Fortnightly Newsletter Friday 3rd May 2019 FROM THE HEADMISTRESS Dear Parents, It is a joy to welcome you all back to the new term! Light mornings, long evenings, warm days and a busy calendar mean the Summer Term is a very special time at Feltonfleet. The school site is looking stunning due to the efforts of our outstanding estates team. The term has started happily, and your children have been bouncing both through the Pre-Prep doors and onto the school terrace, excitedly re-connecting with friends and teachers as well as getting to know some new faces. We welcome a number of children to Feltonfleet this term and I have been so impressed with the positive and enthusiastic attitude they have shown, as well as the warm welcome they have received from our community. Our children of all ages returned keen, eager and focused in the classroom. The senior sporting fixtures programme got underway with the U13 girls securing the runners-up spot against strong competition in the St. George’s College invitation cricket tournament. Feltonfleet hosted a brilliant athletics fixture at ACS Cobham on Thursday with over 280 pupils competing from 6 schools. The results bode extremely well for the season ahead. In assemblies this term, the Pre -Prep will be focusing on the school value of honesty and learning to reflect on the choices they make. In Years 3- 8 we will explore the value of resilience, learning how we can develop resilience through facing our fears and coping with the failures we all experience. We can all learn ‘bouncebackability’ by building up the strength and confidence to persevere when things don’t go well and it is this that enables us to achieve the goals we seek in lessons, sport, music and our friendships. 1 FROM THE HEADMISTRESS The 46 children on the amazing ski trip to Austria certainly showed bundles of resilience as they took to the slopes undeterred by their aching limbs and minor ailments. The Feltonfleet community on tour was a pleasure to be with and every single child was a superb ambassador for our school. Alex Hibbert, the world record polar traveller, delivered an inspiring Leonardo Lecture in the Ashbee Theatre on the theme of exploration and resilience. Our senior pupils were captivated by his accounts of gaining the world record through skiing further than anyone else as on an unsupported Arctic expedition. His experiences on polar journeys certainly exemplify what is involved in developing mental toughness. Today we said goodbye to Mr Barnes, long-serving Caretaker. In assembly on Wednesday we reflected on Mr and Mrs Barnes’ faithful and committed 18 years service to our school community. The Heads of School, Charlie and Emily led a vote of thanks from the pupils and wished them every happiness and good health in their retirement. On the social front we are looking forward this term to the Annual Royal Marsden Quiz on Friday 10th May, this year hosted in the Ashbee Theatre, and also the Jazz Night on Tuesday 21st May featuring Feltonfleet pupils and the Alan Barnes Quartet. Both events promise to be excellent entertainment and I look forward to seeing you there. Have a lovely weekend. Shelley Lance INSIDE THIS ISSUE Pre-Prep News 3 Sports News 8-10 What’s coming up? 15 Lower School News 4 Music News 11 Weekly Bulletin 16 Middle School News 5 Other News 12 Notices 17-20 Upper School News 6 Pupil & Staff Achievement 13 Ski Trip Report 7 Headmistress Awards 14 2 PRE - P R E P N E W S Our new term at Pre-Prep has welcomed a new Pupil Parliament. This term’s MPs have met with last term’s MPs to create a stunning plan of games and stalls for pupils to participate in during our May Festival next week. The games have been chosen by the MPs and Year 2 have collaboratively created posters and plans of who will run each stall, showing a fair degree of enterprise. Pupil Parliament consists of MPs representing each of our four Sections and every pupil in Year 2 has experienced an opportunity of this leadership. We have to count the tokens each term to find out which section has won. We took all the interview teachers here on a tour Our cycle of school values this year was determined by pupil vote as a demonstration of democracy. This term we are exploring honesty. Pupils were quick to say this means telling the truth and not telling lies. However, we have begun to consider more closely what that means. In RE lessons, Early Years children have been finding out that people live by rules, and one of the rules from the Bible story of the Ten Commandments that Christians follow is to be honest and not tell lies. Mrs