Entries for the KLCC / WNAT Photographic Competition are now open!
Get your entries in for this year's OPEN themed photographic competition. Prizes for all finalists!
You have until Monday 1st June 2026 to submit your images to e.pearman@wnat.co.uk
See poster for full details along with a guide to photography to help you get some great shots.
There was good cause for cake, when pupils at a WNAT school organised a bake sale in aid of the East Anglia Air Ambulance (EAAA), raising more than £165 for the organisation.
The 29 Year 4 children at Clenchwarton Primary organised the fundraiser as part of the EAAA Challenge Badge scheme, inspired by the school’s first-hand experience of the service’s vital role.
“Two years ago, a parent suffered a cardiac arrest at pick up time,” explained Year 4 Class Teacher Michelle Ryan. “Two members of staff assisted with CPR, and the EAAA arrived to get him immediate care and took over. Due to their efforts, the parent survived and has made a full recovery.
“The partner of the man asked if there was something we could do to raise money for the EAAA. We discovered that they had just started doing the Challenge Badge activities for children, so we started the activities, and completed it between December 2023 and July 2024.”
The Challenge has since been undertaken by each subsequent Year 4 cohort at the school, with this year’s group successfully completing a range of activities.
“They have held a cake sale, raising a whopping £165.30; they have made helicopter models; have undertaken research about the EAAA; have created alternative uniform designs; and have created and completed word searches related to the EAAA,” continued Mrs Ryan.
“The whole of Year 4 took part in the EAAA Cake Sale. They provided cakes, sold the cakes, and decorated the stall with bunting and price tags.”
There was also the opportunity for the pupils to learn life-saving skills, thanks to a visit from Andrew Coldecott from the EAAA, who taught them how to act in an emergency, including shouting for help, calling 999 or 112, providing CPR, and using the recovery position.
“They learnt CPR, and our current Year 5 and 6 classes, who have previously completed the Challenge Badge, also had refresher CPR training,” said Mrs Ryan, who is now leading the pupils on a further fundraising challenge, as they prepare to take part in the Great East Anglia Run on 3 May.
“I have run GEAR three times, last year for the EAAA when I raised just over £800,” she added.
“For the Mini Run, I am expecting 29 children to run from Years 3, 4, 5 and 6. We aim to raise at least £500 – but secretly, hopefully, want to beat last year’s £800.”
To support the Clenchwarton runners, go to: https://www.justgiving.com/page/michelle-ryan-3?utm_medium=FR&utm_source=WA
The Corn Exchange was alive to the sound of music, when more than 260 pupils from schools across West Norfolk gathered together to take part in a concert.
Among those performing at this year’s Schools Make Music event were the members of the Concert Band and Cantabene Choir from Springwood High School, which is part of the West Norfolk Academies Trust.
“Each of the groups performed for around ten to 15 minutes,” said our Director of Music, Robin Norman, who conducted the Concert Band, while vocal teacher Sam Ashby led Cantabene.
“The concert is a celebration of music across all schools in West Norfolk, and it is always a highlight to see and hear the excitement of all the young people performing,” he continued.
“From our point of view as a secondary, it is a privilege to perform to support and inspire the future generations of young musicians as well.”
Organised by the Rotary Club in King’s Lynn, the sell-out event is a regular fixture on the calendar at Springwood.
“For so many schools, music can be quite ‘inward’, with performances that are purely for the school community of parents et cetera,” added Mr Norman. “Events such as this give every school an opportunity to showcase the great music that is taking place.
“It also gives an opportunity to hear what other schools are doing as well – this can be an inspirational experience for so many.”
There was magic in the air, when students from a WNAT secondary school enjoyed a theatre trip to London’s West End to see a spell-binding production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
The 44 students from Smithdon High School ranged in age from Years 7 to 11, and were accompanied by Head of Drama Vicky Proctor, along with Drama Teacher Kayleigh Brown, and Learning Support Assistants John Britton and Heather Burrows.
“It was an opportunity to see live theatre at its best,” said Mrs Proctor. “Also, the production is finishing in late September and being amalgamated into one show, so this was a fabulous chance for students to see Cursed Child as it was originally intended, as a two-part production.”
The school organises regular theatre trips for students, with this one made possible thanks to support from Heacham Youth and Community Trust.
“For some students, this was their first time visiting our capital city, and so the experience was incredible for them,” added Mrs Proctor.
“The show itself is truly magical, and all the students were in awe and amazement. They also enjoyed the interval at McDonald’s!”
There were famous footsteps to follow, when students from a WNAT secondary school visited Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge.
