So we have another IAPS medallist in our midst! Huge congratulations to Luke Danby in Year 4 who followed up his U9 victory in the Thomas Trophy at Sevenoaks last Friday with a third place in yesterday’s prestigious, and hotly contested, cross country competition. Special mention too to Iona Day who finished a laudable 7th in her race. Luke, Iona and the rest of the school’s runners, have had a flying start to the running season with the girls’ team securing a well deserved second place at Sevenoaks. It’s wonderful to see the blue and pink of Hazelwood making its way, so often, onto the winners’ rostrum. At the weekend, the U10 football teams added further to the most fabulous sporting start to the season with victory and runners up position in the St Michael’s tournament. Both sides battled hard, survived penalty shoot outs and came up against tough opposition. The A’s were rewarded with the tournament trophy with the B’s coming away with the runners up medals in the Plate competition. We couldn’t be prouder. And judging by the support being given by the Hazelwood children lining the run into the finish line, neither could their fellow class and school mates.

This sense of pride is true too of all the children who pull together as a team to represent the school on every match day throughout the year. For those for whom sport is a passion, this comes easy. For those who are more comfortable in other leisure pursuits, it is much more of an ask. However our results and touchline reports demonstrate that every one of our pupils give it their best shot. Come rain or shine, on the hockey, rugby, football or rounders pitches we are there to give of our best, in the most sporting of spirits, most eyes firmly fixed on the prize. I was delighted to hear the cheers on Tuesday afternoon rebound from the top court into my office as the U8 B hockey team won their match against St Marys. I cannot speak highly enough of the Colts D team who, under Mr Walton’s watchful eye remain unbeaten for a second consecutive season. And I share the swimming squad’s frustration at being beaten by mid week by just one single point. The sporting talent at Hazelwood runs deep which bodes well for the future of the school’s trophy cabinet!

After waiting for the rain to subside, the new courts are now finished and they look very smart and bright. You will remember that as part of the school’s Masterplan, new outside courts were identified by the Sports Department and the Governors as a priority in order to provide additional training spaces for our growing pupil numbers. Well, less than twelve

Please remember to get Carol Service replies back by Friday 23rd October. Many thanks. months after that decision was ratified by the Board, we have them and children have already been making good use of them. I trust that when you are next on site you will find time to pause and admire them, looking beyond the areas around them which are yet to be landscaped, but rather imagining the next captain of England’s Ladies Hockey Team being coached by Mrs Hardgrave and her team on their glistening surface. The school has come a long way since the sports pitches inhabited the area in front of the Willow Building which is now our much talked about and beleaguered car park.

Talking of which, it is time for the talking to end and for action to begin! Thank you to all those parents who have shown patience with pick up and who have emailed in their helpful suggestions (some of which appear in Car Park Corner further down the Nutshell) as to what we can do to improve the flow of traffic, particularly in the afternoons. Your feedback has been most useful and has helped formulate further strings to our car park bow. Namely:

 More accurate return times for mach days will be given which will allow changing times when they arrive at school. Please take note of these times on team sheets.  Staff will endeavour to have siblings standing together at pick-ups. This should speed things up. Please can you reinforce this with your children.  We are looking into another shuttle bus from a car park local to the school. Once confirmed, please consider signing up for it. So far the feedback from the two new runs has been 100% positive.  We are going to enforce the left hand turn out of the car park in the mornings and encourage you to consider it at evening pick-up. Mr Cartwright will be standing there from Monday so please do not mow him down!  Please do not park to the left of the exit. This causes all sorts of problems.  From experience drawn from other school settings, we are asking parents who make use of the afternoon drive through pick up to have an A5 piece of card with their child’s name written on it, clearly displayed in the windscreen. This will help staff who do not know whose car is whose, to get the pupils more quickly to you.

And finally, we have been told by Schoolblazer that all out of stock items have been shipped to their patiently waiting customers – just in time for Friday’s Open Morning. This means that from Monday all children should be in the new style kit so we shall be beginning a Uniform Check to make sure that all old-style uniform is a thing of the past. Letters will be sent home asking for any outstanding and offending garments to be replaced over the half term holiday. Thank you for the support you have shown to the school in complying with this request; the children are most definitely looking smarter and more uniform on school and match days.

