Our Service Children had a lovely opportunity to join Fran from St Margaret's Church, for a Remembrance Service at Highland Road Cemetery. We made a wreath together to lay on the cenotaph.
We had a lovely time at our end of year party. We took and printed out a photo of our group, then decorated a frame to stick in on. We also had some tasty treats, and a goodie bag of course!
Enjoying an Easter Tea Party!
Our Trip to Fort Nelson!
What a wonderful time we had at Fort Nelson! Mrs Meade drove us there in the minibus - we did a lot of sightseeing! Once we were there we were told we had to help save the fort from the Goblins!
To do this we had to train to be a soldier by passing lots of different activities. We passed each one and earned our badge. We even went down into the tunnels! We had a fantastic day!
For Remembrance Day we collaborated with the school Ambassadors to create 2 big wreaths full of poppies. We were planning on visiting a remembrance service at Highland Cemetery, but sadly the weather was so bad we couldn’t go. Instead, the children got the chance to share what we had been making and thinking about in assembly. They also shared a poem we had picked.
Welcome to Joshua and Malachi who joined our club in September!
Celebrating the Coronation!
We all decorated a patch of material with pictures of our family, to be added to one big piece of fabric.
Meet our Military Monsters!
We spent time talking about what makes us special - what are we good at, what do we like and what do we try hard at? There were so many ideas and the children were great at complimenting each other!
We then decorated our Military Monster to reflect our personalities and who we are.
Happy Easter from the Defenders Club!
The Defenders Club!
”We look after each other”
Furry Friends Time
We enjoyed some time with our school guinea pigs, Cumberland and Sausage. The children were so gentle with them, they even snuggled up in their laps.
Happy Christmas from the Defender Club!
We decorated it together and some of us wrote our wishes on a tag. We sprinkled glitter over the tree and made a wish.
We also had chocolate and crackers!
Remembrance Day
This year we decided to colour our poppies a different
colour – we decided on purple. Do you know what the
colour purple represents? It represents all the brave
animals that were lost in the war. We talked about the
type of animals that might have been in the war and
took time to remember them and reflect on how
courageous they must have been.
Enjoying using our service cuddly toys to role play different scenarios - we talked about how we feel when a parent or carer goes away, but also how other members of the club may feel too. We came up with some great ideas that may help our friends when they are feeling sad.
The Little Troopers Mindfulness Workshop
We had an absolutely amazing time at the Service Children's Sports Day at HMS Temeraire! We took part in a huge range of races and activities, and we able to meet children from other schools who also have parents in the military.
We Won a Parachute!
The children were so excited to use our very own parachute for the first time! We played Oranges and Lemons, Ball On Ball Off and many other games. We had to hold on very tight!
The Portsmouth Pebble Project!
We were so excited to receive our pebbles through the post!
We worked hard to make our 'eye' as colourful as possible, as the children said it would make people feel happy.
At our last group session we talked about different emotions, and things that happen which can affect how we feel. We practised using our faces to show different emotions, and then we made 'Our Face in a Day'!
During our time together in Defenders Club we talked about things that we love, and that make us happy. We shared our thoughts - which were so kind and caring! We talked about our families, pets, food we enjoy and places we like to go. All things that make us feel happy, excited and grateful.
We had a wonderful visit to St Anne's Church in the Historical Dockyard for a Christmas service. We joined in with hymns, listened to the story of the Nativity - and were even given all of the pieces to make a Christingle at home!
We had great fun at our Defender's Club Christmas party! We made Christmas tree decorations and played pass the parcel!
Our poppies on display at St Anne's Church - here is the vicar Rev Phil Amey RN with our crafts!
Remembrance Day Reflections
The Defender's Day Club spent time learning and exploring all about the 'red poppy'. We talked about how brave the soldiers were, how they protected our country - and how the red poppy was the the very first sign of life, growing up through the soil and showing new life.
We created collage poppies using a range of different materials, showing the children's hands holding them out to show everyone - and to celebrate courage and bravery.
The Defender's Club!
We had our very first group session as the aptly called 'Defender's Club' today.
We come together once a month, to spend some time sharing stories of any parents who are off on adventures, and to make sure we are looking after each other. It's a place to celebrate what is happening in the children's lives, and a place to celebrate their parents bravery and courage.
Today we made a 'courageous couple'. The children made two people - their parent and themselves. We then bound them with pipe cleaners to make sure they will always be together. We then added a bravery star onto the adults shoulder to show how hard they work and how courageous they are!
HMS Temeraire Sports Day
HMS Temeraire Naval base hosts an annual sports day for service children across Portsmouth led by The Pompey Military Kids (PMK) scheme jointly led with Naval Families Federation and Portsmouth City Council. This gives service children the opportunity to unwind with some fun, active sports games whilst engaging with other service children who face similar challenges to each other. For more information please see below the attached useful links.