News from Carfield Primary School Autumn Term 2011

Despite the school being closed for the holiday, it’s been a really busy summer at Carfield. With the beginning of a new term, we have welcomed many children and families new to our school, the local community and to Sheffield. We have also welcomed three new members of staff, following retirements in July.

School Face Lift
The school is part of the Meersbrook Growth Proposals which has increased the numbers of children that can potentially attend our school. The major building work that has been going ahead since January is finally complete and the school has been given a significant face lift. Everyone is very impressed at the finished result and the working environment is much improved. The work has also included a revamp of the dining rooms and we now have two cooking kitchens on site. With a population of over 560 children, it has been a feat of organisation and everyone has worked really hard to keep things going in school. The school now has the potential to accommodate 700 children.

Gymnastics
It will be great to get the school back to normal, as one of our halls has been out of use and some of our clubs and activities have had to be put on hold. However, our gymnastics team are raring to go after the success they achieved last year, winning first place in Sheffield Key Steps Competition and sixth in the Nationals. Huge thanks goes to the team, Sue Tindale who is our Nursery Nurse and team coach and all the parents who always support us so enthusiastically. We look forward to welcoming new members into the team after some of our more experienced gymnasts have moved onto secondary school.

Young Shakespearians
We had a fantastic experience in the summer when one of our Y3 classes had the opportunity to work with staff from the Royal Shakespeare Company, following links with a school inNorth Yorkshire. It was an amazing day in which our children worked on ‘Macbeth’ with children from Kirk Smeaton School. We are hoping to continue our links with the RSC and keeping our fingers crossed that we may even become a host school for teaching Shakespeare! Watch this space.

Do you like reading?
If so, look out for a new book, ‘Darkridge’ by Daniel Blythe, famous as the author of the Doctor Who stories. The story has been written by children, after each region was invited to submit a chapter of the new book. A group of Y6 children from Carfield won the regional competition to write chapter 3 for theSouth Yorkshire. Daniel described the chapter as a’ fantastic piece of writing which is very strong on atmosphere’. We are really proud of their impressive achievement.

Eco Warriors
We have worked hard to improve our outdoor environment this year, despite all the disruption. Having won the ‘Climate Cops Green Fingers’ competition, we now have a number of wooden planters around school. The children enjoyed their harvest of tomatoes and strawberries, something we hope to develop further next growing season. We have recently established an Eco Action Team (I call them our Eco Warriors!), who are really keen to develop sustainability and promote green issues in school. The children were elected by their classes, following ‘hustings’ for the positions. Candidates were really enthusiastic and some produced fantastic Power Point presentations to convince their classmates they were the one for the job.  They have visited the ‘Viridor’ recycling plant with the Site Manager, drawn up an action plan and are already close to achieving their first, bronze award.

Carfield Friends
The parents group ‘Carfield Friends’ continue to work really hard to raise funds for school and develop links with the wider community. All fund raising is going towards our quest to improve our outdoor environment. Carfield Friends is an important forum for everyone to get together and develop community spirit. If you need further details or would like to be part of Carfield Friends, please contact us here at school.

Do you like to sing??
If so, why not come along to Carfield Community Choir. It’s open to everyone who enjoys singing, meeting others and having fun. It’s held in the lower hall every Monday evening from 6.30pm -7.30pm. If you are interested, please telephone school on 2557534.