April 2022

18 Buckden Roundabout April 2022 School & Pre - School As promised, our home corner underwent a total transfor- mation in February. It ’ s now equipped with armchairs, a dining table and chair set, a replica TV and a brand - new kitchen. The children were very excited! We also have a new, snug reading area. In our smaller room, we ’ ve set up an ‘ Outdoor Adventures ’ board to record the children ’ s experiences when they ’ re out and about. This will soon fill up, as they have been going out on lots of walks armed with our new binoculars and a camera. They ’ ve also been active indoors during our dance sessions. The children enjoyed the visitor from the oral health visitor, and our Book of the Week matched the theme: ‘ Alan ’ s Big Scary Teeth ’ by Jarvis, about an alligator with secret false teeth! We ’ ve also marked Pancake Day and St. David ’ s Day, with some delicious pancakes for snack and red playdoh, Welsh themed playdoh mats, and an interactive Welsh interest table that included daffodils. We ’ ve also had a fun STEM activity connected to one of our Books of the Week, The Three Billy Goats Gruff. We presented the children with animals that needed a bridge to help them cross a space, and a variety of materials they could use to build it. This encouraged problem - solving, language and teamwork skills. The children have been painting with cotton buds (good for developing fine motor skills and a pincer grip) and exploring various textures in the dinosaur - themed tuff tray, including gloop, wood, soil and pasta. To reinforce counting and number recognition, they have been filling numbered cups with the correct number of lentils. As we start March, we are preparing for Mother ’ s Day and Easter with themed activities and looking forward to our church visit. We ’ re also celebrating International Women ’ s Week, looking at the women important to us personally and those important to society. Thank you to Sally at the library for providing great books to support this. Thank you to everyone who applied for our cleaner role, which is now filled. We are currently in the process of recruiting a new manager. For committee enquiries, please contact our Acting Chair, Hel- en Lumb, at buckdenpreschoolcommittee@gmail.com. To ar- range a visit or apply for a place, please call 01480 810600 or email us at buckdenpreschool@yahoo.co.uk. For more infor- mation, visit www.buckdenpreschool.co.uk or read our up- dates on https://www.facebook.com/ www.buckdenpreschool.co.uk/ BUCKDEN CHURCH OF ENGLAND PRIMARY ACADEMY March 2022 Since restrictions were lifted in February, fortu- nately the number of positive COVID - 19 infec- tions remain low within school, some restrictions remain in school and we continue to encourage regular hand washing, ventilated classrooms and continue to lateral flow test regularly amongst staff and children. Slowly but surely we are returning to school life as it used to be before the pandemic. Over the February half term our Key Stage 2 children were invited to take part in a story writing competition, they were set the chal- lenge of writing ‘ A creepy story with a winter theme ’. We were delighted with the standard and number of entries we received. The winners of each year group were presented with a certificate in a special assembly and their stories are displayed in our school library for other children to read and enjoy. It was the 25th Anniversary of World Book Day at the beginning of the month, and this year the children were able to come to school in their pyjamas and bring along their favourite book. The chil- dren had fun doing lots of book themed activities, and especially enjoyed the World Book Day class party where they were treated to a hot chocolate and biscuit whilst sharing some of their favour- ite stories. Another of the activities was a book swap, whereby children could bring in a book from home that they had already read and get to swap it for another one to take home and enjoy. It is our aim to make school a place where reading and a love of books is celebrated. If you have visited St Mary ’ s Church recently, you will have seen some of our children ’ s lovely colourful art work, also our Year 6 children have left a couple of booklets of ‘ Just so Stories ‘ for the congregation to read. You may have seen some of our Year 2 children walking to the school allotment plot along Silver Street. They have been busily setting garlic bulbs and exploring the variety of animals and plants that grow in this habitat. The children love getting out of the classroom for a walk and out in the fresh air. In over 2 years we were lucky enough to send our Year 4’ s on their first residential trip since the pandemic began. A group of 45 children and 5 adults had a 2 night/3 - day stay at Grafham Water Centre and took part in lots of activities such as archery, bushcraft, mountain bik- ing and raft building. The children had lots of fun and after being so active out in the fresh air all day, they all certainly slept well. The PTA have started meeting face to face again and have got some events planned for the children and the school later in the year. After the success of the children ’ s Christmas artwork for Christmas cards, the PTA have recently organised for the children to draw a self - portrait of themselves. Then a company called My Childs Art will create tea towels as well as a host of other person- alised gifts, which will be delivered to school, we look forward to seeing the finished products when they arrive. We have recently signed up with Recycle 4 Charity, you can help raise money for our school by recycling your ink cartridges from home. Visit www.recycle4charity.co.uk for further information and how to donate. All money raised will be given to our school, pick your donation to go to Buckden CofE Primary School – C112525. We would like to wish the residents of Buckden a Happy Easter. We look forward to seeing you when we return for the Summer Term on Tuesday 19th April.