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Battle Abbey School
Newsletter: June 17th 2016
www.battleabbeyschool.com
Dear Parents
Dear Parents
The last few weeks have seen an incredibly busy and successful
time at the Prep School.
Despite the pressures of the exam season, the Battle
Abbey community has enjoyed some memorable
events in recent days. All those who came last
Saturday to the Big Picnic were treated to a very
special family day out. The activities, the
entertainment and the lovely food were fabulous
and I was delighted by the fact that a downpour
or two didn’t dampen spirits or prevent the children
from using the bouncy castle. There was a distinctly
competitive side to the day too which started with
sports day on the school fields. The inter-house
rivalry was great to see as were the many
excellent personal achievements of the athletes.
The sporting contest didn’t end there but continued
throughout the day with space hopper and sack
races and a hugely entertaining series of tug-of-war
contests – culminating in a dramatic win for the
ladies! The day concluded with the now traditional
‘Race Round the Ruins’ and congratulations to
both Christian Thorkildsen and Ethan Alexander for
their outstanding wins. On behalf of all those who
took part, I would like to thank the many people
that made the day possible and in particular to Mrs
Carey, Mrs Acuna and Mr Pawson and his amazing
catering team.
With bags packed, Year 5 and 6 eagerly departed for their Bath
and Bristol trip during the week preceding half-term,
accompanied by Miss Hill, Mr Ball, Mrs Crighton and Mr Burgess.
The children enjoyed the experience of being away from home
and explored different places in the region. They visited a wide
variety of fascinating and exciting places, including the Bristol
Science Museum, the Roman Baths and a costume museum
where they enjoyed dressing up in garments and accessories
from a bygone era. They even spent a day at Longleat Safari
Park! It was an action-packed few days and the children all
thoroughly enjoyed their adventures away from School.
Whilst Years 5 and 6 were away from School on their
residential trip, Years 3 and 4 undertook a special project of
their own based on the theme of The Jungle Book. After a visit
to Devonshire Park Theatre to see an urbanised version of the
Jungle Book, they spent an exciting day exploring the house
and grounds of Batemans; the home of Rudyard Kipling. Back
at School they completed many related activities, such as
investigating tropical rainforests, producing colourful jungle
artwork, writing jungle poems and even enjoyed a “Jungle,
Swamp, Swim” session at the School pool. What a great way to
learn and have fun at the same time!
Year 3 visited Birling Gap as part of their Science topic looking
at sedimentary rock layers and enjoying a Fossil Hunt! They then
moved on to Frog Firle Farm where they pond dipped as they
investigated fresh water environments. They had a wonderful
day of exploration and were rewarded with lots of sunshine!
Year 5 led a special assembly last week in honour of the
Queen’s 90th Birthday celebrations. The children had
researched many interesting facts about the life of Queen
Elizabeth II and we were all amazed at the remarkable things
she has achieved so far in her life. Year 1 baked special cakes
for the occasion and decorated them in style.
Our U11 cricket teams have worked hard, put in hours of
practice and enjoyed great success over the last few weeks.
Both our U11 Mixed Kwik Cricket Team and our U11 Girls Kwik
cricket team, won their District level tournaments to qualify for
the County Finals at the Sussex Cricket Academy Ground in the
first week of July. Well done to all our players and good luck for
the finals.
Today our top swimmers head up to Sheffield ready for the
National Finals of the Schools’ Swimming Association Team
Championships which take place tomorrow. Since qualifying
back in April the children have stepped up their training regime
under the expert tuition of Miss Govan. Our School will be
represented in both the Mixed Stroke and Freestyle Relays and
the whole School community joins together to wish them the
very best of luck.
Best wishes
Maria Maslin
Keeping with a sporting theme, I am duty bound to
commend the Upper Sixth Leavers for their recent
victory in the staff vs leavers hockey match. They
were much stronger than us on the day and we
were suitably humbled by a faster and fitter team.
If you would like to take on the students in either
cricket or rounders then please sign up for the Dads
vs Lads / Ladies vs Lassies matches on the afternoon
of Sunday 3rd July – another well-established Battle
Abbey tradition.
