From the Headmistress
Dear Parents
Some people would say that it does not matter what sports people do in their private lives as long as they perform on the field and we have had that debate this week in the media. As the Headmistress of Felsted Preparatory School, who promotes behavioural values including the sports code for us all, how can I not support Fabio Copello? On the subject of sport and to follow on from my letter to you last week, many thanks to Jeremy Fincher and Mark Stringer who did eventually have a wonderful time with their U11 boys at Epsom last Sunday. The boys did not win, but Mr Fincher reports a fine story of courage, determination and almost wins that I know you will enjoy!
Did you watch the programme on Channel 4 on Thursday evening called 'Leaving Home at 8', picked up in the Weekend magazine. It asked the question 'Would you send your child to boarding school at 8?' It then went on to describe a trauma of tears and pain in the pursuit of self-reliance. We only have a couple who board at this age, but let me quote from last week's Parents' Meeting. 'We're interested in boarding . Some of the other girls have said it is so much fun. We are happy to do this as long as she is. We'd like to start with a trial night. It's a great opportunity to mix with girls her own age and the older girls. I hope all our Years 3 and 4 parents enjoyed their opportunity to meet the teachers last week and I've included some feedback in a separate section. Thank you for celebrating with me the fantastic work of the staff in Ffrome Court as we will now call it.
I also enjoyed seeing many of you at the Years 7 & 8 play and you certainly seemed to enjoy that. We had a wonderful Oscars and thank you ceremony today and you will appreciate Mr Harries' report. He and Lucy Vignoles worked very hard to give us three mysterious and entertaining evenings and I was delighted to receive your very enthusiastic feedback.
I know one or two Year 8 parents of scholars were worried about the pressure their children were under with scholarships and trial examinations, but they have survived, done well and are ready for half term. You will be pleased to find out our scholarship results in the next edition of the newsletter.
Last, but my no means least, I hope you will enjoy your Young Felstedian 2009 this half term. This year's magazine is laid out very differently to launch and explain our new phases of the School. In many respects you might call it a prospectus for you, our current parents. Sit back with the family and celebrate the wonderful school that you send your children to as you relax and regenerate for the next half term. I had some tremendous support putting it together, especially from Pam West, our magazine assistant editor, Graham Cherry and Paul Hutley, two old boys of the School. I hope you enjoy it; as ever we would welcome any feedback.
Mrs J M Burrett
E Safety Policy
Our e safety policy has just been confirmed and Mr Matthew Clarke appointed and trained as our e safety officer. We would ask all parents to read this E Policy on our website where they will find all our key policies and support bringing their children up as safely and with as much e awareness and knowledge as possible.
For up to date information and ideas on how to encourage your child to act responsibly online (and to answer some of your own questions that you might not know who to ask) please go to the website http://www.thinkuknow.co.uk.
Felsted Gets Away With Murder!
It was murder most foul during the first week in February as the Preparatory School put on a version of Agatha Christie’s AND THEN THERE WERE NONE.
In the play, ten strangers are invited to an island. What they don’t know is that they’ve been set up, and that one of them is actually a murderer bent upon retribution.
The body count rises as the cast tries to find out who the guilty party is, and an air of suspicion pervades the proceedings. The Year 7 & 8 pupils who undertook this play deserve the highest praise for tackling a very mature piece of theatre. They acquitted themselves well, remembered their lines and cues and pulled the whole thing off. It is difficult to single out anybody from such a strong ensemble, but I feel that Suzie Burton deserves a mention for taking over a main part just before the Christmas holidays, learning all the lines and really getting into the spirit of the piece. Let’s not forget that she couldn’t have done such a good job without a really great cast helping her out.
Backstage mentions must go to Josh Avent for his work on lighting and Eloise Kingsland for the work she put into the stage management position.
The murder break was much enjoyed and I was glad to give a chance to the young men in the band (did I mention they were available for hire?).
I can honestly say that this group were among the best I have ever worked with (and that includes professional actors) and I’m sorry that they won’t be there for next year's extravaganza SUMMER HOLIDAY, the old Cliff Richard musical.
Mr A J Harries
News from Stewart House
The Pre-Prep pupils celebrated China Day in style on Monday. The children made masks and painted pictures to celebrate the start of the Year of the Tiger. We were pleased to welcome two Chinese students from Felsted School who visited the Pre-Prep to share their experience of New Year celebrations with the children and taught them some Chinese calligraphy.
Despite the cold weather, the Reception pupils went on their usual monthly walk along the local footpaths and found lots of mud! They returned sticky but cheerful, having had the opportunity for some real hands-on learning.
We are flushed with success! We have achieved our target of £390 for the school sanitation block! Many children brought their filled mini-loo collecting boxes back to school this week. The Young Charity Leaders have counted the money, with the help of Community Service students from Felsted School, and were delighted to find that we have collected approximately £280 in the past two weeks. This brings our running total to about £460. We will continue our campaign for the rest of the term, and now hope to raise enough money to fund a second school loo!
May I remind parents of Y1 pupils that their swimming lessons will resume after the half term holiday. Please ensure that your children bring their swimming kit to school on Thursdays, and that they have their winter hats to keep them warm on the return journey to school.
Gold Book awards were achieved this week by Phoebe Prideaux, for consistently good effort in class, and by James Lauder for his outstanding art work this term. Well done!
Mrs J E West
Ffrome Court News
Year 3 & 4 Parents' Meeting
"He's a changed child. Everything we wrote to you before Christmas has only been reinforced. We have got our boy back again." (A new boy's parents).
