Cheriton Bishop Community Primary School

Snippets from the Classroom and Beyond

No 107 April 2009

Hmmmm………..! It’s been happening again. Despite my rantings in these columns and the school asking those setting down/picking up children to/from the school to avoid making an obstruction on the highway, vehicles had great difficulty getting through the other day. Unfortunately, the school has no jurisdiction over parking and, of course, needs to remain polite and reasonable toward its “customers”. I, however, have no such requirement. There is a perfectly good transport system that negates the need for most vehicles to come down Church Lane to the school. It’s called THE WALKING BUS. It is there for the use of ALL pupils. Think about its advantages; the children socialise together and get their chattering done on the way down the lane; it improves their discipline in having to conform to the rules of the bus; they are escorted by responsible adults; they actually get EXERCISE in their walking; they experience fresh air; most importantly, they are READY TO START SCHOOL when they get there (not in a mood having just been kicked out of the car). The main peril they face is from parents driving too fast down the lane delivering little Ermintrude or Algernon to the school gate. What is more, the Walking Bus is an all-weather concern so there is no excuse not to use it! Certainly there ought not to be any parent or guardian who lives in the village using their car to deliver the children to school. Oh, and there is one other advantage to not using the car. It will save nearly a miles worth of fuel on each occasion it’s not used. That could mean savings of perhaps thirteen or fourteen miles worth of petrol in a week.

Gosh, I enjoyed that rant!!

Moving on, then, to other matters. The combined Unicef/Stand up for Toilets and Clean Water Day raised the super total of £70 which will be split between the two charities. Both charities are very worthwhile concerns. Well done on raising that great amount. The Usborne Book Fair was most successful with a lot of orders from the children for books. The school got 60% commission on books bought which has been spent by the staff on books for the school library and classrooms. It’s grand to know that reading is still popular in these days of electronic games!

By the time this edition of the Parish Newsletter is published, the school will have participated in the 3D Dance A Chance to Dance at the Barnfield Theatre and the Festival of Song at Exeter University. I will let you know the results in next month’s Snippets. In the meantime I hope they do well and wish them the best of good fortune in their efforts.

There has been a couple of personnel items recently. Mrs Rachel Ley has been re-appointed as a Parent Governor of the school. Sadly, Mrs Christine Grist will be relinquishing her voluntary post of “Netball Wizard” at the end of the summer term. Christine has been running the Netball Club for many years and, together with the help from other parents, has achieved some considerable success. Thanks, Christine, and thanks for your help in getting sporting information and results to Snippets. Obviously the school would love to hear from any parents who would be interested in running the netball in the future. Incidentally, CB will be hosting the small schools netball tournament next term on 1^st May. This must be because CB were so very good at hosting last year’s tournament!

Now, does anyone know what a Nursery/Animation CD is? Well, the children in Class 1 have put one together and it is now available for parents to buy.

One big subject always colours the approach to the future of the school – the end of the financial year. New budgets are set and the school has to work out its strategy to achieve the best results from the monies available. It is always a hard balancing act and, as the number of pupils will fall at the beginning of the next academic year, we will have to cut our cloth accordingly. The staff are laying down their plans for the autumn term which may include the presence of the Playgroup on site to the benefit of both the school and the Playgroup itself. This will involve the recasting of roles for various classrooms etc. Watch this space…..!

This next item I am taking verbatim from the school’s newsletter. I think we all ought to be aware of the status of our schools in Devon vis-à-vis the rest of the country. I quote –

“Did you know that Devon has historically been unfairly funded? Devon is currently 146^th local authority out of 149 for (educational) funding. Mr Richard Newton-Chance, the Principal at QECC, as chair of DASH (Devon Association of Secondary Heads) has recently been campaigning on our behalf, along with the County, for fair funding for Devon. You too, as parents could also voice your concerns!”

I think perhaps it behoves all of us to voice our concern!

Still talking about funding, stores like Sainsburys and Tescos are once again issuing schools vouchers. If you get any of these with your purchases it would be great if you could send them down to the school with your children or, if you are not a parent, with friend’s children. The school does gain real benefits from these schemes. Flora and Box Top coupons from Nestle are in the frame as well

The diary follows:-

25^th March – CLC Festival of Song – Great Hall, Exeter University

3^rd April – Easter Service – St Mary’s Church - 1400

3^rd April – End of Spring Term

20^th April – Summer Term Begins.

24^th April – Class 2 Swimming Lessons Begin

27^th April – After School Tag Rugby Club Restarts – KS2

1^st May – Small Schools Netball Tournament – CB

17^th June – Walking Bus Guinness World Record attempt through BRAKE

17^th July – Sports Afternoon

21^st July – Valedictory Service – St Mary’s Church

21^st July – End of Summer Term

As you can see, the summer term is looking busy already and I have only selected a few things from the calendar for now. By the time of the next edition of Snippets, the Easter holidays will be over and the Summer Term will have begun. Have a great Easter break!

PGR