17 minute read
Education
Community Education
Val Tookey 260566
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Little Hands
Karen on 01763 260964
Melbourn Playgroup
Jane Crawford 07842 151512
Notre Ecole
Janet Whitton 261231
Primary School
Headteacher Gary Casey 223457
U3A (Univ. of Third Age)
Chairman Arthur Alderton 260399
Village College
Warden Elaine Stephenson 223400
www.melbourn.org.uk/speakers-corner/
Melbourn Playgroup
We have reached the end of a very successful year and seen another group of pre-schoolers off to the Reception class at the Primary School. Through this year we have celebrated special occasions such as Christmas and Easter; made boats and football shirts and grown beans and potatoes. We have welcomed many new faces and said good-bye to a few old ones. Every day we have learned something new and had an enormous amount of fun.
Next year we are looking forward to some exciting changes. One of the most important of these is our proposed move to the primary school, alongside the new Children’s Centre. The building work has been very interesting to watch as it progresses and it is planned that work on our part of the building will start over the summer. We look forward to a happy time working with Mr Casey and all the staff at the school.
We are open from 9 am – 3 pm and book hours in a flexible way within these times. Please call for more details on 07842 151512.
Melbourn Primary School
I am writing this article with just one week to go until the end of the summer term and waiting to see whether an open air ukulele concert will have to be cancelled due to expected heavy showers. (Oh! the fun of a British summer!) As always the school year has been very busy, especially during the late spring and summer terms. Easter Concert On Wednesday 24th March at 7pm the school hall was filled with nervous parents, children and teachers at our Easter Concert. The children in school who receive music lessons showed off their skills and we heard children play instruments including trumpets, recorders, clarinets, guitars and violins. It was an inspirational evening, highlighting the great talent that is growing within the school. At the end of the evening a collection was made for the Chernobyl Children’s charity and we managed to raise £89.70p. Grafham 2010 The residential trip for our year 4 pupils to Grafham Water took place at the end of the spring term and despite some disappointing weather the children and school staff had a fantastic time. It was a privilege to see the determination and courage that the children exhibited during their stay. They overcame their fears as they clambered up the indoor climbing wall and traversed the high rope course. The 10 mile bike ride around the reservoir was completed by most children. (Even I managed to get all the way round and believe me after not riding a bike for about 10 years I was pleased just be able to ride in a straight line.) I also learnt that our teacher Mrs Smith is a brilliant shot with a bow and arrow. I am sure that all the children who went on the trip will remember it for a long time, and we have already booked for next year. Arts Week It seems to be a bit of a tradition that in the past, when I have returned from the Year 6 residential trip my classroom has been altered in some way to reflect the
work that has been going on in school while I have been away. I thought this year that my office might escape the ‘revamp’, however I was wrong and was greeted by examples of the children’s work from arts week depicting African sunsets and silhouettes of animals which looked amazing. It was a fantastic week and the activities such as the stomp workshops and the visits to the Tate Britain and the Gibberd Garden allowed the children to widen their experience of art and culture. Llandudno 2010 The Year 6 residential trip to Llandudno was a great success and the weather was fantastic. The children thoroughly enjoyed themselves and after some initial feelings of home sickness the week passed quickly. The children visited Conway Castle, The Great Orme, a copper mine, a Victorian Village, the Birmingham Sea Life Centre and after a bone shaking train ride many stood on the top of Mount Snowden, which was a personal triumph for children and staff alike. It was also pleasing to receive so many positive comments from the places we visited about the children’s politeness and good behaviour. Looking forward I am sure that 2010/2011 will be just as busy, especially as the new build will continue apace. We will welcome Melbourn Playgroup onto the school site in 2011, which I am sure will help to strengthen the already positive links between the playgroup and the school.
Melbourn Village College
Visit to the News Centre by MVC Journalist Club
By William Broughton In preparation for the relaunch of the Melbourn Journalist Club, three members with the help of Mrs Susan van de Ven arranged a look at the mechanics of a professional newspaper – The Cambridge News.
After a longer than expected car journey we found the News office on Winship Road. Once inside we were met by the head editor. He described to us the inner workings of the organisation and how everyone has their own job or article to work on. Journalists first have to find newsworthy articles. They do this by contacting a range of sources such as the police and fire services. Sometimes they may have tip offs from the public.
