Shirley Community Primary & Preschool marked World Book Day on Friday 27 February 2026 with a joyful, whole‑school celebration of reading.

This year’s theme, “Reading Resilience: Characters Who Don’t Give Up,” encouraged children to dress as determined, courageous characters from stories, myths, comics and novels. The day began with a warm and welcoming Family Reading Morning, where parents and carers joined children in their classrooms for a calm, cosy shared‑reading session.

In the afternoon, the whole school gathered for an inspiring assembly with Keith Hatton, a local children’s author. His lively talk about storytelling and adventure writing captivated pupils, and many were excited to meet him at the book signing held after school.

On Wednesday 21st January 2026, the Shirley School Choir took to one of the biggest stages in the country as they performed at the Young Voices concert at The O2 Arena in London. This extraordinary event—known as the largest school choir concert in the world—brought together thousands of children from across the UK to sing alongside professional musicians, a live band and an experienced conductor. Our pupils were part of an unforgettable musical experience, and they represented the school brilliantly.

In the weeks leading up to the concert, the choir worked incredibly hard, rehearsing regularly and learning a wide range of songs. Their commitment and enthusiasm were clear throughout the day, from rehearsals in the arena to the final performance in front of a huge audience.

The choir set off from school late morning, arriving at The O2 for afternoon rehearsals with the massed choir. After a packed dinner and a final warm‑up, the children took part in the spectacular evening performance, which began at 7pm and filled the arena with energy, lights and music. Families at home were kept updated as the coach returned to school, arriving back at around 11:30pm. Despite the long day, their energy and teamwork never wavered.

A huge thank you goes to the parent volunteers who accompanied the choir and supported the children throughout the trip. Your help made the day run smoothly and ensured every child felt confident and cared for.

We are incredibly proud of our choir for representing Shirley so brilliantly.

During Mental Health Week Shirley Primary and Pre School joined thousands of schools across the UK in conjunction with Place2Be 'https://www.place2be.org.uk'. 

Place2Be is a children’s mental health charity with over 30 years’ experience working with pupils, families and staff in UK schools. They provide mental health support in schools through one-to-one and group counselling using tried and tested methods backed by research. 

The theme for Mental Health Week 2025 is ‘Know Yourself, Grow Yourself’, with the aim to equip and empower children and young people across the UK to embrace self-awareness and explore what it means to them. The aim is to help children and young people discover how getting to know who they are can help them build resilience, grow and develop.

On Monday 3rd February, we had whole school assembly to launch the week and we talked about how we can try to understand our feelings and emotions better. 

On Friday 7th February we held a non-school uniform day and everyone wore something makes them feel good. During the  day, the children took part in lots of activities which helped them to reflect on their feelings and emotions and what they can do if they are finding things hard. 

We hope that this week has been really beneficial for the children and helped us to raise money  to help Place2Be keep fighting for young people’s mental health. 

Huge congratulations to all the children who participated in the Cambridge cross-country competition on 2^nd December. The children put in a great deal of training prior to the event, doing the Daily Mile with their classes each day and attending extra practice sessions with Mr Cattermole and Ms Coulter. On the day, they represented Shirley School wonderfully with positive attitudes and their best efforts and we are so very proud of them all! A particular mention goes to Iver (Y4), who won the Y4 boys' race - an amazing achievement! Well done everyone!