RotaKids

RotaKids is designed to engage children to come up with project ideas and implement them to benefit individuals, their school and the local community. In doing so it teaches them leadership skills, selflessness and gives them confidence as young people.

15th April 2024

After the Easter break the entries have been coming in for the Drawing Competition.  Our RotaKids have been planning how to display the artwork.  It was decided there will be an exhibition of the artwork for the RotaKid's competition and also classroom artwork on Friday 17th May and the following Monday 20th May, open to parents and all the school children.  The next few weeks will be planning and organising this to include voting for each of the year categories, how best to raise some funds for the RotaKid's charities and how best to arrange and promote the exhibition.

11th March 2024

There were 133 entries for the Book Quiz and so £133 was raised for the RotaKid's charities. It was really good to add to all the school's activities during World Book week.  The winners for each age group from Reception to Year 6 will be announced and presented with their prizes by the RotaKids at a school assembly.

Posters  and information sheets were prepared today for the Drawing Competion ✍️ and their will be further preparation work to do next week.

4th March 2024

The Book Quiz was amended to 20 questions for Years 4-6 and a Picture Quiz for the younger age groups.  All completed entries are now to be in by World Book Day 7th March.  All correct entries will be entered into a prize draw for each year group and the winners will receive £10 Book Tokens.  The RotaKids have draw some colourful book images which have been uploaded onto the book tokens.

Today the RotaKids took forward their plans for their next event which will be the Drawing Competition.  More about this next time.

5th February 2024

During the last few weeks the Book Quiz has been progressed.  Our RotaKids have come up with lots of questions, suitable for a range of ages, and 20 selected for the quiz.  The quiz will take place during the week commencing 26th February, there is a £1 entry fee, all proceeds to be donated to the RotaKids charities and prizes for all the age group winners.  The RotaKids will promote this event by visiting classrooms with quiz forms and explaining how it will be run, advising fellow pupils at assembly and parents will be informed with the next newsletter.

15th January 2024

Today our RotaKids held a lunchtime sale of their remaining badges and jewellery and raised a further £19.50 for their charities.  That makes a total of £98.50 so far.

Next week further development of the Book Quiz is planned.

18th December 2023

The Overgate Reindeer Run has progressed well with just a few classes to complete it this week.  The RotaKids enjoyed some chocolate treats today as a celebration of their hard work and achievements to date!  They also set out some more plans for the Book Quiz which will be during the week commencing 26 th February 2024.

11th December 2023

Today we agreed dates for the various RotaKids' Projects in conjunction with the school's diary.  We can now allocate time and prioritise the events as required.  The next one will be the sale of badges and jewellery left over from the School Fair which the RotaKids plan to sell on Monday, 15rh January 2024 at lunchtime.

4th December 2023

The Christmas Fair raised £79 for the RotaKid's charities which was an excellent effort.  Well done to everyone!  The Reindeer Run will take place during the period 11th - 21st December by the whole school - so we wait with excited anticipation to see what will be sponsored for Overgate Hospice.  We did some brainstorming today for suggestions how we organise and run the Family Quiz early next year.

20th November 2023

During the last two weekly sessions the RotaKids have been busily designing and making badges and bracelets ready for the Christmas Fair next week.  Next week they are planning to bake cakes and biscuits at home so they are also ready for sale at the Fair.  They also enjoyed drawing up some very colourful posters to promote the Overgate Hospice Reindeer Run which is due to take place in December.

Further planning of the Drawing Competition took place as well and it was decided to run this during the lead up to Easter.

6th November 2023

Over the last few weeks the RotaKids have decided which charities they would like to support and their projects for the next few months.

The charities are British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK, Overgate Hospice and Mitochondrial.  Their projects are BBBB (Badges, Bookmarks, Bracelets, Baking) designing, making and selling these items and a Drawing competition, both to be held at the school Christmas Fair.  A whole school sponsored Reindeer Run is planned for December with all proceeds to Overgate Hospice.  After this a General Quiz, a Story Writing competition and a Book Quiz will follow.

Watch here for their progress!

25th September 2023

Last week we attended a KS2 assembly to promote RotaKids to Years 5 and 6.

