Centenary Day - May 26th

It was a glorious day on Saturday.  We could not have asked for more beautiful weather as we gathered to celebrate our Centenary Day.


The Headmaster, Mr Stephen Ilett, and our local MP, Mr Dominic Raab, formally welcomed everyone and planted our centenary tree (a beautiful acer) on the back lawn.

 

The Hall was entirely full of archive material, which Mrs Bawden has meticulously gathered together over the past twelve months, framed and put on display to provide a chronological history of the school .

Whole school photographs, report cards, school caps, awards, presentations, letters, formal documents,sporting achievements, school magazines.....


For those who didn't manage to attend the opening of the exhibition on Saturday, it is still all on  view and you are more than welcome to visit during the coming weeks.  Please just inform the School Office in advance if you would like to do so .

Our email address is office@milbournelodge.co.uk

Centenary Day was always going to provide a unique opportunity for parents, staff and pupils past and present to meet.

It was also wonderful to meet Old Milbournians who had been pupils even before Norman Hale became involved with the school.  It was  hugely appreciated that both Mr Tim Hale and Mr Philip Bailey joined us : representing the Hale family.

There is far too much archive material for me to do it justice in a few short lines : it needs to be viewed to appreciate the rich history of the school.

We've also recently discovered that a current pupil is a direct descendant of the Frewen family who built our school building as their family home during the 1870s.

During the 1990s Norman Hale was interviewed for a short video called 'Reach Higher', with footage of the school as it was then.  Total runtime is 27 mins. 

We played this footage on Saturday.  Quite a few people have since asked for a DVD copy of this production. They are now available at a cost of £5 each.  

 Please email sybil.cary@milbournelodge.co.uk if you would like to order a copy, and allow up to 14 days for delivery if we are posting it to you.  

Further photographs of the day can be found on our Flickr channel.  Click here to access it www.flickr.com/photos/mlcreative

Finally the ever-popular digital photography competition ran throughout the day.

Pupils were invited to loosely interpret the themes ' 100 ' and 'Memories are Made of This'

The 1st Prize entries are shown here. The winning photographers were JeMin Lim and George Medd.

Memories are made of this....

100

RHS Presentation to our young gardeners...

The sun shone on Friday, and at lunchtime the whole school gathered in the warmth to work together on our Centenary Potager Garden and await the arrival of the Royal Horticultural Society representatives who were due to present Mrs Bawden with our plaque. This marks the fact that we have achieved all five benchmarks in the 'Campaign for Gardening in Schools' scheme.

A feat achieved by only a handful of schools to date, as was pointed out.

Having walked through the garden and looked carefully and closely at everything which has been planted in the beds this term, the presentation was made. When Mrs Bawden asked pupils to put up their hands if they had helped to plant and tend the garden over the months, every single hand was raised!

We also received heaps of praise for what was described 'as some of the best evidence to date to support a submission for the Level 5 benchmark' and an envelope of vouchers which can be spent to further enhance our garden.  The presentation formalities were completed by Eileen Willetts and Suzanne Love from the RHS, with Mrs Bawden and our Headmaster, Mr Ilett accepting the awards accompanied by a small group of pupils representing all those who  have worked so hard to achieve this project. 


When Mrs Bawden launched the scheme, at the start of this academic year, it was her intention to create a permanent outdoor learning area that can be used as a classroom and enjoyed by every year group. This she has achieved within a remarkably short space of time. The garden will form a lasting tribute to our centenary year.

Our congratulations to all our young gardeners : and their 'Head Gardener' Mrs Bawden!