Celebrating the Fierté Festival - We Leave No One Behind

Dear Fierté Families, 

As we come to the end of another wonderful school year, we would like to take a moment to celebrate a truly special trust-wide event that brought all of our children together – the Fierté Festival.

A cherished tradition that has been undertaken by our Trust for many years, the festival is centred around the theme "Better Together." Throughout the week, children from every school enjoyed a rich range of creative experiences, exploring learning through art, poetry, music and dance.

The festival was made possible through the dedication and collaboration of subject leaders from across all of our schools, who worked together to plan and organise a programme of exciting opportunities for every child, ensuring that no learner was left behind. We were also delighted to welcome students from local high schools, who supported younger pupils with art activities, helping to strengthen connections across our wider community.

An additional highlight was seeing children from Tamworth perform on stage as part of the Tamworth Festival, showcasing their talents with confidence, creativity and pride.

From every school across the Trust, we are incredibly proud of our children. Their enthusiasm, teamwork and sense of belonging shone throughout the week. The Fierté Festival once again demonstrated the power of coming together, celebrating our individuality and that we are a school family that does not leave anybody behind, recognising that we are indeed better together.

We hope you enjoy the photographs and articles from each school that follow, capturing the creativity, joy and community spirit that made this year's festival such a memorable success. A true sense of belonging pervaded every event, and we are delighted to share these special moments with you.

Maria Hamblin (CEO)

Fierté Facts

Trust pupil voice

Trust Pupil Leaders Survey Review

A huge thank you to our Trust Pupil Leaders, who recently helped us review the questions from our Trust-wide pupil survey. The survey included 15 questions focusing on pupil happiness and a sense of belonging across our schools.

We greatly appreciate the thoughtful insights and perspectives our pupil leaders share. Their feedback is invaluable in helping us better understand pupils' experiences and identify areas for further development.

We look forward to sharing the survey results and key findings with our wider community in the next newsletter. Thank you again to our Trust Pupil Leaders for their important contribution.

Fierté Festival and ‘We Leave No One Behind’

“We leave no one behind” is a phrase often associated with the military, where it means that no soldier is abandoned on the battlefield. Fortunately, we do not operate on a battlefield, but the principle has a direct application to what happens in our academies every day: teamwork, strong friendships, standing by others, providing support and ensuring that no one is excluded.

The Fierté Festival provided a unique opportunity for children to engage in activities that encouraged them to work together and support one another in achieving success. This was evident as children encouraged each other to master new artistic skills, demonstrated techniques to their peers, and offered gentle reassurance: “You can do it. Let me help you. Let’s start again and do it together.” The PowerPoint presentation compiled to document the week and shared in assemblies clearly demonstrated the mutual support shown by children and the power of collaboration in achieving things that would not be possible alone.

It was a privilege to attend the Better Together performances at the Castle Grounds on Saturday. What struck me most were the smiles on the children's faces, reflected in the faces of their parents and family members. There were undoubtedly moments of nervousness, but these were overcome through children supporting one another, often guided by teachers behind the scenes or, on several occasions, by children who took on leadership roles on stage. Time and again, I witnessed children quietly offering instructions to classmates or gently showing them what they needed to do. Children with additional needs were seamlessly included and were clearly valued and appreciated for their contribution to the collective effort.

Throughout Festival Week and during the performances on Saturday, the dedication of staff to children was also highly visible. Over many months of preparation, and on the performance day itself, leaders, teachers, and support staff gave generously of their time to ensure the success of the entire week. Their reward was the opportunity to see children shine and, for many, experience something truly special for the first time.

The value of leaving no one behind is clearly alive within the Trust and is something we will continue to nurture through both the everyday experiences within our academies and the special occasions that bring our communities together.

Why we are better together...

Better Together: A Child-Centred Trust

As Chief Financial Officer, I firmly believe that the true strength of our Trust lies not in its buildings, budgets or systems, but in the children and young people we serve. Every financial decision we make is guided by a simple principle: ensuring that every child has access to the very best opportunities, support and education possible.

By working together as a family of schools, we are stronger than any one school could be alone. Collaboration enables us to share expertise, pool resources and invest strategically in areas that have the greatest impact on pupils' learning, wellbeing and future success. It allows us to achieve greater value for money, ensuring that more of our resources are directed towards enriching educational experiences, developing our staff and supporting children to thrive.

Being part of a Trust creates a collective responsibility for every child. We celebrate each school's unique identity while benefiting from shared strengths, common values and a commitment to continuous improvement. When one school succeeds, we all succeed; when challenges arise, we face them together. This spirit of partnership ensures that no child is limited by circumstance and that every pupil can benefit from the knowledge, experience and support available across our entire Trust.