Today we held our first meeting and we were delighted to see in excess of 40 children who had come to join RotaKids.  They elected their President, Secretary and Treasurer for the year and then split up into smaller groups to come up with ideas for projects and charities they would like to support.  Next week the group as a whole will decide their first activity.

3rd July 2023

We enjoyed a special celebration lunch with the RotaKids today to recognise their wonderful achievements this year.  Cakes were enjoyed as additional puddings!  We were delighted to present them with RotaKids pens with an appropriate motto for them to remember their times together.  In turn Tony and I were touched to receive thank you cards and a personal gift.

26th June 2023

There will be an all school assembly on Friday, 14th July when the proceeds from the sponsored walk will be presented to the 3 charities.  The RotaKids will do a powerpoint presentation which they will prepare at our meeting on 10th July.

More seed trays had germinated in the greenhouse and will be taken home by the RotaKids for planting out in their gardens.

12th June 2023

Further funds received for the sponsored walk, making the final total £3,115.

Some of the seedlings in the greenhouse were large enough to be planted on and taken home by the RotaKids.

Decided against having the Fun Games because it is usually too busy at lunchtimes and would be difficult to manage in the short time available.  Instead we shall arrange a special lunch for the RotaKids and they will be able to plan a short presentation for a school assembly to advise their achievements for this year.

5th June 2023

The Sponsored Walk raised an amazing £3,059!  This will be distributed equally to the 3 charities Focus4Hope, RSPCA and Blue Cross.  This amount should be increased with an application for Gift Aid.  We shall invite the charities to a school assembly for the presentations.

Most of the seed trays had germinated and the seedlings can be planted on in the coming weeks or the trays taken home by the RotaKids for their gardens.

It was agreed to arrange some fun games for the RotaKids during the rest of the school year as a way of celebrating their achievements.

22nd May 2023

Today the RotaKids were in the greenhouse which we recently renovated.  They chose a packet of seed each, either herbs or flowers, and seeded a tray each and put labels in to show their names and what they had planted.  A rota was set up for watering.  We are looking forward to seeing what grows!

15th May 2023

After 2 bank holiday Mondays, RotaKids started again.  They planted up the 2 flowerbeds with 7 perennials and we put RotaKids plaques on the planters.

It's all starting to look pretty good!  

24th April 2023

Today the RotaKids prepared presentations for assemblies to advise about the whole school Sponsored Walk on Friday, 19th May and to hand out classroom posters.  Letters to parents with sponsorship forms will go out this week.

The RotaKids agreed the next stage of the Environment Project - to renovate 2 overgrown flowerbeds and to utilise the greenhouse after it has been repaired.

17th April 2023

Two planters had been sited at the school entrance and in the playground and filled with compost.  Today the RotaKids planted them up, with flowers and herbs, and a rota was set up for watering.  Just about every RotaKid wanted a go - and we just about managed it!

20th March 2023

Today’s meeting focused on plans for the school Sponsored Walk which will now take place on Friday, 19th May.  We also covered items to be included on the new RotaKids noticeboard.  We then took the RotaKids outside within the school grounds to explore areas where we can start some environmental plantings.

Focus4Hope were thrilled to receive the £303 raised by the Roaring RotaKids and a representative will give a short talk tomorrow at school assembly.

27th February 2023

The Roaring RotaKids held their final badges and bookmarks sale today to the KS1 children.  It was joyful to see these younger children enthusiastically choosing and buying them.  A further £50 was raised which gives a grand total of £303 to be donated to Focus4Hope.  We shall now contact the charity and see if a representative can join a school assembly for a presentation.

The Golden Arrows discussed their Sponsored Walk project and also aspects of the next proposed project for the Environment Garden.

20th February 2023

The Golden Arrows Flying Paper Aeroplane competition raised a whopping £73 over the three heats during morning breaks. At 20p a go, that equates to 365 throws which was quite a remarkable number for the limited time available. The winner received a £20 Amazon voucher, sponsered by Brighouse Rotary, and all the finalists pencil/crayon sets and certificates. At today’s meeting the RotaKids finalised plans for the Sponsored Walk which will now take place on Friday, 9th June. 

