• Support Wokingham Today
  • Get the print edition
  • Sign up for our daily newsletter
Monday, June 16, 2025
Wokingham.Today
  • HOME
  • MY AREA
    • All
    • Arborfield
    • Barkham
    • Beech Hill
    • Binfield
    • Bracknell
    • Charvil
    • Crowthorne
    • Earley
    • Emmbrook
    • Finchampstead
    • Grazeley
    • Henley
    • Hurst
    • Lower Earley
    • Norreys
    • Reading
    • Remenham
    • Riseley
    • Shinfield
    • Sindlesham
    • Sonning
    • Spencers Wood
    • Swallowfield
    • Three Mile Cross
    • Twyford
    • Wargrave
    • Winnersh
    • Wokingham
    • Wokingham Without
    • Woodley
    • Woosehill
    • Yateley
    Police

    Woman’s house set on fire in Bracknell as police appeal for witnesses

    Wokingham Borough Council is considering introducing charges to the car park next to the Berkshire Museum of Aviation Picture: Phil Creighton

    New car park charges for Aviation museum

    Action after "speeding" on part of Reading Road in Woodley.

    Listening to speeding concerns

    Phone fines for drivers on the rise

    E scooters Picture: Pixabay

    Politicians raise concerns about e-scooter crimes in Bracknell with PCC

    The citizenship ceremony is the final step to becoming a British citizen.

    Celebrating new citizens

    Woodley Schools Football Tournament

    Former Reading FC winger is guest of honour at Woodley Carnival Schools Football Tournament

    Shinfield School Picture: Wokingham Borough Council

    New primary school plans for area facing shortfall approved

    Shaun the Sheep Picture: Pixabay

    Shaun the Sheep flocks to Reading town centre this summer

  • SPORT
    • All
    • Binfield FC
    • Reading FC
    Woodley Schools Football Tournament

    Former Reading FC winger is guest of honour at Woodley Carnival Schools Football Tournament

    Amadou Mbengue

    Championship clubs circle to sign Reading FC defender Amadou Mbengue

    Reading FC

    Reading FC appoint new goalkeeper coach

    Yakou Meite

    Reading FC fans favourite released by Cardiff City

    Noise and floodlighting would impact the location, it was argued. Pic: Andrew Batt.

    Earley sports pitch plans in the floodlight

    Berkshire Football awards.

    Football in Berkshire shortlist revealed

    Chem Campbell

    Reading FC miss out on transfer target to fellow League One club

    Mark Bowen

    Former head of football at Reading FC lands new job

    Peter Markwick

    It’s top of the championship for Wokingham racing driver

  • READING FC
  • COMMUNITY
    Wokingham Borough Council is considering introducing charges to the car park next to the Berkshire Museum of Aviation Picture: Phil Creighton

    New car park charges for Aviation museum

    Action after "speeding" on part of Reading Road in Woodley.

    Listening to speeding concerns

    Phone fines for drivers on the rise

    The citizenship ceremony is the final step to becoming a British citizen.

    Celebrating new citizens

    The specialist school was meant to be funded through the government?s Safety Valve scheme.

    Clarity sought for Crowthorne school

    TRIPPS Removals is launching a new Moving Stories campaign, which will recognise and celebrate individuals across Berkshire who make a difference in their communities. Picture: Tripps Removals

    Berkshire heroes to be celebrated with Moving Stories awards

    Arborfield garden centre Henry Street will celebrate 40 years of growing in July. Picture: Henry Street Garden Centre

    Henry Street Garden Centre celebrates 40 years

    Members of CLASP enjoyed a week of activities and events for Learning Disability Week, ensuring that they were heard and seen. Picture: CLASP

    CLASP members will be Seen, Heard and Valued in June

    The event is at Dinton Pastures Country Park..

    Celebrating dads with free family fun day

  • LIFESTYLE
    • All
    • Food
    • Health
    • Obituaries
    • People
    The citizenship ceremony is the final step to becoming a British citizen.

    Celebrating new citizens

    Members of CLASP enjoyed a week of activities and events for Learning Disability Week, ensuring that they were heard and seen. Picture: CLASP

    CLASP members will be Seen, Heard and Valued in June

    The event is at Dinton Pastures Country Park..

    Celebrating dads with free family fun day

    More than 6,000 people are expected to attend the event.

    Woodley Carnival returns on Saturday

    A new initiative from People Planet Pint members hopes to see Wokingham become a plastic-free zone. Picture: Tanvi Sharma via Unsplash

    Naturally speaking: Hopes for a plastic-free Wokingham

    The summer show is happening on Saturday.

