Agenda

Annual Vestry Meeting of Holy Trinity ChurchHeld on Sunday 24th. April 2016 at 12.30pm.

(With bring and share lunch)

1/ To elect 2 Churchwardens

2/ Election of PCC Members for the coming year

Annual Parochial Church Meeting of Holy Trinity ChurchHeld on Sunday 17th. April 2016 at 12.40pm.

1/ Opening Prayer

2/ Apologies

3/ Minutes of the APCM held on April 2015

4/ Election of 2 Deanery Synod Members

5/ Reports a/ Clergy

b/ Churchwardens

c/ Fabric

d/ Secretary

e/ Finance

f/ Deanery Synod

g/ Electoral Roll

h/ Children and families Work

i/ House Groups

j/ Flower Arranging Group

k/ Saturday Morning Tea/Coffee

l/ Wednesday Tea Parties

m/ Mother’s Union

n/ Church Mice

o/ Traidcraft

p/ Holy Trinity School

Minutes

Minutes of the APCM held at Holy Trinity Church on

19th April 2015 at 12.45

Annual Vestry Meeting

Laura and Ken were re-elected unanimously as Churchwardens. Revd. Gaenor thanked them for their hard work over last year.

Sidespeople for next year: Mary Bramwell, Ann Robinson, Ann Rasmussen, Paul & Liz Rogers, Di Gorringe, Sandra Taylor, Frieda Cook & Roger Gillingham. All of these were unanimously accepted.

APCM

The meeting was opened with a prayer from Revd. Gaenor Hockey

Apologies: Peggy Warren, Mary Bramwell & Di Marsh.

Present: There were 28 Members present.

Minutes: The Minutes of the APCM held on 6th April 2014 were agreed.

Deanery Synod: Howard Gorringe & Sandra Taylor have 2 years remaining to serve. Formally approved for the coming year.

PCC: Roger Gillingham , Maria Thompson, Liz Rogers, Maggie Billing & Glen Hall in addition to the Statutory Roles were elected unopposed.

Reports

(a) Revd. Gaenor gave a brief summary of the Clergy Report, giving thanks to Howard & Di for the Link sheets and Magazine. Julian & George were also thanked for their hard work as well. A special thank you was made to Laura for her fund raising efforts.

(b) (c) (d) Ken requested any questions on the Churchwardens, Fabric & Secretaries reports. None were raised.

(e) Paul mentioned that the Auditor had raised the query as to whether all financial outgoings were approved by the churchwardens. Laura queried whether there could be a proper budget for children’s work. This to be discussed at the next PCC meeting. Terry thanked the church for raising money for Project Return.

(f) Howard commented that being part of the Deanery Synod gives a greater sense of being part of the Anglican community. It encourages people to have a sense of being

part of something on a much bigger scale. He mentioned that the Meetings are open to others.

(g) There are 43 people on the electoral role. 9 have left, moved onto other churches or have passed away. There are 6 new names.

(h) Laura is starting an Open University course in September and has requested that someone else take on the role of Hall bookings. Howard Gorringe asked for a list of the Hall users for the Church website. Maggie Billing stated that the Family History group on Tuesday’s were unable to hear speakers due to the choir practice next door. After a discussion it was agreed that Howard would show Maggie how to use the microphone. Paul has introduced a new invoice system for hall bookings.

(i) Maggie would like to see more people joining the Mother’s Union held on the third Tuesday of each month. Laura asked whether other churches were aware of this meeting.

(j) A thank you was offered to Laura and Maria for all their endeavors with the Children and Families work. Laura thanked everyone for their support.

(k) Ken thanked Di for arranging rotas on Flower arranging.

(l) Di mentioned that last month 28 people attended the Wednesday Tea party. Revd. Gaenor stated that it was a valuable outreach to the community, with Year 6 from the School enjoying helping. It was requested that everyone spread the word about the event. Thanks were also offered to Di and the Team for providing the cakes.

(m) There were no questions on the Saturday coffee and tea.

(n) Revd. Gaenor thanked Maggie for all her hard work with Church mice.

(o) There were no questions on Traidcraft.

(p) Howard Gorringe asked about the situation with the Governors at Holy Trinity School. Ken stated that there was one Governor place available which had now been filled. Rob mentioned that the School had received an outstanding Ofsted report. The Head Teacher, Teresa, and her Staff had been helping a failing School in Bridgwater. Teresa will be the Speaker at the Tea party in June. Laura mentioned that the School coming to the Church every Friday was helping build the relationship between school and church.

AOB

Revd. Gaenor highlighted the three priorities of the Away Day. The second year of the plan is looking at worship to examine ways in which to engage families and more fringe groups, and to enhance and develop worship. Any thoughts regarding these to be passed onto the subcommittee i.e. Howard, Mary and Revd. Gaenor.

