The Year Six students at Sir Henry Fermor C of E Primary School in Crowborough have been demonstrating just how proud they are of their town by inviting all of their parents/carers, and the Mayor of Crowborough Councillor Ron Reed, to come along and see presentations about all the very best that the town has to offer.
Rather than just letting the children highlight the features of the town, the Year Six teachers, Mrs Hill and Mr Lucas-Scott, decided that they would turn it into a competition to see which students would put together the very best presentation. The scenario the children were given was that Mr Medway is looking to leave London, with his wife, his children Emily and Leon and their dog, Mia – and he is considering Crowborough as a possible place to live.
The two classes were divided into 12 groups, for which they then chose very inventive names like Crowborough Citizen Board, The Crowborough Information Group, The Unraveling Crowborough Company and Discover Crowborough. For authenticity the children also created some very convincing business cards.
They then set about researching the history of the town and each group created different ways of showcasing the information that they learned. Their ideas included PowerPoint presentations, leaflets, posters, models, maps and each class also filmed a television advertisement.
The Mayor then spent time with each group, quizzing them on the knowledge that they had accumulated, before making a decision as to who he thought has presented the most convincing case, with the greatest knowledge of the town.
At the same time, the parents also examined each group’s market stall so that they could choose the groups that they considered to have put forward the best argument for Mr Medway upping sticks and making Crowborough his new home.
The atmosphere in the hall was electric, with all of the children participating enthusiastically and using their very best marketing skills to entice “customers” to their stalls and, once they had them seated, plying them with biscuits and mince pies while they watched and listened to their presentations.
The Headteacher of Sir Henry Fermor School, Mr Sutton-Smith, told me, “I am extremely proud of all the hard work that the children have put into today. They have spent several weeks working on this and the level of maturity that they are showing in presenting their cases is absolutely stunning.
We worked very hard with them on making sure that they understood that they are presenting to an audience, and that requires a different approach from just chatting to each other. It quite amazing to see how much they have taken on board, because they are behaving like secondary school students and they have created a real buzz of excitement.”
The Mayor, Ron Reed, added, “I think it’s absolutely amazing. I sometimes talk to local adults who know very little about our town, but these children probably know more than most adults now. They have done so much research, and they are presenting it so very well. They are very clever children and, who knows, maybe one of them will end up as Mayor one day.”
The competition ended with Councillor Reed presenting a silver cup and medals to the Mayor’s Choice winning team, V. Tourz 4 Life, made up of Theo, Lewis, James, Nick, Adil and Robert with medals also presented to the Parents’ Choice winning team, Come To Crowborough, Jessica, Laura, Callum, Nathan and Freya.