ART Award to Cornish Primary School Group

After a weekend of snow in the South West it was with some trepidation that Sheila and I set off in the early morning for Cornwall. In the event we arrived in Lerryn, near Lostwithiel in glorious sunshine and shared a wonderful event with the children and parents of the village. If you don’t know this part of Cornwall it is amazingly beautiful; the village straddles the Lerryn River, a tributary of the Fowey Estuary. But then everything about Lerryn seems amazing. Not least, how did one of the smallest primary schools in England manage to win the 2018 ART Sarah Beacham School Group Award? You can read the submission they made to the judges on the ART website for yourself, but here is a flavour of what they have done in the last three or four years.

The young ringers group has amassed some impressive facilities:

• A set of hand chimes for Lerryn School
• A portable mini-ring which is used around the county
• A simulator and software at Bradoc church
• A practice dumbbell
• A new, light ring of 10 bells at St. Winnow where the old 6 bells had become unringable

Equally impressive, though, in the “Lerryn project” are the levels of people and community involvement. Three primary schools are now running bellringing clubs, work with cub and scout groups is underway, and the level of parental and school support is impressive. In addition, the groups are involved in outreach activities, both in local events such as Children in Need and BBC Music Day and across the county such as at the Royal Cornwall Show.

The energy, initiative and entrepreneurial spirit of this small school (total 25 pupils) leaves a lasting impression.

And when you look out of the window of the new classroom you see what an inspirational idea on the part of the School Head this was.

After receiving his cheque from ART, project leader, Rob Pearce was already talking to the Bishop about how he might fund his next big idea. There is little doubt that this isolated part of Cornwall will continue to amaze us in every way!

Les Boyce, ART Tutor