The Nutshell is normally about the children and their achievements. Whilst there is nothing wrong with that (and indeed there is everything right with it!), I want to start this week’s Nutshell by singing the praises of Alison and Ben who run the morning and afternoon bus service.

On Monday night I received a few calls from worried parents who, on making their way up Titsey Hill, saw the school minibus at a stand-still seemingly involved in a road traffic accident. A cyclist had come off his bike and was lying still in the road. Thankfully I quickly received a further call which explained what had happened. The cyclist had quite literally given up the ghost half way up the hill and had keeled over onto the road right in front of the minibus. Ben and Alison kept their cool and went to his aid, parking the mini bus to protect the fallen cyclist from on-coming traffic whilst making him comfortable and reassuring him that help was on its way. Thankfully we had a call today from a detective from the Met letting us know that the gentleman was recovering in St George’s hospital thanks, in no small measure, to Ben and Alison’s prompt support and help. He wanted me to pass on the family’s thanks to them both which I am delighted and proud to do. Our staff, and school community, is filled with many unsung heroes and it is only right and proper that on this particular occasion we sing very loudly in recognition of their actions.

I was fortunate on Thursday to be able to accompany the Chapel Choir to Charterhouse School to hear vibrant singing of a more traditional and choral kind. It is an annual invitation which is extended to Hazelwood and one which the children thoroughly enjoy and benefit from. There are choral workshops in the morning giving the young musicians a chance to learn and sing alongside other talented choirs, followed by a late afternoon performance in the most beautiful setting of Charterhouse’s Chapel. I thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon and saw how much each and every young musician put into, and got out, of the occasion. Wonderful!

I am on stand-by tonight as the Year 2 children are enjoying their Dino-Snore in the Chestnut building. Following on from last year’s hugely successful but sleep-deprived event, the intrepid Year 2 teachers took the triceratops by the horns and chose to stage the 24 hour dinosaur-fest all over again. The children are visiting the Natural History Museum followed by an evening of games and entertainment with a distinctly Jurassic twist! My job will be to

Don’t forget to sign up for your Talent Show audition and keep dancing.... singing, telling jokes, free-running or face contortionning (or whatever your act might be!) swoop in at midnight, in the style of a hungry pterodactyl to ask the teachers to turn the lights off and keep the noise down so that the children can get some sleep!

And finally congratulations to our U11 ’ team who have started out on the IAPS trail with a convincing victory over Royal Russell School on Tuesday. Well done girls. We are hoping that your good fortune will equally and deservedly shine down upon the U13 6-a-side team as they go into bat in defence of their tournament title this afternoon. Bring back the silver, boys!

For a list of emails/letters/texts sent home each week please see the ‘Notice Board’ further down the Nutshell.

News from The Larks Sadly, we have to say goodbye to our lovely Caroline Johnson next week. Caroline has been with us throughout our journey from Hazelwood onto The Larks site. She started 9 years ago and was instrumental in setting up our Berries nursery (some of you will remember Berries located in Oak cottage!) She was one of the founder members of our small team from the Hazelwood Nursery, taking on the role as Head of Year in Robins. She is now a member of the Wagtails team and has played a huge part in developing and shaping The Larks into the great success it is now, and her wealth of experience, caring attitude and professional manner will be greatly missed by us all. Caroline will be joining a term time preschool and we wish her much happiness and success in her new role.

There has been an email to all parents of The Larks, informing everyone of the change to the telephone system. This will make it easier for parents to telephone the rooms directly and will make our welcoming service in the office even more efficient! Please let us know if you experience any difficulties with the new service.

Next week Oak will be taking part in a musical morning with Years 1and 2 on the Hazelwood site.

News from Hazelwood Parents’ Car Park Forum At the meeting on Wednesday the group was delighted to note the support received to date from parents and staff. Feedback from the test initiatives was reviewed and a final plan was agreed. This will be shared with everyone over the course of the next few weeks. Thank you!