Meeting closed at 1.30pm.

Clergy

Revd Gaenor Hockey, Vicar, Holy Trinity, Yeovil (HTY)A Summary Review of the year:

My summary review is in alphabetical headings- not in rank of importance!

Administrative support.Owing to a very generous legacy, the PCC has been able to continue to employ a part time (8hrs/week) administrator for the parish, Mrs Rachel Evans, who started in September 20015 and provides some administrative support for me and the parish.

BaptismI conducted 12 baptisms during our all age First Words services.

Building My thanks to the Churchwardens for their attention to recommendations from the last Quinquennial inspection and to all the volunteers, namely Julian, George and Dave, who have helped to tidy the gardens, do odd jobs around the building and helped in other ways to keep our building warm, safe and welcoming.The burglary in May disturbed us all and has made us much more aware of physical safety as well as taking precautionary measures for the future-especially as we have so many different groups of people using our building.

Christianity and Science.Following the success of a diocesan conference on healing held at HTY I saw the potential for the building to be used more for church-based conferences. I had had a number of conversations with baptism Dads about science and invited Biologist Prof John Bryant from Exeter University to speak on Christianity and Science in October. It was publicised locally and approx. 60 people came. I hope we can host another similar lecture/s in the future.

Community developmentThere was a formal proposal of a major new housing development in the south of the Parish near Keyford Farm. Various church members attended the community presentation at the Red House Pub and I am keeping a 'watching brief' on developments through the South Somerset District Council.

Community involvement:I have attended a variety of church-based activities including speaking at the Tea Party, Mothers Union, at a Brownies meeting, meeting parents and carers at Church Mice.

I continue to lead a midweek lunchtime Eucharist for the Agusta Westland Christian Fellowship once a month although numbers are rarely above 10.

ConfirmationWe had two young candidates that I prepared for confirmation in November who were duly confirmed at a service of over 100 candidates by Bishop Peter at Wells Cathedral.

Fund raising. This has been primarily through the families and children's work, and the Summer Family Fun day, as well as fundraising for charities like the Lord's Larder, Children's Society at the Christingle Service.

Holy Trinity Primary SchoolI continue to lead weekly Friday worship in Church for the whole school, as well as 'top and tail' major festival services and the 'new parents and children' service that the school organise and are held in Church.I am still ex-officio foundation governor at Holy Trinity Primary School, with specific responsibilities for chairing the Academic and Welfare sub group and governor liaising with literacy and RE teachers. I also meet with the Headteacher and Chair of Governors once a term.

The Church continues to offer parking for school parents, which has been more in demand as the school is now at capacity of 14 classes of 30 children each and over half the children come from other parts of Yeovil. The Church also hosted one of the school fundraising fairs and a fundraising concert in 2015.

Foundations of FaithFollowing the summer sermon series on the basics of our Christian faith I have since led 2 informal courses of a 6 week introduction to the Christian faith using a range of material. There have been between 2-4 people attending each course.

FuneralsI conducted 4 funerals.

Home Communions and Nursing Home ministryI continue to give home communions to housebound parishioners as necessary- especially after hospitalisation.I also visit Beechwood Nursing Home on West Coker Road once a month and take a Communion service for 12-16 residents.Our Reader Sally McConnell visits Hendford Residential Home once a month to give home communion to individual residents and has recently introduced a monthly hymn singing session.

MarriageNo marriage services but plenty of banns read and I conducted one special Renewal of Marriage Vows service on 5th July 2015.

Pastoral Lay AssistantsIn September 5 church members attended the diocesan Lay Pastoral Assistants course co-led by Helen Peace (St. John's) and me, with a range of speakers over the 8 weeks. There were 18 people in total from 5 deanery churches. In November Di Gorringe, Ken and Mary Nichols, Maria Mcdonald Thomson and Esther Woodrow were commissioned in Church to provide pastoral care across the age spectrum within the Parish.

PCC Development: In June 2014 the PCC met for a very productive half away day to re-establish the church mission statement as being: Sharing God's Love through Jesus. We then prioritised 3 areas for our special mission and ministry focus over the next 3 years as being:

1. Families and Children2. Worship3. Sharing Leadership

During 2015 there has been considerable and varied work done among Families and Children:

• Children's Choir once/week -av. 10 children • Children led services on 5th Sunday/month- av. 8 children involved• Church Mice once/week- av.4-13 children plus parents/carer• First Words all age service- once/month- av. 8 families• Growing Club (Bible based weekly after-school club) for yrs 1 & 2 at HT School- av.

