Acting Head - introduction · Acting Head - introduction Dear Parents What skills do children gain...

NewsletterIssue No 14 / 2013-14 Friday 13 June 2014

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Acting Head - introductionDear Parents

What skills do children gain out of residential visits? As I’m pondering this question, I am mindful that our Year 6 pupils have just returned from an outstanding week in Snowdonia’s National Park. Under their geographical umbrella, the children discovered the changing nature of a climate in a mountain environment, how the mountains were formed and why you can find perfectly naturally occurring sea shells on the top of Snowdon.

Science skills were honed via mammal trapping, water habitats were investigated using kick sampling techniques and the children learnt to recognise many alpine plants – several of which are highly carnivorous!

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However, perhaps the greatest benefit comes from the fact that the children are away from home with their peers, taking some tentative steps towards independence. Some of the most rewarding experiences of the trip for staff are watching children conquer their fears when rock climbing, developing self-confidence in the rather cold gorge or just revelling in the great achievement of their safe ascent of Mount Snowdon. Their memories of this trip and many others can last a lifetime – they are certainly time well-spent.

Much more information can be found by following these links: Snowdon, Day 3 in Snowdonia and Climbing Cwm Idwal.

There are also huge benefits to the one day enrichment trips we provide. Year 4 pupils recently visited Woodhall Estate where they seized upon the opportunity to complement the learning that has taken place in our teaching garden with Mrs Bicknell. They also gained a greater insight into our local farming community. Their day included making corn dollies, learning about falconry, planting, managing a woodland, farm machinery, working dogs and livestock. Murphy, the clever working dog (who apparently was also a little bit naughty) scored highly with the children as did their close encounter with the birds of prey.

It was a remarkable opportunity to learn about the work that goes on behind the scenes on farms. Although Year 4 knew that a lot of effort went into the planting and harvesting of crops, they were surprised to learn that such care and consideration was given to the conservation of local wildlife, right down to mini-beasts.

News from the Prep










http://www.damebradburys.com/news/summit-snowdon-day-4/

http://www.damebradburys.com/news/wet-wonderful-day-3-snowdonia/

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News from the PrepWe have many other enrichment opportunities planned for this term across all parts of the school. They really are an incredibly valuable way of bringing learning to life, and my thanks go to the Dame B’s dedicated staff who facilitate them on a weekly basis.

With only four weeks of term left, the summer is approaching at a rapid rate. I look forward to meeting as many of you as possible over the coming weeks, at many key and highly enjoyable events, with our Summer Fair starting our celebrations on 21 June. Do come and join us.

With my best wishes,

Debs WhiteActing Head

To view all photos from this week, and all term, click here to go to the

Dame B’s newsletter page onwww.stephenperse.com










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Head of Pre-prep - introductionDear Parents,

The sun is shining and so are the contented faces of our children. As I walk around the Pre-Prep I am greeted by happy children keen to share what they are doing. They confidently discuss their learning and are always willing to share their experiences with staff and visitors alike. Our younger pupils in Nursery and Reception enjoy the chance to listen to and learn from each other, and have spent many happy days outside in their outdoor learning spaces creating marble runs from giant cardboard tubes, looking at the capacity of different containers in the water tray and helping the flowers and vegetables grow by filling the watering cans from the outside tap.

This year the Year 1 and 2 pupils have planted courgettes, sweetcorn, tomatoes and runner beans and the Nursery and Reception children have been busily helping to water them in the hot weather.

Children in year 1 have enjoyed a wide range of learning opportunities outside in our beautiful outdoor learning areas within the school grounds. Pond dipping and potting our sweet pea plants have enabled collaborative teamwork skills to be developed. The children have been encouraged to look closely and make observational drawings of the minibeasts found in a range of habitats outside. The children used a range of different hand lenses so that they could look for details and record what they could see.












