Prep for the Week Issue 1839

Prep for the Week Issue Number 1839 – 7 October 2016

Kingfishers practise violin with members of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

ities at n u t r o p hip op llege s r a l o o h 13+ Sc eltenham C h C larship

In this week’s issue…

Headmster's Blog and Commendations Winner of the Smootheelicious competition Cheltenham Prep's A Level and GCSE Joy Kingfishers, Lower, Middle and Upper School News Girls' and Boys' Sports Calendar and Notices

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Headmaster's Blog Dear Parents On Wednesday, it was with immense pleasure and pride that I watched the best of the independent sector at work. At the heart of a simple but significant decision was the care and future development of all of the children who happened to be involved in a school fixture.

From the start it was clear that there was a mismatch between two rugby teams, despite them both being styled 1st XVs. Therefore, as soon as suspicions were confirmed and one side began to score at will, the match was stopped and the sides mixed up to ensure a safe and meaningful game. As I have said, at the heart of this decision taken by Mr Simpson, was the safety and self-esteem of all of the boys. Not so long ago, the attitude would have been to score as many points as possible in order to emphasise who was the better team. Now a more reasoned approach is required and The Prep is right at the heart of this change in approach.

"I just wanted to thank you for hosting Beaudesert on Wednesday, and for the brilliant way that the afternoon was run. Mixing the teams was an excellent step, allowing for both sets of boys to enjoy the afternoon and have fun playing rugby - exactly what its all about, and it was hugely appreciated by the boys, our parents, and myself."

- Henry, Coach from Beaudesert Park School.

Open Morning went well and the number of visitors was heartening. As pleasing was the large number of emails from our visitors complimenting our guides on their confidence and ability to communicate their enjoyment of and frustrations with school. I reiterate the importance of these opportunities for all of Year 8 to act as guides in order to begin to develop the skills of presentation.

On Saturday we play a major block fixture against Clifton College. This is only possible because Clifton have followed our initiative in making Saturday school less demanding for children (in terms of time) and more family friendly. Parents should be aware that this trend of adopting a shorter Saturday for children of prep school age is prevalent not only in the south-west, but also nationwide.

Headmaster's Commendations Georgina Hamer, Olivia Piggott and Theory Clarke for commitment to improving their maths understanding by completing recommended work over the summer holiday

Well done to all 200 entries into our Smoothie Competition, which took place over the Exeat weekend. There were many interesting, delicious and unusual recipes, and pupils across all sections of the school impressed with their taste extravaganzas!

After narrowing it down to two winning smoothies from each Year group, judges Mike Rooke, Executive Head Chef at Cheltenham College, and Gill Pearson, MD from smoothie making company Smootheelicious, then agreed on a winner in each section of the School.

Congratulations to the four lucky winners below, who will be invited to the Smootheelicious HQ to recreate their smoothie in the final!

From Kingfishers, Yi Cheng Shi; from Lower School, Ben Arnold; from Middle School, Fred Barter; and from Upper School, Molly Krauer.

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Cheltenham Prep’s A Level and GCSE Joy Former Prep pupils enjoyed great success this summer in their A Level results, with three bound for Oxford University: Jana Bourhill (Medicine at Brasenose), Katherine Stanton (History at Corpus Christi) and Isabelle Winstanley (Classics at Christ Church). Neil Hacker (A*AA) will read Economics at UCL, Emily Morton goes on to study Natural Sciences at Bath and Patrick Payne has chosen Chemistry at Durham.

Overall 1 in 3 students attained an A* grade, 46% of all grades were A*- A and College’s top 100 pupils achieved 89% A* - B. Over 75% of Cheltenham College students gained places at Russell Group universities alongside top universities including St Andrews and Bath.

Cheltenham College pupils and staff are also celebrating their best ever GCSE results.

• 40% A* • 70% A*- A • 50% of pupils achieved 5 or more A*s, of which 9 pupils were awarded 10+ A*s.

• 13 former Prep pupils gained 7 or more A*s with 7 of these celebrating 10 A*s or more.

These results augur particularly well for future success at Oxbridge and other top universities. They reflect the excellent educational start at The Prep, followed

by College’s core focus on academic achievement enhanced by its commitment to a rich co-curricular programme within a co-educational environment.

Simon Brian, Deputy Head Academic at Cheltenham College said, “These results are indeed pleasing but what I am so delighted to see is the year on year improvement in College’s academic performance.

Six years ago our results were very different, though the profile of our academic intake has changed insignificantly; what has changed has been our focus on excellent academic teaching, setting the highest of expectations for our pupils and constantly evaluating and improving our offer.”