30 children- including a very successful trip to the Cathedral and Bishop's Palace, including praying with and singing to Bishop Peter and his wife Jane in the Palace Chapel!

• Movie Nights once/term- av. 50 children and adults• Messy Church once/term- av. 25 children and adults• Sunday School- mostly weekly- av. 8 children

I have been personally involved with most of these activities.My particular thanks to all the church volunteers who help to plan and lead these activities- Maggie Billing, Dorothy Burnell, Laura Claridge, Freda Cook, Becky Garnett, Roger Gillingham, Howard Gorringe, Glen Hall, Maria MacDonald Thomson, Ken and Mary Nichols, and Esther Woodrow.

We will need to build up our team of volunteers if these groups are to remain sustainable.

Our next PCC priority in 2016 is the worship life of the church.

Publicity: It has been important to ensure the local community are aware of what is happening at HTY through posters, banners and fliers. This needs further development to ensure the whole parish is aware of what happens here. Our website has been revised and the Benefice link sheet continues weekly produced by Howard and Di Gorringe- with thanks! It would be good to have a Facebook presence in the future- any volunteers to help are welcome.

TimeI continue to be full-time Vicar of both HTY and St. Mary Magdalene Barwick as a United Benefice and spend approximately 60-65% of my working week within or concerning HTY.

I also give time to attend when I can the Deanery Clergy Chapter, Deanery Synod and monthly Yeovil ministers' gatherings, as well as attend a diocesan clergy reflective practice group in Taunton every 2 months. I have recently been voted onto Diocesan Synod.

WorshipThis is now overseen by the PCC Worship Sub group: Revd Gaenor, Howard Gorringe and Mary Nichols. We are currently reviewing our worship pattern and style.

We continue to have a midweek Eucharist- av. 6-8 congregation. My thanks to Jean Roadnight who has faithfully set up the Eucharist every week.

We had our second annual Benefice celebration service in September with a bring and share lunch afterwards which was happy occasion.

We have had our special Advent and Holy Week services shared between the two parishes, as well as the Lent course together, in order to promote fellowship, unity and maximise attendance- these aims met with some limited success.

We have also had the first Benefice Celebrating Baptism Service and Tea Party in April 2015- well attended by over 40 adults and children. This will be repeated this year.

We have continued to enjoy the occasional ministry of Revds Trevor Farmiloe and Chris Jones, two retired priests who continue to help with services-especially when I am on leave.

Z- Final comment: My sincere thanks for all the particular work that Howard Gorringe, Reader; Ken Nichols and Laura Claridge Churchwardens; Paul Taylor, Treasurer and Ken Nichols as PCC Secretary have done for the parish and congregation.

I pray that we will continue to grow in our love and worship of Jesus Christ together, to encourage one another in our God-given gifts, to serve one another faithfully and to be bolder in our witness to our parish community and beyond and to make a greater impact for Christ on our town in the coming year.

Churchwardens

Firstly I would like, on behalf of Laura and myself, to thank Revd. Gaenor, our retired priest Trevor, our lay readers Howard and Sally, the PCC, the Sacristan, the sidespeople and all who have worked hard in the Parish over the past year.

This year has seen 11 Baptisms, numerous Banns read and several Funerals, including those of Joan Helsby and lately Paddy Searle.

There was also an inspection by the insurance company, a routine one, which was satisfactory and an electrical installation check, required by the insurers, which showed some minor shortcomings which were quickly rectified.

Regrettably on the 11th. May we were broken into. Damage was done to the external doors opposite the kitchen, the point of entry, the glass in the office door and the door frame on the inside of the Vestry. The safe was not broken into but the mini safe in the office was smashed off of the wall and broken open, fortunately there was very little cash in there at the time. Some other items were taken, notably a TV, a projector and guitars, all of which have been replaced. The insurance company covered the cost of the repair and replacements less our excess, a total of approx. £3,500. Laura was the unfortunate person who discovered this and had to report the incident to the police.

We have also had a problem with the fire alarm box and the pump for the heating system, both have now been replaced. My thanks to you all for your patience during the two and a half weeks we were without heat.

I am encouraged by the words of Isaiah 43 v 18:19 “See I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up, do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland” (NIV)

Please remember our vicar, Revd. Gaenor and her family, Rob, Anna and Rebekah, pray for them all as she continues to lead us on our spiritual journey. Pray also for Revd. Trevor Farmiloe and our lay readers Howard and Sally.

Once more I would like to thank everyone for being so supportive to Laura and me in our 2nd. year as Churchwardens. It has been a privilege and a pleasure to serve you.

Ken Nichols

Fabric

My thanks to George Rasmussen and Julian Griffin for continuing to do the minor repairs and also to Dave Richards for his work in the gardens as well as all those members of the congregation who have kept the flower beds tidy.

