EXTRA CURRICULAR ACTIVITY

moulsecoomb primary school
As a governor at Moulsecoomb Primary School for over a decade I’ve seen the chipping away of school budgets. It’s got to the point where it is national news; with all headteachers complaining that they haven’t got enough money to deliver the education that all our children deserve. At our school we have lost nearly£200,000 in the last four years – with another £210,000 to follow.
I was invited to help out atMoulsecoomb Primary when former head, Mr Davies, was transforming the school grounds. He strongly believed that the outdoor environment was as powerful a way of teaching children as inside the classroom. The school havewon countless awards whilst giving Moulsecoomb pupils an amazing space to learn and have fun. His legacy continues and thanks to a change in the history curriculum, primary schools from all over Sussex are now paying to come to the school for the day to learn about pre-history.
But these grounds and ageing school buildings cost money. We are also in an area where thousands of students reside in what were once family homes, which means less pupils for our school and so less money. So what do we get rid of? Community worker who is worth her weight in gold finding grants for all the extras that happen in the school, the family worker and support staff who help children in and out of the classroom. Teachers? After school clubs? Trips?
For the past couple of years governors and staff have been working on ways to not just shout about the school’s work to encourage more parents to choose Moulsecoomb Primary, but also to help plug some of these funding gaps. Recently East Brighton Trust agreed to give £10,000 to the school every year for three years. This ‘enrichment’ grant will help support activities like the breakfast club, after school club, trips and paying for organisations to visit us. These are some of the activities that enrich our pupils education and give them a better start in life. Last week building firm Rivers Birtwell came in for a week and transformed our tired old computer room. Little Green Pig have run free story telling workshops, Brighton and Hove Food Partnership run cooking demonstrationsand Brighton University painted a mural in our Reading zone. moulsecoomb primary school 
Rivers Birtwell, Mr.Sutton and children in our freshly decorated computer room

Our parents group PAGE continue to fundraise and in the past few years have bought books for the whole school, outside play equipment, drums for the Samba band, had the hall painted and decked out with new curtains and had an outside building put up to remember Mr.Davies. Parents also help with everything from fixing the flat tyres on the wheelbarrows to taking professional photos for our website. We had an anonymous donation so a year six class could go ice-skating, while the other year six class were treated to the i360 and free lunch – thanks to a generous offer from The New Club restaurant along the seafront. We’ve had grants from British Science Association to run Science Week events, National Lottery Awards for All to run cooking clubs for children and parents and to buy new computer equipment, and Heritage Lottery Funding to help maintain our unique houses as well as free rail tickets for art week winners to visit galleries in London.
summer fayre

Summer fayre in our stunning school grounds

We’re lucky to be so close to the AMEX stadium and Albion in the Community seem to be in the school everyday. Promotion to the Premier League will be even better! We are also lucky to have become one of Sustrans flagship bike schools with children learning to fix bikes, cycle and of course making fruity drinks from our very own smoothie bike. It was parents, staff and some pupils who built our bike pump track. 

science week

Painting with crushed up charcoal during Science Week

We look for companies to sign up to Team Building days to help with painting or maintaining the garden and every year Brighton College students come and do a days volunteering while Concordia volunteers spend two weeks in the school every summer voluntering.
Thanks to a number of grants from Peoples HealthTrust, Sussex Community Foundation and Southover Manor Trust we’ve been slowly transforming the old tarmac playground behind the Learning Mentors building. It now has a pond, raised beds and a heated greenhouse and hotbox where we have just sown what surely must be the first ever melons grown in the school as well as tomatoes, peppers and squashes. 

seeds

Seed sowing Sweet Banana peppers!

So as you can see, we work hard to bring in money and resources that the school can’t afford – and that don’t come from the main schools budget.
I don’t want the school leadership team worrying about broken toilets and not being able to afford the best teachers but concentrating on making sure pupils get the education they deserve. So if you think you have something to offer pop in and see Lucy or Lana or me – with more cuts around the corner our school needs parents to get involved more than ever.
 
Warren Carter
Moulsecoomb Primary School governor/parent

* Save our Schools have organised a meeting this Thursday 30th March to organise against these education cuts https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/save-our-schools-launch-party-tickets-33044491965