Buttsbury Excels again

As reported elsewhere on this website, we are delighted that both Buttsbury Primary and Quilters Junior School RotaKids clubs have won a Rotary “Excellence Award” (previously the Presidential Citation) from the Chair of the Rotary Board of Great Britain and Ireland, for their amazing community efforts. 

This year, Buttsbury again completed all eight challenges.  This is the fifth year in a row that they have won this award, and the second in a row that they have completed a clean sweep by completing all eight challenges!

The Whole School

On July 10, Immediate Past District Governor Mark Williamson went along to Buttsbury Primary School to present the officers of that RotaKids club and the RotaKids as a whole, with their Award.  DG Mark was accompanied by our Immediate Past President Stephen King, Membership Secretary Peter Strong and Youth Officer Peter Greene. 

As always, we were very impressed by the behaviour of the school children as approximately 500 of them filed into the hall for the weekly assembly, this week also celebrating the RotaKids’ achievement, and sat down in neat rows.  

A Very Special Achievement

Headteacher Ann Robinson started the proceedings telling the students about Rotary and then introduced District Governor Mark as the “boss of all the Rotary Clubs in the area”, and Immediate Past President Stephen as the “boss of the Rotary Club of Billericay”, and also the two other club members there, Peter Strong and Peter Greene.

Proceedings were then handed over to the District Governor, who joined Ann at the centre of the hall.  Ann then asked the officers of the RotaKids club (the core five) to come forward to join herself and D.G. Mark in the centre of the Assembly.  He started by congratulating the RotaKids for their very special achievement in being one of very few schools in the District or, even, in the whole of Great Britain and Ireland, to achieve this award, a recognition of their achievements over the year.

The children all listened in silence and rapt attention while he remarked that it was a pleasure to honour the RotaKids in front of so many smiling faces and read from the letter of congratulations from Rotary Great Britain and Ireland.  He then presented the President of the RotaKids with the Rotary Great Britain and Ireland Excellence Award.

The Hall then burst into applause in recognition of this achievement.  We congratulate them all.

Finale

The Officers and the Rotary visitors then left for the customary photographs, which were taken outside the front entrance in glorious sunshine.

Imagination ran Riot

But the day was special in another way too - it turned out that this was a Wacky Hair day and all children could come to school with a “Wacky” hair do in exchange for a small donation - another innovative school idea to raise funds for charity.

We were presented with exotic creations on all sides, as you can see in the attached images!