N o r m a n h u r s t Sc h o o l NEWSLETTER Easter 2016 Item Page Headmistress’s Message .............................. 1 Kindergarten News....................................... 1 Kindergarten celebrates Science Week ....... 2 Reception Easter Activity Morning............... 2 Easter Assembly ........................................... 2 Year 3 Stone Age Models ............................. 2 World Book Day ........................................... 3 Cultures and Languages Clubs ...................... 3 Kidzania Trip ................................................. 3 Science Week in the Junior School ............... 4 Happy Chicks ................................................ 4 Gun Dogs Visit .............................................. 4 Headmistress’s Message The Spring term has been busy as ever, and has included a number of trips, visits and curriculum enrichment days. The recent World Book Day and Science and Engineering Week were among the highlights, as shown later in this newsletter Pupils enjoyed the challenge of the Inter-House Science Competition. With a construction theme, the Juniors were tasked to make a tower using a range of materials, the tallest being the winner. The Seniors had a slightly harder challenge, to throw and catch an egg using an item they had constructed. Connaught were declared the Junior winners and Warren the Senior winners. As term ends and the Easter holiday begins, may I wish you all a restful and enjoyable break. We look forward to seeing the pupils for the start of the Summer term on Tuesday 19 April. Please remember that it will be Summer uniform for the Juniors. Year 2 Science Week Diary ........................... 5 Mad Science Junior Assembly ...................... 6 Mrs Claire Osborn Zoolab Visit ................................................... 6 Miss Stone’s Charity Trip to Lourdes ............ 6 Kindergarten News Poetry Live! .................................................. 7 Tate Britain Trip............................................ 7 Science Week in Graphics ............................ 8 Duke of Edinburgh Training Expedition........ 8 Year 7 Trip to the Velodrome ....................... 8 On Monday 7 March the children had a lovely afternoon being Superheroes, practising their own special powers led by the Perform Drama Group. Here are the Kindergarten children getting ready for a mission to save the world! Normanhurst Sports Report ....................... 10 International Women’s Day ....................... 11 Social Networking ...................................... 12 NSPA ..................................................... 12 www.normanhurstschool.co.uk 1 @NormanhurstSch N o r m a n h u r s t Sc h o o l NEWSLETTER Kindergarten celebrates Science Week Alongside all the Science Week activities the children in Kindergarten also found time to create this fantastic papier maché volcano. The now painted and working model will be used by the children in their play next term. Reception Easter Activity Morning Reception have finished off this term with an Easter activity morning. To round up their learning about chicks and life cycles, the children made Easter Nests with little fluffy chicks to look after the eggs, just like our little chick eggs from the Happy Egg Company for Science week. Easter Assembly Father Andy Trenier came to school on Monday 21 March to share his thoughts about Easter with pupils and staff in our whole school assembly. It was a lovely presentation with Father Andy bringing along props which included egg boxes with different items inside: some chocolate eggs , a Lindt bunny, a medal and flower. Father Andy shared the items with the children, and then explained that these items have nothing to do with Easter. The real meaning of Easter was symbolised by the empty egg boxes, which represented the tomb of Jesus that was left empty after the resurrection. Jesus rose from the dead to give us hope and new life. Father Andy ended with a prayer and the children joined in with a big Amen. Year 3 Stone Age Models In Year 3 the children have been creating 3D models for their homework. Pupils were asked to create a model of Stonehenge or of a Stone Age House. The children have created some fantastic pieces and took their time adding in lots of detail. They have really studied the structure and layout of these historical sites and produced wonderful work. www.normanhurstschool.co.uk 2 @NormanhurstSch N o r m a n h u r s t Sc h o o l NEWSLETTER World Book Day This year the Junior School celebrated World Book Day with a two-day visit from a local author! Derek Smith performed story shows with the pupils and also put on story writing workshops to encourage their love of writing. On Friday 4 March the Early Years and Junior School pupils and staff dressed up as their favourite book characters, and the best dressed and best home made outfits won a range of prizes! It was a wonderful two days thoroughly