The only outstanding work left to do from the quinquennial report is the stained glass window. I have been in touch with John Callan, who designed and made the window. His initial thought was that the frame of the clear glass, outer, window was bowing and he has promised to come and look at it and report back to the PCC in early 2016.

Mike Maynard continued to help us with minor electrical repairs and the P.A.T. testing during the year, all this without charge. We are very grateful to you Mike. Laura presented him with a basket of fruit in appreciation for all his effort on our behalf. We hope that you will be able to continue to help us in the future.

Ken Nichols

Secretary

We have held 7 PCC meetings during the year. Laura and Maria have continued with their splendid efforts with the Children and Families work, although, regrettably Laura has announced that she will to be able to do so much in 2016 due to the requirements of her course. Our thanks, Laura, for all your hard work, and our thanks, also, to Maria for continuing this work.

The Worship Sub Committee are looking at our patterns of worship and how this may change in 2016 and beyond.

My thanks to Liz Rogers for taking the minutes at PCC meetings and to Paul Taylor for his work as treasurer. Sadly he will be retiring from this post after the APCM.

Ken Nichols

Finance

2015 Report and Accounts for the Parochial Church Council of Holy Trinity Church, Yeovil.

Aims and Purposes

Holy Trinity’s Parochial Church Council (PCC) has the responsibility of cooperating with the incumbent, the Reverend Gaenor Hockey, in promoting in the ecclesiastical parish, the whole mission of the church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical. The PCC is also specifically responsible for the maintenance of the Church Centre complex of Holy Trinity, Lysander Road, Yeovil.

Objectives and activities

The PCC is committed to enabling as many people as possible to worship at our church and to become part of our parish community at Holy Trinity. The PCC tries to ensure that our services and worship put faith into practice through prayer and scripture, music and sacrament.The Church complex benefits from hall and kitchen facilities and links to a church school. A broad spectrum of the community and its interest groups make regular use of these facilities. This allows ordinary people to live out their faith and community spirit as part of the parish community through:

• Worship and prayer; learning about the gospel; and developing their knowledge and trust in Jesus;

• Provision of pastoral care for people living in the parish;• Missionary and outreach work;• Community activates; clubs; societies and events

To facilitate this work, it is important that we maintain the fabric and facilities of the church and community centre.

Achievements and performance

The PCC is keen to offer a range of services during the week and over the course of the year that our community find both beneficial and spiritually fulfilling. Each Sunday has two services; a café style less formal service is followed by a more structured worship service. Many members enjoy both. Services are available during weekdays, members also participate in house group study and worship.

At present there are 44 Parishioners on the Church Electoral roll and this represents average weekly attendance, but this number increased at festivals and Christmas services.Baptisms are frequently included in services.

The Church maintains very close links with Holy Trinity VA Primary School with services being regularly held at both the church and the school.

The church hall is occupied most days and evenings during the week and often on Saturdays.

Deanery Synod

Two members of the PCC sit on the deanery synod. This provides the PCC with an important link between parish and the wider structures of the church.

The Church Centre Complex

The complex hosts many activities, clubs and societies, from Mums and Toddlers to a Local History group, and ballet classes to WI.

A monthly tea party is held to which 20/25 members of the parish regularly attend.

Pastoral Care

Some members of our parish are unable to attend church due to sickness or age. Reverend Gaenor Hockey and Reader Howard Gorringe have visited church members who have requested it, to celebrate communion with them either at their homes or in hospital.

Mission and Evangelism

Over £1,000 was given during the year to support both local charitable organisations (Lords Larder, Oddments Theatre and Youth) and overseas agencies (Project Return).

Financial Review

Total receipts on unrestricted funds were £99,310 of which £63,417 was unrestricted voluntary donations, including £37,000 from Legacies and a further £5,589 was from gift aid. A further £1,260 was donated into the restricted maintenance fund.Income from letting the church hall and facilities to local organisations was £24,741.

£62,241 was spent from unrestricted funds to provide the Christian ministry from Holy Trinity church and community centre including the contribution to the diocesan parish share of £28,340. The rest of the expenditure was large for daily running cost of the centre.

The result for the year was net incoming resources of £ 37,069, so that unrestricted funds as at 31 December 2015 stand at £53,741 and restricted at £6,225

Reserves policy

It is the PCC policy to try to maintain a balance on unrestricted funds that equates to at least three month’s unrestricted payments; equivalent to £16,000. Due to the very welcome legacies unrestricted funds are well in excess of this amount. The PCC is currently engaged in a series of discussions on what will be done with the legacy funds to sustain the future of the church, community centre and mission.

