Stapeley Broad Lane’s 54-strong KS2 choir won the Cheshire East Primary Choirs contest at Clonter Opera Theatre, near Homes Chapel.

And the school’s instrumental ensemble were also runners up in The Primary Ensembles category.

Stapeley won through several earlier rounds to compete in the final against St Mary’s Catholic Primary from Crewe and Bollington Cross Primary.

Broad Lane was the first to perform and sang “All for the Best” by Stephen Schwartz from Godspell, “Many Shades of Blue” by Christopher Williams, and “Make Me a Channel of Your Peace” from St Francis of Assisi/JS Temple.

And all three performances wowed the judges with proud coach Mrs Catherine Acklam looking on.

The Instrumental Ensemble played “The Flintstones” by Will H. Schaeffer, arr Terry Catherine; “Papageno’s Song” by Mozart arr Terry Catherine, and “Star Wars” by John Williams arr Carson Turner.

The Ensemble was accompanied by Victoria Palethorpe on the electric organ.

The winners in Ensemble category were Upton Priory Wind Band.

After all the performances the judges announced the result which produced great excitement among the pupils – they were then presented with the winners trophy to cap a fantastic night for the school.

The judging panel was internationally acclaimed saxophonist Rob Buckland, vocal and choral leader Nicola Howbrigg, and band manager of Foden’s Band Mark Wilkinson, one of the leading cornet players of his generation.

(Pic courtesy of David Spibey)

The shop was unveiled by award-winning Master Chef Brian Mellor during the Nantwich college’s Family Festival.

Products include freshly baked bread, cakes and quiches made in Reaseheath’s Food Centre by students.

The shop stocks Reaseheath’s own cheeses, butter and ice-cream, as well as seasonal vegetables, preserves, relishes and local meat products.

The outlet is staffed by students and is open to the public on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays between 12.30pm and 4.30pm.

Brian said: “I very much support the ethos of using local and seasonal products. I launched a young chef of the year competition 11 years ago expressly to encourage young chefs to use local ingredients.

“This has grown and now over 2,000 regional dishes have been created which predominantly use products grown or manufactured locally.

“The enterprise fits in very nicely with what Reaseheath teaches and produces on site. It makes perfect sense to have a farm shop on campus.”

Reaseheath head of food Toni-Anne Harrison said: “We created the shop to give students the opportunity to experience the demands of an actual retail environment.

“It allows them to appreciate first hand the emphasis that the supply chain puts on quality and consistency.

“From the college’s perspective the farm shop underpins one of our main values, which is to ensure that our students are fully prepared for work once they graduate.”

Brian Mellor has cooked for royalty and celebrities and has overseen dozens of chefs in busy restaurants. His latest venture is a cookery school in Harthill near Tattenhall.

For further details contact the Courses Hotline 01270 613242 or email enquiries@reaseheath.ac.uk

(Pic: Celebrity chef Brian Mellor at opening of Reaseheath Farm Shop with  Senior Patisserie and Bakery Technologist  Andy Dale)

Andrew Ross, head at Millfields Primary on Marsh Lane, said new “Attendance Award” weeks have helped to improve figures dramatically.

Nantwichnews revealed statistics last week that showed pupil absence at Millfields had dropped from 6.9% in 2010-11 to 4.9% in 2011-12 – the best improvement of any primary school in the area.

Mr Ross (pictured with pupils) said: “We have worked extremely hard to improve our attendance over the last year.

“Our improvement has been through the hard work of all the staff, parents and children to ensure they are in school every day on time.

“We have run Attendance Award weeks and terms to encourage better attendance at those times we have identified in previous years as bringing our attendance down.

“The fact that the children are pestering their parents to be in school even when they are ill has shown that we have changed the ethos of attendance in our school!

“Improved attendance results is improved progress for all children as they don’t miss out on the building blocks needed for successful learning.”

The figures showed absence rates for primary schools in Acton, Bridgemere, Highfields, Millfields, Pear Tree, Sound & District, St Anne’s, St Oswald’s Worleston, Stapeley Broad Lane, Weaver, Willaston, Wybunbury and Wyche.

