The information supplied by the Local Authority this year indicates that there are 57 children whose parents/carers living within the catchment area have selected the school as their first choice for their children’s education.  Whilst we would welcome each and every one of them, there are only 30 spaces available for the September 2012 intake. This is because the school already has numbers of children well above its admissions limit, which has arisen as a result of taking in children who have successfully appealed for a place at the school in previous years. This means that the school infrastructure, in terms of teaching spaces, toilet and cloakroom facilities, the preparation of school meals, availability of dining areas and adequate play spaces is currently severely compromised.

The Governing Body has advised the Local Authority of this looming crisis for the past four years and has lobbied vigorously for the school building to be expanded to meet the demand for places, but without success. As many of you will be aware, the school is unique in that it was the first primary school to be constructed under a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) arrangement by the Sewell Group for the Local Authority and the community of Victoria Dock. It is a partnership that has worked well and the school has been extended twice before, from 60 places to 120 and from 120 to 240 places, which is the present capacity for the school. A design for a further building expansion scheme has been drawn up, at the provider’s expense, but in the current financial climate it seems that, in the view of the Local Authority, this is not achievable. Indeed, the current Portfolio Holder for Education has expressed the view of the present ruling political group forming the Hull City Council that ‘not one penny will be spent on Victoria Dock Primary School’.

However, the Local Authority has offered the possibility of positioning a mobile classroom at the school on a temporary basis, but without any assurance as to how long this temporary position might last for, and totally without any commitment to exploring the possibility of a permanent solution.

The governing body of Victoria Dock Primary School met on the 16th May, 2012 to discuss the proposal to site a temporary classroom at the school, and having listened to all opinions, conducted a vote (two governors declared an interest and did not vote).  The result was a unanimous decision not to site a temporary classroom at the school without a commitment from Hull City Council to find a permanent solution to what has been a long-standing issue and one that is likely to continue in future years.

Colin McNicol
Chair of the Governing Body
18th May, 2012

On Wednesday 16^th May, the second group of Year 4 children visited Sirius Academy to create their very own Olympic London 2012 themed tee shirt.

 Firstly, the children did some research about the fast approaching Olympic Games and then used Microsoft Publisher to put together their unique designs. Following the morning of careful designing, the children headed to Sirius Academy to use the amazing facilities. Whilst at the Academy, the children used the Gel Printer to produce their individual print and then they very carefully used the sublimation machine, which reaches temperatures of 190°C, to transfer their designs to their tee shirt. It was clear from their amazed faces the children had thoroughly enjoyed the project.

 The following weeks will see all the children from Key Stage 2 take part in the project.

Foundation 1 have welcomed Daisy the cow to our farmyard classroom.

Daisy has enjoyed many milking sessions with the children!

Check out our recipe and have a go yourself!

Super Smoothies Recipe

Places at the school have been much sought after for the previous three years with 48, 48 and 42 gaining places in Year 2, Year 1 and Foundation 2 respectively. Despite the high demand for places the capacity of the school has not been increased and with nearby schools having spaces and the land currently occupied by the school a site of Special Scientific Interest and too small for expansion, the future is presently uncertain.

One thing for certain is the school wants the very best for the children that attend the school and does not want to compromise the education they are given. The school also appreciates the difficulty and anxiety of parents wanting a place for their child who face the prospect of not getting one.

The Governing Body at Victoria Dock Primary School fully understand and share the concerns of parents/guardians of prospective pupils at this difficult time of the year in respect of the admission arrangements for the school. Firstly, it has to be pointed out that the school does not have a role to play in the selection of children given a place at the school. This is the role of an independent body, who in turn advise the school of the children who have been given a place.

This year there are 57 children whose parents/guardians have selected the school as their first choice for their child’s education and whilst we would welcome each and every one of them there are only 30 places available for the 2012 intake. The school already has numbers of children in school well above the school roll number, which has arisen as a result of taking in children who have successfully appealed for a place at the school in previous years. In practical terms this means that he school infrastructure, in terms of teaching spaces, toilet and cloakroom facilities, preparation of school meals, hall space for dining and performances, and adequate play space is currently compromised.

The Governing Body have advised the local authority of this impending crisis for the past four years and have lobbied vigorously for the school to be extended to meet the demand for places, but without success. As many of you will be aware the school is unique in that it was the first primary school in the UK to be constructed under a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) arrangement by the Sewell Group for the local authority and the community on Victoria Dock. It is a partnership that has worked well and the school has been extended twice before, from 60 places to 120 and then from 120 to 240, which is the present design capacity of the school.

The Governing Body are continuing to  explore various options with Sewell Group, the Local Authority and the DfE in an effort to try to find a solution to the increased demand for places , which includes a permanent extension and remodelling of the school, so that it can continue to serve the needs and increased demands of the Victoria Dock community .

After over 6 months of rehearsing, the day finally arrived! On Thursday 26th April, fifty excited Key Stage 2 children (and a a whole load of scenery and props) left the school to head to Hull Arena to take part in Rock Challenge 2012. Wearing personalised tee-shirts, the children were keen to get involved in the atmosphere of the day and joined in with other schools’ chants and dance routines.

Safety pins, make up, ribbons and a huge amount of glitter awaited the children. The race was on – 50 children to get into costume and made up ready to open the Rock Challenge Hull 2012 show.

