The Olympic Torch

Cast your minds back to 25th June and the whole school went out into Barnsley to watch the Olympic torch pass by. It was a historic occasion and the town centre was packed out.

On the last day of term, one of the torch bearers (Pat Ainsworth), who carried the torch in Huddersfield, came into school to show pupils the actual Olympic torch she carried, thanks to a contact with one of our parents and FBCS members. It was a great opportunity to see the uniform of the torch bearer and to see and hold the torch ourselves. We are very grateful to Pat and her husband, Jim, for being willing to share this experience with us and for all their work over the years in raising money for charity. We learned that the oldest torch bearer is 100 and that the torch has 8000 holes to represent the 8000 runners in the Olympics; also that this torch is triangular to represent the three occasions the Olympics have been held in this country. It was a really informative way to end the school year and a significant moment, as Mr Barnes reminded us, since this was the last official day as Barnsley Christian School. When we return in September, we will have passed the baton on to Hope House School!

Pat showing us the Olympic torch

Pat with Y8 pupils:

Pat with Y9 pupils:

Pat with Y10 pupils:

End of an era

Monday will see the last fund-raising event of the year, the Olympic Bake 'n' Take. This will be on 16th July in the cafe area from 3-4 p.m. Parents and pupils will be able to buy buns and cakes (hopefully with an Olympic theme!)

This will be the last event of the academic year 2011-2012, but will also be one of the last events organised by Friends of Barnsley Christian School. That's because from September the school will no longer be Barnsley Christian School but will become Hope House School and so at the AGM on 10th September, FBCS will be changing its name too! Quite what that will be we cannot say as yet, but one thing is certain: the school will continue to need our support and we hope to maintain our presence in providing out-of-school events that provide both social contact and an opportunity to raise funds for the pupils of the school.

This year, we (and therefore YOU, if you have supported any of our events!) have provided radio-controlled clocks and IT equipment for classrooms as well as some further play equipment. We are committed to providing interactive whiteboards or other projection/ Internet facilities in every classroom and will be looking at other ways to improve equipment and facilities for all pupils.

2011-2012 was the end of an era in many ways. We started the year with the 25th anniversary celebrations (recognising the school's achievement in growing from its small start in 1986 to its current provision of Christ-centred education from the ages of 4 to 16) and had mugs made to celebrate this. At the end of Sports Day, we gave every pupil a mug to remind them of these twenty-five years of history as the school looks to grow into its new history and new name. The pupils have been involved in making anniversary scrapbooks which we hope will be finished by the end of next week to further commemorate this period in the school's life.

Throughout the year, we have been involved in a range of projects. Pupils made Christmas cards which raised funds. We have had a number of Bake 'n' Takes, hosted a Beauty Evening (courtesy of the House of Beauty) and hosted a Jubilee Party for pupils in school in May. Recycling days have raised £150 for school funds and we have been involved with the Peel2Save money-off coupons, as well as organising Sports Day last week.

Many thanks to all the people who have helped to make these events happen and who support them in numerous ways. We are very grateful for all the support we receive. Please do come along to the Bake 'n' Take on Monday and make a note in your diaries of the AGM which will be on Monday 10th September at 7:30 p.m. We desperately need more people to be involved and need new ideas for fund-raising so that we can fulfil our aims 'to improve the facilities in school and enhance the school's family atmosphere.'

Presentations

At the end of the day, Leanne (our local Police Community Support Officer) came into school to present the Christina Mulder Sports Day trophy to the winning house. Once again, Hudson-Taylor won the trophy, with new house captain Sam receiving the trophy:

The team were pleased about that!

Leanne also presented the House Shield for 2011-2012 to Hudson-Taylor:

Despite the weather, then, a very successful day, with all pupils being given an anniversary BCS mug at the end of the day to celebrate.

Other Sports Day fun

It wasn't all about hard work, though!

FBCS provided ice-creams and lollipops for all the pupils and staff:

At lunchtime FBCS provided a sports quiz for pupils to do:

Clearly, people had a lot of fun:

More Sports Day photos

In the afternoon, we had penalty shoot-outs:

Mr Knowles entered into the spirit of the game for his last Sports Day at BCS!

A former pupil came back to be goalkeeper as well:

Our new maths teacher, Mr Omoah, also joined in the fun:

The staff joined in the fun as well!

After the penalties, we had rounders:

Some of the other games:

Sports Day photos

The rains came, but Sports Day went ahead anyway, using split facilities st the YMCA and school Sports Hall.

The Primary department held races in the Sports Hall:

The Seniors held similar races in the YMCA:

Olympic Bake 'n' Take

No, we don't mean a marathon session lasting weeks! Instead, the final Bake 'n' Take of the school year will be on Monday 16th January at 3 p.m. until 4 p.m. We hope there are lots of willing bakers out there who are able to provide us with home-baking (especially buns, cakes and biscuits) on an Olympic theme. Any home baking will be gratefully received. Please ensure this is dropped off at school in the morning and we look forward to seeing you all there in the afternoon to make this last fund-raiser of the year a great event!

Finally, Pat Ainsworth (an Olympic torch bearer) will be in school to talk with the children and show them the Olympic torch she carried on Friday 20th July at our final assembly of the year. We are very grateful for Pat's willingness to come into school and show pupils the torch and we hope to be able to take a lot of photos of this event!

Sports Day

Sports Day will be this Friday (13th July) from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m., but unfortunately will not be at Shaw Lane as planned because of the recent wet weather.

Instead, we will be holding the event on split sites, with Primary pupils competing in their House teams in the Sports Hall at school and Senior pupils competing in their House teams in the YMCA across the road. Points from each activity will be added up and the Christina Mulder Sports Day Trophy will be awarded to the winning team (House) at the end of the day. We will also be presenting the House Shield to the winning House at the end of the day.

Because of the change of venue, parents will not be able to attend (neither venue is large enough to accommodate parents as spectators.) We apologise for any inconvenience caused by this change of plan and hope that parents will understand the constraints placed on us by the unfortunate weather.

The schedule for the day is:

10 a.m. - 12 noon
Fun games

12 noon - 1 p.m.
Lunch (all pupils will eat lunch in school whilst completing 'A Question of Sport' quiz, for which house points will also be awarded.) Pupils need to bring their usual packed lunch as well.

FBCS will be providing free ice-creams for all pupils at lunchtime. There is no need for pupils to bring any money for this.

1.00 - 1.45 p.m.
House teams compete in a Penalty Shoot-Out competition

1.50 -2.35 p.m.
Rounders

2.40 p.m.
Senior pupils will return to school where there will be an awards ceremony for the presentation of the Christina Mulder Sports Day Trophy and the House Shield.

Sports Day will finish at 3 p.m. and parents will be able to pick up their children from school at 3 p.m. on that day. Please note that Primary pupils will be supervised until 3.30 p.m. if parents are unable to collect children earlier and that Senior pupils will be allowed out of school at 3 p.m. if they are not being collected.