Some of you may know that, here at Bloxwich Academy Primary, we have a very talented musician in our midst! Shankley in Year 4 has an incredible natural aptitude for playing piano. At the age of 7, during the COVID-19 lockdown, he showed a great interest in learning how to play after seeing pianist Lang Lang on the television. Shankley was initially given a keyboard and quickly demonstrated that he had an ear for music and a natural ability to play.

Since the beginning on the year, Shankley has been receiving piano lessons in school after been awarded grants from two local charities, with further funding now promised for the next academic year.

Shankley’s piano tutor explains ‘At our first meeting, I was able to assess the level he had reached through self-learning at home. He demonstrated excellent musicality, and some well-memorised advanced repertoire. A large focus in our lessons has been for Shankley to learn to be able to read music which he is now able to do at a late-intermediate/early-advanced level with very little extra prompting. I am confident that with his great drive and determination, he will successfully achieve the Grade 5 piano qualification and at least one music theory grade this year, and be well on his way to Grade 8 piano before moving to secondary school.’

His family have been a real driving force behind Shankley’s achievements, applying for the initial funding and supporting him in all aspects of his development. His mum tells us that he recently performed at the local church in memory of his grandad, who has sadly passed away, and at Harden Hall Care Home, entertaining residents during the school holiday. His mum told us ‘He has a heart of gold and loves to play for everyone. He asked me if he could perform somewhere to make others happy and that’s what he did; they loved him! We’re super proud of the kind, caring selfless boy he is!’

We, too, are so proud of you Shankley. We cannot wait to continue to follow your progress, and share your future successes with the Bloxwich Academy Primary community.

What a fantastic week we had at Bryntysilio just before the half term break. The sun was shining, and the children were in great spirits! Throughout the week, the children experienced a range of adventurous activities: rock climbing, gorge walking, archery, canoeing, scrambling and team building exercises. It was fantastic to see everyone have a go at everything, even if sometimes it may have felt out of their comfort zone. There are a few photos to remind you of some of the fun that we had!

The year 3 & 4 Boys Football team travelled away on Monday to play against Christ Church Primary. The boys were very excited to be back playing football for the school again. It was a very physical game but the boys coped extremely well and focused on playing good team football which paid off with a fantastic 7 – 1 win.

The boys went 1 – 0 down early in the game but they did not allow their heads to drop. Charley demonstrated good strength throughout the game and had a fantastic attacking run where he beat several opposition players, he also managed to bag himself a goal towards the end of the game.

Theo was consistent throughout the game and demonstrated some excellent attacking play, making it very difficult for the opposition to challenge him. He was strong in his tackles and managed to score an amazing 4 goals which is just phenomenal.

Iffy applied good pressure to the opposition which limited the options they had to go forward and attack our goal. He made an impressive save on the line by heading the ball over the bar. He was very unlucky not to score as he had some fantastic shots on goal which hit the bar and went just past the post.

Riley was solid in goal and made some excellent saves keeping the opposition’s scoring opportunities to a minimum. He demonstrated some good goal kicks which created many attacking opportunities for our strikers. Kai demonstrated good strength in his tackles and was very good at closing the opposition down and not allowing them time on the ball or much chance to go forward.

Jack linked up with his teammates well and demonstrated good decision-making skills helping Bloxwich to maintain possession. Caiden really enjoyed himself and it showed throughout the game. He got into some great positions which helped the team have good structure particularly in defence. Caiden closed down players well and was consistent in his tackles.

Corey had a fantastic game and made some brilliant attacking runs throughout the game. He linked up with teammates well while attacking and applied good pressure to the opposition when defending. Corey managed to score 2 superb goals.

Archie got himself into great positions and offered his teammates lots of support and options on the ball. He made some good attacking runs and helped in the build up play to many of the goals.

Wow! The year 3 residential was a massive success. The children participated in many activities such as axe throwing, ziplining and canoeing. The children were split into small groups accompanied by an adult and listened attentively to the Woodlands instructors throughout their three days away.

It was lovely to see the children in an outdoor environment, enjoying themselves and laughing whilst developing their confidence and resilience. They thoroughly enjoyed sleeping in the same dorm as each other and eating their breakfast, lunch and tea as a group. Many children have pushed themselves out of their comfort zones e.g. by conquering heights when completing the ziplining, entering water (even though many of them can’t swim!) to complete the canoeing or entering the underground tunnel in total darkness.

As staff, it was a delight to witness their new experiences and hear the children expressing their excitement and amazement that they had completed an activity that they never thought they would be able to do.

All our year 3 children have many memories to cherish and should be very proud of their accomplishments, friendships and unforgettable moments that they can keep with them forever.