Highcliffe pupils join the BBC Radio Leicester Breakfast Club

Tiana (Year 4), Shay (Year 5), Lewis (Year 6) and Penny (Year 6) were joined by some of their teachers and recorded a number of entertaining segments for the popular feature, which was then broadcast on local airwaves from Monday to Friday.

Here’s the rundown of the week’s events:

 

Monday – Welcome to the School

The week began with an introduction to Highcliffe, with each pupil answering the question, “what’s your favourite thing about Highcliffe?”

“My favourite thing about Highcliffe is that there are so many different things to do, like the choir at lunchtime, which I’ve joined,” said Tiana.

“We’ve recently sung some alien songs. It’s not like a normal choir.”

Shay, meanwhile, praised the support of his teachers: “My favourite about Highcliffe is that we have really good teachers.

“We did a fundraising thing where we did ‘soak the teacher’ which was really fun. The teacher put the head through some kind of board and we had sponges and we splashed the teachers and raised money for charity, it was really fun!”

“We had Rock Kidz come to our school and it was well fun. I started screaming really loud and nearly lost my voice,” explained Lewis.

“It’s like a band of people who do music. [We screamed] YASBA (You’re Awesome So Be Awesome)”

Finally, Penny said that she most enjoys socialising on the playground with her friends: “So, on the playground, me and my friends usually do rolly pollies on the astroturf and we usually play ‘The Floor is Lava.’”

Our children then welcomed Head of School, Mrs Stewart, onto the airwaves; “one of the best headteachers ever!” exclaimed Tiana.

“I am so lucky to work at Highcliffe. We have amazing staff, we have wonderful children, and our parent community are amazing too,” she said.

“I love the diversity of our school, we have children from all different backgrounds, we have lots of different types of families at our school and we celebrate all of them and we work really hard to make sure they feel really welcome at our school.”

“It genuinely is a really happy place to be, so I think we are all really lucky to be at Highcliffe.”

 

Tuesday – Kids vs Teacher: The Ultimate Battle

Tuesday saw our pupils face off against Assistant Headteacher Mr Watts, who assumed the alias of ‘Mr Banana.’

Working together, they turned the tables on their Assistant Head by compiling a list of questions to test his knowledge.

They asked him the following questions:

“What is the Anglo Saxon God of War called?”

“What theorem is A squared plus B squared equals C squared?”

“How many pieces of homework did you set us on Friday?”

“What is Louise’s mum called in the TV show Bluey?”

“What is the birth range of a Gen alpha?”

Mr Watts/Banana scored a dismal one out of five. The only question he correctly answered was the amount of homework he set pupils on Friday!

 

Wednesday – The World According to Kids

The half-way point of the week saw pupils discuss a current news issue, which, this week, focused on Nazca lines, a type of mysterious geoglyph artwork carved into the ground.

Pupils were asked what design they would carve into the ground.

“A roll of toilet paper, because it’s funny and the scientists would be confused,” laughed Lewis.

Tiana said: “I would draw our daisy logo.”

“A giant three-headed dog monster coming into school; a bit like Fluffy from Harry Potter,” Shay said.

Meanwhile, Penny said: “I would probably draw a two-headed guinea pig with a laptop and an iPad!”

Certainly, an imaginative collection of ideas!

 

Thursday – Pupil’s Pet

The penultimate part of the show saw pupil select one staff member they wanted to celebrate; they chose Mr Singh, our fantastic Premises Officer.

“He is great at cleaning the place, nothing can stop him getting the plunger and unclogging toilets,” explained Shay.

“He is positive, kind and he really does clean the school very well,” Penny said.

Tiana described him as “very kind” and noted that he “always has a positive attitude,” while Lewis highlighted how he is a fantastic role model, stating that he is “positive and a good example for some of us kids across the school.”

It was then time for the children to interview their ‘Pupil’s Pet.’

 

How do you clean the school so well?

“I try my best, I try to put 100% in, that’s my motivation.”

 

What is your favourite thing to do outside of school?

“I like watching football, especially when Liverpool are on television because I’m a big Liverpool fan. I like walking, cycling and relaxing.”

 

What is your favourite thing about Highcliffe?

“I love the children here. I love working with the staff. I’ve been here over 20 years. It’s the pupils – yourselves – and the staff.”

 

What makes your toilet plunger so powerful?

“I think it’s the muscles in my arms. In the past, I have broke a couple of plungers too!”

 

How do you keep a positive mind every day?

“When I come to work, and seeing everybody here – seeing yourselves – makes me even more positive, it gives me a good buzz”

 

Did you always want to be a Premises Officer?

“When I was young – about your age – I didn’t really want to go to school, I wasn’t really too keen on school. But then as I got older – and this job came up and I ended up back in school – I thought ‘you know what?’ I absolutely love it. I’ve got a background of building maintenance and when I applied for the job I thought ‘this is for me’”

 

How does it feel to be our Pupil’s Pet?

“I’m absolutely honoured, honestly, the words that you have said to me today have touched my heart.”

 

Friday – Every Day’s a School Day

An action-packed week finally came to an end with the children able to share some of their weird and wacky facts, most of which resolved around ducks!

“Did you know, there’s a fear of ducks watching you and ducks in general,” the children said.

They then delighted the Radio Leicester listeners by showcasing their finest duck impressions, which were very convincing, before discussing how best to cure somebody with a phobia of ducks.

“Look at a toy duck for 3 hours straight!” they suggested.

 

And, just like that, the week was over. Five days punctuated by alien choirs, Mr Banana, powerful plungers and fantastic duck impressions!

A huge thank you to BBC Radio Leicester for coming into our school and for speaking with our pupils. They had a fantastic time and loved hearing themselves back on the radio.