NEWSLETTER End of the Spring Term 2015 Dear Parents, Friday, March 27th 2015 The Spring Term draws to a close after another bustling and exciting programme of events, both in the classroom and outside. The visit by author, Annabel Claridge, who shared her experiences with the pupils of life as a writer and a researcher of historical figures, served as the perfect introduction to World Book Day later that week when pupils arrived in school dressed as their favourite book character. In its 18th year, World Book Day celebrates an enjoyment of reading and it was indeed a delight to see marvellous costumes on show, for example, the likes of Little Red Riding, a very suave 007, some Harry Potters, Alice in Wonderland and a group of ‘Men in Black’. From princesses to monsters and ‘Where’s Wally?’ to Superman, a great deal of fun and book-sharing was had by all. The Spring Term also marks the season for Speech and Elocution examinations and we were delighted to hear of early successes at the Dudley Festival by Arjun Sekhon, in Year 6 who was awarded the Solari Rose Bowl for his performance of the poem ‘Babies are Boring’ and Raeanne Davidson, also in Year 6 who gained a Merit. Many congratulations to them both and good luck to all our other participants this weekend. Year Two have enjoyed listening to stories about miracles told by Joshua Chinnaiyan’s father and we are grateful to him for sharing his time with us. Our Mother’s Day event this year was themed to raise funds for the Birmingham Children’s Hospital who are linking up with the ‘Big Hoot’ event which will arrive in Birmingham over the summer and see oversized owl sculptures on display around the city as part of its fund-raising programme. We were delighted to welcome so many mothers into school to make owl masks and bracelets and share in some refreshments—a very exciting event for all the children. Well done to Year 6 who put together a project on ‘Endangered Animals’ for the Go-Givers presentation at Newman University. Mrs Stone was impressed by their confident delivery. The Spring Term Concert proved to be highly successful with pupils from Choir as well as piano, violin, recorder and guitar groups taking part, totalling over 50 children, from Reception to Year 6. Pupils in Year 5 and 6 took an active part in welcoming visitors, handing out programmes, presenting gifts as well as acting as narrators during the event and carried out their responsibilities with maturity and confidence. So too our performers who managed to conceal any sign of nerves from their audience and executed their pieces with poise and skill. Our thanks go to Mrs Lowe and the team of peripatetic teachers, Miss Dodd and Miss Webster, for organising this enjoyable musical event. School Uniform : Pupils may return to school for the start of the Summer Term in their Summer uniform. Please refer to the uniform list in your copy of the Parents’ Handbook for full detail. All girls require a summer hat complete with hat band and badge, while the boys continue to wear their caps. Blazers are required by all pupils. Girls may wear ankle or knee length white socks, but no tights please. All items of uniform are available from Early Years who will deliver ordered and paid for goods to school every Wednesday. Shorts should be worn by all boys in Transition to Year 4, but are optional for boys in Years 5 and 6. The shorts may be purchased from any uniform supplier, but should be traditional in style and not the style that have large external pockets. Please ask for advice from the School office if you are unsure of the style required or have any questions. All boys should wear short sleeved shirts. Please note that all pupils should be wearing full Summer uniform by Wednesday, 29th April when the class photographs are taken. Please do make use of Twitter on @NorfolkHSchool or look at the feed via the school website to keep up to date on what is happening in school and the latest photographs of events and outings. After-School Clubs : Our after-school clubs programme is growing! Next term, we are introducing a Spanish Club for Years 2, 3 and 4 offered by Mrs Grocutt and two Computer Clubs run by ComputerXplorers, in Game Design for Years 1-3 and App Design for Years 4-6. Mrs Wallace and Miss Szalasna have also introduced an exciting new range of activities into After School Club such as Play Doh, memory games and problem-solving activities to keep pupils entertained and challenged once their homework tasks are finished. More news will follow at the start of next term about further exciting activiities to be introduced from September. Challinor Scholarship (for pupils currently in Year 4) This year, the Challinor Scholarship examinations will take place during School Assessment Week, starting on Monday, 11th May. The scholarship, which is awarded to one pupil on academic merit and offers a £200 termly discount in fees throughout the last two years of education in Years 5 and 