The Roaring RotaKids group arranged their second sale of badges/bookmarks which will be to KS1 children at lunch break, next Monday 27th February. Posters for each KS1 classroom will be delivered by the RotaKids when they will explain the sale and the nominated charity to the younger children. Notices will also be sent to their parents. The group officials finalised their article for the School Newsletter.

6th February 2023

The Golden Arrows RotaKids paper aeroplane flying competition started today at morning break in the school hall.  About 30 children entered and some remarkable distances were achieved, not to mention some amazing flight paths!  It was great fun and they all thoroughly enjoyed it.  Further heats are to be held on Tuesday and Wednesday with the each Year winner progressing to Thursday’s final.  Their lunchtime meeting reviewed how it had gone.

The Roaring RotaKids reviewed their previous badges/bookmarks sale, planned their next one to children in KS1 and produced some posters as part of their promotion campaign.  The group officials started to put together a mid term article for the school’s newsletter.

30th January 2023

No Rotakids today as the year groups are out on a school trip. During last week the Roaring RotaKids held a sale of badges and bookmarks at morning break in the outdoor classroom and raised £75.  This gives a total of £250 for Focus4Hope so far and they have plenty more to sell after half term which will include the younger children in KS1 this time.

23rd January 2023

The Roaring RotaKids used the badge making machine to good effect today and now they have a total of 55 badges to add to 100 bookmarks to sell next week.  Other members of the group drew some colourful posters to promote the sale scheduled for next Monday at morning break.  As well, our 3 officials wrote up scrips to explain their project and the sale which they will announce at Thursday’s assembly.

The Golden Arrows RotaKids produced some excellent computer generated promotion leaflets for the Paper Aeroplane Flying competition which will be distributed this week and next week together with application forms. They also ran a mock competition to see how it would work. A lot of planning has gone into their project and they are looking forward to starting it during the week commencing 6th February.

16th January 2023

The Roaring RotaKids today concentrated on making more badges.  They already have 80 bookmarks ready for sale (most of these have been made at home by just one RotaKid and a couple of her RotaKids friends, very impressive indeed!).  So they now have around 30 badges and will make more next week.  Four of our RotaKids will announce the sale at this Friday’s all school assembly and it will be on Monday morning break, 30th January.

The Golden Arrows RotaKids completed making posters for their Aeroplane Flying competition which will take place in the school hall at morning breaks during the week commencing Monday, 6th February. They also progressed their Sponsored Walk event plans and agreed dates for this which will be during the school week from Monday 27th March. It will take place on the school running track.

9th January 2023

RotaKids resumed today after a 4 week break.

The Roaring RotaKids, designed more badges and started to make them.  Next week they will decide when and where to sell them and how to promote it.

The Golden Arrows, produced posters to promote their Aeroplane Flying competition and will soon agree dates for it to be held.

12th December 2022

Both RotaKids groups came together today and they celebrated their achievements to date with chocolate lollipop treats and they were all given RotaKids badges to wear with pride.

The opportunity was taken to discuss a project for next year which they could all contribute to, both as individuals and as one group.  They decided upon the development of part of the school grounds into an Environment Friendly Garden area. Lots of ideas were forthcoming - watch these update for the progress they make!

5th December 2022

The Roaring RotaKids spent today designing more Badges.  Next week they are looking forward to starting to make them.  The plan is to produce around 100 and sell them after Christmas.

The Golden Arrows had a productive session doing promotional work for their projects, the Aeroplane Flying competition and the whole school Sponsored Walk

28th November 2022

We had a joint meeting today with both groups, The Roaring RotaKids and The Golden Arrows RotaKids.  They advised each other and reviewed the results of their projects and the progress for those not yet completed.

The Golden Arrows Paper Aeroplane Flying competition will take place during the week commencing Monday 9th January 2023 in the school hall.  Their Sponsored Walk date is to be announced and will be in the New Year on the school’s running track.  The proceeds from both events will be donated to their nominated charities the RSPCA and Blue Cross.

The Roaring RotaKids next event is the sale of badges and bookmarks which they are in the process of designing and making.  No date for the sale yet, but again it will be early in the New Year.