In one corner of the office, a wall was filled with hundreds of small drawers, each and every one containing 35mm film negatives which were in the process of being digitalised by a scanner and stored on a computerised archive. This archive could then be used by members of the editing team, who were working 24hrs to prepare that day’s stories ready for publication. It was a massive operation to collect the news, write it and print it within sharp deadlines. The high pressure environment is not for everyone and is a lot of hard work for journalists and editors who do not receive much pay.
This was all fascinating and informative, but then we were shown the business end of the operation: the printing room. Here, one-metre wide rolls of paper were moved around on large rollers which were attached to a rail system, so they could be moved where needed. The rollers were needed as each roll weighed about one tonne. Overhead, freshly printed papers whipped along all the way from a printing press which was printing papers at 500 per minute, although if needed the printer could print at 1,000 per minute. In the next room we w ere shown the stores of paper. The rolls were stacked on top of each other, to over two storeys high. If a fire was to break out in this room then the paper would not catch fire, as the layers are so tightly compacted.
After gazing up at the towers of paper we moved on to the end of our tour. Outside of the printing room was a container for ink. This was an empty cartridge for the printer itself. The printer was so large that it went through a bath tub’s worth of ink each day. All this time
Students, Alex Crockford, Jeremy Bridle and William Broughton with Chris Elliott, Cambridge News Outside the Cambridge News office. From left to right: Alex Crockford, Jeremy Bridle and William Broughton.
the two other Melbourn journalists and I had been furiously scribbling notes and ideas. We all found the tour informative, interesting and outright cool. We hope to have more articles soon.
A big thank you to the Cambridge News staff for taking time out of their hectic jobs to talk to us.
News from MVC
We have now come to the end of our 50th Anniversary celebrations – and what a celebration! A huge thank you to all of you who have supported us during our festivities – we sincerely hope you enjoyed them as much as we did! We were treated to the most wonderful open-air musical concerts, showing what talent there is amongst our young people. We were fortunate to benefit from three major arts projects this year, including a visit from the Royal Opera Company and a local artist, who helped design our new stained glass window. As icing on the cake, in July, we received notification of our successful re-designation to Performing Arts Status (we were even complimented on the high quality of our bid).
We are now looking forward to our 51st year. Our main focus is really to build on last year’s successful GCSE results. One way we are doing this is through increasingly close work with our feeder primary schools. Representatives from our English, maths and science departments are visiting year 6 teachers to prepare the best progression from the excellent work done at Key Stage 2.
There are several events at the College this term:
Year 7 Event On Wednesday, 29th September we are having our welcome event for year 7 parents. This is a chance for parents to meet their child’s teachers in an informal setting. We look forward to meeting all our year 7 parents there. Post-16 Information Evening If you have a child in year 11, it is important to attend our Post-16 Information Evening on Wednesday, 6th October. You will find out about all the opportunities open to your son or daughter – we are fortunate that Cambridgeshire now offers a very wide choice of courses in over eight Sixth Form Centres. Open Evening Our Open Evening is on Monday, 18th October. If you have a child in year 5 or 6, this is your chance to come as a family and find out more about the College. There are always lots of activities for the children to do while the adults talk to the staff. Presentation Evening After a wonderfully successful Year 11 Prom night, we said goodbye to our year 11 students. This year, almost all of them have gone on to study for further qualifications in one of the local Post-16 Centres (the remaining two have gained jobs with training programmes). We will meet again on Wednesday, 24th November at the Presentation Evening for their GCSE certificates. All year 11 students and their parents/carers are welcome. Term Ends with a Whirlwind of Talent
Young people have been showing their talent at Melbourn Village College, from winning a regional dance competition to a music tour of primary schools and performances with giant puppets. Over 7 performing arts events involving the majority of Melbourn Village College’s 500 students took place in the final weeks of term reaching well over 1000 audience members.
The College has recently been redesignated as a performing arts specialist college, receiving praise from the BRIT school, their school improvement partner for their Performing Arts department and the work of the Arts Development Manager.
