November 2011
Thursday 24th November
Inspection
We were pleased to welcome back our inspectors last week for the final part of the ISI (Independent Schools Inspectorate) visit. The inspectors delivered the initial feedback to us on Friday and we will be receiving a draft copy of the report before the end of term. Once the final report reaches us we will, of course, put it straight onto the website for parents to read. We would like to thank once again all parents and children who submitted questionnaire responses and also thank the children who attended the meetings with the inspectors. We look forward to sharing the report with you.
Football Boots for Games
Now that the weather has taken a turn for the worse the fields have become rather wet underfoot. As a result, the fields are a little slippery and therefore it is essential that the children in Years 1 to 6 have football boots for games sessions on the top field. Most already have such footwear, which is a great help in ensuring that all of our games lessons continue unaffected by the Winter weather. As hardened Hawford parents will already know, we like to carry on regardless of the weather. Children love especially their games sessions in wet conditions but it is important that we wear appropriate clothing and footwear if we are to maintain this philosophy.
House Swimming Advent Service St. Andrew's Day Christmas Fair Pink Day Hawford Birthday Calendar Shoebox Appeal Poppy Appeal 2011 School Magazine Rehearsals LAMDA Sports Results Birthdays
Broad Haven Trip Meeting PA Committee Meeting Year 6 Shakespeare Workshop German Christmas Market Trip Staff Meeting Christmas Fayre Pink Day Christmas Hampers Shoebox Appeal National Schools Rugby Tournament Bevere Café Videos on the Website Sports Photos Sports Results Birthdays Posted on the Website this week: Pride and Prejudice Shoe Box Appeal Drama Achievement Puddle Ducks Swimming Club South Africa 2013 Illness and School Attendance Bonfire Night Christmas Hampers House Katakanu Competition 5JR Assembly Pink Day Caliche Visit Sports Results Birthdays
Christmas Fayre Letter Second Hand Uniform Christmas Market Trip Book Fair Swimming Galas Remembrance Day Bonfire Night Christmas Hampers South Africa Tour Presentation 5IP Assembly Informal Music Concert Charity Dinner Birthdays Posted on the Website this week:
Next week sees the children in Years 3 to 6 taking part in their House Swimming Galas. The Year 5 and 6 competition will take place on Monday 28th November with the Year 3 and 4 children taking to the water on Friday 2nd December.
Our Year 5 and 6 children will be attending the King's Advent Service at Worcester Cathedral on Tuesday 29th November. This is a whole school service, involving King's St. Alban's as well as the Senior School.
We will be marking St. Andrew's Day on Wednesday 30th November by flying the Scottish flag.
The Christmas Fair will be on Thursday 1st December. Parents are invited to attend from 2-00p.m. in order to view the stalls in the Cobb. The Fair will begin for the children at the end of school. It promises to be a special evening, with a visit once again from the reindeer as well as Santa himself. The superb hampers will be on display, with ticket sales continuing for a short time after the event itself. Refreshments are also available and there will be carol singing and plenty of Christmas spirit for all to enjoy.
It was good to see the children and staff approach the recent Pink Day with such enthusiasm. The school looked wonderful – so colourful and vibrant. It was so good to see our Inspectors also entering into the spirit of the day, wearing pink to match the occasion. The cake sales were a great success and the children from our School Council, who organised the day, should be congratulated on their efforts and commitment to this worthy cause. The day raised a total of £579.56 for Breast Cancer Awareness.
Our 2012 School Calendar has arrived and we will be distributing pre-orders by the weekend. The Calendar is available for sale from the school office and it will also be available for sale at the fair and at other school events between now and the end of term.
Mrs Farmer reminds parents and children that shoeboxes for this year's Shoebox Appeal should be at school by Friday 25th November for collection by the charity. We would be very grateful for your support of this appeal, which aims to provide children who have little to look forward to at Christmas with a few small presents.
We are very grateful to all who supported this year's Poppy Appeal. We raised a total of £199.26 for the Royal British Legion Appeal.
We will be taking receipt of this year's school magazine on Friday. This will be sent out to all parents next week. It is a super publication and we are most grateful to Mrs Baxter for her hard work in putting the magazine together. It is both a record of the past year's events and a celebration of the children's work. We hope that you will enjoy reading the magazine.