Structure, governance and management

The method of appointment of PCC members is set out in the Church Representation rules. At Holy Trinity the membership of the PCC consists of the incumbent (Our Vicar), churchwardens, the reader and members elected by those members of the congregation who are on the electoral role of the church.The PCC members are responsible for making decision on all matters of general concern and importance to the parish including deciding on how funds of the PCC are to be spent.The full PCC met six times during the year with an average level of attendance of 75%.

Administrative Information

Holy Trinity Church is situated on Lysander Road, Yeovil. It is part of the Diocese of Bath and Wells within the Church of England. The correspondence address is The Vicarage, Turners Barn Lane, Yeovil. The PCC is a body corporate (PCC Powers Measure 1956, Church Representation Rules 2006) and a charity currently excepted from registration with the Charity Commission.

PCC members who have served at any time from 1 January 2015 until the date this report was approved are:

Ex Officio members:• Incumbent: The Reverend Gaenor Hockey • Reader: Howard Gorringe• Wardens: Laura Claridge and Ken Nichols• Synod Representative: Sandra Taylor (From March 2015)

Elected members:

• Maria McDonald-Thompson• Roger Gillingham • Paul Taylor• Sandra Taylor (Until March 2015)• Maggie Billing • Glen Hall (From March 2015)• Di Marsh• Elizabeth Rodgers

Approved by the PCC on 24th April 2016 and signed on their behalf by the Reverend Gaenor Hockey

(The accounts for 2015 are shown separately)

Deanery and Diocesan Synods

We have a new Rural Dean, now that Tony Perris has stepped down prior to his retirement this summer. James Dudley-Smith, of St Johns, is the new Rural Dean while Val Barker remains the Lay chair of the Deanery. Sandra Taylor and I represent Holy Trinity on the Deanery Synod and I am also on Diocesan Synod.

The main concern of both Synods has been that of evangelism and outreach. While falling numbers has given point to this, it has been recognised that we must make a much greater effort to win people for the Kingdom of God. A new strategy is being worked out at Wells, but in the final analysis it will come down to us, the people of the parishes, to bring about the necessary changes and take the needed action. In the Deanery Synod we have been looking seriously at talking and listening, welcoming and making people feel comfortable and various ways in which we can make our church activities more interesting and accessible to the non-churched.

The Deanery Pastoral and Ministry Group/Deanery Standing committee (here they are one and the same thing though in some deaneries they are separate) has the job of managing synod meetings but also has a lot of input into staffing and care of the parishes in the Yeovil Deanery. This includes such things as boundary changes, allocation of clergy when new posts become available and cooperation with the diocese over possible new Church Schools, as well as liaison with local authorities over community and worship facilities.If all this sounds a bit dry and dreary -and sometimes it is-it is vital in the work of the Church as it is the major link between the Bishops and their staff at Wells and the Yeovil area parishes. Please remember us in your prayers.

Howard Gorringe

Electoral Roll

To be submitted on the day

Children and Families Work

To be submitted on the day

House Groups

We now have two house groups, a new one at Maria’s house on Thursday mornings as well as one at Ken and Mary’s on Thursday evenings.

Ken and Mary’s group have studied, among other things, “Saints at Prayer”, “Identity”, “Isaiah, Prophet of Restoration”, and “Sampson” as well as an Advent course. It has been an interesting and instructive year for the group.

Maria and Ken

Flower Arranging Group

Over the last 12 months, the regular group of eight flower arrangers have provided beautiful arrangement for the church and entrance hall table. Six of the group are

members of Holy Trinity and plus two flower arranging friends. We are most grateful for the work they do and the time spent buying, conditioning and arranging the flowers. They brighten up the church and certainly add to our worship. If you would like to join this group, please speak to Di Gorringe who does the rota.

Di Gorringe

Saturday Morning Tea/Coffee

A few years ago, a group of 9.30 Café Church members involved with an Alpha Course at Holy Trinity decided to provide bacon sandwiches to the mums and dads bringing children to Helen Laxton’s dancing class on a Saturday morning. This was very popular! It ran for several weeks after which there was a break until it was suggested that tea and coffee might be provided for those bringing children to ballet class as a service to the community. Currently this happens each Saturday during term time. There is a team of five groups of two or three people. The first customers, who bring the youngest children, arrive at 9 am and we continue until about 11.30 am. This is much appreciated by those who bring the children, including grandparents and by Helen Laxton. The Priddle Room provides a pleasant place for them to sit and have a drink and chat. There’s always a break for half term and the main holidays so the duty comes round about once in two months. If you’d be willing to join the team, please speak to me.