enjoyed by children and adults of all ages! Cultures and Languages Club At Cultures and Languages Club we have an exciting time exploring different countries around the world. We learn about the geography, language, customs and cuisine of the country in fun and interactive ways. This term we have been lucky enough to have several parents and visitors come in and share their country with us. So far we have explored Nigeria, Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Denmark, Portugal, and many more. The children and I look forward to having more parents come in and take us on a whistle stop tour of their country. Miss Greenin Year 1 Class Teacher Kidzania Trip Years 4 and 5 thoroughly enjoyed a recent trip to Kidzania in Shepherds Bush. There were a lot of excited children on the train and the tube all eager to try their hand at a job or two! Boys from both classes decided that joining the police was just the job for them; it is definitely a job for Damon in Year 5 who spent the day keeping all citizens of Kidzania safe due to his sharp eye for spotting crime! Not only did the children have a lot of fun in a safe environment, but they also got to learn about the reality of life – and that being too frivolous with money is not usually a good thing! www.normanhurstschool.co.uk 3 @NormanhurstSch N o r m a n h u r s t Sc h o o l NEWSLETTER Science Week in the Junior School It was National Science and Engineering Week from 14 to 19 March. We used this opportunity to have an animal focus in the Junior School. All the lessons taught during the week were based around animals. There was great excitement around the school with all the teachers putting in a lot of effort to make this an enjoyable week for our pupils. During the week all of the children compiled a special book filled with all their own memories from the week. On the last day the best three books from Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 were chosen by Mrs Fisher. We hope all of the parents enjoyed seeing all of the learning that took place during National Science week. Happy Chicks During the week of 14 to 19 March the hatching eggs from the Happy Chick Company led to great excitement throughout Early Years and the Junior School. Mrs Fisher took on looking after the hatching eggs in the EYFS department. Not only were the children extremely excited about the little chicks, but the parents also had a peak whenever they could. Most of the staff found reasons to walk through EYFS to track the progress of the hatching eggs. One of our senior pupils, Harry in Year 8, even tried to record the hatchings using a GoPro camera inside the incubator. We were delighted when all the eggs hatched leaving us with ten beautiful chicks. All of the Juniors had the chance to see the little chicks and share in the excitement. A lot of learning took place around the eggs, chicks and chickens in general. Did you know that it only takes 25 hours for an egg to develop inside a chicken? Gun Dogs Visit It was with great excitement that John from the Gundog Company introduced his three dogs to the EYFS and Junior School children. Not only did our children see an experienced hand instruct the dogs, but they also had the chance to interact with the dogs themselves. For some of our children it was a great opportunity to overcome some anxiety they had in working with dogs. During the workshops, children had the chance to run races against the dogs, to hide items for the dogs to find or to command the dogs. At the end of the day John chose two children to attend The Junior Gundog Challenge at Sandringham Estate in September; these two pupils will have the chance to train with some of the best Gundog trainers in the country and then showcase their own skills. Congratulations to Malachi and Olivia L in Year 5 who will be attending this special event. www.normanhurstschool.co.uk 4 @NormanhurstSch N o r m a n h u r s t Sc h o o l NEWSLETTER Year 2 Science Week Diary Monday: Our expectations of Science Week I am looking forward to seeing the gundogs and hope to feed them. My friends and I hope to see baby chicks and touch wild animals, like a spider or a hedgehog. I am really excited about the chicks and my friends and I hope that we will be able to touch them. We think that they will be very fluffy. I think I will see a silkworm hatching and some scary animals! I hope that we will see silkworms making silk. I think we are going to touch scary animals! I hope I will be allowed to stroke a gundog. I even hope that I see a snake because I have seen and touched one before and it tickled my skin. I am so excited because gundogs can run fast and maybe faster than my dogs. I am so happy to see everything in Science Week! By Charles, Mert, Alicia, Konrad, George, Henry, Kelaiah, Charlie C and Amber Tuesday: Gun Dogs We walked to Chingford Plains to meet John. John showed us how to control the spectacular and special gundogs. John’s