The whole group also had a lively discussion for ideas for Environment Projects for next year and a comprehensive list was compiled.

21st November 2022

The Roaring RotaKids enjoyed selling the cakes to their school friends and raised a whopping  £132.55 which equated to over 260 cake purchases!  The teddy and sweets competitions also went really well with £43.20 raised at the School Fair.  This results in a total of £175.75 which will be donated to Focus4Hope along with the proceeds from the badges and bookmark sales due to take place after Christmas.

14th November 2022

The Roaring RotaKids enthusiastically made progress with their projects today. They will bake and decorate cakes and cookies this coming weekend and sell them at the 11am school breaks on Monday and Tuesday, 21st and 22nd November.

The Name the Teddy and Count the Number of Sweets in a Jar competitions will be held at the PFSA Christmas Fair to be held on Friday, 25th November from 4pm.

The group planning to sell Badges and Bookmarks showed some excellent examples of bookmarks they had made at home. Next week the whole group will help with designing both badges and bookmarks. The sale of these will be after Christmas.

Discussions took place regarding a choice of charity and it was voted to support Focus 4 Hope with the proceeds from the above projects. Focus 4 Hope is a local charity that seeks to provide support for the homeless, elderly, isolated and vulnerable in West Yorkshire which includes running a food bank.

7th November 2022

Both RotaKids groups met today and all the children contributed well in progressing their ideas and plans. Firm decisions were made for the way forward with their various projects which will be continued next week

17th October 2022

Really enthusiastic meetings were enjoyed today with in excess of 20 RotaKids in each group.

The Roaring RotaKids split into smaller groups to start to formulate ideas for their proposed projects which are 1) Cookies - baking, decorating, selling, competition 2) Badges and Bookmarks - designing, making, selling 3) Guessing Competitions - number of sweets in a jar, name the Teddy.  The group has yet to decide which charities to support.

The Golden Arrows discussed and agreed their projects which will be 1) A Sponsored Walk 2) A Paper Aeroplane Competition.

Both groups will finalise and agree their plans at their next meetings, in two weeks time, after holidays and a training day.

10th October 2022

Great progress by both groups today, each have chosen their names, we have "The Roaring Rotakids" and the "Golden Arrows"

The Roaring Rotakids had an ideas session thinking of activities to raise money. After voting they have come up with several which will be started next week.

The Golden Arrows decided to support the RSPCA and Blue Cross charities. They will be deciding what they will be doing to support these next week.

3rd October 2022

Our existing RotaKids took the lead and performed short presentations to their colleagues in Years 5 & 6 during the week leading up to this meeting - Great Job!

They explained what they had enjoyed about RotaKids and the projects they had completed.

Around 50 children attended the first meeting, which were then divided into two groups. Candidates for the official positions spoke briefly about what they would bring to the roles and elections took place. Presidents, Secretaries and Treasurers were duly elected for each group.

Each group discussed what projects they would like to tackle with lots of ideas and suggestions being put forward. Next week these discussions will continue and decisions will be made.

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11th July 2022

This week the groups celebrated their success at the fair and agreed to send £157 to the Disasters Emergency Committee for the Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal and £50 to DEC (Disaster Emergency Committee) for their General Appeal which covers a number of conflict areas worldwide.

The Charter Certificate has been framed and hangs on the wall by the hall entrance so can be easily seen by all the children.  The small group who stayed in are producing a write up of what they have achieved, a copy will go on their noticeboard and a copy will be used for the school’s weekly newsletter.

To mark the end of the school year and thank all the members they were presented with custom pens

8th July 2022

The school fair was a hive of activities this afternoon and we were graced with such good weather.  The RotaKids badge stall went really well with all badges sold within the first hour.  £100 was taken, making the grand total of funds raised £207.60.

5th July 2022

20th June 2022

Following the excitement of Charter party, focus has now turned to getting things ready to sell at the Fair on the 8th July. Both groups are making themed badges, bookmarks and probably other things.

17th June 2022

What a great afternoon in school for the birthday party charter celebration. Members of the Rotakids explained what they had done and how they enjoyed it to the years 4,5 and 6. Our Rotary District Governor Stephen Ellis handed out the Charter certificate (below) and individual certificates and badges to all the members. This was followed up with drinks and cakes with parents and school teachers.

