Chitts Hill, Lexden, Colchester, Essex, CO3 9ST
FROM THE HEADMASTER . . .
Spring Term, Week 10
www.holmwood.essex.sch.uk
Happiness is the key to progress
Tel: 01206 574305
Thursday 24 March 2016
HOLMWOOD HOUSE
NEWSLETTER Chitts Hill, Lexden, Colchester, Essex, CO3 9ST
FROM THE HEADMASTER . . .
Tel: 01206 574305
In recognition of their demonstration of
one or all of the Golden Rules, the follow-
ing children have received Golden
Awards this week:
Reception:
Evangelos P
Heston K
Jesse L
Year 1:
Alexandra B
Blake R
Edward R
Ruby P
Year 2:
Leo M
Noah K
Fen J
Year 3:
Gus S
Harry S
WELL DONE!
GOLDEN AWARDS
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
Tuesday 19 April
8.30am Term begins
Friday 22 April
Panoramic School Photograph
Leavers Photographs
Pre-Prep Well-y Never entries in at
collection time
Saturday 23 April
from 10am Well-y Never entries in to
Jubilee Hall
PUPIL NEWS . . .
school. Always a
winner! Thank you for
your generosity.
Our congratulations to
Rosie B for gaining a
M i l l e n n i u m A l l -
Rounder Scholarship to
Brighton College.
Wishing you all a very
Happy Easter, a restful
h o l i d a y a n d a n
opportunity to reflect
upon a super term.
Best wishes,
Alexander Mitchell
Headmaster
Dear Parents,
It is with some
astonishment that we
find ourselves at the end
of term! Perhaps it's age
but time seems to be
passing more and more
quickly! Our youngsters
have enjoyed an
incredibly rich term of
activities, learning,
sport, performances and
special events. The two
major productions earlier
this half term seem an
age ago but were key
linchpins of the Prep
School experience. I
was thrilled to see the
Pre-Prep children so
proud of their work at
Saturday's Pre-Prep
Open Morning. Their
parents and grandparents
were led through each
and every page of their
books and folders from
the year so far.
Thank you for supporting
the various charity events
along the way. Air's
Charity Sale last Satur-
day and Land's day on
Tuesday have raised huge
sums of money for local
causes. I am so pleased
that the children are
developing their social awareness and understand
that there are people less
f o r t u n a t e t h a n
themselves. We look
forward to Water's
charity day after the
break.
My thanks to all the staff
who have worked their
socks off this term to
ensure Holmwood House
is indeed a happy
place. And an even
happier place it was
today when the Friends
of Holmwood House
presented Easter eggs to
every child in the
We celebrated the Shadows’ offi-
cial Holmwood birthdays this week
with an amazing cake made by
Peta in the kitchen!
Three Holmwood House pupils entered the Inter Schools One Day Event at Poplar
Park organised by Woodbridge School on 20 March. Hebe W rode in the 80cm.
Holly H and Emma d’A rode in the 90cm. Holly was 11th in her section and
Emma was 8th individually riding a double clear. Well done girls, a great achieve-
ment.
HOLMGROWN . . .
Page 2 Thursday 25 March 2016, Spring Term, Week 10
PRE-PREP OPEN MORNING . . .
FOHH . . . Further to the email that was sent out this week we would like to remind parents about two events being run by
Friends of Holmwood House. The clay pigeon shooting event on Saturday 14 May from 9am - 12 noon. This will
be a fun, relaxed, social, sporting activity and an opportunity to see and meet fellow parents. To be held at Birch
Estate (10 minutes from Holmwood House).
And we are delighted to be holding another golf challenge; this time at The Essex Golf and Country Club on
Saturday 21 May. Bacon rolls and coffee available from 9am with first tee off time at 10.30am. It is an 18 hole
county course. A 2 course lunch is included. It promises to be a great day of golf played in a relaxed and friendly
atmosphere.
Places are limited for both events and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.
