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News
Letter Autumn Term 2005 The start of the new school year is always exciting for the children and the staff; new pupils, new classrooms and maybe new teachers. This September we welcomed a new teacher for Year 6, Mrs. Ashley Costin, following the retirement of Mrs. Chris Shaw. Parents had the opportunity to meet their children’s new class teachers and discuss the year’s curriculum and air any problems or queries at the informal Parent’s Evening on 19th September. Prospective parents and pupils were welcomed to the school at Open Mornings on Saturday 24th September and Wednesday 5th October. The historical school buildings were open to the public on September 18th under the annual London Open House Scheme. The younger children (Nursery – Year 2) had a visit from Drama4all, a visiting theatre company who ran a circus-themed drama workshop on 15th September. October began with the school’s Harvest Festival celebrations in the beautiful St. John’s Church, which is adjacent to the school. Families and friends joined the children in the service. Donations of non-perishable food were given to the Salvation Army for distribution locally. Girls from years 4-6 took part in the Tony James Memorial Cross-Country event at Bromley High School on 11th October. The PTA Autumn Ball was held on Saturday 9th October and raised £1800 for the school during a lovely evening of dancing and dining.
Year 3 visited Crofton Roman Villa as part of their study of the Romans on October 12th. The PTA held a Nearly New Sale at school on Saturday 15th October, raising nearly £100. Children brought in decorated shoe boxes of small gifts to be sent to children in Romania in the run-up to half term. The Annual general Meeting of the PTA was held on 7th November and a new committee elected for the forthcoming year. Staff from Bromley Museum visited Year 3 to talk about the Romans on 9th November. The school was represented in choral speaking at the Beckenham Festival of Music and Drama on 19th November by Years 2 -6. All classes did very well, but Year 5 won their class and the Rose Bowl for their rendition of ‘A Day Out’. Years 6 and 3 both came second in their respective classes. Thirteen children from the school also competed in the Bromley Primary School’s Cross-Country Event at Crystal Palace on November 26th. Our runners did very well and we gained two second places and one fifth place out of what is always a very large field. During school sports time the children took part in a sponsored run to raise money for Breakthrough Breast Cancer, this term’s charity. The term approached Christmas with the Christmas Bazaar on 3rd December, which raised £700 for the school and was thoroughly enjoyed by young and old. This was closely followed by the Nativity Concert performed by Nursery to Year 2 children.
Children from Years 3-6 visited the residents of Wickham Court Nursing Home and sang Christmas carols for them. A Carol Concert was held in St. John’s Church on Tuesday 13th December, when once again the children were joined by families and friends in a traditional service of readings and carols with a nativity tableau by the older children. The children enjoyed Christmas parties with entertainers in school on 14th December.
In addition to the curricular activities, children also enjoyed After-School clubs in football, cookery, computers and Austen’s, our daily after-school and breakfast club.
At the beginning of the Spring Term we welcomed new pupils and a new Year 5 teacher, Mrs. Jenny Clout. This appointment was made following the retirement of Mrs. Mary Sands at Christmas. The school held Open Mornings for prospective pupils and parents on 4th and 8th March, when we had considerable interest in our new Year 7 class starting in September. The first full week back saw many of the year 6 children sitting entrance exams for local independent schools. As a result children were offered places at Bromley High School for Girls, Whitgift School, Royal Russell School and Bishop Challoner School. Year 6 had a talk on ‘Bullying’ from our police liaison officer and he also spoke to Reception on ‘What is a policeman?’ There was a special assembly on 23rd January when a cheque for £1000, raised by the children from holding a sponsored run, was presented to Breakthrough Breast Cancer in memory of one of our mothers who sadly died last year.
The PTA Valentines cake sale on 9th Feb brightened up the dull winter days before half-term and raised £165. There were so many cakes that the sale lasted two days! The school marked Thinking Day on 22nd February by allowing our Brownies, Cubs, Scouts and Guides to come to school in uniform and the Scout and Guide movement was discussed in Assembly. The children marked World book Day on 1st March by dressing up as a favourite book character. There was also a book sale for the children in school. Commission on the sales allowed the school to buy over £300 worth of books for the classrooms and library. The children also listened to African folk stories in a ‘reading tent’ set up in the hall and learnt about the scarcity of books in developing countries. This led to donations of nearly £80 to Book Aid International. March 1st also saw the Mayor’s Cross-Country Event at Sparrow’s Den. Our runners achieved a first and a second place. We had twelve entrants in the Bromley Primary Schools Cross-Country Event on 11th March. Our runners did well yet again, with Wickham Court School pupils winning the boys and girls races for Years 5&6. The boys from Years 5 and 6 were placed 13th in the team table, but we didn’t have enough entrants in the other races to qualify as a team. Nevertheless these were remarkable results from a school our size. On March 16th children from Years 1-6 participated in choral speaking examinations of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). Year 4 went on a trip to visit the Globe Theatre on 17th March where they were involved in a workshop and performed excerpts from Macbeth on the Globe stage. Parents were invited to consultations with their children’s teachers on 22nd March. The annual dance extravaganza that is ‘Showtime’ was held in Hayes Village Hall on 23rd March and involved performers from Nursery to Year 6.The PTA organised a Ladies Pamper Evening on 24th March to coincide with Mother’s Day. This was a very popular event and raised over £500. In the last week of term Year 6 dressed up for a Victorian schooldays workshop. The school was joined by family and friends at St. John’s Church for the Easter Service on 29th March. This was followed by an Easter Egg Hunt for the children in the school grounds while the adults enjoyed coffee and hot cross buns. This term’s After-School Clubs were computer, cookery, gym and football. Our football teams participated in football tournaments on 24th Jan (Primary School 5 a-side) and 3rd March (St. Christopher’s School).