gundogs are called Lucy, Sky and Ruby. We all learnt how to train a gundog. John showed us the signs that are used to make them sit, go left, go right and forward, and even backwards. The gundog I had to race was called Sky. I had a head-start because she was really, really fast. Charlie T had to hide a dummy from Lucy somewhere, for her to find, she was the mysterious one. It was really cold and we had to keep our hands in our pockets to keep them from freezing. The dogs were crying inside their houses to get out. They were very excited to take part. I enjoyed learning more about the gundogs and hope to see them again. By Kelaiah, Charles, Henry and Amber Thursday: Science Assembly Mr Walwyn and a senior student who is called Alex tried to make the world’s largest bubble. At first the bubble kept on bursting but after a while Alex made a big shiny soapy bubble. Alex then made smoky bubbles with dry ice, dishwashing liquid and water. They gave us a chance to touch the bubbles. When we touched them they disappeared! By Konrad, George and John Thursday: Zoolab Did you know that the Madagascan cockroach is the fastest insect in the world? Jenny from Zoolab brought lots of plastic boxes with interesting animals in them. First she took out a Giant Snail and we were able to touch its slimy body. Jenny said that Mr Slimy was only five years old but can grow to become twenty years old. Then he will be as big as a human head! Then we could touch Kate. She is the cockroach and she lives in cages. Her feet are sticky so that she can climb the walls of the cage and she eats bat poo. We don’t think that could be very tasty. Did you know that she can live without a head for three weeks because she has a brain in her head and tummy? Finally we met Trevor the corn snake. Trevor eats rats and mice and he uses his muscles to squeeze his prey. We could feel his muscles move when we held him. His tongue comes out to sniff the air and he has no eyelids. There was also a tarantula and a scorpion but we were not allowed to touch them. We all enjoyed learning about the animals and hope to see some more animals soon. Science week was really awesome. By Mert, Charlie T, Alicia, Henry, Poppy and George www.normanhurstschool.co.uk 5 @NormanhurstSch N o r m a n h u r s t Sc h o o l NEWSLETTER Mad Science Junior Assembly Mad Science Club brings children the fun, the amazement and the wonder of all things scientific. Our younger pupils had the opportunity to be amazed by some lovely experiments during our Wednesday Junior assembly lead by Cosmic Chris from the Mad Science organisation. The focus of the assembly was everything around air. The children were very engaged and thoroughly enjoyed this interactive session. Zoolab Visit The Zoolab visit on Thursday 18 March was definitely a highlight of Science Week for many of the children in the Junior School. Not only did pupils have the chance to touch or hold the animals that our Zoolab visitor, Jenny, brought in to school but we all learnt a few new animals facts as well. We had the opportunity to learn all about the Giant African Land Snail, Madagascar Hissing Cockroach, Chilean Rose Tarantula, Giant African Millipede and the most exciting member of the Zoolab animals, a Corn Snake Miss Stone’s Charity Trip to Lourdes Every year since 1956, experienced HCPT (Hosanna House & Children’s Pilgrimage Trust) volunteers have taken disabled and disadvantaged children and adults on life changing pilgrimage holidays to the shrine of Lourdes in France. This year I will be attending the trip of a lifetime over Easter, taking nine disabled/vulnerable young adults and children on this exciting adventure. Fourteen other adults will accompany us, flying out on Easter Saturday for a week. A week in Lourdes with the HCPT is a week filled with fun and laughter, providing lifelong memories for those attending and giving parents and carers a much needed opportunity for a well-earned break. We will be visiting many tourist attractions and places of special religious note, and will also be having fun at the zoo, the beach and will attend a very unusual Mass, as during all of our activities everyone attends in fancy dress! I have had great fun raising funds for this trip by taking part in a 24km sponsored walk and helping to organise raffles and fundraisers. I am very much looking forward to this visit and am happy to speak to anyone who would like to know more about the pilgrimage or any forth coming visits. Miss Stone Year 3 Class Teacher www.normanhurstschool.co.uk 6 @NormanhurstSch N o r m a n h u r s t Sc h o o l NEWSLETTER Poetry Live! On Friday 4 March, myself and the rest of my year headed out for an educational trip to the Dominion Theatre to watch a collection of poets recite their poems and talk in depth about them and their significance. 