    Vote for your favourites at Twyford summer show

    The Eco Skills Learning Centre at Pudding Lane was launched on Saturday. Pictures: Emma Merchant

    New Eco Skills Centre launches in Arborfield

    Interactive games hosted by Climate Fresk will offer a fun way to better understand climate change and biodiversity. Here Elizabeth Corse explains the games to visitors. Picture: Emma Merchant

    Love games and the planet?

    MP Yuam Yang outside the takeaway.

    MP says sorry for social media post

  • WHAT’S ON
    • All
    • Arts
    • Entertainment
    Shaun the Sheep Picture: Pixabay

    Shaun the Sheep flocks to Reading town centre this summer

    The event is at Dinton Pastures Country Park..

    Celebrating dads with free family fun day

    More than 6,000 people are expected to attend the event.

    Woodley Carnival returns on Saturday

    A series of short horror films made by local filmmakers will be shown at Reading's Biscuit Factory on July 17. Picture: Alexander Krivitskiy via Unsplash

    Local filmmakers bring spooky horror shorts to Reading Biscuit Factory

    The summer show is happening on Saturday.

    Vote for your favourites at Twyford summer show

    Steam railways

    Steam specials to depart from Reading in railway’s 200th year

    BWCB, here in rehearsal, will perform a night of movie music in July. Picture BWCB

    Enjoy a film music night for charity

    An afternoon of jazz and afternoon tea will raise funds for The Cowshed in July. Picture: Zeno Aras via Unsplash

    Uplifting July jazz afternoon promises to fizz in Waltham St Lawrence

    The Bucket List Wishes Summer Festival is taking place at Highfield Park, Hook, from 2.30pm-10.30pm on Saturday, July 5.

    Bucket List Wishes Summer Festival to return in July

  • JOBS
  • ADVERTISE
  • CONTACT
No Result
View All Result
Wokingham.Today
No Result
View All Result
Home Community

St Mary & All Saints celebrates pupils’ life-enhancing Finland trip

by Emma Merchant
February 8, 2024
in Community, Education, Featured, Lifestyle, Reading, Uncategorised
13 youngsters from St Mary&All Saint's Primary School enjoyed a life-enhancing trip to Finland in celebration of the school's new asipirations. Picture: Matt Parting

13 youngsters from St Mary&All Saint's Primary School enjoyed a life-enhancing trip to Finland in celebration of the school's new asipirations. Picture: Matt Parting

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

A GROUP of Year 6 children have enjoyed the trip of a lifetime, to the delight of the whole school.

The 13 youngsters from St Mary & All Saints C of E Primary School were taken by their headteacher Mr Matt Parting to Finland for a week of outdoor activities.

They spent five days at the Adventure Apes Centre, in Kuusamo in the North of the country, where they were able to enjoy sledging, a snowshoe expedition, cross country skiing, ice skating, a sauna, and ice fishing.

“This trip was a real celebration of the direction the school is now taking,” said Mr Parting.

“It’s been in trouble for 10 years, but there are great signs that we have turned a corner, and the whole school now has a growing expectation of what we can achieve.

“Going to Finland was basically impossible for us, so we did it to show that we can do more than is expected of us.

Related posts

Woman’s house set on fire in Bracknell as police appeal for witnesses

New car park charges for Aviation museum

“It was something that we couldn’t, or shouldn’t have been able to achieve.”

The event was made possible by support from the Adventure Apes Centre in Finland, and Reading Boys School, which partners St Mary & All Saints in its Fullness of Life curriculum.

The grammar school supports the youngsters with weekly canoeing sessions, and welcomes its P6 children for elective education.

“They can learn anything, from philosophy, to mechanics, to cooking,” said Mr Parting.

“Our Fullness of Life curriculum is about broadening horizons, and this trip gave the children something really big to aim for.

“Cultural capital is something that our children lack a lot following the pandemic.”

Schools use this term to describe the values, knowledge, skills, and ideas that children arrive with.

“In my last school, children had huge cultural capital,” explained Mr Parting.

“They had books at home, and they’d already been on holiday to Italy and France.

“Our St Mary’s youngsters haven’t really been exposed to cultural capital – you can’t assume they know something, or that they have been somewhere.

Adventure Apes Centre hosted the group at cost price, and Reading Boys School paid for the trip.

“It was very generous of them both, and meant that we only had to pay for flights,” said Mr Parting.

“This sort of trip is financially out of reach for our community, which is why it has been so special.

“And the impact on the school has been quite amazing.

“Everyone in the school community feels very much that they have been to Finland, not just those 13 children.

“And younger pupils are already excited about when it will be their turn.”

For those on the trip, their Finland adventure has been life-changing.

