Great & Little Eversden Parish Meeting Reports 2021

REPORTS RECEIVED FOR 2021 GREAT & LITTLE EVERSDEN PARISH MEETINGS

RECREATION GROUND REPORT
Derek Blatch
Chairman of the Eversdens Area Recreation Ground Committee
When l wrote last year’s report we knew very little about Coronavirus and how it was about to change our lives over the next 15 months and in some cases forever. March 23rd 2020 was the start of the first lockdown, resulting in no sport being played and our playground being closed for fear of the virus spreading.
We had a Plant Sale organized in the pavilion on the 13th April 2020 to raise much needed funds. We had a lot of vegetable and flowers in pots ready for the sale. We couldn’t let these go to waste so as a committee we decided to advertise them for sale. Heather Huddlestone started the ball rolling by dropping orders off in her car, this progressed to us having a stall on Harlton Road.
By January 2021 we raised more than we ever thought possible when we reached £1000 towards the recreation ground funds. A big thank you to everyone in the village and beyond for donating plants, fruit and vegetables and for the people that have purchased items from us, without your support we would never have raised that amount of money.
In-between the second and third lockdown we had a “Winter Warmer” fundraiser on the recreation ground, adhering to social distancing and our Covid risk assessment. This was a great success, not just in money raised but in being able to have a chat will other people from the village, which Covid had put a stop too.
From the period from May 2020 until Christmas sport was allowed to be played, this meant that both Cam Spice and Camden managed to get some games of cricket in, mainly thanks to Peter Mallows for agreeing to prepare the wicket, and also the three Comberton football sides U11, U12 and U17 also managed to get a number of games played in the period up to Christmas before another lockdown was introduced.
After 19 months with the planners we eventually had a decision issued on the 9th October 2020 for the approval of the demolition of the existing pavilion and the construction of a new modern pavilion. Once the Covid restrictions are lifted we will be looking to move forward and get the new build started.
We have placed the order for the new inclusive roundabout and hope to take delivery in the next few weeks and will be installed shortly after.
We are also obtaining quotations for the refurbishment of the six to twelve year old play area, with all the equipment being repainted and a new safety surface, this will match area’s proposed around the new pavilion.
We would like to thank Paul Tebbit for cutting our road side hedge with his tractor and lastly a thank you to the committee for their hard work and support in these difficult times.
Stay safe.

Village Hall Report
Tom Smith, Chair
This year has been……shall we say interesting.
On the negative we have been unable to open and function as the village hall that the village needs.
On the positive we have acquired a £10000 grant. This will go into repair works and upgrades of the building. We have been able to invest time and energy into working on and improving the car park, this not only allows more room for parking but is far more aesthetically pleasing. We have invested in signage and with the help of local councils sanitiser stations. Despite the disappointment of having to close our doors we have used the time to plan and improve the village hall.
One thing that has become frightfully clear that we can not continue without more volunteers and support for the village residents.

Thank you for your continued support.

Meridian Primary School
Carole Etchie, Headteacher

All at Meridian send our warmest greetings.
Our school priorities this 2020 – 2021 academic year are:

• To encourage play, team games and cross curricular learning outdoors
• To build on our provision to support children’s mental health, staff well-being and to manage the school environment to minimise health and safety risks of COVID-19
• To improve our computing technology to support the computing curriculum and other curriculum links
• To track the skills and progression for a range of subjects to support greater challenge, engagement and continuity of curriculum learning across year groups
• To re-build confidence in children’s writing, so children can write for a sustained length
At the time of writing we have 201 children on roll. We are always planning ahead for the numbers and forecasts for the school. This academic year, we moved to eight classes with three Y4/Y5 classes. The team teaching has worked well and the staff have enjoyed the collaboration.
The 2020-2021 academic year started well and we were so happy for all our children to return onsite to school. The children settled quickly with positive attitudes and new routines embedded.
Despite the restrictions in place, the teachers and support staff worked hard to organise exciting projects to offer learning in fun and exciting ways.
Some events and highlights are included here:

Early in the Autumn term, Year 6 organised a non-uniform day for the Lisa Kent Memorial Trust and raised £209 to support two children and their education in The Gambia.

