Denfield Park - Scrapbook 1977 -1980

United Sports

Sports events aimed at sorting the men from the boys – and women from the girls - were held at Rushden’s Denfield Park Junior School. Pupils, together with mums, dads, brothers and sisters competed in a family sports evening – the first event of its kind at the new school. All the family was invited to join in such contests as an egg and spoon relay, tug-of-war and three-legged races. The less energetic could try their hand at netball, shooting or wellie throwing, and dads could relive all those World Cup matches by having a go at penalty kicking.

The family get-together was completed by a visit from those children, and their parents, who will be joining the school in September, and they were invited to take part in a dressing up relay organised specially for the infant school pupils.

The sports evening, organised by parents and friends in the school association, was arranged with the aim of bringing together everyone involved in any way with Denfield Park, which opened last September.

Gift parcels for the old

Young pupils at a new Rushden primary school are becoming good neighbours to elderly people living nearby. Children from Denfield Park School took 100 parcels of their harvest gifts out to sick and elderly people. A harvest service was held in the school hall, and special features included vegetable models of animals made at home by the children and their families, like the pig made from a pumpkin by eight year old Deborah Holloman in the picture above.  The service was led by headmaster Mr. Bob Whitworth, and the guest speaker was Rushden rector Canon Michael Wilson. Pupils also took part in the service, singing, leading prayers, and reading about farming and fishing.

Sunny Cartwheels

Junior gymnasts from a new Rushden school entertained parents with a special display at their first open evening. Children from Rushden Denfield Park Junior School also entertained visiting parents and friends with demonstrations of pottery and lino printing. First year pupils arrange a play "The Little Elephants" adapted from one of their reading books. The children have also been looking at various aspects of town life -including high street shopping facilities -and their work entitled "Belonging to Rushden" were also on show.

Team takes the title Budding soccer stars from Rushden’s Denfield Park Junior School are the undisputed champions of the Rushden and District Schools Second League. The leagues is open to smaller schools and second teams in the Rushden, Higham Ferrers and Irchester area – and Denfield’s team emerged top without losing a single match. The team won all but two matches – with Rushden Alfred Street. Games teacher Ken Sharman said: “During the 1980-81 season we came second in the same league so of course we wanted to bring it off this year. “Training is carried out after normal school hours during football club sessions. It has proved to be a very popular”. We are the champions…. The winning squad shows off the trophy.

Back row (from left) Mr. Sharman, Jason Chettle, Christopher Mackenzie, Nathan Murray, Mark Fleming, Mark White, Andrew Glenn, Richard Brafield, Darren Pye. Front row: (from left) John Waterfield, Andrew Britchford, Ian Forson, David Bass, Robert Pack, James May. Captain Ian Berrill could not make the photo call.

Pupils say ‘Thank you’. Evening Telegraph December 19, 1977.

Susan and Tracey present the cheque to Insp. Murray (right)

The youngest and oldest pupils at a new Rushden school have presented the police with a special Christmas gift. Susan Frankland (11) and seven year old Tracey Alexander, of the Denfield Park School, handed a cheque for £20 to Rushden Police Insp Doreen Murray.   The money was the school’s first charity donation and will go to the Northants Police Widows and Orphans Fund. The cash was raised from collections held during performances of the school’s Christmas concert. Headmaster Mr. Bob Whitworth said the children had staged two shows which had attracted capacity audiences of parents and friends. He said it was decided to present the money to the police as a “thank you” for their fast action in reclaiming equipment stolen during a recent break-in at the school.

Pupils Get The Bird Evening Telegraph October 5, 1978
	An unlikely collections of animals, including a talkative mynah bird, became model pupils at morning assembly in a Rushden School yesterday. Headmaster of Rushden Denfield Park Junior School Mr. Bob Whitworth, invited the children to take their pets to school for a special St. Francis’ Day service. Youngsters arrived with their canaries, budgies, tortoises, rabbits, cats, gerbils, goldfish, a mynah bird and even a frog. The service was led by Mr. Whitworth, with the young owners taking part by describing how they cared for their pets. The event was part of a series of thanksgiving services at the school for different aspects of every day life. “The mynah bird was definitely the star of the show, but we couldn’t quite make out what he was saying” said Mr. Whitworth.
Cuddles, the white rabbit - and Tracey Loakes (8) obliges at the pets day.

