National Family Week - Monday 25th – Sunday 31st May (May Half-Term)

May half-term saw the start of a brand new initiative called National Family Week, with the simple aim of bringing families together. About two months prior to the start of this week, a conversation with my colleague Gemma Murray who had discovered National Family Week, led to us deciding to get involved. Two months later and we hosted our first ever National Family Week Picnic.

See the Sprowston National Family week gallery >>

National Family Week Picnic – Monday 25th May

The picnic proved to be a big success with 250 registered picnickers taking part. This put us as one of approximately 100 venues helping to set a new Guinness World Record for the most amount of picnickers having a picnic at the same time, at multiple venues across the UK.

The day saw a host of activities taking place such as FitKid, Fencing, Mucky Pups, Cheerleading, Martial Arts Display, OPAL Earth Worm Survey, Face Painting, Balloon Making, Family Photographer, and fun water activities provided by Swimtastic Swim School. There was also a fire engine on display and background music provided by East Coast Truckers.

BBC Radio Norfolk attended and did a live broadcast from our picnic, which was very exciting and a reminder to all those who stayed home, just what they were missing out on. The following day, we also received a great write up in the Evening News.

Although the day started cold and looked as though we would have rain at some point, it turned out to be a great day, and was enjoyed by all those who attended.

My thanks go to Gemma Murray (Parent Support Advisor) who helped and worked along side me with the organisation and running of the event.

Not wanting to limit myself to one event I also decided to take on the National Family Week Story Time and Sports Day events.

National Family Week Story Time – Wednesday 27th May

For the Story Time event I enlisted the help of Edwina Harvey, a true expert in this area, and a person who has done an amazing job with the Creative Partnership.

We decided on a BeWILDerwood theme based on the work students had been completing, and Edwina worked her magic to get a professional story teller (Tilly The Tale Spinner) and Tom Blofeld (author and creator of BeWILDerwood), to come and be part of our event.

A last minute rush to create a cosy atmosphere in our William Shakespeare building, saw lots of young children enter in to our very own BeWILDerWORLD, to listen to stories from the Sprowston Story Tellers, Tilly the Tale Spinner and Tom Blofeld reading an extract from his new book.

There were also twiggle treats on sale and the new BeWILDerwood book came with the added bonus of being signed by the author.

There were also arts and crafts on offer where children had the chance to get messy and creative. My thanks go to the English staff that came in to support this event, and I think they had just as much fun, as the children making the items.

There was also face painting on offer and my thanks go to Helen Watts who did an amazing job and was painting non-stop for the whole event.

It was a truly magical event and once again, enjoyed by all those who attended.

National Family Week Sports Day – Saturday 30th May

To complete the week I decided to take some of my coaches to Chapelfield Shopping Centre in Norwich to be part of their National Family Week Sports Day. This came following discussions with the Marketing Manager of Chapelfield, Sheridan Smith, who kindly agreed to us teaming up for National Family Week to celebrate and promote families coming together in East Anglia.

Following an interview on BBC Look East the day before to advertise the Sports Day, I took LK’s School of Dance and FitKid to Chapelfield Plain where we rotated between dance activities and activities for young children and their families, playing with parachutes and hula hoops etc. In the afternoon we had a martial arts demonstration by Chilsong Martial Arts Club.

It was great fun getting out in the community and showing people the kind of clubs and activities we have running at the school. The activities drew large audiences and were enjoyed by those both watching and by those who decided to have a go and take part. The clubs also thoroughly enjoyed the experience and it gave them a chance to show off their skills and talents to a live audience.

The day begun with a challenge from the Marketing Manger of Chapelfield for me and her to compete on the inflatable Gladiator Duel and the inflatable Bungee Run, so it was then only fitting that the day ended with a final challenge on the Gladiator Duel. I am pleased to report that on behalf of Sprowston Community High School, we won!

My thanks go to Sheridan Smith (Marketing Manager of Chapelfield) for teaming up with us and inviting us to be part of their event. We have formed a great relationship as a result of National Family Week, and I look forward to working with Sheridan and Chapelfield in future events.

To see more images of all the above events and images of events that took place else where nationally visit: www.nationalfamilyweek.co.uk

Final Thanks

I would like to thank my contact at National Family Week, Bee Sachania (Partnerships Manager) who supported us both in the build up and during the events. I would like to thank Bee for putting Sprowston on the map by listing us as one of 14 key events out of over 4000 events that took place nationally, which was advertised in a national newspaper and also in the ‘Family Fun Magazine’ that was also given out nationally. It was also a real pleasure to meet face to face with Bee at the Sports Day, and I hope to be able to work with her again for next years events.

I want to thank our local Toyota and Peugeot car dealers who very kindly had their cars sign written with the National Family Week logo, and in particular Peugeot who also had our school logo and website printed on their car, to help support and advertise our events. Both of them also lent us the cars for the picnic day and so I would like to say a massive thank you for getting involved and supporting us.

I would also like to thank all those people that volunteered for the events. Without volunteers events like these would not be able to take place. It can be a thankless job at times, but is perhaps one of the most important jobs and has a positive impact on so many people.

Last but by no means least, I would like to thank my family for their support in both the build up to these events and during the events. They were the only people to get involved with all three events and without their support and hard work, these events would not have been a success. So a massive thank you to my Dad, Charlie Johnston, my Mum, Vanessa Johnston, my sisters Ellie Johnston-Gotts and Sue Adam and their partners Vince and Dave.

My thanks also goes to Mattie Smith (our Evening Caretaker), who also helped out at all three events.

It was truly an amazing week and one I will certainly look to build on and make bigger and better each year. I will be calling on more involvement from staff, students, parents, and business, so if you feel you have something to offer and would like to get involved with our community events, then please do not hesitate to contact me.

Be sure to check our school’s website for regular updates on clubs / activities and forthcoming events and get yourselves involved. If anyone has any ideas for future events or different clubs / activities that you would like to see take place at the school, then feel free to contact me and share your ideas.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Malcolm Johnston
(Community Events Coordinator)