Together, we create opportunities that extend beyond the classroom, build resilience for the future and provide a strong foundation for lifelong success. Above all, we remain united by our shared purpose: putting children at the heart of every decision and ensuring that every child, in every school, can flourish and achieve their full potential.

The grand finale of our Fièrte Festival was a truly remarkable whole-school collaboration. Children worked in small mixed-age teams, with representatives from every year group, to create a giant 3D letter A for Ankermoor on the school field. Inspired by the work of Andy Goldsworthy, the children carefully sourced and arranged a variety of natural and man-made materials to bring their artwork to life. The finished installation could only be fully appreciated from above, and we were incredibly grateful to a parent who generously donated their time and drone expertise to capture the stunning aerial view.

This spectacular piece of collaborative art perfectly reflects the message of the festival: we are better together. By working as one community, our children demonstrated creativity, teamwork, and a shared sense of pride in being part of Ankermoor Primary Academy.

At Anker Valley Primary Academy, we were delighted to be part of this year’s Fierté Festival. What a wonderful celebration of community, creativity and togetherness !Throughout the week, children across the school embraced the festival’s message of Being Better Together, taking part in a range of engaging activities that brought learning to life through music, dance and art.

The festival was a fantastic occasion that united communities from across Tamworth, creating opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds to come together and celebrate. It was inspiring to see schools, families and community groups sharing their talents, supporting one another and enjoying vibrant performances, creative displays and cultural experiences. The event perfectly reflected the Fierté Trust values of Being Better Together and Leaving No One Behind, reminding us of the importance of inclusion, belonging and ensuring everyone has the opportunity to shine.

We are incredibly proud of the enthusiasm, creativity and teamwork shown by our children and grateful to everyone who helped make the Fierté Festival such a memorable and uplifting experience. It was a wonderful celebration of what can be achieved when communities come together and ensure that every individual feels valued, supported and included

Last week, we were delighted to celebrate this year's Fierte Festival with a range of exciting activities across the school. Children came to school dressed as imaginative and inspiring words, bringing a wonderful splash of colour, sparkle and creativity to our classrooms and corridors.

Throughout the week, children took part in learning centred around the theme 'Better Together'. They explored poetry and completed thoughtful writing activities inspired by Oliver Jeffers' book Here We Are, which encourages readers to appreciate our planet, value one another and remember the importance of kindness.

We also enjoyed an energetic street dance workshop, where children enthusiastically showed off their moves and embraced the chance to learn new skills. Our talented pupils further impressed us with their singing, before everyone came together in the hall for a fun-filled dance and sing-along of We're All In This Together led by Mrs Kimber.

A particular highlight of the week was seeing our school choir perform so brilliantly at the Festival in the castle grounds. We were incredibly proud of their confidence, enthusiasm and outstanding performance. It was a wonderful celebration of creativity, community and the message that we are truly better together.

 

This year's Fierté Festival – Better Together was a fantastic celebration of unity, inclusion, and the values that bring our Trust community together. Across the week, our pupils took part in a wide range of activities designed to explore what it means to support one another, celebrate differences, and ensure that everyone feels valued and included.

One particularly inspiring activity took place in Year 6, where pupils used poetry to explore the Trust value of Leave No One Behind. Through thoughtful discussion and creative writing, the children reflected on friendship, belonging, kindness and the importance of ensuring that everyone has a place within our community.

The accompanying photograph captures a group of Year 6 pupils proudly displaying their completed poems. Each piece of work offers a unique perspective on togetherness, highlighting how small acts of kindness, inclusion and support can have a lasting impact on others. Their writing demonstrated maturity, empathy and a deep understanding of the values that sit at the heart of the Fierté family.

The Fierté Festival provided a wonderful opportunity for pupils to connect with the theme of Better Together and to recognise that our differences make us stronger. The Year 6 poetry day was a powerful reminder that when we work together, support one another and celebrate every individual's contribution, nobody gets left behind.

We are incredibly proud of the thought, creativity and compassion shown by our pupils throughout the festival and thank everyone who helped make this year's celebration such a success.

Together, we are stronger. Together, we achieve more. Together, we leave no one behind!

