St David's School Newsletter · DECEMBER 2016
Garth Crooks Opens
New Sports Facilities
Diary Dates
Wednesday 4th January
Year 4 Swimming this term
On Friday 21st October, we were thrilled to
welcome football legend Garth Crooks to the
grand opening of our new sports facilities. The
ribbon-cutting ceremony was followed by a
sports afternoon which was enjoyed by all the
children in Years 1-6.
Monday 9th January
All clubs start this week
Tuesday 10th – Thursday 12th January
Year 5 Booster Groups, 8am
The facilities, which now include a new pavilion,
a new all-weather sports surface and hard court
surface, will be of benefit to all the children in
the school for many years to come. Photos from
the event can be viewed online.
Monday 16th – Friday 20th January
Verbal & Non-Verbal Assessments
Tuesday 17th – Thursday 19th January
Year 5 Booster Groups, 8am
Thursday 19th January
Year 5 at Young Voices Concert
Tuesday 24th – Thursday 26th January
Year 5 Booster Groups, 8am
Tuesday 24th January
Reception Assembly
Globe Theatre Trip
Year 5 went on an enjoyable trip to the Globe Theatre
on 29th November. As well as having the opportunity to
go on stage and recite lines from The Tempest, which
they had been studying back at school, they attended a
drama workshop and visited the Globe exhibition.
Further information and photos from their day can be
seen online.
Polka Theatre Trip
On 30th November, our Form 3 and Form 4 classes
went to the Polka Theatre to see Babe, The Sheep-Pig.
Back at school, both classes had been studying the
book by Dick King-Smith and they were thrilled to see
the characters brought to life in such an enchanting and
funny way.
th
Friday 27 January
Culture Day (all years)
Monday 6th February
Parents' Evening
Thursday 9th February
Year 1 Trip to Tonbridge Castle
Parents' Evening
Carols at Whitgift & Exam Success
Friday 10th February
Golden Ticket Tea
Monday 13th – Friday 17th February
Half-Term (one week)
Chess Update
On Saturday 26th November, 14 children
from St David's took part in the first stage of
the CCF Champions League Chess
tournament. We fielded four teams and are
delighted with the results: 1st Team (1st
position), 2nd Team (4th), 3rd Team (18th) and
Reserves (11th in the School Individual
Challenge). Particular mention goes to
Charlie (Year 3) who has improved
enormously over the last year; Charlie and
Elan (Year 4) who made an excellent debut in
the 1st Team and to the captains who
stepped up & led their teams brilliantly: Jesse
and Sotiris (Year 5) and Alessandro (Year 3).
We look forward to the next leg of the
competition, which is on Saturday 11th
March.
Our Chamber Choir entertained the shoppers of Croydon on 8th December,
singing carols for half an hour. They raised £129 for Cancer Research and
thoroughly enjoyed their role as entertainers – not wanting to stop when their
time slot came to an end! A big thank you to all family and friends who
supported, as it really helped the children to feel relaxed and do their best.
Congratulations to the following pupils who have taken music exams recently:
Name
Ben R
Amaan
Edward
Meera
Form
6
5
3
2
St David's School, Woodcote Valley Road, Purley, CR8 3AL
Instrument
Piano
Guitar
Singing
Piano
Grade
3
1
1
Debut
Result
Merit
Distinction
Merit
Pass
www.stdavidsschool.co.uk
St David's School Newsletter · December 2016
Year 2 Unwrap Christmas
Our Year 2 class had a fantastic time at
Christchurch learning about the Christmas
story. They had to find and unpack presents
hidden around the church containing clues to
the Christmas story. As a class they produced
a book of the story which they were able to
bring back to school with them. In addition to
this, they designed patterns on angels and
made mangers, star decorations and treasure
chests with representations of the gifts the
wise men brought for Jesus.
Remembrance Sunday
Our Head girl, Millie, and Head boy, Ben, laid a
wreath on behalf of St David's at the Woodcote
War Memorial on Sunday 13th November.
They were joined by many of the St David's family
to remember the brave men and women who were
killed in the two World Wars and other conflicts.
