Cheriton Bishop Community Primary School

Snippets from the Classroom and Beyond

No W66 March 2008

Apologies for the lack of Snippets in February’s Parish Newsletter. Your Correspondent was unavoidably detained and unavailable for the production of the February issue. Just a little personal note here. Many thanks to all of you who sent “Get Well” cards and who came visiting. It was a great boost to morale to find such support and a good reminder of the super people who make up the village of Cheriton Bishop.

Moving on then to this edition of Snippets. I somehow thought that I would be able to produce a good report with two month’s worth of news for you all. Come the deadline and the school is on half term so my sources remain the school newsletters for January and February. The whole school was due to go on a visit to the “Living Coast” down at Torquay on 22^nd January. Regrettably, the visit had to be postponed due to the bad weather. They are actively pursuing new dates but so far, February is not on. I hope the visit does go ahead because, from all accounts, the “Living Coast” is well worth attending.. The whole school topic this term is studying the Polar/Arctic/Antarctic regions and this visit to the exhibition is a crucial part of the studies. The photograph on the left shows how class 1 have got themselves involved in the polar theme. They have made an igloo out of old plastic milk bottles. Well done to class 1.

The calendar for the Spring Term was quite quiet for the first half of term with, apart from the above visit, the only other event was on Friday 1^st February when the school held a “Day for a Change” non-uniform day in support of UNICEF. Every year the school does try and raise funds for UNICEF and manages to pass on its takings to that worthy organisation. I don’t have the actual figures for this year but I’m sure that they will be good.

The long-awaited staff building gets ever closer to the time when they can move in. The date of mid-January has obviously slipped right a bit to 26^th February but it does promise to increase the available facilities for the school. Included with the building itself, there is a new play area and a new storage shed and KS1 toilets have been upgraded. A major force behind this successful project is Tony Shearer, the erstwhile owner of Checkers Stores. I don’t know whether you have noticed it but his hair has been turning grey and thinning a bit during this period. Tony has put a lot into this and we and the school must thank him for all his hard work!

I don’t know whether you will remember, but in October’s issue of Snippets I made mention of the School Council, made up mainly of pupils with some adult guidance. Well, they have produced their first School Council Newsletter which has been published with the Head’s Newsletter. They make mention of the sporting activities and I’m going to repeat their comments for you.

“We do a lot of sports in our school to keep fit. At the moment we are taking part in a daily physical activity challenge, where we are trying to do as many sporting activities as possible in order to win a prize!

There are lots of activities on at playtimes which are organised by six play leaders. These are Ch arlotte Hill, Alexandra Wood, Harry Strong, Katie Toms, Josh Pearce and Josh Badham. There is also lots of new equipment to play with.

Some of the different activities that are on offer at break times are: Football, ball skills, dodge ball, chasing games parachute and bean bag games, skipping, hockey, bench ball and basket ball.In addition there are lots of after school clubs that you can take part in, such as: drama, cross country, netball and Taiko. These will keep you fit!................................”

We read and hear such a lot in the media about the lack of sport in our schools and the creation of generations of couch potatoes and it is grand to hear how our school is going about keeping the children interested in sport and their own wellbeing. The Council also report on the school’s efforts to increase their recycling efforts as well as a survey of favourite books among the different classes. Well done the Council for an interesting newsletter.

Having mentioned sport, I can report that both football and tag rugby will be starting up early in March. Taiko drumming, after a short break, will be starting their practices again from this Friday, 29^th February.

The Busy Bees after school club which I mentioned in December’s Snippets, started up at the beginning of this term. This club covers the period from 3.30 to 5.30 pm. It provides an active playtime, snacks, a quiet playtime – board games etc., and some computer time. The fees for this facility have settled out at £3.00 per hour with a reduced rate for siblings of £2.00 per hour. To a layman like me, that sounds very reasonable. Mrs. Jane Madge is currently looking after the club but the hunt is on for someone who can take up the reins on a more permanent basis.

Back, then, to sports, and Mr. Parsons has agreed to co-ordinate with the School Council, the Sports Relief mile on 14^th March. Ideas may be from how many different ways we can travel a mile e.g. space hoppers, crawl, hop, run…………………! This will be a sponsored event for Sports Relief.

The calendar:

Date tbc – Whole school visit to Living Coast in Torquay

14^th March – Sports Relief Day

20^th March – School Easter Service – St. Mary’s Church – 2.30pm

21^st March – Good Friday

24^th March – Easter Monday

4^th April – Spring Term ends

21^st April – Summer Term begins

25^th April – Swimming Lessons (5 weeks) Class 3 at Lords Meadow

5^th May – Bank Holiday

12^th-16^th May – KS2 SAT’s

26^th-30^th May – Half Term

There is more on the calendar for next term but I will include that in the next edition. In the meantime, although it now seems a long time ago, this is my first opportunity to say that I do hope you all had a good break at Christmas and that the new year brings good fortune to you and yours. Have a good March!!!

PGR