There were a total of 16,301 session absences in 2011-12, which was an improvement on 2010-11 when 20,410 session absences were registered.

In 2009-10, this figure was 19,388, although pupil  numbers and possible sessions were lower in that year in all 13 schools.

Reaseheath College has been told it needs to shut the route, a link to the national Sustrans cycleway,  because of “increasingly stringent” regulations.

The cycleway was opened about 13 years ago so cyclists could enjoy the attractive grounds of the campus on the way to and from Nantwich.

Now Principal Meredydd David is in talks with Sustrans and town and parish councils about closing this and finding alternative routes.

“We regret having to make this decision and it has not been taken lightly,” he said.

“We will work with our immediate residents, who support the college, to ensure we can develop a process that will enable them to use the route as long as they have received CRB clearance and wear approved visitor identification.

“Regulations and guidance regarding safeguarding students are becoming increasingly stringent.

“It is of paramount importance that we ensure the safety and wellbeing of all 16 – 18 year olds who are in residence.

“This means controlling visitor access to our site. Having a permissive route through campus makes it impossible to meet the stringent care standards set for residential colleges.

“It is for this reason that I have started consultation with Sustrans, local residents and the town and parish councils to inform them that we will be giving notice to close this route.”

If proposals for the large Kingsley Fields development on Reaseheath land is given the go ahead, cycle routes linking into Sustrans national cycleway are likely to be included.

The college opened its Nantwich gardens and grounds for the annual event with hundreds of activities.

Spectators enjoyed demonstrations by celebrity chef Brian Mellor, football freestyler Craig Gorey and the Pen Llyn Lusitano classical dressage display team.

They also cheered on students as they competed in the many events across the campus.

Horticulture students raced to build a garden against the clock.

The winning garden, selected by public vote, was ‘Gone Fishing’, designed and built by Richard Hudson-Davies, Paul Byrne, Michael Nadin and Peter Roberts.

Agriculture students showed off their stockmanship skills in calf, pig and sheep shows.

Champion handler in the calf show was Lizzie Mercer, followed by Kirsty Pickles, Molly Taylor, James Raven, Fiona Birtles and Megan Baldwin.

Champion sheep handler was Amy Champ, Scott Davies second and Isabelle Goodwin third.

Tom Bird was 1st in the Young Shepherd competition, beating James McKenzie and Richard Bailey.

Champion pig handler was Phil Gleave, with Lucy Culwick, Dewi Hughes and Jack Jones also taking top placings.

A fun dog show incorporating agility and novelty classes attracted record entries.

Best in show went to Dixie, a 15-week old Staffordshire bull terrier cross belonging to 17 year-old Lily Mason, a Reaseheath animal management student.

Student Association members raised money for their RAG appeal in aid of Broughton House, which provides specialist care for ex-service personnel.

Animal Management students raised several hundred pounds for the Blue Cross animal charity with a “Paws for Tea” stand laden with cakes and decorated with bunting.

Local Nantwich stores M&S and Morrisons donated tea bags andfood for the event.

Entertainment in the main marquee included local rock band Hex, Nantwich punk band Lost in Space, St Anne’s Catholic Primary School Choir, Nantwich, Celtica Irish dance school and Miss Caroline’s School of Dance, Crewe.

The action-packed programme also featured a flying demonstration of birds from the International Centre for Birds of Prey, a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, sheep shearing, a farmers’ and craft market, horse riding displays, tours of the college’s zoo and food centre, a high ropes course and climbing wall, archery, miniature train rides and the change to drive diggers and go karts.

Festival Organiser Faye Thomson-Butt said: “Reaseheath’s Family Festival always attracts thousands of visitors and this year was no exception despite the disappointing weather.

“It was a great opportunity to show the public the achievements of our students. Everyone seemed to enjoy our exciting programme and we had a lot of compliments about the high standard of our facilities and about the range of courses we offer.”

Children are invited to take part in a competition to mark the launch of the M&S Company Archive eLearning Hub.

Called ‘Advertise the Archive’, children aged seven to ten can create a piece of print or broadcast advertising using archive resources from the new eLearning site.