For a list of emails/letters/texts sent home each week please see the ‘Notice Board’ further down the Nutshell. News from The Nursery This week there has been a hive of activity across the site. The children have been busily engaged in a whole host of activities and we even had a tiger come to tea! I’m very glad he didn’t eat all the jam tarts as they really were very delicious. Wrens have been busy experimenting with gloop and shredded paper and thoroughly enjoyed getting messy. The Wagtails continued this messy theme experimenting with shaving foam and cloud dough. Robins have begun to find their singing voices and participated whole heartedly in the galloping to William Tell’s overture. James even spontaneously said that ‘it was horses’ on first hearing the music. A real WOW moment!

Swimming in Skylarks has been a real success. The children have all settled well to lessons. I have been most impressed by their listening skills and willingness to ‘have a go’. Even those who were a little unsure at first have faced their fears and are now moving in the water with a smile. Watch this space as catching them early there is no telling how well they may do in the future.

The site has also had some further improvements with the repainting of the lines in the car park and a very eye-catching paint job in the Paterson Hall. All staff have been asked to park on the top car park which should leave the spaces outside Wagtails and Robins’ gate free for pick up and drop off. In addition, we have re-sited the bins to create further parking spaces. We hope this will ease the congestion slightly at peak times.

Please can I remind all parents who wish to book additional sessions over half term to inform school by Monday to enable us to plan staffing to ensure we continue to maintain our stringent staffing ratios. For future holidays all additional sessions must be booked two weeks prior to the commencement of the holiday period. Your co-operation with this is much appreciated.

Finally, please remember to sign up for your parents evening slots next week, if you are unable to do so in person please email Amanda Twyman and we will make arrangements for you. “There are three Ruth Darvill emergency exits on the Hazelwood 747” “All aboard who’s going aboard! Next stop station”

News from Hazelwood

Red Lane, Holland Lane (railway bridge) and Grants Lane Diversions It has come to our attentions that these diversions are to be in place until 11th December. Whilst inconvenient for many local drivers, at least Santa will be clear to visit on Christmas Eve without any unnecessary delay! Experienced singers wanted for Carol Service Particularly if you can sing bass or tenor. Rehearsals take place on: 19th Nov, 26th November, 3rd Dec and 10th December with the 2pm run through and service on the 15th December. Contact [email protected] to volunteer your vocal chords.

St Thomas Trophy: Cross Country On a beautifully sunny Friday afternoon the Hazelwood Cross Country team entered the Thomas Trophy at Sevenoaks Prep School. In each of the races there were approximately 120 competitors from 14 different schools.

The rather nervous Under 9 girls were first up. It was a tough race through the grounds of Knole Park and up a steep road leading to Sevenoaks Prep playing fields. As the competitors reached the final stages we were delighted to see 3 of our girls in the top 10 places. The other 5 girls weren’t much further behind. Sofia Brown (7th), Holly Lawson (9th), Iona Day (10th) and Karlijn Ras (15th) were very impressive and set a strong foundation for the girls’ team event.

The Under 9 boys’ event was always going to be an exciting one. Luke Danby had finished 3rd the previous year (against boys a year older) and was confident he could be in medal contention again this time. As the children race they are following a hare around the course. The hare is in fact a 15 year old Sevenoaks school pupil who helps the competitors stay on the right course. As the hare appeared through the trees there was a nervous tension in the air as we all waited with bated breath to see which of the boys would reach the playing fields in first place. In what seemed like an eternity, but in reality only a couple of seconds, Luke appeared through the trees in the lead. He was however being chased hard by two other boys who were only a matter of metres behind. Over the final 300m Luke was strong enough to hold onto his lead and cross the line in gold medal position. A fantastic achievement of which we are all very proud!

For the rest of the Under 9 boys the event proved a challenge but strong performance from Will de Vere Hunt (18th) and Oscar Nash (26th) gave us a chance of a team medal. For the Under 11 boys and girls it was a tough afternoon. The competition was steep (as was the hill) but each and every child worked hard and gave there all. Oscar Powney (17th) and Camilla Eerdmans (26th) were our top performers in this age bracket.

As we sat through the medal celebrations we knew Luke would be collecting his 1st place prize but we were delighted to hear that our U9 girls had also finished in 2nd place in their category. A fantastic achievement against 13 other schools.

