Education

Education PRIMARY SCHOOL

PLAY SCHOOL NOTRE ECOLE PLAYGROUP LITTLE HANDS MVC VILLAGE COLLEGE U3A

EDUCATION

Melbourn Playgroup & Moos

Little Hands Karen 01763 260964 We have a wonderful term at Melbourn Playgroup, Out of School Club and the Holiday Club.

Melbourn Playgroup Jane Crawford 07842 151512

Notre Ecole Janet Whitton 261231

Pippins Children’s Centre Alison Wood 223460

Primary School Headteacher Stephanie Wilcox 223457

U3A (Univ. of Third Age) Chairman Tony Garrick 01223 510201

Village College Principal Simon Holmes 223400

Melbourn Playgroup

The Playgroup have been doing what they do best this term and learning through play!

We have been in the forest hunting for the Gruffalo. We have been collecting sticks, counting them and then working out which one is the biggest and smallest. We have had stories in the yurt and had lots of fun with messy play both inside and out. We have had a visit from Wiggles the dog and taken the children to visit the library in the Hub. Thank you to all those who made these experiences for the children possible. We continue to try and offer all our children rich and varied experiences.

As we move towards the end of the school year we are transitioning our pre-school children to reception. They have had some wonderful visits into the school for stories and play. Thank you to Melbourn Primary School. I am sure it will lead to another year of children seamlessly starting the primary school in September.

WHAT THE PAPERS SAID

Old Village surnames

The question of old village surnames was recently questioned by some interested villagers. The name of Rumbold appears to be one of the oldest as there was a worker of that name on the Bury payroll about a thousand years ago, and there are now several of this name in Melbourn. There is in existence a complete list of the families living in the village 286 years ago (in 1600) and in this old list are names of families living in Melbourn today. They are French, Ellis, Harper, Stockbridge, Cooper, Willmott, Frost, Huggins, Day, Oliver, Taylor, Muncey, Wedd, Chapman, Ward and Woods

Reporter and Royston Crow Friday January 18th 1946

Out of School Club (MOOS) and Holiday Club

MOOS have also had a great term. We have continued to enjoy lots of freely chosen, self-directed play along with lots of craft and creative work. Despite the ever-changing weather, we have also enjoyed lots of team games outside as well as dance routines and imaginative play. It is always a lovely experience to see children socialising, playing and growing during their time with us at MOOS. The year 6 children will be off to a new school career soon and we would like to wish them the very best of luck for September. We also look forward to welcoming a new intake of reception children in September.

The Melbourn Holiday Club will be open during the summer holidays for 3–11 year olds from 8am to 6pm, starting on 25th July until 10th August 2018. The holiday club is open to children at Melbourn Primary School and Playgroup and also for children outside of Melbourn. If you are interested in booking a place at our holiday clubs or want further info please contact us – moos@melbournplaygroup. org.uk or telephone us on 01763 223459. There is also lots of information on our website – melbournplaygroup.org.uk Plans for the future We are also very excited to share with you the plans for the new extension to Melbourn Playgroup and MOOS, which will open in September 2018. The building work began after the Easter holidays and is well under way. We look forward to being able to offer more places to our local families, and to welcome new residents to Melbourn.

03 Proposed New Pre School Extension

Pre School Elevation PC

1 : 50

1535 - Melbourn Primary School : 03 - 03/17/17

Proposed Preschool Extension

© Saunders Boston Architects 119 Newmarket Road, Cambridge www.saundersboston.co.uk

Existing Pre School Retained

Not Enclosed Toilet

4 m² Toilets

7 m² Display / Teaching Scale 1:50

0 0.5 1 1.5 2.5m

Elevation 6 - a PC

1 : 50

Office

11 m²

Pre School 2

67 m²

Level 1 Floor Plan Proposed Pre School PC

Toilets

9 m² Lobby & Cloaks

9 m²

Pre School 2

Melbourn Playgroup and Out of School is an Ofsted 67 m² Outstanding provider. To keep up to date with what we do, we 1 : 50 Pre School Section 1 PC have a Facebook page – www.facebook.com/Melbournplay/. We are taking bookings now for 2018/2019. If you have any queries or would like to make a booking, please contact us at www.melbournplaygroup.org.uk or 01763 223459.

Pre School Elevation PC Elevation 6 - a PC

1 : 50 Melbourn Primary SchoolProposed Preschool Extension 1535 - Melbourn Primary School : 03 - 03/17/17 © Saunders Boston Architects 119 Newmarket Road, Cambridge www.saundersboston.co.uk 1 : 50

As we venture into spring our school is well and truly blossoming. Along with the increasing pupil numbers the school is literally growing before our eyes. Many people have asked if the new building is on two floors. It isn’t. The high windows are to let light in. I have had my first tour of the building wearing a protective hat etc. and very glamorous boots! With four new classrooms, a hall extension, new library and new offices; it really is going to be fantastic when finished.