Over the final weeks of the summer term a minibus containing the school Big Band toured to 5 primary schools; year 9 students worked with Junction based By Alex Crockford MVC Journalist Club We set off, but little did we know what horrors would befall us. It was just a car ride, so what could go wrong? Our destination was so close, yet the ride took so long.
Welcome to the mother of all waking nightmares. Your guide is me, Alex Crockford, one of four people to experience that dismay. I won’t deny that I caused my fair share of danger but no-one deserves that horror, not even your school bully, not even your annoying sibling and (dare I say?) not even your teacher with the stupid hair. Jump in and don’t close the book, don’t stop reading till the end or you might end up like me. Welcome to this evil story.
It all started fine on a lovely hot day with Jeremy and me in the back seat and Will and Mrs van de Ven in the front, on our way to the Cambridge News office in Milton. But then it went wrong, the A14 had a broken lorry on it!!!!
So, Jeremy got his phone out for entertainment. Unknown to us he had a virus on his phone to make mankind cringe in fear. Codename the stinger!!! And he played it. We were all in agony. It was a wonder Mrs. Van de Ven managed to keep the car straight. Just as the little traitor was pulling out a gun to assassinate us all I snatched his phone and switched it to his next tune -the Pingu theme tune. Apparently it was his shut-down switch; we all had one somewhere. But as he reclaimed his phone and played the stinger again it had no effect. It was a one time use only.
Then I decided it would be funny to play a joke. I decided to steal Jeremy’s phone and play Pingu non-stop. Jeremy went crazy. Spouting something about mushrooms and attacking me and…
Well, I dread to think what would have had happened if Mrs van de Ven hadn’t stopped him with unnatural ability like an alien… but still that’s another story for another time.
So you see why I said ‘don’t stop reading. Still, remember … never get in a car on a hot day.
theatre company, Gomito, to create a site specific piece of drama and dance with giant puppets; Melbourn’s Got Talent evening included most of year 8 performing together; gifted and talented singers led a group of primary school performing at Queens College with Tanzanian singing stars, Upendo; there were 2 open air concerts on the College lawn; year 10 performance evenings and students’ art work was displayed as part of the Heart of the World festival in the Michaelhouse café, Cambridge.
If this whirlwind of talent wasn’t enough, at the British Red Cross Dance for life competition 2 dance squads won 4 prizes including overall senior winners who went on to win the East of England heats, a shining example of the exceptional local talent of the College’s young people.
The new 2010/11 prospectus is out, with plenty of new courses for you to try.
Art Workshop, Flowers for the Home, Zumba, Yoga, Ballroom Dancing, Ballet for Children, Tap For Children, Adult Tap Dancing, Reiki I, Reiki II, Art Appreciation, Jewellery Making, Garden Design, Hobby Electronics, Indian Cookery, Mosaic Making, Pottery, Textiles & Embroidery, Upholstery, Woodwork, Aromatherapy, Badminton Club, Meditation, Reflexology, French, Spanish, Italian, Mandarin, Birdwatching, Computing for Beginners, Touch Typing, Web Page Design, Shorthand, AAT levels 2, 3 & 4, Bookkeeping, Business English, Basic DIY & Repair, Basic Plumbing, Home Baking, Cake Decorating, Italian Cookery, Mexican Cookery, Indian Head Massage, Intuition & Psychic Development, First Aid at Work, Paediatric First Aid, CIEH Food Safety, Computerised Accounts, Wine Appreciation & Tasting …
… and lots lots more
Call Val, Julie or Louise on 01763 260566 or email comed@mvc.org.uk
Melbourn University of the Third Age
By the time you read this our AGM will have been held and the reports of our events will have been made to our 430+ members. A new Scrabble Group has been added to our list of ‘things to do’ and members continue to enjoy excursions,walks, table tennis, badminton, yoga, bridge, foreign language conversation groups and many more activities and events.
September will see a new surge of activity after the summer holidays and the groups will settle down to their autumn and winter programmes. One item that continues all year (except December) is the monthly meeting at the Village College on the third Wednesday of each month. Amongst the speakers we have enjoyed this year have been talks on the Special Operations Executive in the War, the Willow Foundation that organises special days for seriously ill young people, views of the Falkland Islands and its flora and fauna and many other talks of interest.
