The Christmas Fayre
Written by Imaan Azam (House Captain and Year 13 student), edited by Mrs Meredith (Head of Community and Events).
With Christmas almost upon us, it is a good time to reflect on an event that has become an important part of the school calendar; on the first of the month, Ridgeway School hosted our annual Christmas Fayre. We pulled out all the stops, decorating the school hall to transform the atmosphere and, although we spent much longer than we should have untangling lights, and some of us were impractically short, it all came together just in time.
On the day, there were many stalls; from lots of pretty jewellery pieces to the cool stand that was dishing out £5 mystery boxes which could get you anything from a gonk to Himalayan carpet salts. There was also an adorable crochet stand, with the cutest little things like dinosaur keyrings, an art prints stand, and other various stalls selling fantastic hand-crafted items – something for everyone.
The school’s PTA, FOR:CE (Friends of Ridgeway: Community and Events) ran a number of their own stalls; 3 different tombolas (normal, chocolate and teddy), a uniform stand, face painting, a raffle and a refreshments stall. All of these were also run by a mixture of our own wonderful students. Whilst battling the ever-present temptation to buy things we definitely did NOT need, but wanted, we also made it to Santa’s Grotto, where we got to meet the big man himself.
The highlight of the day was the raffle. Right at the end, we sat in the hall as all the raffle prizes were announced (as much as they could be with the initially dodgy microphone). Some people had bought so many tickets that they won multiple times!
Moral of the story? If you attend a Ridgeway School Christmas fayre and don’t end up buying at least a tombola or raffle ticket, did you even really go. Whilst everyone managed to leave with their wallets still intact (just about), the PTA raised approximately £1400 to be spent on enhancing the educational experience of our students.
But… the real Christmas miracle… was that I was inspired to maybe even run my own little stand at the next fayre.
The Ultimate Spelling Bee: Where Even the Judges are Sweating...
Written by Imaan Azam (House Captain and Year 13 student), edited by Mrs Meredith (Head of Community and Events).
Nothing is as nerve-wracking as a Spelling Bee, especially when you’re competing for your house and you have been given a word longer than your summer holidays. This year, not only was there the heat of spelling words like ‘kaleidoscope’ (which multiple house captains struggled with last year), but you did it with the unrelenting gaze of your respective house captain. I respect the efforts each student went to, turning up to represent.
Initially, students had competed within their mentor groups, listening to Mr Cairns read out 20 words on a PowerPoint presentation, and attempting to spell as many of them correctly as possible. The winner from every Year 7-10 mentor group earned 5 merits each, and went through to the next round, held in the hall. In the semi-finals, each year group then sat at the front, with their whiteboards and pens in hand, raring to go and ready to compete. The buzz (intentional play on words here) in the room was fantastic, with all other competitors acting as the audience (and many getting caught up in attempting words that weren’t theirs!) After spelling 5 words, the house captains checking each word and Mrs Meredith scoring, one person from each year group then went through to the very final round.
At one point, the House Captains were roped into a round to balance the numbers (with me getting a sensational 5/5, may I add) in which words like ‘cantankerous’ were thrown about. Unfortunately, Mr Cairns did NOT provide definitions, no matter how much I asked. Considering the words looked like he had just put out some random scrabble tiles (to me) I think it went well.
Mrs Meredith would not let us go without being the excellent role models and house captains that we are, and challenged us to a House Captain ‘Spell-off’. Oli Keel, Kacper Dekert, Emily Francis and I went head-to-head, each representing our Houses; Oli repping Avebury, Kacper on for Barbury, I spelt for Kennet, and Emily for Silbury. It was a questionable start, with none of us spelling biostratification correctly, but it soon became a standoff between Emily and me. Friends since Year 10, this rivalry could have marked the end of our friendship, but it didn’t, because in the words of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. (I still won though, because Emily can’t spell versatile).
All in all, this was yet another fantastic and competitive House Event where the participants earned valuable merits for both them and their respective houses. However, I know you are keen to know the results of the final. I thought it was over from the word ‘blancmange’. Kacper and I looked at each other, thinking the final words wouldn’t go well, but Esther pulled it out of the bag to spell ‘impromptu’, taking the win for Silbury.
A special shout out to the 4 finalists, who went up against each other to find the ultimate speller, after winning their year group semi-final (and gaining 10 merits each in total). The runners up were Odelia Frimpong (10B1), Ethan D'Mello (7S3) and Flynn Wright (9A2). And our overall winner (getting 15 merits in total), was Esther Boolaky-Moore (8S2), who will get to practice her spelling skills with her prize – Boggle and Bananagrams!
Food Bank - Donating Items to Those in Need...
Written by Imaan Azam (House Captain and Year 13 student), edited by Mrs Meredith (Head of Community and Events).
It was especially busy, working in the ‘Shed’ in centre court, over the last 2 weeks. Having been encouraged by Mrs Meredith, students were not just borrowing stationery items, but were bringing donations for the local Food Bank. I was truly baffled but also impressed with the sheer amount of food and toiletries being handed in. That being said, it was inspiring to see the dedication amongst students, managing to not smash glass coffee jars in their bags (although one bag of sugar didn’t fare too well). I do recall some jars being larger than the Year 7s bringing them, however they didn’t let that stop them.
As the ‘Shed’ executive manager, I was tasked with quickly organising the products, and can confirm we filled many large crates. Have you ever tried building a pyramid out of canned goods? It’s honestly comparable to Jenga or Tetris but with bean tins and soup cans. It’s lucky that I work in retail and pack bags for a living. Anyway, you begin with naïve ambitions: architectural mastery, advanced designs and arches that could rival the Arc De Triomphe De Carabobo. Unfortunately, you soon realise that all the different shapes and sizes don’t line up as neatly as the neat rows in a pure solid (pretend chemistry is relevant because that’s the science I do an A-Level in, not physics). All of a sudden, your commitment is crumbling, and your pyramid can only be described as culinary chaos, BUT… it is the effort that counts.
After collecting and sorting all the donations, we passed them on to the Swindon Food Collective, who were elated to have received so many contributions for their cause. The opportunity to give back doesn’t come up as often as it should, and so we should help out in the little ways we can. What we take for granted could be something very necessary to someone else and so if we can give them that little luxury, we should. Thank you to everyone who donated items – it is so good to give back to, and be part of, our local community.
If you, or someone you know, could need the help of Swindon Food Collective. your local food bank, please check their website https://www.swindonfoodcollective.org/. They are an independent charity that aims to help people in Swindon, or the surrounding area, who are suffering from financial hardship and finding it difficult to provide food for themselves, their family or dependants.