Head of Pre-prep - news

The hot weather has inspired a great deal of learning within our Early Years department linked to the Holidays topic. RP have produced some lovely pictures of the seaside, RB have a fantastic holiday shop to help learn amount coins and totals, and Nursery have been packing their bags and buying tickets in their travel agents.

This week Nursery visited Boydells farm. Nursery went on their annual trip to Boydells Farm. They brought the sunshine with them and had a lovely day out together. Farmer Kiley gave us a wonderful tour around his farm. We got to milk the cows, feed the goats, lamas, hens and geese and collect some of the hens’ eggs. We stopped for a lovely picnic lunch, had a play in the stream and got to have a go on a pony and cart ride. After lunch we met a turkey and watch a sheep being shorn and lose his woolly coat. We fed the lambs bottles of milk and held some baby chicks. Then it was time to say goodbye to all the animals and head back home.












Head of Pre-prep - newsYears 1 and 2 have been busy learning about plants and animals in their own surroundings. The children have been growing and observing plants and learning about what they need to survive. Year 1 had an exciting time observing caterpillars building cocoons and then hatching out into butterflies, which they released in the school grounds. Year 2 have been linking their work on Roald Dahl by learning about the creatures in James and the Giant Peach. The children came up with questions that they would ask if they met a giant creature, and then researched the answers using information books and the iPads. 2S then visited the playground and interviewed the creatures in areas they could be found.

Both Year 1 and 2 have been using the app Explain Everything over the last few weeks to create their own presentations based on the plants and creatures work and in preparation for the Year 2 family history exhibition.

The children have been researching their family trees, interviewing family members and have brought in their own family artefacts. The exhibition will be held on Wednesday 25 June in the meeting room near the front office. The exhibition will run for a week and we hope you will be able to come and visit. Last week Gemma Tully from Saffron Walden Museum came to school to share the artefacts and to discuss what they children could write on their labels to explain the special stories behind them.












The children really do enjoy sharing their learning, creating their own presentations and articulating what they have learnt. We do love to hear about what they share with you at home as it often gives us an insight into the subjects, topics and stories they are particularly enjoying, so please to share this with us.

We hope the weather continues to be kind to us. We have many exciting events ahead of us including the Year 1 and 2 trip to Wandlebury on June 18, the Year 1 trip to the Botanical Gardens Cambridge on June 25, Sports day on July 1 and Reception visiting Stansted Mountfitchet Castle on July 4.

We are also looking forward to the PTA summer fair on Saturday June 21 and hopefully you will come and buy some of the plants that we have been growing for the Year 1 and 2 gardening stall alongside Mrs Bicknell’s Prep gardening club.

We look forward to the weeks ahead and sharing these experiences with you.

Kind regards

Mrs StrangerHead of Pre-Prep

P.S. Remember to follow us on Twitter and Tumblr!

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Sporting NewsCollaborative Athletics at Wilberforce Road Athletics Track

All the Year 3 and 4 children from across the Foundation got together for a quadrathlon event at the University of Cambridge athletics track.

With over 120 children and 16 members of staff this was an excellent opportunity to instill some competitive spirit between our schools and for our children to enjoy the experience of competing at an international standard venue.

The children competed against their peers and also against themselves. All four of their events: 50m sprint, 400m, ball throw and long jump were scored and their four scores were added together to give them a total for their four events. Although the fastest sprinter would have scored best in that event, they also needed to show a level consistency across all four disciplines to win the event overall. It was fantastic to see all the children competing together in such good spirit and determination – as well as the staff! The results are currently being collated and the children will find out whether they have achieved a Gold, Silver or Bronze standard.

U9’s Cricket

Miraculously, the rain held off long enough for our U9s cricket team to enjoy their first game of the season at Friends’ School.

During this term we have been working on our bowling, batting and fielding skills and developing as a team.

After the toss, Friends’ went into bat first and batted very well scoring 289 runs (200 runs is awarded to each team prior to the game starting). However, we managed to retaliate with 294 runs to win by a margin of 5.