The group of Year 10 students from St Clement’s High School spent the day at ‘Keys’, which was founded in 1348 and boasts such world-renowned alumni as Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Stephen Hawking, Alan Turing, David Attenborough, William Wordsworth, Lord Byron, and King Charles III.
“Year 10 students enjoyed an informative and fascinating tour of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge,” said Jenny Ford, Librarian at St Clement’s. “It is situated in the heart of Cambridge and is a vibrant and thriving setting for undergraduates in the city.
“We started the day with a presentation focusing on the structure of the 31 constituent colleges that form the University of Cambridge, followed by an overview of the vast number of academic courses that are available to study. We learnt about the distinguished Cambridge University alumni across science, literature, and royalty.”
The visitors also had the opportunity to meet students currently studying at Gonville and Caius, as well as enjoying a tour of the college, and getting a taste of university life.
“We were given a tour of the library, which has been used since 1441,” continued Mrs Ford. “It houses 350 manuscripts from the medieval era, making it the largest medieval library in the University.
“We were then treated to the unique experience of dining in the hall alongside university students. The hall is decorated with a mix of traditional and contemporary art and stained-glass windows, and featured in the hall is a large flag that was taken to the South Pole in 1911.
“The day concluded with a visit to the University Museum of Zoology, where we viewed a whole range of specimens spanning the entire animal kingdom from elephants, giant ground sloths, giraffes, and unusual reptiles to a skeleton from the extinct dodo.”
The visit proved informative and inspirational for the students.
“The trip to the University of Cambridge was an eye-opening experience that really showed me the possibilities and opportunities that are available after college,” said Alex. “The infrastructure and the aesthetics of the different parts of the campus were captivating and influential.
“The hall was a great place for socialising, as was the library, which is a massive part of the university life. The tour guide we had was a student that studies at the university, and he was really useful as a reliable insight into how the university works and what life is like.”
“At the end of the visit, we all had a new appreciation for all that Cambridge has to offer, either from an academic perspective or to simply absorb the beautiful architecture and historical sites,” added Mrs Ford.
“Several of our Year 10 cohort aspire to study at Cambridge, and this visit certainly provided the motivation and inspiration to study hard.”
There was a bird’s-eye view for our students, after a competition gave them the opportunity to create and fly their own drones.
Organised by the West Norfolk Academies Trust, and delivered by Alex Meads from the College of West Anglia, the Key Stage 3 Drone Day saw Year 9 students from all four of our high schools take part, including Marshland in West Walton, St Clement’s in Terrington St Clement, Smithdon in Hunstanton, and host Springwood in King’s Lynn.
“All Year 9 students in the WNAT secondary schools took part in an initial competition to win the opportunity to work with Alex,” explained Springwood Head of Geography Calum Wilkinson, who helped to organise the event with the support of colleagues including his counterpart at St Clement’s, Matt Knott.
“The competition involved a decision-making exercise on where to locate a new national forest in West Norfolk. Students were judged on a group presentation. The winning team from each school competed. Each school was represented by five students.”
Following a safety briefing from Mr Meads, who is Green Skills Manager at the College of West Anglia, the high-flying students were tasked with building and racing their own drones, before graduating to flying larger models.
“There were several sessions across the day,” continued Mr Wilkinson. “The morning involved building and racing smaller drones around an assault course, and an opportunity to practise flying larger drones across the school field.
“In the afternoon, the students got to experience the most advanced drones that Alex has, including first-person-view technology.
“Building and flying the drones was a highlight for the students. They were difficult to control, and tested the students’ flying skills.”
It was the first time that the event had taken place, but its success means that there are plans to run it again next year.
“The students were challenged in this event across a range of skills, including problem-solving and teamwork,” added Mr Wilkinson.
“The Springwood High School team has already signed up to support next year’s event.”
History left the classroom, when students from a WNAT secondary school visited Germany and Poland for a four-day exploration of key World War II sites.
The 46-strong group from St Clement’s High School first spent time in Berlin, where they visited a range of historic landmarks, including Hitler’s Olympic Stadium, the DDR Museum showing life in East Berlin, the Berlin Wall, the East Side Gallery, Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, Wannsee House where the Final Solution was decided, and the Topography of Terror exhibition at the former headquarters of the Gestapo.
The students then travelled to Krakow to see Schindler’s factory, the Jewish Ghetto, and Auschwitz and Birkenau.
There was also plenty of time for sight-seeing and exploring – as well as the fun challenge of an evening’s bowling.
“It was so interesting to actually be in the places it all actually happened,” said one student, while another said: “I loved the DDR Museum – seeing the rooms and kitchens and stuff, and how people lived back in the East was cool.”
