August/September 2007

Allsorts Pre-School

This term’s theme was “Around the World” looking at different countries, animals and customs. The children sampled foods from various countries (croissants being a favourite) and also made their own flags. We had a very successful, informative and enjoyable visit to Sherwood Farm in Mackney - a highlight of our “England week”. Many thanks goes to Patricia Dart and Mark Oldroyd for organising a great day out and to all the parent helpers who made the visit possible. The children, who were transported around the farm on a tractor trailer, had an opportunity to see cows, very young calves and to take a turn behind the wheel of a (stationary) tractor. Many of our children are due to start school in September. As part of the preparation for this change they have enjoyed trial days at the village school and some have eaten their lunch at school on a special pre-school table. This is a vital part of our role in making the transition as easy as possible for them - thank you to Brightwell School for their cooperation.

Over the Summer holidays, staff and committee members will continue to prepare for the new arrivals and work on registrations, accreditation, curriculum planning … just a few things on our long “ To Do List”. You do not have to have a child at the pre-school to be involved. If anyone is able to assist in the following areas please do contact us at Allsorts.

• Volunteer - to check end of year accounts in September
• Volunteer - to act as our handyperson (our new building needs the odd bit of DIY occasionally)
• Volunteers - to get involved in fundraising and help on the committee. Whether you’ve got one hour a week or one hour a month to spare, we could really do with your help….the more people involved, the less the workload on the few ! Please contact Tania Bevis on 832489 if you feel you can become involved in some way.

Sadly we must say farewell to our Supervisor, Hilary Smith at the end of this term. Hilary will be moving to a job that will allow her to work on a one to one basis with a child requiring specialist support and will make great use of her experience and expertise in this field. Over the past 3 years she has worked incredibly hard to help transform Allsorts into the thriving pre-school we see today. Along with the other staff she has played a pivotal role in getting the professional accreditation that we have so far achieved. We all thank her and wish her the very best in her new role.

Natasha Fuller

Brightwell School - 2020 Vision

It’s scary. 1988 saw a watershed in Primary School education with the introduction of the National Curriculum. Teaching through topics and the integrated day were condemned. The curriculum cake, divided into subjects, would provide rigour and ensure progression in learning. The icing on this cake was the belief that this approach would raise standards. Well it did, up to a point. Some 10 years later, when the steady increase in the number of eleven year olds reaching their expected levels slowed significantly in Literacy and Mathematics, national strategies for these subjects were launched. Recently, when the impetus weakened, these initiatives underwent a thorough revision resulting in new frameworks for both subjects. Schools are expected to begin using these from September. The scary bit? The Department for Education and Skills announced yesterday that they will undertake a fundamental review of the teaching of mathematics in primary schools!

This is an extended introduction to my title, but it is pertinent. I recently shared with staff and governors a seminal document on education entitled New Horizons - 2020 Vision. It’s a very clever title, implying a sight far enough into the future and with sufficient clarity that will enable us to prepare the children of today for the world of tomorrow. Yes- the children who began school in 2006 will enter higher education or the world of work in 2020!

They will inherit a world that is more socially and ethnically diverse, has greater access to and reliance on technology, with an economy evermore reliant on a well educated and multi-skilled workforce, with complex pathways through education and training, and with a sharper focus on sustainability.

Three of four major strands for realising the new educational vision relate specifically to curriculum matters: (1) higher quality teaching- consistent and within a rich curriculum, (2) pupils’ voice- giving ownership and involving children in curriculum development, (3) parents’ voice- engaging parents across pastoral and curriculum areas. The key words here are consistency, ownership, involving and engaging. That is, schools working with and within their communities to shape a curriculum that is rich, broad and balanced, that meets the needs of all children and the aspirations of parents. It is a vision I share and care about deeply. It sets us on a path along which we are about to take our first steps. Despite the inevitable twists and turns, potholes and dead ends we will encounter along the way, it is one we will travel confidently if it remains fixed beneath our feet. If, as the opening above suggests, it continually shifts below us, we may be in for a rough ride.