What a start to the season and what great play from a strong cricketing team!












Rounders

Dame B’s vs SPFThis match was particularly close. Alice Tyler made a spectacular catch on the second ball in one game but sadly their team lost by one rounder 11.5 - 12.5. Daisy Sykes was named player of the match, a testament to her very skilful bowling. Our second team also played with great determination and gained more success in the second innings. Sadly, they too lost 6.5 - 10 with Sasha Swindells being named player of the match. Well done to all the girls who took part.

Uttlesford Tournament

Eleven students went to play in the Uttlesford School Sport Partnership Rounders Tournament. Having won the previous tournament, we were entered in this one against another eleven local schools.

In the first section, we won four matches convincingly and narrowly missed out against Henham and Ugley by one rounder. There was some superb fielding. Tom Parry and Tom Doggett made a mean duo as bowler and back stop. Not many balls got past our deep fielders. Sam Morgan in particular threw the ball from a long distance and Charlie Underwood displayed some very fine catching skills. Solid back-up by the others in the field ensured many players were caught and fielded out!

Our result led us into the final against Manuden. There were 20 good balls to play and Manuden scored 5 1/2 at the end of their innings. We did well to begin with, scoring a good few rounders. When it came to the last ball, we were 1/2 a rounder behind. Amazingly, Henry Wiseman took the pressure really well and scored our last rounder ensuring that we won the whole competition. We have now been entered into the Essex Schools Rounders Tournament, representing our area.

FKS

On Wednesday 12 June, the U9’s played their first rounders match against FKS. Thanks to some great bowling from Fifi Tye and fielding from Isabel Weston, Ruby Morgan and Faith Orimoloye in particular, there was only 2 1/2 rounders between the two sides at the end of the first innings.

Despite improving both our fielding and batting, the opposition did too and after some superb play from FKS, the final score was 5 - 13 ½.

Sporting News












Our congratulations go to Hebe Chamberlain, who competed in the Gosfield School Bake Off competition and has been awarded a place in the final on 24 June. Good luck Hebe!

CiCi Tilston entered a Tour de France-themed photography competition organised by the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge to celebrate their new Arts Award booklet, “Cycle Your Way to Discover”. We are delighted to announce that she won with the fabulous shot below.

Individual successes












8.40am SWAT Assembly, Pre-prep12.40pm Team photos3.45-5.45pm U11 Kwik Cricket League, SWCC

12-3.15pm Year 6 to Crucial Crew, Thaxted

8.15am-3pm Year 5 to KentwellAll day Years 1 and 2 to Wandlebury1.30-2pm SWAT Assembly, Prep2.30-3.30pm U11 A & B Rounders v Friend’s School (H)

9.15am-3.30pm Year 4 to WandleburyCollaborative event: Years 5 & 6 Music Day at Dame Bradbury’s2.30pm-3pm Music Day performance to parents

8.30am-3.30pm Year 3 to Colchester Castle2.30-4pm U11 Tennis v Friends’ School (A)

11am PTA Summer Fair

1.30-5.30pm USSP Kwik Cricket League Finals, Saffron Walden Cricket Club

9.30am-12.30pm Year 6 Road Safety12-5.45pm U9 & U10 Eastern Area Prep School Athletics, Cambridge University Sports Ground

9am-2.30pm Year 1 to the Botanic Gardens, Cambridge12.45-5.45pm USSP U8-U11 Athletics at Helena Romanes School, Dunmow1.10-6pm Year 2 Family History event

10am-1pm Collaborative event: Year 2 Rounders with Madingley & City Pre-Prep at Dame B’s1-1.30pm One O’Clock Talk, Year 6

8.45-9.15am 3W Form Assembly8.45am-12.30pm Year 5 to Science Action Centre, Bishop’s Stortford College1-1.30pm School Council

Mon 16 June

Tues 17 June

Weds 18 June

Thurs 19 June

Fri 20 June

Sat 21 June

Mon 23 June

Tues 24 June

Wed 25 June

Thurs 26 June

Fri 27 June

Diary Dates

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The Lion, the Witch and the WardrobeCome and join us in Narnia for an extremely colourful version of this well-loved story, performed by members of Years 7 & 8.

