1. education
2. school

PENNTHORPE SCHOOL
at a glance
SPRING 2015
ACADEMIC
Year 4 travelled back in time
and found themselves at the
mercy of a Roman Centurion!
The pupils spent the whole
day in Roman costume,
learning about what life was
really like in the Roman Army
(Rule Number One: never
volunteer!).
The day was organised by
the History department and
is one of a series of
interactive days enjoyed by
students which help bring
learning to life.
Inspiring
Young Scientists
Each Wednesday
afternoon Years 5-8 have
the opportunity to sign up
for our very exciting STEM
club (Science Technology
Engineering and Maths).
During this activity session
pupils work on entering
national competitions,
carrying out cool experiments
such as making flubber
and elephants’ toothpaste
or discussing technological
advances that are mentioned
in the media. The sessions
are very practical and usually
involve lots of fun and mess!
02 PENNTHORPE SCHOOL SPRING 2015
Rotten Romans
Joule Island
Our Year 6 pupils were tasked
with designing an island that could
enable its inhabitants to live there
without the necessity for relying
on our precious Fossil Fuels. Pupils
were given a brief that included
ensuring food and medicines could
be kept refrigerated, energy could
be generated, clean drinking water
and clean bathing water could be
obtained.
Round
The World
Year 3 researched and
presented a country of their
choice, learning about famous
landmarks, climate, people
and food. Having presented
their work to their classes,
the children used their work
to write persuasive letters
and a story about a Holiday
Adventure. A fantastic learning
experience for all.
Read all
about it!
The English department and
the library have been buzzing
with activity this term. Here at
Pennthorpe, reading is more
than just an activity – it’s a
passion! We celebrated book
week with panache. We
had the Big Read (enjoyed
by young and old alike!).
and the library hosted Blind
Date with a Book; luckily most
pupils and their books were
perfect matches, with only
a few dating disasters! The
library itself has experienced
a bit of a makeover with the
introduction of some fabulous
new touchscreens loaded up
with Britannica for Schools.
If you’re looking for the hottest
place to be– head to the
library!
Food Glorious Food
Year 1 have been learning
about Food Glorious Food.
The topic with trips around
the world. Whilst visiting
Cyprus they learnt about their
flag, had the opportunity
to eat typical Cyprian food
and learn Cyprian dancing.
In Italy the children were
transformed into budding
chefs in a very popular pizza
restaurant and were very
lucky to have Pilot Blee from
Pennthorpe Express fly them
to France to experience a
typical French school day!
Pupils designed posters to
help find missing carrots
Great Greenhouses
followed by a recount of
what happened to them and
the cheeky bunnies that took
them! The children changed
role and became wonderful,
polite and careful waiters
and waitresses at our Pop Up
Pennthorpe Café.
Year 7 have studied
photosynthesis and were
asked to design a living and
working greenhouse that
could ensure optimal plant
growth and combat any
factor which could limit plants
ability to grow and flourish.
Pupils included things such as
supplementary heating, solar
panels, waterbutts to collect
rain water and wormeries
to make their own compost.
Pupils went far beyond their
basic initial brief and their
creativity and attention to
detail hugely surpassed the
high expectations of both Mrs
Catterson and Mrs Devine.
PENNTHORPE SCHOOL SPRING 2015 03
COMMUNITY
Parents, pupils and staff
gathered on a Saturday
morning in March to work
together on the woodland.
Our focus was the Outdoor
Classroom and we were able
to completely level the floor
School Council
Spring Term 2015
Project
Wild Thing
Year 1
James Roots
Scott Cator
Year 2
Alfie Denton-West 2J
Flo Gosling 2R
and clear the surrounding
area so that the classroom
will be ready for action in the
Summer Term. Huge thanks to
all involved. It was wonderful
to see the Pennthorpe
Community working together.