Please can all girls wear white ankle socks – not sports socks – with their summer uniform. Please can socks cover ankles and not carry logos of any kind. Thank you.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE SCHOLARS OF 2014

The Head, Governors and staff of Hazelwood School are delighted that the following scholarships were offered to Hazelwood pupils

CHARLIE BOSSHARD Art Scholarship to Worth ANNABEL CHAPPELL Academic and All-Rounder Scholarships to Caterham ANNABEL CHAPPELL Music Scholarship to Lingfield Notre Dame CHARLIE COOPER Sports Scholarship to Lingfield Notre Dame CHARLIE COOPER Sports Scholarship to Worth HANNAH CRICK Drama Scholarship to Kent College JAKOB GOODMAN Scholarship to St Felix School

BAXTER GREEN Sports Scholarship to Lingfield Notre Dame OSCAR GREEN Sports Scholarship to Bedes SAM HERBERT Sports Scholarship to Caterham SAM HERBERT Sports Award to Lingfield Notre Dame BEN HERBERT Sports Scholarship to Caterham KYLIE HUMPHREYS Music Award to Lingfield Notre Dame

CHARLEY MUNNS Music Award to Woldingham KATIE NICOL Academic Exhibition from Lucton School

LUKE RYAN Drama Scholarship to Lingfield Notre Dame LEXI SEAGER Music Scholarship to Combe Bank LEXI SEAGER Music Award to Worth CHARLIE TAYLOR Major Sports Scholarship to Tonbridge

CHARLIE TAYLOR Sports and Academic Scholarships to Caterham MAX WELLMAN Sports Scholarship to Caterham

We wish all our scholars every success and happiness in their onward learning adventures

Hazelwood School Ski Trip Sauze d’Oulx 2014 Plenty of sun and snow. Thanks to Mr and Mrs Lowe, Mrs Housego & Mr Lloyd

Cricket Kit Apologies from Schoolblazer for the oversized cricket trousers. The company is looking into it and will provide the school with further information. In the meantime they, and we, are sorry for any inconvenience caused by receiving mighty-sized trousers which could cause embarrassment on the strip (the cricket strip!) The good news is that the Hazelwood crested sun hat is now available on the Years 1 & 2 section of the website ready for the start of summer!

Hazelwood Fun Club To accommodate growing numbers, from the summer 2014 the Hazelwood Fun Club will only be open to children of Hazelwood and their siblings. Dates for the summer will be published soon. Book early to avoid disappointment.

Unnamed Kit As we move into the Cricket season there is a lot of very expensive equipment in school. We have already found that a lot of this is unnamed. Please ensure that all items of clothing and kit are clearly named.

Early Morning (EMT) We have had an excellent response to EMT this term. However due to emailing issues in the holidays some parents did not receive the letter about EMT until earlier this week.

If your child is interested in taking part please contact Graeme Livingstone as a matter of urgency on 07958 572745 or 01883 717161 so that an assessment time can be arranged with him directly.

Please do not send your child along to EMT without previously agreeing with Graeme. EMT is for those who have been assessed as being technically sound and having a good to excellent existing level of skill. Graeme will be helping with curriculum PE tennis this term so those not selected for EMT will still have the benefit of his expertise.

We can also highly recommend Graeme's Matchpoint group as well as Limpsfield Tennis Club for out of school lessons.

Mark Reay

HPA

HPA Directory In the excitement of Easter you may have missed the HPA is launching our own Hazelwood School Directory. The Directory will give parents, alumni and others closely connected with Hazelwood the opportunity to advertise their services/business to the Hazelwood community of up to some 500 families via a paper copy of the book and online. Examples of advertisers may include accountants, surveyors, solicitors, IFAs, photographers, IT services, physiotherapists, interior designers, cake-making experts – the list is endless. If you have a holiday property to let, you are offering other services such as dog-walking, flower arranging, dress-making and alterations, baby-sitting etc, please do get in touch to support this venture which we hope will be of benefit to everyone concerned. If you would like more details or an application form to advertise your business please get in touch with Natalie Thomas at [email protected].

th The third Help4Heroes Triathlon launches on Thursday 15 May with a very special assembly. Look out for Registration Forms for the event which has raised over £50,000 for this most worthwhile of charities. Frozen - HPA Film night 9th May 4.30pm We would love for your little ones to join us for a special HPA showing of the film Frozen on Friday 9th May for year 1 and up. The children will meet at the theatre entrance Hazelwood School at 4.30pm and the film will finish approximately 6.30pm. Tickets are priced at £5 per child and includes snack, popcorn and a drink. If you would like tickets please email Natalie Thomas at [email protected] for an application form and return to the school office, closing date 7th May 2014. See you there.

