Young gardening enthusiasts at Cambridge Primary School are celebrating securing a £10,000 grant to transform ‘grey to green’ in its outdoor space.

The school was awarded a National Education Nature Park grant from the Department for Education to enhance the biodiversity of its play area.

The school’s garden group has been working hard to prepare the space cutting back trees and shrubs.

The grant, which will be administered through the Royal Horticultural Society, will pay for new equipment and tools, including a woodchipper, to help the clearance while new paths are created and to repair the dilapidated polytunnel.

The school wants to create a bird hide, shallow ponds, raised beds and will grow fruit, vegetables and flowers so pupils can see the full growing cycle.

Some areas will be vertically planted and others kept wild and woodland-like, ready to enjoy the incoming wildlife.

Pastoral Lead at Cambridge Primary School Claire Newby said the new green space will benefit all ages of the school, which runs from two-year olds in the pre-school to 11-year-olds in Year 6.

“We were invited to apply and delighted to receive the full award,” she said. “It will enable more children to experience the outdoors and to create a setting that is more biodiverse and will bring in the wildlife.

“All ages will benefit. The pre-schoolers enjoy picking up leaves and playing in the mud kitchen and finding stones while the older ones can see the wildlife, help with the upkeep and learn to use the tools.”

“Gardening helps with teamwork, cooperation, social skills and we are out three times a week with different children working on projects together. It also promotes physical strength and learning – they children say wow when they see the worms, spiders and bugs.

“You see children who do not always interact in the classroom and out here they are leaders.”

Children from Year 4 and Year 5 at the school, which is part of South Cumbria Multi-Academy Trust, were enjoying their time in gardening group this month.

Oliver said he was enjoying using the tools but was looking forward to the new ones as the current equipment was a bit blunt.

He is particularly looking forward to growing food including potatoes, carrots and pumpkins and will be using skills he perfected at home.

“I have a garden with tomato plants and we are going to grow tomatoes in the polytunnel here at school. I know the best way to grow a tomato is to love them!”

Autumn said: “It is good, I am enjoying spending time with my friends.” she said. “Before I didn’t know what a wheelbarrow is but I know now.”

Kingsley added the gardening was ‘pretty fun but quite challenging’ as he got to grips with using the tools.

Pupils from Chewtynde School enjoyed the educational trip of a lifetime to New York – made only more memorable when they were snowed in and had to stay an extra day.

The 40 students and staff enjoyed a packed five-day itinerary of the museums, financial district and cultural landscape this month with a focus on maths skills and the arts.

They visited the National Museum of Mathematics and Top of the Rock Observatory, had dinner at the famous Ellen’s Stardust Diner and watched “Moulin Rouge” on Broadway.

The also took a guided Wall Street tour, including visits to the Stock Exchange, Federal Reserve Bank, and Federal Hall before an afternoon of reflection at the 9/11 Memorial Museum and Staten Island Ferry viewing the Statue of Liberty and Lower Manhattan’s skyline.

Maths and Computing teacher James Crayston, who organised the trip, said the pupils had loved the packed schedule.

“We wanted to fit lots of experiences into our time in New York and the pupils’ enthusiasm for learning all about the city was amazing. They also loved the shopping and the diner culture, which is what makes New York so special.

“On the last day we went to Central Park to visit film locations including the iconic snowball fight scene from Elf and it was very cold but little did we expect to be in our own snowstorm later.”

After a foot of snow fell within two hours as they boarded the plane, their flight was cancelled due to the extreme weather.

“What followed was a masterclass in patience and resilience from our pupils,” said Mr Crayston. “After a long delay at the airport we managed to get a hotel and then it was a team effort from the staff who made all the alternative arrangements to get everyone safely home 24 hours later.

“The pupils were brilliant and have made the trip the success it has been – the delay due to the extreme weather made it all the more memorable.

“While the educational trip provided invaluable academic enrichment, the lessons learned during their extended return journey were equally significant,” he said.

Mr Crayston thanked everyone who had sponsored the trip including 17Sport, who provided hoodies for the students, tour operator Travelbound and Fussells coaches, who offered to collect the group from any UK airport at short notice.

Nursery provision for two-year-olds across Barrow featured in the national spotlight this week on the BBC’s One Show.

