All Saints Academy

Clifton All Saints Academy

We hope that everyone is staying safe and well. It has been a very difficult end to the school term. We have been very lucky through the whole pandemic but at the time of writing this entry, unfortunately the decision has had to be made to close the school on Thursday 15th July due to positive COVID cases amongst staff and pupils. This was a very difficult decision and not taken lightly, however the health and wellbeing of our staff and pupils is paramount.

On a positive note our Year 4 class had a wonderful day at The Caldecotte Xperience. This was originally supposed to be an overnight stay but had to be changed to just a day of fun activities due to the current situation. They had a wonderful time with some pupils saying it was their best day ever! During the day they did:

✓ Archery ✓ Kayaking ✓ Raft building ✓ Bush craft

As always, the pupils did us proud and behaved impeccably and had lovely manners. Thank you to the staff that went with them, a memorable day was had by all.

Conversion to Primary

The planning application for the new building work that is taking place at school in the next academic year is now in the public domain. The application number is: CB.21/02631/FULL and the detailed plans are displayed on the Central Beds website for you to see. http:// plantech.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/.../acolnetcgi... We have fought hard as a team to push Central Beds to provide a suitable building which will provide excellent facilities for the children of the village and the school into the future. We are pleased with what has been put forward and we would urge you to visit the application so that you can see what is planned for the children. Also, it would be really helpful to push the planning through quickly, if local people could write to the planning office offering support for the application and design. This could be in terms of providing the best in terms of educational facilities for the children, supporting the community and enabling the village of

Clifton to continue to provide excellent educational facilities for the children of the village. All support for this is valuable and will help the planning office to make the right decision. Thanking you for all your support and patience.

We would also like to remind the local community (as previously advised in the Clifton Chronicles), especially those that live close to the school grounds that, during the summer break, two mobile classrooms are being delivered and installed on the school playground. This will include the removal of the climbing frame. The mobile classrooms will be in use all year and removed in August 2022 providing all of the works are completed and pupils can move into their new classrooms.

We would like to wish everyone a safe and happy summer break. Please remind your children that they are trespassing if caught on the school grounds. There will be a lot of activity during the summer holidays, so please remain vigilant, and report anything that causes you a concern or email sbm@cliftonallsaintsacademy.co.uk .

Thank you and HAPPY HOLIDAYS

Date Reminder Children in year 1 to 5 are back in school on: Monday 6th September

New Reception children will have a staggered start over the first two weeks of the Autumn term.

It is with sadness that we say goodbye to Mrs Ward who has led the school for the past 8 years. We welcomed her in September 2013 and almost immediately we converted to Academy status.

Under her leadership the school has developed academically and extended the interface with village activities. She has joined us at Messy Church, church services and other village events. We have seen the children attend Young Voices in the O2, sing in church, develop in the Performing Arts Club, have a go at bellringing and attend their own Remembrance Service allowing children to remember their own relatives and take part in the usual school and village events.

When Covid struck, the school instituted a very tight regime to safeguard the children and staff and until recently had avoided any cases within school. It was decided some time ago that whenever “Freedom Day” happened, the school would retain restrictions until the end of term. All this meant that we were unable to say goodbye and thankyou in the normal way. We wish her well in her retirement and hope to see her at village events in the future.

Philippa Whittington, Chair of Governors

Greensand Ridge Walk

A route taking in woods and farmland along the dissected Greensand Ridge which rises from the clay vales on either side, passing Woburn Abbey and Ampthill Park where it connects with the John Bunyan Trail. A route description and schematic map leaflet are available from the website below.

At Leighton Buzzard, the Two Ridges Link (8 miles and included on OS mapping) provides a link via the Grand Union Canal to Ivinghoe Beacon and the Ridgeway National Trail/Icknield Way Path. At Gamlingay, the waymarked Clopton Way (11 miles and on OS mapping) goes on to Wimpole Hall from whence the waymarked Wimpole Way (13 miles and on OS mapping) takes the walker to Cambridge.

The waymarked Marston Vale Timberland Trail (14 miles) is a circular route coincident with the Greensand Ridge Walk between Ampthill Park