Pupils hold opinion poll Worries that a new Rushden school may be causing problems for people living nearby are unfounded – according to a survey conducted by the pupils themselves. Fourth-year pupils at Rushden’s Denfield Park School decided to put their own questionnaire to neighbours in Victoria Road. “The results show that people are in favour of the school being here," said headmaster Bob Whitworth. The children drew up a list of eight questions about the use of Victoria Road as an access road to the school – which had been a major worry before the school was built – pupil’s behaviour and noise levels. Pupils took their questionnaire to 18 houses. “Of the 15 replies received, it seems that 12 preferred the site being used for a school to its original use as a playing field” said Mr. Whitworth. The questionnaire also asked if pupils could help residents, and if they would like to visit the school. “We have a special School Association which involves all relatives of pupils and the people in the surrounding community” said Mr. Whitworth. Nearby residents had been invited to the school opening ceremony and to other social events.

School’s days of success An open evening held by Rushden school was a “very successful end to a very successful year” said the headmaster. Mr. Bob Whitworth, of Denfield Park Junior School, said about 200 parents, relatives and friends had attended the event. The aim of the evening was to show parents samples of their children’s work in areas such as music and gymnastics. Those present saw a play “The Cutting of Knotting Wood”, produced by Miss Joy Farey, who is in charge of language at the two-year-old school.   There were also items by the schools’ recorder group and choir. Youngsters who are attempting to win national gymnastics awards went through their paces. Age Triumphs Age triumphed over youthful enthusiasm in a rounders match between staff and the fourth year of Denfield Park Junior School, Rushden. Despite not having played for years, the older generation won by eight to four (after extra time). Unfamiliarity with the game led the headmaster, Mr. Bob Whitworth, to turn up pinstriped track suit, bowler hat and rounders’ bat. Other team members seemed more prepared for ski-ing, swimming, cricket or an invalidity pension. Deputy Head Mr. Vaughan Collier arrived in life saving gear, just in time to rescue the team. Going Welsh – April 25, 1979 Children at a Rushden junior school began their new term with a fact-finding mission to North Wales.  About 40 pupils of Denfield Park Junior School, Rushden, aged between nine and 11, are spending this week at a Christian Endeavour Hostel in Penmaenmawr, between Conway and Bangor. The visit is part of their environmental studies programme.   They will return on Sunday. Evening Telegraph -Saturday December 22nd 1979 Jennifer Pipworth and Paul Gibbs (right) present the cheque to Mr Munday. Showing off their homework - youngsters have fun pulling nine-year old Jonathan May's giant cracker hat. Top of the Form

Charity fundraising ideas from children at Rushden Denfield Park Junior School were so successful that they sailed well past their target. The youngsters organised a map treasure hunt, guessing the amount of cash and sweets in jars, a sponsored walk and a ticket competition. They had set out to raise £70 to buy an ice-making machine for the Stop Polio Campaign. But the events made a total of £115 and the pupils decided to give the balance to the Save the Children Fund. Cheques for the two charities were both received by Mr. Bernard Munday, chairman of Rushden and Higham Ferrers branch of the SCF. The youngsters’ ideas were co-ordinated by teacher, Mr. Tony Thompson, and the cheques were presented by the youngest girl pupil, Jennifer Pibworth (7) and the oldest boy, Paul Gibbs (11). But it was not all hard work for the youngsters, when their homework took on a festive air. About 220 pupils --- all the children on the roll ---- made a fancy hat with a Christmas theme for a competition.

Evening Telegraph Article - School head on the ball

Pupil Darren Pye, aged eight, obviously thinks that a games evening has gone to his head’s head, so to speak. Our picture was taken as he played table tennis with his headmaster, Mr. Bob Whitworth. More than 50 pupils and their friends from Denfield Park Junior School had accompanied parents to an after-hours games evening at the school this week. Games from chess to table tennis were played during the 90 minutes session --- the second to be held. Mr. Whitworth said:  “We started this last month and it has just snowballed. “Judging by the amount of people that turned up it seems very worthwhile”. The idea came from the school association, which consists of parents and teachers, and will continue on a monthly basis.

Houdini Rabbit Hops It Again

Rushden's answer to the Great Houdini is on the run again. “Runaway”, the pet rabbit found recently by youngsters in the playing field at Denfield Park junior school has made yet another escape.The children caught the huge white rabbit just before the spring holiday break and one of the pupils volunteered to care for him until school started again. But “Runaway” was bitten by the wanderlust bug and made another dash for freedom. He escaped from his cage and is now at large somewhere in the Midland Road area of Rushden.Yesterday the school secretary said:  “The little girl looking after him had used a heavy brick to keep the cage shut, but “Runaway” managed to push it off.   He is a very big rabbit and strong too”.
Ironically the rabbit had been claimed by his original owner after the school broke up for the holidays and was due to be returned this week.   He belongs to Mrs. Rhonda Seabrook of 37 Queen Street, Rushden.