Rehearsals for the 'Pied Piper' will take place next week at lunchtime on Monday and after school on Wednesday for all children in Years 3 and 4.
If your child has LAMDA lessons and you would like them to take part in the Worcester Festival please collect a form from the office and return it before the end of term. The Drama entries take place on Saturday 17th March. It is held at RGS Worcester. There is a small charge to enter, which is non returnable, this will be added to your LAMDA bill at the beginning of next term.
In hockey matches this week v RGS Springfield U8 won 5-0, U9 won 1-0, U10A won 5-0 and the U10B lost 3-0. Well done to all girls. In rugby matches, the U9A v The Downs lost 25-10 and v Winterfold drew 25-25. U9B v The Downs won 35-0 and v Winterfold won 55-0. U10A v Monmouth lost 40-5 and the U10B lost 55-15.
We wish all children who will have birthdays over the next week a happy birthday. Those who will be celebrating are: Libby Griffiths-Garbett, Keely Jennings, Meredith Levett, Lizzie Fry, Lucy Wadley, Matthew Cook, Abigail Hyde, Henry Tunnicliffe, Lucy Short and Finlay Russell.
Posted on the Website this week:
Year 4 Broad Haven Trip Letter
Thursday 17th November
Year 4 parents are invited to attend a meeting in the Portacabin on Tuesday 22nd November at 4-30p.m. to hear details of the Broad Haven trip in the school year. This trip to Pembrokeshire is always one of the highlights of Year 4.
There will be a meeting of the PA Committee on Tuesday 22nd November at 7-30p.m. This meeting will focus on arrangements for the final big PA event of the year, the Christmas Fayre. Parents are reminded to check the PA pages on the website for details of PA events for 2012.
Our Year 6 children will be involved in a Shakespeare Workshop at Hawford on Wednesday 23rd November. The children from Year 6 at King's St. Alban's will be joining us for this workshop.
We are delighted to see such a terrific response to the visit to the German Christmas Market at Birmingham on Wednesday 23rd November. Coaches will be departing after school for the Market and it will be terrific to see such a big group enjoying the occasion.
There will be a staff meeting after school on Thursday 24th November. Clubs run by members of the teaching staff will not run on this evening as staff will need to attend the meeting. Late club will run as normal.
The Christmas Fayre will be on Thursday 1st December. It is fast approaching and we will need to ensure that we have sufficient items in school for the various stalls that evening. We would be pleased for your support of the Bottle Tombola Stall as this is always a popular attraction. We ask, therefore, that the children come into school with bottles for the Tombola Stall on Friday 25th November. The children will be allowed to come into school on the day in their home clothes as a thank you for the donations to the stall.
Tomorrow will be Pink Day at Hawford. This event has been organised by the children themselves through their School Council. We ask that the children come into school dressed in an item of pink clothing on the day and that they bring in £1 towards the Breast Cancer Awareness charity. We will be selling pink cakes at break time so please send children in with a little loose change. There will be some pink treats at lunchtime too.
We remind parents that hampers for the Christmas Fayre will be on display at school from Monday 21st November.
Mrs Farmer reminds parents and children that shoeboxes for this year's Shoebox Appeal should be at school by Friday 25th November for collection by the charity. We would be very grateful for your support of this appeal, which aims to provide children who have little to look forward to at Christmas with a few small presents.
It was good to see so many parents at the National Schools Rugby Tournament Qualifying Competition for the North and Midlands on Sunday at Warwick. We entered four teams in the tournament and all played with real spirit. In a tough competition, with many schools choosing from five times as many boys as we have in our year groups, we were delighted to see the U11 team emerge victorious and qualify for the National Finals in Epsom on Sunday 4th March. The boys played with great determination, skill and courage to finish the day unbeaten. We beat The Abbey 28-0 and Norwich Junior 7-0 in the group stage and beat Lincroft 21-0 in the quarter finals. We drew the semi final 7-7 with Chesham Prep and qualified as finalists as a result of points scored in earlier matches. The final was not played as both teams had qualified for the National Finals so the boys emerged as joint North and Midlands Champions – quite an achievement. Well done to all teams on the day and many thanks to the parents for their super support on the day.
