January 2012
Thursday 26th January South Africa Trip Meeting Second Hand Uniform Sale Site Security Stamina Swimming Year 5 Sports Tour Class Assembly Tournaments The King and I Maggs Day Centre University Visitors Sports Results Birthdays Reception Newsletter Visit to South Africa Birthday Children Parents' Lunch at King's Assembly Visitors Year 5 Sports Tour Meeting Year 6 Carsington Trip Meeting Class Assembly Informal Music Concert Hawford Invitation Cross Country King's Entrance Tests Birthdays Posted on the Website this week: Welcome Parents' Lunch at King's Year 5 Malvern Trip Meeting Architecture Workshop Mock Exams ABRSM Music Exams Swimming Success Warriors Camp Stamina Swimming Club Cross Country Birthdays Posted on the Website this week:
There will be a meeting on Monday 30th January at 4-30p.m. for parents of children in Years 4, 5 and 6 who may be interested in participating in a visit to our partnership school in late July 2013. As mentioned in last week's newsletter we hope to take over a group to participate in sporting and cultural activities at Worcester Primary School. We hope that the children at WPS will be able to pay us a return visit in 2014. Full details will be discussed at the meeting.
The term's first second Hand Uniform Sale will be on Tuesday 31st January in the Cobb at 3-00p.m. Items for the sale can be left in the office from this Friday.
We have been looking closely at site security in recent months, looking to balance the somewhat conflicting demands of a secure site and a school that is open and accessible to parents. You will have seen the new gates outside the school office, which are closed during the school day. We are seeking to put gates in at the bottom end of the car park, where the Cobb and the Head's Cottage come together. Putting gates at this location will secure the school site, with the children being safe from moving cars in the car park and able to move freely within the school areas. We will be providing parents with the code for the pedestrian access gate. There may be a little disruption while the new gates are being installed, which we will attempt to keep to a minimum. Rest assured that we will be acting sensitively to keep the character of the school, with the gates providing security but not at the expense of taking away the unique character of the school.
Well done to the children who turn up each week on Wednesday and Friday mornings at 7-30a.m. to swim for half an hour prior to the start of school. This is a well attended session and it has been good to see the dedication of the children, and the staff, in making these sessions so productive.
The Year 5 children will be departing for Stoke directly after assembly on Friday 3rd February. They will be playing matches at Newcastle under Lyme, visiting the Stoke City FC training facilities, having an evening at Waterworld and then attending the Premier League match against the mighty Sunderland AFC on Saturday.
Parents with children in 3JF are invited to join us for assembly on Wednesday 1st February, when the children will be leading. Assembly begins at 8-45a.m.
We will be involved in a number of sports tournaments next week. On Wednesday 1st February the U10 netball team will be taking part in the Bromsgrove Tournament, starting at 1-30p.m. The U11 football team will be competing in the Winterfold Football Tournament on the same day. On Sunday 5th February the U11 cross country teams will be competing at Abberley, starting at 2-30p.m.
We were delighted to hear this week that Keely Jennings had successfully auditioned for a part in the production of 'The King and I' at Wolverhampton in March, from 27th to the 31st of the month. This is a terrific achievement and we congratulate Keely on her success.
Mrs Crabtree has offered to collect items at school for the Maggs Day Centre for the homeless. If parents have any unwanted sleeping bags, good quality clothing and shoes, pillows, blankets, coats and gloves for Worcester's homeless she could collect them at school and take them over. Additionally the Centre would appreciate crockery, tinned foods and the like. Items should reach the school by the end of next week. The Centre has been operating for two decades and is still going from strength to strength. They provide an invaluable service to help the homeless and socially isolated. The ongoing support from the local community allows them to continue to offer these services and help those in need.
We have a number of trainee teachers with us for the remainder of this term, undertaking their placement from the University of Worcester. They are assisting in Reception, Year 3 and Year 5. Please afford them the customary warm Hawford reception.
In netball matches this week v RGS The Grange, U8 won 8-1, U9 A won 7-5, U9 B won 6-1, U10 A lost 5-1 and the U10 B won 8-2. In football matches, U9 A lost 2-1 v RGS The Grange and lost 2-1 v Winterfold. U9 B won 2-0 and U10 A drew 0-0 v RGS The Grange.
