Barnack in England’s top 100 primary schools for SATs results

Barnack Primary School’s Year 6 pupils achieved well above average in all of their SATs tests in 2023 – putting the school 64th out of more than 22,000 schools across England.
A total of 96 per cent of Barnack Primary School pupils met the expected standard in all of their reading, writing and maths tests compared to a national average of 59 per cent. At Barnack, 27 percent of pupils also achieved greater depth in reading, writing and maths combined compared to only eight per cent of pupils achieving greater depth across all three subjects nationally.
According to official Department for Education statistics, Barnack pupils achieved well above average scores in all three subjects. The league tables put Barnack at 64th out of 22,216 schools.
Executive headteacher Colette Firth said today she was extremely proud of all the pupils, teachers and school support staff who work so hard to ensure all children at Barnack are challenged, supported and inspired to reach their full potential in all subjects.
She said: “We are so proud of all of our children for this exceptional set of results which quite rightly puts them among the top one per cent of primary schools in England. At Barnack and across all our family of schools we firmly believe it is vital to equip our pupils with the skills they need for the next stages of their education and for life.
“When children can read and write well and have strong arithmetic and reasoning skills it gives them a strong foundation to build upon for all of their school subjects and for their future learning.
“At Barnack our purpose is to create an awe inspiring school where we develop future global thinkers, leaders and activists. We want our children to flourish as life-long learners and dream big.”
To see the league tables visit https://bit.ly/49fNrYW
If you are interesting in finding out more about Barnack School visit www.barnackprimary.co.uk or if you looking for a school for your child please call the office to arrange a tour on
01780 740

Some Changes at St Mary’s Bainton

A couple of changes to the services at St Mary’s Bainton. One temporary, one more permanent.
On 3rd March, Bishop Debbie Sellin is to be installed at Peterborough Cathedral. This means that all our normal worship leaders have been invited to the celebrations. So instead of the regular Taizé service at 4.30 pm, there will be a Said Communion at 8 am with Revd Gary. Who does not like getting up that early, either.
Taizé in March will therefore be at 4.30 pm on March 17th, “Passion Sunday”.
From then on, we will move from the regular BCP Evensong on 3rd Sundays to a more informal form of worship. This will still incorporate some elements of more traditional services, eg the Lord’s Prayer and the Confession, but be a simpler form which we hope will be more accessible for younger people and those less versed in the BCP. And also containing more contemporary music. We will also use 3rd Sunday afternoons for many special services through the year – which this year will include a Pet Service in July, St Mary’s Day in August, Harvest in September, and Nativity Service in December.
Otherwise, services at Bainton will be the same as usual – Communion at 9am on 2nd and 4th Sundays, Taizé on 1st Sundays.
And of course if you love the language of the Book of Common Prayer, there is a regular service of Communion at 4 pm every Tuesday at St John’s Barnack.

Special Activities for Lent and Easter

Holy Week
As usual we will have a service every day during Holy Week. Please join us for one or more of these events, where you have the chance for some peace, reflection, and food for thought. On Good Friday there will be a service at each church. All details in the Church Service timetable.
On Easter Eve there is an Easter Egg Hunt at All Saints’ Wittering at 2pm.
Our first celebration of the Resurrection this Easter will be the Vigil Mass at St Andrew’s Church, Ufford, at 7 pm on Easter Eve. As the sky turns dark, we light the first fire of Easter to celebrate the light that is never overcome by darkness.
Easter Day
As well as services at the regular times, there is the annual opportunity to worship at Hills and Holes at 6.30 am on Easter Day. Don’t forget the clocks will have gone forward an hour.

You Couldn’t Make It Up!

I was driving along the one-way Lolham Bridges road, heading for the junction with the Bainton/Helpston road recently when I noticed a police car coming towards me. I put up my hand (very brave!) and the driver stopped and opened his window. I said that the road was one-way only and it wasn’t the way he was going. He said “I do apologise. I didn’t realise” !!!! If a policeman doesn’t know what a No Entry sign looks like, there’s not much hope for the rest of us!
Jen Birch.

The Arts Society Peterborough

14th March 2024, The Arts Society Peterborough’s monthly talk is at The Fleet, PE2 4 DL.
‘London’s Last Departmental Stores’, by Tessa Boase.
London’s sumptuous Victorian and Edwardian stores changed the capital and changed its women. Shoppers were lavishly wooed, seduced and often undone by the temptations in these new cathedrals of desire.
Doors open at 10-15am for coffee and a chat, the talk starts at 10-45 and lasts an hour, all are welcome, so why not come and join us?
For more information and details of how to join the society, visit: www.the-arts-society-peterborough.org.uk

Messy Church

Do come along and join us for the next Messy Church on Sunday 17th March in Barnack Church from 3:30 until 5pm.
We will be finding out about The Servant King. There will be a Bible Story, refreshments, singing, crafts and prayer. There is a play corner for the very young. We have a number of regular families, but would love to welcome even more. So if you’ve never been before, please come and try us out!
Further details from Carol Summers 07715460177 or Mike Mills 07523312387.