Di Gorringe

Wednesday Tea Parties

Tea Parties at Holy Trinity Church began as a fund-raising event for the new church building but they have become a well established feature being held on the third Wednesday of each month at 2.30 pm (apart from July and August), the aim being to provide an enjoyable and interesting afternoon for older people in our church and community although all ages are most welcome. Folk often arrive early to chat with friends. Over the last twelve months we have heard about birding in Cuba and Sri Lanka and the work of the Leprosy Mission in Nepal which June Ridout visited. Francis Burroughes told us of the arduous job his father did as a Victorian gardener working on a large estate before moving to Yeovil to set up a market garden and nursery. Paul Rogers and Brian Lane explained what was involved in Marathon running and Rev’d Gaenor Hockey spoke to the group in November.

Each month four Year 6 pupils from Holy Trinity School come to serve the afternoon tea so it was lovely to hear Teresa Wheeler the headteacher speaking with enthusiasm about the school today and the large school choir of 40 sang at our Christmas Party. The ‘Take Note’ and Westlands Retirement Singers have both entertained us with Music Hall songs which we joined in with.

The Tea Parties are for everyone in our community so do come along and let your friends and neighbours know about them. There are fliers in the Narthex with the programme and dates listed. Please pass them on to your neighbours and friends. I would love to hear about interesting speakers or subjects so that we can provide a varied programme and raffle prizes are appreciated. Our thanks go to all those who set up the hall, make food and clear away afterwards; we would welcome assistance please as some ladies who have helped faithfully for many years have now had to step down.

Di Gorringe (Co-ordinator)

Mother’s Union

Dorothy has taken on being leader as Chris Burgess moved to Weston-s-Mare and was unable to continue any more. We are a group of nine people, we meet on the 3rd. Tuesday afternoon in the month. CHURCH MICE is a Mother’s Union project. We have a speaker sometimes but with a small group we don’t have a lot of money for speakers.

We knitted a lot of “Tee” shaped jumpers for the still born babies in Africa. The lady we sent them to was very pleased. We also make gowns and pockets for still born babies in England. It is very fiddly the first one to do but you feel that you’re helping a family cope with bereavement.

Dorothy gave up being leader last December, we would like to say thank you for all the work she did. As we are the only church in Yeovil I have said I will give it a go We will meet the 3rd. Tuesday in April as from December. In March the Weather is not good for our elderly ladies.

Mother’s Union is celebrating 140 years in August. We are looking for new members.

Regards Maggie

Church mice

We have had a good year, the mums and children enjoy the fruit we provide for them.

Some weeks we have a lot of children, other weeks only a few but we cope with each week.

We had to say goodbye to a lot in July as they were off to Preschool the following September. We have had a few regular children with others coming now and again.

In November we all went outside to see three aeroplanes and a helicopter in the sky also a couple of tractors went along the road, the children loved it. We did the two minutes silence in the car park. The children were very well behaved indeed. They then went indoors for refreshments.

In December they had a Christmas party and Father Christmas came. The children also enjoyed the singing that they do.

With love Maggie Freda and Dorothy

Traidcraft

We are starting our 9th. year in Traidcraft. I enjoy doing this as it is helping the poor.

I go to Barwick the 3rd. Sunday each month. Joyce gives me a lift and I get one back from Barwick. The W.I. have invited me to their evening in March to sell Traidcraft goods. Family History buy tea, coffee.sugar and biscuits from me

Holy Trinity Church Barwick Church

January £6.75 January £21.25£3.70 Family History

February £3.10 February £46.55March £71.25 WI evening March £74.50April £8.65 April £46.25

£7.25 Family HistoryMay £3.40 George May £33.60

£3.40£2.95

June £3.50 Family History June £73.00£3.25 Gordon

July £2.40 July £48.10£3.50£30.55

August £3.50 Family History August £46.90September £7.80 September £45.80

£4.00October £4.30 October £0.00

£4.20£81.15 MU Saturday

November £1.40 November £55.70£4.50£3.80

December £0.00 December £85.10

Total £268.30 Total £576.75

Grand Total £845.05

Total sold 2015 of £845.05 is down from 2014 by about £400

Thank you to all who help me do Traidcraft

Regards Maggie

Holy Trinity School

Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School

Holy Trinity, a Christian Community that Helps Everyone Pursue Excellence

Head Teacher : Teresa Wheeler

The start of a new school year always brings with it great excitement and enthusiasm from the whole school community. The children embraced all the new routines in their new classes, and were able to engage in learning straight away as we have such a consistent whole school approach. We shared our ‘UPLIFT’ Philosophy with everyone at the Parent Meetings in September. This approach is very familiar to the children, and they are clear about their successes and areas to improve.