There will be something for everyone – songs, dance routines, stage fighting, fabulous costumes created by Backstage Club and, of course, plenty of magic and adventure.

Tickets are now on sale at the Senior School Reception in Cambridge.










http://www.stephenperse.com/resource.aspx?id=8160



SPF Parents & Friends Book ClubOur next meeting will be on Tuesday, 22nd July, at 8pm (contact Angela Neale, 01223 207706). We will discuss ‘Lying Under the Apple Tree’ - a collection of short stories by Alice Munro, and ‘Pereira Maintains’ - a short novel about the Spanish Civil War by Antonio Tabucchi.

We always have a lively discussion and are keen to welcome new members. If you are interested in finding out more, please contact Martha Crouch for details (mobile: 07768311015 or: [email protected])

Photography competitionThe Governors invite students from every school across the Foundation to capture their experience of learning in a photographic competition.

Entries will be accepted in four age categories:

3-7 years, 8-10 years, 11-16 years & 17-18 years

All entries will be displayed in an online gallery on www.spflearning.com and the runners up and prize winners will be displayed in an exhibition at the Senior School, Cambridge.

Entries should be in digital format and be either named and uploaded to the Google Drive folder “What is Learning? Photo competition” (which will have been shared) - or if you do not have access to Google Drive please email your entry to your form tutor - by the closing deadline of Friday 13th June 2014.

We look forwards to seeing the entries!

Note: Photographs should be the work of the students, who can all submit up to a maximum of 5 entries each.

The Governors invite all students from across the Foundation to capture their experience of learning in a photographic competition

Entries will be accepted in four age categories:

3-7 years, 8-10 years, 11-16 years, & 17-18 years

All entries will be displayed in an online gallery on www.spflearning.com and the runners up and prize winners will be displayed in an

exhibition at the Senior School

Entries should be in digital format and be either named and uploaded to the Google Drive folder “What is Learning? Photo competition”

(which will have been shared with you) - or if you do not have access to Google Drive please email your entry to your form tutor - by the

closing deadline of Friday 13th June 2014

Images submitted to this competition may be used for internal marketing purposes as well as for staff leaving cards

What is learning?Stephen Perse Foundation photographiccompetition2014

First prize - £25 Amazon voucher

Closing date TODAY!!!










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mailto:martha.crouch%40btinternet.com?subject=SPF%20Book%20Club

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http://www.stephenperse.com/resource.aspx?id=8006

http://www.stephenperse.com/events/other-events/photography-competition



A concert of music for Leukaemia and Lymphoma ResearchLeukaemia and Lymphoma Research are a UK-based charity which raises money to fund research into blood cancers. Understanding cancers can prevent their occurrence, and methods of treatment are continually improving. Combining national as well as individual fundraising events, they have been raising the profile of blood cancers for over 50 years.

Please consider helping us in supporting them; without public donations, Leukaemia and Lymphoma research cannot continue their vital and life-saving work.

Join our unstoppable team today.

For more information about Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research please visit their website at:

http://leukaemialymphomaresearch.org.uk/get-involved

Do you have an old mobile which you no longer use, or empty ink cartridges (branded ones only)? If so, please send them in to the office at any of the Stephen Perse Foundation Schools.

Small Steps, a charity in Huntingdon for families who have children with Downs Syndrome, are collecting these items to obtain iPads and funding for speciality therapy.

The iPads will be an invaluable resource for the children so that they can use the specialist apps developed by The Downs Syndrome Association.

Small Steps charity: appeal for old mobiles & toner cartridges












http://www.stephenperse.com/events/other-events/leukaemia-and-lymphoma-research-charity-concert

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