TOM LONG'S POST A modern Christmas in a - Stroud District ...

Tom Long’s Post News from our schoolsBrimscombe CE PrimarySchoolWhen I was thinking about what towrite about this term there seemed tobe a bit of a food theme going on soit seems appropriate to be sitting herein my office, with the dark eveningsdrawing in, and the smell of freshpopcorn wafting in…. One of ourteachers has just launched a FilmClub with a family viewing of Cloudywith a Chance of Meatballs. In theweeks to come there will becompetitions to enter, reviews to writeand maybe the odd premiere toattend too!Back to the food. The vegetablesplanted by the children in the EarlyYears outdoor area in the SpringTerm certainly flourished. From Juneonwards we had masses of tomatoes,lettuce, beans, peas, courgettes,potatoes and carrots growingalongside the sweet peas,nasturtiums and sunflowers. As if incompetition the fruit trees planted fouryears ago gave us their first real croptoo. We’ve suspected the local deerhave eaten the buds before but thisyear we had plums galore – plenty forthe children to eat fresh and to makeinto plum crumble. (More lovelysmells…!)The last of the fruit and vegetableswere harvested for our HarvestFestival Service just before half term.The Reception children, who had onlybeen in school for a few short weeks,led the service along with theirteacher, Mrs Nicki Brown. Therewere pictures of fruit and vegetableswhich the children had drawn andpainted and the whole class led us ina prayer which they had made up.14 15For a small school, there was a hugeamount of food produce generouslydonated by the families which weshared between the Marah andNelson Trusts.Continuing the food theme andlooking to the future, we are hopingthat Brimscombe CE Primary Schoolwill become a Food Hub for the localarea. This will operate almost as anon-line farmers’ market, withmembers of the community orderinglocal produce midweek which will bedelivered to the school where it will besorted ready for collection onSaturday. There is already a verysuccessful Food Hub at ParliamentSchool and we are working closelywith the Nick Weir of Stroudco, to setone up here. Nick says ‘We havefound that the hub is a fantasticsource of local, fresh, inexpensivefood and drink as well as a great wayto meet some of our local foodproducers and get involved in theirfarms’. Please keep an eye out onour web site for further informationabout this and let us know if you areinterested in being involved. Highquality food, locally sourced, atcompetitive prices for those of us whocan’t always get to the Farmers’Market!Although a few weeks off yet, we arealready thinking about Christmas andI would like to extend a warmwelcome to members of thecommunity to come along to ourcelebrations. The children’s Nativityis always popular but we also have aservice at Holy Trinity Church and acircus skills show. We would love tosee you there!Karen Riordan Head TeacherMinchinhampton School PTABonfire NightThis years bonfire night atMinchinhampton School raised thebest total ever, adding a whopping£3163 to school funds. The eventwas organised by Jane Rock and herteam and was staffed by parents andteachers from the school.How did the PTA achieve thisfantastic total?We sold more tickets this year, bothadvance sales and gate tickets wereup on last years figures. Our thanksgo to all of you who came alongand brought your friends and familywith you and to the wonderfulsupport from M & B Stores andMinchinhampton Post Office forselling tickets in the town.The crowd devoured the barbequeof 200 of Taylors Butcher’s burgersand 300 of their hot dogs, in 500Halls Bakery rolls.The Beer Tent sold 300 glasses ofmulled wine, made to a traditionallocal recipe and 105 pints of real ale.£1700 worth of fireworks were sentup in a fabulous display by ourtrained team of pyrotechnic Dads.Three vans loads of pallets werebuilt into the biggest bonfire yet by avery enthusiastic and experiencedteam of bonfire builders.Building the bonfireThe biggest bonfire yetOur thanks go to everyone whocame along to the event and to allour helpers, it was a fantasticturnout and we hope you all had avery enjoyable evening.