The football team (Georgie, Tom, Dylan, Louis, Ethan, Finlay, Cavan and Henry) played four matches in the first round.  They won two and drew two, scoring 7 goals altogether.  This qualified them for the semi-final - which they won.  The final was a tough game, but they were up for it, keeping going despite the driving rain and increasingly slippery surface.  A brilliant job!  Thanks to the football coaches, the cake makers and the cheerers-on.  Brothers, sisters, parents, grandparents - brilliant support.  

 The Mayor of High Peak, Councillor George Wharmby

The Mayor is elected from the Councillors. The Councillors are from Conservative, Labour and Liberal parties plus one Independent . Whoever has the largest group chooses the Mayor. Each time they choose a mayor they lose points so the smaller groups have opportunities to choose next times.

George’s grandfather was elected in 1904 as a conservative councillor during the war. At that time, councillors were co-opted, not elected.

You are Mayor for a year. 11^th May is the end so there’s a Mayor elect already.

The mayor has a very busy schedule which is organised two or three month’s notice. At a Foody Friday event, he met Thomas and Isabelle who invited him to our school.

The Mayor visits hospitals at Christmas; old peoples’ homes and charities. He does all types of visits – opening new businesses, for example. He has an important role in supporting businesses who contribute to the local economy allowing schools to function, street lights to be lit, dustbins to be emptied.

It is an unpaid role but with a small allowance as a Councillor. You do it for the love of meeting people in the High Peak.

The Worshipful Mayor of the High Peak, please be upstanding. ‘

The mace is chartered by royal assent - that’s why there’s a crown on top. It is kept in the Town Hall and is made of solid silver kept in a box of solid oak. The crest is the Buxton crest given to Buxton in memory of Mr and Mrs T. Ryan of Shirebrook 1919. Originally used as a weapon of war - the oldest universal weapon.

The position is apolitical even though the original vote was from a particular political party.

People can rely on the Mayor – like the other Councillors. People can ask councillors if they have a problem. The Mayor can take the problem forward, or tell the person asking which department to talk to. Councillor George Wharmby feels very honoured to be a Mayor. The skills you need: life skills, reading and writing. He left school at 15 and went into the building trade. He and his wife, Jean started their own business and were self-employed for 30 years. He never stopped learning.

When no longer a mayor, the Mayor will resume his job as a Councillor, representing St John’s, Charlesworth. There’s no special house for mayors but there is if you are Lord Mayor.

The chain is 18ct gold. The large medal at the front is the emblem of the High Peak and was made in 1974. Before then there were smaller borough councils (Bus, Glossop) now c-el-frith. 73,000 people live in the Borough of High Peak.

I’d have liked to be a farmer. I have a black Labrador called Daisy who curls up on the sofa when she shouldn’t do really.

Frank Seddon visited Cass 4 today.

My favourite subject at school was art. I did well at ‘A’ level. I got an A in geology; a B in art and a C in geography. I went to university in Leeds to study art. If you do art there are a lot of different things you can specialise in. There’s painting, sculpture and graphic design. Graphic design is more commercial. In my course I did photography as well as art. Everything you look at has probably been designed at some point.

After my degree I did a post-graduate course so I could teach art and design. My first job was teaching art and design at Stockport College. I had a class of twenty 16 year olds. They didn’t give me any guidance - I just had to get on with it. That’s where I learnt to talk to people. After 30 years I got fed up with it and left.

I designed and wrote some books – about earwigs, newts and daddy long legs…but they weren’t published. But Minnie’s Mum and Dad were setting up a business and they asked me to design a logo.

There are many jobs you can have in graphic designs (different specialisms): food packaging; visuals of new buildings (for architects); magazine design; advertising; websites. I use Adobe photoshop, Adobe Illustrator and Indesign. The favourite part of my job is when I’ve finished and I like it . I love all aspects of my job except…if I haven’t got enough time to finish a job because if you haven’t got enough time, you make mistakes.

If Ms Moore designs a cream that you can rub on your chin and it produces a beard in 20 minutes, the advertising agency produces several versions of a logo. Graphic designers can produce logos that are strong and powerful if that’s what the client needs. I’d use a glass jar with a plastic lid so it can be recycled. It’s sad that the sea is so polluted by plastic products (little pellets). The problem with the cream is that the beard grows fast and keeps growing…

I designed a ‘Guy Martin’ truck. He came to my office and I gave him lots of ideas. He didn’t choose the one I thought was best!

I do a calendar of trucks every year. Every month I do an advert for ‘Trucking’ magazine. Trucks look best if you photograph them from low down. I’m often lying in the road taking photographs…

If you love a subject it doesn’t feel like work.

Life lesson 13^th March 2017

Becky Pollard is the Clinical Lead and Safeguarding Lead at Beacon, a brilliant charity offering Counselling to Children Young People and Adults in the Stockport area. She currently also supervises counsellors who work with Children and Young People and Adults.

There are 55 counsellors and Becky’s job is to supervise 20 of them. Everybody is supported as it can sometimes be a hard day if you are listening to people’s problems.

To be a counsellor you have to understand how other people feel – not how you feel. Becky has to step into the person’s shoes to help with how they feel. She doesn’t ask her patients questions. She waits for them to tell her why they are there to see her. Sometimes people want to talk and sometimes they don’t; if they don’t, she advises them to come back when they are ready.

All Becky’s work is confidential unless she is dealing with children or young adults. She counsels children and young adults through play and expressing their feelings through art.

Becky works about 30 hours a week. She does private counselling from home and works 9-5 on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Sometimes it can be a lot later as she has group sessions.

When she was younger she wanted to be an actress, a journalist and a politician. She went to drama school but didn’t really like it. She did journalism and studied politics at University but didn’t pursue any of these and instead joined the police force! She was a policewoman for 7 years and loved the job, finding it very exciting.

She later decided to do a course on counselling and loved it so she did two and a half years’ training.

Becky loves cooking and if she couldn’t be a counsellor, she’d love to be a chef in her own restaurant only working three days a week. She loves cooking.

Her favourite part of the job is when the counselling is coming to an end and the patient feels much better than they did. They feel happier and their problems are sorted out.

What inspired you? Learning to be respectful of other people’s feelings, not judging people and helping people feel great.

Have you ever not been able to help someone? Yes. Sometimes people may have been told to have counselling and they are not ready or they just don’t want it.

Becky also telephone supports all 55 counsellors in safeguarding.

One of Becky’s quotes for being a counsellor was ‘We don’t see things as they are, we see things as we are’.

Becky’s Tom is coming to the end of his Y6 time at Buxworth and we will miss him and his family very much.