Silsoe VC Lower School depicts life in 2020 for Hayfield Place time capsule project

Silsoe VC Lower School has depicted life in 2020 and conducted a school-wide competition to select pieces for a large time capsule, which has been buried at the 14-acre Hayfield Place housing development.

All children at the Ofsted Outstanding-rated Lower School - which has 271 local pupils age four to nine - created a special piece of rainbow-themed art to enter into the time capsule project competition. Winners were selected from Early Years, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. In addition, the time capsule has also been filled with; poetry about the year 2020; photographs of the school building and displays from around the school; the school uniform emblem; samples of work from Maths, English and topic lessons; a photograph of one of the youngest and oldest pupils; photographs showing examples of technology used in school; information about the School’s Vision and Christian values; the School Prayer; recent newsletters; a copy of The Week Junior Magazine; the children’s thoughts about the School and its extra-curricular clubs; a photo of the school Christmas tree and the children in Year 3 who were in attendance at the burial ceremony; as well as a face mask.

The time capsule has been buried in an area that will become part of Hayfield Place’s landscaped Public Open Space, located off Silsoe High Street in central Bedfordshire. 105 luxury homes are currently being delivered on the expansive site, which is close to English Heritage’s Wrest Park Estate. The siting where the time capsule is buried will be marked by a commemorative plaque next year.

Mandy Reddick, Chair of the Governors for Silsoe VC Lower School, buried the time capsule over one metre underground with rainbow art competition winner Emma Gostomski - age seven - and eight-year-old Ethan Millet, who consistently demonstrates the School’s values.

Mandy Reddick said: “Projects like this are a fantastic way for our whole school community to unite and think about what aspects of life in the present day would be of interest to future generations. With 2020 being a truly unprecedented year, this project has really captured the imagination of all 271 pupils and the quality of the material produced is a credit to them.”

Sarah Boyle, Headteacher at Silsoe VC Lower School said: “The global Coronavirus pandemic has altered the way some teaching has been delivered this year and also curtailed a number of the creative events and activities that celebrate the children’s many talents. However, the challenges of 2020 have inspired us to create a range of unique and interesting material to put into the time capsule. It has been a wonderful and prestigious project for the whole school community and the icing on the cake was having all the children in our Year 3 bubble present at the burial ceremony. I am grateful to Hayfield for working with us on this opportunity.”

30 per cent of the 105 executive homes at Hayfield Place are already occupied, both by locals from the nearby area and those relocating to the sought-after village of Silsoe. There is a range of three and four-bedroom family homes priced from £475,000 currently available at the highly popular development. A five-bedroom show home is open daily from 10am – 5pm, located at High Street, Silsoe, Bedfordshire, MK45 4ES.

More information on Hayfield Place is available here: https://www.hayfieldhomes.co.uk/development/hayfield-place

For all information on the scheme, please telephone 0800 048 4865 or email hayfieldplace@hayfieldhomes.co.uk.