilliant wildlife spotters and recorded a fantastic variety of bird species we were even lucky enough to spot a kestrel soaring overhead! It was a lovely opportunity to slow down, look closely at the natural world around us and celebrate our value of Hope - as we learn how even small actions can help protect our environment. If you'd like to join in at home, the Big Garden Birdwatch takes place this weekend and is a brilliant way to get involved as a family. You can find out more and take part here: https://www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happening/big-garden-birdwatch Happy birdwatching!
This week Oak Class have enjoyed exploring 'The Lost Words' – by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris - a beautiful book created to combat the loss of natural vocabulary from children's lives and to encourage people to notice and love the wild world around them. In our English sessions, we have used a range of writing techniques including similes and metaphors to create our own powerful images to describe different wildlife. In our Art enrichment sessions with Clare, we have also learned to use watercolour techniques to create illustrations to go with our poems! #TogetherWeGrow #TheLostWords
Today, as part of our learning about world faiths and festivals, we celebrated Makar Sankranti - the Hindu winter harvest festival which marks the start of the New Year! Known as the Festival of Joy, Hope and New Beginnings, it is celebrated across India and, while it has different names in different regions, kite flying is a special and much-loved tradition. It is believed to be a way of expressing appreciation and gratitude to God. Inspired by this, we made our own "kites of love, hope and joy" - decorating them with pictures and thoughtful messages, before having a fantastic time flying them together this morning in the beautiful winter sunshine. It was a wonderful way to learn, reflect and celebrate together! #MakarSankranti #LoveHopeJoy #TogetherWeGrow
Happy New Year to all our families! The new term has got off to the best possible start with some truly wonderful news to share... We are absolutely thrilled to announce that Wimborne St Giles C of E First School and Nursery has once again been awarded the Eco-Schools Green Flag with Distinction the highest possible award for the second year in a row! This is a real celebration of our whole-school commitment to caring for our world and of living out our school value of Hope. The Eco-Schools assessors shared this fantastic feedback: "Wimborne St Giles C of E First School's most significant achievement this year was the comprehensive participation of all students and staff in the school's Eco-Schools activities. From Forest School to beekeeping, these inclusive initiatives showcase the school's dedication to environmental stewardship and serve as a compelling reason for families to choose the school as an educational institution that values and fosters meaningful engagement with the natural world. This is a remarkable achievement, well done!" For us, this award is about so much more than environmental action. It reflects our belief in hope in action standing up for what we believe in and working together to make the world a better place. We teach our children that, no matter how small they are, they have the power to make a difference. We are incredibly proud of our children, staff and families for all they do, every day, to care for the world with love, hope and joy.
As this special season of Advent draws to a close, we have been truly honoured to be part of our wider community's Christmas celebrations. Again, with huge thanks to the Knowlton Circle Benefice, we were delighted to be involved with the creation of this year's Benefice Christmas card. The children wanted to portray the love, hope and joy at the heart of the Christmas story and, after another brilliant session led by our artist in residence, Clare Holmes, two of our Year 4 artists were really thrilled to be chosen as the winning design. Thank you to all within our school family and wider community for your continued support, encouragement and kindness throughout this year. It means so much to us all. On behalf of everyone at Wimborne St Giles First School and Nursery, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
We also joined our DSAT family of schools for a very special Advent Calendar online!
During this special time of Advent, we were thrilled to be asked by our Knowlton Circle Benefice to join the Diocese of Salisbury and their Re:verse Christmas Carol! #LoveHopeJoy #dioceseofsalisbury
A Beautiful Christingle Service This morning we came together for a truly special Christingle service; led so confidently and beautifully by our children. Their singing filled the church and the heartfelt poems and prayers they shared were deeply moving a real reminder of the light and hope this season brings. Amid what is always such a busy time, it was a precious moment of stillness a chance to pause, reflect and give thanks together as a school community. We are very grateful to Rev Angus for his thoughtful and inspiring message and to John Radford for his wonderful organ accompaniment - which added so much to the atmosphere of the service. Thank you to all our families who were able to join us this morning and for your generous donations to our retiring collection. These will go directly to the children's charities: Child of Hope Uganda and Choose Love; supporting children and families including refugees at this particularly important time of year. It was a morning full of Love, Hope and Joy and a wonderful way to come together as a little school family to mark the end of what has been a truly magical festive season. #TogetherWeGrow #TogetherWeGive #LoveHopeJoy
Thank You to Our Amazing PTA – Christmas Fun Day A huge and heartfelt thank you to our wonderful PTA for organising such a truly magical Christmas Fun Day last Friday. It was a day full of joy, excitement and festive sparkle that our children will remember for a long time. The morning was filled with Christmas crafts and cooking, followed by a delicious lunch in the Village Hall - creating a lovely sense of togetherness and celebration. In the afternoon, the excitement reached new heights as the children were transported by a specially decorated tractor and trailer to Santa's Grotto on the Shaftesbury Estate an adventure in itself! Not only did we get to meet Father Christmas and receive a gift but we were also lucky enough to meet some of his reindeer which absolutely delighted the all of the children - and the grown ups! We would like to extend a huge thank you to the Shaftesbury Estate, St Giles Farm and all of our amazing grown-ups and volunteers who worked so hard behind the scenes to give our school community such a magical festive experience. Days like this truly capture the spirit of Christmas and reflect the strength of our school family. Thank you all for making it so special.