'GCSE Poetry Live' had poets such as Simon Armitage and Carol Ann Duffy there, who spoke about some of their works, what they meant and the context in which they were written. At the end of each poet’s presentation, there was an allocation of time in which we could direct questions towards the poets based on any of their works. Amongst the poets, there was also a GCSE examiner present who taught us methods of how to achieve the highest grades possible. I found it all really helpful as the majority of the presented poems were those which we had studied in class for our exams. It was a very beneficial experience as we were able to get a first-hand experience of the poems and understand the significance of some of the specific words used. The whole year group is very thankful to Mrs Zieba and Mrs Botha for organising the trip. By Hannah, Year 11 Tate Britain Trip On Friday 18 March the GCSE Art and Design pupils headed to Tate Britain for research and inspiration to help them develop their artwork in their current projects. Tate Britain is home to British Art from 1500 to the present day. The pupils used their time well and created annotated sketches of inspiring artwork that they could use to inform their own creative idea development. There is something very special about seeing artwork in the flesh and it was clear that the visit had a big impact on our pupils. I asked my pupils, as an extension task, to choose one painting they would like to own and to share with the group which painting they chose and why. I was surprised and thrilled to hear that a group of boys chose J M W Turner’s, “Hannibal and his army crossing the Alps”. In this painting an enormous storm engulfs Hannibal’s army as they struggled to cross the Alps. Turner wanted to remind us that we are insignificant next to the awe inspiring power of nature. The same painting had a huge impact on me when I visited Tate Britain for the first time as a school pupil nearly 30 years ago! www.normanhurstschool.co.uk 7 @NormanhurstSch N o r m a n h u r s t Sc h o o l NEWSLETTER Science Week in Graphics As part of Science Week in the Senior School, Year 10 Graphics pupils created their own fragrance in conjunction with their current Graphics project in which they are designing packaging for a new fragrance inspired by an aspect of nature. The pupils were give a range of different natural ingredients and used a pestle and mortar to mix the ingredients. They created five different fragrances and ranked them in order of success ,making notes on the ingredients and quantities used in each case. Duke of Edinburgh Training Expedition On Saturday 12 March, the Year 10 DofE students embarked on their first expedition adventure learning how to orientate, set a tent, use a gas camping stove and first aid. Towards the end of the training students took turns orienteering their groups through Epping Forest successfully. We hope their next practice expedition will be just as successful and would like to take this opportunity to say a big well done to all who took part. ‘I thoroughly enjoyed the training, it taught us how to use a map, compass and use our surroundings to work out where we were in relation to the map. The mud was challenging, at times we had to jump over a big muddy puddle carrying our bags which prepared us for the real thing. Next time I will bring warmer clothes.’ By Grace, Year 10W Year 7 Trip to the Velodrome On Friday 4 March, Year 7 attended the UCI World Track Cycling Championships at the Olympic Park Velodrome. Here are accounts of the visit from three of the pupils. Today we went to the Velodrome in the Olympic Park. The people who went were Year 7. We saw Olympic athletes race, which was really exciting because most of us have never been to the Velodrome. There were many races. We saw many victories by GB, not many losses. We also got to go to the shops and buy some food. Most of us bought hot chocolates even though it was superhot in the Velodrome. By Neal, Year 7 Continued on Page 9 www.normanhurstschool.co.uk 8 @NormanhurstSch N o r m a n h u r s t Sc h o o l NEWSLETTER Year 7 Trip to the Velodrome (continued) On Friday 4 March 2016 both classes from Year 7 had an amazing trip to watch the cycling championships in the Velodrome which is in Stratford. The stadium looks outstanding with great features. Many countries participated in this event, including Great Britain, Germany and Netherlands. We had a cheerful time, cheering for our favourite sportsmen. Many debates between us took place on which nation would win the race. The Great British cyclists did very well in our opinion. At the beginning, we watched cyclists trying to beat their previous times. There were very close times between Great Britain and New Zealand. Eventually they had a tie with a time of 8.766 seconds (wow!). The second race was very interesting because all the cyclists had a race. They went through sixty amazing laps with France winning the race and Kazakhstan surprisingly coming second. Italy was third. In the race there was a cyclist who was