As a staff and parent group we could not have been prouder of the effort and determination shown. We now look forward to the IAPS next week.

Well done

Mr Reay

Tournament Success On Saturday the U10 A's and B's went to a tournament at St Michael’s.

The first game for the A's was against Hawthorns and the team put in a good performance. We scored 2 quick goals from Callum and Max but Hawthorns replied before the break and the game finished three two to Hazelwood. The second game was against a physical and organised Hilden Grange which was an entertaining 0-0 draw. Next up we were against a strong Yardley Court and we lost narrowly 1-0 which was to be the only defeat of the day. This left us with the same points as Hilden Grange and meant to go through as one of the top two teams we had to beat Rose Hill and score two goals. The boys were unlucky only to get a 1-1 draw which meant we came third and qualified for the plate but Alex did score a great goal outside the box!

The semi finals saw us comfortably beat hosts St Michael’s 1-0 and the final was against Dulwich Prep. We played really well- a well taken goal from Thomas Limpenny broke the deadlock and a late hat-trick from Alex secured a well deserved victory for the A's. It was a great team effort.

Man of the tournament: the whole team! Max Ejje

And Mr Reay’s account is similarly glowing and full of praise…. On a misty Saturday morning the U10A team took to the fields of St Michael’s in search of silverware. The morning could not have got off to a better start as we scored 2 early goals against Hawthorns and held on despite a tough 2nd half to win 3-2. A physical 0-0 draw against Hilden Grange and a narrow 1-0 loss to Yardley Court were to follow. The loss to Yardley was tough to take as we played so well and were unlucky to concede a deflected own goal.

As we approached the final group game against Rose Hill we knew exactly what was required. Should we score 2 goals and win then we would progress to the main competition semi finals. Failure to do this and we would enter the plate competition. After a spectacular Alex Dubov strike from outside the area we were in total control. The boys pushed forward in search of the 2nd and all important goal. Unfortunately we were caught out and Rose Hill scored, a slightly fortuitous, equaliser. A disappointed group of boys quickly lifted their spirits ready for a plate semi final against the host St Michaels. I quickly lost count at the number of

Thank you to our Year 7 Open Day tour guides who showed our visitors around this morning. They impressed with their knowledge, manners and enthusiasm. Well done. times we hit the post but eventually one snuck in and we were on our way to the final. Dulwich Prep , 4-0 semi final winners against Rose Hill, awaited and we knew it would be tough. Thomas Limpenny who had a great semi final was promoted to starting attacker and made some great runs in behind the opposition defence. With the game finely poised at 1-1 we brought on Alex ‘deadly’ Dubov to score a rapid hat-trick and seal the win for Hazelwood. Boys, parents and coaches were all delighted with the performance and it would have been too hard and unfair to pick out any single child.

Lucas Hardgrave was a rock in goal. His shot stopping was fantastic and he certainly kept us in the final when we could have conceded early on.

Thomas Higgins was given the all important sweeper role and he truly obliged. Any attacking threat was quickly rebuffed and the ball played back into dangerous positions.

Callum Murray was a workhorse in the midfield, marking the dangerous attackers and linking up nicely with Max.

Max Ejje – our captain – always gives everything to the cause and produced some moments of sublime skill to set up his strike force.

Thomas Limpenny is a very versatile player who linked nicely in midfield but played his best football up front. I lost count at the number of effort which hit the post.

Alex Dubov simply doesn’t miss. Give him the ball in space and Alex scores.

Well done all. I am immensely proud.

Mr Reay

And medals galore… What difference a week makes! The under 9's were a different team this weekend as they embarked on a very near unbeaten run to the plate final at Caterham. Having drawn every group match the boys were trying their hardest not to score; countless efforts against the woodwork and into the side netting denied us the chance of competing for the cup. The goals came a plenty in the semi finals as Hazelwood saw off Miss Dance's (she used to work here) Oakhyrst Grange 3 goals to nil.

