Meridian Index

Primary School

Swavesey Primary School

Could parents of our Breakfast Club pupils please avoid blocking staff parking spaces in the morning? Thank you. 

Kids Club News

We have a new After School Club Deputy Leader starting in January. Jake Sweet, who many of you know from OWLS, joins the team. We will aim to organise some regular sports / play activities once Jake is in post.

There are spaces available in both Breakfast Club and the After School Club. If interested, please as Jemma in the playground or phone 07710 710291 (After School Club) or 0780 1156181 (Breakfast Club).

If you are having a clear-out after Christmas, we'd be very grateful for any unwanted games and toys. Please contact Jemma if you've anything to give us.

Helen Sargan (Chairperson)

Notice Board

Can any parent help us to set up an aquarium? We wish to replace the old one in our entrance hall. Offers of help to Mr. Dodge.

Anyone interested in being a relief crossing patrol for afternoon sessions please contact the office.

A case of headlice was reported this week. Please check your children's hair.

We are also very much trying to interest local businesses to help us raise the final total needed to fund our library / music room. We nearly have enough to avoid drawing on Formula Capital funding from future years. Suggestions of any firms to approach would be helpful. Please contact either Lynsey Newbery, Jackie Black or myself if you have ideas.

We also wish to invite people to donate a brick towards the library / music room.For a minimum donation of £5.00 you can buy a brick. Names of donors will go in a special record book to be kept in the library. Foundation stone donations (£100 minimum) will be recorded on a special poster to go on display in the new room. A separate letter gives full details of this appeal next week.

Junior Topics and Events for the Term
Our Y5 and Y6 pupils study Ancient and Modem Greece this term. They will study different aspects of everyday life, with some other work on myths & legends, Greek Gods, city states and the influence of Greek ideas on society today.

Science work looks at properties of materials. Pupils will investigate if they are soluble or insoluble and separating mixtures. They will also consider how materials change when exposed to heat and water.

In Y3 and Y4 the topic is The Environment. We will look closely at change within the environment-and how humans can influence it in adverse and positive ways. We will cover re-cycling issues and changes in land use. We will be organising a visit in connection with our topic ... details to follow. In science we also look at materials and their characteristics, and how and why we use them. This will be followed later by some work on rocks and soils.

Lower School
This term all the children in the four lower school classes will be learning about Houses and Homes.

Before half-term we will mostly focusing on what houses and homes were like in the past. In the second half of term we will concentrate on how houses differ around the world.

As part of this topic, children in Years 1 and 2 will be designing and making a shoebox room. So, if you have any spare shoeboxes that you can donate to us, they will be most gratefully received!

In science Year 1 and 2 children will begin by identifying and classifying different materials. Later on this term we will look at electricity and how to create a simple working circuit using a battery.

If you have some spare time we would love to have further volunteers to help in each classroom e.g. to hear readers and help with art / craft activities this term.

Business Links
We wish to make our new library / music room a superb facility we can all be proud of. To help fund this important project we are writing to local businesses, inviting them to make a donation towards the building.

If YOU can think of any firm or business who would possibly contribute, please let us know THIS MONTH. Many of you must have links with companies, locally or further afield, willing to support schools on a priority project of this kind. Any suggestions, with business contact details, are welcome in envelopes marked 'Potential Sponsor1 to the office ASAP. Alternatively, we can provide letters for you to pass on personally. This method may prove much more productive, if there is a direct link into a business.   Thank you.

Good Health!
In line with many Cambridgeshire schools, we are about to participate in the county's Health Promoting Schools Initiative programme.

This project examines all aspects of a school's environment, policy & practice to ensure the healthy development of pupils and staff. We will consult children and parents before we identify health related themes to work on. We will then draw up action plans to develop two or three key areas.

The programme links closely to our work in Personal Social Health & Citizenship education.

Swavesey Village College

Swavesey Village College restores 'faith in the youth of today.'
Since the last issue, Swavesey has organised a number of very high profile and successful events either for or with different members of our local and wider community. As always with such events, visitors or members of the community have been impressed by the enthusiasm and commitment of Swavesey students to learning and helping others. The highlights have included :

Healthcare Science Day. Thirty scientists from Addenbrooke's Hospital led small group sessions on a wide range of different disciplines within the Health Service. Around 700 of our students had the opportunity to get a taste of the diverse applications of science on offer. It was a fantastic day for all concerned. Mary Archer, the Chair of Addenbrooke's Trust, was very complimentary about the attitude and interest shown by our students and the commitment of the staff to making it happen. The Trust was so impressed with our students that they have offered to put on a similar event each year.  The organiser remarked that : 'The behaviour and level of attention of the students is to be applauded and has certainly restored the faith in the youth of today.'

StarChaser Rocket Locals may have noticed a massive rocket in our car park back in December. The College organised a visit by StarChaser team from Manchester who design, build and test their series of rockets. Following a excellent multimedia presentation about the rocket, students were shown round the rocket. StarChaser is the largest rocket ever launched from the UK mainland and is able to reach 30 miles above the earth.

'Insight into Industry' Teams of year 9 students competed in different challenges ranging from purifying water to designing and marketing a new training shoe. There were also teams acting as journalists picking up Press Releases via video conferencing between different rooms and producing various news reports. Domino Printing Sciences, Addenbrookes Hospital, Nokia, ARM, Anglian Water and Cambridge Evening News were among the companies leading and supporting the different challenges  

Christmas Concert. This was a real showcase for the breadth of musical talent and excellence that is both present and developing within the school. The students were impeccably behaved and showed real maturity in their attitude as both performers and members of the audience.

Christmas hampers. Year 7 students, together with members of the choir, visited Thistle Green Sheltered Housing in Swavesey to deliver Christmas Hampers and sing carols. Each tutor group had put in a huge effort to organise this and the resulting hampers were quite amazing.

Charities' Morning. The last day of the Autumn term was our charities morning, with well over 50 different stalls, activities, raffles taking place alongside the normal non-uniform and fancy dress ideas. Over £5,200 (including 10% of the Sponsored Walk money)  has therefore been raised by students for the different charities selected by the year groups : (in ascending year order) Addenbrooke's Children's Ward, World Vision, Teenage Cancer Trust, 'Send a Cow' and Children In Need.

The students at the College have much to be proud of. They always rise to the academic, extra-curricular and charitable opportunities that are offered to them and this, in turn, gives the College, and the community it serves, much to be proud of.

The College is also developing its national recognition; Steve Howard of SVC, together with Andy Sandham of Ionix Pharmaceuticals, have been invited to speak at the forthcoming National Science Conference about the exciting and successful links that are being developed with local science and business community.

Look on our website for details about forthcoming College events - these include the Spring Concert on the 16th of March at the College to which you are all most welcome.