“We did lots of fun things in between the more difficult places,” added a fellow student. “Auschwitz was hard, but I am glad I did it.”
It was the fourth time the trip had taken place.
“Trips like this bring what we talk about in lessons to life,” said Head of History Anton Modica, who accompanied the group.
“They really help our young people touch and feel history, especially as it is affecting our world today, and ultimately try and help contribute to our students becoming all-round kind, decent adults who can critically think and empathise.
“Our students were fantastic, and took it all in, showing the utmost respect, and I am sure we left with memories and reflections to last a lifetime.”
Students flocked to meet the new arrivals, when a WNAT school welcomed three woolly visitors for the week.
Smithdon High School was hosting a mother sheep and her two lambs in the school grounds, as part of an initiative sent up by the Food and Farming Discovery Trust to increase young people’s awareness of the farming industry.
“The objective was to widen students’ knowledge on where their food comes from, farming as an industry, and to have the opportunity to see the animals close up,” said Teacher of Food and Nutrition Becky Dibble, who organised the event with the assistance of Assistant Headteacher Alysha Moat, as well as taking responsibility for the animals during their stay.
“We both attended the mandatory briefing at the Norfolk Showground to allow us to have the sheep at the school. They also then put together the Livestock Sheep Project sessions for our students to take part in.”
“The sessions were for Year 7 and Year 8,” she continued. “They were split into groups and spent a lesson learning all about sheep. The Livestock Sheep Project included four activity stations that were run by Year 10 students, which included activities like learning where the different breeds originate from around the UK, how sheep help with climate changes, to understanding where our food comes from, and being able to locate local produce on a large map of Norfolk.
“A select few students who are interested in animal care and farming as a career took charge of caring for the animals, by feeding them, checking on them, helping to move the pen, and making sure they had clean straw in their shelter.”
The students also spent time outside with the sheep, where Mrs Dibble was able to share her own farming experience, as she and her family have a flock of sheep.
It was the second time that Smithdon had been involved in the project, with this year’s ewe and lambs provided by Dereham-based farmer Josh Hill.
“For some students, this was the first time they had been up close to a farm animal and also had the confidence to ask questions about them,” added Mrs Dibble.
“It gives them a chance to understand the importance of farming in the UK, discuss welfare standards, and understand how to care and be empathic towards another being.”
It was ‘mission possible’, when aspiring engineers at a WNAT school came together to design and create their own problem-solving robot.
The students at Springwood High School have been taking part in the First LEGO League Challenge, a global robotics event which is run in the UK by the Institute of Engineering and Technology, and tasks young people to design, build, and programme an autonomous LEGO robot to solve a series of missions.
“In the club, there have been 20 students working hard, across Years 7 to 11,” said Jamie Day, who is Science Teacher and First LEGO League Lead at the school.
“They continue to work on their robot, building it to make it appropriate to complete various ‘missions’ across the First LEGO League game mat. The teams have been coding the LEGO spike blocks to complete missions. For example, driving in various directions, and using motors to move arms in order to complete the mission.
“The teams have also had to research a current setback of archaeology and articulate a response to how this can be alleviated.”
Mr Day organises the sessions with the assistance of Computing Teacher Tom Owen, whose role is to teach coding to the students.
“Tom is responsible for making sure the robot is able to complete missions on the First LEGO League game mat by helping students analyse what they have done in their coding, and what would make the robot more efficient at carrying out its job,” Mr Day explained.
“Thanks to myself and Tom, students attend an after-school club that fosters teamwork, inclusiveness, and learning. It is for this reason that we are extremely proud of this group of students, and we are excited to continue on this journey, encouraging more students to join the First LEGO League Club at Springwood High School.”
It will be Springwood’s second time competing in the event, with the regional stage of the contest due to take place early next year.
Looking forward to next year’s competition, we are aiming to compete to win the competition, to move onto the national competition, which will take place at the Harrogate Convention Centre,” continued Mr Day. “Winning that will allow us to compete in the European competition, and the final world championships are held in the USA.”
“The competition is important to students at Springwood High School, as it presents the opportunity to develop crucial, transferable skills such as leadership, problem-solving, and communication,” he added.
“The Club also presents an opportunity that no other club currently does at Springwood, and that is coding and applying code to real-life situations – this is why it is a crucial club, as any students who may have aspirations around robotics or coding in the future, this club gives them an insight into those careers.”
It was around the world in 21 schools, when dancers from our Trust joined others from across the region for the West Norfolk School Sport Partnership (WNSSP) Dance Festival.