Woodland
Morning
Year 3
Patrick Gordon 3S
Teddy Stewart 3S
Year 4
Pippa Shaw
Kyle Catterson
Year 5
Anna Jamieson
Monty Balfour
Year 6
Grace Sherring
Ben Huckle
Year 7
Toby Findlay
Michael Miskin
Year 8
Emily Adams
Gustaf Sedhin
William Burchell
Daniel Nash
Mrs McGregor hosted
a screening of Project
Wild Thing for staff and
parents. The documentary
encourages parents and
teachers to encourage
children to get back
outdoors and is much in
keeping with Pennthorpe’s
own ethos. We were
delighted to be joined by
film maker David Bond
on the evening who was
able to speak about his
experiences of making the
film and answer questions
from the audience.
04 PENNTHORPE SCHOOL SPRING 2015
Charity Committee
This term the Charity Committee
have been busy selling red
noses and organising a hugely
successful day for Comic Relief.
Pupils and staff entered into
the spirit of the day and the
school was a sea of red. From
mufti money; cake decorating
contests and the sale of Joel
Walker’s Red Nose Chair, we
managed to raise a fabulous
£757 for Comic Relief.
Well done to everyone who
took part.
We were visited by a speaker
from Christian Aid and were
able to hand him a cheque
for £1004 which was
raised at the Carol Service.
Congratulations to Monty
Marlow and Freddie Jupp who
have become Junior Trustees
for LUNA, the Year 7 charity.
Next term our focus will be
on raising funds to support
research into Hodgkinson’s
disease.
The FOP Quiz and Fish
and Chips night was a
great evening, and not just
because of the amount of
alcohol we sold! The Friends
of Pennthorpe Committee
would like to thank you all,
the Members of FoP, for your
fantastic support again this
term. You raised £890 at
the Quiz Night and £366
through last term’s Bags of
Support donations. We are
well on our way towards the
£2,700 target for the 3D
Printer for the school, and
have already donated £500
for new playground toys
and £500 for the Aquarium
project. We hope Pennthorpe
pupils will be printing 3D
creations after you have all
danced the night away at the
Summer Ball on 13th June!
Fabulous FOP Quiz
Beehive &
Reception Mother’s Day
Red Nose Day
05
EARLY
YEARS
What’s
happening
in the
Beehive
What’s happening
in the Honeypot
It’s always busy in the Honey
Pot! This term we have
explored Weather. We
decorated welly boot pictures
and made welly boot prints.
We have also learnt about
Shapes. We talked about
different shapes, patterns
and colours and made some
wonderful umbrellas. The
children chose shapes to stick
onto their umbrella and then
matched those shapes. For
Mother’s Day the children made
a card for their mummy and we
talked about why our mummies
are special and celebrating all
that they do for us.
Everyone is working hard at
their pencil control. The children
have been practising the
correct pencil grip and have
been starting to write their dot
to dot names. They have made
spiders by joining the dots for
the spider legs.
06 PENNTHORPE SCHOOL SPRING 2015
This term the children have
started bringing home
Resource Packs. These are
themed packs full of interesting
things to do with mummies
and daddies. The children
have all gathered and made
brilliant things from the packs
to bring back into school and
share with us.
We have been learning about
People Who Help Us. A
highlight of this was our trip to
the Post Office to buy a stamp
and post a letter home!
We have been working very
hard on our letters using Read,
Write, Inc and we have
enjoyed our trips to Reception
to prepare for starting school
in September.
Reception have enjoyed two
lovely topics this term. We
started the year with Water,
Rain and Rainbows. The
highlight was climbing the long
staircases in the Clock Block,
and then Year 8 teaching us
how to make rainbows with
Reception
Round Up
CD’s, prisms, rice and light!
Our second topic was Where
the Wild Things Are. Paradise
Park was the perfect place to
hunt for roaring dinosaurs and
exploding volcanos.
The
Enormous
Turnip
Reception and Beehive
children delighted
their parents with an
enchanting performance
of The Enormous Turnip.
