A Busy End to the Spring Term

As the term ended we said 'goodbye' to Mrs. Carlisle, our Special Needs support teacher for many years. She was presented with a small tree and other gifts. We shall miss her regular visits but she has promised to make visits from time to time and perhaps bring the staff one of her delicious cakes!

After a long involvement with the life of the school Mrs. Hales (lately our Cleaner-in-Charge) took a well-deserved retirement and her husband, our own 'Mr. Fix-it', hung up his hammer. Together they will be able to spend time in their caravan and around the house and garden. We wish them a very relaxed and contented future.

There were visits and visitors for groups and classes during the term: you can read all about these in our Newsletter (see above). Many of these events supported the classes' thematic work and were made possible by the assistance of the Friends of Barkway School (FOBS) or donations from other sources. We would like once again to thank all those who support us in any way and hope that the Summer term's events will be at least as successful!

 

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Fair Play Holiday Club

The Royston Area Partnership would like to let you know of the Fair Play Holiday Club which runs in the town. Details are available from their website http://www.fairplaychildrensclub.co.uk/index.php?page=5

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OfSTED Report: May, 2009

We received a visit from an OfSTED Inspection team in May this year. Following their scrutiny the Inspectors commented that 'Barkway is a good school. Some elements of its work are outstanding.' Among their further judgements were:

'pupils achieve and behave well. They reach above average standards in reading, writing and mathematics'; 'Pupils and their families appreciate the extensive enrichment available through a wide range of clubs...An extensive programme of special events is also offered';'pupils...are exceptionally keen to adopt healthy lifestyles, enthusiastically participating in daily exercise routines as well as the several sports opportunities that are provided'; 'they have an exceptionally strong understanding of healthy eating'; 'they are well prepared for the future'; 'The school is extremely successful in promoting quality and eliminating discrimination'; 'pupils have a remarkable sense of belonging to a broad community'.

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A Little Bit of History

 

Up to about 1914, prizes were awarded to the children who achieved the best attendance in each class at Barkway School. Most of the awards were for 10d - worth about £5 in today's money. The prizes came from what was known as Crawley's Charity - inevitably, the children called the winners, Creepy Crawleys! The scheme was set up from charity established in 1559 by Thomas Crawley of Elmdon in Essex. He had left money for the endowment of a Grammar School in Elmdon which would serve his own village and those in the surrounding area.
The scheme came to nothing and in 1889, it was decided that special prizes would be allotted to the the pupils from Elmdon and Wenden whilst the remainder would be divided amongst the schools who would have benefited locally. Both Barley and Barkway were included.
At Barley, the prizes were given to children who were nominated by their classmates whilst at Barkway the teachers and managers decided that the awards should be made for good attendance. Four categories were agreed: Children coming from 1) Barkway, 2) Reed, 3) Nuthampstead and 4) Newsells.
It was felt that this was the fairest way of distribution of the money as the children from Nuthampstead, Reed and, occasionally, Newsells were unable to attend because of the poor state of the roads and footpaths and, of course, the inclement weather. In fact, those from Upper Green, Nuthampstead and parts of Reed, lived beyond the two mile limit and could not be forced to attend school. The managers felt that the award might encourage these 'outlanders'.
Their confidence was justified as many of the winners came from Morrice Green at Nuthampstead and the Fellowship Farm (now Goodfellow's Farm) area of Reed.
The awards continued until 1914 when, like so many other traditions, they were swept away by the tide of war.

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Clubs for the Summer Term 2010

We hope to run the following clubs for the new term:

Gardening, Handbells, Get Active, Engineers/Mathematicians, Football, French, Creative, Origami.

We are exploring the possibility of running Mad Science Club again and there may be other additions to this list.

 

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News of past pupils

Last year we had news of the summer examination results of several ex-pupils, whether at GCSE and 'A' Level or from further education, and would like to send them congratulations for their achievements. If they are free to visit us at any time (between courses, maybe, or in a 'gap' year) we would love to see them!

 

 

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