We welcomed several new children to school this term. Our sports programme was underway almost immediately with the swimming team attending the Kent Primary Schools Swimming Championships at Gillingham. The team all swam very well, but this year we did not gain a place in the finals.
The children participated in an evening of music and poetry for parents and friends on 3rd May. The evening raised £190 for World Vision.
Pupils are also participating in a sponsored spell for the NSPCC during May. After-school clubs this term are cookery, tennis, gymnastics, cricket and football.
Year 6 are looking forward to moving on to secondary school in September. Children will be transferring to Newstead Woods School, Whitgift School, Royal Russell School, Edenham High School, Hayes School, Ravenswood School for Boys, Langley Park School for Boys, Ravensbourne School. Our schools liaison officer P.C. Blackman came to talk to the children about ‘Transition/Safe Journey’ on May 9th. Years 5 and 6 paid a visit to the National Theatre in London on 17th May. They went backstage at all 4 stages and were shown scenery production and special effects tricks which they found very interesting. They also attended a workshop on sporting poetry. The PTA organised a Quiz Night on 19th May which was attended by 60 parents, staff and friends. Six teams of ten battled for the Quiz night trophy. The evening raised £225 for the school. Wednesday 24th May saw an Open Morning for prospective parents and pupils. Year 6 pupils enjoyed showing families around the school and grounds on a typical working day. Years 5 and 6 spent a fantastic activity week at Finsbury Hall, Suffolk between 5th and 9th June. Mrs. Costain, Mrs. Clout and Mrs. Martin accompanied the children for five days of climbing, rafting, quad biking, archery, abseiling, shooting, mini-olympics and many other activities. We’ve been told they didn’t get much sleep, but the food was excellent! Pictures are on display in Austen Hall. Sports Day for Nursery –Year 2 had to be postponed on Wednesday 14th June due to heavy rain the previous day, but Years 3-6 had lovely weather on Thursday 15th June. Parents and grandparents relaxed in the sunshine while the children tore around like mad things. The children were divided into teams across the year groups and points awarded for places achieved. The event was won by Yellow Team. The PTA provided bottles of water, ice lollies and medals for all participants. Years 2- 6 had end-of-year exams and relevant SATs during the week of June 19th-23rd. On Wednesday 21st June we welcomed into school the students who will form our new Year 7 in September. They spent the day getting to know each other and their teacher, Mrs. Gita Mohan, as well as familiarising themselves with the school buildings and grounds. There are presently 11 pupils registered for Year 7 in September, but a small number of places are still available. Please contact the school office on 020 8777 2942 for details. Children from Nursery–Year 2 enjoyed a day out at Ladyland Farm, Horley, on Thursday 29th June. The staff were helped by parents and other family members. The weather was fantastic and a great time was had by all.
The highlight was a ride on a tractor, but they also enjoyed feeding goats, sheep and calves and meeting all the other friendly farm animals.
Sports Day for the lower part of the school was finally held on Friday 30th June. Conditions were perfect this time and the children excelled in egg and spoon, running, hurdling and other fun races. The crowning moment was the award of medals (and the ice lollies). The children in Nursery to Year 2 presented their end of year show during the afternoon of Wednesday 5th July. Austen Hall was packed as usual with parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles despite the high temperatures. The remainder of the school performed “Three Cheers for Mrs. Butler” on the evenings of Wednesday and Thursday 12th & 13th July. The show was greatly appreciated by the audience and photos are currently on show in Austen Hall. Our long awaited Summer Fayre took place on Sunday 16th July with the theme ‘A Day in the Tropics’. Entertainment included a limbo competition and music from Croydon Steel Orchestra, games and stalls. There was food from every continent (except Antarctica obviously!) which proved very popular with visitors. The temperature was suitably tropical and an amazing sum in the region of £2000 was raised for the school.
The annual Seaside Trip on Tuesday 18th July to St. Mildred’s Bay, Westgate was blessed with great weather yet again. The children had plenty of fun on the expansive sandy beach and in the rock pools. The staff were accompanied by many parents who also enjoy participating in this school tradition. Prize-giving
was held on the afternoon of Thursday 20th July, for Years 5 &
6, families and friends. This is a chance to recognise the achievements
of our pupils as they move on to new schools or to our senior department.
It is followed by tea and the now famous prize-giving cake which
is eagerly anticipated by many of the mothers. |
