Murder Mystery at Lindfield Primary - PTA fundraising

It’s Village Day in Lindfield, and the Primary School hall is a hive of activity as staff, family and friends prepare for the annual carnival. But the activity screeches to a halt with the shocking news that village Mayor Morris Bonson has been found dead floating in the village pond!

But who could have carried out this horrific crime?

Could it be Mr Bottingham the butcher, the PTA chair from rival Whitethorns School or the brash American tourist?

That’s the question posed for players of Lindfield’s thrilling new Murder Mystery game.

Devised by Lindfield Primary PTA members Anna Shears and Robyn Baker-Schiau, the game invites players to take on the roles of key suspects and challenges them to work out who carried out the crime.

The game was unveiled earlier this month and is already being played out by families with older children in the village. “We began writing the scripts back in January when we were still in lockdown, so the original idea was to play it over a zoom call,” Anna explained. “But it’s great that we can now get together in person to play.”

The mystery has three scenes, and each player is invited to step into the role of one of either six, or eight, characters. “We have tried to make the characters larger than life and have included a few accents for fun,” said Anna. “They include the French husband of the PTA chair who is opening a patisserie in the village, the primary school caretaker and even an up-and-coming young journalist from the village magazine Lindfield Live!

“We’ve had some lovely feedback so far, and one player described the characters as similar to those in Motherland, which was great!”

During the game, as the plot unfolds, players try to work out who has committed the crime before the murderer is revealed in the final scene.

“We hope that, by this time, people will have enjoyed the various twists in the plot, as everyone’s lives are intertwined,” said Anna. “It’s a silly game, but hopefully as lot of fun, which people can play at their leisure over the summer, at home, in the garden or even on holiday. All you need are the scripts – dressing up is optional!”

The game (suitable for adults and children 16+) costs £5 per player and all proceeds go directly to the Lindfield Primary School PTA.

To find out more, and order your copy, email: lindfieldmurdermystery@gmail.com.

Lindfield Primary Academy's call to the local community

By Lindfield Primary Academy PTA

At the time of writing, we once again find ourselves still in yet another lockdown. In the summer months the children of Lindfield Primary Academy loved spotting rainbows in the village windows whilst on their daily exercise. With the sun well and truly gone and grey skies a permanent feature, we put our thinking caps on to think of ways to brighten up daily walks.

We want to reach out to our beautiful Lindfield community, and invite you all to decorate your windows with beautiful stars that the children can enjoy spotting whilst carrying out their daily exercise.

Stars can be any size or colour and as many or as few as you like. All stars welcome! Let’s get Lindfield twinkling.

Editor’s note: When you’ve decorated your windows, why not send in a photo (editor@lindfieldlife.co.uk) with you or your children in it – so that we can showcase them in a future issue.

PTA adapting in this ever-changing world

By Lynne Roberjot

Year 1 outdoor classroom, part-funded by the PTA

There is no doubt that 2020 has been an incredibly tough year for charities. The need for new and innovative fundraising ideas, which are safe and Covid-19 compliant, are essential.

Here at Lindfield Primary Academy PTA – a non-profit organisation run by parents and teachers of children at Lindfield Primary Academy – we consider ourselves a resilient and resourceful bunch.

In the last academic year, despite a global pandemic that shut down our school and saw the cancellation of planned events including the Summer Ball and Summer Fair, we raised £24,000. This followed a record-breaking £40,000 raised the year before.

These much-needed funds further enrich our children’s learning and environment. Recently, the PTA has helped to fund a Year 1 outdoor classroom and learning area, online subscriptions which have been invaluable in supporting home learning, booster groups and mountains of books.

New initiatives have included EasyFundraising and Amazon Smile, enabling families to gift donations to the PTA through their everyday online shopping. We have received generous one-off donations and the continued support of corporate sponsors, including Lloyds Bank.

Last month we held our first virtual PTA Annual General Meeting, with a significant uptake in attendance on the previous year. New committee members were voted in by the current committee, and heaps of new ideas proposed.

With current PTA Co-Chair’s – local businesswomen Anna Ashley and Rebecca Downie - stepping down after two successful years at the helm, we are delighted to welcome new Co-Chairs Victoria Tischendorf and Sharn Smith. Tasmin Broadstock adopts the role of Secretary, replacing Lynne Roberjot, while Treasurer Steve Hall and Vice-Chairs Carrie Faraday and Julia Barham-Wick continue with their roles.

While we are currently unable to run in-person events, including our much-loved and profitable Christmas Fair, we will be making Christmas special for the children and their families with some new and virtual festive fun!

We are incredibly lucky to have such an amazingly supportive school and local community. We thank everyone who continues to donate, volunteer, partner and support us and we wish our newest PTA committee an exciting (albeit unprecedented) fundraising year ahead!