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News
Letter Autumn Term The new school year began with the exciting addition of a Year 7 class for the first time. We welcomed 13 students and several new specialist teachers. The Senior Department will receive tuition in Drama from Miss Myrna Delicata, Music from Mr. Rick Jones, Spanish from Mr. Cabezas and Sport from Mr. Steve McRaye. The Junior School and Nursery welcomed 18 new pupils and two new staff members; Mrs. Gill Smith joins the Nursery as a teacher and Miss Natalie Hasler is the new Art teacher. This term we will be running Football, Gym and Computer Clubs after school as well as ‘Austen's’ after-school club. The children should have bought home details about these clubs, if not please speak to the school office. Children from Nursery to Year 2 had a visit from Drama4ALL, a visiting theatre company who worked with the children using a theme of ‘Round the World’ on Thursday 14th September. The whole school visited the ‘Life Bus’ which was parked at the school on Monday and Tuesday 18th and 19th September. This is part of a PSHCE programme of health education operating in Bromley. On Thursday 21st September parents in the junior school were able to meet their children’s new class teachers and find out about the programme for the upcoming year, during an informal parents evening. Saturday 23rd September and Wednesday 27th September were this term’s Open Mornings for prospective parents and pupils to see around the school and meet some of our current staff and pupils. There was a wonderfully large attendance at Harvest Festival on Monday 2nd October at St. John’s Church; we had problems finding a seat for everyone! The children sang songs and hymns, recited poems and read prayers they had composed specially on the theme of harvest. The school was transformed for the night of Saturday 7th October to host the PTA Autumn Ball.
Nearly 100 guests enjoyed cocktails and canapés followed by a three course dinner, dancing to live music and a grand auction in a sumptuously themed hall in the school colours of burgundy and gold.
The evening raised nearly £2000 which will be going towards a “trim trail” for the school grounds. Charity Fundraising: On Monday 9th October, children from Wickham Court School handed over a cheque for £300 to a children’s cancer support charity, CLIC Sargent. The fundraiser, Dan Powellto, received the cheque at a special assembly where the children heard something about the charity’s work with families coping with childhood cancer. Parents from the school held a coffee morning on September 14th as part of the national charity’s ‘Yummy Mummy Week’ fundraising effort. The cheque was presented by Reshe Harrison aged 5, who has recently returned to the school following treatment for leukaemia and Molly Beiderman aged 4, a friend of the school, who has been treated for Wilm’s Tumour. The families of both children had received support from CLIC during the past difficult months. CLIC Sargent is the school’s chosen charity for this term and fundraising continued with a cake sale following the presentation assembly. CLIC Sargent is the UK’s leading children’s cancer charity offering advice, support and hands-on care for children affected by cancer and leukaemia and their families. For more information visit www.clic.org.uk. Yummy Mummy Week was held from September 16th-24th to bring family and friends together for a few laughs and at the same time raise money for families whose lives have been torn apart by childhood cancer. The ‘yummy mummies’ are also producing a cookbook in aid of the charity.
Children from Year 3 visited Crofton Roman Villa in Orpington on Thursday 11th October as part of their studies of the Romans.
Diwali was marked in school on Friday 20th October with a special assembly.
Children dressed in colourful, traditional Indian costume performed dances for the rest of the school and the children were told about this important festival for Hindus and Sikhs.
On Friday 10th November, Year 7 took a trip to the Globe Theatre.
Year 7 also visited Unicorn Theatre.
There, they took part in a workshop.
On Wednesday 15th November, Year 3 continued their studies about the Romans with a talk from staff from the Bromley Museum. On Saturday 18th November, the Beckenham Festival of Music and Drama took place. Photos coming soon! More than 200 visitors came to the Christmas Bazaar, organised and run by the PTA, on Sunday 26th November. Children were delighted to find Father Christmas relaxing in one of the school’s 15th century turrets in front of a roaring fire.
Although his busiest time of year he was happy to have a chat with children of all ages and hand out a few early presents.
Children found plenty of other activities to enjoy in the Christmas Craft room and games around the school. A great favourite as always, was the “Secrets’ Room”. Here children could buy wonderful presents for friends and family and have them beautifully wrapped at pocket money prices. Parents browsed the craft and gift stalls and enjoyed tea and cakes in “Santa’s Snack Shack”. The afternoon raised around £1000 towards the school funds.
Wednesday 6th December saw children from Nursery to Year 2 entertain family and friends at their Nativity Concert. Nursery and Reception performed ‘Old Uncle Sam’ and Years 1 and 2 presented ‘It’s a Baby’. The children behaved impeccably, which was particularly pleasing as many of them were our youngest-ever performers.
The ever-popular Mr.Wotty entertained the Lower School for their Christmas parties on Monday 11th December. Year 7 were lucky enough to be taken to London for a special treat. They had lunch at Thai Silk in Waterloo and then visited the BFI/IMAX for a viewing of ‘Happy Feet’. Term ended on Friday 15th December following the annual Carol Service at St. John’s Church. The church was packed with pupils, families and friends who enjoyed the school’s musicians, singers and speakers as well as a traditional nativity tableau.
Spring Term The Junior School welcomed Mrs. Myrna Delicata as their new Art Teacher and Miss Elizabeth Forrai joined the Senior Department for extension work with more able students. There were also three new pupils throughout the school. New entry phones have been installed to enhance security at the front gate. Everyone was thrilled to see the magical transformation of the castle and gardens in the snow.
On Friday 26th January Years 3 and 4 visited the National Gallery as part of their Art studies. The children were introduced to various paintings and shown how to get the most out of viewing art. There is an exhibition of their work just inside the school’s front door. Years 6 and 7 had a talk from school liaison officer PC Andy Clarke on ‘Bullying’ on Tuesday 6th February. The year 6 classroom went back in time on Wednesday 7th February as the children experienced a ‘Victorian Schooldays’ Workshop, with a ‘Victorian’ teacher.
The half term holiday approached rapidly following the PTA Valentine’s Cake Sale on Thursday 8th February and the PTA Quiz Night on Friday 9th February. Both events raised money for school funds with the cake sale being a mouth watering spectacle as usual.
On Wednesday 21st February, the Nursery and Reception classes had a visit from PC Clarke to talk about ‘What is a Policeman?’ Yr 7 had an outing to Bromley Field Studies Centre on Friday 23rd February to study woodlands. The Junior School celebrated World Book Day on Wednesday 28th February by coming to school dressed as a favourite book character. There was also a Book Fair with Usborne Books which raised over £300 in books for the library and pupils also donated books to the school library.
Saturday 3rd March and Wednesday 7th March were Open Mornings for prospective parents and pupils from years 3-7 acted as guides around the school. This is a job many of the children really enjoy. Performing Arts were very much to the fore on Thursday 15th March when LAMDA choral speaking examinations were held in school in the morning and in the evening we had ‘Showtime’ in Hayes Village Hall.
The children impressed the LAMDA examiner and all year groups performed to a very high standard. Showtime was quite spectacular as the photos demonstrate and it is all down to the very hard work of the staff and children. Continuing with this theme, on Friday 16th March Year 4 visited The Globe Theatre. The school made an appeal for Prickles Hedgehog Haven which is currently looking after 42 sick and injured hedgehogs. Children were asked to bring in dog and cat food and big fleecy hats for hedgehogs to nest in. On Red Nose Day, Friday 16th March children were allowed to school with red accessories and raised £50 in donations. Children and Parents had a Toy and Book Sale on Friday 23rd March to raise money for a wheelchair for a severely disabled Turkish lady known to one of our families. On Thursday 22nd March Parents Evening was held for Nursery to Year 6. This gave parents an opportunity to talk to form teachers and also the specialist staff that may not be so accessible during the school day. Term ended on Friday 30th March with the Easter Service at St.
John’s Church. The school was joined in the church by families
and friends who enjoyed singing and prayers from the children. Visitors
returned to school for coffee and hot cross buns while the children
had an Easter Egg Hunt in the grounds. The school welcomed four new pupils this term in four different classes. Hoping for fine weather again there are several after-school sports clubs; cricket, netball, football and gymnastics. Our beautiful grounds really come into their own in the Summer Term when the children can make full use of the space we have. Staff from Bromley Museum came in to talk to Year 4 about the Tudors on Tuesday 24th April. Drama4ALL, a visiting theatre company, came in to work with children from Nursery to Year 2 on Thursday 26th April on an American Cowboy theme. On Friday 27th April Mavis Righini from ‘Prickles Hedgehog Haven’ came to talk to the nursery and junior school about hedgehogs and how we can help them. She brought with her Jenna, a blind hedgehog who cannot be returned to the wild so lives permanently at the sanctuary. The children had been collecting cans of meaty cat and dog food and fleecy hats for hedgehogs to sleep in, to donate to Mrs. Righini. The evening of Saturday 28th April saw the arrival of some very dubious characters at school for the PTA 1970/80’s Disco. See the PTA page for the dodgy details! Years 1, 2 and 6 went on an outing to the Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green on Tuesday 1st May. Here they are always amazed to see what children got up to before the advent of Playstations, computers, TV and even electricity! On the evening of Wednesday 2nd May the children held their second annual Charity Concert of Music and Verse.
Everyone was able to contribute if they wished, whether by singing, playing an instrument or reciting a poem.
The concert raised £250 for Figen’s Appeal. Refreshments were provided by the parents. This appeal has already raised £650 and the wheelchair has been bought and transport to Turkey arranged. Mrs Daniels, Deputy Head and Reception Teacher, shows the children the wheelchair and gifts bought for Figen with the money raised by the school
Then on Thursday 3rd May children from Years 4, 5 and 6 were in the audience at the Wimbledon Theatre to see the popular Andrew Lloyd Webber musical ‘Cats’. The show was thoroughly enjoyed by the children and staff. On Tuesday 8th May our Police Liaison Officer PC Blackman came to talk to Year 6 on ‘Transition/Safe Journey’ as they prepare to move on to secondary school. Years 5 and 6 spent the week beginning Monday 14th May on their school journey to Bowles Adventure Centre near Tunbridge Wells. Unfortunately they didn’t have the best of weather so a lot of muddy clothes came home with them. Nevertheless the children had a fantastic time skiing, canoeing, orienteering, climbing and enjoying the countryside.
As half-term loomed the older pupils participated in a school football tournament all day on Friday 25th May. Teams were selected across the year groups 5, 6 and 7 to even up the odds; some of the ‘professional’ footballers were surprised at the skill of their less football-obsessed classmates when they were given the chance. Here are the proud winners of the football tournement with Head Teacher, Mrs B. Hunter
The following day, Thursday 14th June, the school had a presentation from Marilyn Bass of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. The children were shown the specialised clothing worn by lifeboat crews; a set costs £440. The school will be raising money this half-term to contribute towards the cost of this clothing.
Monday 18th June saw the start of exam week for Years 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. The children all sit the SATs during this week. Despite very inclement weather we held our annual summer fayre on Sunday 1st July. The theme this year was ‘Wacky Races’ and the school grounds were set out with various games, Go Karts, bouncy castles, stands and stalls for all the family.
The Pitstop Café was busy all day for very welcome hot food and drinks and history buffs could take a tour around the Tudor manor that houses the school.
At the end of the afternoon the weather improved and 150 balloons were launched into the eventually blue skies for the Balloon Race. The afternoon raised more than £2500 for the school.
Nicely complimenting the fete, the school grounds were also host on the same afternoon to a ‘Dream Rides’ event to raise money for the charity ‘We Can Beat Wilms’ based at Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital. The charity raises funds for research into childhood cancers. There were approximately 25 cars ranging from Pink Panthers to Ferrari Spiders, Dinos and Testarossas.
Visitors could pay for a ride in the cars on show and many people generously gave donations. There were 17 children at the event who suffer from cancer or leukaemia and who are being treated at The Marsden, Great Ormond St and The Princess Royal; all their rides were paid for by other people (who did not even know them) and they also had a free framed photograph given to them as a souvenir of their ride.
The 3 hour Dream Rides feature at the school raised approximately £4500 for the charity. For a little school this was an outstanding success in spite of the weather and the school, ‘We Can Beat Wilms’ and children with cancer all benefited from the day. On Wednesday 4th July the Kindergarten Entertainment (Nursery- Yr 2) was held during the afternoon. Parents, family and friends were enthralled by the performance of songs and poems (some in French) and ‘The Little Red Hen’ from Years 1and 2.
All the pupils participated in Sports Day on Friday 13th July; the younger children in the morning and the older ones after lunch. We were extremely lucky with the weather as the day started drizzly, but by mid-morning we were bathed in sunshine. The competition was fierce as usual, but several of the little ones seemed a bit bemused by it all. Parents couldn’t escape and this year competed in an egg and spoon race and a tug-of-war. Prize-Giving for Years 5 and 6 was held in Austen Hall on the afternoon of Thursday 19th July . Parents and staff joined pupils in celebrating the year’s achievements and the presentation of certificates, cups and leavers awards .
The now traditional cake was shared afterwards with visitors, children
and staff. The following morning, Friday 20th July, the hankies
were required again for the Leavers’ Assembly in St. John’s
Church. This was a chance for those leaving to thank the school
for their time there and to sing some of their favourite songs and
hymns. Wickham Court School’s fifth year ended for the summer
at 12.15pm.
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