Autumnal Art
Our Year 1 pupils have been inspired by
environmental artist Andy Goldsworthy to
create autumnal and outdoor art. Year 3
have also been creating autumnal paintings,
inspired by Leonid Asemov, using palette
knives instead of brushes.
Meanwhile, Year 2 have been making
monkey sculptures in the style of Quentin
Blake's Muggle-Wump illustrations; Year 4
have been making lamps; Year 5 have been
printing Victorian Christmas cards using a
polystyrene printing block and traditional
methods; and our Year 6 class have been
designing and building cam-toys using
woodwork skills.
Notices
Swimming
Year 4 are swimming from Wednesday 4th
January and are reminded to bring in their
kit. Year 5 will be swimming after half-term
from Wednesday 22nd February.
A Reminder for the Winter Months
Please keep your child at home if they have
a temperature (even if you have medicated
them to bring temperature down) as your
child will still be infectious. You will also
need to keep your child off school for 48
hours after they have vomited.
Golden Ticket Tea
Congratulations to our GOLDEN TICKET winners, Saanvi (Reception), Benedict
(Year 1), Niamh (Year 2), Karolina (Year 3), Abenan (Year 4), Vrutik (Year 5) and
Tori (Year 6) who won a special tea with the Headteacher for being champions
of the “St David's Way” this half-term.
St David's School, Woodcote Valley Road, Purley, CR8 3AL
Staffing News
We say farewell to Mrs Melissa Derringer
and thank her for all her hard work over
the past 16 years. We welcome Mrs Nicola
Murphy who will be joining us in the office
from 4th January.
www.stdavidsschool.co.uk
St David's School Newsletter · December 2016
PTA News
Imperial Lounge Party
Uniform Sales
The inaugural St David’s Adults' Christmas Party took place at
the Imperial Lounge, Airport House, on 25th November.
Feedback has been tremendous, with so many of you agreeing
it was an excellent night’s entertainment. The PTA are
delighted that so many parents attended and that Miss Mardell
and two of the Schools Governors, Mrs Stranack and Mrs
Thompson, also felt inspired to join us for such an enjoyable
event.
Our thanks go to Deepa & Keval Patel, who not only had the
key contacts which made the event possible, but also
generously provided the spectacular raffle prize. Although
initially won by Miss Mardell, she embodied the spirit of St
David’s with her selfless act of kindness and asked for it to be
drawn again.
A big thank you goes out to
Victoria and Chris Love who are
responsible for our professional
marketing leaflets and posters, as
well as being the enthusiasm
behind the Nearly New Uniform.
Since September, under their
steerage this has brought in a very
healthy £358.
Please replenish the stock by donating your child's clean,
outgrown uniform into the plastic tub between the sheds.
Please help make the job easier by removing any name
tags and if necessary putting the size in the garment.
Christmas Disco & Fund-raising Activities
The Christmas Disco for the children took place on the 9th December and was well attended; our
ever-popular DJs did a great job as usual and we trialled a new Chill Out Lounge for the older children.
Our Bag2School collection in October raised £72 and we continue to receive an income from
easyfundraising. If you still have online shopping to do before Christmas, please consider using
easyfundraising via the link: https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/stdavidspurley/
It doesn’t cost any more to shop online this way (in fact the comparison function often means you can
find it cheaper!), but it is a simple way to help raise funds.
Diary Dates
Friday 3rd February
Adult Quiz Night
Includes fish & chip supper
Friday 24th February
Infant Movie Night
For Nursery to Year 2 pupils
(plus siblings)
th
Friday 17 March
Junior Quiz Night
For Years 3 – 6 pupils, in
support of Comic Relief
And Finally...
Some of you are aware that our Chair's day job is working for the Croydon Safeguarding
Children Board. The tricky subject of what and how to tell your children to help keep
them safe causes much debate. Lots of useful information for both parents and children
can be found on their website: croydonlcsb.org.uk.
St David's School, Woodcote Valley Road, Purley, CR8 3AL
www.stdavidsschool.co.uk