17th January 2020

Dear Parents,

Assemblies provide a special opportunity for a whole school to gather together, and to share important messages. Yesterday the children heard from a representative of World Animal Protection, the charity chosen by the children this year. Today they heard the story about a king who was frustrated that one of his two magnificent falcons would not fly, preferring instead to stay on its branch. Despite summoning the best falconers and sorcerers in the land, no one could make the bird move. That is, until a farmer came along who very quickly enabled the bird to soar. How? By cutting the branch on which the bird was sitting.

The message here is that we can all fly – we all have talents and things we do well. But it can be too tempting to settle for a safe ‘ordinary’ by clinging closely to what feels familiar; we can miss wonderful opportunities. It is also good, from time to time, for our branches to be cut so that we can be challenged! With the new year up and running, I encouraged the children to let go of their branches and fly high – whether with friendships, kindness, inner confidence, activities or work.

Well done to 5Aleph for their Form Concert this week. Next Monday 5Alpha will be performing; because of entrance tests in the drama studio, their concert will be in the dining room.

Artwork This week’s banners are by mixed year groups from art enrichment and ceramics club.

Art Exhibition Opening – Monday 20th January 3.30pm onwards The Art exhibition is now up until half term for parents to pop into at the end of the school day. On Monday we have an informal ‘opening’ with drinks available and Mr Wansell and Miss Montecalvo would love to see parents and children upstairs in the gallery space in New School. The children have studied the work of a variety of celebrated artists, including Vincent Van Gogh, Gustav Klimt, Giacomo Balla and Piet Mondrian. They have used oil pastels, acrylic paint, metallic paint and pens, charcoal pencils, sketching pencils, felt tip pens, clay and collage materials to create a vibrant display. Thank you to our Head of Art & DT, Mr Wansell, and to our Art & DT Teaching Assistant, Miss Montecalvo, for putting this wonderful display together.

Year 6 Parents’ Tea Party with Upper Staff – Monday 27th January 3.45pm – 4.45pm This informal event in S3 (the first classroom in the Science Block above the Dining Room) will give Year 6 parents another chance to meet some key pastoral staff from the Upper including Miss Dani Creese (Head of Lower School), Mrs Gail Hague (Assistant Head - Welfare and Admissions) and Mr Peter Hicks (future Head of Year 7). Miss Creese and Mrs Crichton Maitland will give a short presentation about transition to the Upper and about life in Year 7, with a chance afterwards for any general questions. Parents may put their children into Late Stay, with no charge, whilst at this tea.

Year 5 French Trip Parents’ Information Evening – Thursday 30th January 7.30pm – 8.30pm A reminder that all Year 5 parents are invited to this event to explain more about the Year 5 trip to France at the end of term. Miss Stone will be running through the itinerary for the trip, showing clips of previous visits and answering any questions that you may have. We look forward to seeing many of you on this evening.

PPP Family Quiz Night – Friday 13th March - 6.45pm - 9.00pm at the Upper After the huge success of last year’s Quiz Night, the PPP will once again be running another evening of fabulous fun and intellectual challenge. Each team composed of both parents and children will battle it out

to win the Quiz Night Trophy. Individual or team entries are welcome, supper will be provided, there will be a paying bar and lots of prizes up for grabs!

Entries should be provided to reception no later than Friday 14th February. Entry form and poster attached.

Sport Key events for the week ahead are:

Tuesday 21st: U9 A/B/C/D Hockey v St John’s away at 1.30pm U9 A/B/C/D Netball v St John’s away at 1.30pm Wednesday 22nd: U11 A/B/C/D Hockey v Felsted away at 2.00pm U11 A/B/C/D Netball v Felsted at home at 2.15pm Friday 24th: U10 A/B/C/D Netball v St John’s away at 3.15pm

Please note that the U11 Hockey fixtures v Felsted are now away; apologies for this late change.

For home netball fixtures, parking will continue to be available at the playing fields. Parents will have to buzz Reception to get onto the main site if they are wanting to watch the matches at the bottom playground. The Gazebo will be up to provide some cover from the elements and also as a focal point for match tea afterwards.

Christmas Holiday Poetry Competition Congratulations to everyone who handed in their entries for the Christmas holiday poetry competition and especially to the following children for their outstanding poems. The winning poems feature at the end of this newsletter: Year 3 Honourable Mentions: Hugo Lindemann, William Reddy, Hector Borno. Winner: Jack Jarman. Year 4 Honourable Mentions: Umar Ibrahim, Clara Gohel, Jack de Albuquerque. Winner: Ella Scourfield. Year 5 Honourable Mentions: Lynden Long, Alexandra Richards. Winner: Cedrat Nguyen. Year 6 Honourable Mentions: Anya Jack, William Frearson, Ellie Skordos. Winner: Lili Angus.

