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Groby & Field Head Spotlight • APRIL 2016 • Tel: 01530 244069 • Email: info@grobyspotlight.co.uk
Martinshaw Primary School
Heinous Crimes Investigated AS THE result of a personal appeal, by a letter to each child, from a very distressed Mother Goose, each member of foundation class became ‘sleuths’ during world book week. After finding Humpty Dumpty, only recently left £10,000,000 in the will of the Fairy God Mother, smashed on the floor after a very suspicious fall from his wall, first task ; eliminate suspects : Little Red Riding Hood, Goldilocks, Rumpelstiltskin and Prince Hans. Eye witness statements were read, crime scene investigated and eventually the diabolical criminal was caught; Little Red Riding Hood, by using a rolling pin. Disgraceful. Now, how to keep Humpty safe in the future. Experiments were made, using various materials, chosen by the children: cotton wool, play dough, leaves, water and sellotape among the favourites, to produce a safe landing mat. Problem (2) Catastrophe at the Palace. The King’s maid had her nose pecked off by a Blackbird and had to go to hospital. Who we gonna call? Foundation. Sweet and savoury, meat and vegetable, marshmallow and chocolate shortcrust pastry pies were quickly produced, good enough to satisfy the royal personage. Problem (3) How do we stop poor old Incy Wincy Spider, tumbling down the water spout. We draw and design then build a new water spout that lets the water out, but stops Incy being washed away. Success and a very happy spider. Problem (5) Jack and Jill went up the hill so many times and because of Jacks clumsiness in constantly falling over, the bucket got broken, with no money to fix it. So, how do we fix it and which materials would be best ? Play dough, cotton wool, stones and masking tape were tried to plug the hole. And to prove who had used the best repair material, the young engineers ran with a bucket of water until it was empty. To great surprise, the best material for plugging a hole in a bucket: Cotton Wool ! Mary Mary Phew, what a week and to end it the children designed their own gardens in a shoe box containing, of course, silver bells, cockle shells and pretty maids all in a row. Meanwhile in Year 6 (World Book Day) Equally strange goings on as our older pupils enter into the spirit of World Book Day. For instance, I’m sure Jack and Aston’s future grandchildren will love their representation of ‘The Boy in a Dress’, with, among many others, Chelsy (Catnis Everdene) ‘Hunger Games’ and Kayleigh and Ngaia as ‘Geek Girl’. However, in my experience, most of the children do not need any One to show the encouragement to enjoy a good book.Thank goodness! grandchildren A Great Big Meal Although they had been well briefed on what to expect, a number of children missed their lunch in anticipation. The clues were in the title I suppose. Tables were set, wine (fruit squash) was poured, 4 cups altogether and the Passover Seder Plate was ready. One or two noses were wrinkled at the sight of : Zeroa (lamb bone), bitter herbs, salty water, Charoset (mix of fruit) etc. As ‘Rabbi’ John led the children through the Passover ritual explaining the meaning of the various items of food, the children very quickly became involved. Charoset was spread on Matza (biscuit like unleavened bread) and eaten with relish. Ritual game ‘Hide the Metza’, was played, wine was drunk to the shouts of L’Chayim (cheers) and songs were sung. All in all a great afternoon of learning while enjoying yourself and Chelsy, Kayleigh and Ngaia a wonderful lead up to Easter.
Owen Lawrence
Yippee - it worked
Is Humpty safe?
Nearly there and not a drop spilled
Letter from Uncle Eustace
On dealing with summer fetes The Rectory St. James the Least of All
My dear Nephew Darren So you are beginning to plan your first Summer Fete in your new parish. That you appear to be looking forward to it shows how little you know about them. Parishes hold Summer Fetes so that their clergy can preach more meaningfully on purgatory. Their ostensible purpose is to raise money for the church - which is wholly illogical. The parish could double the money raised if the Fete were dropped, none of the endless preparations made, if everyone spent a pleasant afternoon in their own gardens and each person simply donated £20 to the church instead. But we still feel obliged to go to endless trouble, making ourselves miserable so we can show each other what a good time we are having. That it generally pours seems to make the entire event even more grimly satisfying. No, the real reasons for a Summer Fete are twofold. First, it gives the entire parish the chance to inspect the Rector’s garden. Whatever state it is in, it will cause disapproval. If it is poorly kept, then I am clearly being ungrateful for having three acres of lawn to enjoy. Mowing it each week should be one of my delights; what else would I do with a whole day off each week anyway? The hand mower, kindly given by Colonel French is assumed to be quite adequate - and rumour has it that I need to lose weight anyway. The mower was presented to me when the Colonel bought his own gardener a sit-on motor mower which is of a size and opulence that makes me assume it has a drinks cabinet and satellite navigation. The second reason for a Fete comes as a special perk for the organisers. It gives them a chance to inspect the inside of the Rectory. Under the pretence of looking for a little more sugar, they can systematically inspect all the kitchen cupboards and comment on their contents. By the end of the day, the whole parish will know what marmalade I spread on my toast, that I use unnecessarily expensive washing powder, and where I have unsuccessfully tried to hide the gin. The details of what then happens while the Fete is in progress must wait until my next letter, when we will have had our own. It is now time for Evensong, drinks with Major Mallet and his wife, and then a quiet evening with a good book, while I toy with other possible hiding places for the gin this year. Your loving uncle,
Eustace
The first person to see a sunset was probably like well this ain’t good.