PENNTHORPE SCHOOL SPRING 2015 07
ART,
DT & IT
Busy in the Art Room
Year 5 have been working on
new designs for Pennthorpe’s
race cars during DT lessons.
Jenny Adams won the design
competition for the Goblin
bodywork, using the leaves
from one of the school’s logos
and Drew Jamieson was the
runner up.
This term the art department
has been getting back to full
speed again. Year groups
are performing well on a
wide variety of projects. Year
4 are charging ahead with
their Photoshop skills and are
about to attempt their first big
project. Year 5 have found
they have a gift for abstraction
and have shown amazing
patience and ambition in
their large scale chalk pastel
paintings...Kandinsky would
have been proud! Year 6 are
on an art and DT rotation and
have been learning all about
Picasso and how artists like
to change and distort their
subjects. Lino printmaking
08 PENNTHORPE SCHOOL SPRING 2015
and making a huge mess
has been the focus at Year
7 and there’s been no lack
of patience throughout the
drawn out print process. Lucky
Year 8 get to set their own
projects and are given licence
to target either extending a
previous skill, addressing a
weakness or attempting a new
approach for the first time.
They have been developing
a staggering variety of work
that ranges from exploring
how artists use techniques and
multimedia to create a sense
of style in fashion illustrations
to morphing Digby’s face with
a cabbage!
Creative Clocks
Moisture Detectors
Year 8 have been using DT lessons to explore electronics.They
have designed and created a working product that detects
moisture in the soil and then designed a logo for their device.
In DT Year 7 have completed
a design project to develop
their own clocks. The pupils
work to their own design
brief, mocking up designs
on the iMacs before creating
the real things which you
can see displayed on walls
around the school.
Touch typing
Year 5 students getting to
grips with a new Touch Typing
programme called ‘Pennthorpe
Typing Club’, which has
been very popular and has
had a very positive impact
on keyboard skills. This has
been introduced to students in
Yr 4, 5 & 7. The easy to use
website can be accessed from
any computer with Internet
access and students have
been encouraged to use the
program regularly for a few
minutes very week.
PENNTHORPE SCHOOL SPRING 2015 09
PERFORMING
ARTS
Murder
Leith Hill Music Festival Mystery
Both the Rock Choirs
performed at the Leith
Hill Music Festival. Rock
Choir 2 (Years 2-4)
were complimented by
the adjudicator on their
enthusiasm and were
awarded “commended”.
Rock Choir (Years 5-8) sang
brilliantly, performing the
theme tune from Friends
and the Bon Jovi hit “It’s
My Life”. Their singing and
choreography were spot on
and they were rewarded
with first place. This was an
outstanding achievement and
many thanks to Mrs Cole
and Mrs Collinson-James
who have worked really hard
alongside them.
The Year 5 Murder Mystery
was a big success! The
children had been working
hard in English lessons
to write the script for this
performance. When the
night arrived, parents were
treated to an evening of
intrigue, mystery and even
time travel, and were served
drinks and nibbles by robots
of all different shapes and
sizes. Henry VIII made an
appearance, alongside a
group of angry Vikings and
some very friendly aliens. But
who killed Professor M. T.
Noggin? It was, in fact, his
trusty assistant: Ivana Rays.
And she got away with it too,
despite those meddling kids!
Well done to the following children who received their results this term:
Year 7
Radio Play
Year 7 have been hard at
work producing their radio
play this term. The scriptwriters
and story developers have
completed their tasks and
now the sound recorders,
editors and actors can begin
theirs, using their new skills
to operate Garageband and
a Zoom H4N professional
recorder. Meanwhile, the
sound effect sourcers and
music composers are creating
snippets of audio to enhance
the atmosphere of the play.
The play will be unveiled at a
grand ‘airing evening’, to be
held at Cranleigh Arts Centre
on May 18th.