Finally, a reminder that there will be a second-hand uniform sale held in the old school shop (near the Music School)
on Thursday 14 April from 10am until 11am.
Over the past 7 days Mr Mitchell has reminded everyone to get designing their welly over Easter for our Produce
Show launch event, 'Well-y Never!' We can't wait to invite everyone to look at the entries next term and pick their
winners!
Don't forget, now is the time to get started planting if you haven't already done so. There are many seeds that you
can start off in small pots on the window sill - for example, why not try growing some chilli plants?
The Year 5s and 6s planted herbs this week in old food tins from the school kitchen and they will be decorating the
pots over the holidays at home (and hopefully keeping their seeds well -watered!).
And finally - before you dig all those weeds out of the garden that have taken hold over the winter......there is a 'weed
to be proud of' category in this year's Produce Show - we are expecting a significant number of entries for this one!
On Saturday, Pre-Prep opened its doors and welcomed all the parents of Years R - 3 to come and view their
children's work. It was lovely to see so many children proudly showing and explaining all the amazing things they
have been doing. No wonder all the children (and teachers) are so exhausted!
Remember ....... Keep Reading .... Mrs Apperley, Librarian
YEAR 3 & 4 EASTER ART FUN . . .
Page 3 Thursday 25 March 2016, Spring Term, Week 10
LIBRARY NEWS . . .
James Campbell, children's comedian, storyteller and author of the hilarious Boyface series, is running a Writing
Day on Wednesday 6 April at The Avenue Theatre, Ipswich for children aged between 8 and 11 years who really
love to write. Places are limited as James likes to give the children lots of individual attention. To book a place
please email [email protected].
World Book Night 2016 falls on Saturday 23 April; Shakespeare’s birthday and the 400th anniversary of his death.
There will be an event at the British Library; a special gala evening beginning with a stellar panel of authors and
other guests each discussing the place of books in their lives and reading from some of their favourites. Cathy
Rentzenbrink, author of last year’s Sunday Times bestseller The Last Act of Love, will chair the panel featuring
World Book Night authors past and present, including Matt Haig, Dreda Say Mitchell, S J Parris, Holly Bourne and
Sathnam Sanghera. World Book Night’s flagship event will showcase its core values in one evening: to inspire more
people to read more, encourage them to share their enjoyment of reading with others and celebrate the difference that
reading makes to all of our lives. The gala evening then continues with a ‘Late at the Library’ event with special
guests, performance, music and food and drink in the entrance hall and entry to the exhibition Shakespeare in Ten
Acts.
In addition to the event in London, World Book Night will host high-profile regional events at public libraries
nationwide. Pan Macmillan are celebrating World Book Night with the first Big North Book Run at the Great North
Museum in Newcastle, with World Book Night and Quick Reads authors Ann Cleeves and Lucy Diamond, while
World Book Night author J. Paul Henderson will be inspiring students at Oldham College. At Peterborough Central
Library, author Tim Wilson will discuss the Brontë sisters, and Verbal Arts Centre in Derry, Northern Ireland will
celebrate World Book Night as part of their Reading Rooms programme. Hundreds of other giveaway events will be
happening all over the country and will be announced and promoted on the World Book Night websites.
Page 4 Thursday 25 March 2016, Spring Term, Week 10
PRE-PREP EASTER FOREST SCHOOL . . .
This week the Year 1s celebrated with a
special Easter Forest School. We toasted
marshmallows on the bonfire and had to be
very responsible and listen carefully to the
instructions that we were given. We made a
rope swing, tried to spell our names using
forest school lettering and sat around the fire
with hot chocolate and told stories.
Page 5 Thursday 25 March 2016, Spring Term, Week 10
PRE-PREP . . .
This half term each pupil in Year 3 has prepared and
presented a talk on a country of their own choice. The
presentations were most informative; the children had spent
a great deal of time researching and rehearsing their talks.
Year 3
Year 2 spent an afternoon looking at pond life around the
school and made amazing discoveries included different
types of snail, water lice, caddisfly larvae, cyclopods and
newts.
