the head’s update · ranged from familiar traditional tunes, choral speaking, and the very hotly...
TRANSCRIPT
Date 9th March 2018
The Head’s update Dear Parents
Eisteddfod After a postponed celebration due to the snow, what a wonderful Welsh celebration we had at school this week. Howell's Junior School certainly knows how to celebrate St David's Day in style! During the morning the whole of the Junior School joined together for a very memorable and entertaining Eisteddfod. Each class presented an item in Welsh; these ranged from familiar traditional tunes, choral speaking, and the very hotly contested house choir competition. We were thrilled to share the morning with Mrs S Thomas, Mrs Dunstan, Mrs Ludlam as our presiding judges. 'Llongyfarchiadau’ Amber P was declared a well-deserved winner of the prestigious Bard competition. At the end of a very full morning, the scores were announced and Glyndwr was declared the winning
house. The house captains were delighted to be presented with the cup. The afternoon was equally fun with a host of creative and lively activities, including a talent show for Years 3, 4, 5 and 6. Every girl should be commended for her contribution to make the day such a memorable occasion for the whole school. A special thank you to Mrs R Thomas, Mrs Lloyd-Jones and Mr Beckett for organising the day and musical items.
Public Speaking Workshop How much noise do 80 10-year-olds make? Rather a lot, if you get them all in the Great Hall and teach them how to use their voices to full effect! This month, Howell’s is joining forces again with the English-Speaking Union to host the annual Primary School Public Speaking Competition for children from local primary schools, which will take place on Tuesday 13th March. This year, we are delighted that Year 5 students from Baden Powell, Herbert Thompson, Howell’s, Kitchener, Lakeside, Lansdowne, Marlborough Road and Whitchurch Primary Schools in Cardiff are taking part. Read more here.
Age Restrictions on Social Media Many parents will be aware that Social Media profiles require users to be at least 13 years old when registering. Whilst parents might support their children in using a different date of birth to their own it is important to remember that an 8 year old signing up as 13 will appear to be 18 once they are officially 13. This is a scary thought and one to be aware of. Please ensure you support your children when creating profiles and encourage them to access social media at the appropriate age. Please check privacy settings on personal details such as their date of birth and the school they attend. Should you have any questions at all please contact Mrs Darnton at school.
Sports News – Gymnastics and Cross Country Issy W, Aseel, Gabriella, Eleni, Hannah B, Olivia R all represented Howell’s at the GDST Annual Gymnastics Competition. They all competed very well demonstrating clean routines and flair. The girls have made vast improvements since September and as a result finished in their highest position at a national competition! Well done girls! Amber, Frankie, Rose, Alberta, and Carys ran in the Cross Country event at GDST Bromley. With 3 top 30 finishes out of 130 girls Howell’s were looking great! We didn’t quite make the medals, but finished in the top 5/16. Amber led the group with a 14th finish! Excellent efforts made by all the girls and fantastic to see girls enjoying running in the mud!
International Women’s Day 2018 Howell’s was a hive of activity on Thursday 8th March, with the postponed Eisteddfod taking over the Senior School for the whole day, and celebrations for International Women’s Day 2018 continuing in the Hub. Click here for more information.
The Write Stuff Before Christmas, students from Year 1 to Year 13 were encouraged to enter the GDST Creative Writing Prize.This year, the theme for the competition was Ambition and the entries were judged by Harriet Goodwin, an alumna of Bromley High School. Read more here.
Year 5 – Laban Dancing Year 5 have been working towards a creative dance award accredited by the Laban Guild for Movement and Dance. The course aims to encourage a love of dance and also provides young dancers with certificates which recognise their acquirement of skills and developing confidence in their own creativity. Laban Guild encourages the use of Laban analysis in fostering the development of the individual, through helping each student to find her own means of expression through dance. The girls have really enjoyed their classes and the quality of dance observed has been excellent.
Easter Chicks This Easter we will once again be supporting Velindre Cancer Care and we are going to be selling hand knitted Chicks. These lovely knitted chicks are filled with a chocolate egg and will be on sale next week in school for £1.50 each. If you would like your daughter to buy one of these special little Chicks, then please send the money into school next week with your daughter. The chicks will be available in your daughter's class and money will collected by her class teacher. We only have a limited stock so get them while you can as they are always very popular with children. Through this knitted Easter chick appeal Velindre Cancer care have raised over £1 million, to date. We are proud to be supporting this super fundraising event.