Easter Day Sunrise at Hills & Holes

Join us for worship at Hills and Holes at 6.30 am on Easter Day.

Ufford Village Hall – Chairman’s Report 2023/2024

This report of the Village Hall year covers the period since our last AGM on 8th February 2023.
On the social front, the VH Committee took the lead in planning and executing Ufford’s celebrations of the Coronation of HM King Charles III. This took the form of a street party on Sunday 7th May 2023, which was organised in co-operation with Ufford Parish Council. It was a well-attended and most successful event. Later in the year, on 7th October 2023, Sue Beamish organised a Safari Supper which was thoroughly enjoyed by those who took part. Finally, the Committee organised the Village Christmas Social, held in the Village Hall, which followed immediately after the Carol Service on Sunday 10th December 2023. This was funded by cash donations arising from the December 2022 Christmas Social.
The Committee has been active in improving and maintaining the Village Hall building. The roof moss has been cleared and removed and the roof sprayed with biocide to inhibit re-growth. This has certainly improved the appearance of the Hall but, more importantly, will protect the roof from frost damage for several years to come. The guttering has been cleared, re-aligned and, where necessary, replaced. The doors and window frames have been repainted and a portion of under-soffit which had rotted has been replaced and painted to match existing woodwork. Following a recommendation from the electrical survey, the consumer unit has been replaced.
The Committee carried out a survey of its various statutory policies, covering Health and Safety (following a revised Risk Assessment)), Financial Reserves, Fire Safety Policy and Procedures, Safeguarding, Equal Opportunities and Environmental matters. All have been posted on the village Hall website.
The Committee has also developed a “Compliance Schedule” to help ensure that all routine recurring requirements, reports and events are completed as required.
A booking of the Village Hall on Christmas Eve resulted in some damage to the Hall and losses of some contents. While such incidents are extremely rare, we should seek to avoid a repetition and the Committee will consider how best to proceed.
Thanks to the Government’s Covid grants to local communities, the Village Hall has a healthy bank balance. However, over the past couple of years, the Hall has been experienced a current account deficit and this obviously cannot continue indefinitely.
Finally, I would like to thank all members of the Committee for their support over the past year – and, indeed, during my tenure as Chairman – and for their input and contribution to our Committee meetings and the Village Hall’s activities over the year.
Steven Brereton Martin

Spring has Sprung and so has the Village Hall Event Calendar!

Please try and support any or all of these Community events at Barnack Village Hall. We are all volunteers who passionately believe in bringing our Community together, whilst raising essential funds, through socials such as these.
Barnack Community Association bring you:
Friday 8th March – Barnack’s Barmy Bingo – It’s not just Bingo!….. £10 a ticket or reserve a table of 6-8. See separate advert in this edition p14
Saturday 11th May – Oompah pah Evening – a Bavarian Brass 4 piece “Oompah pah” band will provide the evening’s entertainment. Plenty of lederhosen, bratwurst, beer and audience participation!
To reserve a ticket for either event, please emailbookings.barnackca@gmail.com or contact Sally Hullock 07795 565658.
Barnack Cricket Club are also raising funds for the new Groundsman & Community Storage Building and bring you:
Friday 19th April – An Evening with Mark Saggers including a curry supper,kindly sponsored by Maharani’s restaurant in Market Deeping. See separate advert in this edition p12
Over 50% of the tickets have already been sold, so book early!
To reserve a ticket, please email guy.spragg@me.com