The eLearning site, created in partnership with the online research and teaching resource “My Learning”, will be available to schools around the country free.

It will include archive material from the company’s 129-year history, from wartime records and images to information on how budding entrepreneur Michael Marks took a penny bazaar stall and built it into a high street giant in partnership with Tom Spencer.

Resources cover subjects including history, science, technology, home economics, maths and English and comprise multimedia, documents, tasks and games split out by key stage.

Content on the site will be transferable onto interactive whiteboards and is available across Key Stages 2, 3 and 4.

The winning piece of advertising will be displayed in the temporary exhibition space at the M&S Company Archive in Leeds, as well as featuring on the homepage of the new eLearning Hub, and will be used to promote the archive both online and to schools.

The winner will receive an M&S Company Archive experience session for their class. Runners up will have their work on display at the Archive.

Alison Houston, head of the M&S Company Archive, said: “Entrants must demonstrate the range of content available through the Hub and how key milestones in the company’s history are relevant to the subjects they study at school.

“We are really looking forward to seeing the creative ideas of the nation and we look forward to meeting the lucky winners.”

To enter, children must submit their piece of advertising to marksintime@grayling.com no later than Friday May 31.

Marks & Spencer opened its new Simply Food store on Beam Street, Nantwich, last month.

Horticulture students moved four 10-year-old yew trees from the town square which were blocking views of the town’s historic buildings.

The trees have been replanted in a more suitable position alongside St Mary’s Parish Church.

The central, semi-circular bed will be redesigned by garden design students from the Nantwich college, who will then hand the project back to the horticulture students.

The bed will be built up and replanted with perennials and some annuals, with the students aiming to complete the planting in June in time to impress the judges.

They will also join Nantwich in Bloom volunteers busy ensuring the town’s flower beds, tubs and baskets are in top condition.

In an innovation this year, students will label new and established plants so townsfolk can learn more about different varieties.

Students have also helped the new Rector at St Mary’s, the Rev Canon Dr Barry Wilson, to improve other areas around the church.

Horticulture course leader Anthony Saxon, a committee member for Nantwich in Bloom, said: “As a college we encourage our students to get involved with their local community.

“The new design and planting scheme should provide a colourful, eye-catching centre-piece which will be enjoyed by Nantwich’s residents and visitors.

“Hopefully, it will also earn full marks during the judging of Nantwich in Bloom.

“The bed has quite heavy shade, so we will be quite specific about the new planting.”

Nantwich has won national and regional accolades in Britain in Bloom in previous years, culminating in a silver gilt award in 2012 in the most competitive ‘town’ category.

Secretary of Nantwich in Bloom Sue Hughes said: “We are delighted that Reaseheath’s horticulture and garden design students have become so involved with the scheme this year.

“With their help we have been able to take on more demanding projects around the town. We hope that the improvements we are making will lead us to even more success this year.”

But attendance has improved in all but two primary schools in the area in the last three years, according to statistics.

Figures obtained by Nantwichnews under Freedom of Information reveal overall attendance rates for 13 schools.

These are Acton, Bridgemere, Highfields, Millfields, Pear Tree, Sound & District, St Anne’s, St Oswald’s Worleston, Stapeley Broad Lane, Weaver, Willaston, Wybunbury and Wyche.

Amazingly, the 16,301 session absences last year is an improvement on 2010-11, when 20,410 session absences were registered.

In 2009-10, this figure was 19,388, although pupil  numbers and possible sessions were lower in that year in all 13 schools.

Millfields showed the greatest improvement in pupil attendance in 2011-12 compared to the previous year.

In 2010-11, there were 3,090 registered absences – 6.9% of the overall number of sessions.

However, staff worked hard to reduce this to just 1,995 absence sin 2011-12, down to 4.9%.

And Millfields was the only school to crackdown on unauthorised absence, with four Fixed Penalty Notice warning letters being sent out to parents last year.

Pear Tree School in Stapeley registered the best attendance figures for 2011-12, with 2.6% absence rate out of the 45,612 sessions available.

Mary Hennessey Jones, headteacher at Pear Tree, said: “We are lucky we have great relationships with our parents and they are all very supportive.

