‘ Bredenbury Primary will remain closed. Provision for pupils that are outlined in the current guidelines, will be at St.Peter’s Primary School or The Queen Elizabeth High School for Keyworkers and vulnerable children. Please contact us on admin@bredenbury.hereford.sch.uk ‘
Harry Potter Week
The week got off to a magical start! Children had been given letters on the previous Friday inviting them to Bredenbury School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. On Monday 4th March, children arrived at school to find things very different. The children were dressed appropriately in cloaks, glasses, house scarves and wands at the ready. As staff came onto the playground children were wowed at the change in appearance. Their muggle teachers had been transformed into Bellatrix Lestrange, Madame Hooch, Professor McGonagall, Professor Sprout, and Delorus Umbridge – the head. Support staff also included Moaning Myrtle, Peeves the poltergeist, Hagrid and “The Fat Lady”.
“The Fat Lady” manned the entrance to the school and sang out loudly as children gave their password and entered what was now Platform 9 ¾’s. They placed their belongings into a boarding trolley and after giving “The Fat Lady” a password, they were able to push through the wall of platform where they were greeted by members of staff ready to escort them to The Great Hall.
Opening the door to The Great Hall, children were excited to see large banners decking the walls with crests depicting the houses – Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. Tables were laid out in house order with coloured paper dressing the tables to show the houses that they would be sorted into. Candelabra had been carefully made and suspended from the ceiling and candles were flickering in various colours. Children took their seats and waited for the sorting ceremony.
The sorting ceremony commenced and children were very excited to take their seat and have the sorting hat placed on their head. They then took a cake and bit into the middle to find out what colour icing was inside, telling them which house they were in.
Following this, Miss Attwell (the school’s receptionist and PA to the head, who is a keen owl keeper) brought in her beautiful barn owl for the children to see. The children were mesmerised by the beautiful creature and enjoyed stroking it and asking lots of questions. The owl was then situated in reception for the rest of the week and children enjoyed stopping by to see him.
Lessons had been subsequently planned to have a Harry Potter theme and included lessons in writing explanation of how to care for a magical creature, diary entries about what had been happening, maths based work on co-ordinates on a self-made Marauder’s map, potions making, history of wands and wand making, learning about the Mandrake plants and making their own Mandrakes and of course, the week wouldn’t be a true Harry Potter week without a game of Quidditch and a feast in The Great Hall, which the children prepared themselves.
The highlight of the week was the trip to Warner Brother Studios where children explored the world of Harry Potter, and got to take part in wand choreography, script writing talk, visit the real Platform 9 ¾’s and much, much more! A fantastic time was had by all and this couldn’t have been done without the time, effort and support from various staff, support staff and parents of the school.