Students from all four West Norfolk secondary schools put their spelling skills to the test for the finals of a keenly-fought contest.

The West Norfolk Academies Trust event was held at Smithdon High School, and the Year 7 and 8 students had to come up with the correct spelling for a range of tricky words.

Among them were antidisestablishmentarianism, martyr, mnemonic and conscientious – but all the students rose to the challenge.

It was a close contest with teams from Marshland, St Clement’s, Springwood and Smithdon High schools all concentrating hard during a tough session of serious spelling.

Springwood High School took first place with Shanjana in Year 8 taking the title of the WNAT Spelling Bee Winner, and she was presented with the prize of an Amazon Kindle Fire and a trophy.

English Lead for the Trust, Sarah Murkin, organised the annual event which was the culmination of a round of heats within each school.

“All four schools competed with outstanding team spirit and integrity. Springwood secured the win, closely followed by Marshland, St Clement’s and Smithdon. Every team delivered a fantastic performance, making the event a true celebration of talent and sportsmanship,” said Amira O’Neill, English teacher at St Clement’s High.

Each of the Trust’s secondary schools take it in turn to host the annual finals and this year was Smithdon’s turn just before the Christmas break.

Christmas came early at Springwood High School, when our students swapped their usual uniforms for festive knitwear – and all in a good cause.

Young artists across the West Norfolk Academies Trust secondary schools have put their work on show for a free exhibition at a King’s Lynn gallery.

The Thread Exhibition features art from students at Springwood in King’s Lynn, Smithdon in Hunstanton, Marshland in West Walton and St Clement’s in Terrington St Clement.

More than 60 students from Year 11 and 13 have used a wide range of media from painting and drawing to sculpture, digital art and photography. It is on show at Chequers House Gallery, King Street,  and is open to the public from 11am to 4pm on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays to December 28.

“There is no specific theme, but students respond from a range of starting points for their exam and coursework projects and build this into their own style and practice,” said Lee Eveson, Head of Art and Photography at Springwood.

He organised and curated the exhibition with Phil Bennell, Head of Art at the West Norfolk Academies Trust.

“Even as a 50-year-old artist and teacher, every painting that you start is an adventure. Sometimes it’s a trial of wits between you and the artwork and, as a creative, you are always evolving. For this reason, I thought Thread was an apt name for the exhibition,” said Mr Eveson.

This year is the eleventh that Mr Eveson has run the event, which often welcomes 500 visitors during the course of the month.

“We have been lucky enough to work with Chequers House Gallery in doing this. They have been amazing, and offered us their new gallery, which I can’t thank them enough for,” he said.

“This exhibition shows students what their work looks like in a professional setting. It raises aspirations, confidence and contribution to the creative arts.

“Creative arts is the second biggest economic provider in the UK. Creative industries are such an important part of our education system and society. We are very lucky to receive the support we do from our senior leadership teams and the community as a whole.

“I feel very lucky to be an art teacher here, not only because of this but because we have outstanding students at our schools,” added Mr Eveson.

‘O Christmas Tree’ was the perfect carol for Springwood High School this term, as our students decorated as many as three special trees for events in King’s Lynn – including a festival which was taking place for the first time.

Computing disasters, and the future of Artificial Intelligence (AI) were on the agenda – along with missiles and monkeys – when our students enjoyed an annual Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) event.