February End of Half-Term Newsletter

Dear Families,

This has been an incredibly busy half-term and the pupils have excelled in a number of areas. We were very pleased with the approach that our 5^th form and Upper 6^th pupils took to their mock exams, which proved to be an excellent practice for the ‘real thing’. With a consolidated revision programme, which will include genuine revision and deliberate practice over the half term and subsequent weeks, we expect them to do themselves proud. Our scholars recently had a talk about the potential geological disasters that could lead to mass extinction events and our series of academic clinics are now in full flow, catering for all of our pupils.

One of the highlights of the Half Term was the House Singing, which continues to go from strength to strength. The quality of the Battle of the Bands performances, as well as the House Songs, was excellent and made it very challenging for the judges. All Houses can be incredibly proud of their entries, but congratulations specifically go to Tower for their victory in the Battle of the Bands and Bellerby, who regained their crown in the House Song ! We have also had the House Football, which was keenly contested and three of the Houses had the chance of victory in the final match. In the end, it was Tower who showed the greatest consistency and were victorious.

In other sports, the school Basketball team have had an excellent first season and Mr Brewer-Miles has been delighted with the progress that the team has shown. Following a victory against the Duke of York’s RMS, we are placed second in the league and have a guaranteed place in the play-offs – which is a superb achievement given that this is the first year competitively playing the sport. The boys hockey continues to impress and recently beat the Royal Hospital School in the next round of the ISHC National Cup competition, following their successful run in the Indoor Competition, to become County Champions. Similarly, our netball teams have had really impressive victories against Simon Langton and Benenden and our badminton teams continue to produce some outstanding victories against top schools. We have also had a good level of success in swimming with a number of our pupils competing in the County Championships, and Olexa Miles gaining a fantastic 3rd place in the backstroke. As a consequence of the efforts of our pupils and staff, we recently gained notification that we had made it into the top 200 sports schools in the country for the second year running, and this places us in the top 4% of all schools in the country! A number of our pupils have now finalised their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh awards and I would encourage all those who have completed the requirements to finalise the award.

We continue to develop our mentorship programme, with scholars supporting other pupils in the School and we were delighted to announce the appointment of two new School prefects at the start of this term. Ileri and Maddie have shown exceptional commitment to their houses and the School and have been impressive as ambassadors and role-models to the whole community.

I wish all of our pupils and families a restful break and look forward to further success in the next half of term!

Barney Durrant MA

Head of College

Dear Families,

Our children have been working hard across the curriculum, embracing new learning experiences in a variety of different ways; from Maths and English classroom-based lessons, to wonderful Lunar New Year celebrations, welcoming author Eva Wong Nava and illustrator Natelle Quek, and the exciting Year 5 trip to the Science Museum, learning beyond the classroom is truly a part of our everyday.

We are incredibly proud of our rugby and netball teams this half term, who have demonstrated impressive skill and teamwork, returning to school with a string of victories. Meanwhile, our LAMDA students are now well-prepared for the Thanet Speech and Drama Festival, having showcased their talents at our very own mini festival – good luck to all involved in this prestigious event.

Our ‘Keeping Your Child Healthy’ workshop was a truly informative session for parents, and after half term, we look forward to welcoming families to take part in creating a beautiful Christian tapestry. Join us if interested at 6pm on 6 March for our planning meeting.

We ended half term on a high, with the delightful performances from our Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 classes, who entertained us with songs and rhymes.

Thank you to our fantastic teaching team, who make every day special and ensure that learning is both meaningful and enjoyable for your children.

Wishing you all a restful and happy half-term.

Ellen Rowe, BA (Hons), PGCE, IAPS

Head of Junior School