The whole school has also joined in the national
debate surrounding Britain’s membership of the
European Union. Members of the debating
society have argued their case, as has a brave
group of Key Stage 3 students who led an impassioned discussion about the strengths and weaknesses of membership in front of their peers. Not to
be outdone, Monday’s assembly will see members
of staff putting their views across before we run our
own ‘mock’ referendum on Thursday morning. We
will then await the national result with much trepidation.
This evening marks the final performance of Oliver,
our Key Stage 3 drama production. Though I have
seen snippets in rehearsals over the weeks, tonight
is the first time that I will see the whole show and I
am sure it will live up to and surpass expectations.
Thanks to all those who have supported the show
and huge thanks are due to Mrs Condliffe and her
team for all their amazing efforts.
Best wishes
David Clark
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Battle Abbey School
Newsletter: June 17th 2016
Nursery News
Over the last couple of weeks, the Oaks have enjoyed ballet inspired
feet painting, pirouetting paint across large sheets of paper listening
to swan lake. Take a look around the classroom to see if you can spot
the colourful footprints that have been hung from the ceiling.
We have been spending lots of time in the glorious weather, taking
our activities into our lovely garden. This has included den building,
creating shady play areas, washing and caring for babies in our water
tray, making petal soup and making pirate treasure maps.
The Oaks and Acorns were invited up to Prep School on Wednesday
last week to enjoy a wonderful BBQ lunch courtesy of Aaron and his
team. This was a great experience for the Acorns who sat beautifully
outside under the big shady tree to eat their burgers.
The Acorns have been thinking hard about all the things that they
enjoy at nursery. Their photographs and responses can be found
displayed in the Acorns classroom, so please pop in and take a look!
We have all been learning how we can look after ourselves and the
world around us, this has involved sun safety, hand washing, tooth
brushing, looking after our belongings and being gentle with the bugs
that we find around us... even if we don’t like them!!
If you could continue any of these discussions at home with your child/
ren this would reinforce their learning and understanding.
We are having lots of fun practicing our wellie wanging and 3 legged
races in preparation for our first nursery sports day which will be held
on Tuesday 5th July on the school field. You are all invited so please
pop along to join in with the fun, even if this is not your child’s usual
nursery session. We hope to see lots of you to support and cheer us
along.
There are lots of school preparations taking place in the Oaks
classroom including teacher visits and visits to reception classes in
support of their transition to school in September. Some of the older
children started their weekly visits to Reception class at the Prep
School on Thursday’s which was a happy and settled experience for
them . They met their new teacher Mrs Geal and the TA Mrs
Thompson, explored their new surroundings and found that it isn’t too
dissimilar from nursery! They now look forward to their next visits.
Dates to remember:
Sports Day - Tuesday 5th July - 9.30am - 10.30
End of Term/End of term party - Friday 8th July
Summer Holiday Club - Monday 11th June - Friday 22nd July.
Nursery Resumes - Tuesday 6th September.
Please ensure your child/ren are provided with at least one change of
clothes and appropriate outdoor weather clothes and suncream daily
to ensure the children can enjoy the range of activities on offer both
indoors and outdoors. We appreciate your cooperation. Thank you.
Have a lovely weekend.
The Nursery Team
www.battleabbeyschool.com
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Newsletter: June 17th 2016
GCSE ART
AND ART
TEXTILES
EXPO 2016
Ed
Battle Abbey School
www.battleabbeyschool.com
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Battle Abbey Schools Music
awarded!
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BattletioAbbey
School was delighted to
receive the prestigious ISM Gold award
in April. The Gold award recognises
the outstanding achievements of the
School’s Music Department at GCSE
level, and was awarded to Battle Abbey
School as more than 20% of the entire
GCSE pupil cohort achieved A*- C in
music. A feat matched by only 86 other
secondary schools out of a total of 4,961
in the country.
www.battleabbeyschool.com
John Langridge, Director of Music at
Battle Abbey School said; “I’m
delighted the school has received this
significant award. Battle Abbey School
is rightly recognised for its creative arts
on a national level, and the award from
ISM is a celebration of the School Music
Departments achievements in GCSE
music and the support that the school
gives to music and the musicians in its
pupil body.”
