From the Headmistress

Dear Parents

How often do you sit round the meal table and really sit and talk about things as a family? It can be very hard to find the time I know, but you can have some wonderful moments from family conversations and thoughts and feelings often emerge more naturally than at that moment when your child comes out of school and you often start questioning them about their day and the quality of the school lunch! I have sat and observed a number of lessons over recent weeks and been impressed to hear Young Felstedians' views on a whole range of issues. Their views are often clear cut and very morally driven and in that sense, wonderfully refreshing. We have chosen to highlight the monies raised for the Haiti disaster and William Barker's excellent work on smoking as examples of discussion points in this e letter, but equally worthy of mention are the wonderful Christmas holiday stories that earned Headmistress' Commendations this week. We are delighted to be refreshing our Excellence Board and these pieces of work will be the first to adorn it in preparation for your visit to the classrooms next week. We are looking forward to seeing you all then!

Mrs J M Burrett

Parents in School Afternoon

As you will already know from the Spring Term Calendar we are holding a ‘Parents in School’ afternoon on Friday 29 January 2010.  This is an opportunity for you to share in what your child is learning at School by looking through exercise books and folders, and discussing what has been learned together.

The afternoon is broadly organised as follows:

From 2.00 pm – 3.20pm  Years 3 & 4          Tea from 2.45 pm

From 2.30 pm - 4.00pm   Years 5 - 8           Tea from 3pm

Within the timescale you should be able to share in your child’s work in your child’s Form Room, tour the School with them and share in the many different environments in which they learn as well as come to Tea in the Dining Room.  Your child will be your informant, guide and escort!  We have learned from previous experience that a number of children in Years 7 & 8 will try to dissuade their parents from doing this.  May we insist upon the validity of this exercise and suggest that any time spent looking through your child’s books, discussing what they have found interesting, whether or not feedback from the teacher has been helpful and how this had led to further learning cannot be detrimental.  You will also have an opportunity to see how new forms of teacher and pupil assessment, described to you in the last report, are working in practice.

There will be no opportunity to discuss your child’s work with individual teachers although there is a parents’ evening for all but Year 7 parents this term which will give you an opportunity for any follow-up.  Year 7 parents should feel able to approach Tutors on the day or afterwards to share any comments either of praise or concern.

Should you have children in several year groups you should simply arrange a half hour appointment with each of them and then arrange to go on tour with them and come to tea with all of them.  In other words, please make your own timetable, share it with your children and their Form Tutors.  It does not matter if you do not adhere exactly to the times and you should all feel free to leave after tea.

Please ask your child to inform their Form Tutor whether you intend to come or not.  If you do not intend to come then your child will use this time for sharing their work with the Tutor or other members of staff.  We sincerely hope you will be able to come to make the afternoon worthwhile for all.  Pupils in the Year 7 & 8 play will not be available for this exercise due to a full rehearsal.

Please wear your parent name badge if you have one.  If not, please go to your child’s Form Room and pick up a sticker from the Form Tutor.

Car Parking is limited on site, but please feel free to use other Felsted Car Parks near the Chapel and the Lord Riche Hall.

The Big Healthy Breakfast

The BIG HEALTHY BREAKFAST  - 28 January 2010, 7.30am in the Preparatory School Dining Room.  Cost is £1.00 per person.  Start the day and enjoy the benefits of a good healthy breakfast with your children !  It's great fun and a chance to spend some time together at School.

Hats for Haiti - hats off to our pupils!

What a tremendous effort from all the pupils in both the Prep-Prep and the Prep to this well deserved cause - we raised over £1400.00 to send to the appeal for Haiti.  Thank you for your generosity.

 

Information for the Parents of Year 6 Pupils

Dear Parents,

This week Year Six have been given their Passport activity books.  Inside are a series of differing activities that each pupil can work towards over the coming weeks and months. The aim is to encourage a growing sense of independence and self-reliance as well as engaging in new and hopefully enjoyable experiences. Each booklet has an explanation of use and timings at the front.

Could I ask that you spend some time looking at this with your son or daughter and give them a helpful hand to get things moving.  Photographic evidence is always good, as well as videos, PowerPoints 
and alike.

