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North Area ISA Netball Tournament
On Thursday 4th March our netball team set off for Cheadle Hulme in Manchester to compete against 7 other schools in the ISA High Five Tournament.
In the weeks leading up to the competition the girls have produced some stunning performances so we were confident they would do well.
Firwood won every game they played and consequently won the tournament. This is an outstanding achievement and we are very proud of the whole team.
Well done girls.
Visit from Mike Dewar
On Wednesday 24th February, we had a special visitor in school. Mike Dewer from Greater Manchester Fire Service came to school with two of his rescue dogs. He came to talk to us about how the dogs were used to help rescue people. The dogs were all Labradors. The two dogs he brought to school were called Lucy and Anna. Lucy was yellow and Anna was black. Mike told us he also had another dog called Echo. Unfortunately, Echo was in quarantine for 6months as he had been working in Haiti to help find people who were trapped following the earthquake. Quarantine is a place where animals go when they have been out of the country. This is to check they haven’t brought any diseases back with them.
Firstly, Mike talked to us about the different jobs the dogs did. Lucy was used to sniff out the cause of fires. If a fire has been started deliberately, Lucy can smell what was used to start the fire. When a fire is started deliberately it is called arson and is against the law. Anna was still in training as she was only 2 years old. She was being trained to find people who were trapped in a fire or building. When she found a person she would bark loudly. This would tell the rescuers where the person was. She still had 3 weeks left of her training.
Mike showed us the harness the dog had to wear. This told the dog that it was work time and not play time. He also showed us the little boots that the dogs wore when they went into a building. These would protect the dogs’ paws from being cut on glass or metal.
Later on, we went into the playground to meet the dogs. They were very excited but soon did as they were told. First, we met Anna who was very cute. Mike showed us how she would bark in response to finding a person. He used a toy to make her bark. He said it was very important to reward and praise the dog when it did as it was asked. It takes two years to train a dog to do this.
Next, we met Lucy. Before she had come out of the van, Mike put a drop of White Spirit on the playground to see if Lucy could find it. She was fantastic and it only took her 20 seconds to find the smell. Lucy had a short tail as it had been caught in a building and had been cut off.
We really loved meeting the dogs and were very impressed with what they could do.
By Mrs Batters' Literacy group.
Great Manchester Run
I'll be doing the Great Manchester Run in May for Cancer Research UK. If you can sponsor me it would be greatly appreciated.
Mr. Lengden
Please click the link to sponsor Mr. Lengden.
Composting Introduction
The School Council are the driving force behind a composting intiative at Firwood Manor. We now have composting bins within school and the Council meet regularly to assess the progress.
The children have written an introduction below.
Mrs. Stanley came from into school from Oldham Council to tell us about composting. She told us what can go into the composting bin and what can not.
The next thing we did was play a game called 'To Compost', we had to look at the picture that Mrs. Stanley was holding up and either run to the compost bin or run to the normal waste bin.
Mrs. Stanley then told us if we were right or not. She then taught us about dry and wet compost, we all got a card and had to put it in the black or green bin. If it was wet we put it in the green bin and if it was dry we put it in the black bin.
Finally Mrs. Stanley told us about all of the bugs that can get into the bin and what they do. For example a worm helps to purify.
Charity Fundraising
Welcome to our page dedicated to the charity fundrasing organised by the School Council.
To date we have raised £2526.22
for various charities.
Thank you to everyone involved.
The total figure is broken down as follows:
- Seeds for Africa - £297.79
- Link 4 Pink - £382.35
- Children In Need - £409.58
- Haiti Earthquake Appeal - £601.50
- Macmillan Cancer Support - £835.00
This was an appeal at our harvest festival to help raise money for African families and communities by providing locally sourced seeds, plants, agricultural equipment and advice.
Everybody in school, including staff, were asked to wear something pink to help raise money for Link 4 Pink.
The whole school participated in a non-uniform day to help Children In Need. The School Council were keen to help children less fortunate than themselves.
The School Council regularly keep up to date with news events. They felt very strongly about helping the victims of the Haiti earthquake and asked parents to donate anything they could to help
Children, parents and staff participated in a coffee morning to help support cancer research.
Some charities do send certificates to us for the money we have raised. To view these please click on the amount next to the charity.
School Council News (NEW!!)
Welcome to our School Council News page.
We are very proud of our School Council and the effort and commitment they continue to demonstrate.
The council consists of a Chairperson, Secretary, Treasurer and a class representative. The Chairperson is elected through a private ballot involving all the pupils and the class representative is elected by each individual class.
The main purpose of this page is to provide everyone with information relating to the activities they are involved in.
National Finals of ISA Cross Country Competition
We are please to be involved in this exclusive event.
Visit by Mike Dewar
Mr. Dewar is one of Greater Manchester’s firefighter hero rescuers who helped save two year old Mia from earthquake ravaged Haiti. He will speak to the children about the difficult conditions they worked in and will bring a rescue dog to demonstrate the fantastic work these dogs do.