Parents’ Evenings Our next parental consultation evenings will take place on: Wednesday 14th March and Thursday 15th March These dates will be for girls in Nursery, Reception, Year 1, Year 2, Year 3, Year 4, 5S, 5L, 6J and 6S. Please make a note of the dates in your diary. And 5H will take place early in the summer term, date to be advised. If you would like to see Mrs Jarvis, our swimming teacher, she will be available in Ty Hapus on Wednesday between 3.30pm - 6.30pm and Thursday between 4.45pm - 6.30pm
Book Fair Due to the snow last week, Scholastic were unable to deliver the Book Fair. The next Book Fair will run in the autumn term. The girls have received their £1 World Book day tokens this week which can be spent in bookshops until March 25th.
Art Club In the summer term, Miss Ashman will be starting an Art Club for Key Stage 2 on Thursdays after school from 15:15 until 16:30. The first half term will be aimed at Years 3 and 4 and the second half term will be aimed at Years 5 and 6. At this point, we would like to find out how many may be interested and gauge numbers. Please contact Mrs Hatcher by email [email protected] if your daughter is interested in attending. Many thanks.
Sport Relief Bands The Junior School Council will be selling Sports Relief Bands for £1 week commencing 19th March.
After School Care A reminder that girls attending our After School Care provision need to be collected by 6pm at the very latest. Please ensure you are punctual when collecting your daughter. Thank you.
Parent Blog This week’s Parent Blog, There Be Dragons, is available for you to enjoy reading by clicking here.
Last day of Spring Term On Friday 23rd March, the Junior School will be finishing at 1pm and there will be no after school care on this
day.
Junior School Dates
Wednesday 14th March and Thursday 15th March
Parents’ Evening for all classes apart from 5H.
Friday 23rd March
Easter Holiday 1pm finish There will be no After School Care
Monday 16th April Summer Term begins
Thursday 26th April Junior School Musical Evening
Friday 15th June 12.30 Junior School Sports Day
Diary Dates
Mrs Scott Steps Out Children learn through discovery, and thoughtfully structured play provides endless opportunities for them to find out about the world around them. Join the team from Howell’s Nursery for a free stay and play event, where your little one can explore a world of adventure and imagination, and you can relax with refreshments and good company. All the events take place from 10am-12pm in the following days at the venues listed below:
Dinas Powys Community Hall (Lee Hall) – Tuesday 13th March Andrew’s Church, Penylan – Tuesday 20th March
Please do pass on the information to anyone you think might like to come along. For more information please telephone 029 2026 1832 or by email at [email protected].
Story Time in the Nursery On Thursday 15th March, Howell's is holding a Story Time themed Open Morning in the Nursery from 10.00am – 11.15am. The Open Morning will provide an excellent opportunity for little girls to explore the creative, stimulating and nurturing environment of the Howell's Nursery, where we plant the seeds of curiosity, nourish them with experience and care and watch as our girls grow in confidence, compassion and knowledge. If you know of anyone who would like to join us, you can reserve a place by emailing Hannah Roberts at [email protected] or telephoning 029 2026 1825.
Spring Concert Tickets for the Spring Concert on Thursday 22nd March at 6.30pm, which will include performances from students in Years 10 to 13, will be on sale from Monday 12th March. They cost £6 and are available by asking for a member of the Marketing Team at the main office. Alternatively students can purchase them from the Marketing Suite at break, lunchtime or before/after the school day. Click here for more information.
Matilda Tickets There are now only 24 tickets left for the performance of Matilda, which will take place in the Wales Millennium Centre on Wednesday 5th December at 7.30pm. Tickets include hospitality before the performance, during the interval and after the show when we are hoping to be joined by members of the cast. Tickets are available to the Howell’s community on a first come first served basis so if you would like to reserve seats and arrange payment please email Hannah Roberts in the Marketing Office, [email protected].
