Parish Council Youth Culture Fund
Kessingland Parish Council and Kessingland Church of England Primary Academy, have joined together to organise a Youth Cultural Fund for Kessingland.
The aim of the fund is to give access to culture for the young people in the village but particularly those at the Primary Academy. The fund applies to all children equally and is used to give the opportunity for all children to go on school trips each year linked to their curriculum. In addition, funds allowing, it will also allow for cultural activities to be brought into the village.
The fund will aim to raise a minimum of £5000 a year. Proceeds from events run by the Parish Council will go into the fund and specific events will be organised to raise funds.
Cllr David Boyle, Chair of Kessingland Parish Council said “Our children are the future of the village and councillors feel that it is important that children today get both the fun and educational benefit that most of us enjoyed when we were at school. The council were unanimous in supporting this fund and agreed to start it off by putting in the initial £5000 to cover the first year of the fund and allow funds to be raised between now and September next year for the 2023-24 academic year.”
As part of the administration of the fund there is a meeting each term between the school, the Friends of the School and the Parish Council which reviews what has happened and considers what is coming up as well as liaising about other cultural opportunities in the village. The School Council also attends and are able to put forward any views that they have about culture in the village.
The school are incredibly grateful that the Parish Council has pledged so much support for our young people, especially during the current financial climate. We will be using the fund to subsidise trips so that all of our children continue to access the widest range of opportunities possible and we are really looking forward to fund raising in partnership with the Parish Council.
St Edmund’s Church – Raise the Roof Project
The children at Kessingland Church of England Primary Academy have been working with St Edmund’s Church to support the National Heritage Fund ‘Raise the Roof Project’. This strong community partnership has enabled the children to take part in different projects.
Bug Houses
Last year, the children created a bug house in the churchyard. The bug house continues to attract wildlife into the churchyard and is enjoyed by many in the community.
The churchyard also has a number of hedgehog boxes to provide a safe space for the hedgehogs to rest, hibernate and breed.
Raise the Roof Banner
A competition was held in school to design a banner to share with the community the ‘Raise the Roof’ project. The banner was designed by one of our Year 6 pupils and sits proudly on the scaffolding and the entrance to St Edmund’s Church.
Children’s Guide to St Edmund’s Church
Although St Edmund’s Church is currently closed, when it re-opens there will be a wonderful children’s guide available for visitors. Our Year 5 pupils, have created a visitor’s guide full of information about different parts of the church and wonderful drawings.
The pupils visited St Edmund’s Church to complete their own research and find out more from Reverend Mandy. They also took digital photographs to use to help them create accurate drawings.
We can’t wait for visitors to start enjoying our guide to St Edmund’s Church!
Broadcasts
Throughout the project, a group of pupils have created their own broadcasts sharing with the local community and beyond, the progress of the ‘Raise the Roof’ project. There are three broadcasts in total and these have been shared on You Tube, Social Media and other platforms.
Wildlife Art Work
Kessingland Church of England Primary Academy continues to be involved and they have just completed some incredible artwork depicting the wildlife in Kessingland churchyard. The art work will be displayed in the newly purchased display boards. The display will be ever changing and allow the school to showcase the partnership with the Church to the wider community.
Time Capsule
The new roof project is a moment in history for the village of Kessingland. The Church has been in the community since 1436 and we hope with the new roof it will be protected and part of the village for many years to come. The School Council have created a time capsule that shows what Kessingland Church of England Primary Academy and the Kessingland community was like in 2023. The time capsule will be hidden in the rafters of the new roof to be found in the future.