‘At a time when some key schools in the area are cancelling their music courses, we are delighted to be able to offer
an award winning service in what we see as a cornerstone of the pupil experience at the Abbey.’
The Incorporated Society of Musicians (ISM) is the UK’s professional body for musicians set up in 1882 to promote the
importance of music and protect the rights of those working within music. It recognises outstanding achievement
through its award scheme.
Auction Lots Needed!!
FOBAS urgently need some more items/activities/fun experiences for the auction that is being held at their
Summer Ball on Saturday 2nd July. Funds raised from the Ball go towards purchasing items that benefit the whole
school during the next academic year, so it would be great to raise as much as possible from some brilliant gifts! If
you run a business is there anything that you can donate for the auction in return for free advertising in the menus?
Can you ask a local business to donate something? If so please contact Jemma Joyce or Lisa Young – email:
[email protected] or [email protected]
This year we will once again be selling limited space in
our School magazine to parents. An ideal opportunity
to advertise your business to other Battle Abbey Parents
(and beyond) for what amounts to a very low rate.
The magazine will be full colour A4 portrait in size and
will be available to all parents, former pupils and the
wider community.
We will be offering space at the below rates on a strictly first come first served basis.
· Quarter page advert - £90 (w-90mm h-133mm portrait)
· Half page advert - £120 (w-184mm h-133mm landscape)
· Full page advert - £210 (w-184mm x h-271mm portrait)
For those who have an art department, or print ready artwork, that can be modified, further art specs will be
available on application. However, the price does include free artwork created by the in-house designer at the
School.
To utilise the in-house design option you will need to supply any text and images you wish to include in your advert.
We will do the rest, submitting revisions by email to you until you’re happy with the result.
Only limited space is available so if you are interested please get your booking in early to avoid disappointment.
All bookings to be submitted by Friday 1st July.
Please email all questions, bookings, text and images to James Dennett on [email protected]
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Battle Abbey School
Newsletter: June 17th 2016
CJ’s double
3rd place
wins!
Over 3 days at
Forest Edge, with
a much greater
grid than he was
used to (not to
mention some
very competitive
drivers), CJ
matured in his
racing,
competing with
some very good
drivers. CJ kept
pushing and
brought home
two trophies; the
3rd place Forest
Edge Club Meet
Trophy and 3rd
place overall
southern championship trophy.
Well done CJ!
Summer Uniform Shop Opening Times
Mon 11th July BAS 10-2 - appointments
Thur 14th July BAS 10-2 - general
Wed 10th Aug BAS 10.2 - general
Mon 15th Aug BAS 10.30 - 2 - appointments
Wed 17th Aug BAS 10.30 - 2 - general
Wed 31st Aug
BAS 10 - 3 - general
Mon 5th Sept
BAS 12 - 4.30 (exisiting boarder return)
Tuesday 6th Sept BAS 2-4
Wednesday 7th Sept BACK TO NORMAL
The number to call to book appointments is
07982714705.
www.battleabbeyschool.com
William fences
at British Youth
Championships (National
Finals)
William Ashenden
(Year 9) has been
busy on the piste
in the last few
weeks. On 2nd
May he fenced at
the British Youth
Championships
(BYCs) in Sheffield.
This is the National
Finals and fencers
have to qualify to
compete by
coming in the top
four in the
regional qualifiers
held earlier this
year. William won
the South East
qualifying event
and is the reigning
South East
Champion for
the second year in a row. He fenced very well at the BYCs
against some stiff competition and ended up just outside
the top twenty in the Under 14 Boys Sabre category.
He has also been busy on the Leon Paul circuit where he
fences all over the country in the Under 15 Boys Sabre
category, even though he is still only 13. He has added to
his medal collection recently with a gold in Ashton (near
Manchester), a silver in Durham and a bronze in Cardiff
(during half term). These recent successes mean that he
is currently ranked second overall in the country in his age
group.
William did very well on the 12th. He was fencing at the
Kent Senior Sabre Championships in Sandwich which is
open to all fencers aged over 13, but is essentially an adult
competition.
