June 2021

20 Buckden Roundabout June 2021 School & Pre - School We ’ ve had another busy month here at Preschool. The chil- dren enjoyed celebrating the Queen ’ s birthday with a special party, wearing special crowns, waving their flags along to the National Anthem and eating a feast fit for a Queen at snack time: cucumber sandwiches and iced Madeira cake (a big thank you, as always, to Nisa, who generously provide our snacks). To keep mark - making fun and improve the children ’ s tripod grip, which is key to forming letters, this month, we ’ re encour- aging them to form letters in their name in lots of different ways. We ’ ve provided them with paint brushes to make marks in oats, and whiteboards and pens. We ’ ve placed oats in the sandpit outside so that the children can enjoy this activity out- side, too, and enjoy the better weather. Inside, the children have shown an interest in cooking and cafés etc, so we have a well - stocked kitchen in the home corner. The children have also enjoyed sharing the books we ’ ve ordered from the li- brary, so thank you to Sally for her help. However, if you asked the children about the most exciting thing that ’ s happened in Preschool in the last month, they would probably say: getting the fish! We now have three Pre- school fish, whom the children have named CeCe, Beeps and Goldie. It will probably be the first thing they show Miss Woodward from Buckden Primary when she visits Preschool to meet our leavers! We look forward to welcoming her to Preschool soon. Admissions Currently, we still have some spaces for 2 - , 3 - and 4 - year - olds to start in September, so if you would like to ensure you se- cure a place, please call us soon on 01480 810600. Committee We are still keen to recruit more committee members. To find out what ’ s involved (without obligation!), please contact our chairperson, Jo Chillmaid, at buckdenpreschoolchairper- son@gmail.com or on 07393650084. For more information, visit www.buckdenpreschool.co.uk or see our Facebook updates at https://www.facebook.com/ www.buckdenpreschool.co.uk/. BUCKDEN CHURCH OF ENGLAND SCHOOL (Primary Academy Trust) May 2021 During May despite a cold start to the month the children and their teachers have been enjoying more lessons outside. Our Year 2 children have been excited to visit our school allot- ment, as this term in science the children are learning about how plants grow from seeds or bulbs and what plants need to grow. The importance of sustainability and self - sufficiency is key to tackling food shortages and poverty in the world so we be- lieve in teaching the children some life skills to grow their own food and to understand where food comes from. With the help of the PTA the school is creating a time capsule and mosaic project, it ’ s been a year to remember and one tempting to forget, but we really shouldn ’ t – not just for the next generation but for the children who have been living through this ongoing pandemic. For our children we want to celebrate the pandemic, amongst all the darkness there have been some bright lights. Positive outcomes that may never have happened without a lockdown, such as stronger family relationships, new experiences and life- style changes. The children have experienced, positively and negatively, life - altering events that may also affect the course of world history. The same way that they learn about life during the World Wars, future generations will learn about the year of Covid - 19 and we ’ d like to document it from our children ’ s per- spectives. So over the next few months, in school, the children will be creating a reflective piece of work that creates a picture of their life in the last year – the happy moments or the tough times, whatever resonates with them. It might be a piece of art or writing. These pieces will then be digitalised and put in a time capsule to be buried on school grounds later in the year. Also the children will be creating a colourful mosaic rainbow to symbolise the year and remind us all that we came back togeth- er in the end. We ’ ll ideally be collecting tiles or coloured glass so that each student can be represented within the rainbow. Frosts Garden Centre very kindly gifted the school a beautiful flowering cherry tree to celebrate their 75th birthday. We have planted it on the field to create more shade amongst the apple trees that we planted a few years ago. Sadly over the Easter holidays we had some vandalism and an attempted break - in causting thousands of pounds worth of dam- age. We will be investing in cameras and additional security measures to keep our school a safe place. If you see any suspi- cious activity on or around school grounds out of hours please call the local police. Parking, just a reminder to parents, please when dropping and picking up children by car do not park where you are blocking residents driveways or on yellow lines. Extra parking spaces are available at the Village Hall which is only a short walk from the school. Also on a health and safety note, can parents please ensure that their children do not climb on the school fences and walls while waiting to go into school in the mornings or a pick up times in the afternoon. We are all looking forward to Whitsun half term starting from Monday 31st may to Friday 4th June, and then returning for the last half term of this unusual school year!!