The children enjoyed a fascinating tour of the Palace of Westminster, learning that King Henry VIII was its last royal resident and discovering how the building has been used by monarchs throughout history. They were especially excited to step inside the Royal Robing Room, where King Charles III prepares for the State Opening of Parliament. The tour also took them into both the House of Lords and the House of Commons, where they learned about the significance of the red and g

On Monday, fifty children from Years 5 and 6 were invited to visit the English National Opera at the London Coliseum. This was a very exciting opportunity for the children to see the largest theatre in London’s West End and home to the opera company who are currently preparing HMS Pinafone by Gilbert and Sullivan as well as Cosi Fan Tutti by Mozart.  As part of the day, the children took part in an opera workshop with a vocal coach and repetiteur (piano) to learn about the mu

West Leigh hosted their first ever girls' football festivals this week. On Tuesday, 44 Year 3 girls walked to fields for an afternoon of footballing fun! The girls were divided into teams, each named after record-breaking Lionesses! We were so impressed with how the girls played football, some for the first time, and coped with the wind and rain. There was heroic defending, end-to-end attacking and goals galore during the afternoon. The results of the Year 3 event were... 1 s

This Wednesday,  twelve Year 6 children attended the tag rugby Essex finals held at Southend Rugby Club. The team moved through their group with the following results:  Great Totham 6-3 Lawford Mead 4-3 Tendering 6-3  Epping 3-3 Through to the super 10’s, they played Lawford Mead,  again winning 3-1, Our Lady of Lourdes,  losing 6-1, then with a great recovery,  beating Great Dunmow 5-0 and Ursuline Prep 4-2. The team were through to the semi-finals as runners up of their gro

The West Leigh football team were involved in more sporting drama on Friday as they competed against 15 other schools in the annual Southend football competition. Despite having not played much competitive football together, the boys quickly jelled as a team and were a force to be reckoned with! Over the course of the day, West Leigh were unbeaten and only conceded two goals in their fifteen matches. They won 10 and drew 5 of their matches. The shield was shared between West

Following weeks of training and a postponed first attempt at this event, it was finally time for the Year 5/6 Sportshall Athletics squad to compete against the best athletes in Southend. The children took part in a variety of team relay races and field events such as the triple jump, speed bounce and javelin. All of the West Leigh athletes competed at such an incredible standard! It is an event in which West Leigh have been very successful and 2026 was no different. After all

What an exciting week we have had!   On Wednesday 21 st  January, 77 children from years 4 and 5 boarded the coach to go to London's O2 in preparation for the Young Voices concert. They joined children from schools all over the South of England (and even some who had travelled from Wales) to form a choir of over 8,800.   Since September, the children have been working hard to learn songs and dances to perform to an audience of 10,000. The experience was beyond amazing and the

On Tuesday 20th, pupils from Years 4-6 attended a bowling competition at Hollywood Bowl in Basildon. Throughout the game, the children demonstrated a range of different bowling techniques, striving for a ‘strike’ and getting very close on several occasions! Within their team, the children displayed enthusiasm and team spirit, encouraging one another on each turn and celebrating individual successes.

The whole of the year 5/6 girls’ football team travelled to Fairways to play a friendly and league match on Wednesday,14th January. The league match was a tough battle between both teams with plenty of tackles and defensive blocks making it difficult for both teams to get a shot at goal. In the second half, West Leigh had a few chances but with the keeper pulling off some great saves and the ball going wide on a number of occasions, the match ended in a 0-0 draw.  On the othe

On Friday 5 th  December, eight Year 6 girls attended the annual Alleyn Court Santa Netball Competition. With a hot chocolate, cookie and Santa hat at the ready,  this was our first competitive netball game so far this year. The girls started really well and were getting used to playing together as a team.  Great fun was had by all during the day, with some excellent shooting and defending by everyone involved. Well done all.