The lights went down, the show was ready to begin! Emily Beadle took to the stage to introduce the Victoria Dock Crew. Huge applause greeted the children to the stage, 47 children dressed in amazing costumes – party girls, rag dolls, soldiers and also not forgetting the stage crew: Harry Cooper and Giai Aizue and award winning Ben Purling as Video Director!

Once again the children performed to an amazing standard, showing their fabulous talents and just how outstanding they all are! The crowd went wild when the performance came to an end – a sea of smiling faces could be seen on stage, showing how much they had enjoyed being part of this awesome experience.

The children had a long wait ahead to find out the results. Once again the children did the school proud by respecting all other schools performances and showing support and appreciation of others talents.

After what seemed the longest judges deliberation ever, the results were in! Victoria Dock were announced …. 2nd place! Well done to this year’s winners Gillshill Primary School! Awards galore followed for Victoria Dock: Best Soundtrack, Most Entertaining, Best Drama, Best Video Performance and one of the most fought after – The Performers’ Choice Award!

A fantastic night for both children and staff of Victoria Dock Primary School in which they all left as winners! A truly unforgettable experience!

Roll on next year!

Click the link to watch the video Rock Challenge 2012

Over the past few months, our class has been working extremely hard on various projects, with the aim of making as much money as possible from our original investment of £150.

Our main projects were:

• Car washing
• School disco
• Beads Galore

Sitting in Guildhall, we were full of nerves and excitement as we watched all of the other schools present their ideas first, waiting patiently for our turn.

After an anxious wait, it was finally our turn to shine!

We took to the stage with confidence and smiles on our faces. We spoke clearly and delivered an impressive presentation. The audience was really surprised when we announced we had made a profit of £854.64!

Afterwards, several people complimented us on our ideas, presentation skills and professional appearance.

We had such a fun day and we would love to take part in ‘Make £5 Blossom’ again!

 By

Rosie Edwards,
Laura Barton,
Amy Barton,
Rifah Husain,
Chloe Hunter,
Lloyd Leigh-Smith

We travelled by 2 mini-busses. The journey lasted 10 minutes with children singing to all different types of songs. Luckily no one was sick. That’s a good job because there was really dodgy driving thanks to Mrs Galloway!

Finally, we got there, thank goodness, and people where surprised to see how big it was. We entered by the front door and got let in by some people in reception. Slowly, we walked though the workshop and strolled through the giant, double doors. We had just laid eyes on a F1 mini-track!

We raced and fought through many battles to finally achieve our glory and be one of the three teams selected for the regional finals! Two teams were chosen outright, however, the third team was chosen from individuals of different teams that have never worked together before. The 2 full teams who got through were the Sweet Sweeties (made up by Tia Mills, Olivia Traynor, Beth Hayward and Ellie Porteus) and The Fury Five (Kyle Ellis, Harry White , Harry Mason, Jack Haslope and Liam Williamson). The third team was Nathan Smith, Kai Young, Josh Koert, Ella Daly and Sarah El-Sharkawy.

These three teams now have only a few weeks to perfect their cars before they will take on several schools from all over the region at Sirius Academy on June 11^th. Should one of the teams win there then that team will move forward to the national finals!

By Nathan Smith

It seemed only a matter of time before Hymers would take the lead which proved to be the case as on the 8 minute mark, Victoria Dock goalkeeper, Harry White, was beaten from close range.  This came after a failed clearance from a corner. The visitors soon extended their lead after a ball was given away from the Victoria Dock defence.  The Hymers attack capitalised and took their chance well firing in a well placed shot into the roof of the net, nearly breaking it too!

Towards the end of the first half Victoria Dock finally showed some signs of getting back into the game with Joshua Shode marginally over the crossbar after seeing the Hymer’s keeper off his line.  Victoria Dock could not however pull a goal back, resulting in a 0 – 2 deficit at the break.

After what must have been a motivating half time team talk by Head Coach Mr Kite, the Victoria Dock team started the second half in splendid fashion.  Within minutes of the re-start Joshua Shode was unlucky not to claw a goal back, seeing his effort sail agonisingly over the Hymer’s crossbar once again.

This did not deter the boys however as better was yet to come.  After some good build up play from their own defence, the ball eventually found its way into the path of midfielder Jack Haslope who fired in a ferocious shot from outside the area to beat the Hymers keeper.  The scores now looked more respectable at 1 – 2. This clearly seemed to spur the team on who now looked hungry for goals and were rewarded with another one only moments later.  An excellent through ball was played through for Nathan Smith who was quicker that the Hymer’s keeper and was able to dink one over him to level the scores!

By now the game was being controlled by Victoria Dock, and not content with the scores level, the boys pushed on to look for the lead for the first time.  With only three minutes left on the clock their excellent second half display saw Victoria Dock take the lead.  Liam Williamson had caused the Hymers defence problems during the whole second half.  He took a chance that fell to him firing in from 8 yards into the top left hand corner.

After such an excellent second half display it was nothing less than the boys deserved.  With only one minute left on the clock however, Hymers pressed well and managed to level the scores up once more.  A Hymer’s player reacted the quickest during a scramble in the area to beat Harry White from 6 yards out. With only seconds left on the clock Nathan Smith appeared through on goal but was taken down by a last gasp lunge by a defender just outside the box.  The resulting free kick was well palmed away by the keeper with the game eventually ending 3 – 3. 

A fair result with both teams each dominating a half each.