Would you like to know how Barnes Summer Play School and Big Top Adventures came to life?
Nineteen years ago, whilst strolling around Barnes Common, I had this sudden longing for my two children and a third on the way, to enjoy some of the things I'd enjoyed as a child. My own childhood was unpretentious with a short supply of money. This meant we never had a TV until way after all the other children in our street! Back then, with no computers or play stations to stir us up, our only toys were either a doll or a train. My finest hour was when my mum turned the very large Sunday newspapers into giant ladders for a make believe Jack (of the Beanstalk) to climb. My two siblings and I were crouched under the kitchen table (our camp) watching my mum, as if nothing greater could ever happen to us. She told magnificent stories, and we were in raptures. We drew pictures on the back of Kellogg Cornflake boxes and my mum pinned them up all over the kitchen. We loved that and felt like real artists! Soooooooo, I guess that’s where I got my inspiration!
The very next day, I made a phone call to Richmond Borough Council with a request to open an all day summer school in Barnes – for 3 to 7 year olds. I was immediately visited by someone 'in authority' who wanted to make sure I was the right ‘type of person' for such an unusual request. All day summer schools were not prevalent back then, only half day’s. Having gone before a scary board once all the appropriate paperwork was in place, I was overjoyed when they said YES!
Laurent was 10 years old, Holly was 3, and new baby Sophie-Rose was born on the 10th August 1989 - right in the middle of our first ever summer school! It was chaotic and fraught with “goodness me, what do we do now’s“, but we worked it all out between us and with the help of qualified local teachers, the school soon became crucial to many families in Barnes.
Barnes Summer Play School has flourished over the past 20 years and is always fully booked. Laurent worked in the school for a couple of summers but wasn't too keen on being bossed around by his mum! Holly has been working in the school since she was 10, is now the Big Top manager, and now tells me what to do! Sophie rose also now runs the dance and drama section of the school, and together the family business has become a winning formula. Around Easter time, the whole family, and some of the teachers sit down and have a natter about ‘the theme’, which usually corresponds with current views.
I now have a granddaughter, Vera-Lily who was born in April 2004, and I can’t wait for her to crouch under my dinning room table and watch me make giant ladders out of the large Sunday newspapers!
Big Top Adventures is really an extension of BSPS and was started 10 years ago to provide the older children who had outgrown BSPS with some constructive and entertaining fun during the summer. The first year brought a team of circus specialists to teach the children all kinds of circus turns, thus the reason for the name Big Top, but as things developed the day outings took over and now they are the talk of Barnes for their innovative merits. Three years ago, the children went to the new Sacchi gallery and one of them tried to sit on Tracy Emins unmade bed! Alarm bells were set off – not very clever!
Barnes Summer Play School and Big Top Adventures are now registered by Ofsted and all the staff are police checked. The school comes under the same criteria as a school which is open the whole year so a lot of hard work goes into its organisation. Long gone are the days of “goodness me, what do we do now”, with everything planned well in advance.
Parent feedback is imperative if we are to keep one step ahead so anything you might wish to add is most welcome. Here’s looking forward to another successful year!