Some of the children from Garden Club entered a competition to design and build a container from recycled materials and plant it with a multitude of sensory plants. Our entry was accepted and then taken and displayed at this year's Chatsworth Show.  Some of the children then went to the show and had a great day out in the spectacular setting of Chatsworth House grounds.

After a very early start they arrived at the show and checked out their own entry first and then looked at all the other schools.  All the entries were excellent; the children from different schools had come up with fantastic ideas to use items for containers which would otherwise have been thrown away. Our container was made up of a couple of old chairs and a stool, an old garden trug, an old Henry hoover pipe, an old scooter tyre and an old umbrella! The planting was almost all grown from seed by the children at school and we planted up as many smelly, tasty, rustly, touchy/feely and good to look at plants as we could cram in! People visiting the show will be able to vote for their favourite by posting a photo on twitter so if you able to visit the show, please vote for us! Many, many thanks to Mr Hardcastle who helped the children construct the container and also drove it down to Chatsworth for us.

The day also included lots of activities including making tree crowns with acclaimed florist Jonathan Moseley, making wooden pendants and a garden dibber using a foot-powered lathe, looking at the beautiful gardens and flower displays and a little bit of retail therapy in the floral marquee!  Ice creams and churros also featured in our itinerary! The children were lucky enough to meet and chat with Gardener's World presenter and renowned garden designer Adam Frost! All in all the children had a wonderful day and were impeccably behaved and it was a pleasure to take them around the show.

Today saw the announcement of the winners of the first ever Farsley Springbank Writing Competition. The children were set the challenge of producing a piece of writing of their choice before half-term and we have received some fantastic entries. From stories to poems to newspaper articles there was a whole host of genres of writing that were an absolute joy to read. Such was the standard we decided to call upon our patron of reading and writing, author Hilary Robinson, to make the decision for us. Hilary took the writing over the weekend and spent time going through the entries before finally settling on a winner in each age group. We announced those winners in assembly today where there were presentations for both the age-group winners as well as certificates for highly commended pieces of writing. It was thoroughly exciting and the beginning of what we hope will become an annual event.

The winners of the competition were as follows:

Category 1 - Years 1 and 2:

Winner - Morris McCann.

The Mystery by Morris McCann

 

Hilary's Notes:

'The narrative was skilfully and imaginatively woven and careful thought had been given to the plot, the element of suspense and the denouement. Direct speech was expertly entwined and readers develop a real sense of place.  Well done!'

Highly Commended - Charlie Love, Emily Lower, Harry Ward.

Category 2 - Years 3 and 4:

Winner - Hannah Targett.

The Congo by Hannah Targett

 

Hilary's Notes:

'A well structured and considered response to the implications involved in undertaking a major change in life.  Writing about emotional situations in our lives can help to process our thoughts (therapeutic) and, in this case, prepare us for change. The Congo exemplified this perfectly in that it broke down the essential elements involved in preparing, adjusting and adapting to a new, but ultimately, exciting new way of living!'

Highly Commended - Nathan Dutton, Sophie Greenbank.

Category 3 - Years 5 and 6:

Winner - Zak Fairclough.

The Eruption of Mount Merap! by Zak Fairclough

 

Hilary's Notes:

Interesting approach to writing in that this observational account could have been adapted to fit several formats -  a story, a report/feature or even a letter home.  Imaginative use of vocabulary, a sense of wonder, awe, tension and fear was well communicated through tone and structure.  A great illustrations of how geography and science can be expertly woven into exciting, fictional narrative.  It is also a beautifully presented piece of work.'

Highly Commended - Esther Umoru, Miriam Molokwu,

Gretel Price, Ria Clarke.

If you wish to read any of the entries then please go to the 'Class Pages' section of the website where you will find the 'Springbank Writing Competition 2019 folder' - this also contains all of the photos from the event.

Today we have worn red in school in support of the Children’s Heart Surgery Fund who support children and adults born with congenital heart disease across Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire. They work with Heart unit at the LGI.  We have raised £369.30 which will be sent to the appeal. Thank you to everyone who donated.