Facing City of London Freemans in the final, Hazelwood once again dominated play but couldn't break the deadlock. With a last ditch chance at goal just drifting wide the referee

Please note: the changing rooms are being painted over the half term holiday. Please can all children (and parents) take home kit for washing to leave the area clear. Thanks blew his whistle for full time and so it was to be decided on penalties. Unfortunately City of London came out on top in the shoot out but the boys put in a fantastic effort and showed a huge improvement on last week. It's remarkable the difference in performance when there's a fire brewing in the belly! Mr Lloyd

And from a proud dad, Mr Wallsworth, we received this account! Well after last weekend’s tournament which really didn’t go very well at all, the U9A boys were a completely different proposition on Saturday! Defending like an Italian football team, they played six matches and conceded only one goal! One 3-0 win, one 1-1 draw, and four 0-0 draws. They made it through to the ‘Plate Final’ which they only lost on penalties! A superb team effort from all the boys who were very proud to show off their medals. Well done indeed to the boys. They were a pleasure to watch, and all the parents who supported them left very proud of their effort and achievement. The start of great things, hopefully!

U10 B football competition at St Michael’s School The U10 B team, consisting of Eddie Hyatt, Tom Thorpe, Zac Hammerton, William Hudson, James Richards and Fred Webzell travelled to St Michael’s to take part in the U10 football competition on Saturday 3rd October.

In the group stage, we opened up against a tough Russell House side and eventually lost the game 3-0. The team focused on their passing in the next game against Hilden Grange, thinking about getting their heads up and looking for a pass. This proved effective as Tom Thorpe was able to find Zac Hammerton with a lovely pass into the box which Zac scored first time into the bottom left hand corner. The final score was 1-0. Yardley Court was up next and again proved to be a strong side. We lost the game 2-0 but worked well as a team. Our final game in the group was against Rose Hill. We put together a fine performance, breaking through the Rose Hill defence with some skilful passing. Fred Webzell was solid at the back and we ended up winning the game 2-1 with goals from Zac and Tom.

We finished 4th in the group, narrowly behind Hilden Grange on goals scored. This meant that we went through to the semi-finals of the plate. We met Sevenoaks Prep in the semi- finals and put in a strong defensive performance, catching Sevenoaks on the break on a few occasions. However, both teams were unable to score and extra time was equally tight resulting in the game finishing 0-0. With penalties needed to separate the two sides, Hazelwood scored their first four and with Sevenoaks missing two, Hazelwood were through to the final.

The final of the plate saw Hazelwood facing the home team, St Michael’s, with a strong home crowd support behind them. The boys didn’t let this phase them though putting in another strong defensive performance to keep the scores level. We endured some scares including St Michael’s hitting the post late in the game. This, combined with a fine goalkeeping display by William Hudson saw the game finish 0-0 and the familiar penalty shoot-out to decide the plate. On this occasion, it was not meant to be for Hazelwood as St Michael’s won the penalty shoot-out with Hazelwood securing an impressive second place. The team worked hard together and showed fantastic heart throughout the day.

A wonderful effort. Well done!

Well done to the Colts’ football teams who travelled and hosted our friends from this week. In some thrilling games, the final score sheets revealed a most pleasing run of games in Hazelwood’s favour: Played 6, won 5 drew 1. Proud & unbeaten!!

The hole is getting bigger more quickly than the mud on the footpath is getting

deeper. We will soon see

the extent of the hole which

our new building is going to

fill.

Wanted by Mrs Tulett for the children’s art Old newspapers, magazines, towels and tea towels. All donations should be left outside the Art Room and will be much appreciated. Thank you.

Please note a fixture change: On Wed 14th Oct there are only the following football matches: Colts A and B v Homefield / Chinthurst (at Homefield). Thank you.

A pot of learning at the end of the rainbow With the weather being grey this week, our super scientists decided to bring some colour to Chestnut. This week we made rainbows in a bottle. This experiment looked at the density of different liquids and how they can sit on top of each other to give a layered effect. Hopefully this will bring the sunshine out for the weekend.

Oak follow the footprints to find a friend

Mysterious footprints have been discovered in Oak this week! We think a tiger has crept into the classroom at night! Have you seen it?

We have enjoyed reading the story, The Tiger Who Came to Tea”. Mrs Taylor’s class have made jam sandwiches, cutting them into rectangles, squares and triangles. The children decided to leave one for the tiger! It had disappeared by the next morning and in its place was a letter from the Tiger!