“We ring up first thing if a child isn’t in, I stand outside and ring the bell sometimes to chivvy up any latecomers.

“I write to parents if the attendance is slipping below 95% and we check the levels every half term.

“Staff tell me if any child is regularly late and we work with parents if there are problems getting children in on time. The schools share a Family worker who helps with this too. All follow the advice given by the Educational Welfare Officers at Cheshire East and I’m a bit of a stickler about it.

“Sometimes I know I upset people by challenging them but it makes them think twice before they keep a child off.

“The most important issue though is to make school so worthwhile the children themselves don’t ever want to miss a day.

“We try to make every day a learning adventure and keep the curriculum rich and interesting.”

Wyche Primary had the highest absence figure last year, with 5.7% of absences among the 29,077 pupil sessions available.

Two schools where absence rose compared to 2010-11 were Sound & District, up from 841 absences (2.8%) to 923 (3.3%), and Wybunbury Delves, up from 1,379 (3%) to 1,625 (3.8%).

The statistics released by Cheshire East Council are for all absences. The authority says only individual schools hold information on how many absences were classed as “unauthorised”.

However, in 2011-12 three schools referred absence issues to the local authority – Pear Tree, St Oswald’s Worleston and Wyche.

There are two sessions in each school day, morning and afternoon, when register is taken.

Schools with higher pupil numbers will have more school sessions possible across the year.

See below for overall 2010-11 and 2011-12 figures:

A Las Vegas RAG Ball, a 665-mile static cycle challenge, a raft race on the college lake, a tractor pull and a sponsored dog walk were among activities enjoyed by students at the Nantwich college.

So far students and staff have raised £4,500 for their 2013 charity Broughton House – a care home for ex-servicemen and women from all areas of the armed forces.

They are hoping extra activities from now until the end of term will help reach their final target of £7,500.

Members of Reaseheath’s Student Association put together a programme of activities which appealed to all students.

Other activities included collections from shoppers in Nantwich, Crewe, Liverpool, and Manchester, an army themed fancy dress pub crawl, a beer, barbecue and football day, car washes, a slave auction, leg waxing, a beer barrel race, a staff versus students football match and a sponsored ‘stay awake’ for one night.

Students and their dogs also enjoyed a one and a half mile army-themed sponsored walk round the college grounds.

They will continue fund-raising at Reaseheath’s Family Festival on Sunday May 12 and at the Cheshire Show in June.

RAG chair Sam Norfolk, 19, said: “This year we cycled the equivalent of the journey between two big European capitals which were central to the World Wars.

“As well as raising money for a worthy cause we are also encouraging our students to think about the armed forces which are currently engaged in action abroad. Many of these soldiers are the same age as us.”

Chris Thomas, chief executive of Broughton House, said: “I am amazed at the funds already raised by Reaseheath students for Broughton House and delighted they will continue to support us throughout 2013.

“Reaseheath College’s drive to support military charities should serve as an example to students in other colleges. They have not forgotten those who served and it is very much appreciated by all who live and work at Broughton House.”

(Pic: Student Association members Chris Heggarty, Nicola Chambers,  Elen Griffin and Sam Norfolk)

Children from schools across the town entered the competition run by Nantwich Museum, on Pillory Street.

And Crewe & Nantwich MP Edward Timpson was on hand to present the prizes and certificates.

A lot of the work is now on display at the museum as Nantwich’s finest young artists show off their amazing talents.

And the winner of Year 3 and the overall winner was Molly Barnett, a pupil at Acton Church of England Primary School, with her Fire of Nantwich 1583 picture.

All the prize winners are as follows:
Harvey Holt, Reception Winner Sound and District; Kirsten Sayers, Year 1 Winner Acton; Akira Taylor-Vyse, Year 2 Winner Acton; Molly Barnett, Year 3 Winner Acton; Alice Ford, Year 4 Winner Acton; Jack Edwards, Year 5 Winner Acton; Olivia McGhie, Year 6 Winner Wyche.

