On Friday, Liss Junior School held an event to celebrate the life of Mr Andy Burford, our former headteacher who passed away over Christmas 2020 when the country wasin the midst of a lockdown due to Covid. It is only now that the school has been able to hold an appropriate celebration of his life. Many people involved in the Queen Elizabeth Parks project – both in the UK and Uganda – will remember that Mr Burford was instrumental in Liss Junior School becoming twinned with Kafuro Primary School in the first place. He also assisted Mr Stanley with many of the bids for British council funding and was a source of many brilliant ideas for joint projects between the schools.
Mr Burford’s family attended the celebration of his life where an art installation was revealed on the side of the school (as seen below). The roots and trunk of the tree represent the core skills we give the children at school with the leaves representing the growth they make while at Liss Junior. The butterflies were made by Yr 6 as they leave us and fly away to the next stage of their education and adulthood
We also planted a cherry field in the school orchard up on the field in memory of Mr Burford. As well as giving the pupils another source of fruit, it will also produce a beautiful blossom each year.
Mr Burford continued his love of learning after he had retired, and his wife, June, gave the school a beautiful litograph that he had created.
All the pupils, staff and parents at Liss Junior School will miss Mr Burford as will many of the people involved with the twinning project.
Queen Elizabeth Parks Project Schools' Blog 