Burton Smith shared the ultimate (true) confession with Nursery of having lied to her teacher when she was 4 years old. Having been found out, she has been honest ever since! The story of the ‘Boy who cried wolf’ is used as one example. In assembly we have heard the story of ‘The truth according to Arthur’. When faced with having to explain how his mum’s car and his brother’s bike were damaged, Arthur tried to bend, hide and ignore the truth but ultimately he felt whole lot better when he turned and faced it. Whenever a pupil makes a less than sensible choice, we always reflect on the fact that if they are honest about what has happened, then we can all begin to put things right together. As such we are proud to say that most of our Pre-Prep pupils, most of the time, are exceptionally open Amanda Burton Smith Head of Pre-Prep 3 LOWER SCHOOL NEWS "We've been back for ages!" This exclamation from a Year 4 pupil at the beginning of Week 2 shows just how quickly and fully the Lower School pupils have immersed themselves in the busy Summer Term. As always, our pupils are the most reliable reporters of what exactly has been going on: This week we found out our new IPC Unit of Work. We had a compass and a map. We had to use directions to find a treasure chest that had in it cinnamon, coins, paprika, coriander and silk. Then we went back to class to work out what it all was. In the end we found out that our Unit of Work was 'Explorers and Adventurers'. I can't wait to find out all about it!" Libby R (3HM) This term in IPC we are learning about explorers. We had to use a map to get us to a chest that showed us our Unit of Work. Next half-term I am excited to go on our Bushcraft trip. I think it's going to be exciting. In RS we are learning about Islam and Allah. It is v e r y i n t e r e s t i n g . Alexander T (3HM) With Bushcraft in mind, if you were unable to attend Monday's information evening, the presentation (including the kit list) is available for viewing on Firefly. Elizabeth Cherry Helen Marland Head of Lower School Year 3 Leader 4 MIDDLE SCHOOL NEWS FOCUS ON EXAM PREPARATIONS Throughout Week 3, pupils in the Middle School will start to relearn and revisit relevant topics in preparation for the Middle School examinations which take place in Week 4. The Year 5 and 6 exams serve partly as a summative assessment of their knowledge and understanding. This is in addition to the ongoing class work, prep and formative assessments that happen in each subject. The aim of this process is to give all pupils the experience of sitting some tests in a formal setting which in turn will help them develop good learning habits as they move through their Feltonfleet journey and beyond. We appreciate that the formal exam process can seem a little stressful, especially when you experience it for the first time. Taking this into consideration we will be carrying out a mindful minute before every exam to allow pupils to clear their minds and bring themselves back to the present moment. Amanda Wright Head of Middle School FOCUS ON ENGLISH AND ACCELERATED READING This week Years 5 & 6 have carried out the second round of STAR testing on the Accelerated Reader scheme. The results of this show progress across the board for both year groups, which is evidence of their hard work and focus on reading! The interactive assessment identifies pupils’ ideal reading range, allowing them to select accessible and comfortably challenging books, which are clearly labelled in the library. Ahead of the summer exams we would encourage continued reading aloud at home, with verbal questioning and discussion to assess levels of comprehension and understanding. The recent STAR testing results are testimony to the benefits of consistent reading and follow-up comprehension activities. Well done Middle School! Hollie Kenrick English Subject Leader Blanche Sibbald and Claire Kohler Librarians 5 UPPER SCHOOL NEWS FOCUS ON SCIENCE This term in Science, Year 7 are getting their fingers green through dabbling in the wonderful world of plants. So far, they have explored photosynthesis and seen how to test leaves for the food they produce. This involved cooperating in pairs to accurately follow each step of the practical experiment having observed a teacher-led demonstration. Safety considerations were paramount throughout as the pupils were using very hot water and flammable ethanol. Next, they used an online simulation to examine how light affects the speed of photosynthesis, utilising their graphing skills, use of digital technologies and ability to draw conclusions from results.