Involvement with Green Oaks Primary Academy

The Rotary Club of Northampton & Green Oaks Primary Academy

The Rotary Club’s involvement with the school dates back some considerable time. The first occasion was when children from the special needs unit were invited to spend a day at Wickstead Park, Kettering as part of a national annual event that now sees around 35,000 children participate at their local theme park  on the second Wednesday in June. The event, Kids Out, is organised by Rotary and started in 1990. The Northampton Club has been involved almost from the very start. This year on 8th June the club sponsored 80 children from Green Oaks and Northgate schools, but from  the clubs within Rotary District 1070 some 2,000 children in total were there enjoying all the fun of the rides, splendid cloudless skies and plenty of sunshine. How wonderful to put such a big smile on the faces of children that have to contend with so many challenges on a daily basis! Rotarians, teachers and other helpers increased the number attending the event by another 1,000. Altogether that’s a lot of coaches, cars and mini busses just to get everyone to Wickstead.

Some three years ago we decided that we wanted to become more involved with the school, and when they wanted six large planters built, we went into action and produced them - each in a different colour of the rainbow.  Two resonance boards were also made to the schools specifications.

Shortly afterwards the school asked if we could help replenish the children’s library. The children voted on the titles of the books that they wanted to read and ultimately some 80 books were purchased by the club and presented to the school - David Walliams being a firm favourite.

In 2015 the children from the special needs unit were invited to spend an evening at The Hub at Riverside, an indoor activity centre that provides a wide range of fun activities in a safe environment. Of course the evening would not have been complete without a hot meals and drinks. A planned repeat of this outing is scheduled for this coming winter.

In line with most schools there is always a need for more adults to help children to develop their reading skills, and when asked c12 Rotarians decided to assist and a rota was established. Week by week, month by month it is great to see how well their reading skills and understanding of the text improves. It’s good for the children and good for the Rotarians who get so much pleasure from their involvement.

Finally, the most recent project was to build a mud kitchen for the youngest members of the school. Although these structures are usually made from old pallets, our own in house architect decided to build a designer version from predominantly decking boards that would be an all-weather structure. Pots, pans, mixing bowls and utensils were purchased to complete the kitchen and it now proudly stands in the playground. Oh to be a kid again!