We held our School Summer Fair recently and despite the poor weather the Friends of Brightwell School had their hard work rewarded, raising a great deal of money for the school. And, as our Year 6 children prepare to leave us and move on to their respective secondary schools. I want take this opportunity to wish them all the very best for the future.

Finally, we are launching a ‘Walking Bus’ for the children who come to school by car (from High Road, through Kings Orchard to school each morning at 8.30 a.m. If you have the time and would like to support this initiative by accompanying the children, please contact the school office on 837024.

Roger Grant

Environment Group

The weather continues to surprise and amaze. This time last year we were in the grip of a serious drought. Ditches were dry and the allotments parched. Now the depressions are rolling in bringing rain in abundance, lots of cloud and lower than normal temperatures. Is it really summer? For May and June, Angus Dart recorded a total nearly five times the average rainfall. On 19 and 20 July he and Rosemary Greasby measured more than a month’s rainfall in 48 hours (62.9 mm in Mackney and 56.3 mm at Highlands Farm).

John Rodda

Flower and Produce Show 2007

Gardening boots (two), the innards of a toilet cistern and a loo roll (sealed with a Pooh Bear sticker). These were among the unusual flower arranging containers conjured up by the fertile imaginations of entrants to this year’s show.

While the rest of the classes were judged by outside professionals, this was the one chance for show-goers to turn judges. In the end, the prize went to Helen Sheard, who put her flowers in an egg carton, complete with eggs and straw. Helen’s entry won 41 votes out of a total of 125 cast by secret ballot by show visitors throughout the afternoon.

This was the first year of the show without Gilbert Talbot, but he was by no means forgotten. Steve Moll kindly manned the customary hospitality table for judges, and there were two trophies by which to remember Gilbert. New this year was the Gilbert Talbot Rose Bowl - accompanied by a gardening voucher donated by Notcutts - which was won by Mrs Whichello. The Talbot Cup, which is awarded annually for the most points in the show, went to Rosemary Greasby. (Actually, if truth be told, Rosemary was ceremoniously handed a virtual cup due to the incompetence of the Show secretary in retrieving the real thing in time from last year’s winner!)

The Joan Sheard Cup, for the best under-16 entry in an adult class, went to 7-year old Martha Glendinning for her picture of radishes in the “I grew it” photography section. Camilla Butterfield won the Junior trophy for 9-12-year olds, and Amelia Butterfield won the trophy for 5-8 year olds. The Swan Allotments Cup went to Chris Drewitt.

Our thanks as always to our regular volunteer judges - especially this year to Mrs Gill Whitten, who formerly taught at Brightwell primary school, and looked after the children’s section in the absence of Pat Owen.

Sally Dugan

Parish Council

Hedges
There are a number of areas in the Village where overgrown hedges and vegetation are causing problems on roads and footpaths. The Parish Council is endeavouring to make sure the County Council deal with those that are the responsibility of the Highway Authority. The Parish Council would be grateful if any property owner with road or footpath abutting their boundary could ensure that it is properly maintained.

Shop and Post Office
A separate report to every household has been delivered with this copy of The Villager.

Dog Bins
The Parish Council agreed to the purchase of four dog bins and to seek approval from SODC to place them on the Croft Path, Recreation Ground, King’s Meadow Area and Greenmere. Weekly emptying arrangements are being made with SODC. It is hoped that all dog owners will use this facility to help to alleviate the problem of dogs fouling the footpaths.

Mobile Skate Park
Thanks go to Caroline Walters and the parents who helped assemble and dismantle the Mobile Skate Park when it was placed on the School Playground recently. Another session is planned for the Autumn.

Police Community Support Officer (PCS0)
Samantha Greenough joined the July meeting to inform the Parish Council of her role in the Neighbourhood Policing (NHP) structure in South Oxfordshire. The aim for the NHP is to increase public confidence, promote public safety and reduce crime and disorder. This is to be achieved by working in partnership with other agencies, through Neighbourhood Action Groups and engagement with the community. The PCSO role is to work and be visible within the community. At the moment there are 18 PCSO in South Oxfordshire, this will increase to a total of 32.

