As part of the 100 years commemoration of the end of World War One it was decided by the local community that poppies would be made and displayed at the village war memorial and St Giles Church. The school was proud and privileged to be asked to take part in this commemorative event.

Mrs C. Clayton a member of the community and governor of the school ran a poppy workshop earlier in the school term. The whole school thoroughly enjoyed making the poppies and even more when they were presented with the opportunity to go and see for themselves how the poppies had been creatively displayed. This has been used as a spring board and WOW experience to inspire the children at the start of the history topic.

One of the children quoted ‘The poppies look like a waterfall and because they are red it reminds me of the soldiers blood and them dying on the battle fields’.

Another child quoted ‘The red poppies make me feel happy and filled with hope that there will be no more World Wars in my lifetime’.

On Friday 9th November the children paid their respects to the fallen soldiers and veterans of World War 1 and 2. The children were instrumental in planning the content with the school’s RE coordinator Mrs Wildgoose.  The  words spoken by the children evoked memories and emotional responses from the people of the community and school gathered at the War Memorial.  The last Post was played by Mr Wildgoose prior to the sounding of the church bells striking 11 o’clock. Following a minutes silence the sound of the Reveille rang out bringing this poignant service to a close with a prayer for Hope and Peace.

A representative from the school will be laying a wreath on behalf of the staff, children and governors on Remembrance Sunday.

On Friday 19th October the children undertook a First Aid training delivered by Jill Crooks from Blithfield Safety Training ltd. The morning sessions involved the EYFS and year 1 children learning how to contact 999 and what information to give, ie: the address of where they are; recovery position, bandaging and slings. Jill also talked to the children about how to care for their teeth.

After lunch the key stage 2 children looked at all of the above in more detail and were extended to look at a video on bleeding and choking. They were active participants in learning how to use the defibrillator. Some of the children were already experts having experienced earlier training.

One pupil commented on how difficult it was to make the resuscitation doll click when performing CPR to show that they were pressing down hard enough. Another pupil said how tiring it was. and it made her arms ache a lot!

During both sessions the children were able to practice bandaging each other and learned how to apply a sling. This training is part of the schools ‘Mental Health and Well-being Curriculum’.

On Sunday 7th October the children joined the community for the church Harvest Festival service.  They  participated in a poem called ‘This is the World that God made’, sang ‘Share the Light of Jesus’ and ‘I, the Lord of Sea and Sky’, read  poems and prayers. This was followed by the traditional Pea and Pie supper in the village hall and fruit crumble.

The Harvest boxes for the elderly residents were packed carefully by the children on Friday 5th October in church and will be distributed during the week. Some residents have kindly donated their boxes to the food bank in Ashbourne.

Children have completed work for the Harvest display in church and should you visit please don’t forget to take a look.

MacMillan Coffee Morning- 28.9.18

Hartington C of E Primary School again hosted this event on behalf of Bell Kerr  a member of the Community of Hartington. It was an amazing success raising £288.35. The children led the way, pricing the cakes and other items and then undertaking the sale of Raffle tickets as well as the challenges provided by MacMillan. We had many visitors, old and new, who enjoyed tea or coffee, cakes provided by parents, staff and friends of the school. It was a lovely opportunity for ‘cake and chat’. This event was followed by  our termly Community Lunch.

Throughout the day the staff ran activity sessions as part of “Stand Up Derbyshire”- #SUD – organised by Derbyshire Active Schools Network. We were delighted to welcome Janice Price the Derbyshire Dales Partnership Manager who was most impressed with the activities that the children participated in. She stayed for lunch and enjoyed talking with the parents, friends and children discovering what the school did at the “Heart of Our Community.”

Wednesday 26th September 2018

Mrs Broomhead MBE and Peace enjoyed lunch with the children, before going to view the magnificent pumpkin which the children had grown. Peace then helped prepare the hockey equipment ready for a competition the following day.

As afternoon school started we all sat with the children while Peace updated the children on the arrival of the Goats in her village. The school had received photographs of the children with the goats, the viewing of these provoked many questions. The children were able to understand from Peace how different life was for the children in a Uganda village; they saw the different types of housing, the uniforms, the way all children- boys and girls must have their hair cut to a length of 1 inch (2 ½ cm) If they came to school with hair longer the teachers would cut it. The 10 Goats (8 female and 2 male) had been given to the poorest children. There was a small amount of money remaining so they used that to buy poultry.

The goats will be used to raise kids or kill for meat which they will sell to raise money to pay for their school fees.

Peace said THANK YOU to the children and talked about the Christian values of loving one another and giving. The children have been living out these Christian Values. Peace quoted ‘God loves a cheerful giver and to love and love one another.’

The children through their questions learnt how hard life was for the children, especially for the girls. Often only the boys from a family will be sent to school and the girls will stay at home to help with the chores. This is something which Peace is trying to change; she is promoting the importance of equality.

The children wanted to name the goats, this they did in their house teams. The results are- Male- Mars and Billy; Female- Greta, Gina, Milly, Paula, Misty, Poppy, Coco, Alexa. We hope that the head teacher at the school will organise the naming process so, going forward, we can monitor the progress of the goats and the children.

What can we do next to continue our support for the children? – We are hoping, with the community, to raise funds for “Education Packs”. These will then be given to Mrs Broomhead who will see the Uganda Netball team and Jocelyn our contact, when they play a Test series against England in December. We have also heard from the school and understand that there were 20 children in need so the children will now raise funds to buy 10 more goats so that all the children will be supported.

Click link below to see further details

CAR TREASURE HUNT

After a horrendous weather forecast and almost cancelling the event the sun shone for the PTA treasure Hunt. The event was very well supported with a total of 27 cars, all enjoying a cruise through the secret beauty spots of the Peak District. Some enjoying a few extra miles after a couple of wrong left and rights – We like to keep you on your toes! We raised a brilliant £362.44 towards the new library and mobile classroom. Well done to the ‘Outsiders’.

Thank you to everyone for their support.

The children of Hartington C of E Primary School continue to practice the traditional art of Well Dressing. The theme this year was the World Cup depicting the Russian landscape, two legs kicking a football into a net. We would like to thank Lucy Annat for drawing the design, Janet Oliver and Fiona Parsons for leading  the petalling and all the volunteers who gave up their time or donated flowers.