Education Archives - Page 13 of 16

August 23, 2014September 11, 2014

Black-top on at Orpen Hall car park

The Orpen Hall Car Park resurfacing project is nearing completion and will be finished by the end of August, leaving the area spick and span and ready for the more intensive day to day usage which will resume in the autumn.

Over the past week a new black- top macadam surface has been laid which neatly complements the extensive repairs to the car park foundations, hall entrance treatments, kerbing and drainage work which has been going on since the end of July.

White-lining next step

The remaining work to be completed in the coming days includes white lining the car park area to show clearly where users may park and unload. It will also include disabled and cycle parking areas. There will be tidying up activities of course to remove excess debris, materials and the contractors plant and equipment.

Planting to follow

Following the completion of the works there will be a planting scheme drawn up for the new planting areas adjacent to the hall itself.

Parking Spaces

There have been some comments about the amount of parking that will be available after the works, and the access arrangements to the hall entrances. Approximately 40 marked spaces will be available together with a loading bay, 7 disabled spaces and parking for bicycles. Access to the MUGA area, hall entrances, emergency access points, have all been enhanced such that they are not blocked off in the future by parked cars while the hall is in use. This was a key feature of the design and indeed a fire and safety assessment pointed out the lack of ramps to some of the access points.

Thanks to residents & users

The Parish Council would like to thank hall users for their forbearance during these works. Most of the time at least some parking has been available, however it won’t be long until the whole car park is available once more. We won’t be doing this again for at least another 30 years so any inconvenience is over for a while!

August 16, 2014August 15, 2014

The Great War: Fact, Myth & Memory

British soldiers in a captured German trench
A German trench occupied by British Soldiers near the Albert-Bapaume road at Ovillers-la-Boisselle, July 1916 during the Battle of the Somme. The men are from A Company, 11th Battalion, The Cheshire Regiment.
Source : Wikipedia

How appropriate that in the centenary year of the beginning of the Great War, acclaimed at the time as the war to end all wars (or was it?), that the WEA have provided details of their next course:

The WEA (Workers Education Association) runs 2 courses each year the first beginning in September and the other in January. Our next course is The Great War: Fact, Myth and Memory by Roger Beckett and starts on 23rd September 2014 at 8 pm. This course attempts to consider the Great War as an historical event, to separate fact from myth and to place the events of 1914-1918 in the context of Europe in the 20th century. All are welcome and if in doubt to sample the first evening for free. It will take place at the Methodist Hall, Chapel Lane at a cost of £48 for 10 weeks (income based benefits/JSA free). For more details contact Gill on 240512 or email [antibot mailto=”[email protected]”]

July 14, 2014December 4, 2014

Exhibitions at St Mary’s Old Church

Bluebells Pre-School contributions to the Exhibition — Bluebells Pre-School contributions to the Art Exhibition

St Mary’s are hosting 2 exhibitions in the coming month, one of art by local artists and another staged by the local History Group.

Art Exhibition

Currently being exhibited, are some large paintings which were painted by village resident, John Newman. They were displayed in St. Mary’s Church in New Church Road during West Bergholt’s Open Gardens weekend. The paintings feature gardens that were mentioned in the Bible including the Garden of Eden and the Garden of Gethsemane. Appropriate verses from the Bible and information about these gardens are displayed alongside the paintings.

There is also some art work created by the children at Bluebells Pre-School. This exhibition will be displayed in the church for the next two weeks.

History Exhibition

The second exhibition is being staged by the West Bergholt History Group to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of the start of WW1. This will be a small display from 2nd – 9th August.

