Bedgrove Infant School News and PTA

Bedgrove Infant School News – Autumn/Winter 2006

Bedgrove Infant School PTA

Last year we raised an amazing £19,000 for the school that was used to improve ICT facilities and purchase interactive whiteboards.

Since September the PTA have been working hard and we've already held a quiz night, indulgence evening and hotdog day, which have raised £2300. This will be going towards shelters for the playgrounds, a tyre park, seating area and backdrops.

Our Christmas Fayre is on 24th November and there will be a Christmas Disco on 12th December.

Bedgrove Infant School News

Yet again we have been able to extend our wide range of play and learning equipment that provides so much pleasure and stimulation for our children. Our Year 2 playground, an extensive area, now has a transverse wall and also a large sun canopy, not just for the children but also for the parents to use while they wait for the children to come out of school in the afternoons. The Year 1 playground has a new tyre challenge for climbing on and finding routes round, while many of our outdoor grassy areas now benefit from all-weather matting. All these items have been paid for by our hardworking PTA, whose programme of events got started early in the autumn term with a quiz night and a wonderful indulgence night with everything from colour analysis to head massage to manicures and pedicures. With so many opportunities for general relaxation and spoiling, and also for trying out something new, those who attended were full of praise for the organisers.

Building work is currently underway to provide a new classroom in the Foundation block. This will enable us to have all four of our Foundation 2 classrooms in a single cluster instead of having one separate from the rest, as is the case at present. We are also taking this opportunity to refurbish the existing Foundation 2 classrooms with new work surfaces and sinks. The old carpets will be removed and replaced by a combination of new carpet and laminate flooring.

We have had our share of sadness at Bedgrove Infant School, in particular in the loss of three longstanding members of teaching staff, who all battled with cancer. Out of a deep desire to celebrate their lives and remember everything that made them special came the idea to build a storyteller’s chair that would incorporate items we associated with our colleagues. You may be familiar with the wonderful sculpture attached to the front of the school, which was made by the children themselves under the instruction and guidance of a sculptor called Kevin. We approached Kevin with the special task of designing a chair for the children to build and we could not be more pleased with result, which is a vibrantly colourful seat with a sunburst effect back. Attached all around the chair are sculptured images that represent the lives, habits and interests of our three friends – a mug of tea, an artist’s palate, a horse and more.

We were deeply shocked in the summer at the unexpected death of Mrs Maureen Legg, who had worked with us as a Lunchtime Supervisor for more than thirty-five years. She took a great interest in the children in her care and treated all of them with kindness and consideration. She always kept a stock of little extras in her bag – such as yoghurt spoons for children whose mums had forgotten to pop a spoon into their lunchboxes – and she could always be relied upon to keep an eye on the eating habits of every child in her care. Maureen always knew who was or wasn’t eating their lunch and, if her own kindly persuasion didn’t work on children who had apparently become reluctant to eat, she would pass on her concern to teachers so that the parents could be informed. In return for her care, the children loved and trusted her. In the staffroom, she was known for her unfailing courtesy and her warm sense of humour. Her loss has touched us deeply and we all miss her.

Mrs Capstick and two Year 3 children from the Junior School, who of course were previously with us at the Infant School, went to Westminster to receive the Challenge Award on behalf of the school. This award is given in recognition of the standard of provision that is made throughout the school for children who are able, gifted and talented. We are delighted and proud to be the very first school in the UK to receive this award. It was presented by Lord Adonis, the Parliamentary Under Secretary for Schools. Also present was Dr Chris Yapp from Microsoft, who was particularly impressed by a speech made by Ross Buchanan from Year 3, who spoke fluently and confidently in front of a large audience, ably supported by Hannah Crockett.