Still to come, we have been promised people talking on the future of Addenbrooke’s Hospital, the Red Balloon group that tackles the worrying problem of bullying, a Blue Badge Guide’s view of London, and 1000 years of English Churches. There are many other talks booked and if you want to know more, come along to the College on the third Wednesday in the month about 2.45 pm, where you will be met and introduced to the U3A.
For more information ring 01763 260399.
Notre Ecole
At Notre Ecole we run after school clubs for children on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Our aim is to introduce young children to the French language in a fun and lively way and also to reinforce and supplement French language learnt at primary school. On a Wednesday evening we offer a class for adults, where we endeavour to develop confidence in using the French language in a friendly and informal atmosphere.
This year children in our Wednesday
afternoon group have learnt to talk about their families and also their pets. We have drawn and labelled pictures of our families, played happy families and watched a video about family pets.
Our children’s Thursday group have learnt to tell the time in French and also to talk about their daily routines. We have played matching games, drawn and labelled a series of pictures showing what we do throughout the day and sung a song about our daily routine.
More recently, children in both groups have been learning vocabulary relating to the circus. They have revised the French for some animals, learnt the names of the main characters at the circus and some new verbs. To end the year, we created our own circus and entertained the children’s friends and families, while impressing them with the French we have learnt during the course of the year.
Students in our adult group continue to make good progress. Recently we have looked at daily routines, telling the time, talking about what you are going to do and what you have just done, and we have revisited the past tense so that we will all be able to talk about our summer holidays when we return in September.
The autumn is always a good time to take up a new challenge and start learning a new language. If you or your children would be interested in joining one of our groups please contact either Marine on 01763 222876 or Janet on 01763 261231 for further details. We are a French native speaker and a graduate of European Studies with French and we would love to see you at one of our classes.
Tel. Marine – 01763 222876 or Janet – 01763 261231 (We have both been CRB checked)
Learn French in a friendly atmosphere *French for Children Games, role-play, songs etc. Every Wednesday from 3.45pm to 4.30pm Every Thursday from 4:15pm to 5:00pm *French for Adults All levels, Conversation Every Wednesday from 8.00pm to 9.00pm
GCSE lessons available by arrangement. Individual lessons also available.
100 Club
The MVC PTFA 100 Club raises funds for the improvement of facilities at Melbourn Village College. The 100 Club is an easy way to support the school with the chance of winning a cash prize every month.
Maybe you would like to support the school but find it difficult to attend fundraising events, or perhaps you just fancy a flutter. Either way you are benefiting the pupils of Melbourn Village College by becoming a member.
Joining the 100 Club costs £12 per year, with each year commencing 1st September and finishing 31st August. Each member will be entered in 12 monthly draws giving a first prize of £30 and a second prize of £20. In the event of fewer than 100 members the prizes will be reduced accordingly and should the membership exceed 100 the prizes will be increased accordingly. The prize money will be 50% of the total income.
RULES
• All members must be over 16 years of age; • The club is governed by the Lotteries and Amusement Act 1976 with the South
Cambridgeshire District Council. Registration number is: L05679 and the promoter for the purposes of the Act is Mrs A Whitaker, 5 Fowlmere Road, Foxton,
Cambridge CB22 6RT • Winners will be notified by post and cheques sent to the last address notified; • There will be no refunds under any circumstances in accordance with the
Lotteries and Amusements Act 1976; • Winners numbers will be published in the Parents’ Bulletins and on the MVC website; • Each member will be issued with a membership number and advised of the number accordingly.
MVC PTFA 100 Club
Application Form
I wish to join the 100 Club as from 1st September 2010. I enclose payment of £12.00 (cheques payable to MVC PTFA) and agree to abide by the rules.
Signed ………………………………………………………
Name (capitals please): ……………………………………
Address: ………………………………………………………………………………
Telephone Number: …………………………………………
E-mail address: ………………………………………………
Please send application form and payment to: Sian Biddlecombe, 1 Ash Grove, Melbourn, Royston, Herts, SG8 6BJ or hand in at Melbourn Village College reception