doing very well (Sam Webster from New Zealand) and he was winning. Unfortunately he had to stop and came last but he did very well. The last races were semi-finals for the remaining eight cyclists. It was full of anticipation. China, Belarus, New Zealand and Great Britain were able to win to get to the next stage. By Ubaid, Year 7B It was a great day from start to finish, the story starts like this. It was a long journey to the stadium but we didn’t mind, we were all so excited. Year 7 looked out the window of the coach to see all the tall buildings. As soon as we made it to the stadium we had a big group photo. We had walked up lots of stairs until Mr Tuvey showed a kind man our passes. We went into the great building to see cyclists flying past us in record breaking times. Year 7R took their seats first followed by Year 7B. Our seats were at the top which was amazing because we could see everything including where the cyclists warmed up. It was a great experience, especially when the crowd roared for the English team. On the way back it was the only thing Year 7 talked about. By Jacob, Year 7B www.normanhurstschool.co.uk 9 @NormanhurstSch N o r m a n h u r s t Sc h o o l NEWSLETTER Normanhurst Sports Report Netball League The Years 7 and 8 girls have been showing huge improvements in their netball this term. They have attended matches every Tuesday at Chingford Foundation School, playing against all the senior schools in the north of Waltham Forest. Their most recent fixture was against Walthamstow Academy which they drew 3-3 and they had a win against CFS 6-4. Well done team! I am sure you would all want to thank Mrs Kenneally for taking you to your fixtures and umpiring all your matches. Sport Relief Mile All children from Years 3 to 10 have been taking part in a Sport Relief mile around the track at Lee Valley Athletics Centre. I was really pleased to see how well our students did in this event and the effort they put in. They also recorded some very impressive mile times. It was a fantastic effort from everyone, well done. An Easter egg was won by Khan in Year 10 for recording the fastest time. Gymnastics Key Steps Competition Normanhurst children have been working really hard in lessons and Gym Club to learn the routines and vaults in preparation for the Key Steps competition. A team of two boys and two girls was selected to represent the school in the Years 3 and 4 competitions. Events are held in three different locations across the borough; once all the results have been collated, Normanhurst will know if they have qualified to the next stage of the competition. This event is part of the London Youth Games. Inter House Netball The inter house netball competition took place last week and was a very popular event. House captains selected their teams and two players from each year group was represented in each team. The match was played in excellent spirit and the final result was a draw 10-10. I think we need to organise a play-off next term to decide the overall winner. Coopersale Hall Cross Country The Coopersale Hall cross country event was unfortunately cancelled due to the very wet ground. As Coopersale are given permission from Epping Golf Club to run over their golf course the decision was understandable. The good news is that the event has been rescheduled and will be held on Thursday 28 April. Football Normanhurst were drawn against Lamas School in the Year 10 Cup. We made the journey to the outskirts of Waltham Forest to be met by last year’s finalists. Normanhurst started well and put together a few attacks which gave Lamas something to think about. However after about fifteen minutes Lamas scored a rather poor goal, followed by one of pure quality and our heads dropped. Normanhurst went on to a rather heavy defeat and will not be in the next round. The Junior School made their annual visit to Woodford Green Preparatory School. Last season we were able to reach the final stages of the competition which was a terrific result for Normanhurst, and we had high expectations. The competition started well for us with wins against Forest and Snaresbrook. We sadly were unable to get the results required to reach the final with defeats against favourites Woodford Green and St Aubyns; however our final two performances were worth waiting for. The team provided us with some excellent individual performances and fine goals. We finished the competition in fourth position out of twelve teams. Well done to the boys who took part. www.normanhurstschool.co.uk 10 @NormanhurstSch N o r m a n h u r s t Sc h o o l NEWSLETTER Normanhurst Sports Report (continued) Oak-Tree Hockey This term Oaklands School hosted the Oak-Tree Quicksticks Hockey Festival. The session was held on their astro-turf pitch. Teams from Braeside, Oaklands and Normanhurst attended. The afternoon started with a 45 minute coaching session and concluded with a round robin competition. The Normanhurst