MeridenMag Autumn 2024 by MeridenMag

Meriden Mag

New date for Picnic in the Park - 7th September Meriden Archery at the Olympic Games

All Together Café Meriden Sports Pavilion

Any time between 2pm and 4pm

13th Sep

11th Oct

8th Nov

T’ai Chi and Meditation and Relaxation T’ai Chi and Meditation and Relaxation

The perfect start to your day………..

Methodist’s Prayer Tree

As we look forward to the Revd Christine Crabtree coming as our new minister in September, we continue to pray for everyone in Meriden. We are praying especially for the residents of one street each week. You will find which street we are praying for on our noticeboard. We also have a 'prayer tree' in our vestibule, where anyone in the local community can leave personal prayer requests - hung on luggage tags - when the church is open. When the church is closed there is a prayer box next to the main door of the church where you can post your prayer requests. Or you can email helen.bishop@gmail.com.

"Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns." St Paul, quoted in Philippians 4.6 (The Message Bible Translation).

Helen Bishop

Healing Hands Network Update

New Garden for Meriden (at the Methodist Church)

ST. LAURENCE CHURCH NEWS

God d Bless. . Kevin n

Until next time, best wishes from us all at Meriden Farm.

Escape from Meriden

Julie Hyde’s Art Exhibition sponsored by Meriden Sports and Recreation Trust

Tony, Heather and Andrew

Sarah Sharland Meriden and Millisons Wood Trees

Comeand enjoy our freshly ground coffeeand cakes

BUBBLES HAND CAR WASH BUBBLES HAND CAR WASH

FACT OR FICTION?

Whatever you write……. Balsall Common Writers welcome new members and invite you to join them.

We hold evening sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays in Balsall Common. Please contact info.bcwriters@gmail.com

At last, af ter a major refurbishment, our

Read about the Grand Opening when local poet Liz Berr y cut the ribbon.

In June we celebrated the opening of our fantastic new library.Staff, students and local guests, were joined at the event by special guest Liz Berry, poet and author.

Acting Principal Gethyn Bennett opened the event with a speech on the schools’ commitment to supporting students with their reading and learning including explaining how their newly-refurbished library is a pivotal step towards this pledge.

Special guest Liz Berry, then presented the winners of a writing competition organised by the school in anticipation of the library re-opening. Liz, a former primary school teacher, has had works of poetry published along with two fulllength poetry collections.

“My mum was a librarian, so I grew up loving libraries,” said Liz, “and they are essential in developing a love of reading and creative writing. The investment you’ve made here shows what you value as a school.”

The competition winner Felicia, Year 8 and runner-up Jessica were awarded vouchers as prizes.

Guests were encouraged to browse the new library and speak to the new school librarian and students present to discuss the opportunities for learning that the new school facility will offer.The library will house some books from the former library with brand new titles being added over the next few months. New stock will also include study and revision materials for key stage 4 (Year 7-9), GCSE and A Level students.

Heart of England PTA are helping to raise money for new books via a dedicated JustGiving page. g

The refurbishment was championed by a group of students from the student

a functioning library with quality facilities, which should include a new librarian.School Trustees were happy to support the student-led project following a really well thought through presentation making the case for a new library.

Newly appointed librarian Vikki Beddard said: “When the opportunity came up to work at Heart of England School setting up a new library, I was really keen to be involved.

“The fact that the students themselves have been leading the project means that I now have a huge responsibility to ensure that the new library lives up to their expectations and meets the needs of students across all year groups.It is fantastic to see the space being used purposefully by the students after being out of use and in need of some TLC since before the COVID pandemic.”

Head of English, Luke O’Brien, said: “The school has been promoting reading for several years with considerable investment in a reading scheme run by dedicated full-time staff. We have been very successful in supporting most students to meet their reading age targets. Our new library facilities will open greater opportunities to all our students for reading and give access to a wider range of books.”

Already, the library is proving to be a very popular destination at break and lunchtimes, with many students visiting to borrow books, read and work in the study booths.All year groups have been to induction sessions to introduce them to the library facilities and from September there are plans for further activities and clubs in the space.

Year 12 students have had a series of workshops designed to give them essential skills for life af ter school.

Entitled UCASSkills, the workshops spanned two days with one day devoted to sessions on cooking, sewing and ironing and the other to writing applications for courses like degrees, degree apprenticeships, how to produce CVs, applying for jobs and writing personal statements.

Cooking skills took place in the Food Tech rooms and students learned how to cook a variety of food including eggs, beans, toast and whole meals

like pizzas, bolognaise, pasta bake and chicken fajitas. Much of the food was prepared and cooked from scratch and they learned how to use pre-prepared sauces and other shortcuts to keep the cost down!

All essential skills for living away from home and becoming independent. Other workshops included washing up ,how to use an iron, sewing on a button and even how to open a can of food. They also learned the basics of separating laundry and how to use a washing machine.

Sessions on the applications processes for other

courses and jobs included advice, practice and examples of how to get your message across clearly and how to make applications stand out from the crowd.

Mrs Theay, Head of Post 16 said: “We run these workshops every year for our students and this year we’ve expanded them to include life skills. It’s vital and useful to our students as they begin their journey towards more independence.

“They also seem to enjoy the sessions –especially when they end up eating the food they’ve prepared!”