As an end of year treat the Head teacher invited ‘Clever Cloggers’ back into school for a morning of building, coding and problem solving for the children. They worked collaboratively in teams to build catapults,  robots and programme vehicles to follow a pre-determined route to find the hidden treasure.

This was followed by a party lunch of sandwiches, pizza, crisps, cake and fruit, lovingly  prepared by our school catering manager Mrs Stubbs and assistant Miss Wardle. The children showed their usual appreciation with a resounding three cheers that could probably have been heard in Biggin!

Later that afternoon we had our customary Memory Circle Worship for our year 6 pupils who are due to leave for QEGS in September. This is a time when parents join the school to hear memories of their child’s time at Hartington School from staff and pupils. The pupils were presented with cakes and a gift of stationary resources that will see them though their first year at secondary school.

Friday 13th July saw the final collective worship in Church with parents, governors and the local community. The children performed a few songs from the ‘Sing2gether’ performance and read out their favourite piece of work from the last year. Also certificates were presented to acknowledge pupils achievements throughout the year.

This was followed by community lunch where 30 parents and local residents joined us for a special Sea Side Lunch of fish and chips followed by an ice-cream cone. Then a game of ‘Goat Drive’ was held (basically Beetle Drive using a goat!). to raise money for our Goat appeal. Also a raffle was held with lots of lovely prizes thanks to donations from the community. The school were hoping to raise enough money to buy ten goats for a village in Uganda. This appeal is linked to our connection with Peace Proscovia, a friend of the school who comes from Uganda. Peace has visited the school numerous times over the past few years, teaching the children netball skills and allowing the children to ‘hot seat’ her and learn all about her community. Peace attends Loughborough University and is the captain of the Ugandan Netball team.

The Goat Drive was hilarious and eventually won by Ruby who was presented with a hamper of cheese (goats of course) and biscuits.

A new, very glamorous pupil made a visit “Sam-antha” dressed as a girl tottering in high heels. Sam was challenged by fellow pupil Ruby and he was only too eager to take this on board!  The children and members of the village sponsored him before he made his grand entrance to the sound of Lady  Ga Ga. Sam and Ruby are to be congratulated for their innovative idea for raising money for this most worthwhile cause which both the school and community have taken to their heart.   

To date the appeal has raised £160 – this will buy 16 goats

On Tuesday 10th July the year 6 pupils eagerly awaited their SAT’s results. To their delight they had both done extremely well and we are all very proud of their achievements.  Well Done and Best Wishes for the next stage in your school career.

Tuesday 10th July saw the whole school join Biggin, Elton, Taddington and Bakewell  Schools for a Sing2gether performance. The venue – Bakewell Methodist Junior school who were  the host for the morning.

Each school had three individual practice sessions  with Debbie Castles from Music Partnership prior to the performance. She came into the school to teach the pupils the five songs that would be performed. Songs sung were ‘Sing Together’;  ‘A Peaceful World’; ‘Summer’, ‘BBQ Blues’ and ‘It’s Good to be me’.

On the morning of the performance all schools joined together for a rehearsal before the show at 11am. Parents joined the schools to watch the singing and delight in the children working together in harmony.

On Friday 6th July the whole school visited the Yorkshire Wildlife Park in Doncaster. We left school on a sweltering hot morning at 8:30am travelling by car and Bakewell & Eyam community bus. We arrived after an uneventful journey at 10am to be fast tracked through the entrance gates. We navigated our selves around using the parks map. Although it was a blisteringly hot day the animals all turned out to see us. We saw lions, meerkats, baboons, giraffes, painted dogs, ring tailed lemurs, zebras and even polar bears without any snow!

At 11.15 we entered an air conditioned classroom, for a well deserved break from the sun. The children learned about how to classify animals and looked at some of the artifacts from different species (camel fur, snake skin, tigers teeth, polar bears skull). The children also got to handle large cockroaches, giant snails and a skink. After the session we ventured into the park to find shade and eat our lunch. As it was very busy with other schools we perched on a play park frame. After lunch we explored further areas of the park and found more animals to investigate their habitats.

Suddenly it was 3:30 and time to get an ice cream then make our way to the gift shop to spend some pennies and eventually onto the bus for the return journey home. Luckily we avoided the traffic and made it back to school on time for the parents to pick up some hot and exhausted children (5:30).

Everyone had a brilliant day which was evident from the children’s comments and chattering on the way home.

Rachel Wilkes from Music Partnership and the children entertained parents, governors and members from the community to a musical extravaganza! The performance was based on a thought-provoking cantata on an ecological theme called “Along Came Man”. The children, sang, danced, played musical instruments, acted out scenes with masks and pictures and played games. Songs included ‘This is the age of technology’, ‘What has happened to my world?’ ‘Along came man’, ‘Gone are the meadows’, ‘We’ll learn to share’. The performance was filled with confidence, energy and enthusiasm prompting a range of emotional responses from the audience.

Mrs Bruce, a governor at the school gave a vote of thanks after the concert and said, “Our children at Hartington C of E School go above and beyond in everything they do. The message of how man was damaging our world was so passionately portrayed through song and dance it brought a tear to my eye, and a lump to my throat.”

Following the concert was 3 Dales sports day at Biggin school with Monyash and Biggin school. For once the day went ahead without rain or a cloud burst! Friends and family joined for the afternoons events in glorious, baking sun. Congratulations to everyone who participated and remember its the taking part that matters not the winning!

On June 22^nd, Peace visited the children again, on the back of her performance as the captain of the Uganda National Netball Team at the Commonwealth Games in the Gold Coast. On previous visits, as well as helping them develop their netball skills, she has shared with the children what it is like living in a Christian Village in Uganda and what it is like going to school, living in the community and the role the  church has in comparison with Hartington..

In the School Council Meetings the children decided that they wanted to demonstrate, in a practical way, how they could help other people as part of the schools Christian Vision- “Loving our neighbour as we love ourselves”- Luke Ch.10 v. 27. Having learnt from Peace how important animals are to the families in her village, they have decided to organise a “Goat Project” and raise funds to buy goats for the village and school.

When asked by the children, how they could help the families directly in her village, Peace replied-    “ I am so honoured to be invited again by the school and hear of your project which will help my people very much. God wants us to help each other, especially in ways that will make a lasting difference”

The children wanted to understand how it was best to organise getting the goats to the village; how many, where they would live, what they would eat and be cared for. How they would be used, what are the challenges and how can it be made sustainable.

Peace explained how she would support the project when she returned home in August. She would take the money raised, speak with the teachers and families; arrange for regular communication between the two schools, as well as photographs so the children could monitor the progress and impact the goat project would have.

A project plan will be produced by year 5 and 6 children, which will include how the funds will be raised. Many innovative ideas were discussed, a target of £100 was set (10 Goats- 5 female and 5 male). The first fund raising event is to be centered around the Community Lunch on 13^th July.

Click on the link below or copy and paste into your browser to read more about Peace Proscovia from the Arua District in the West Nile of Uganda and how netball changed her life.

https://gc2018.com/article/peace-proscovia-changing-world-through-netball