At Glascote Academy, ‘We Leave No One Behind”, and this shines through in everything we do. The Fierté Festival 2026 provided a wonderful opportunity for our Glascote school family to come together and celebrate this year’s theme, “Better Together.” Through creativity, collaboration and inclusion, every child had the chance to share their talents and feel proud of who they are.
Children from Reception to Year 6 participated in a range of exciting activities that showcased the many ways we can express ourselves and connect with others. Music played a central role, with pupils taking part in singing performances that celebrated friendship, kindness and belonging. Through song, children learnt that every voice matters and that we create something special when we join together. The festival also featured energetic dancing, allowing children to work as a team, build confidence and enjoy the power of movement. Alongside this, we explored poetry, sharing original work before writing collective pieces which celebrated the strength that comes from unity. Artistic expression came through painting, where children worked individually and collaboratively to create colourful pieces inspired by the theme of being better together. Their artwork reflected the diverse talents, experiences and backgrounds that make our school such a vibrant place. The Fierté Festival is more than a celebration of the arts; it is a celebration of our values. It reminds us that everyone has something important to contribute and that our school is strongest when we support one another. By involving every child from Reception to Year 6, we truly demonstrated that
at Glascote Academy, “We Leave No One Behind,” and together we can achieve great things because we are truly Better Together.

Festival Week was a truly memorable celebration of our theme, Belonging, with every child at GVPA embracing the opportunity to learn, create and perform together. Throughout the week, the children immersed themselves in a wide range of exciting experiences that helped them explore what it means to be part of a community and to value diversity, creativity and inclusion.

Our pupils thoroughly enjoyed performing and writing their own poetry, confidently sharing their ideas and expressing themselves through words. They also embraced learning a variety of dance styles, with Bhangra proving to be an overwhelming favourite! The energy, enthusiasm and joy shown by the children during these sessions were wonderful to see.

In art, children studied the work of renowned artists including Henri Matisse and Vincent van Gogh, creating their own impressive pieces inspired by the distinctive styles of these masters. A particular highlight was in Year 1, where children used virtual reality technology to step inside Van Gogh’s Starry Night. This immersive experience inspired some truly superb creative writing, bringing the artwork to life in imaginative and thoughtful ways.

The week culminated in a fantastic showcase event, where every child proudly shared their new learning and experiences with their parents and families. It was a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the children's achievements and the many ways they had explored the theme of belonging.

The celebrations continued on Saturday when thirty confident and excited children represented GVPA by performing Better When I’m Dancing at Tamworth Castle Grounds. Their performance was incredible and beautifully demonstrated the values of togetherness, confidence and belonging. Following the performance, a group of children were interviewed by the County Council, and each child spoke confidently about how the experience had positively impacted them, highlighting the pride they felt in being part of their school community.

Festival Week was a remarkable success and created lasting memories for children, staff and parents alike. It is a week that our school community is still proudly talking about, celebrating the many ways in which it brought us together and strengthened our sense of belonging.

 

 

What happens when Wilnecote Junior Academy spends a week creating, performing, laughing, learning and celebrating together? You see our Trust valueof ‘We Leave No-one Behind’ come to life.
During Fierté Festival Week, every child was given the opportunity to shine. Whether it was dancing in the Danceathon, learning Makaton, writing poetry, singing alongside friends, performing in front of an audience, or collaborating on artwork, there was a place for everyone and a way for every child to contribute.
One of the most powerful aspects of the week was seeing our children support one another. From working with new classmates and sharing creative ideas, producing joint pieces of art and celebrating each other's successes, pupils demonstrated that achievement is even more meaningful when it is shared. The festival's recurring themes of friendship, kindness, community, equality and togetherness reminded us that we are strongest when we move forward together.
The school was filled with moments of joy: children encouraging friends during performances, proudly showcasing their work to parents, joining together in a whole-school conga, and creating pieces that reflected not just individual talent but collective creativity. Fierté Festival Week was far more than a celebration of the arts. It was a celebration of belonging. It showed our children that every voice matters, every contribution counts and everyone has something valuable to offer.
Most importantly, it reminded us that success is not about who gets there first—it's about making sure we all get there together.

What a wonderful Festival Week we had! We kick-started by dressing up as different words, whether flamboyant or mystical. We loved it! We were delighted to welcome students from our local high schools to join us in a range of exciting activities. Robert Sutton brought along their Year 10 students, and together we created clay masterpieces inspired by our Violet Way Values. Students from Paulet School also joined us to help create fantastic Pop Art pieces. The high school students were amazing role models, and our children thoroughly enjoyed working alongside them.

During the week, two of our nursery team members, Sonia and Jenny, visited classes to lead drop-in and dance sessions. They then took over our whole-school assembly, filling the hall with joy, laughter and plenty of energy!

We also spent time exploring the theme of belonging, thinking about how we belong within our families, our classes and our wider school community. The children created some beautiful pieces of artwork, which are now proudly displayed around the school.

Throughout Festival Week, the children were fantastic and made us incredibly proud with their enthusiasm, creativity and positive attitudes. It was a truly memorable week, filled with fun, learning and a real sense of community.