The three Y4/Y5 classes enjoyed an outdoor adventurous activity day and also an Ancient Greek learning day when they came dressed up in costume.

Children from Years 3 and 4 participated in the Bikeability scheme in September. The scheme works to enable more children and young people to cycle safely and develop a lifelong love of cycling.

Families donated generously to ‘Jimmy’s Harvest Appeal’ in October, collecting mainly dried goods which went to Jimmy’s Night Shelter operating in the centre of Cambridge. The children had further time to reflect on the necessity of giving and helping others at our special whole school zoom assembly which was supported by Rev David Newton.

In November, the children came to school in a spotty or stripy item of clothing for Children in Need’s Special 40th year and raised £211.01.

This year, we held our Act of Remembrance in school and we released a video including our choir, poems and a special reading to mark the occasion which all members of the community were able to access via a link on our website.

For Christmas, we recorded a CD which was made available for purchase. Each class had an individual song and in addition we had a whole school song which was recorded by each class separately and then cleverly put together. We also held a competition amongst the children to design the artwork for the CD.

Burwash Manor kindly gave us a beautiful Christmas tree. This was donated to us in return for a donation to the Sick Children’s Trust, which we were very happy to support.

Many children enjoyed attending our netball club during the autumn term.

In January, the school closed following the guidelines about on site provision laid out by the government. We were open to the children of critical workers and provided a remote education for the rest of our children. We have aimed to provide high quality education within a practical and sustainable structure and I thank the staff for their incredible hard work in conducting face to face and live teaching sessions for all our learners.
Despite most of our pupils being at home, we still celebrated Children’s Mental Health Week in February and World Book Day in March.
We took our annual talent show for children online to showcase their talents through pre-recorded items. We so enjoyed seeing all our entries and the creative ways they have entertained the school community.
We were so pleased to welcome all our children back onsite on Monday 8th March. At the time of writing, I am happy to report that everyone is settling in well and we have good attendance.
Assessment
SATS were not taken in 2020 and will no longer go ahead in 2021. In 2019, we were particularly pleased with our end of year outcomes. At the age appropriate expectations, we were above both Cambridge and the national results in EYFS, Y1, Y2 and Y6. We continue to aim high each year and we have put in additional measures to support achievement during this time.

Sports
We were excited to receive our Gold Sports’ Mark for 2019-2020 (after 2018-2019: two consecutive academic years) which recognises our commitment to and development of competition, school sport, physical education and physical activity alongside mental well-being. We continue to develop our sports provision within the school, so that all children can find an interest in a particular sport.
Music
Our school choir continues to go from strength to strength, and meetings have been virtual.
iPads
Thanks to our PTA who organised a walk/run/cycle lockdown challenge in the summer of 2020 which many children participated in, we were able to purchase new iPads for the school.
Infant playground
This year, we are in need of much fundraising to redevelop our infant play area. The PTA will once again be setting another sponsorship challenge for the school community.
Going forward
Together as a school and governing body, we still remain motivated and ambitious to develop the school even further.
Some areas we are still keen to address and develop over a number of years:
 Continuing to raise the profile of technology and updating our old computers, promoting IT for the digital future of our generation
 Re-vamping our infant playground to support imaginative and healthy collaborative play
We are all extremely proud of our school and the continuous support from our communities.
Thank you, as always, for your support.

Carole Etchie
Headteacher of Meridian Primary School
Allotments
Diarmuid Coyle Chairman

Annual Report 2020-2021
In a year when a lot of activities were restricted the allotments were fortunately classed as recreational which gave people a local outlet for exercise and pleasure. With eight of ten plots rented we had a very successful year. The allotment year now starts on 1st March to allow people to get started early. We are looking forward to another very good year.