Opening the sell-out show at the Corn Exchange were performers from WNAT member Springwood High School in Lynn, who rose to the challenge of this year’s ‘Different Countries’ theme. The ten students from Years 8 to 12 danced to a variety of music, which included ‘Waka Waka’ by Shakira, ‘Let's Get Loud’ by Jennifer Lopez, Ricky Martin’s ‘Maria’, and ‘Mambo No.5’ by Lou Bega.
“It’s an honour to be invited to perform at this event,” said Springwood Head of Dance Dawn Paulo. “It allows our dancers the opportunity to come together to perform in a professional venue, and to interact and support younger students in West Norfolk.
“It is lovely to see our Springwood students enjoying themselves on stage, but it’s also great to see our primary schools getting a chance to perform too.”
Among the 20 primary schools participating were fellow WNAT members Clenchwarton, West Lynn, and Walpole Cross Keys primaries, and Heacham Infant School.
Twenty-seven Year 3 pupils from Clenchwarton performed a routine to ‘Cheers to Life’, which had been choreographed by Dance Teacher Kate Whyborn.
“This was our third year taking part,” said Class Teacher Sophie Tarsey.
“It is a great opportunity for children to step outside their comfort zones and do something they have probably never experienced before.
“Many children expressed how much they enjoyed it and wanted to do it again, when they were really nervous about it at the start of the year.
“I hope it encourages more children to find opportunities for dance outside school, as well as inspiring other children in school.”
The Walpole Cross Keys dancers drew inspiration from America for their routine. The 16 pupils from Years 2 and 3 at the school performed to a medley which featured ‘Party in the USA’, ‘Hey Mickey’, ‘Everybody’s Surfing’, and ‘Achy Breaky Heart’.
“Events like this are vitally important, as the children get to take part in an activity and perform on stage,” said Class Teacher Carol Jones. “It shows them resilience through learning the routine, encouragement from other class members and adults."
The Dance Festival takes place twice-yearly, each March and June.
“It’s definitely a highlight of the year, as it brings so many schools together to perform and celebrate one another’s work,” added Ms Paulo.
“Springwood will be performing once more at the next WNSSP Dance Festival in June. The theme for this event will be ‘Popstars’.”
Easter equalled ‘eggstra’ caring at a WNAT school in Hunstanton, when students marked the occasion by raising more than £200 for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).
The Rotary Club Easter Egg Raffle at Smithdon High School saw students from all age groups encouraged to buy tickets in aid of the charity.
“Tickets were sold to raise money for the Hunstanton RNLI,” said Assistant Headteacher Dan Ward, who organised the event with the help of School Council Lead Alix Birks.
“The main prize was a 1.5kg Easter egg, which was donated by the Rotary Club. There was a second prize of a £15 Amazon voucher, and some smaller Easter eggs which were donated by the school.
“£215 was raised in total, and this will be used by the Hunstanton RNLI to improve equipment and facilities at their base.”
The event was a new addition to the calendar at Smithdon.
“This is the first year that the raffle has taken place,” added Mr Ward. “We are hoping for it to become a yearly tradition at school.
“Events like this are really important. One of our ‘Smithdon Seven’ values that we instil into our students is the sense of community, and events like this allow our school and student body to help raise funds and money for really important local organisations and charities that have such a big impact on our local community.”
There was a sophisticated twist when students at a WNAT school in West Walton staged their annual Easter concert.
The ‘Cocktails, Canapes, and Cabaret’ evening at Marshland High School featured 40 different performances, while audience members were also treated to a variety of canape snacks and cocktail drinks.
The sold-out event saw more than 100 students across all year groups take part, with their involvement including technical and front-of-house roles, as well as performing on stage, and creating and serving the refreshments.
“Students made 660 canapes and 330 cocktails to serve over 100 guests,” said Marshland Music Lead Kevin Bell.
“We had an executive head chef from The Varsity Hotel in Cambridge, Rikayal Boodram, come in to do workshops with the students to make the canapes, which was a great opportunity for the wider school.”
As well as honing their culinary and mixology skills, the students gained experience in a range of different areas through their involvement in the event.
“The musicians gained an insight into the larger workings of events of this type and scale,” continued Mr Bell.
“IT provided a much more real-world view of what a gigging musician does and is involved with, while allowing other students from wider curriculum areas to work collaboratively with other students and industry professionals.”
Although Marshland holds regular musical events, the evening was a new introduction to the school’s entertainment programme.
“We do five concerts a year with various themes, but this was the first like this – the first of its kind,” added Mr Bell.