William fenced really well, only dropping two fights on the
way to the semi-finals where he lost 15-7 to a 29 year old
who eventually won the whole competition. This meant
that William won a bronze medal, the youngest person in
the Men’s Sabre Competition!
School Snapshot Rachael Dixon (in picture) and Louise
Willoughby are pleased to announce the appointment of
Paddy Richardson as Head of St Mary’s from next
September. Shannon Hughes and Bertie Young (also
pictured) are St Mary’s’ new Sports Captains.
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Battle Abbey School
Newsletter: June 17th 2016
Day at Drusillas
On Monday 23rd May Year 1 and Year 2 went on a
wonderful trip to Drusillas to reinforce Year 1s topic work
about Africa and Year 2s topic work about Madagascar.
The sun shone and the rain stayed away to make our day
even more enjoyable. The children were captivated by
many of the animals and were able to show their previous
knowledge when listening to a talk about Rainforests and
The Maasai and Africa. The day flew by in all the
excitement and was an absolute hit with the children.
Miss Sonley
Rafael Year 1 - “My favourite animal was the snake. I
really liked the Anaconda and the Boa Constrictor”.
Nariah Year 2 - “We saw lots of wonderful animals and
my favourite were the Meerkats because they were really
cute.”
School Snapshot Onesies on mufti day!
School Snapshopt: Maintenance Manager Mr Beecham had
a close encounter with a Puffin whilst on Holiday.. Lovely
photo!
www.battleabbeyschool.com
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Battle Abbey School
Newsletter: June 17th 2016
www.battleabbeyschool.com
GCSE
Drama
Production:
THE REAL
INSPECTOR
HOUND
School Snapshot: A new ritual, Battle Abbey
School’s physicists are taken to their new exam hall
at Martlet House.
We have
become
accustomed
to
admiring and
celebrating
our Drama productions at
Battle Abbey,
especially as we have
enjoyed the quality and
ambition we see in the
senior plays and musicals.
These are always a
particular source of
inspiration so it was
heartening to see, at the
end of last half term, what
the future holds in store as
we watched the current
GCSE Drama cohort
tackle Tom Stoppard’s
‘The Real Inspector
Hound.’
This cleverly-written ‘playwithin-a-play’ demanded
that the cast showed skill
in delivering their lines,
self-discipline and timing
in maximizing the effect of
the humour, as well as adaptability as their characters revealed
themselves within an intricate plot. They did so convincingly, with
one character even managing to sustain a plausible Scottish accent throughout her time on stage, no mean feat for a
Southerner!
Thanks to everyone’s efforts, we were treated to a classic murder
mystery plot interwoven with very funny moments, tales of
philandering husbands and wives and, running through it all, a
revelation of petty but ultimately lethal jealousies amongst the
theatrical critics present. It should also be mentioned that the
on-stage team were supported very well indeed by our
newcomers to the Sound and Light team, Piers Shoesmith and
Daria McCarthy, who can take pride in the fact that their
near-flawless performance was, in a sense, invisible.
Once again Mrs Hopkins has worked her hard-wrought magic
in coaxing the very best out of a relatively inexperienced cast,
keeping their dramatic sights set high. Congratulations to her
and to her young team.
School Snapshot: A 5m Arrow mysteriously appears
on the Battlefield!
Mr Flutter
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Battle Abbey School
Newsletter: June 17th 2016
www.battleabbeyschool.com
Summer Activity Camp
at Battle Abbey
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Monday 11th – Friday 15th July
Monday 18th - Friday 22nd July
Open to all Battle Abbey Prep
pupils from Years 4, 5, 6 and 7
Run by
full
time Ba
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Abbey S
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£25 a
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email [email protected] or call James
on 01424 772385 for details
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Battle Abbey School
Newsletter: June 17th 2016
French Exchange with Arras
‘Our trip to Arras was full of excitement, fun, ‘dab’s’ (it’s
a dance move), food, even more excitement and the
list carries on. My favourite thing on the trip had to be the
people. At my correspondent, Vianney’s house, I was
given his room and was constantly being asked if I
needed anything. All (ok most) of the people at the
school were kind to us and tried hard to understand the...
err amazing French that we all spoke.
