Activities Review 2013
.
Young People Events
Fun Club
Picture, Fun Club
Fun Club has run virtually every month. Earlier interruptions for ‘special’ Services weren’t helpful and affected attendance for a time thereafter, but that has been addressed with more sensitive Service arrangements. Numbers are static with the current attendees getting older. We don’t need any more helpers at the moment but we would do so if we got more children coming, especially younger ones. We don’t see that likely unless and until we get more families coming to church. (Return to top)
Pilgrims
Picture of Pilgrims
The ‘Pilgrims’ young people’s group has continued to meet in the Western Way Chapel each Monday during term time for all 8 to 12 year olds. We have about 30 children who have attended over the year with a weekly attendance of between 12 and 20 children. The group is led by a dedicated team from St Mary’s and the Chapel and this year we have been pleased to welcome Brian Blandford as a new helper to bolster our resources. We would welcome any who would be willing to assist us for an hour at 6.30pm on Mondays and are always pleased to encourage any children from the age group to join us each week. (Return to top)
Open the Book
Picture, Open the Book Team
Our 'Open the Book' team of over 10 volunteers from St Mary’s and Western Way Chapel are now coming to the end of our 10th year acting out a bible story at the Ann Cam school assembly on Monday each week. The aim is to be able to present some of the most memorable events from the Bible over a three year period, based on the ‘Lion Storyteller Bible’. This means that each child in Ann Cam School will see these stories at least twice in their journey through the school and have a background understanding of the principal aspects of the Christian faith before they leave that school. (Return to top)

All the volunteers find the presentations great fun to do, but inevitably there are times when some are unavailable and the more folk we can call on to play a part in the work, the easier it is to ensure that the presentations can be performed each week.  We are always keen to encourage any who can give about an hour at the start of the week at 9am on Monday mornings to make sure that our children get a grounding in our Christian faith. (Return to top)
School Assembly
Picture, School Assembly
Tony Lomas and Roger Parker continue to lead the school assembly every Wednesday for alternate half-terms each using the diocesan ‘Values for Life’ syllabus. This three-year cycle covers topics such as Humility, Forgiveness, Courage, etc. Early in 2013 at one assembly we received an unannounced visit from the Bishop’s Inspector who said the quality of the presentation was excellent. We often use PowerPoint slides, as the children are used to that in class, and try to involve the children in the presentation, especially in reading aloud the closing prayer at the end of each session. (Return to top)
After-School 'Thursday Club'
Picture, Making Harvest Banner
Every Thursday, Tony and Roger run an after-school-club for year 5 and 6 pupils looking at Christian principles in a fun way, usually involving some form of craft work. In the summer term, we took the members to the vets surgery in Ledbury, where they were shown round behind the scenes to acquaint them with the idea of serving others, and in the last week, at their own suggestion, they invited 50 of the ‘old folk’ (anyone over 40!) in Dymock to the school hall where they served around 40 attendees afternoon tea, much of which they’d prepared themselves and they showed them a video of their trip to the vets by way of entertainment. (Return to top)
'Young Voices'
Picture, The 'Young Voices'
The 'Young Voices' are our junior church choir. They sing with the adult choir for special Services and at concerts and have occassional outings. For more details, click here to go to the section on the Choir. (Return to top)
Ann Cam C of E School
Picture, Ann Cam School
Ann Cam School was last inspected by OFSTED in January 2013 and received an overall grading of ‘Good’, since when it has continued to see improvements. (Return to top)

In January it entered a partnership with Pauntley Primary School to share an Executive Head. Ann Cam’s Head, Chris Ward, is now seconded to Pauntley School two days a week and this arrangement continues to flourish into the second year. The income generated by sharing the Head has enabled more resources to be spent within the classrooms on increased teaching and support. In addition, the number of shared activities has benefitted both staff and pupils. Staff benefitting from shared peer opportunities and joint staff development events, pupils from joint activities, especially between year groups where some numbers are small. (Return to top)

In September Ann Cam started the current academic year with four classes, having had to reduce to three the previous year. This extremely positive announcement recognised the growth in pupil numbers as a result of the recent inspection, positive publicity and the extremely well-received developments and growth of the Happy Turtles facility at the School. (Return to top)

Happy Turtles was an initiative supported by the governing body and launched in September 2012, which handed over the existing preschool to a commercial organisation to run a full-time, preschool and out-of-hours care facility from 8am-6pm. Happy Turtles is seeing continued growth with many new preschool children joining this facility and then choosing to continue their primary education with the School. In future, the Happy Turtles resource will hopefully grow the facilities further but will potentially need support to achieve this. (Return to top)

Currently the number on the school roll is 87. Full-time pupil numbers are looking extremely positive for this September with 26 children having named Ann Cam as a choice. However, the School will not know until the 17th April whether this is first choice.  (Return to top)

After significant fund-raising by the Governing Body over the last four years, and supported by a capital grant from the Diocese, the School has recently opened a new entrance and reception area which greatly improves the appearance of the School and provides a welcoming and secure environment for pupils and visitors. The next Governing Body project is looking at a new car-park and drop-off area for the School which will improve safety and help alleviate issues with the residents of Bayfield Gardens. This will require significant investment and support from both the Parish and District Councils as presently the costs are prohibitive. (Return to top)

The PTFA continues to be extremely vibrant and has had record-breaking attendance at both their November fireworks event and the Christmas Fair, which again this year was supported by Father Christmas and his reindeer. The excellent work of the PTFA continues to benefit the pupils as many resources have been purchased as a result of their fund-raising. In addition, the PTFA have also invested heavily in the swimming pool which has recently been refurbished, also with financial support from the Parish Council. (Return to top)

The Governing Body recently won the tender, issued by the local authority, to run the bus service for the School. This utilises the mini-bus that was purchased for the School, after a significant donation from the School’s PTFA. The bus service is now fully utilised by pupils and the school running the service has been positively received by both parents and pupils alike. (Return to top)
.