July 1, 2014

Outstanding Bluebells Pre-School

That was the conclusion of Ofsted recently when they made their first inspection visit of the ‘Early Years’ provider. Ofsted awarded the highest accolade of “outstanding” quoting “the quality of teaching is exemplary”, “the practitioners use their expertise to provide children with an educational programme that is extremely challenging, exciting and worthy of disseminating to others”. One excerpt from the report tells a story all of itself:

Practitioners are exceptionally skilful at following children’s interests and use well-considered questions to extend children’s thinking. For example, children see a spider crawling across the pre-school floor. They draw a practitioner’s attention to the spider, who quickly and efficiently uses this spontaneous incident as a learning aide. She confidently finds a small pot to contain the spider and asks a child if they would like to find a magnifying glass to explore the spider in more detail. The child quickly returns with a magnifying glass. The practitioner enables the now, larger group of children who have come to see what is happening to view the spider in more detail. This creates a lively discussion about how many legs the spider has, what colour it is and where children think it might live. The discussion concludes with children telling the practitioner that they think the spider should be taken outside and placed on a tree so that it won’t be trodden on. The practitioner helps children take it outside and settles it into its new environment. Children excitedly rush back into the room to find the plastic spider living in one of the story/rhyme sacks. They each take it in turns to look at the plastic one and break out into songs about spiders. Throughout this activity, the practitioner’s input superbly guides children’s thoughts and challenges their thinking, while allowing them ample time to consider their own knowledge.

Well done to Jackie Leach & all her team. Details of Bluebells, and other Education Providers supporting West Bergholt, are available on this website.

Click this link to download the full Ofsted report which is in PDF format.

June 4, 2014

Local youngsters appointed Stanway’s Head Boy & Girl

It can’t be usual for two youngsters from the same village to be selected as Head Boy & Head Girl but that is what has happened with Jamie Bowden and Hannah Woodgate assuming those roles at Stanway from September. Asked about the selection process the Assistant Head, Chris Johnson, said:

The process starts after Easter when all year 10 students are invited to apply for the position of prefect for the following year. Out of a cohort of 220 approximately 80 students are interviewed and prefects are selected by the Heads of House. From the 60 prefects selected, applications are invited in writing for the position of Head boy and Head girl. This year there was a particularly strong field of 20 girls and 12 boys who applied. These were then interviewed by the senior management team of the school and 4 boys and 4 girls were short listed for the final interviews with Mr Holder and Mr Bland next years’ Head teachers.

As you can see the process is extremely challenging and all students who apply are to be commended for their commitment to the school. The standard of applications this year was exceptional and some very difficult decisions had to be made. We would all like to congratulate both Hannah and Jamie on their appointments and wish them every success in carrying out their duties next year.

Well done both and we are sure you will do the village proud!

April 20, 2014April 20, 2014

Battle of the Ages

Colchester Castle re-opens on 2nd May following major renovation, and to celebrate they are holding a major event between 11am – 1pm on 7th June – the Battle of the Ages. There will also be a medieval festival in Castle Park where you will be able to roam amongst historic market traders, see live archery and watch a variety of displays.

Battle of the Ages

Six teams, sponsored by local businesses, will be taking part in the ultimate Battle of the Ages to find out which era will take the castle! Roman vs Iceni, Saxon vs Norman and Cavalier vs Roundhead will go head to head racing chariots around the castle bailey. There will be 3 rounds, each with two competing teams. There will then be the final between the three conquering teams of the previous rounds.

Design a Chariot

They are also running a competition (open to schools, community groups and individuals) to design one of the chariots. Romans by schools, Saxons by community groups and the remainder by individuals. This is your chance to look back in history, learn about different eras of Colchester’s past and create a design for one of six chariots. The winning designs will be used in the race and the winner will receive a prize worth up to £500.

Find out more on their website at http://battleoftheages.co.uk/.

Medieval Festival

Previously known as the Oyster Fayre, this festival runs over the weekend of 7th – 8th June between 10am – 5pm in Lower Castle Park. As well as historic market traders and archery competitons, there wi be falconry, mummers & puppets, combat & tourney displays, music & dance, storytelling and general ‘foolery’.

Find out more on their website at http://www.oysterfayre.magix.net/public/index.html.

