As term 5 draws to a close, celebrations for the Queen's Jubilee were well underway this week across our family of schools. We've shared below just a few of the wonderful events and activities that have been taking place!

Congratulations to the pupils and staff at St Mary's Primary, Whitstable for being awarded the Gold School Games Mark for 2021/22!

The School Games Mark is a government led awards scheme launched in 2012 to reward schools for their commitment to the development of competition across their school and into the community. Participating in this process allows schools to evaluate their PE provision and assists them in developing an action plan for future progress.

Well done to all at St Mary's for this fantastic achievement!

Pupils at St Augustine's Primary have created a wonderful dedication (pictured below) to Mary, our mother, during this May - the month of Mary. 

We are so proud of the Mental Health Wellbeing Team and the Equality Ambassadors at St Edmund's. The school community came together during Mental Health Week (09 - 15 May 2022) to raise money for the Mental Health Foundation; pupils and staff held a cake sale and a non-uniform day, they raised a fantastic total of £380.00. Well done, everyone!

Judges have awarded the first prize in the inaugural Anthony Buckingham Memorial History Competition to St Peter’s Primary School in Sittingbourne, with the second-place spot going to Bobbing School. The competition, which was launched in January this year to commemorate local resident Anthony Buckingham, generated plenty of interest from local primary schools giving the judges a difficult job.  

Judges included Anthony Buckingham’s wife and daughter who together created the prize, and representatives from the Sittingbourne Heritage Museum (SHM). They were delighted to be joined on judging day by the new leader of Swale Council, Cllr Mike Baldock who has always championed local heritage.

The panel considered all the entries last week before voting unanimously in favour of St Peter’s Primary to win the overall prize of £400, noting that it had woven elements of local heritage into the history studies for every year group, each of which had studied a different topic including Victorians, Tudors, WWII, and barge making, all with associated visits, and even an in-school Tudor feast featuring Henry VIII!  

Allen Whitnell, Chair of SHM commented that “a lot of fun had clearly been had, and many discoveries had been made regarding history in our own locality.” The school noted that the children had so much fun doing this local work that St Peter’s is considering making a local history element a permanent part of History studies in the school.

Anthony Buckingham’s daughter Christina Davis explained “we loved looking through all the entries. Schools have been so hard-pressed through Covid that there was a distinct chance that no-one would have the time or capacity to enter but we were all delighted to see the interest and enthusiasm shown for the idea. All the teachers told us how enthused the pupils had been to study the history of their own town – my father would have loved it so it’s mission accomplished for us!”

Pupils at St Augustine's Primary in Tunbridge Wells have joined CAFOD's new food campaign 'Step up to the Plate', and are urging the UK government to keep the promises it made at the COP26 climate talks last year and support agricultural systems that tackle the climate crisis, as well as putting local communities first.

You can find out more about the campaign and how you too can support it here.

The Trust is very proud to announce that St Edward's Primary in Sheerness has been awarded one of the KM Charity Team's highest awards: the Green Travel Mark - Platinum Level.

This prestigious award has been earned by the school during the current academic year, as a result of their participation in the KM Walk to School scheme. Pupils, parents & carers, and staff have made an incredible, sustained effort to reduce their car use travelling to and from the school.

Well done, everyone!