Introductory Stage Two: Charlie Burchell with Distinction; Harry Cole with Merit; Ethan McWilliams with Distinction;
Introductory Stage Three:EIntroductory Stage Three: Emma Miskin with Distinction; Harriet Hicks with Distinction; Findlay Loynes with Distinction;
Toby Stanbridge with Distinction; Amelia Baggott, Amelia Lord, Anna Jamieson, Eve Vince-Odozi with Distinction;
Entry Level Acting:Pippa Shaw with Distinction; Maddie Whiteside-Patrick and Millie Davis with Merit; Henry Sunderland and
Sebastian Taylor-Aguilar with Distinction;
10 PENNTHORPE SCHOOL SPRING 2015
Rocking out at the O2
James and
the Giant
Peach
Informal
Concerts
We have enjoyed two
informal concerts this term,
showcasing the talents of
our pupils all the way from
Reception to Year 8. It is
wonderful to see so many
students being given the
chance to perform, even
those who have only been
learning an instrument for
a short time, and great for
our younger musicians to be
inspired by our gifted and
talented scholars from further
up the school.
The Rock Choir travelled to London to sing in a choir of 8,000
young people at the O2. With a full live band, backing singers
and the internationally acclaimed conductor David Lawrence, it
was an exciting and memorable musical experience both for the
pupils who performed and the parents who came to watch the
show in the evening.
The audience was wowed by
a fabulous performance from
all of Year 3 and 4. We were
whisked away to Roald Dahl’s
magical world and treated to
some hilarious performances
and fabulous singing and chorus
work. It was hard to believe just
how young the cast were. The
play was performed to packed
audiences on both nights. Well
done to all the staff and children
involved on a fantastic show.
Entry Level Verse
Hugo Palmer with Distinction; Zoe Maddalena with Distinction; Matilda Bellinger with Distinction; Isobel Charman
and Prose Speaking: with Distinction; Rosie Kerven with Distinction; Maddie Graham with Distinction; William Symons with Distinction;
Grade 1 Verse
and Prose Speaking: Fisher Costello-Rose with Distinction;
Grade 2 Acting:
Sam Stewart with Merit; Annie Fox with Distinction; Emily Adams with Distinction; Toby Finlay and Harry Owton with Distinction;
Grade 4 Acting:
Charlie Dann with Distinction; Tom Emery with Distinction;
PENNTHORPE SCHOOL SPRING 2015 11
SPORT
This Term:
P: 43 W: 23 D:4 L: 16
Overall for the season:
P: 76 W: 45 D: 7 L:24
All of the girls have completed
a packed fixture list and have
made enormous progress since
the beginning of the season. Our
Senior girls have been unbeaten
this term in their weekly matches;
a fantastic achievement! Our
Colts A and B have only lost one
of their matches this term, again a
fantastic achievement. Our Colts
C have thoroughly enjoyed their
season and it has been terrific to
see them flourish in confidence,
put all that they have been
coached into practice and watch
their understanding of the game
grow. At the younger end of the
school our U8 and U9 teams
have played more fixtures than
ever before and both age groups
have come a huge distance
with their netball skills and
understanding. Without exception
all the girls have progressed
and many have reached their
individual targets along the way.
Some highlights this term
have been:
Netball:
. The
U13 team coming 6th
out of 14 at the U13 Hurst
Tournament beating Cumnor
and Handcross, drawing with
Brighton College and only
losing to Hurst A by one goal.
. The
U10 team winning the
Handcross Versitility Tournament,
beating many of the larger Prep
schools in Sussex along the
way.
. Our
achievement at the U11
IAPS Regionals coming 4th in
our group, beating the eventual
winners (Burgess Hill for Girls);
just missing out on the play
offs to play for a place at the
Nationals.