"I would willingly give up eating before I took my children out of this school. They're happy and well adjusted." (A happy and hard-working Mum).
"What can we say. It's fantastic!"
"I'm really pleased. He seems happy, enjoying the different subjects and moving round the classrooms. We're delighted with the help you have set up for him because it's given him more confidence and reassurance." (Pleased parents of a child who requires a bespoke learning and teaching approach at this stage of his education).
"He absolutely loves coming to school" (Parents who would like us to work at improving the options for boys when it comes to sport).
"They love going to school. They're happy bunnies" (Parents of two happy girls).
"It is difficult to think of things to say as he is just so happy and
doing so well. No worries really." (Son of an Old Felstedian and his
wife!)
"The organisation of the Parents' Evening is great!" (Parents of older children!)
Thank you for this feedback. It is very uplifting for us. We know that we need to keep working on challenging and supporting each of your children as well as ensuring timely and full information about games teams. Managing the children's feelings about getting into teams and trying to keep them all on board and motivated as they get selected for various matches remains a challenge which we accept and will continue to work at improving.
After School Activities
We are constantly looking for new and exciting activities for the Year 3 and 4 children after school. I am sure that there are many talented parents out there who could share their skills with us. If you feel that you have something to offer and would be willing to give up the time then I would be very happy to hear from you! Joanna Sugden
Mrs J M Burrett, Mrs Lee & the staff of Ffrome Court
Information from Cloisters
The Year 5 & 6 concert will take place this Friday at 3pm in the Ross Hall. This will be a fine way to end the half term and usher in the break. All Year 5 pupils will be singing and there will be over 20 solo performances. There will also be a performance from the 'Brass Monkeys' and the 'Year 6 Blues Band'. All parents welcome!!
A reminder to parents of pupils who are 'off-ex' that they must inform Matrons and the pupils' Form Tutor (in writing) if their child is to taken off ex giving the reason why and the period of time to be 'off-ex'.
Parent's Evening - Thursday 25 February
With regard to the Parents'/Teachers' Meeting on Thursday 25 February, please email Mrs Evans (jne@felstedprep.org) if you require your child to stay for tea and supervision whilst you attend the meeting. This applies to parents attending the 6.10pm session only. There will be a charge of £5 and pupils should be collected from Mr Phelan's classroom in the Evans block when you are ready to go home.
We look forward to seeing you all on Thursday.
Mr J W Phelan
U11 Rugby Tournament
On Sunday the U11 Boys finally went to Epsom to the regional round of the National Rugby Tournament. They played three matches and really did the School proud. Even though they didn't qualify, they more than held their own against opposition who play two terms of rugby. They drew one game and then lost the other two. However, they were both by the narrowest of margins and there was never more than two tries in it.
On a different day with the odd bounce in our favour, we could have quite easily gone through. Thank you to the boys for a great effort and to the parents for coming and supporting
Mr J P Fincher
Courtauld House News
Science Pupils Gain Bronze Crest Award!
SCIENCE PUPILS GAIN THEIR BRONZE CREST AWARD AND ACHIEVE PLACES AT THE REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
On Thursday 4 February an external moderator from the CREST team came to assess the children’s Science projects. CREST is Britain’s largest national award scheme for project work in the STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths). It gives young people aged 11-19 opportunities to explore real world scientific projects in an exciting way (CREST Awards are a tangible recognition of success. They can be included in personal records of achievement – and used to enhance applications to universities, colleges and potential employers).
To achieve their Bronze award, the children had to decide on their own scientific project on which they would base a term’s worth of work during an evening activity session. They were awarded marks through clearly following a scientific process as well as demonstration of individualised and independent learning, creativity and innovation. The children presented their projects to the examiner who passed all pupils. Indeed, he was so impressed with the standard that he has recommended they all enter their projects in the Regional Eastern Competition. This will be held at the Imperial War Museum in Duxford on the 16th July. If successful in this the children would enter the National Science and Engineering Competition.
Congratulations to the following students for achieving their CREST Bronze Awards : Tom Lane Feldman, Harry Pilcher, Anthony Hickling, Jamie Smart, Pippa Graves, Annabel Martine, Isabella George, Ed Gable, Adam Cooper, Angus Holmes, Toby Vignoles & Alfie Whitten.
Many thanks to Mr Barnes (Science Technician) for his support.
For more information on the CREST awards go to www.britishscienceassociation.org/web/ccaf/CREST
Mrs C F Bury
China Day
On Monday we had great fun celebrating China Day and learning more about this diverse country.
Pupils in the Pre-Preparatory had a Chinese-themed assembly where they learnt about Chinese New Year and a kind dragon. Years 1 and 2 were also very lucky and learnt how to keep good luck close: by writing “lucky” in Chinese on red paper. They had the best teachers for this, Cat and Wylie, two pupils from the Senior School who are from mainland China and Hong Kong respectively.
Pupils in years 5 and 6 were treated to a special talk and demonstration on Chinese Art by a specialist on the subject, Mrs Chris Applebee and together with Years 3 and 4 they had a go at a general knowledge quiz on Chinese culture and history.
The whole school enjoyed a yummy Chinese lunch and during assembly pupils in years 5-8 learnt about China’s political situation and how fortunate they are that they live in a free country.
All in all we had fun learning about a magnificent country which is about to celebrate its New Year over half term.
.JPG)