'I'm Gonna Shine' – and shine they did! What an utterly magical Christmas performance we shared today. From our tiniest Saplings to our mighty Oaks, every single child sang, danced and acted their hearts out. They lit up the stage with confidence, enthusiasm and so much festive joy. We could not be prouder of them – not only for their incredible performance, but for the way they embodied our values of Love, Hope and Joy throughout every rehearsal and in today's show. What a talented and inspiring group of children we are blessed with here at Wimborne St Giles CE First School & Nursery. A heartfelt thank you to our wonderful staff team for all of their hard work, creativity and care in bringing this production to life. Thank you also to our amazing families for being such a warm, enthusiastic audience your support means the world to the children. Enormous thanks to our brilliant PTA for providing delicious refreshments and helping make the afternoon feel so special. And a huge thank you to Clare Holmes and Jules Mayhew for their artistry and stunning backdrops, and to Jack's dad, Poppy's dad and Woody's dad for the fantastic stage set up and excellent light and sound. Your time, talent and generosity lifted the whole performance. Our Christmas show truly was a whole-community celebration and what a shining moment it was.
A Wonderful Start to Advent at Wimborne St Giles What a truly special week it has been at WSG as we stepped into Advent with joy, gratitude and a deep sense of community! We began on Monday with the most magical afternoon when some of our Oak Class children visited the Village Hall to join our friends - In Jolly Good Company. Together the children delivered handmade Christmas cards, sang carols and spent time chatting with residents from the village. Their warmth, kindness and confidence shone through a beautiful example of our values of Love, Hope and Joy in action. On Thursday, the whole school gathered for a special Advent worship led by Rev Angus. The children took part in a dramatic retelling of the beginning of Advent; helping us to reflect on hope, light and the meaning of this season. It was a thoughtful and joyful moment to pause together as a school family. We were also delighted to receive the most beautiful Christmas tree from our wonderful PTA this week thank you so much! The children loved decorating it this afternoon - just in time to welcome families into school for our termly Learning Showcase this afternoon! The showcase was a joyous celebration of the learning, creativity and flourishing that has taken place across the whole school this term. Thank you to everyone who was able to join us and share in such a special community moment. We are also very proud that our children have launched our Reverse Advent Calendar campaign. Each day through Advent, they will be donating items for the Trussell Trust Food Bank; helping to support local families at a time of year when it is needed most. As we reflect on a wonderful week, heartfelt thanks are owed to the Flippance/Goodall family for the stunning Christmas wreaths now adorning our doors they look truly beautiful and have brought such festive warmth to our school. As we continue through Advent, we are grateful for a week filled with connection, curiosity and celebration and for the children who bring such light to our school every day. #LoveHopeJoy #Advent #TogetherWeGrow #TogetherWeGive #injollygoodcompany
This term, Oak Class have had so much fun immersing themselves in Samba lessons taught by the amazing Mr Whitmarsh from Dorset Music Service. The class has been bursting with rhythm, energy and excitement every single week and, yesterday, it all culminated in the most enthusiastic and joyful Samba concert! A huge thank you to our families for coming along to support the children and for being such an encouraging, enthusiastic audience. Your smiles, cheers and clapping made the performance even more special. We are so proud of our Oak Class children their confidence, teamwork and sheer joy in making music together shone through in every beat. What a fantastic end to a brilliant musical adventure! #TogetherWeGrow #LoveHopeJoy
Last week, our Year 3 and 4 children were delighted to join friends from Cranborne, Trinity and St James' First Schools for the annual Priory Football Cup. It was a wonderful opportunity for our pupils to proudly represent Wimborne St Giles CE First School and Nursery in a friendly sporting competition and they absolutely rose to the occasion! There was fantastic teamwork, great sporting spirit and so much joy on the pitch. We are incredibly proud of every one of our children. A huge thank you to St James' First School and Nursery for hosting another brilliant event and congratulations to Trinity CE First School for their win! We're already looking forward to the Netball tournament next half term! #LoveHopeJoy #DioceseofSalisburyAcademyTrust
Is your child starting school in September 2026? Come and discover Wimborne St Giles First School and Nursery – a small, friendly village school in a stunning rural setting where every child is given the chance to flourish. Breakfast Club from 7:45am Wraparound After School Care until 6:00pm Small class sizes Beautiful grounds for outdoor learning On-site Nursery and Forest School provision Open Morning & School Tour Dates Along with the previously advertised November dates, we have added a new date for December: Tuesday 25th November – 9:30am Wednesday 3rd December – 9:30am If these dates don't suit you, just get in touch – we'll happily arrange a time that works for your family. 01725 517347 office@wimbornestgiles.dsat.org.uk www.wimbornestgiles.dsat.org.uk Book your visit today and see why our school is such a special place to learn and grow!