Our spelling focus this year has already had a noticeable impact on the children’s interest in this area of learning. I visit classes as often as I can during the school day, and my favourite lessons at the moment are ‘spelling’ lessons. The engagement of the children with researching words and spelling patterns is quite incredible. Teachers are buzzing with enthusiasm, and it has been lovely to share this work together as a staff team. The children in Year 4 have all been given a dictionary to keep with them in school until they leave at the end of Year 6. They are out on the desks on a regular basis, and it is lovely to see the children researching words in the dictionary with greater confidence and understanding.

Several school trips took place during the Autumn term. The Year 5 and 6 children visited Coldharbour Mill, experiencing life in Victorian times at a wool mill. The children dressed up and had to justify their letter of application for a job at the Mill. This trip was used as an inspiration for a music composition which was shared in our recent whole school music concert. These children also went on a visit into Yeovil, and were challenged to make comparisons between Victorian and modern day Yeovil, using key historical skills based upon a range of evidence before them. A portable planetarium came to school, and the children in Years 5 and 6 were able to use their scientific learning to understand the theme of ‘Earth in Space’ through a phenomenal visual experience. The children in Classes 1 and 2 have been on regular ‘wellie walks’ around the school, and classes 3 and 4 have visited Holy Trinity Church.

We have maintained our links with the Golden Oldies, and Miss Entwistle was extremely proud of the group of children she took to their venue in the town. We received a lovely message back from them, and we are planning further events together. A small group of children have also represented the school with Mrs Abbott each Tuesday morning. These children have walked to Ninesprings Country Park, joining together with children from other schools across Yeovil. They have been learning through outdoor activities and have

then brought new ideas back to Holy Trinity. Our Labyrinth project has been completed in terms of the construction of the Labyrinth. It was an amazing week where EVERY child helped with the construction. I am very grateful to Chris who managed the whole project, and to the many volunteers who supported the children across the week. We were certainly blessed with perfect weather for the occasion! We welcomed the new Bishop of Taunton on the last day of the Autumn half term. She took part in our Agape service as part of our Spirituality Day, and then officially Blessed this wonderful new space.

The children learnt so much in so many different ways and I know that they are all so proud of THEIR Labyrinth. We have lots of projects and activities planned for this area, so please do look out for the different way in which we use it. We are teaching the children to keep the area ‘secure’ and to use the Labyrinth under the direction of adults either in lesson time or break times.

We have been celebrating our ‘Year of Music’ in many different ways. Children have listened to music from a range of styles and backgrounds. They have enjoyed reflecting upon the pieces and deciding whether or not they enjoy listening to a particular style. We all enjoyed a special school concert where each class ‘performed’ music from their lessons, and this ranged form ‘body percussion’ to keyboards, singing, recorders and some brilliant percussion work from Year 1.

The second half of the Autumn term started with some extremely thoughtful reflections from the children in the older classes, as we gathered as a school on November 11th. We used our new Labyrinth as our focus this year. As we gathered together, some classes had already placed individual poppies on the stones, and the children from the Forest School had ‘planted’ our hand made poppies along the edges of the Labyrinth pathway. During the service, each class attached a ‘poppy wreath’ to the fence of the Labyrinth, and the older children read their poems and prose about this significant day. The ‘fly by’ of a Sword Fish plane and two helicopters marked this occasion as especially unique this year, and with the sunshine breaking through at 11am, I am sure many of us will remember this day, gathered at our Labyrinth to ‘reflect’.

Year 3 enjoyed a very ‘hands on’ visit to Stonehenge to support their History theme this term. It was rather blustery, but this did not put the children off one bit. Their learning was certainly enhanced by this visit. Children in Year 1 had a visit from our local postman, and they have also made and put out bird feeders this term. Several children have attended activities in the Yeovil area, working with children from other Yeovil Primary Schools. These have included Science workshops and a Languages Day at a local secondary school. I am delighted to say that four of our Year 6 children were also selected to take part in a Yeovil Federation Project for Gifted and Talented children in the area.

Our Advent events were very exciting this year, following the theme of journeys. Once again we come back to our Labyrinth where tea lights ‘appeared’ on a daily. Each day of Advent I visited a class at a time, lighting tea lights for each and every child. The class then ‘journeyed’ together to the Labyrinth to mark a path for the Christ child. The Posada boxes were a truly

valued experience this year, with many families sending in photographs to share these special moments at home.

The Sword in the Stone came to Holy Trinity to mark the start of Christmas, and the timing of this theatre Production was perfect. It certainly inspired the children to perform to the amazing standard in their own Christmas Productions! I am so proud of the children and staff as they ‘perform’ at Christmas time. Sleeping Beauty at the Octagon was thoroughly enjoyed by Years 1 and 2. We are so lucky to be able to access such an amazing Theatre in our local area.