We wish all children who have a birthday over the next week a happy birthday. Those who will be celebrating are: Harry Amess, Erika Jones, Henry Siviter, Matthew Howard, Daniel Kelly, Robert Newman, Isabella Pritchard, Freya Ready and Samuel Rutter.
Posted on the Website this week:
Yaer 5 Stoke Tour Presentation
Year 4, 5 & 6 South Africa Letter
Year 6 Carsington Trip Letter
Thursday 19th January
Inspection Report
Parents will now have received a copy of the ISI (Independent Schools' Inspectorate) report on the King's School, Hawford and St. Alban's. We were delighted to receive such strong support from the inspectors, with outstanding judgements in virtually all aspects of the school's delivery. We were particularly pleased to read that the inspectors deemed the children's personal development, spiritual awareness, moral development, social development and sense of responsibility to be outstanding. More than in any other area we believe that this is at the heart of what we are aiming to achieve with our children. They commented upon the excellent behaviour of the children and also their engagement in lessons and at our activities. It was also good to read that the inspectors felt that relationships between teachers and children were most positive, behaviour in lessons to be excellent and that this enabled the creation of a purposeful and productive classroom ethos, highly conducive to effective and enjoyable learning. This latter point is interesting – we strive to make lessons enjoyable in order that our children engage fully. Links with parents were also deemed to be excellent. We know that successful education depends upon a partnership involving parents, children and teachers and therefore it was pleasing to see the inspectors judging this to be the case. We will be seeking to improve in those areas that the inspectors felt to be less strong as, in all aspects of our lives, we need to seek improvement where this can be accomplished. You can rest assured that we will move forward purposefully.
Following the Head's visit to Worcester Primary School, Western Cape, South Africa, last week, there will be a meeting on Monday 30th January at 4-30p.m. for parents of children in Years 4, 5 and 6 who may be interested in participating in a visit to the school in late July 2013. This will be an opportunity for families to enjoy a warm welcome from the families at WPS and to visit both the school and a number of local places of interest. Worcester is set in the wine growing area of the Western Cape, around an hour from Cape Town. The school is particularly keen to organise both sporting fixtures and cultural events during our visit. We are also planning a visit to a game reserve, a local vineyard, a river trip, Robben Island and Cape Town itself. We look forward to seeing parents, and children, at the meeting, where Mr Turner will be showing photos of his trip and detailing plans for the visit. WPS would like to visit Hawford in 2014.
One idea, picked up from our partner school, that we would like to introduce at Hawford is that children who have their birthday at Worcester Primary School are allowed to come into school on the day in their home clothes. This is another way of making their day special and therefore we will be starting this as from this week. Children who have birthdays at the weekend can wear their home clothes either on the Friday or the Monday.
It was good to see so many Year 5 parents take up the opportunity to have a lunch at King's recently, meeting senior staff at the school and undertaking a tour. Mr Keyes writes on the reverse of this newsletter about this lunch and about the recent inspection report.
We will be welcoming Mr Keyes to our assembly on Monday 23rd January to speak to the children in Year 1 to 5. Mr Longley, Head of the Fourth Forms (Years 7 and 8), will be visiting at the same time to speak to our Year 6 children.
Parents who have children in Year 5 who are participating in the sports tour to Stoke are invited to a meeting on Monday 23rd January at 4-15p.m. in 6LB.
There will be meeting for Year 6 parents on Tuesday 24th January at 4-30p.m. in the Portacabin to detail arrangements for the trip to Carsington in the Summer term.
Parents with children in 3AMW are invited to join us for assembly on Wednesday 25th January, when the children will be leading. Assembly begins at 8-45a.m.
Parents are invited to join us at the first informal concert of 2012 on Thursday 26th January in the Music Room. This concert will begin at 4-15p.m.
We will be holding an Invitation Cross Country competition at the school on Friday 27th January. A number of children will also be travelling to Hallfield for their Cross Country on Saturday 28th January. Our U9 girls won this competition last year so we travel as holders.
Our Year 6 children will be sitting their King's Entrance Tests at the school on the morning of Saturday 28th January. Full details have been sent out to Year 6 parents.