We will have a Year 6 Passport evening towards the end of the summer term; exact details will be sent at a later date, where all pupils will showcase their achievements and even serve the food and drinks!

On another issue, a letter has been sent home with all Year 6 pupils about the PSHCE sex education talk to be held on February 5th. If having read the letter you have any issues or concerns, do please contact me directly.

As ever, many thanks for your support.

Mr J W Phelan
Head of Years 5 & 6

Cubs Get Me Out of Here !

On Monday evening the Cubs took part in a 'Get Me Out Of Here' challenge.  They were challenged to:

1. Make a simple switch and show how it could be used to control a light bulb powered by a battery

2. Show how electrical currents produce magnetic, chemical and heating effects, and explain what happens.  

3. Show that hot air rises - by making a hot air balloon

4. Show how to recover dissolved substances from a water solution.

Very special thanks to Mrs Bury who made this happen and to all those who helped to make the evening such a success - all the Cubs have now passed their Scientist Badge ! 

Accelerated Reading Scheme 

We have been delighted with the response to the Accelerated Reading scheme, which has provided a great deal of enjoyment for the children and a wealth of valuable information for us, in addition to helping to develop the children's reading skills.

However, the reading tests that are taken by the pupils on the completion of each book are a valuable source of information to us about pupils' comprehension levels, and we would be grateful if parents could ensure that their children receive no help when taking these.

Many thanks. The English Department

Visit from Colchester Zoo

On Tuesday 19 January the Year 8 pupils had a talk on 'Animals and their Adaptations' from visiting speakers from Colchester Zoo.  The pupils learned about different habitats around the world and the animals living in these extreme environments.

Car Parking

Jose Souza has been directing traffic for the purposes of safety for just over a term.  He can only really make a difference with each family's support and co-operation. He says that this is not always the case and therefore I have asked him to report cars by number plate to me of anyone who fails to adhere to the car park code (published again below).  I need to be clear that safety is paramount and the use of the car park is only available to people who can respect this code.

CAR PARK - CODE OF CONDUCT

Parents are expected to enter each of the parking areas via the marked “Entrance” and exit via the marked “Exit”.

Parents are asked to respect the car park signage, and exit the FPS car park by turning left into Braintree Road, and not right, to eliminate traffic blockages both within the car park and along the Braintree Rd, particularly at peak usage times.

Parents are expected to park in allocated parking bays within the car parks. These bays are finite and immovable so demand will always exceed supply, and prompt collection of your child/children and a quick departure enables others to use these spaces.

Parents are expected to refrain from double parking in the car parks, blocking other vehicles, and affecting the smooth flow of vehicles in the car park.

Parents are expected to use the drop off lane to deliver or collect their child/children, whilst remaining in attendance of the vehicle. This lane is specifically aimed at trying to keep traffic flowing, and parking in this lane and leaving your car unattended disrupts this flow.

Parents are expected to drop their child/children off safely and securely, either in the drop off lane in the school car park or by parking and accompanying the child/children across the pedestrian area of the car park. A child/children must not be dropped from a double parked position, nor from a door opened whilst stationary and awaiting to access the drop off lane.

Parents are requested not to park at the end of the drop off lane in the Preparatory car park, near the “Bertie Bin” collection point. This is not a parking area and can be highly disruptive to vehicle movement through the car park.

Parents are expected, similarly to their child/children, to behave responsibly and courteously within the grounds of Felsted, this includes when in control of vehicles within the school car parks, and in the local area.

Thank you in advance for your compliance with this code of conduct.

Flora - Cooking With Schools

We’re collecting for FREE cooking equipment!

In 2008, Flora launched an exciting new project called Cooking with Schools with the aim of putting cooking and healthy eating at the heart of the classroom. The project allows schools to collect tokens from special packs of Flora and exchange them for FREE cooking equipment!

We’ve registered our school and wanted to tell you all about it

Our school is officially registered on the new Cooking with Schools website, and we need as many people as possible to support us in order to make our collection a success.

Tokens can be found on the coverleaf of special packs of Flora in stores from the January until the end of March 2010;Just one large pack of Flora could give us £1 to spend on the items of our choice, from cooking utensils to a portable oven.