Bevere Café is opening its doors early on Friday mornings for parents who would like to stop by for a cup of coffee and a chat after dropping their children at school. The café will be open from 8.30am.
We have now created a new page on the website entitled 'Hawford in Action' where there are videos of a variety of activities that take place at school.
Sports photographs for ALL Year 3 to 6 children will be taken on Thursday 24th November from 12.45p.m onwards. Please can you ensure that your child has the correct kit in school on this day.
In hockey matches v Hallfield this week the U11 A lost 4-2 and the U11 B won 3-1. In rugby v Monmouth U11 A lost 27-26 and the U11 B lost 20-10.
We wish all children who will have birthdays over the next week a happy birthday. Those who will be celebrating are: Joseph Trickett, Srishti Parashar, Edmund Roberts, Hannah Agoston, Tamara Marsden and Jacob Smith.
Reception Newsletter
Pre-Prep Christmas Shows
Thursday 10th November
Second Inspection Visit
We will be welcoming back our Inspectors next week for the second inspection visit. The first visit focused mainly on the regulatory requirements that schools must meet and also on the Early Years (Kindergarten and Reception). When the team returns they will be looking at Years 1 to 6, talking to the children, meeting teachers and observing lessons. They will be with us from Wednesday 16th November to Friday 18th November.
The Senior School will be mounting a production of 'Pride and Prejudice' on the 7th to 9th December. There are complimentary tickets available for this production for parents and children in Year 5 and 6 at Hawford. If you require tickets please state the number you require (maximum four tickets) by advising the school office. We will order tickets for families directly from King's. Applications should be received by Monday 21st November.
The deadline for the collection of shoeboxes this year is 25th November. We are hopeful of collecting a good number of shoeboxes for children in underprivileged circumstances who will have no present other than the donated shoe box this year.
Congratulations to Natasha Beattie on her award in assembly of a Grade 2 Modern Theatre Certificate with Distinction.
We are now running classes on Saturday mornings for children who are developing their swimming skills. These sessions are run by the Puddle Ducks Swimming Club. The sessions are separated in order to focus on the particular needs of individual groups of children. The groups that are meeting, with times, are as follows: Floaties (babies under 6 months) at 11-45a.m., Splashers (6 to 15 months) at 9-00a.m. and 11-15a.m., Kickers (16 months to 2+ years) at 9-30a.m. and 12-15p.m., Little Dippers (Confidence building for over two years) at 10-00a.m. and Dippers (Independent swimmers over two years) at 10-30a.m. For further information, please contact Puddles Ducks directly on 07948808629 or at
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Following the recent presentation to Year 5 and 6 parents, when proposals to mount a trip to South Africa in 2013 were outlined, we have deemed there to be sufficient interest to take this proposal further. There will be another presentation in January 2012, following a visit to our partner school by Mr Turner. The initial presentation is available for all parents to view on the website. We are considering opening this trip to parents of Year 4 children – they are invited to attend the presentation in January.
We have recently had a number of children at school who have been deemed fit for school by parents but for whom a request has been made for exemption from P.E, Swimming or Games. As a general rule we ask that unless there is a clear instruction from a medical practitioner for exemption from these activities, children who are at school should undertake all school activities.
We were delighted with the response of parents to the PA Fireworks on Saturday. We sold close to 800 tickets. It was a terrific night and we would like to thank you all for your support and also thank all those who worked so hard to ensure the success of the display.
We remind parents that hampers will be on display at school from 21st November. We are requesting that all items for the hampers are with us by Monday 14th November.
The recent katakanu competition was greatly enjoyed by the children. The overall house katakanu results are as follows: 1st Malvern, 2nd Bredon, joint 3rd Clent and Kinver. Mrs Goodayle awarded the 'house paddle' to Malvern in this Monday's assembly.
Parents who have children in 5JR are invited to join us for morning assembly on Wednesday 16th November, when the children will be presenting. Assembly begins at 8-45a.m.
The children, through their School Council, have organised a Pink Day at Hawford on Friday 18th November. We ask that the children come into school dressed in an item of pink clothing, with a donation of £1 towards Breast Cancer Awareness. We will be having a sale of pink cakes, as well as a pink lunch, on the day.
We are pleased to be welcoming back to the school on Friday 18th November the musicians from the South American group, Caliche. They led a number of musical workshops with the Pre-Prep classes on their last visit so will be working with the Junior classes on this visit.