School Winners were Lizzy Ruth Edwards, Audlem St James’s; Olivia McGhie, Wyche; Tallulah Batley, Acton; Libbi Sykes, Stapeley Broad Lane; William West, Millfields; Ellie Luke, Highfields; and Freya Graham, Sound and District.

The competition, organised by the Rotary Club of Nantwich, was judged by two local artists.

“Historic Nantwich” was the theme and the artwork provided an interpretation of the history of the town and an impressive and informative exhibition with something of interest for everyone.

About 100 of the more than 300 pictures entered are on display at the museum until Saturday May 25.

Contact Nantwich Museum at enquiries@nantwichmuseum.org.uk, call 01270 627104, visit www.nantwichmuseum.org.uk

Davison will be joined by world class showjumper Michael Whitaker and international three-day eventer Alex Hua Tian.

The trio will be providing the best competition tips at a masterclass at Reaseheath’s Equestrian Centre on Thursday May 16.

The event, expected to attract a capacity crowd, is being held in partnership with Martin Collins Enterprises, which provided and installed the competition surface in Reaseheath’s indoor arena.

During the evening Richard, Michael and Alex will demonstrate their personal strategies for keeping horses motivated during competition season. They will ride several different horses, from novice to advanced.

Davison represented GB at four Olympic Games – London 2012, Atlanta, Sydney and Athens.

He is Britain’s leading international dressage rider, a European silver and bronze medallist, a former British National Champion and a five-times World Cup finalist.

Whitaker has competed successfully for over 30 years on the international circuit, and has won 11 team medals at championship level, three of them gold.

Alex Hua Tian galloped into the public eye when he became the youngest event rider ever to compete at an Olympics. He represented China at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 when he was just 18 years old.

Alex Goldsack, of Martin Collins Enterprises, said: “We have an excellent relationship with Reaseheath and are delighted to be holding this event in the college’s exceptional facilities.

“We have selected riders from all three disciplines to show how they work their horses during the competition season and how techniques cross over between these disciplines.

“All of our riders are real professionals who will appeal to a wide audience. We feel those attending will have an enjoyable evening and learn a great deal.”

Reaseheath’s head of equine Caroline Booth added: “Spectators will have a rare opportunity to see three different but equally talented riders demonstrating the skills which have taken them to the very top of their sport.”

The event is on Thursday May 16 from 6.30pm, doors open 5.45pm.

Tickets are £20 adults, £15 students / under 18s.

For details contact Becky Erskine on 01270 616497 or email rebeccae@reaseheath.ac.uk

Mark Hardy, student services coordinator at Reaseheath College, ran in aid of North West Air Ambulance (NWAA) and hopes to raise £2,000.

A veteran of three previous marathons – London 2009 and 2012 and Rome 2010 – he completed the race in just over five hours.

Mark said: “Being among 38,000 other runners is such an amazing feeling. The atmosphere at the London Marathon is unbelievable and the crowd really carries you along.”

Mark was also one of a team of five amateur cyclists who cycled from London to Paris at Easter to raise money for the NWAA.

The team included three other staff members from Reaseheath College, agriculture lecturer Natalie Gascoyne, assistant student services manager Greg Otto and safeguarding officer Lionel Smith.

They were joined by Richard Chadwick, a lifeguard from Crewe.

The ride covered 260 miles and took four days, with the team battling gale force winds and long uphill climbs. They raised around £1,200 in sponsorship.

Mark is hoping to raise a further £1,000 for the NWAA later in the year when he tackles a sponsored back to back climb of the three Peaks of Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdonia.

In all he hopes to be able to hand over £3,000 from his personal fundraising to the charity by the end of June.

Mark’s interest in the NWAA began when it was selected as Reaseheath’s RAG (raising and giving) charity in 2011.

He said: “The North West Air Ambulance provides a service which can literally mean the difference between life and death for injured or seriously ill people.

“I was so inspired by the work that it does that I vowed to continue to support it through fundraising.”

This year’s college charity is Broughton House, a care home for ex-servicemen and women of all ages and from all areas of the armed forces.

Supporters can donate to Mark’s charity fundraising at justgiving.com/mh-sos

(Pic: Mark Hardy shows off his London Marathon medal)