Hawthorns were winning 3-1 at half time and we came back to win 8-4!! They remain unbeaten this season!

National Poetry Day - 8th October 2015

James Carter visited Hazelwood on National Poetry Day, giving workshops on kennings to Years 3 and 4 , brainstorming ideas from Years 6 and 5 for poems as gifts, and performing a selection of his own poems to and with the help of Years 1 and 2. The whole school watched him perform in Assembly, where he blended poems with his guitar and piano playing. The pupils are now writing poems to enter the school's poetry competition, and the winners will be told before half-term. Their poems will be celebrated in Assembly in the first week in November. Thank-you to the children who worked very hard today and participated fully and with great enthusiasm!

Tiger with a capital Tea Oak had fun with the tiger this week. We made jam tarts for a tea party. It was a roaring success!

Thank you to the staff across both sites who contributed to a hugely successful Open Morning today. All our visitors were bowled over by the levels of pupil engagement and the broad smiles on the children’s faces. We couldn’t do it without the energy and ideas of a fabulous team. National Poetry Day

How do I What rhymes feel? with algorithm? What am I thinking?

What’s my best descriptive word?

Year 6 collaborate on writing their poetry composing sentences and thoughts (heads down and focus bit) before launching their ideas into the air before bringing it all together into some interactive words of wonder.

Pupils get argumentative on a Monday morning The week started with the pupils focusing, collaborating and taking a risk as four teams took to the floor in the first of three inter-house debates. The motion: this house believes school uniform should be banned was passionately argued with real conviction. Zac Slade, Jack Underwood, Freddie Bosshard, Jack Celliers, Dan Coates, Lottie Shaw, Maddie Hyatt, James Lucas, Kalai Rasalingam, Philip Hellman, Tom Richards and Catherine Pearce all put together persuasive speeches, entertaining their audiences with personal opinions and interesting facts, and this set the ball rolling for another great year of debates. A special mention should go to Kalai, who stepped in at the last minute due to illness.

Last week’s European Languages Day saw the children taking part in language

challenges through the day, and eating their way through France as they tucked into a continental style breakfast, fruit break, lunch and dinner. Thank you to Mesdames Floch, Jones and Richards for organising such a merveilleuse journee!

Car Park Corner

For safety's sake.....

There is a parent who drives up Wolfs Hill from the Hurst Green end, stops on the road by the school exit, allows her son to get out of the car in the road to cross over to school, and finishes off her manoeuvre by doing a three point turn in the exit before heading back down the road!! This has been witnessed on a number of occasions and is a crazy effort to shave a couple of minutes of the school run!! It doesn't seem safe for the boy and blocks the traffic!!

Is there a possibility that 'polite notices' could be put on the

windscreens of the cars that insist on parking on a Wolfs Hill to the left of the school exit!! They selfishly cause further traffic problems for people who are performing the requested left turn out of the school!

I wonder if the 5 minute walk through the woods option could be better advertised with a little map in the Nutshell? I was stopped by a parent just as I started my walk from Rockfield Rd the other day. She was aware of the route but didn't know where it started and was delighted to have someone to show her the way through the woods and even more delighted to have another school run option. It's a lovely walk, the kids love it and it's a nice way to start and end the day!

Route: Park on Rockfield Road near the turning into Icehouse Wood. The entrance to the footpath is opposite the turning into Icehouse Wood. Follow the left hand driveway then at the top take the right hand footpath which will take you all the way to the crossing opposite the school exit. Wellies needed!

Year 2 give a good beating We now have a class set of glockenspiels in Chestnut which we used for the first time today in Year 2 music (all very exciting). We have started learning how to read music, using notes and rests. All this while also rapping and singing to the song 'Hey You, what ya gonna do?'!!

Year 1 shape up for a closer inspection Year 1 have been looking at 2D shapes this week. We have made 2D robots in 1G. Making the most of the sunshine we went out on a shape hunt and became shape detectives, the children were looking for all the different 2D shapes around the playground.

Some lovely Tiger feet, stripes and smiles from the talented artists in Mrs Taylor’s Oak classroom. Who needs to go on a safari when you have such life like images on your doorstep!

It was a week to get messy at the Nursery with Robins trying their hand at marble painting and the children in Wrens experimenting with shaving foam.