Despite the complications of living in a building site, business has continued as normal:

FS/Year 1 Parent Workshop

On Tuesday 20th March, the Foundation Stage and Year 1 classrooms were awash with excited children and adults ready to take part in some egg-citing Easter themed activities. From hunting for Easter eggs to creating Easter crafts, making repeating and symmetrical patterns to testing parachutes to keep an egg safe, the children were busily engaged in some truly wonderful learning.

Year 2 Trip to the Zoo

On Tuesday 20th March, Year 2 visited London Zoo to explore the rainforest and to see the rainforest animals, we have been learning about, up close. We had the most amazing day. “We saw a yellow spotty giraffe; it was lifting its long neck upwards slowly.” Ellie “I liked the jumpy little poisonous dart frog. It was tiny. You could hardly see it.” Olly “After that we went to the mini rainforest. Have you been to

London Zoo? I saw a sloth. The sloth was as quiet as a leaf.”

Hector “Did you enjoy your day at the zoo? I did! I had a lovely day!”

Izzy W

Year 3 & 4 Inspiration Day

We had the most amazing inspiration day to launch our Greek topic ‘What the Greeks gave us’. The children wore wonderful costumes and the workshop was very exciting. The children were able to visit a range of stalls and made wax tablets, clay lamps, frescos and many other items. In the afternoon, they enjoyed Greek theatre and a feast of Greek food.

Year 5/6 Trip to West Stow Anglo Saxon Village

On the 22nd of March, year 5/6 arrived at the Anglo-Saxon Village in West Stow. The journey took around 45 minutes, so we arrived at about 10:30am. Once we had split into groups, it was time to explore. We were split into the two groups and had two main activities, one was a visit to the museum, and the other was to explore the houses and village.

Although the museum wasn’t huge, it was full of interesting information and artefacts. We saw a small child’s

skeleton (which was roughly 40cm long and 15cm wide); a wild boar’s skin and of course an ancient poo! Ben, the guide, told us that the poo was approximately 1,500 years old, but you would never guess what it was it looked just like a pile of dirt.

After the museum, Ben gave us some time to explore the village. The houses incorporated different building techniques. All of the houses had a thatched roof, but the walls were made of various materials, including wattle and daub and wood. Most of the houses had raised floors. The house that stood out the most was the ‘sunken house’. This house was one of the first designs for Anglo Saxon living that was found at West Stow. The floor of the house sat below ground level, making the house cold and at risk of flooding. Ben later informed us, during a question and answer session, that actually this probably wasn’t how the houses were built and that all houses probably had raised floors. He explained that even though they know a lot about Anglo Saxons and how they lived, they are still learning. Overall, we found this trip extremely enjoyable and very interesting. By Lauren Schofield and Jessica Wainwright.

PE news

We have been busy with PE fixtures. We had a successful second round of the A Team High 5 netball competition, with this team progressing through to the A team plate finals after Easter. Our B team also took part in the finals of their competition at Impington Village College, showing great determination and perseverance throughout their matches. We have also played the final match in the South Cambs Riverside Football League, with the team winning 6–1 against Fowlmere Primary School. The girls’ football squad also took part in a friendly match against Barrington Primary School, developing their skills phenomenally during the match to eventually win 7–4.

Ambulance

The Foundation Stage children were awestruck to go out into the car park on a cold Wednesday morning to find an ambulance waiting for them. The children learnt about what the ambulance and paramedics do and how and when to call for them. They then got to sit in the driver’s seat and make the siren work before having a tour in the back of the ambulance to see what equipment was stored there and how and when it would be used. Thank you so much to Steve and Paul for bringing the ambulance in to visit us; it was truly a memorable occasion.

Mother’s Day

We were delighted to welcome over 160 mothers to our Mother’s Day activities, despite the lack of tea and cake! It was incredible to watch the enthusiasm with which the children and their female relations took part in the fitness activities and tucked into the delicious fruit kebabs and loaded rice cakes.

We are looking forward to all that the summer term brings, especially seeing more of the school extension take shape. One of the most exciting aspects for me is that the extension connects together the various buildings of our school. No longer will I need an umbrella to get around the school on those wet days that have seemed all too frequent lately. Here’s hoping for some sunshine, this term, too! Mrs Stephanie Wilcox – Headteacher

Melbourn Village College is a school firmly on the road to expansion. With the school achieving consistently excellent results it seems more students and parents are wanting to be part of the success story with intake numbers continuing to increase.

The figures released for September’s intake indicate the new Year 7 cohort will be the largest year in the school, building on the 100 admitted in 2016 and 110 last autumn.

“This is great recognition of what we are doing at the college,” said Principal Simon Holmes. “We look forward to welcoming the new students into our community in September.”