We wish all children who have birthdays over the next week a happy birthday. Those who will be celebrating are: Sophie Harrison, Alfred Annable, Milly Carter, Oliver Mason, Imogen Carter, Amy Hall, Milly Short and Julius Tilt.
Kindergarten and Reception Newsletter
Quiz Night Booking Form
Thursday 12th January
Happy New Year
It was good to see the children return last week, full of tales of the Christmas break and raring to go. Our first few days have seen the children working hard and enjoying the new activities that are on offer this term. We are especially grateful to Miss Annis, Mrs Hodges, Mrs Patey and Mrs Goodman for assisting in the running of a cookery club after school, which has been well received by the children. The holiday period has seen a good number of children on site, with the Holiday Club, Activity Camp and Football Camp being well attended by the children. This will prove to be another busy term, one in which we expect a great deal of effort from our children with plenty of opportunities to enjoy school events along the way. It will be good to see parents at the term's events and we wish all families the very best for the term and for the year ahead.
As term begins we welcome those who are new to the school and to the Hawford community and hope that they will both enjoy their time at the school and find it also a very happy period of their lives. On the staff, we welcome Mr Pritchard to our school. He is taking on responsibility for 4JW (now, of course, 4RP) as well as taking over as Head of Boys' Games. We are sure that we will receive the customary warm welcome from all within our community.
There is an opportunity for parents of current Year 5 children to attend a lunch at King's tomorrow, with a tour of the King's site also being on offer. There has been a great response to this offer and we are sure that it will be a good occasion, with an opportunity to meet senior members of staff and to see the facilities on offer at King's.
There will be a meeting for all parents of children in Year 5, ahead of the Malvern Residential Trip later in the year. The meeting will take place on Tuesday 17th January at 4-30p.m. in the Portacabin.
Our Year 5 and 6 children will be involved in an Architecture Workshop on Thursday 19th January.
Our Year 6 children will be taking Mock Exams on Tuesday 17th January, ahead of their entrance tests at the end of the month. This will provide them with a good opportunity to become accustomed to the timed element of the entrance papers.
We were delighted to receive the results of the recent Associated Board Music Exams which took place at the school at the end of last term. The following children will be receiving certificates in assembly as soon as we receive them: Tamara Marsden - Preliminary Piano, Charlotte Morgan - Preliminary Piano, Amy Yorke Brooks - Preliminary Piano, Natasha Beattie - Grade 1 singing with Merit, Louis Hira - Grade 1 B Flat Cornet, Holly Jennings - Grade 1 Singing, Naomi Marsden - Grade 1 Flute, Robert Newman - Grade 1 Alto Saxophone, Miles Pettit - Grade 1 Alto Saxophone with Distinction, Charlie Smith - Grade 1 Piano, Isabella Woodcock - Grade 1 Piano with Distinction, Keeley Sentence - Grade 3 Flute with Merit and Henry Queen - Grade 4 Singing. Well done to all on their success in the exams.
We heard over the break of further success for Naomi Marsden with her swimming. At a recent Open Meet in Wolverhampton Naomi excelled by taking gold in the 50 metre backstroke in a personal best time of 42.63 seconds, making her second in the rankings at both County and Regional level. As she was competing under age this is a remarkable achievement.
There will be Worcester Warriors Camp at the school during the Easter break. This will be on Tuesday 10th to Thursday 12th April. As the camp is organised and run by the Warriors, booking for this camp are made directly through the Warriors website. Information regarding the camp will be placed on the Warriors website later this term.
Mrs Goodayle has asked for all children taking part in Stamina Swimming before school to book in at breakfast club with the Kitchen. Forms are available from the office.
House Cross Country took place on Monday this week and was a great success. In first place were Kinver with 449 Points, second were Clent with 593 points, third were Bredon 655 points and fourth were Malvern with 657 points.
We wish all children who will have birthdays since the start of term and over the next week a happy birthday. Those who will be celebrating are: George Patey, Francesca Hall, James Gage, Maddie Bue, Edmund Poel, Emma Harries and George Sutcliffe.
KG & Rec Newsletter
KG Trip to Malvern Theatre
Year 5 & 6 Art Workshop
Year 6 Entrance Exams