18th September 2008

• With introductory lessons now completed it is now full steam ahead into the curriculum for students.  I know parents the world over on occasion have received the same answer to that well-worn question they posed to their child “What did you do at school today, dear?”  The answer “nothing” is rarely encouraging.  The ‘share your work’ session on Monday 17th November will be an opportunity for your child to sit with you and show you how hard they have been working on ‘nothing’! 
   
• Having watched a number of classes this week, I have been pleased with the level of concentration being shown by pupils.  Teachers too have commented on aspects of lessons, and a very small selection of such magic moments follows:
   
  1KS pupils have started working on their Science topic: Ourselves.  There has been great excitement at finding out the names of some of the bones in their skeleton.  2SW have been exploring the wonders of Autumn during their first week back at St Peter’s.  They made a word bank to describe the sounds of leaves and how they move.  This was in preparation for a creative writing session, where the children wrote individual leaf poems.  The season was also inspiration for their Art lesson where the children created leaf collages and experimented with colour when printing leaves collected from around the school grounds.
   
  Mr Holmes has been impressed with 4AH’s mathematical knowledge, with very high scores from some pupils in the first weekly times tables challenge. Mr Holmes reports that Monday’s Football Club for Key Stage One was very well attended, with plenty of magic moments on the field, including witnessing a Year 1 girl being able to dribble with both feet and pass accurately to her partner within 15 minutes of starting the club!
   
  Yesterday I witnessed 3JC taking on the challenge with Mrs Cruickshank of working towards creating a class anthology of Autumn and Harvest poetry.  After analysing an existing poem, they took its structure as an idea and constructed a word bank which was then used in the writing of the poem, which demonstrated an effective use of alliteration too.  Mrs Cruickshank has heard that the Poet Laureate Andrew Motion has been suffering from writers’ block’.  We think he would be inspired by some of the poetry written in 3JC.
   
  During the first week back, 5GM used the class whiteboard, projector and problem solving software to unravel a seating plan problem. Later this week I watched the same pupils using different software to examine food groups in Science. They linked this knowledge to their own diets and then developed the ideas through some healthy menu planning.   
     
  There is always a welcome humorous input available from staff reporters in Foundation Stage! When Mrs Walshaw asked a Nursery child to tell her of something that cuts, she was somewhat confused when the answer given was “Mr Holmes”.  When asked to explain further, the lovely but rather exasperated reply was ‘he cuts the grass of course’.  Meanwhile in Reception Class when pupils asked the class to give themselves a clap after their first full week at School one child’s excited response was “Is that all our days done now?”
  
  6LD’s new academic year started with a “BANG”.  A whole new set of skills were acquired (and only a few sore thumbs!)  in the process of banging nails into wood and using embroidery thread to create 3D “crops” for the theme of Harvest. We look forward to seeing the masterpieces on display in Sunnylands Hall.
   
  A magic moment of the music kind began the School year for us.  You may remember the School singing the song ‘Together’ at Founders’ Day.  This was also the first hymn of the new academic year.  The sound of the children’s’ voices was so uplifting and moving and a fitting start to the first assembly of the new academic year.
   
  With pupils now in the throes of preparing for the Harvest Festival, a new repertoire is being embraced enthusiastically by pupils, and they are looking forward to sharing it with parents at the PTAFA Harvest Supper.  Please return the reply slip or contact the School Office for tickets for this event so that your child can come along and join in, whilst you sit and enjoy a home cooked supper courtesy of Mr Fountain.  A letter regarding the collection of produce for the Harvest Festival accompanies this bulletin, with some important advice from PTAFA regarding the type of produce best suitable for the needs of those that receive it.
   
• Most Michaelmas Term Clubs have now started.  It is good to see so many children participating.  Where clubs have been oversubscribed for Michaelmas Term we will run them again later in the year. 
   
• Chess Club started this week with Mr Warren.  A small group of possible chess masters of the future joined him on Tuesday to plan strategically for a successful term together.  This term the club runs for pupils who know the moves.  If your child falls into that category and you would like them to experience the benefits of working with a chess coach responsible for County Under 9 players, then please contact the School Office.
   
• The plan for netball and football this year is to use the time to sharpen the skills of our players, including the younger pupils in Key Stage Two, with the aim of using ‘friendly’ games to develop key skills so that we can dive back into league games during the next academic year.  Independent Schools Association matches will form an important part of our sporting calendar too!
   
• The PTAFA AGM was well attended earlier this week.  Minutes of the meeting will follow shortly.  The next meeting will take place on Thursday 16th October at 7.30pm when future ideas for PTAFA events will be discussed.  If you have some ideas or if you would like to offer your support to the organisation behind any of the events then please come along.
   
• There will be a McMillan Coffee Morning on Friday 26th September in Sunnylands Hall.  I am grateful to members of the PTAFA for offering to promote and organise this event, and to Mr Fountain and his staff for donating freely of their time to provide table service.  Please come along and bring your friends too, to support this charity.  We would welcome cakes to sell too, so please send them into school on the day.  Any leftovers may then be sold at an impromptu cake stall.
   
• This bulletin accompanies the ‘Calendar for Parents 2008-09’ listing significant dates.  Please note in particular the dates for pupils’ assessments, parent consultations, share your work session, concerts, Sports Day and Founders’ Day.
   
• The next bulletin will be issued on Thursday 2nd October when there will be further details regarding Assessment Week.