Part of that work is championing the teaching of Mandarin as part of the curriculum and Melbourn’s work was recently highlighted nationally as a great example of how this can work in an in-depth on-line article from the Institute of Education at University College, London, and can be read here: https://ciforschools.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/ melbourn-village-college-report3.pdf

Spanish is the other language now studied by all students starting Melbourn in Year 7 and the start of this term had a distinctly Spanish feel.

Not only did Year 9 and 10 students participate in an Interaction Day with teenagers from partner school Salesianos in Santander, which included presentations in Spanish and a trip to the Imperial War Museum at Duxford, but 31 Year 8 students enjoyed the annual Immersion Trip to the Cantabria region of northern Spain.

It was an amazing trip, linguistically and culturally. Students were taught Spanish by Spanish teachers in Spain – including on Saturday and Sunday morning! – but also visited a national park, the caves at Altimera and learned to hunt and make fire at an ancient Cantabrian Village as they learned how people lived in the Bronze and Iron ages.

They also sampled authentic paella and chocolate con churros, as well as spending time on the beach, shopping in Comillas and visiting Capricho de Gaudi – a villa in Comillas designed by the famous Spanish artist. There was also plenty of time to sample the local ice cream!

Closer to home students have been hard at work both in college and outside with three students from Melbourn Judo Club, winning medals at the British Schools Judo Championships in Sheffield.

Daisy King took the under-44kg category, winning all her fights in a pool of 14 players to take gold and earn herself a place in the Regional England Development Squad.

Rebecca Frisby picked up silver in the over-63kg category, fighting a girl 14 kg heavier, while her brother Daniel took bronze in the over-66kg Year 8/9 competition.

In London Ella Carolan performed at ‘Move It’, the UK’s biggest dance and performing arts event, after successfully auditioning for a place in Ryan Jenkins ID Company, which involves travelling to Covent Garden on a weekly basis.

Ewan Walpole, in Year 11, was treated to a special leaving and good luck party by his friends in the World of Work group, who organised the send-off.

This was part of Unit 5 (decision making and the process of making informed judgements) and pupils had to plan a class activity, which involved setting goals and identifying steps needed.

Enrichment activities continue to inspire and engage students with a whole host of different extended learning opportunities available – and with the promise of more to come as Year 8 and 9 look forward to Activities Week at the end of term.

British Schools Judo Championships

Melbourn Village College finish 4th overall The British Schools Judo Championships took place on 17th/18th March at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield. A record number of 6 players were selected and entered from Melbourn Judo Club, but competed for their Schools. This is an extremely popular event, with top players from across the UK.

Daniel Frisby (Melbourn Village College) and Kelli-Jay Cooper (Greneway) competed on Saturday in the year 8/9 event. Kelli was up against the eventual gold and bronze medallists but fought well in the U52kg category. In the O66kg category, Daniel took on some extremely big lads and came away with a bronze medal.

On Sunday, it was the year 6/7 players in action. Josca Brown (Thriplow) was our youngest and least experienced competitor. He had a couple of tough fights, but did well, gained good experience and still has another year in this age

Do good, feel good

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Melbourn VC medalists. Left to right: Rebecca, Daisy and Daniel.

Daisy’s Gold medal throw. Photographs British Judo.

band. Louis Clais-Burns (Knights Templar) was also in the U38kg category and finished 7th out of 24 competitors, with 2 excellent wins.

Rebecca Frisby (Melbourn Village College) took Silver in the O63kg category and had to face a girl 14kgs bigger! She fought extremely hard, but the weight difference was too much in the end. Daisy King (Melbourn Village College) was the star of the day. She won all her fights in a pool of 14 in the U44kg category to win Gold. Daisy richly deserves her success and is also part of the Regional England Development Squad. Lesley Caption: Melbourn VC medallists. Left to right: Rebecca, Daisy and Daniel. I have also attached an action shot of Daisy’s Gold medal throw. If you use this, please credit British Judo

Workers’ Educational Association (WEA) – Royston

The Autumn course at Royston Town Hall will start on 18th September; details nearer the date. www.wea.org.uk

southcambsmotors@btconnect.com Summer Solstice

‘If we shadows have offended Think but this, and all is mended, That you have but slumber’d here While these visions did appear.’ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night’s Dream

The summer sun of solstice Rises over mystic Glastonbury’s Tor, Peaks through Stonehenge, glows at Chichen Itza, Celebrations sing of rites and lore.

A midsummer night’s dream Quivers over an enchanted eventide. Shakespeare captures this annual moment With words where myth and legends ride.

The bard well knew that on this night Boundaries between the worlds are thin and porous, Evil spirits, with witches being active, Faery tricks and queer fancies make a magic chorus.

When the sun is waxing the Oak King rules, But the Holly King now begins his reign. The Oak King withdraws to the circumpolar stars That never drop too low to fade and wane.

This spirit night of the year, Midsummer’s Eve, now gives way At solstice, to a sun at greatest height, Lighting up a new Midsummer’s Day.