Joseph, James, Josh and Sam smile for the selfie camera in between admiring the new build from the first floor window of the medical room. Even though he was suffering from over-extended arm syndrome (OEAS), Josh managed to smile for the camera.

Well done to James and Jack (and mum) for completing the Hever Run or Dye at the weekend and for allowing themselves to be pelted with powder paint on their way round. James competed the week

before in the Hever triathlon and was amongst many Hazelwood pupils who completed the challenge and was proud to stand on the medal rostrum with proof of their achievement hanging around his neck!

BEFORE: nice and clean AFTER: little bit less pristine

Take a look inside the minds of Year 1 and what do you see? A host of brilliant brains and incredible imaginations!

Welcome to Guinea Pig 1 and Guinea Pig II who arrived in Chestnut this week. The two cute creatures are being named by the children in a mock election on Friday with ballot papers and strict security surrounding the vote. News of the christening will be brought to you next week.

Thank you for all the old-style school blazers so kindly donated to . One final plea for any further 30” blazers: our friends at Oxted desperately need them so that their production of Hairspray can be a roaring success. Any further donated garments to the school or bursar’s office please. Many thanks. HPA

HPA Boden Party - A Massive Thank You to all shoppers! A massive thank you to all Boden shoppers. In the first 5 days after the party, you have generated free commission for the HPA of £665.40. This is a fantastic result. If you would still like to order using the code circulated by form reps to gain 27% off full price items (excluding the Icons range) with free delivery and returns, Boden tell us the code should be active again from 12th - 23rd October.

Winter Warmer - HPA Drinks Evening - Thursday 12th November Please get the date in your diary to come along to a drinks and nibbles evening in TOSH (The Old School Hall) to meet the HPA team. Currently, the team is very small but we want to run events both for the children and parents over the coming years. It’s not just about making money for those little extras for our children at the school, it’s also about having fun and hosting great events like the School Ball, the Christmas Fair, Fireworks Night to name but a few.

We’re not asking you to join the team if you don’t want to, but what we’d like to do is have the chance to talk to you and invite you to join us for a glass of wine and tell us what you think, share ideas and know that we are parents too and would welcome anyone from Wrens to Year 8 to be a friend of the HPA and support us for the events.

It’s the Upper School parents' evening that night, so perhaps for those coming to that, after you’ve had your slots with teachers, you can come along and join us, even if it’s only for half an hour.

Bonfire and Fireworks Night - 4th November - Ticket booking forms due in by Thursday 15th October Please remember to get your ticket application forms and payment in as soon as possible and by Thursday 15th October at the latest. This will be your last chance to apply for tickets as there will be no tickets available on the night.

HPA Quiz Night and AGM - 8th October Nearly 100 parents and staff enjoyed a lively evening in the Dining Room at the annual Quiz Night. Apart from the opportunity for everyone to remember how much they had forgotten (particularly in the Back to School round which proved rather challenging!), it was also an opportunity to thank Nicki Wisniewski for all her hard work as Chairman of the HPA for the past 5 years. Nicki is now stepping down and passing the baton to Hayleigh Russell but Nicki's tireless enthusiasm has resulted in some fantastic school projects being achieved, most recently, the Tree House. A huge thank you to you Nicki.

News from the Kitchen Please don’t forget that the new menus for both and the Nursery & Early Years are now on their respective websites under The Parents’ Sections.

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.

Swimming Gala Reports – Bumper Edition! This week’s swimming report is a combined update of our latest two galas...

Hazelwood vs. Hawthorns U11-U13 Swimming Gala Report – Thursday 24th September On Thursday 24th September the U11-U13 travelled to The Hawthorns School to compete in their first gala for the year. All swimmers swam their hardest and showed great resilience against such strong opposition! However, unfortunately on this occasion we had to accept a defeat. Special mention should go to all of the Year 6 boys that boldly swum up age groups for the Year 7’s and even Year 8 races, due to some team shortages on the day – thank you for your efforts!