Throughout the full two days we didn’t just stay in the
purple, yellow and mainly orange school which was
brilliantly located in the old town centre. In the evening
we had a “quick” picnic and then ten-pin bowling was
on the programme until quite late in the evening, some of
us showing slightly more skill than others! The next day we
went on a tour of this historic town, and went inside the
town hall to see the famous giants of Arras. After this we
were allowed an hour and a quarter to explore
Arras and many of us went straight to a delicious dessert
shop. Finally when it was time to go, we were all waved
off, with a heavy heart, by our French counterparts. Á la
prochaine!, as they say in France and many thanks to Mrs
Johnson and Mr Harrington for organizing the trip and to
Dr. D, who started the link with St. Joseph.
Louis Choron on behalf of Year 8 & 9 “La semaine dernière
je suis allée à Arras avec mon collège. Nous avons visités
nos correspondents à Saint Jo. Samedi soir j’ai diné avec
ma correspondante et après ça nous avons joué un jeux
de bowling. Je suis restée chez elle, avec sa mère, son
père et sa soeur. Nous avons regardé un film qui s’appelle
“Men in Black 2”. Dimanche matin j’ai mangé le petit
dejuner et après ça nous sommes sortis. Nous sommes
allées au collége de sa soeur, et puis nous sommes allées
à Saint Jo. Nous avons visité la ville de Arras, et nous
avons vu les attractions touristiques. Nous avons mangé le
dejeuner et après ça nous avons dit au-revoir et puis nous
sommes sortis du college. C’était chouette!”
Daisy Chitty Williams, Year 9
School Snapshot: Year 1 enjoyed making red, white and
blue cakes to celebrate the Queen’s official 90th birthday!
www.battleabbeyschool.com
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Battle Abbey School
Newsletter: June 17th 2016
www.battleabbeyschool.com
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Newsletter: June 17th 2016
www.battleabbeyschool.com
U15 Stoolball Tournament 25.05.16
The U15 team attended an impromptu Stoolball
tournament at Claverham this week. As the date was
brought forward by nearly 5 weeks the BAS girls only had
one training session prior to the tournament but despite
this they managed to achieve a great number of runs.
Colette set the standard in bat with the majority of her
balls nearing the boundary. Some sound fielding from Jess
(with an outstanding one handed catch) & Alice
rounding up a series of deep balls to deny the 4 runs for
crossing the boundary, was exemplary. Unfortunately, the
girls didn’t secure a win but 2 of their games were
particularly close with only 4 runs in one game & 5 runs in
another. Collectively the BAS girls’ secured 97 runs from 80
balls, meaning the 1st place slot was taken by
Claverham with only an additional 26 runs. Some brilliantly
close games of Stoolball played in good spirit by all. Well
done girls.
GOTG: Colette Pattenden
Played Well Field: Alice Leary
Played Well Batting: Olivia Harding
U15 Rounders v Buckswood 24.05.16
Our winning streak in Rounders finally came to an end in
this U15 fixture. With many girls’ in exams we played with a
much changed squad. An unfortunate start to the
second innings saw 2 of our best batters caught out in the
first strike of the ball, and this put the girls under early
pressure. Sian showed the best work rate in the team,
chasing down many balls and scoring some good
rounders, girl of the game.
GOTG: Sian Pearson
U18 Rounders v Claremont 12.05.16
The U18’s hosted their 1st home game this season and
played an exceptionally well matched game with the final
score being a draw at 13.5 - 13.5!
Both teams chipped away at second post, scoring many
half rounders with only a few from our side claiming whole
rounders. A little flurry of scores put BAS in the lead by 2
rounders. The combination in field brought some fluid
elements with BAS very close to getting the opposition out
on both innings.
Played in great sporting spirit the girls worked thoroughly
hard. Well done senior team.
Played well: Kate Riches
Girl of the game: Therese Lewis
Thanks to the girls that took part.
Jemimah
in
National
Championships!
Further to
previous
newsletters
Jemimah
Berkeley
is now not
only the SE
Regional
(Age 11/12) 50M Breast Stroke Champion, but has also
won the 200m and 100m title!