The U8 boys were successful at the Winterfold Tournament where they were the overall winners. The A team won 8-3 v Winterfold, won 7-2 v KSA and drew 6-6 with RGS The Grange. U8 B won 6-5 v Winterfold and lost 6-4 v RGS The Grange. U10 A v Winterfold won 55-5 whilst the B team lost 40-15. In hockey matches the U10 v WGJS won 7-1. At the U11 Bromsgrove Tournament the U11's lost 1-0 v Warwick, won 3-0 v Bluecoat and won 1-0 v Fairfield. They played in the quarter final v The Dragon School and lost 1-0. Well done to everyone who played in sports matches this week.
We wish all children who will have birthdays over the next week a happy birthday. Those who will be celebrating are: Amy Yorke Brooks, Vicky Hearn and Caitlin Rutter.
Pied Piper Ticket Letter
Y5 Stoke Tour Letter
Swimming Procedures Letter
Y6 Shakespeare Workshop Letter
Thursday 3rd November
Morrison's Let's Grow Scheme
We are registered with the 'Let's Grow Scheme' and would appreciate any vouchers you may collect if shopping at Morrison's. The vouchers will be used towards purchasing additional gardening equipment for the children.
Mrs Stratton will be running a second hand uniform stall at the Christmas Fayre. Items for the Second Hand Uniform Sale can be left at school during the week of the Fayre.
Mrs Hyde thanks all those who have expressed an interest in the trip to the German Christmas Market in Birmingham on the 23rd November. This promises to be a terrific trip. The closing date for booking places is 9th November. We have now received just over 70 requests for places. Please can parents make sure they enclose either cheque or cash with the booking as some early respondents have returned the slip without payment.
The visiting book fair will be at school for a week beginning today until next Wednesday. Books will be displayed in the Conservatory for parents to select with their children each evening from 3-30p.m. to 5-30p.m. Any commission from the sales of books is used to purchase new books for the classrooms and library.
The second half of term began with a splash today as we had our Year 5 and 6 School Swimming Gala. There will be a Year 3 and 4 Gala against King's St Alban's at King's on Thursday 10th November at 4-15p.m.
We will be marking the annual Remembrance Day on Friday 11th November with a period of silence at the end of morning break. There will be readings and prayers at the service. Children will also be given the opportunity over the next week to support the Poppy Appeal, with poppies being available for sale each day.
Tickets for this year's PA Fireworks are still available from the school office. This will take place on Saturday 5th November on the bottom field. The evening begins at 6-00p.m. with the bonfire lit at 6-45p.m. The fireworks display begins at 7-15p.m. Refreshments will be available on the evening, along with a pig roast and hot dogs. Tickets cost £6 for adults and £4 for children. Children aged two and under are admitted free of charge.
We remind parents of the hampers that we would like to put together for a draw at the end of term, following the Christmas Fayre. Details have been sent home on a flyer. We will be theming the hampers, as we did last year, and they will be on display from 21st November. We are requesting that all items for the hampers are with us by Monday 14th November.
Parents who have children in Years 5 and 6 are invited to attend a presentation in Mrs Bradley's classroom on Tuesday 8th November at 4-15p.m. We are proposing to take a party of children and parents to Worcester, South Africa in July 2013. This will be to build on our partnership with Worcester Primary School and will be a sports and music tour, with matches against two or three schools in around Worcester, visits to Cape Town and local attractions as well as musical performances in Worcester and local towns. We will be staying in resort accommodation and plan to visit a game reserve and a wine cellar. More will be revealed at the presentation.
Parents who have children in 5IP are invited to join us for morning assembly on Wednesday 9th November, when the children will be presenting. Assembly begins at 8-45a.m.
There will be an Informal Music Concert on Thursday 10th November at 4-15p.m. in the Music Room. Children who are taking instruments at any level are invited to perform at this concert.
Parents who attended the recent Charity Dinner may like to have a look at this month's Worcestershire Life, where there is good coverage and some excellent photographs of the evening.
We wish all children who will have birthdays over the next week a happy birthday. Those who will be celebrating are: Henry Edwards.
Christmas Activity Camp Booking Form
Christmas Football Camp Booking Form