Oxford-bound Katherine, Jana, Isabelle (L-R)

Cheltenham College GCSE Results Year A* grades A*‒ A grades

2012 25 % 55 %

2013 27 % 56 %

2014 35 % 65 %

2015 36 % 66 %

2016 40 % 70 %

Cheltenham College A Level Results Year 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

A* grades 20 % 10 % 16 % 17 % 13 %

Prep for The Week Issue Number 1839 7 October 2016

A*‒ A grades 53 % 47 % 49 % 45 % 46 %

A*‒ B grades 81 % 77 % 77 % 75 % 74 %

A*‒ E grades 99.5 % 99.7 % 99.2 % 99.1 % 99.5 % 3

Kingfishers The children in the Cottage and Reception enjoyed their Harvest Festival celebrations. They brought in their harvest donations to share, sang beautifully about a big red combine harvester, before helping to make a delicious harvest soup.

Thank you to everyone who came, we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.

Year One have been studying L S Lowry this term and have created their own industrial landscape pictures in his style. He only used five colours in his palate, the three primary colours, red, yellow and blue along with black and white. The children used watercolours to create their landscapes and then also in the style of Lowry, they drew matchstick men using black felt tip pens.

Kingfishers had the pleasure of listening to The String Quartet from the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra on Monday. Sophie, Helen, Jane and Charlotte played two pieces of music, the first piece written by Bach specifically for 2 violins and the second, a piece called Jeeves and Wooster. They also gave lots of information about the instruments they played, such as the cello playing the baselines and, as the violins are the smallest instruments, they can play the highest notes. Afterwards, Year One stayed behind to play some violin games and use their fingers to pluck notes on the violin. All the children thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

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Lower School Year 4 have been learning about the human skeleton in their 'Moving and Growing' Science topic this term. They have been naming the bones and the muscles and are challenging themselves to learn as many as possible before the end of term. The pupils have also investigated how they move, so have been working out which muscles, bones and joints are used for different activities. As you can see they have also been replicating their poses with a skeleton and naming their own bones.

Pupils in lower school have been enjoying investigating different forms of poetry. Year 4 have been reading haikus, tankas, cinquains and looking at rhyming patterns. Come and see some of our wonderful poetry on display, especially after we have just celebrated National Poetry Day 2016.

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Year 5 Hatch Plan to Study Lifecycles

In Science lessons the Year 5s have been studying the life cycles of different animal groups. They have been very excited to be able to watch eggs hatching and caterpillars turning into chrysalises first-hand.

On Monday morning, our ten eggs, incubator and brooder box were delivered. Mr Williams set up a webcam so that we could watch the eggs hatching even if we weren’t in the room.

Thursday, some pupils were able to watch more of the chicks hatch, either in person or on the webcam from another classroom. Excitingly, all 10 eggs hatched and, by Thursday evening, the chicks were all fluffed up and happily living in the brooder box.

On Open Morning, some Year 7 pupils researched and presented information on the life cycle, embryo development and gestation periods of chickens, as well as having a quick cuddle with Pupils learned all about the the chicks! Over the next week we development of the embryo, from fertilisation through to the hatching will look after them by giving them fresh food and water twice a day of the chick. A fertile egg will hatch after 21 days. Day 21 was Wednesday and changing their bedding. and we found that three chicks had hatched out early in the morning We now await the hatching of our butterflies over the course of the before we arrived at school. next week. It’s all go in the Science Through the rest of Wednesday and department!

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Middle School go bonkers for conkers!

Pupils in Middle School have been going bonkers for conkers during the past few weeks! There have been large gatherings of children waiting in anticipation under the large horse chestnut tree in the yard at breaktimes. Blazer pockets have been filled to the brim with these small brown treasures.

In Catch Up club, after all their prep had been done, pupils also enjoyed watching YouTube clips of the World Conker Championships and researched the rules of this very British game. Afterwards they had their own Middle School Conker Competition.

Have you been out and about, collecting conkers? Send your photos to our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ Cheltenham.Prep.

Ski club have been enjoying themselves enormously at Matson Ski Slope on Monday Nights!

There are places still available for any new faces to join if they would like: to find out more, get in touch with Mr Perona-Wright, Mr Yiend or Mr McCracken.

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Can you tell what it is yet?

Upper School To celebrate National Poetry Day, Year 8 used the fabulous words from a Marcus Sedgewick book to write a poem to him. The book they used was My Sword Hand is Singing and it created some inventive and wonderful poetic masterpieces! Some of our other favourite poetry books gave the pupils inspiration along the way.