It’s easy to register your tokens for our school

Simply go online to www.cookingwithschools.com, find our school, register the token code against our school, and the value will go straight into our school’s account. Any time you want to see how well our school is doing with the collection, you can look us up and use our school’s Target Measure, to see how close we are to reaching our target.

Spread the word

Remember, if friends, neighbours, work colleagues and family can help too, our funds would grow even more. If we collect the tokens, there’s no limit to the amount of FREE cooking equipment we can claim for our school.

Miss Sugden 

Headmistress' Commendations

The following children in year 4 were all awarded commendations for their Christmas holiday work :

George McKelvey, Owen Thomas, Bertie Webster, Monique Chapman, Humphrey Burchell, Robert Hadley, Harry Sandbrook, Darcy Holmes, Tilly Worsick & Shola Akindayini.

Charley Moore was also awarded a commendation for her poems together with Tom Beale, Samuel Barratt and Luke Bury for their 'History' holiday work.

Eloise Kingsland awarded a commendation for making and selling chocolate brownies in aid of the Haiti appeal.

Well Done!

Associated Music Board Results

Autumn Term 2009 Results

Distinctions

Isobel Nicholson - Singing - Grade 3
Edward Reid - Piano - Grade 2
Alex Smart - Alto Saxophone - Grade 1

Merits

Olivia Schwier - Percussion - Grade 3
Samuel Barrett - Piano - Grade 1
Cosima Chisenhale-Marsh - Singing - Grade 1

Passes

Laura Winter - Flute - Grade 3
Millie Stanton-Bennett - Singing - Grade 1
Serena Cooper - Piano - Grade 1

Prep Test

Chloe Green - Piano
Karen Isaacs - Violin
Jasper Sullivan - Piano

Drum Results

Elliot Smith - Grade 2 - Pass
Henry Platt Grade 3 - Merit
Joey Galvin Grade 1 - Pass

Electric Guitar Results

Francesca Moore & Davide Mansfield (Bass) - Grade 1 - Pass, Harry Allen - Preliminary Grade - Merit, Peter Riddel - Preliminary Grade - Distinction.

Sports Results

U11 Football v Bishops Stortford College - the players all played with enthusiasm and determination and kept going against the weather and the opposition.  It was hard work and difficult to keep going so well done to all the players A, B, C, D and E teams.  Unfortunately all the teams lost their matches but valuable experience was gained.

U11 Hockey Match v Kent College, Canterbury  

A team - won 5 - 0.  Max Bailes scored 4 goals and Charlie Latham 1.  A very good start with some good passing.

B Team - won 7 - 0.  The team showed promise and a great display of passing hockey.  Goals were scored by Edward Good, Christian Lewis, Ollie Walker, Luke Bury & Michael Barton. 

U13 Boys' Hockey v Bishops Stortford

1st XI - lost 0 - 4, 2nd XI - lost 0 - 1, 3rd XI - won 2 - 0, 4th XI - won 2 - 0, 5th XI - lost 0 - 3, 6th XI - lost 0 - 3. 

U11 Boys' Hockey v Ipswich

Team - won 2 - 0, B Team - won 3 - 1, C Team - won 1 - 0, D Team - won 1 - 0.

Netball v Forest School

U13A - lost 14 - 25, U13 B - lost 2 - 17.  U12 A - won 7 - 3.

Netball v Heath Mount

U13A - won 29 - 9, U12A - won 15 - 12, U12 B - lost 6 - 7, U11A - won 11 - 8, U11B - won 5 - 3.

Pre-Preparatory School News

Parent /Teacher Evenings

The staff were pleased that nearly all parents were able to attend the parent/teacher evenings on Monday and Tuesday this week. These were held in response to parents’ requests for more feedback about their children’s progress. The next parent/teacher meetings will be held early in the summer term, following a full report at the end of this term. Please remember that teachers are always available to discuss any problems. Just speak to your child’s class teacher before school starts, write a note in the reading diary or email the school office (prepoffice@felstedprep.org) or Mrs West (jew@felstedprep.org).

Spend a Penny in our Loo!

We are continuing to collect small change in order to raise £390 which will pay for a sanitation block for a school in a Third World country. There are many schools in poorer areas which do not have toilets, resulting in poor health and hygiene for the children, and reduced opportunities for education.