Hazelwood vs. Caterham Prep Swimming Gala Report – Tuesday 6th October On Tuesday 6th October, the U8 to U11 (Year 3 – 6) boys and girls swimming team travelled to ’s 25m pool. Competing against Caterham Prep was set to be a tough fixture and the nervous yet excited Hazelwood swimmers prepared to swim their best – some for the first time ever at a gala! The team picked was a large in order to give as many swimmers the experience of competing in a gala as possible – something which I think is very important early on in the year. The tension in the atmosphere, both on poolside and in the viewing gallery, was immense! With the scores written on the board evidently so close throughout! In the end, only 1 point separated us from Caterham who snatched the lead with 262-261pts.

All swimmers should be congratulated on their fine races and team effort. In particular, Felix Curson and Freya Dunn performed some really outstanding butterfly swims, Alex Powney and Elisa Yewman won their first ever breaststroke races, Thomas Higgins and Callum Murray had clear leads in their front crawl event and plenty more super swims!

Hopefully, we can all learn from the racing what to improve for next time. Good luck to those picked to swim at the U8, U9 & U10 gala against The Hawthorns School next Thursday 15TH October!

Miss Lloyd

Are we nearly there yet? The U9 girls who attended the hockey match at Junior King's were triumphant despite the long journey. The A team won 7-2 with some fantastic attacking play and scoring from Connie Digges. The B team won 3-1 with Isla Moseley showing great promise on the pitch and the C team won 2-0.

It was a long way to go for a hockey match but all the girls should be commended on their resilience and maturity.... with only 1 mention of ' Are we nearly there yet ' when we were 10 minutes from home!

Some fantastic hockey in the October sunshine on a very smart astro turf made the journey worthwhile! Mrs Lowe

Bridge ‘in union’ take the Plate at Medway Edenbridge Minis made their annual trip to Medway for what should really be renamed the ‘Sunshine Festival’.

After a typically slow start , losing 3-1, against the Giant (eventual Cup Finalists) from Medway, Bridge got into the

rhythm of hard tackling and rucking beating Sevenoaks 3-1, drawing 1-1 with TJ’s and beating Canterbury 2-0.

The team was loaded with Hazelwood boys including Harry Pluck, Jack Godfrey, Tedd Macgregor, Morgan Roberts and Sam Hartley. Sam and Harry were both playing up a year to boost the front row. Sam settled in at Scrum Half providing swift clean service and scoring two excellent tries. Harry made many bulldozing charges into some big opponents scoring a try and Ryan Conde rucked a mauled like a demon and was rewarded with a try, taking three over the line.

These results put Bridge 2nd in their Pool of six teams and into the Plate play off against Blackheath. It was already 3pm and the sun was still shining so the players were relieved when it was announced that Blackheath had gone home, allegedly ravaged by injuries (or was it because they knew we were about to peak?).

Smiles all around as they were proudly presented with the Plate to add to the growing cabinet of trophies.

Pupils wishing to grab their slice of the trophy winning action should contact the Club Secretary.

Notice Board Year 5 English Speaking Board Examination 2016 Year 6 Parents’ Evenings Years 1-5 Lower School Parents’ Evening Information

Key Events for Next Week Monday 12 1320 Eco Schools meeting 1800 Lower School parents’ evening

Tuesday 13 0900 Childhood flu vaccinations (Years 1 & 2) 0900 Year 8 Play Technical run through to Yr 3 & 4 and Hurst Green Infant School 1100 1430 U8 A-D Hockey v City of London Freeman’s School (H) 1800 Lower School Parents’ Evening

Wednesday 14 World Maths Day 1430 Football 1st XI v Aberdour (H) 1430 Football 2ndXI v Aberdour (A) 1430 Football Colts A-C v Homefield / Chinthurst (at Homefield) (A) 1430 Hockey U13 A & B v Junior King’s (A) 1430 Hockey U11 A Hoe Bridge Tournament (A) 1430 Hockey U11 B v St Michael’s (A) 1900 Year 8 Play

Thursday 15 0835 House meetings 1630 Swimming U8, U9 & U10 v Hawthorns (H) 1900 Year 8 Play

Friday 16 1900 Year 8 Play

HALF TERM COMMENCES

The Thomas Trophy athletes do the Mobot whilst the Colts C celebrate coming back from being 3-1 down to win the match 8-4 (a thrilling game enthralling the spectators from start to finish) and the U8B hockey team punch the air in delight after scoring one of their 4 goals against Reigate St Mary’s.