Mr Boyd has been testing the equipment in our new, state of the art Technology centre. The laser cutter and 3D printer are some of the most technologically advanced machines we have. Can you guess what the 3D printer is making in the pictures above? Post your answers on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/Cheltenham.Prep Prep for The Week Issue Number 1839 7 October 2016

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Girls' Sports Girls' Hockey Results TEAM OPPOSITION RESULT SCORE 1st VII Prior Park Won 7–2 4th VII Hatherop Castle 1st VII Lost 1–3 5th VII Hatherop Castle 2nd VII Lost 1–5 U11 A Prior Park Won 3–0 U11 A Richard Pate Won 5–1 U11B Richard Pate Won 3–1 U10 A Prior Park Won 4–0 U10 A Richard Pate Lost 1–2 U10 B Richard Pate Lost 0–1

nd xtures a ter! fi , s w e n For n Twit ow us o ll o f , s e t upda repgirls @cheltp

Team of the Week – 1st VII Seven goals speak for themselves. A fantastic display by our top team this week. They played as a unit and were disciplined in implementing the zone and the press. Every goal was the result of a quality passing display. They didn’t get complacent and fought hard until the end. A fantastic example to set to the rest of our teams.

Coaching session for Hopelands Prep School We welcomed 16 children from Hopelands Prep School on Wednesday, a small school where the children rarely get to play hockey due to a lack of facilities. Our 2nds and 3rds teamed up with them for the afternoon and worked through various skill stations before joining in some fun matches at the end. The staff from Hopelands have already been in touch to say how much their children enjoyed this opportunity and to ask if it could become an annual thing. As always, our girls were the perfect hosts and proved to be wonderful coaches.

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Boys' Sports Boys' Rugby Results TEAM OPPONENT U13A Beaudesert 1st XIII U13B St Hugh’s 3rd XII U12A Beaudesert 2nd XII U12B Beaudesert 3rd XII U11A Beaudesert U11A U11B Beaudesert U11B U11C Beaudesert U11C U10A Beaudesert U10A U10B Beaudesert U10B U10C Beaudesert U10C U9AB Down’s Festival

RESULT Won Won Won Won Lost Lost Lost Drew Lost Won Festival

SCORE 55-5 55-5 55-0 35-5 20-30 25-0 0-40 15-15 20-40 N/A

For news, fix tures and updates, foll ow us on Tw itter! @cheltprep_ boys

Cheltenham Prep U13B v St Hughs Won 55-5 Two weeks ago the U13B team lost narrowly to St Hugh's 30-25, so the return fixture was eagerly anticipated in the hope that we could reverse the result. We were able to put out an almost full strength side and the practice session on Monday went well so all were looking positive ahead of kick off. However, what happened in the following 40 minutes was quite outstanding and beyond what we could have expected as we romped to a most comfortable victory playing some wonderful rugby on route. All the players should be very proud of their performances and it was great to see that they put into the match situation what we have been practising in games sessions. We were 30-0 up at half time and it could easily have been more but for a very harsh referee who penalised us for the slightest ‘infringement’!! The second half followed a similar pattern as we took complete control and it was delightful to see the boys passing the ball around, and not play as individuals, scoring some fantastic team tries. More of the same against Clifton please!

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All changes and additions to the School Calendar appear in pink.

Calendar

Sunday 9 October 2016 13:00 Boarders' Fun Day (Full and Regular Flexi-Boarders Only) Monday 10 October 2016, Week 6, 10 - 16 October 09:30 Year 3 visit to Cheltenham Literature Festival 11:15 Year 2 visit to Cheltenham Literature Festival 11:15 Year 4 visit to Cheltenham Literature Festival 18:15 Parents' Evening for parents of children in Year 6 (Surname A-K) Tuesday 11 October 2016 09:30 Year 5 visit to Cheltenham Literature Festival 11:45 Year 5 workshop at Cheltenham Literature Festival (for selected pupils) 13:00 Year 6 event at Cheltenham Literature Festival (for selected pupils) 17:00 Cheltenham College 13+ Scholarship Information Evening (College) Wednesday 12 October 2016

Year 1 trip to Bath Road 09:30 Year 6 visit to Cheltenham Literature Festival 12:15 Departure for Hockey v King's Hawford (A): U11A, U11B (start 13:30), U10B (start 14:30). Pick up 16:45 12:35 Departure for Beaudesert Rugby Festival (A): U11A IX, U11B IX, U11C IX. Start 14:00. Pick up 17:30 12:35 Departure for Wycliffe Rugby Festival (A): U10A VIII, U10B VIII, U10C VIII. Start 14:00. Pick up 17:30 12:35 Departure for Rugby v Prior Park (A): U12A XII. Start 14:30. Pick up 17:15 13:00 Departure for Hockey v The Elms (A): 1st VII, 2nd VII. Start 14:30. Pick up 17:00 13:00 Cheltenham Prep School Invitational Hockey Tournament (H): U10A, U9A. Pick up 16:30 14:30 Rugby v Prior Park (H): U13B XIII. Pick up 16:30 14:45 Departure for Hockey v RGS Worcester (A): 4th VII, 5th VII. Start 16:00. Pick up 18:00 Thursday 13 October 2016 06:30 Departure for IAPS Hockey Regional Qualifiers (Repton School) (A): 1st VII. Pick up 18:30 15:35 Departure for Cross Country League Race 2 (St Edward's) (A): Years 4-6. Pick up 17:30 18:15 Parents' