Farnworth: Cherry Tree Primary celebrates 'rock star day'

Cherry Tree Primary School staged its first  'Rock Star Day' with children dressing up as musicians to celebrate the subject of maths!

Pupils at the Farnworth school sported rockstar hairstyles, ripped jeans and more as they rocked out to classics like Queen’s We Will Rock You and Bon Jovi’s Livin’ on a Prayer on Friday September 15.

Deputy headteacher Simon Whittaker joined the fun, visiting classrooms with an electric guitar and amp to regale pupils with his debut performance.

Teacher Angela Goulding said: “Having joined Cherry Tree at The Orchards last summer before starting my new role as Year Four teacher in September, I had been fortunate to learn of the many opportunities the school and its dedicated staff provide for the children.

“From weekly horse riding lessons, a half time performances at an England Women’s World Cup game to the weekly meet up of The Cherry Blossoms, the schools very own Brownie style club which was created to meet the needs of lacking provisions outside of school.

Bands rocked the school (Image: Public)

“I was really impressed by what the school had to offer and found it inspiring to be part of such a committed team.

“It motivated me to find a space for even more excellence in the provisions we offer.”

Miss Goulding says that she hit upon the rock star day idea as a way of helping engage the children with maths, which she admits is the school’s “marmite subject.”

She said: “Like many schools, we already had a subscription to Times Tables Rock Stars which in essence is a site used to help learners acquire fundamental maths skills through gamification.

“It was being used occasionally by a small number of children but it was by no means being used to its full potential, it felt like we had the instruments.

“We had the band but the two had not yet come together and it was from this that Rock Star Day was born!

“Now each child in school has their own person account which they can use to access the site both in school and at home and staff can track progress along the way.

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“Following a soft launch last week in Year 4 and the whole school on Friday we have already, as a school, clocked up an impressive 61,725 correctly answered questions on the site and that number seems to be increasing by the minute!”  

She added: “The buzz in school on Friday was palpable!

“I am hoping our first Rock Star Day will be something that our children will be able to look back on with happy memories and that this will complement the already broad and rich maths curriculum at Cherry Tree. 

“I believe that learning is such a personal journey but to be able to embrace something that brings us together as a school community, facilitates the celebration of successes and involves having some fun along the way is a really exciting prospect and in turn I look forward to positive outcomes this will have on our children!"