TOOT Timetable over Easter 2018 If you have booked your child into TOOT over Easter, please read the timetable
below so that you know what is happening each day and what to bring. If you have not yet booked, email [email protected] as soon as possible for more
information about our TOOT Holiday Care Club for 3 – 11 year olds, and secure a place!
Week 1 Mon 26th – Thurs 29th March
Easter/Spring is Sprung! Date Monday 26th Tuesday 27th Wednesday 28th Thursday 29th
Activities Swimming with Mrs Griffiths
Bookmarks
Dance with the TOOT band
Easter cards
Cookery- Nests of eggs
Decorated boxes
Trip to Cefn Mably Farm Park to see the spring baby animals
What to bring
costume, hat and towel
- warm, waterproof coat, wellies if wet
Week 2 Tues 3rd – Fri 6th April Easter/Spring is Sprung!
Date Tuesday 3rd Wednesday 4th Thursday 5th Friday 6th
Activities Swimming with Mrs Griffiths
Rabbit heads
Cookery- Easter biscuits
Spring bouquets
Trip to Mountain View Ranch for Gruffalo and Easter egg trail
Swimming with Mrs Griffiths
Butterflies
What to bring
costume, hat and towel
- warm, waterproof coat, wellies if wet
costume, hat and towel
Art and craft activities for the Easter Weeks include Yoga, decorating eggs, egg rolling, Easter bunting, making a grass head and pond in the garden, junk
modelling, pompom creatures, floral hair bands and spring collages
Week 3 Mon 9th – Fri 13th April Reptiles Rule!
Date Monday 9th Tuesday 10th Wednesday 11th Thursday 12th Friday 13th
Activities Swimming with Mrs Griffiths
Spiral snakes
Dance with the TOOT band
Crocodile sticks
Cookery- jellied snakes
Colourful chameleons
Visitor into school
Llandaff Fields Exercise Trail
Swimming with Mrs Griffiths
Egg box turtles
What to bring
costume, hat and towel
- - warm, waterproof coat, trainers or
wellies if wet
costume, hat, towel
Art and craft activities for Reptiles Rule include Yoga, making beaded bangles, frilled lizards, jumping frogs, sponge reptiles, frogspawn play, jigsaws and
much more!
Last day for bookings Friday 16th March!
Have a lovely Easter Holiday!!
Dear Girls,
GDST Laurie Magnus Poetry Competition
The GDST is very pleased to offer girls the chance to take part in another creative writing competition this year. The Laurie Magnus Poetry Prize was established in memory of Laurie Magnus by his widow. Laurie Magnus was a GDST Council member from 1907, and Chairman from 1929 until his death in 1933. He also authored The Jubilee Book of the Girls’ Day School Trust (1923). Prizes are awarded to six age groups for original poetry. £100 in Amazon vouchers will be sent to the winner in each of the categories below:
Years 1 and 2 Years 3 and 4 Years 5 and 6
Putney High School alumna Julia Rawlinson has agreed to adjudicate the competition again this year. Julia has always loved writing poetry - a poem she wrote as a child was included in a Macmillan Christmas anthology and she published poems before she started writing stories. Julia’s poems have appeared in anthologies for publishers including Macmillan, Scholastic, Collins Children's Books, Oxford University Press, Bloomsbury, Candlestick Press and A&C Black. Julia has recently written poems for educational publisher Pearson and completed the One Week of Poems series of e-books on Kindle. Process
Students from all year groups will be able to submit an entry
Each school can submit one poem for each of the following age group categories:
Years 1 and 2 Years 3 and 4 Years 5 and 6
Each entry should be typed on a Word document with the following information clearly indicated on the document:
§ The pupil’s name, school and year group
§ The title of the poem
§ Confirmation that permission is granted to publicise the piece and in particular post it onto the GDST website together
with the pupil’s name
By entering, you are stating that the poem is your own work and also giving the GDST permission to publicise the piece and in particular post it onto the GDST website together with your name, if you are a finalist. Please return your finished poem to Miss Kenyon by emailing it to: [email protected] using ‘GDST Poetry Competition’ as the subject. Entries should be emailed to school by Friday, March 23
rd 2018 at the latest.
We are sure you’ll agree this is a very exciting competition, and we hope that as many of you as possible will demonstrate your creative flair by entering! Good Luck! Miss Kenyon