Welcome to our TILT news page. Here you will find out what has been happening within our TILT family of schools - don't forget to take a look at our Trust Newsletters page for further information. We are incredibly proud of The Island Learning Trust community and are committed to sharing with you our exciting news and events as they happen.

• Easter arrived at the TILT schools...

  Thu 28 Apr 2022

  Easter arrived with some very Spring-like weather, chocolate eggs and visits from two mysterious Easter bunnies! Plenty of fun activities were enjoyed by our pupils across all our schools - Easter Egg Hunts and a Design An Egg Competition, to name but a few. Here are a few photos from our schools...

  

• Red Nose Day fun at Sunny Bank

  Mon 11 Apr 2022

  Sunny Bank pupils had lots of fun supporting Red Nose Day before the half term - there were certainly lot of red noses seen around school! 

   

  Thank you to all pupils, parents and carers for supporting this great cause once again

  

• Book Week fun across TILT schools...

  Tue 15 Mar 2022

  The Island Learning Trust enjoyed celebrating Book Week with a whole host of activities taking place across our family of schools. The week ended with dressing up on Friday where book characters were seen in abundance!

   

  Take a look at the Kent Messenger (Mar 9th - Mar 15th) edition for a peek at the amazing outifts!

   

  A Demon Headmaster made an appearance on the Monday at Sunny Bank, causing chaos around school by pretending to destroy all the books...the school also used their amazing Forest School area to incorporate the book 'Stick Man' by children's laureate Julia Donaldson. It was Pyjama Day on the Thursday and they even had a 'Different Types of Text Day' where the children brought in a diverse mix of literature from comics to cookbooks...phew, what a busy week they all had!

   

  At Minster, the week kicked off with Accelerated Reader quizzes where they achieved a total word count of a phenomenal 5,304,004 words - what an amazing achievement! During Literacy the children wrote poems about the different celebrations around the world. Their week of activities ended with a visit from an author who used to attend the school - Amanda Peddle. She shared her passion for writing with the pupils and explained how the power of reading and writing can touch lives.

  

• Going for Gold! Halfway achieve Artsmark Gold award for second time...

  Fri 11 Mar 2022

  Congratulations to Halfway for achieving the Artsmark Gold Award for the second time! Here are some comments from the awarding body about Halfway's achievements:

   

  'It is always so rewarding to read of the impact Artsmark journeys have on schools and in your case, the positive impact has been even greater given that this is your next step from the previous Artsmark Gold Award. Your Artsmark journeys have strengthened and supported the shaping of your school vision and core purpose. Your commitment to the Arts is reflected in your 'can do' approach in addressing barriers to achieve your ambitions. You have a leadership structure which is supportive of senior and middle leaders in embedding the Arts not only in your school but also in the other schools in the Trust.

   

  Drama and theatre are greatly valued, and pupils are given many opportunities to become involved as they go through the school. Music is a key strength with all pupils in KS2 being given an opportunity to learn musical instruments such as the recorder, violin, cello, flute and ukulele. Partnerships have been developed to support in the delivery of an arts and cultural offer. Supporting Theatre 31 by piloting some of their programmes whilst they continue to support you is an excellent foundation for establishing a long-term partnership that will continue to have positive outcomes for your pupils."

• Sunny Bank pupils history experience...

  Fri 25 Feb 2022

  Air raid sirens, wartime clothing and a wartime workshop - these are just a few of the things that happened on their WWI and WWII day. The special workshop, by TimeTravel Education, was attended by all years and for the older children, included an amazing VR experience!

   

  They ended the day with the whole school dancing to a wartime song on the playground with the parents watching on.

  

• Halfway Houses get on their bikes!

  Fri 18 Feb 2022

  Over thirty of Halfway's Yr 6 pupils completed their Bikeability training this term. The course was split over two days into two levels. The pupils training consisted of developing cycle handling skills in a traffic-free environment, making good and frequent observations, communicating intentions clearly to others and understanding priorities when negotiating a shared space.

   

  All the participants completed level 1 and progressed onto level 2 where they continued their training on single lane roads with simple junctions and moderate traffic, giving a pupils a real-life cycling experience. All the pupils passed level 2 with flying colours!

   

  The children took part with a real 'can do' attitude and this was remarked upon by the training staff.

   

  Well done, we are very proud of you all!

  

• Minster pupils mark Children's Mental Health Week...

  Tue 15 Feb 2022

  Activities were held across the week to mark this important event. It began with the school community sharing an assembly created and presented by the school's Ambassadors in Year 6. The theme was 'Growing Together' and highlighted the importance of emotional growth and development and how, at times, we face challenges that are essential for growth. The Ambassadors also focused on how supporting each other to grow is vital in our community. Here are some quotes from our Year 6 pupils:

   

  'Growth is important because it helps us to improve and learn.' Max Steele, Bullying Ambassador.

   

  'We don't just grow physically, we also grow mentally by learning about life.' Tommy Haytread, Deputy Prime Minister.

   

  'The theme is important because when you grow you mature over time and you can become a better person.' Oscar Craig, Sports Ambassador.

   

  Across the week, children participated in a range of activities including making use of the Place2Be resources which included Growth Stories. Pupils also made growing together and wellbeing walls in their classrooms and Year 1 were treated to a visit by Mrs Pleace's dog, Charlie and Mrs Cruickshank's puppy, Chip! The children were delighted and drew them pictures and read stories! The dogs certainly enjoyed all the attention and were very well behaved.

   

  The week ended in a 'Dress To Express Day' and as the school gates opened on Friday morning, a wonderful array of outfits that highlighted aspects of individual personalities, were seen - football kits, favourite colours, Superheroes, tigers, bears and even a giant hotdog!

   

  Pupils were taught about how being able to express yourself is not about being the best at something - it is about finding a way to show who you are.

  

• Sunny Bank Forest School News...

  Wed 09 Feb 2022

  Read on to find out what Sunny Bank's pupils have been doing in their Forest School this term...

   

  Year 1 (Jeffers Class) have been engaging in several 'Wild Things' activities inspired by the children's story "Where The Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak. The children enjoyed role play pretending to be Max, King of the Wild Things and created their very own nature crowns followed by a wild rumpus in basecamp! The children really expressed themselves and some amazing Wild Things dance moves were on show! Jeffers Class made mini boats and clay Wild Things utilising an abundance of natural materials: feathers, leaves, pebbles and small sticks.

   

  Year R (Donaldson Class) have been exploring and learning all about woodland animals and their environment. They enjoyed Muddy Welly wandering, created mini shelters for the woodland animals and even spotted a fox trail and den.

   

  It really has been a fantastic term at Sunny Bank's Forest School.

  

• Building better at Sunny Bank...

  Wed 09 Feb 2022

  We are pleased to share the ongoing progress of Sunny Bank's new building work as it continues. The project is progressing fast and completion is due in March! Latest pictures will be posted here.

  

• 'Run to save a life' kind donations over Christmas

  Thu 27 Jan 2022

  Mrs Spocchia's son, Matthew is a church leader for Good News Church on Sheppey. He was contacted by Bul from 'Run to save a life' Foundation as he had been sponsored for running 15 miles and wanted to donate gifts to children on the Island. Sheppey Matters allowed the use of their building for the parents and children to collect the gifts over the Christmas period and 12 of our Halfway pupils were blessed with these gifts.

   

  A big thank you to and Bul from us for all his hard work and reaching out to our Island community.