The Buttercross Club

On Wednesday, February 7th, it was the first meeting of the year for the club and was therefore our AGM. However, one of the villagers, Debbie Lines, kindly offered to give us a talk about her interest in the game of croquet and her success in this sport. We jumped at the chance to welcome her. We learnt that she had won the women’s world championship in New Zealand last January. A great achievement!
She told us that there are two versions of the game, golf croquet and association croquet. It is interesting that neither receive the publicity other sports get, but Wimbledon is still a lawn tennis and croquet club and the game is still played there. It is run on traditional lines. The ground is bigger than a tennis court but smaller than a bowling green. The hoops are made of cast steel and allow only one millimetre of clearance to get the ball through. The mallets used can be very expensive (the ones in the photograph we were shown cost about £500 each). The lawns are cut to 4 to 5 mm like a bowling green. To win a game a competitor must earn at least 26 points. Learning how to do croquet takes 2 hours for association croquet but less for golf croquet which is easier.(No one knows why it is called golf croquet).Debbie has been playing for this country since 1995 although she took a lengthy break of ten years from the game at the end of the 1990s. In November, 2023, she was captain of the team who went to the USA to play for the Soloman Trophy. Although they did not win it is a great achievement to have reached the finals. In January last year she was a competitor at the Women’s World Championship in Christ Church, New Zealand.
We watched a video of her playing in New Zealand. The game has a referee whose role is to check that the competitors adhere to the rules. Whilst we were watching the video Debbie told us that the mallets weighed about 3lb, that dry lawns make balls move faster and that it takes nine hours to complete a match. The conditions for the game are tougher in New Zealand than in this country. In London the hoops are in a softer and sandier base thus making it easier to get the balls through the hoops. Poor weather conditions can be a nightmare but play is only stopped if the lawn floods! A player could get all the way round without the opponent having a turn – but you can’t win that way!
Debbie told us her father taught her the game when she was six and the family was in an hotel in Cromer. She played croquet there until she was eighteen and the hotel closed down. We saw photographs of her playing and she passed around her gold medal which she had won in the Women’s Association Croquet World Championships.
There are 150 croquet clubs in England and about 300 tournaments. Central Park in Peterborough is our nearest croquet play area. Interestingly in Spain lots of golf clubs also have a croquet area. Debbie told us her husband is a better player than her and is Northern England champion. He has played for Great Britain and was in the 2010 winning team. There are world championships every four years. The Covid epidemic means the next ones will be in 2028.
Debbie’s talk was followed by AGM business. The club continues to have a loyal membership. We have lined up interesting talks/activities for 2024. It was lovely to see so many members despite the inclement weather. We welcome newcomers. It is £10 per annum to join, but occasionally a visit may involve additional costs. Our meetings are on the first Wednesday of the month from February onwards. We concluded a very pleasant evening with a quiz and refreshments. Our next meeting is on Wednesday, March 6th, at 7pm.

Love your lawn – this month we look into scarifying lawns

At the hall we scarify the formal lawn twice a year when mother nature permits.
Some of us may look out the window, at the pale yellow and pasty green carpet that is your lawn. Glints of light shimmer, as the moisture, never quite dries out at this time of year. The dog and children have made their mark; you may have even left a muddy path on the grass made by bringing the fire wood in over winter.
If your grass is thatching… that’s the yellow tinge you may be able to see, more worm casts than lawn to be honest, fear not. At this time of year, the Halls grass is sub par by our standards. This varies year to year, we have to work with the seasons & seize our opportunity working with the limestone and clay soils we have been blessed with in the village.
Types of soil base dramatically affect the natural drainage thus growth rates. Thatch patches are natural, so not to worry. Scarifying removes this and helps your lawn breathe.
What is thatch
Thatch is a layer of organic matter that accumulates on a lawn around the base of the grass plants, can cause a mossy and spongy lawn when it gets too thick as it prevents important nutrients such as water, fertiliser and oxygen penetrating to the grass roots. You can simply rejuvenate your garden with scarification which filters out the moss.
What actually is scarifying?
Scarifying is de-thatching essentially, removing dead grass, moss, and other matter from the surface of the lawn that prevents healthy grass growth.
David Hedges Gower, the chairman of the Lawn Association said:
“Scarifying prunes native grasses, allowing them to thicken back up all on their own. It then reduces thatch and moss levels to be able to get the best results from any moss control we may use.”
We believe that investing time in your lawn can help create a thick green sward for when it really matters. The formal lawn at the hall is more of a green carpet back drop for the Halls Grade two architecture. A strong green lawn allows the topiary to stand out. .
Is scarifying the same as raking a lawn?
Put simply no…. Raking removes the moss on the lawn, while scarification removes surface thatch, which is the root cause of the moss.
When is the best time to scarify a lawn?
We recommend March & April or September to October. Lighter scarification preferred in the spring. These months are generally when the grass is growing very strongly and naturally making recovery much faster (and greener too).
Size eights (Laura) medative approach…
Laura joined us last year and ‘bloody’ loves scarifying. After we have applied Mums secret home made mix to kill the moss usually two weeks later we find blackened moss patches. The ground should be warming up and drying out, this reduces dust and allows the blades to work their magic. Quick mow and collect and then with a precision of a naval fighter pilot, Laura strides in formation left and right at unique angle to maximise scarification.
Hard work pays dividends.
We are advocates of starting that lawn love in March. So once it’s the more formal gin o’clock in June, you can relax, possibly even gloat at your lush thick green lawn.
What do we do differently?
The weather is our mistress or master to be more ‘woke’. Developing the Halls gardens over the years has allowed us to choose garden tasks according to the days weather Picking that perfect day not to dry not too wet. Once scarification has achieved patches of bare soil, we apply unique mixes of sand soil, seed and according to what may be required. Sandy topsoil can go a long way towards balancing the PH & stimulating fresh growth for the new season. Alwyn, Edward, Laura and Ali