A team from the prime-time show visited Victoria Infant and Nursery School for the launch of its new expansion of free childcare.

The school has opened a new classroom with places for up to 15 two-year-olds at a time in a purpose-built environment complete with mini kitchen, reading area and outdoor space.

Headteacher Lindsay Grayless said they had decided to change the school’s age range to support children and their families in line with the government’s expansion of free early education, which moved to 15 hours in September.

“The aim is to enable the children to start sooner and ensure a smooth transition through into their school education.” she said.

“They will be working with our staff to help develop speech and language and early maths skills from an early age as well as socialisation.”

“The staff have been working hard to plan activities so the curriculum feeds naturally into everything we do here.”

The new nursery room has created an additional full-time teaching post and an apprenticeship and parents can benefit from the new funding for two year olds.

Reporter Ashley John-Baptise visited and spoke to parents who welcomed the expansion.

He also spoke to South Cumbria Multi-Academy Trust CEO Professor Andrew Wren who told him there are currently three or more children for every available childcare place in the area.

“As a Trust, we want to offer high quality nursery provision with early intervention for those children who need additional support and to make a positive difference in the children’s lives.

“We are looking at extending the age range of our schools and will work with our communities. These term-time places are different to private nurseries and offer parents a choice to help meet their needs.”

Mick Cull is Headteacher of Ormsgill School, which is also part of South Cumbria Multi-Academy Trust, and said when children attend nursery from two there is the potential to identify any special educational needs as early as possible.

“The earlier we can teach the children, we can identify any needs and put support and referrals in place.

“We also hope that the new funding will encourage more low-income households to access early years education and care and we will be working with our Trust and our nursery partners to provide the best possible education for our children.”

The programme aired on the One Show on Tuesday 11^th February at 7pm

An assistant headteacher from Ormsgill School is starring in a new campaign to help inspire the next generation of Barrovians.

Jess Corless was invited to take part in the Barrow Rising project after her class was involved in an event with Furness Education and Skills Partnership and her passion for supporting children’s futures was spotted.

Jess said a filming company from Preston got in touch with her to feature in the Barrow Rising launch video and website.

“A full camera crew and producer came to school, set up their professional equipment and asked me to listen to an audio clip and naturally respond to what I heard. They asked me a couple of questions and that was that! It was very surreal

I’ve never been part of something like that before but the audio and aims of the project are very inspirational and exciting, and will hopefully have a positive impact on Barrow and our pupils as they grow older and go into the wider world.

You can see the project here: Vision – Our transformation journey – Barrow Rising

An exceptional young sportswoman has received an award for her drive to succeed academically while combining it with her talent for golf.

Florence Martindale, who is a pupil at Newbarns Primary and Nursery School in Barrow, has been invited to play at the Daily Mail World Junior Golf Championship in Marbella this month.

Despite playing in prestigious golf competitions here and overseas, she has shown such commitment to her studies that she has been presented with a South Cumbria Multi-Academy Trust Superstar Award.

Speaking about her success Headteacher Gary Birkett said the Year 5 pupil was a very worthy recipient of the award for ambition, reflecting one of SCMAT’s values.

“Florence has achieved fabulous things in golf outside of the school and yet continues to work hard and in all of her lessons and extra curricula activities.

“We are delighted to recognise her hard work and determination and to be the best she can both at school and in her golfing career.”

Florence recently won the national UK Kids Golf competition and has qualified for the invitation-only Champion of Champions Junior World Championship which will be held in July 2025 in Ireland and brings together 250 of the top junior golfers in the world.

She was the Order of Merit winner on the Ping Northern Junior Golf Tour for girls aged 6-9 girls after playing in 11 events across the North of England. 

Florence also placed fourth in her category in the Faldo Futures Final, which is played at the pro am of the British masters competing against girls from across the UK.

The SCMAT Superstar Awards are presented annually to pupils from across South Cumbria Multi-Academy Trust who are nominated by their schools for living the Trust’s values of excellence, respect, innovation, celebration, ambition and support in their daily lives.

Trust CEO Professor Andrew Wren congratulated Florence, who was nominated by her teacher Gemma Washington, saying she should be really proud of all her achievements.

“To balance commitments on the course and in the classroom takes real dedication and the skills she learns through both will stand her in good stead for a very bright future whatever career path she decides to pursue.”