Celia Collett

Non-fiction Reading Group

Last year a small non-fiction reading group was established in the village - with the help of ‘The Villager’. The group meets every three months to discuss a work of non-fiction -in science, sociology, history, politics, or the arts. The touchstone for the choice of book is a strong contemporary relevance - a book about issues in which everyone has a stake and about which everyone can have an opinion. Although the intention is to keep the group small, we would welcome one or two more members (we are currently six). To give a better idea of the group, it might be helpful to mention the three books we have already discussed. They are:

Happiness - by Richard Layard The economist Richard Layard argues that the overall happiness of society can now be estimated by direct measurement and that such estimates provide a better guide to progress and policy than the currently dominant proxy measures of GNP and economic growth. Layard also examines what is known about what makes people happier and suggests how progress might be made a) by individuals and b) by government and public policy.

Hegemony or Survival - by Naom Chomsky A review of US foreign policy over the last fifty years - by the man often described as America’s foremost public intellectual. Chomsky argues that the political-military-industrial establishment in the United States has consistently pursued a strategy of global domination without regard to its own professed ideals and constitution (i.e. an opposite point of view from the one taken in Niall Ferguson’s recent work, Colossus, which defends America’s role in the wider world).

What Good are The Arts? - by John Carey John Carey, Professor of English Literature at Merton College, Oxford, questions many of the prevailing assumptions about the place of the arts in society and argues that our current concept of 'high culture' has less to do with the innate superiority of opera over soap-opera and more to do with the attempt of a self-appointed cultural elite to demonstrate its superior taste and status.

The next two books to be discussed will be The Human Story by the evolutionary psychologist Robin Dunbar and either The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins or The End of Faith by Sam Harris.

If there is anyone who would like to discuss joining the group, please telephone on 838431 or email adamsons@nrds.freeserve.co.uk

Peter Adamson

Parish Church: “Faith without works is dead!”

As I write this ,members of St Agatha and St James are gathering their strength to serve the teas at the village Fete, having spent the afternoon of 1st July serving teas to those who undertook the St Birinus pilgrimage. In fact we’re quite experienced in dispensing drinks and cake, we do it every week at the community coffee morning held in St Agatha’s on Wednesdays, we also serve a great harvest supper!

But providing refreshments is not the only thing we do. Most of our members are actively involved in a variety of other activities, they look after neighbours, drive for the volunteer service and the local surgery car service and support the many village organisations and charities as well as, in many cases, working and bringing up families. That’s as it should be, being a Christian requires more that just going to church on Sunday’s and saying daily prayers, though these are very important for our spiritual well-being. We are required to try and live our lives as Jesus lived his, and that includes helping people as well as being prayerful.

The apostle James, in the letter he wrote to members of the early Christian church reminded them that piety alone was not much good. As he so aptly put it (James 2:15-16) “If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill’, and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that?” So we pray for people we know, for our community and the wider world, but we are also very much hands on too.

Janice Chilton

Village Hall

AGM 6 July 2007
The Chairman reported that it had been another successful year in most respects. The hall has been well used - thanks to those who use it regularly for looking after it so well. The refurbishment of the Ladies’ loo has been completed and refurbishment of the Gents’ will be given further consideration. Outside work this year has included the removal of the walnut tree and the removal of the overhanging branches of the willow tree. SODC has been contacted re the elimination of the roots of the willow tree which threaten the foundations at the rear of the building, and we await their reply. Also voluntary work has started on the repair and painting of the outside of the building. The Post Office seems to have made a successful transfer to the Village Hall from the Red Lion for two mornings a week. The allotments remain popular- many thanks to Dave and Cynthia for their involvement and many thanks to the rest of the committee for their contributions, without which our finances would not be as good. Thanks to the cleaner, the clock winder, Paul for the display of flowers and finally to Shena for organising the bookings so well. We welcomed Steve Moll on to the committee halfway through the year and look forward to his future involvement.

The committee now consists of the following:

Chairman: Michael Maughan; Treasurer: Ken Templeton; Secretary: Gill Dexter.

Committee members :Derek Brooker, Sue Collett, David Greasby, Dave and Cynthia Hurley, Martin Lovering, Steve Moll, Tony Stapleton.

Michael Maughan