Hazelwood’s Garden Gnomes are looking resplendent in their school uniform. Or are they? Look a little closer and some of the genial garden geriatrics are flouting some of the school’s uniform rules. Over the coming weeks the gnomes will appear in random places around the site for the younger children to find and discover which one of the fab four is tucked in in all the right places! Thanks to Mrs Bartlett for the idea and Mr Smith (Estates) for the meticulous painting.

The gnomes in the picture below are holding up one of the first sponsored slats for the classroom-in-the-trees. We think it looks great and will really make the learning and play space very personal to the school and its extended community.

News from the Kitchen Please don’t forget that next week’s menus for both The Larks and Hazelwood are now on the website under The Parents’ Section.

Music Timetable

The weekly music timetable can be viewed on the Music Notice Board outside the Dining room in the courtyard. I will endeavour to have the coming week’s music timetable on the notice board by the end of the school day each Friday. Please ensure that your child brings their instrument and music in on the relevant day. It is also important for them to take these books and instruments home when they do not need them in school.

Sports Department

Match Reports should be put in the folder on the wall in the PE office. They are then collected by the captain on Monday morning to be read out in assembly. If your child is nominated as captain, please encourage them to write the report in time for the assembly. The children do like to share their successes with the rest of the school. Thank you.

Year 6, 7 & 8 Athletics Coaching Day at half term Thursday 29th May 10-4pm. High-jump, Long-jump, Hurdles, Sprints, Discus, Relays, Shot, and Javelin. 40 mins on each event. Intensive athletics coaching plus some fun competitions. See the poster at the end of the nutshell and sign up via the school office. Coach: Mrs Housego

Year 3 & 4 Athletics Coaching Day at half term Friday 30th May 10-4pm. High-jump, Long-jump, Hurdles, Sprints, Discus, Relays, Shot, and Ball throw. 40 mins on each event. Intensive athletics coaching plus some fun competitions. See the poster at the end of the nutshell and sign up via the school office. Coach: Mrs Housego

Notice Board Year 2 Head lice alert 2M Mrs MacDougall Year 4 Hindleap Warren Residential Trip Information Vocal Ensemble, Chapel Choir (Various) & Y5 Mod/Tap Dancers SchoolFest Shutterbugs Photography Club Information Form Training Choir Cancellation of Tuesday Rehearsal

For Sale for only £80 Warhammer sets partly assembled. 2 Carnifex, 2 Zoanthropes and few Ripper swams Hormogaunts, 1 Hive Tyrant (needs reassembling), troop, spore mines, Warhammer rule book and some assembled Hormagaunts and troops. Plus paints needed for hive fleet behemoth . Contact Anne Chapman ([email protected] Key Events for Next Week

Monday 5 May BANK HOLIDAY

Tuesday 6 May 1320 Eco Schools meeting 1630 Swimming: Record Breakers

Wednesday 7 May am Oak Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 musical activity morning 1430 Cricket: 1st XI v Homefield - H 1430 Cricket: 2nd XI v Homefield - A 1430 Cricket: Colts B v Aberdour - A 1430 Cricket: Colts C v Aberdour - H 1430 Rounders: U13 A&B v Hawthorns – A

1430 Rounders: U11 A&B v Holmewood House - A 1430 Rounders: U10 A&B v Holmewood House - H

Thursday 8 May 0900 Year 6 Croydon Synagogue trip 1430 Cricket: U9 A&B v Aberdour - H 1430 Cricket: U8 A&B v Hilden Grange - H 1430 Rounders: U9 A&B v Hilden Grange - A 1430 Rounders: U8 A&B v Hawthorns - H

Friday 9 May All day Year 5 English Speaking Board 0835 House meetings 1300 OAC leave for Brownsea Island 1630 HPA Film Night: Lower School 1930 HPA Film Night: Middle & Upper School

Sunday 11 May OAC trip returns “Dear Mrs Weeks I am writing to thank you on behalf of my mother and me for the wonderful tour of The Larks. It was so nice to return to the Laverock site and bought back so many happy memories. I know the girls will have the best educational start with you and your staff, thrive and have fun at the same time. It is a hard decision when choosing who to entrust your children to so coming away from The Larks with 100% confidence was such a special feeling. I am really looking forward to them starting in September and a trip down memory lane for me too! Once again thank you for your time and look forward to seeing you in September.”

A lovely email received this week from a visitor to The Larks and to Hazelwood