Well done to all the members of the Rotakids club, a smashing end to the week.

13th June 2022

After a break for school holidays the groups have been focusing on the Charter event taking place on Friday, 17th. A charter is the Birth certificate of the club.

Those allocated to speak during the assembly have written their scripts and the others created the invitation to be sent to parents by the school.

23rd May 2022

Both RotaKids groups met together today when we explained the procedure for the RotaKids Charter Event which will be held at the school on Friday, 17th June at the 2.30pm whole school assembly.

We then split into our respective groups and continued with the badge designs and even successfully made our first few badges!

16th May 2022

The Lightcliffe Lions and The Musketeers put their creative hats on today and started to design some images for their badges.  The Musketeers also designed some bookmarks.  They produced a good variety of interesting designs and both groups will continue this process at next Monday’s meetings.

9th May 2022

The Lightcliffe Lions raised £107 in total from their bun sales.  They decided to now concentrate on making and selling badges and next week they have planned to start the design process so they can produce some samples to show their friends.

The Musketeers group have also decided to design and sell badges and also bookmarks.  Next week they will start this process too.

5th May 2022

The Lightcliffe Lion group held two bun sale this week.  The buns were mainly made by the children and their parents and were in great demand!  £101 was raised towards their Ukraine Appeal and will be sent via the Disaster and Emergencies Committee in due course.  The group’s target is £200 with the making and sale of badges to come -  so watch this space!

25th April 2022

After returning from the Easter break, further planning meetings were held today with the children as enthusiastic as ever.

The Lightcliffe Lions are going to bake and sell buns first before making and selling badges.  This week they will promote it via posters and advice at school assemblies.  The buns will be sold to the 4 classes in year groups 5 and 6 on Thursday 5th May.

The Musketeers have decided to start their 3 activities at the same time and have set up 3 groups to organise the detailed planning.

4th April 2022

The RotaKids from Lightcliffe Primary School met again today.  They have adopted group names The Lightcliffe Lions and The Musketeers!

The Lightcliffe Lions decided to raise money for the Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal through the Disaster Emergency Committee (DEC) by baking and selling buns and making and selling badges.

The Musketeers also voted to send funds to DEC but for their General Appeal for help towards conflicts and difficult situations throughout the world.  They are also to bake and sell buns, make their own artwork and sell it and have a sponsored run.  

At our next meeting after Easter the how and when plans will take shape.

PS The children enjoyed their Easter Eggs treats as a thank from us for their efforts so far! 

28th March 2022

Another enthusiastic meeting was held today with our two Rota Kids groups.  The children came up with lots of suggestions for projects. After discussions one group decided upon humanitarian support for the Ukraine crisis and the other group chose help and support for areas of conflict or distress throughout the world.  Next week the groups will decide what tasks they will undertake to help these worthwhile causes.

21st March 2022

We enjoyed another excellent meeting today.  The children are so enthusiastic and we received 25 nominations for the 5 officer positions.  The children voted and the positions of President, Vice-President, Secretary, Vice-Secretary and Treasurer were elected for our 2 groups.

We also had a fruitful discussion regarding possibilities for our first 2 projects and further considerations will take place at next week’s meeting.

14th March 2022

We held the first sessions with the children from Years 5 and 6 who were split equally into two groups.  The response and enthusiasm from the children has been great.  We are setting up the structure for the groups and at our next weekly meeting the children will elect their officers.  After this they will start to decide what first two projects they would like to tackle.

2nd March 2022

Our members, David Taylor and Tony Perryman, attended Lightcliffe CE Primary school to give a Rota Kids presentation to their children in Years 5 and 6. The interest and response from the children was excellent and we shall be starting the Rota Kids sessions very soon.
Watch this area for the children’s progress on their first Rota Kids project.

21st Feb 2022

The school is now in a position for the foundation of the club to take place. Two of the members will be attending shortly to explain to the pupils in an assembly.

Background

We have made contact with a local school who are keen to setup a Rotakids for their pupils. We have met the head and deputy head teachers and agreed an outline way forward.

Unfortunately this has been hampered by Covid cases in school,