The whole school made a visit to the church, on Friday 15th October, to re-enact the ‘Story of Creation’, which is part of the RE curriculum being studied this term.  Mrs Lacey kindly read the story, from the Children’s Bible before the children acted out the different scenes using animals and props. Prior to leaving school, for the church,  the children were visibly excited and couldn’t wait to get there, so when they were told Mrs Lacey would be there to greet them the pace quickened. The way the story is presented is a very creative way for both young and older children to be ‘spring boarded’ into the story before undertaking follow up work.

Mrs lacey greeted the children at the church gates saying ‘I was so excited this morning when I woke up because I knew later today there would be children in the church’.

On  Monday 11th October Mrs Broomhead, and Mrs Flower along with three pupils made a visit to the Ashbourne Elim Pentecostal Church Food Bank to deliver lots of lovely produce that had been donated by the community and school children during the Harvest. The school council had requested that any food collected be given to the Ashbourne Food Bank because of previous work undertaken with them. This work involved raising pupil and parent awareness of the important work this organisation is committed to and links directly to the Christian value of ‘Service’, which underpins the vision of the school.

One of the pupil’s quoted ‘I can’t believe how generous the public are’.

It was with delight we were informed we had been selected to receive a pair of bird boxes handmade by Brindley Timberworks as part of the Little Wings initiative.

‘Little Wings’ was an initiative set up by (Ben) from  Brindley Timberworks with the intention of reintroducing nature into children’s lives, and also showing support for the great local community.

Through the Little Wings initiative, Brindley Timberworks would donate 2 birdboxes to 25 nurseries and primary schools within the Peak District and High Peak area.

Access to nature is something that has been limited somewhat over the past year as a result of national lockdowns and the temporary closing of schools across the country. We also know how important the outdoor environment is to younger children, and the countless health benefits access to nature brings.

Brindley Timberworks is helping bring nature to children, with the birdhouses serving as essential access points between the children and the natural world.

As a father with a keen interest in the outdoors and nature, this was  something very close to Ben’s heart. During the last year or so, children’s everyday routines have been turned upside-down with more screen time for completing schoolwork or for entertainment and we need to bring back that link to the natural environment.

Therefore  Brindley Timberworks invited both members of the community, as well as local leaders to nominate a school or nursery to receive the boxes and much to our surprise we were chosen to be a recipient of these wonderful bird boxes.

Thank you to Brindley Timberworks for this wonderful donation.

“Empowering a generation of young people to transform society”

Through spring term 2 and summer term 1 the whole school undertook activities whilst working towards the award. This included litter picking in the community, planting wild flower areas to attract bees, learning about Dementia , its effects and raising £360 to support the charity, investigating the charity ‘Smile Train’ and designing a Quiet Garden area within the school grounds. The children also performed for the community a range of May Pole dances and read Dementia poems written by class 2.

Newspaper report 1

Newspaper report 2

YLA Certificate

KS1 & KS2 Certificates

Please read the Dementia Poems below, be warned have a tissue at the ready!

I am here to help                                        Watched It

Dementia                                                        Dementia Poem

On Friday 1st October the harvest display was placed in the church in readiness for the Harvest Service on Sunday 3rd October. The service which was led by the  Agricultural Chaplain- Alan Griggs, was a thanks giving celebration of the farmers and the food they produce.

All donations from the Harvest collection will be delivered to Ashbourne Food Bank on Monday 11th October by some of the pupils, supported by Mrs Broomhead.

Hartington School have invested in a permanent orienteering course, using some of the School Sports Premium Funding. This has included a scheme of work and the setting up of two course, one  around the school and a larger one in the Hartington Youth Hostel grounds.

The children and staff were treated to a training session around the school sites delivered by the local authorities Jim Jenkinson. Then after school, staff visited the Youth Hostel to try out some of the activities and became very competitive! All staff and children though, were unanimous in their praise and obvious enjoyment when taking part in the orienteering activities so much so everyone has expressed their request to take part in these sessions as soon as possible.

One child quoted “I love doing this, it has been one of the best afternoons I have had at school this term.”