Hockey:
P:6 W:3 L:3
We have all enjoyed watching
the girls progress with their hockey
this season. The senior girls have
loved using the astro at Farlington
and Cranleigh each week and
their hockey skills have come on
in leaps and bounds. The senior
team have played on grass, astro
and indoors this season and have
really enjoyed the experience. It
has been wonderful that a few
of our talented Year 6 hockey
players have joined the senior
team for some of the fixtures this
term. The Year 5 and 6 girls have
been participating in hockey
lessons each week this term. All
have made progress and we
are delighted that some have
now joined hockey clubs at the
weekend because they have
enjoyed the sport so much. Our
Y4 children have had opportunity
to participate in hockey taster
sessions this term and the
feedback has shown us that they
would like to continue. We will
be looking to organise this for
them.
It has been a busy but exciting
term. The girls should all be proud
of the progress they have made.
All have represented the school in
matches this term and played their
part in their team’s success.
12 PENNTHORPE SCHOOL SPRING 2015
Girls
Boys
Rugby Review 2015
P 58 W 28 D 7 L 23
Lies, damn lies and statistics
would be a good way to sum up
the Rugby season this year. On
paper the results may not look
as good as in previous years,
however, in several matches we
were asked to play our B team
against an A team and our C
team against a B team. In those
matches we may have lost the
match, but actually the fixture
was much closer and a better
experience for all participants.
We have been fortunate with the
weather, which has meant lots of
training time which has helped
see good progress in all players
and especially progress and
more confidence in the lower
teams.
The 1st XV continued to play
their excellent brand of 15 man
Rugby and showed how well
they can work as a team. Strong
scrummaging, allied to excellent
rucking gave a plentiful supply of
possession for the team and saw
them remain undefeated against
all other Prep Schools. They
were unfortunate with injuries during the season and especially in
the last match against the Weald
where 4 players were out before
the match and then an early injury saw our resources depleted.
Despite this, the forwards gave a
heroic performance and the team
were unlucky to lose a very close
game. Still, 243 points scored
in 7 matches saw how well
they played. The 2nd XII made
good progress throughout the
season and won all their matches
against other 2nd teams and
really improved their moving of
the ball and attacking the space.
A 3rd team turned out for the first
time and enjoyed their matches,
again winning when they played
another 3rd team. Good going
into contact, they needed to
learn the value of tackling low!
The Colts teams struggled this
year, through a combination
of being very small, but mainly
through not reacting first to the
ruck situation in a game. Too
often the opposition were first
to the ball. Some progress
was made during the season,
especially with the Year 5’s, who
should progress well next year.
The Colts B team did well and
made progress and the C team
progressed well, especially with
the ball and again won all their
matches when playing equivalent
C teams.
The Under 9 A team were the
stars of the show this year with
all players good runners and
handlers and all showed a
real relish for tackling, particularly enjoying chopping down
players bigger than them. The
performed exceptionally well at
the Hurst tournament, winning
their group easily and were
unfortunate to lose a tight semi
final. The B and C team made
good progress, becoming better
at running onto the ball and now
need to keep tackling lower. The
Under 8 teams enjoyed the Tag
games, with the B and C teams
performing very well. The A
team passed the ball well and
now just need to listen more
closely to the coaching points
regarding organisation and
defending.
PENNTHORPE SCHOOL SPRING 2015 13
TRIPS &
EVENTS
Geography Goes Wild!
Creative Arts Day
Year 2 were joined for the
day by local pupils from
Scott Broadwood School.
Mrs Roberts set the scene
by reading them the story
of Jack Frost. Then they
rotated through linked
activities: stretching their
imaginations and doing
creative writing with the Year
2 teachers; using the art
and design centre to create
frosty automata with Mrs
Charlesworth and practising
drumming and singing with
Mrs Cole.
The day ended with a chance
to show their parents what
they had been up to and was
rounded off with a resounding
performance of “Let it Go”
which fitted in nicely with the
frosty theme!
14 PENNTHORPE SCHOOL SPRING 2015
Year 4 enjoyed a day’s field
work on top of the South
Downs just above the village
of Amberley. To access the
Downs they had to negotiate
a swamp of rather deep
and sticky mud christened
‘Porridge Mud’!