Year 2
Reception
This week the children had fun learning
about odd and even numbers using
chocolate mini eggs!
SCIENCE . . .
Page 6 Thursday 24 March 2016, Spring Term, Week 10
Year 5 have spent a lesson and a prep working on a presentation about a subject we have covered this year. Two of
them wanted to present their work to S8 who kindly took some time out of their busy schedule to come and be the
audience. Joshua R spoke about ‘The Seasons’ and explained that they are caused by the tilt of the Earth and the
amount of sunlight hitting an area. Ava M produced a fantastic poster on ‘The Solar System’, she spoke clearly and
had some very interesting planet facts! Well done to both - they were very nervous as they were talking to their pupil
Heads of Element.
Year 7 have been conducting an experiment to find out which biscuit contains the most energy. They have been
combusting 2gs of biscuit and using it to heat 20ml of water. The group of 5 have worked out the apparatus needed,
set up a safe working area and checked each other’s work. They have all followed the same agreed method to ensure
a fair and reliable test. The results were put into the equation to find out which biscuit
has the most energy per gram. 4.2 is the value of the specific heat capacity of water, in joules per gram per degree
Celsius, i.e. the number of joules taken to raise the temperature of water by 1°C. We found that the biscuit with the
most energy was a bourbon!
SCIENCE . . .
Page 7 Thursday 24 March 2016, Spring Term, Week 10
Holmwood Science Week at the Olympics
Monday 25 – Friday 30 April 2016
Year 4
Olympic Rings in
Bubbles
Year 8
Fitness
Challenge
Year 5
Fastest Parachute
Drop
Year 7
Fitness
Challenge
Year 6
Forensic Scientists in
Rio
Just a few of the Prep School activities taking
place during Science Week next term.
Rio 2016
Page 8 Thursday 24 March 2016, Spring Term, Week 10
BOARDING . . . On Monday evening the boarders had a great time making delicious Easter goodies!
And on Tuesday evening they enjoyed
playing football and sleeping bag
wrestling. As you can imagine, they
were suitably exhausted and slept very
well!
Page 9 Thursday 24 March 2016, Spring Term, Week 10
EAST ANGLIAN CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS . . .
With perfect running weather and dry ground underfoot we were set for a great day.
This year the hosts, Woodbridge, reversed the normal order of play starting with the
Under 13s. Phoebe R had lost her team mates to other commitments but was deter-
mined to run as an individual and managed a very impressive 8th place. This was
followed by our dedicated Year 8 boys who ran so well as a team that they came 3rd
place overall with Jude S and Ethan S scoring 10th and 12th respectively. Our Under
12 boys were down to two runners on the day but were not disheartened and gave the
course their best shot. Matthew B finished a very strong 4th and Ben N came middle
of the pack. The Under 11 girls were unlucky not to be placed as a team or achieve
any top ten places but were very proud of their running with Kaela S, Freya J, Maisy
H and Eve J all showing great teamwork and true sportsmanship. Another great result
for Hamish I who came 4th in the Under 11 boys with Daniel RP and Cedd R not far
behind. The Under 10 girls came 3rd place overall and had a large field of runners to
contend with. Alexandra BC came in a terrific 4th place with Millie M, Ava M and
Ilayda H all keeping the scores low enough to ensure their team success. Our greatest
achievement of the day was Henry D winning the Under 10 race in a well executed
and tactically run race. His team mates Hector BP and Jude S ran their hearts out and
were unlucky not to achieve team success.
Overall, a fantastic day with good results and a wonderful atmosphere of true
sportsmanship mixed with grit and determination. Very well done to all those who
took part.
Page 10 Thursday 24 March 2016, Spring Term, Week 10
SPORT . . .
TEAM WEEK
OF
THE
The Team of the Week is the
U11A Football (undefeated)
WELL DONE!
For up-to-date match fixtures and
cancellations, please visit the Sports
Fixtures page of the school website.