March 19, 2014June 25, 2021

Deanna Walker BEM & other news online

The latest Village Bulletin is now on-line and available for download/reading on-line on the Village Bulletin page. News updates not previously reported here include:

Deanna Walker BEM

A West Bergholt woman has been recognised in the New Year’s Honours awards for her services to Higher Education. Deanna Walker has been awarded the BEM (British Empire Medal) for her work at the University of Essex where she is administrator in the Registry Department. She joined the university staff 25 years ago in the Admissions Department working in several administrative roles before reaching her present position as Senior Academic Officer. Her work has included mentoring junior colleagues which, she believes, also contributed to colleagues recommending her for the award.

Deanna is modest about her achievements. She says:

The award came out of the blue. When the letter came notifying me, I couldn’t understand why I was chosen as I just do an ordinary working job.

[More… in the Bulletin]

Concert Band’s Christmas Concert raises £1,500 for St Helena Hospice

The Concert Band’s 2013 Christmas Concert was a huge success, as one audience member commented:

the most enjoyable Christmas Concert I’ve been to in many, many years.

The report continues to tell how they have raised nearly £30,000 in recent years and about their plans for 2014.

[More… in the Bulletin]

Voluntary Group & Club Updates

Well, there were quite a few including:

Friends of St Mary’s Old Church;
Hillhouse Wood;
Care Network;
Friendship Club;
Women’s Institute;
History Group;
Bergholt Heath YFC;
Workers’ Educational Association;
Gardeners;
Indoor Bowls;
First responders;
Allotments;
Badminton;
Churches; and
Orpen Players.

[More… in the Bulletin]

Last, but not least, the weather

As if we needed reminding, 2013 was pretty much the wettest we can recall – the following chart tells you just how wet West Bergholt was:

January 24, 2014

Introducing the Sultanate of Oman

The local branch of the WEA welcome all who would like to join this course in the Methodist Hall. Graham Platts, who has lived in Oman and will lead the course “An introduction to the Sultanate of Oman”, says:

The Sultanate is a rapidly progressing country in the Arabian Peninsular but still not widely known. The combination of cherished traditions and modern development provides a fascinating basis for study.

This is a shorter course than usual in the hope that it will avoid the worst of the winter weather and cost less. The classes start on Tuesday 18th February 2014 at 8.00 pm and cost £27.18 for six weeks with a coffee break thrown in. There is no need to book ahead, just turn up on the first evening without obligation, before deciding whether to enrol.

Further information is available from the WEA Secretary on 01206 240791 or e-mail [antibot mailto=”[email protected]”].

November 7, 2013August 9, 2024

New Church Road Traffic Safety Plan agreed by PC

At a special meeting of the Parish Council held on 6th November, the plan designed to help alleviate some of the traffic problems in and around New Church Road, particularly around school times, was approved.

In brief the plan is to put restrictions on parking at the junctions along New Church Road, including the end junctions where inconsiderate parking can cause dangers at any time.

Part of the plan is to raise awareness of the need to take extra care in the vicinity of a school and to achieve this the Parish Council will seek the imposition of a 20mph limit along the road. Also the part the school can play in influencing drivers’ behaviour was discussed and so it is hoped that working with the Parish Council and local residents a campaign to impact on the problem will be launched as the above measures are put into place.

The full plan is now published on this web site [New Church Road Traffic Safety Plan].

October 8, 2013

Heathlands Fireworks 2013

Fireworks 2013

The Heathlands School PTA annual fireworks display(sponsored by Hatfields Home Furnishers) is taking place on Saturday 9th November. With advance purchase of programmes at just £3.50 this is great value (available from Heathlands Primary School, local businesses & other schools in Colchester). Entry at the gate will cost £5 for adults and £4 for children.

With the gates opening at 5:30 there will be plenty to keep you occupied before the display:

bonfire lit at 6pm;
barbecue;
hot drinks;
real ale;
live band;
mulled wine;
glow sticks;
sweets.

To find out more visit www.heathlandsblog.co.uk or email [antibot mailto=”[email protected]”].

Heathlands School PTA is a registered charity (10377284).