Year 4 were able to put into
practice all the mapping skills
they had learned in class
such as compass direction,
scale & grid references.
An exhausting but great day
but was had by all!
British Library
The Year 8 Librarians and Notebook
Club (for Pennthorpe’s talented young
writers) were lucky enough to be
invited to visit the British Library for a
guided tour and talk. The group was
overawed by the displays they saw
and their time with the British Library’s
writer in residence, who talked them
through his own creative process.
It’s not every day you get to see the
Magna Carta, The Declaration of
Independence and King George III’s
personal library collection!
Beehive Trip to
Room on the Broom
Year 2 Polar Day
Year 1 to
Goodwood Farm
Great Grammar
Grammar is sometimes seen
as boring but Years 3-8
found out it doesn’t have to
be this way as they sang
and laughed along to a
morning of grammar songs
and quizzes. The morning
was organised by the English
Department as part of Book
Week and was not just
enjoyable but very helpful in
helping everyone to know
their fronted adverbials from
their compound sentences!
PENNTHORPE SCHOOL SPRING 2015 15
OTHER
SUCCESSES
Fantastic
Fencers
More victories this term for
the U9 fencing squad who
once again triumphed at the
Ardingly Competition.
Racing Team Triumphs Again
The Pennthorpe Goblin team
have been constructing
and designing their new
vehicle. There has been much
excitement about driving
practice on the top courts and
all their work clearly paid off
because they were placed
first overall in their latest set
of races. Very well done!
Scholarship Success
Our Year 8 pupils are
already celebrating a range
of scholarship successes in
diverse areas of the curriculum
and to a variety of schools.
Congratulations to:
Kinna Whitehead: Art and
Music to both Wellington and
Brighton College
Emily Adams: Drama to Bede’s
Dan Reed: Drama to Hurst
Annie Fox: Sport to Hurst
16 PENNTHORPE SCHOOL SPRING 2015
Stan Ward: Cricket to Seaford
Daley Thompson
Scholarship
Josh Tusler has been
awarded an inaugural Daley
Thompson Scholarship for
rugby at Brighton College
for 13+ entry next year.
Mr Buoy, Director of Rugby
at Brighton, praised Josh’s
work rate and reading of
the game and commented
that he was a natural team
player. Well done, Josh.
STEM Challenge Winners
Ten of our Year 7 pupils
competed in a STEM challenge
at Worth. They had two hours
to design a buggy that could
survive a 20m drop onto Mars
and then be driven through
an alien landscape while
preserving its “eggstronaut”
intact. Our all girls team
of Ellie Staddon, Nadya
McWilliams, Ellie Hoggarth
and Alexa Richards beat all
comers to take first prize.
West End
Debut for
Fisher
Well done to Fisher Costello-Rose
who has successfully auditioned for
a part in the latest RSC production:
Oppenheimer, a new play by Tom
Morton-Smith.
As part of our Book Week celebrations the governors,
staff and pupils were challenged to write a story in only
140 characters. Mrs Waite was inundated with entries
but eventually chose Nadya McWilliams (Upper School
Winner); Anna Wilson-Brown (Upper School Runner Up);
Matilda Thomas (Lower School Winner) and Zoe King
(Lower School Runner Up).
Twitter Story
Winners
County
Selection
for Annie
Congratulations to Annie Fox
who has been selected as a
member of the Sussex County
hockey squad.
PENNTHORPE SCHOOL SPRING 2015 17
EASTER
18 PENNTHORPE SCHOOL SPRING 2015
PENNTHORPE SCHOOL SPRING 2015 19
www.pennthorpe.com
Tel: 01403 822391 or [email protected]
Rudgwick, West Sussex RH12 3HJ. 15 minutes from Horsham or Cranleigh
@PennthorpeHead
#ProudtobePennthorpe