In the Press

In the Press

At Petham we try to ensure that the children have an exciting and interesting curriculum, with many activities taking place to stimulate learning.

On this page we will put links to any articles or information about the school which occur in the media so that you can share in the myriad of opportunities we are affording our children.

We hope you enjoy the articles as much as we enjoyed the activities!

Pupils bowled over by World Cup trophy tour - May 2019

Art Builders - The Big Build! - April 2019

https://www.a-n.co.uk/blogs/art-builders/

The big Build. #dreamland #margate #thebigbuild #artbuilders

So the big build was just over a week ago now, over two days eight schools in Kent travelled to Dreamland in Margate for The Big Build.

Here is a list of the participant schools.

Priory Infant School Ramsgate

St. Alphege Infant School Whitstable

Hoath Primary School Canterbury

Drapers Mill Primary School Broadstairs

Ellington Infant School Ramsgate

Petham Primary School Canterbury

St. Simon Catholic Primary School Ashford

Herne Bay Junior School Herne Bay

What was The Big Build? A lunar landscape complete with a moon buggy and rocket control console all made from cardboard. All the artists involved had made cardboard space helmets ready for the event and wore their space suits during the build.

My main responsibility was really to ensure the moon buggy was structurally sound as it would need to be picked up and moved across the newspaper lunar landscape in a stop motion animation process. I created a chassis from carpet tubes and axles which were pinned together with sticks of rolled up newspaper. These rolled tightly in a new mangle type machine to make sturdy rods, (very useful for the construction of ambitious creations at a later stage).

Things went well enough on creating the framework, I had children pushing rods through holes folding the ends over and taping things down. Time was very short and I was under pressure. When things were complete I looked across to see if my instructions to the school had been carried out? I was very relieved to see one wheel completed with two almost finished and a forth with a lot to do. This wouldn’t take long and they slipped onto the axels like a smooth formula one tyre change. Other schools were tasked with all the rest of the lunar buggy details and it soon took shape.

The whole thing looked amazing as never at any point till the end when it was all assembled did anyone know what things would look like. The whole thing filmed in 360 degree VR remember and when Tim has edited the video I will post the link. For here is the taster again, move the mouse across the screen for the full 360 effect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rg3upI2RyEo&feature=youtu.be

Here is a little story about the most powerful memory of the whole build for me: While I was manning the ‘tool station’ this was where glue guns, sharp knives, saws and drills were used. Pupils came up to the tool station for more complex construction problems and us astronauts would fix it and pupils go back with the completed parts. Now it was like working in a pub on a very busy Friday night with clients 2-3 deep at the bar trying to get served, with quick exchanges/instructions taking place, followed by rapid making, cutting, gluing and sticking while you wait style. This is the moment that will probably always stay with me as a reminder of what art is and what working with other people is like!

A small quite boy waited patiently I could see him standing quietly and thought it will take him along time to get served as he was not good at navigating the mele. I beckoned him over to me. He gave me an L shaped piece of very strong cardboard. This had likely been used to protect the edges of a flat screen TV while in transit. On it was drawn a small circle, I asked if he needed it cut out? ‘Yes Please’. I looked at the task and thought there is no way I am going to attempt this with a craft or Stanley knife the card is just too strong and it would take quite a while and have a low quality outcome. So I remembered I had brought with me a set of hole saws. I chose the smallest one 19mm. It was a perfect fit and I hadn’t used them yet and felt glad I had brought them now. I drilled a perfect sharp hole into the L shape card thinking I wonder what he can be making with this relatively complex part. I gave it back to him and he took it looking at me turned around and walked away. I was already on the next task. A minute or two later I saw the boy back in the que and beckoned him over as I thought he needed help and couldn’t get going on something and time was passing quickly. He gave me back the piece of card saying ‘ I wanted the other bit’!

Primary Pupils Eye Kitchen Glory - March 2019

https://www.kentonline.co.uk/news/charities/primary-pupils-eye-kitchen-glory-200784/

Children from a primary schools academy have their eyes on kitchen glory as they prepare to do battle in Masterchef-style contest Young Cooks.

Petham Primary family liaison officer Sue King, Village Academy chief executive officer Hayley Spedding, and Petham Primary executive head Babiche Deysel are delighted to be involved with Young Cooks

The Village Academy is staging its own Young Cooks heat in an attempt to encourage as many pupils from its six schools as possible to enter the popular kids cookery competition.

Three children from each school will take place in a special heat on May 2.

All of the children will be encouraged to enter the official competition, and the winner of the heat will receive a family ticket to Diggerland.

The trust comprises Dymchurch, Lydd, Lynsted and Norton, Milstead and Frinsted C of E, Petham Primary, and Selling C of E primaries, with the heat taking place at Petham.

Village Academy chief executive officer Hayley Spedding: “We are excited to be chosen to host the first heat of the Young Cooks competition 2019.

“We are committed to seeking out and creating opportunities for our pupils to gain important life skills and have fun along the way.

“Young Cooks supports the educational experiences for our pupils as an important element of our school curriculum.”

Young Cooks is open to children aged 6 to 19 from across the south-east.

Entrants are invited to submit ideas for dishes that are healthy and delicious, and shortlisted finalists will be invited to cook their recipes for a VIP panel at a live Masterchef-style event in November.

The deadline for submitting entries is November 7, and the winners will share £500 in prize money, with separate primary-school, family, secondary-school and overall prizes being handed out.

Young Cooks coordinator Hannah Hawksworth said: “It’s great that the Village Academy has decided to stage this event. This is such a brilliant way to engage children with cooking and the competition.

“And I would urge other schools and children who may be interested in Young Cooks to start thinking about the entry process right now.

“As all cooks will tell you, timing and preparation are everything when it comes to success in the kitchen.

“November may seem a long way off, but entrants need to give themselves plenty of time to research and road-test their recipes.”

Young Cooks is supported by CH & Co Group, SE Medical, Chequers Kitchen, Broadstairs College, Brakes, Golding Homes, Three R's Teacher Recruitment, Southern Co-operative, Kent Catering Services, The Dog at Wingham, Whole School Meals and Taylor Meats.

December 2018 - Performance Tables

These are just some high-lights, you can read the whole article here.

December 2018 - Young Cooks

November 2018 - Young Cooks 2018

Mrs King and her cookery club have done it again; of our 2 entries into this year's Young Cooks competition, we have a finalist! Well done to Rio and Lydia from Woodpeckers Class for designing and cooking their own recipes (see below) and we wish Lydia 'Good Luck!' for the final.

You can read the whole article here.

January 2018

Read the whole article here: January 2018 - Kent Cook Wows VIPs

December 2017 - We have a winner!

We are very proud of Antonin and Alice who both competed in the Young Cooks final. They both did amazingly well and Antonin won the Young Cook 2017 Primary School category!

You can read the whole article here.