January 2023

15 Buckden Roundabout January 2023 Pre - School & School While Christmas will be over by the time you read this, at the time of writing, Preschool is very much in festive mode! Snow- flakes are being crafted, reindeer food is being made, and Christmas books are being voted on for story time. Christmas Jumper Day is upon us, and we have a Christmas visit to St. Mary ’ s next week. It ’ s all very exciting! Thank you to everyone who donated prizes or bought tickets for our raffle at the Christmas Lights Festival. We raised over £400, which we will put to good use in the coming months. Some of the money will be spent purchasing Legionnaires hats for sun protection in the summer and all - in - one waterproofs to encourage all weather learning and adventures. Our visit from the Cambridgeshire Firefighters was a huge suc- cess, and we ’ re very grateful for their time. The children learnt about fire safety at home and the kit firefighters use. They loved being able to explore the fire engine and try out the wa- ter hoses! The crew included female firefighters, which was a good reminder that girls—just like boys—can be anything they want to be. We are looking forward to a visit from police offic- ers in the new year. As we look ahead to the New Year, we are looking forward to welcoming new starters and a new member of staff, Miss Caro line. However, we ’ re also saying a very sad goodbye to Miss Jasmine. She has done so much for Preschool and will be great- ly missed. We wish her all the very best for the future. All we want for Christmas is … new committee members! Although some new volunteers have come forward for the committee, we often regularly lose members as children go on to big school or move house etc. As a committee - run preschool and charity, we need a certain number of parent members and total members on our committee to remain open. You can give as little or as much time as you wish, and you won ’ t be asked to take on any tasks or responsibilities that you don ’ t want! We are a friendly group, so if you have even just an odd hour or two to spare now and then, please contact Hel- en, our chairperson, or Debby, our treasurer, at buckdenpre- schoolcommittee@gmail.com. Happy New Year! To arrange a visit or apply for a place, please call 01480 810600 or email us at buckdenpreschool@yahoo.co.uk . For more in- formation, visit www.buckdenpreschool.co.uk or read our updates on https://www.facebook.com/ www.buckdenpreschool.co.uk/ BUCKDEN CHURCH OF ENG- LAND PRIMARY ACADEMY December 2022 After the previous couple of years, it has felt that our run - up to Christmas has been very busy with a wide range of activities and events at school. We have put up our Christmas decorations and are looking forward to all the forthcoming Christmas activ- ities we have planned for the children. We have been very busy with several performances, during December our Reception children performed their play ‘ Wiggly Nativity ’ to the school, family and friends. This was their first performance at Buckden Academy and was beautifully acted and sung. The children in Years 2 and 4 also performed their production of ‘ The Wind in the Willows ’ at the end of Novem- ber. Another very accomplished performance was given by the children. Well done to all our budding actors and actress- es and to the staff who turned their hand to directing, produc- ing, costume making and prompters. Our key stage 2 children ’ s choir have been busy performing to the local community, the children gave a beautiful perfor- mance of Christmas carols at St Mary ’ s Church at the village Christmas lights switch on. The choir have also visited the resi- dents of Hardwick Dene who were treated to an afternoon of Christmas songs. We are looking forward our annual Key Stage 2 Christmas Carol Concert at St Marys Church and will be attended by many parents and friends of the school, delicious mulled wine and mince pies will be served after the service. This is always a festive occasion and this year will hopefully be no exception. Our PTA have been very busy this term and we would like to thank them for all their hard work and fundraising activites. At the Christmas Lights Switch - On they organised the raffle which was very successful, they managed to raise a fabulous £3000. A big thank to everyone who donated items and bought tick- ets, we hope the winners enjoyed their prize hampers. The PTA will generously be purchasing two mobile cooking units that can be wheeled into the classrooms to allow us to have more cooking in our curriculum. We had a very busy and successful PTA Christmas Fair on the 19th November, there was a large array of stalls and it was an excellent excuse to get some early Christmas shopping done. We raised an amazing £1200 to improve our outdoor pond area. If you have any expertise regarding renovating a wildlife pond or easy care landscaping and would like to be involved in a working party in the New Year or would like to just offer your help, please contact the PTA on buckdenpta@gmail.com. Once again the PTA arranged for our children to draw a festive picture which was then uploaded to a website called ‘ My Childs Art ’. Parents were able to order personalised Christmas cards and gifts from their child ’ s art work. The children en- joyed drawing and colouring and produced some fabulous art- work, we hope the recipients of their personalised cards and gifts enjoyed them too. (Continued on page 16)