boys won their match 3-0 and the girls won one match 2-0 and lost one 1-0. Well done to all who played. Curriculum All children have been attending Lee Valley Athletics Centre for one of their PE sessions this term and benefiting from using the excellent facilities on offer there. Next term lessons will continue with athletics and also children will play tennis, cricket, rounders and soft ball at the Peter May Sports Centre. Extra-Curricular Clubs Look out for after school clubs that will be on offer in these sports for the first half of the summer term: 3.30-5-30pm 3.30-4.15pm 3.30-4.30pm 3.30pm-5pm Senior Athletics Club Zumba Multi-Sports Squash and Tennis Club Years 7 to 11 Reception to Year 10 Reception to Year3 Years 5 to 11 Thursday 3.30-4.30pm Junior Athletics Years 3 to 6 Friday 3.30-4.15pm 3.30-4.30pm 4.30-5.30pm Mini Tennis Karate Beginners Karate Intermediate Years 1 to 4 Reception to Year 6 Reception to Year 6 Monday Wednesday International Women’s Day Tuesday 8 March was International Women’s Day. In celebration, we went to the Copper Box in Queen Elizabeth’s Olympic Park where we participated in a wide range of sporting activities ranging from golf, dance, fitness boot camp and football, along with several other schools. We had the privilege of being among sporting champions like Lindsay Keable, a Netball GB national squad member, and Rachel Laybourne, a volleyball Olympian in 2012’s Team GB. As well as being a memorable experience it was key to remember it was a global day recognising and celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women even within that afternoon. International Women’s Day has marked the plight and achievements of women for more than a century as well as pushing for equality. The theme for this year was ‘Pledge for Parity’; parity meaning a state of equality particularly for pay or status. The world economic reform predicted in 2014 that it would take until 2095 to achieve global parity and in the following year, 2015, the prediction had increased to 2133. Campaigns like this are pushing so that we can see global parity come quicker than anticipated. By Gloria, Year 10 www.normanhurstschool.co.uk 11 @NormanhurstSch N o r m a n h u r s t Sc h o o l NEWSLETTER Social Networking Website App Go to the School Calendar page for upcoming events and our News page for all the latest news and lots more photographs. Keep up to date with the latest news, calendar dates, and much more by downloading the new Normanhurst School App. Instagram Twitter Follow us on Instagram for regular photo updates! Follow us @NormanhurstSch Normanhurst School Parents’ Association As promised in the last newsletter we have reviewed the Parents Association survey and are very grateful for the new ideas and the interest shown in the work of the Parents’ Association. We will definitely put into action some of your ideas, including organising a pamper evening and an off site social event such as a get together in the forest. We will also make it easier to volunteer to help with activities, as we know that there are a lot of people who want to help with our events, but who can only commit closer to the date of the event. The family fun evening takes place on the 29 April, and will be a race and curry night. There will be licensed bar serving beers and wines and a lot of competitive fun. Look out for the booking forms. Also on the 29 April, we will have another Phil the Bag collection, and all the money raised will go towards buying costumes for the Drama department. So please bag up any of your unwanted clothing items and deliver the bags to the school on the morning of 29 April. It is reassuring to know that your unwanted clothes can contribute to the drama costume resources for all the children to use and enjoy. The Oak-Tree Summer Ball is a fantastic opportunity to glitz up and have a fun. It takes place at Chigwell Hall on 21 May 2016. Entertainment will be provided by Dave Dean, a ‘rat pack’ style performer, live band Souled Out, a magician and casino tables. There will be a raffle and silent auction. The ticket price includes a champagne reception and a three course dinner with half a bottle of wine. Parents and friends are all welcome. Buy your tickets for £65 before 31 March; from 1 April the price will be £80. Please complete and return the booking form to the school office with payment. Another date for your diary is 25 June when we will have the School Summer Barbecue. The barbecue will have a carnival theme in celebration of the 2016 Olympics in Rio. Thank you for all your support of the Parents Association this term, and we all hope you have a wonderful Easter holiday. NSPA Committee We would like to wish all our pupils and parents a very happy Easter. We look forward to seeing you all back at school for the Summer Term on Tuesday 19 April 2016 www.normanhurstschool.co.uk 12 @NormanhurstSch
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