Certificates and Awards Congratulations to the following on being awarded their Trinity College London Drum Kit Awards: Marco Sabot on his Grade 1, Siddhant Bhatnagar, Benjamin Danesh and Tristan De Ris on their Grade 1 with Merit, Lexie Abensour on her Grade 2 with Merit and Sam Hull on his Grade 3 with Distinction. Well done to Audrey Sennitt on her Trinity College London Grade 2 Piano Award; Finlay Riddoch on his ABRSM Grade 3 Piano with Merit Award, Karina Sharma on her ABRSM Grade 3 Singing Award and British Gymnastics Level 1 Proficiency Award; Jasper Williams on his Year 5 Reading Badge; Jasmine Christmas, Roy Han and Sumi Hassanain on their Primary Maths Challenge Silver Awards; Leo Mortenson and Katie Ronco on their Primary Maths Challenge Gold Awards. Congratulations to the following on their Silver Housepoint Awards: Emilia Artaman, Noah Higham-Lee, Hugo Jones, Atharv Kurade, Etienne Lamb, Nandika Prasad, William Reddy, Oliver Roland, Samit Salaunkey, Elizabeth Balfour, Sarika Kondel-Laws, Ella Scourfield, Shriya Siddharth, Isabel Tong, Dominic Hogan, Lynden Long, Yutong Lu, Fraya Sudeep, Henry Tysome, Hamish Clarke, Elodie Bowen-Sanders, Alexander Cartwright, Jemima Donnelly, Izzy Gourd, Anya Jack, Ellie Skordos, Henry Sutherland and Hanrong Zeng.

Yours sincerely

James Piper Head

We value endeavour, intellectual curiosity and scholarship, breadth and balance, one another and our environment.

A Tall Standing Tree by Jack Jarman (Year 3) I am a tree, a tall standing tree. I am a tree in the wild, you see. I see some humans; they’re looking at me. “It’s a tree,” they say, shouting in glee. They come to the woods as they always should. Can I escape? I think I could. They’re getting near. I can still hear. I’m going to die, uh oh. Oh please don’t cut down trees; It’s bad for our environment – can you not see?

Dear Mother Earth by Ella Scourfield (Year 4) We have hurt you and I am sorry If you were a person, what would you say? Do the forest fires burn with your anger? Is the melting polar ice made of your tears? Deforestation is your devastation, species lost forever, Heatwaves and droughts, there is no doubt, Who we have to blame. Humans. Clever but foolish. The world is turning, but people aren’t learning Fossils are our fuel. They burn dirty with guilt and pollution. Fracking, cracking, squeezing the life from the soil We need a better solution. Clean energy. Wind, waves, solar Or our time on the earth is nearly over. White dolphins, Tasmanian tigers, Black Rhinos, Dodos Left before us. Because of us. Never to return. If you could hear, Mother Earth, could I whisper in your ear? Could I tell you I cycle, recycle, Reduce, reuse, conserve, preserve. Could I tell you we want to be better? To make you better. Because this is our future. Let’s save it!

The Perils of Plastic Pollution by Lili Angus (Year 6) One day in the future, the grandchildren will query, “Why do the oceans look so weary? And why do the fish all taste of plastic?” And the truth, which would have been quite drastic Would be told in the manner of a dreadful story. “It begun a long time ago, When plastic was made and no one would know That would cause so much trouble and pollution as such And that one day it would just get a bit too much, And it would cause planetary sorrow and woe” “Plastic was invented in 1907, By Leo Hendrik Baekeland, a Belgian born American, People loved it, it was more convenient than wood And when they had finished, they could Just throw it away, not knowing it would turn earth into a skeleton” “But then, people became lazy, And threw plastic away somewhere crazy, Like in rovers, oceans and on the ground, Where they thought it would decompose, safe and sound, And the future suddenly didn’t look like a place of safety” “The fish got stuck in plastic rings, The sharks started eating nets and other things, The sea animals became plastic time bombs, And this was only one of the cons, That was formed from the humans’ plastic sins” “But this story could have been so very different, If people had made more significant Changes and had not Thrown every single piece of plastic they had got, Into the ocean and beyond.”

A Spring Day in May by Cedrat Nguyen (Year 5) In San Marco’s square, middle of May, At Campinile Tower, every hour, The bells they chime, by night come day. I think about our race and pray, How many more times must we pray? Pollution and flooding, earthquakes and plastic, Killing young lives, which once held bright eyes, The ruler of systems and never ending lies. Recall the homes that were destroyed, Leaving people unemployed, the effects so drastic. When you see rubbish lying around, Remember that there is a solution, Just pick it up off the ground. Every little makes a difference, Just be aware and be consistent, As one, partake, make a contribution, Like a spring day in the peaceful May.

CHRISTMAS POETRY WINNERS