Asked what difference it has made to them, the youngsters said that they would now be willing to try new things, they felt more confident, and were ready for adventure.

“It was wonderful to see these children outside their normal environment enjoying everything new,” said Mr Parting.

“On the frozen lake when we were ice-fishing, their faces were a picture.

“It felt very, very special, and that, actually, this was life in all its fullness.”

The school’s motto, which Mr Parting brought with him when he became headteacher two years ago, is a Bible verse.

“It’s ‘Jesus said ‘I have come that you may have life in all its fullness’ – John 10:10, and it’s not just written on our school walls, it’s actually happening,” said Mr Parting.

When he arrived, he says he chose just three rules, by which the school now lives: Be kind, be curious, be ready.

Kindness is now evident throughout the school community.

“Our school was in special measure, but it’s changing, and this trip is just a part of our work to turn its culture around,” he said.

“Finland celebrated the fact that we are now an aspirational school.

“It was amazing to return to the parents who had brought balloons, flowers and banners to welcome the children home.

“I was knocked out by the gratitude and the appreciation from them, and the sense that, for them, something special had happened.

“We’d like to thank Heidi Savolainen at Adventure Apes Centre, and Reading Boys School for making this trip of a lifetime possible.

“We’re already planning a repeat visit, and I think I have already secured funding for next year, which is really exciting.

We’d love to find a sponsor for future visits.

It’s the kind of thing that a local company or fundraising group could perhaps help us turn into an annual event.

For more information, and to offer sponsorship, visit: stmaryandallsaints.co.uk

For more about this year’s sponsors, search for Adventure Apes Finland on Facebook. or visit: www.reading-school.co.uk

Keep up to date by signing up for our daily newsletter

We don’t spam we only send our newsletter to people who have requested it.

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

Previous Post

WESTMINSTER DIARY: Tough on knife crime – and its causes

Next Post

Wokingham Theatre half term show will shiver your timbers

FOLLOW US

POPULAR THIS WEEK

The restaurant promises to be a 'vibrant' location and social hub.

Date set for new restaurant opening

June 11, 2025
Shaun the Sheep Picture: Pixabay

Shaun the Sheep flocks to Reading town centre this summer

June 15, 2025
Lucky Saint

How Dads can get a free Father’s Day pint in Wokingham on Sunday

June 14, 2025
BWCB, here in rehearsal, will perform a night of movie music in July. Picture BWCB

Enjoy a film music night for charity

June 13, 2025
Cameron Tinto Picture: Thames Valley Police

Men sentenced for supplying drugs in Bracknell

June 12, 2025
Woodley Schools Football Tournament

Former Reading FC winger is guest of honour at Woodley Carnival Schools Football Tournament

June 15, 2025

ABOUT US

Wokingham Today is dedicated to providing news online across the whole of the Borough of Wokingham. It is a Social Enterprise, existing to support the various communities in Wokingham Borough.

Wokingham.Today is a Social Enterprise and aims to ensure that everyone within the Borough has free access to independent and up-to-date news. However, providing this service is not without costs. If you are able to, please make a contribution to support our work.

CONTACT US

[email protected]

Keep up to date with our daily newsletter

We don’t spam we only send our newsletter to people that have subscribed

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

  • Support Us
  • Book Advertising
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Get the Print Edition
  • Sign up for our daily newsletter

The Wokingham Paper Ltd publications are regulated by IPSO – the Independent Press Standards Organisation.
If you have a complaint about a  The Wokingham Paper Ltd  publication in print or online, you should, in the first instance, contact the publication concerned, email: [email protected], or telephone: 0118 327 2662. If it is not resolved to your satisfaction, you should contact IPSO by telephone: 0300 123 2220, or visit its website: www.ipso.co.uk. Members of the public are welcome to contact IPSO at any time if they are not sure how to proceed, or need advice on how to frame a complaint.

No Result
View All Result
  • HOME
  • MY AREA
    • Arborfield
    • Barkham
    • Beech Hill
    • Binfield
    • Bracknell
    • Charvil
    • Crowthorne
    • Earley
    • Emmbrook
    • Finchampstead
    • Grazeley
    • Henley
    • Hurst
    • Lower Earley
    • Norreys
    • Reading
    • Remenham
  • COMMUNITY
  • LIFESTYLE
  • SPORT
  • READING FC
  • OBITUARIES
  • WHAT’S ON
  • JOBS
  • PHOTOS
  • ADVERTISE WITH US
  • CONTACT US
  • WHERE TO GET THE PRINT EDITION
  • SUPPORT US

© 2022 - The Wokingham Paper Ltd - All Right Reserved.