Runaway Takes a Holiday

Runaway the rabbit is enjoying the half-term holiday with a pupil of Rushden’s Denfield Park School. But the white rabbit, which hopped into the school playing field just before the holiday, will soon be back in his own hutch. After an Evening Telegraph picture story yesterday, Runaway’s owners – who live in nearby Queen Street – contacted the school.

The rabbit had already been given a temporary home by one of the pupils for the half-term holiday.

Evening Telegraph, Friday, May 23, 1980 - Top Marks for Festival
	Young musicians hit the right note when they staged a festival in Rushden this week. Parents and friends packed the town’s Ritz cinema to hear children from 13 schools perform instrumentals and sing a variety of songs. Secretary of the Rushden and District Schools’ Festival  Association Mrs. Pat Bird said:  “It was a very successful event.   The cinema was full and everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves.” The festival is held every two years, and this year involved nine junior and four comprehensive schools. For some items, all the schools combined, and one section sang a selection of songs from Walt Disney films There were also several instrumental items featuring recorders, percussion and clarinets.
Music teacher Miss ChristineYeomans conducts pupils from Denfield Park Junior School

Evening Telegraph, July 5, 1980 - Parents Watch Records Tumble

More than 100 parents watched their children take part in Denfield Park Junior School’s third annual sports day.The parents saw their children take part in 40 events, including obstacle, skipping and fancy dress races.

Headmaster Mr. Bob Whitworth said:  “I am delighted we got such a good response.   We are a new school and growing all the time. “I have no doubt the bright weather helped after all this rain”.

At the end of the day, the track record was the same as last year with Scott House winning by 173 points followed by Drake (154 pts), Rhodes (141) and Cook (130 pts). In the long jump, Sharon Perkins broke the school record with a leap of 3.68 metres.   Joanne Fowler came second, followed by Joanna Frankland and Karen Ashby. Granger Forson cleared 3.25 metres to win the boys’ long jump.    Runners-up were Paul Gibbs, Mark Payne and Nicholas Bishop.
Another girl to break a school record was Nicola Clarke who cleared 1.12 metres in the high jump to beat Kerri Davies to first place.   Marcia O’Dowd and Joanne Fowler came third and fourth. Julian Williams cleared the same height to win the boys’ high jump competition and Jason Dunmore cam second with Aaron Betts in third place followed by Mark Payne.

Evening Telegraph article Monday July 14th 1980 - Parents join in classroom fun

Evening Telegraph Article - Visitors study life in school
	Schools in Northamptonshire are this week being probed by a group of American educationalists. Teachers, as well as school and college officials, are among the 35 - strong group staying at Knuston Hall, near Rushden. During their two-week stay, they will be combining an in-depth look at the British school system with a summer holiday. The trip was the brainchild of education direction Mr. Paul Boranian who visited Kettering two years ago. The week six of the group spent a few hours at Denfield Park Junior School in Rushden where they were able to talk to teachers and children at work. Teacher Cynthia Tyson said:  “When I get back to the States I intend to write about what I have seen here.   What I have learned from my visit will no doubt influence my work in future”. Four other teachers will help Great Doddington schoolchildren export their work to America.The work was given to Mr and Mrs. Stanley Baraga and Mr and Mrs George Haakenson when they spent a day at the school. It was a mutual swap shop of information.   The children heard about Minneapolis;  the Americans were shown over the school by the children who painted and wrote for the couples.
Putting out the flag at Denfield School, Rushden, are youngsters (from left) Christopher Luty, Deborah Hollomon and Nicola Clarke watched by American Visitors (from left) Mayra Boranian, Paul Boranian and Cynthia Tyson.

Evening Telegraph Article - Testing Time for Two
	Junior school pupils in Rushden have won places in leading boarding schools next term. Katie Bateman (11) and Nicholas Bishop (9) who both got to Denfield Park Junior School, beat stiff opposition to win their places. Katie of Pytchley Road, Rushden, passed two exams to gain her place at Christ’s Hospital, Hertford, and Nicholas, who lives in Newton Road, Rushden, sang his way to a place at Southwell Minster. Nicholas said:  “I sing with the school choir as well as Rushden’s St. Mary’s Church Choir.   When I start at my new school I will be trained as a chorister – that’s why they wanted to hear my voice”. “Katie who wants to be either a nurse or a teacher when she is old enough, said:  “I had to pass two exams in London as well as pass a general knowledge test”.
Katie and Nicholas

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