6, is based upon the results of an internal assessment in Mathematics, English (creative writing and comprehension) and Verbal Reasoning. Parking : A polite reminder is given to ask parents to accompany their sons and daughters up to the school drive rather than let them out of cars from the zig zag lines as this is key to their safety. Please could we also remind you that the Nursery car park is for the use of Nursery parents only. After School Club Please note that After School Club finishes when the school closes each day at 5:30pm. If you are running late for collection, please telephone the school and note that a charge of £1:00 per minute will be levied after 5:30pm. We thank you for your support in this. Please keep free Saturday, 9th May as it is our next Open Day event—more details to follow next term. New Appointments There are exciting times ahead at Norfolk House School as we prepare to welcome Mr Morgans, our new Deputy Head (Pastoral) to Year 5, working alongside Mrs Kenney for the start of the Summer Term. Please remember that there is an opportunity to meet both him and Mr Thompson, the Deputy Head (Academic) who will join us in September, on Thursday, 16th April at 2:45pm in the School Hall for all parents of pupils in the current Years 4 and 5 or on Friday, 17th April at the same time for any other parents wishing to meet the new staff. We look forward to seeing you there! I am also pleased to announce that Miss Gill will be joining the School as the new Year 2 teacher in September. Having taught for five years in the independent preparatory sector and teaching a Year 2 class currently, Miss Gill brings experience, enthusiasm and high standards for learning. We are very much looking forward to her joining us and details of opportunities to meet her will follow next term. Mr Storey will be leaving the school at the end of July to take up a new teaching appointment and we wish him success and happiness in his new role. I am pleased to report that Mrs Kristal will be joining the School in September to teach Year 3. Mrs Kristal brings 15 years’ experience of teaching Years 1 to 3 and is currently teaching a Year 3 class, where she prides herself upon providing challenging and stimulating activities for the pupils in her care. I very much look forward to introducing you to her next term. These exciting developments within school will allow the opportunity for Mrs Stone to concentrate upon using her experience and specialism in the teaching of Art, Design Technology and French to different year groups across the school from September and we are already looking forward to seeing some of the new art projects planned. In our Celebration Assembly today, the following pupils were congratulated for their hard work, high levels of effort and overall improvement : Reception Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Sukhmani Kaur Rayan Latif Kanye Smith Daniel Martin Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 George William Tripat Assi Kurun Kaushal The Spring Term Painting Competition has led to experimentation by the pupils in a wide range of styles and techniques and produced some fine examples of art work. The winning pieces will be on display in school at the start of next term. Hearty congratulations go to the following pupils for their winning entries : Transition Reception Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Kaide Ebanks Gurtej Hunjan Raafey Huda Jai Dhillon Sarjan Hujan Omeir Shaheed Daya Paul Anna Martin - " Cat" - " Fishes" - " Goldfish" - " William Morris Wallpaper" - " Constable Landscape" - " Mythical Bird" - " Aborigine X-ray Painting of a Dolphin" - "Remembrance Poppies" Warwick House were once again winners of the House Points Award, having collected the most this term. Across the school, individual pupils who collected the most House points for the Spring Term were awarded a gift card in the assembly, so very well done to : Reception:Neil Nair Year 1: Amrit Sivia Year 2: Oscar Fisher Year 3: Sunil Chand Year 4 : Kiran Abram Year 5 : Jaya Hujan Year 6 : Raeanne Davidson Congratulations also go to Jia Avasthi and Raeanne Davidson in Year 6 for a Headmistress’ Send Up further to an excellent piece of independent research on the partial solar eclipse. A Headmistress’ Send Up also goes to Amar Sangha in Year 5 for an excellent ICT project. Well done to all of them! Further to some excellent examples of pupils’ work received for the Independent Learning Project in December, I take pleasure in announcing a new Project based around the ‘Colour Red’. Letters to explain the project were issued last week and I am already looking forward to seeing the pupils’ creative ideas. Thank you to all of you who take part. May I wish you an enjoyable and relaxing Spring break and we look forward to welcoming pupils back to school on Wednesday, 15th April. Yours sincerely, Mrs Sarah Morris—Headmistress
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