Last term we collected small change in a toilet in Toad Hall. We raised £172.80 and aim to reach our target by the end of this term. To help our efforts, we are going to make small collection boxes in school which can be used at home and brought to school when filled. Please would you bring clean empty yoghurt pots to school to be made into collection boxes.

Pre-Prep Tea Towels

We are delighted that sales of the tea towels have produced a profit of just over £300. This will be sent to Valerie Mulcare-Tivey, to support her work with Bombay street children. To find out about her work see www.thisistotalessex.co.uk/news/STEBBING-Local...s.../article.html

Year 2 Young Leaders

Following the success of our Young Leaders programme which was introduced last term, a new group of Year 2 children have taken on responsibilities within the Pre-Prep.

Playground Buddies - Holly Pilcher and Cooper Baker

Snack Monitors - Samuel Winter and Esther Wilkins

Cloakroom Monitors - Ben Lowry, Archie Pritchard and Richard Hadley

Gardeners - Fergus Wootton, Libby Botwright and Rebecca Grymonprez

Library Helpers - Ewan Cacace and Ismenie Howell

Green Monitors - Adi Shinde and Charlotte Edgar

Charity Leaders- Oliver Craig and Daniel Sanchez O’Brien

Reception Buddies - Poppy Tydeman, Poppy Saunders, Sarah Lye, Lillie Uthwatt-Bouverie, Joseph Oluwabusola, Phoebe Prideaux and Gus Burton.

Gold Book Awards

The first Gold Book Awards this term were earned by Rhona Nicholson and Alex Dumycz in 1W for their great effort with their writing and reading, and to Cosima Dixon-Smith in 2F for making an original and informative hat to wear for Hats for Haiti Day. Well done!

Mrs J West - Head of the Pre-Preparatory School

Drama News

The Years 7 & 8 play 'And Then There Were None' will be showing at the beginning of February. Parents and guests will require tickets because of limited seating. There is no charge but people will be sat at tables, and there will be waitress/waiter service. During the interval there will entertainment from the Staff Band.

There will also be a murder break to allow people 
a chance to guess who the murderer is (at least one lucky person will will a prize).

The play is set in the Sixties and we are encouraging people to come in fancy dress.  Please direct all ticket requests to Mrs Vignoles (lv@felstedprep.org).

Mr A J Harries

Evening @ Essex Cricket

Following on from last year's successful evening to see Essex play under floodlights we are again organising another evening to watch Essex v Glamorgan.  This will take place on Friday 11 June with the match starting at 7pm.

I have a limited number of tickets on hold and if you would like to reserve any then please let me know (kal@felstedprep.org). Tickets (including ground entry and reserved seats) will cost £27.50 per person (whether child or adult). All seats will be in the upper Tom Pearce Stand at the County Ground, Chelmsford.

Tailor's Shop & Second Hand Uniform

The Tailor's Shop which stocks both new and second hand uniform is open at the times listed below.  Although second hand uniform is not on show please ask the staff if you are looking for anything in particular - they do have a good range of Preparatory School uniform and sports kit.   

Monday - 8.30am - 5.00pm
Tuesday - 1.15pm - 5.00pm
Wednesday - 8.30am - 5.00pm 
Thursday - 1.15pm - 5.00pm
Friday - 1.15pm - 5.00pm

Charity Coffee Mornings

Signing Out!

Please be reminded that ALL pupils in Years 3 – 6 must sign out in the School Office and Years 7 & 8 in the Courtauld Centre if they depart from School during normal School hours.  If your child then returns to School, they must sign back in to School.   We would appreciate your support.

Xmas Quiz

Our apologies to the Year 3 & 4 parents who did not feel that this quiz met the needs of their children.  This was put together by the pupils in Years 7 & 8 who are on the CLIC course and we had hoped that it might be an interesting Christmas activity.  It would appear that this was not wholly successful and for that we can only apologise.

Light Sensitivity Tests

If parents wish their child to have the Light Sensitivity test on Friday 29th January please contact pcw@felstedprep.org or telephone 01371 822727

Sports Line

Could we remind all parents that any changes to sports fixtures will be given on the Sports Line - 01371 822618.