Education

School garden sows seeds of friendship

Residents of a Dorset care home have cultivated community links with the opening of a garden at a nearby school. Children and staff at Talbot Primary School in Poole welcomed neighbours from Colten Care’s Bourne View. The Bourne View party, including residents Kathleen Betty, Pat Tharme and Albert Langworthy, enjoyed a tour of the new space and complimented all involved in its planning and opening. It features raised beds enabling all children to take part in gardening activities and the care of plants and flowers. After admiring the layout of the garden and its array of vegetables, wild selfseeded flowers and mixed sunflowers, Pat said: “The displays were beautiful and it was a joy to visit such a lovely garden and see children so full of happiness.” Albert agreed, adding: “This is such a well-tended and peaceful green space.” Pupils have been involved in planting and nurturing the plants and flowers during the past academic year. Some of the seeds they have planted recently were specially gifted to them from the Tower of London Superblooms display, part of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations. Talbot School headteacher Kate Curtis said: “This has been a long-term project and it is great to see it come to fruition. We are so grateful to the Talbot Village Trust for providing the funding and delighted to share this beautiful space with our children, families, and the

wider community.” Companionship team member Brian Ramsey said: “It’s clear that a great deal of work has gone into making this garden so attractive and inspiring. “We congratulate all at Talbot Primary School and thank them for being such great hosts. “They even served us afternoon tea and homemade cakes which was a delightful surprise.” Supercalidocious send-off for headteacher

Pupils at a Wimborne school used their latest sell-out production to give a supercalifragilistic send-off to their headteacher. St Michael’s Middle School performed Mary Poppins at The Layard Theatre at Canford School earlier this month. The musical was six months in the making, with every aspect including staging and lighting managed by pupils and many showing off their acting skills for the first time. As a special surprise to their departing headteacher, Ron Jenkinson, the pupils also changed many of the words to the iconic song Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, to incorporate a fond farewell. New words included: “Mr Jenkinson you have been absolutely splendid. We wish your time here never ended.” Ron has been a headteacher for 23 years, the last nine of which have been at St Michael’s. He leaves at the end of this term and plans to take a sabbatical and travel. He said: “Like all our other productions which have gone before it, Mary Poppins was a fantastic show and we are all so proud of everyone involved. “When the pupils started to sing Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious and I realised the words were about me I was shocked. But also deeply touched. “The whole audience responded and clapped. It was very special.” Ron continued: “At St Michael’s we teach pupils our ABC: Aspiration, Belief and Creativity. “Over the course of rehearsals and three amazing performances our pupils have excelled in all three qualities.” Music teacher Ed Johnston agreed: “It has been a pleasure to discover new talent and watch all of our performers grow in confidence and ability. We hope our next production may be one we write ourselves. “A great deal of hard work has gone into every aspect of the show and we were all thrilled with the finished result, which also provided a very fitting goodbye to our popular headteacher.”

Education Hanford bids farewell to its leavers

July saw pupils, parents, old girls and staff coming together to celebrate the end of the school year and the girls’ many, and considerable, achievements. Hanford, the all-girls boarding and day prep school, has also been celebrating its 75th year making Parents’ Day all the more special. This year Hanford girls achieved 15 scholarships to a range of prestigious senior schools. The awards included academic scholarships to Oundle and St Mary’s Calne, Music to Wells Cathedral School, Art to Bryanston, Clayesmore and Monkton, Sport to St Mary’s Calne and Equestrian to Leweston. In addition, they were able to celebrate girls in Years 7 and 8 recently being crowned National Prep Schools Champions in the high jump. Hanford has been shortlisted for Small Independent, Prep & Boarding School of the Year in this year’s Independent Schools of the Year Awards. Rory Johnston, Head of Hanford, said: “We are extremely proud of this year’s leavers who, despite all the challenges thrown their way over the past two years, have flourished in all areas, as our number and range of scholarships show. “We are equally proud of their broader contributions to the school, whether through music, their drama, their leadership and their support for others.” He added: “We will be sad to see them leave, but we know the education they’ve received will enable them to thrive at their senior schools. “The girls themselves know that they will always be welcome back here; our community of Old Girls is extremely strong and loyal, providing girls with a ready-made community for life.” Speech day started with a concert, including recitals on the piano and flute, some orchestral pieces, a song written by the Leavers and a rendition of From Now On. This was followed by dancing and gymnastics displays on the lawn and even a synchronised swimming display to Mamma Mia. After picnics on the lawn, the parents enjoyed a whole school play, above, and the leavers then headed to the chapel for their final service at Hanford.

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