We said farewell to Mrs Locke at the beginning of December, as she started her period of maternity leave. Her baby was born over Christmas and she has visited us to share her new bundle of joy! Mr Beauford and his wife have welcomed the arrival of their son, and we have been delighted to see the new baby in school at just a week old! We said goodbye to Miss Phillips and Mrs Smith as they moved on to new schools. Mrs Gemma Rich, a Teaching Assistant, returned from Maternity leave in January, We also welcomed Mrs Kiri Hudson to our teaching team in January. She is teaching in Class 9 whilst Mrs Locke is on Maternity leave. We also welcomed Mrs Tori Birch as the new Parent Governor of the school.

I have to mention our ‘new look’ website which was launched in the Autumn term. We worked hard to plan and prepare the site as we had clear ideas about how we wanted it to look. Visiting web sites of other schools and indeed other companies was a key part of this work, and I do feel that this has now all paid off as I am delighted with our ‘Holy Trinity Web Site’. Working with our designers, Flaydemouse, has been brilliant, and we continue to work closely together as we discover small adjustments. We have recently added a ‘translate’ button which can be found at the bottom of each page. We have a wonderful page dedicated to our Church and Diocese links. Our news page can also be pushed out to our Facebook page—you can probably tell that I am very pleased with it

We are currently fundraising for our Roof Project. The roof needs to be completely replaced, which has a financial implication for the Governors as we have to raise 10% of the total cost. Many parents have been wonderful at suggesting and leading some very ‘different’ fundraising events and activities. We have skipped, sung, waltzed, entertained, and smiled lots to encourage people to give. We have put together a visual representation of monies raised so far and will keep updating this as we work towards our goal of £30,000 for our new roof! There is a ‘Roof Fundraising’ page on the web site too! The New Year started with a wonderful concert from members of the Philharmonia Orchestra. It was a moving sight to see ALL the children fully engaged with the performance. We were all amazed by the skills and dexterity of the musicians, and even ‘trained’ our very own conductor that day—Charlotte from Year 6! I am sure she will remember that moment in years to come, especially when we all meet the renowned conductor Charles Hazlewood in a few weeks time!

Our Year of Music continues to develop and grow. The focus of the project is

with the children in Year 5, and they are busy composing work inspired by two of Roald Dahl’s poems. The children have also worked with two artists, creating sculptures to represent the key characters from each of the poems. This art work will be displayed at the Octagon Theatre during the week of June 6th, and our children will perform a special concert during the afternoon of June 7th.

A huge thank you to the Burgoine family and to Miss West, for organising our Japanese Day on January 22nd 2016. The colour, excitement, and aroma of Japanese food around the school was quite spectacular. The children all learnt so much, and it was lovely to share highlights of this day with you through our web site and through social media. I know your comments were much appreciated by the Burgoine family. If you have a project or an idea you would like to share with us all, please do get in touch. We are so lucky to be able to share all our wonderful experiences together as a school!

The Governors have been into school on a number of occasions this year, and we are always inspired by their support and challenge. They recently carried out a ‘Learning Walk’ where the focus was our UPLIFT approach. They were free to visit all the classes across a morning, and had a clear objective—Does this approach have a positive impact on the learning for all children in each class? The Standards Sub-committee of Governors then met to review the evidence they had gathered, and it was clear that this approach was benefitting all children with their learning in class.

I have been meeting with all the staff to discuss the children in great depth. We have been looking at the learning profile of all the children, linking together their Academic, Emotional and Identity profiles to give us a clear overview of their learning style and learning rate. This work then enables us to have very specific discussions about the next steps for the children. The Governors have once again reviewed this work, and are very impressed with the way in which we are considering the complete learning profiles of the children.

We have held INSPIRE sessions for parents, inviting EVERYONE in to school to learn with their children. This year, Mr Freeman contributed to these events, sharing some of the computing work he does with each class and year group. I am so grateful to all the staff for organising these events. Parents may well be a little apprehensive about attending as teaching and learning has certainly changed over the years. However, do spare a thought for the staff who are equally as nervous as they teach a group of ‘60’ people including adults who they do not know particularly well. I think the group of people who are most excited and ‘comfortable’ with the whole experience are the children—just as it should be!

We have a great half term ahead this Spring, culminating in our Holy Week focus. This will begin on Monday 21st March with our SPIRITUALITY DAY. A group of staff are currently planning this work and we will keep everyone updated on the progress of this theme through our web site and Facebook page. The children in Year 5 are preparing for their Production—Olivia! They will perform just after the Easter break.

As you can see, this has been another very exciting and inspiring year. I often ‘think ahead’ as I write this report to you all, considering where our journey will take us next!

Teresa WheelerHEAD TEACHER