She shattered her pbs in the process and really left the
opposition trailing in her wake! Amazingly it was later
discovered that after the Regional Results were totted
up Jemimah had in fact qualified for the Age 12/13
English National Championships in Sheffield in the 1st
week of August for 50m and 100m breast stroke.
Rounders Triangular Tournament Round Ups
BAS took part in 2 rounders triangular events this week.
One for the U18 mixed boys and girls and one for the
U15/16 girls. Both events saw BAS win all 3 of their games
on both occasions against Buckswood, Claremont I &
Claremont II. An outstanding result for us whilst all the
games were played in great sporting spirit.
U18 Rounders Triangular
With a representation from both the Year 12’s & 13’s BAS
fielded a variety of teams. The first game was close but
BAS ran away with the second with a succession of
rounders scored. In the final game the seniors dominated
again, notching up a near constant supply of halfs.
BAS v Claremont Yr12: Won 6.5 - 6
BAS v Claremont Yr13: Won 9 - 4
BAS v Buckswood: Won 7 - 4.5
U16/15 Rounders Triangular
With the GCSE’s in full swing we fielded a variety of
students from different teams. This brought an enjoyable
afternoon of rounders with some good fielding on show.
BAS were able to restrict the oppositions scores quite
significantly.
BAS v Buckswood: Won 14 - 6.5
BAS v Claremont B: Won 8.5 - .5
BAS v Claremont A: Won 10.5 - 2.5
Well done to everyone that played,
Mrs Brampton
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Battle Abbey School
Newsletter: June 17th 2016
www.battleabbeyschool.com
Battle Abbey School’s Ellie Bostock-Smith and
Amber Rampling awarded in National writing
competition.
Each year the Rotary Club organises a Young Writers
competition which invites students to respond creatively to
a particular topic. This year the title given was ‘Our World
is Beautiful’. More than 150 pupils from six schools entered
the initial local round. Battle Abbey School entered two
students: Amber Rampling (Year 11) and Ellie BostockSmith (Year 8) represented the school in the senior and
intermediate competitions respectively.
Mrs Simpson, Head of English at Battle Abbey said, ‘We
were delighted when both Amber and Ellie’s entries won
the local competition. Even more impressively, they both
went on to win the District round of the competition. The
District round includes 86 different clubs spread across
Kent, East Sussex and South East London, so the girls were
up against stiff competition. They both then went through
to the National round of the competition, which includes
entries from Great Britain, Ireland and as far away as
Gibraltar.’
‘When the certificates were being awarded, there was
an additional surprise. We found out that Ellie came third
in the National competition, which is a phenomenal
achievement. Both girls have demonstrated a true gift
for writing and should feel very proud of what they have
achieved.’
James Ward - Wadhurst tour of Holland 2016
‘Every year my club, Wadhurst United, are invited to
Holland for a football weekend. On Saturday we played
a tournament in Rotterdam against the city football clubs.
On Sunday we played a football match against OSV. All
clubs seem to have amazing facilities with floodlit 4g, grass
pitches and fantastic clubhouses. Unsurprisingly the Dutch
pitches were extremely flat compared to at home!
On Saturday we won one, drew two and lost one. We
were a bit unlucky with the draws. On Sunday we beat
OSV four nil.
This season has been a success as we have won the
Crowborough District League Cup.’
James Ward
Austin wins at County level
Last weekend Austin Alexander’s U14s Futsol team won the
county tournament in Crawley and are now due to play in
the national Futsol tournament in High Wycombe.
Impressively Austin is playing up a year & scored 5 goals.
Well done Austin!
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The schools KS3 rendition of Oliver brought chills, thrills,
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possibly the finest KS3 musical I’ve had the privilege to
witness in recent years. The small nature of our School
coupled with what is, for a KS3 production, a very large
cast seemed perfectly tailored to stretch the pool of
talent. But any fears that there may have been pupils in the
cast not up to the job were allayed very quickly.
And then some!
Newsletter: June 17th 2016
The sheer strength of the cast on display blew any
suggestion of a lack of capable pupils out of the water and
signalled an extremely promising long term future for the performing arts department at Battle Abbey School.
It’s no understatement to say the production was chock full
of superb performances, fantastic signing and character
acting befitting a cast of more advanced years and
experience.
Perhaps most notable was the quality of singing from the
entore cast, and the production moved along at a dyamic
pace, never dragging. For long stretches I forgot I was
watching a KS3 performance at all and just got wrapped
up in the story.
Solomon Young was a revelation as Oliver Twist and from
this appearance suggested he would have made a very
acceptable stand in for Mark Lester in the famous film
production. (Though of course Sol can actually sing!)
Harrison Todd’s Artful Dodger brought all the brash colour
the role demands. While Dan Savage’s superb character
acting as Fagin was so completely absorbing I had to
look at the programme to see who was actually playing
the role! Dan’s beautifully timed ‘I’m reviewing the
situation’ being a show highlight.
Alice Clements’ Nancy was simply jaw dropping in
places, not least the singing which was genuinely worthy
of a professional production. Singing with such sadness
(see ‘as long as he needs me’) that it visibly moved some
of the audience, myself included.
Piers Shoesmith inferred such simmering hostility in Bill Sykes
that I don’t think some of the cast were actually acting
when they recoiled in fear! Even in bright stage lighting he
seemed permanently swathed in shadow, and for anyone
who knows the very amiable Piers in real life, it is credit to
his acting that he became such a dangerous presence on
stage.
There were genuinely too many good performances to
mention here, but in other scenes Ali Al-Shamaa’s huge
personality shone through in his portrayal of Mr. Bumble.
Sacha Highland’s Mr Sowerberry was wonderfully seedy
and blackly portrayed, in particular his brow beating at
the hands of the excellent Freya Maslin-Brown (Mrs
Sowerberry) was a comedic highlight. Daisy
Chitty-Williams.’ Bet was fabulous with her friendship with
Nancy both touching and believable.
Thanks to Mr Langridge for all his fantastic musical
contribution as always. Thanks also to Mrs Colman, Mr
Bruce and all those backstage who made the show such a
success. Not least Mrs Condliffe whose time and
dedication have made this exceptional performance
possible. She will be much missed come September, but
the Performing Arts Department, on this evidence, still has
much to look forward to.
Mr Dennett
www.battleabbeyschool.com
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Battle Abbey School
Newsletter: June 17th 2016
www.battleabbeyschool.com
Former pupil
update
Tyler Sargent has
been offered
100% scholarship
for Urdang
Academy in
London. Urdang
Academy has a
fantastic
reputation for
excellence in
dance and
musical theatre.
MFL Day with St.Ronan’s
The Abbey has enjoyed another successful MFL visit from
44 pupils from St. Ronan’s school. The morning was
extremely entertaining and included not only an
introductory history tour from ‘Brother James’ but also a
huge variety of activities in Spanish and Mandarin. The St
Ronan’s pupils were extremely well behaved and
interested and our Battle Abbey pupils made this occasion
a success. Many thanks to Josh, Anna, Daisy, Alvaro and
Ethan for their superb Spanish contribution and to Peter,
Brian, Hugo, Amy, Anita, Grace, Tracy, Hank, Mio, Michael,
Edison, April and Thomas for their amazing display and
effort to immerse all of us in Chinese culture.
Boarders Race for Life
The Pink army marched on through the rain and the cold
and completed the Race for Life to raise money for
Cancer Research on Sunday 12th June at Alexandra
Park in Hastings. They were very cold and wet when they
started, but soon warmed up by the time they crossed
the finish line. They managed to raise nearly £400 and we
are still collecting. If you wish to make a donation, please
contact Prito Perry, on [email protected]
Well done the Pink ladies!
Despite all the exam stress, our Sixth Formers were very
generous with their time and prepared the event well.
Josh even treated us to some authentic Spanish tapas!
Peter Deng said: ‘It was a great experience for me to do
these activities. And it helped me to develop the skills of
organisation and management. Also, it was great fun,
everything went perfectly well and everyone seemed to
enjoy the activities.’
Kwik Cricket
On Friday 10th June Year 5 & 6 girls took part in the U11
Hastings and Rother Primary Schools’ Kwik Cricket
Championships at Crowhurst Park Cricket Club.
After reaching the Final they played Chantry in their final
match over two innings. The result was a win to Battle
Abbey Prep by 273 runs to 253 making them the district
champions!
They will now go on to represent the district in the county
championships on the 4th of July. Well done to everyone
who took part!
Mrs Hill
Battle Abbey School
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Newsletter: June 17th 2016
www.battleabbeyschool.com
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Battle Abbey School
Newsletter: June 17th 2016
www.battleabbeyschool.com
PARENTS NEEDED!! Dads V Lads & Ladies V Lasses 2016
Dads V Lads 2016 will be played under the exciting new format of
Windball 6 a-side cricket and will take place on the School astroturf!
There will be pupil teams from each Key Stage along with the regular
Dads teams all competing for bragging rights and the inaugural BPL
Trophy, which is similar to the IPL, but much more prestigious!
After the success of last year’s Ladies v Lasses Rounders match, this
year sees an expanded tournament with potentially 3 pupil teams and
a parents and staff team.
The event will start at 1pm and aim to finish around 5pm with a BBQ
laid on by our fantastic catering team at around 3pm. We would love
as many people there as possible to support the event and provide a
crowd.
If you would like to play for one of the teams in this event could you
please e-mail Mr Chapman on [email protected]
and let him know so he can put you into a team.
Battle Abbey School appoints
new Deputy Head of Science
Dr Michelle Tickner (BSc (Hons), PhD,
PGCE) joins Battle Abbey School’s
Science Department from St Paul’s
Catholic College where she has been
Assistant Subject Leader of Science as
well as Leader of Chemistry. Dr Tickner
brings with her more than 15 years’
experience in research, teaching,
designing and leading new curriculum
with the integration of the latest technology.
With a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Surrey, Dr Tickner has
worked for over 3 years in a biotech company where she was involved
in developing anti-cancer drugs. She has also worked as a medical
writer communicating clinical and scientific data to a large
international audience.
In her spare time, she loves to read and is a keen runner where she can
be frequently found running over the South Downs.
On a roll!
On Saturday 11th June pupils from the Prep
School took part in 1066 Roller Skaters
Competition.
The girls all skated fantastically, with many
placed in the top three of their groups, from
third to first place. Every child returned with a
medal as well as two trophies for the School
trophy cabinet!
They all had terrific fun and were a credit to
Battle Abbey Prep.
BAFPA Charity Sports Afternoon –
Sunday 26th June 2 – 5pm
Our new BAFPA (Battle Abbey Former Pupils’
Association) Sports Committee have
organised its first charity netball and 5 aside
football tournament against current pupils and
staff, in what will be a thrilling afternoon of
competitive sport. They will be raising funds for
the Cystic Fibrosis Trust and have set up a
Justgiving page to help their cause: https://
www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Battle-AbbeySports
Do come along and support it if you can – the
match tea will be available to all participants
and spectators!!
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Tickets available from office
4 pound adult 2 pounds concessions
at the PAC.
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July 1st 2016 - 7pm
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Year 6 Cricket match vs Bricklehurst
The Year 5 and 6 boys cricket team went to Bricklehurst on
Wednesday to play in an 8-a-side cricket fixture. The boys gave an
excellent account of themselves in what was a very tight game.
Battle lost the toss and were put into bat. They scored 80 runs off
their 8 overs with some good hitting from David Jempson, Conor
Jackson and Arthur Lambert.
Bricklehurst came out of the blocks fast smashing boundaries
all around the ground. An important over by Jay Stovell-Davies
helped put the pressure onto Bricklehurst as they struggled to score
off his bowling.
The game was tightly poised with the hosts needing 10 off the last
over. Captain and man of the match David Jempson stepped up
and bowled well to restrict Bricklehurst and left them needing 2 runs
off the final ball.
Jempson held his
nerve and bowled
an excellent outswinging length
ball for no runs to
win the match for
BAS by 1 run. The
match was an
excellent advert
for cricket and
both sides should
be commended
for their high
standards of
play.
School Snapshot - Pupils celebra
te England’s
Mr Chapman
last gasp winner against Wales!
Shots from the finish line! - Mr Chapman’s Photo finshes
from Sports Day!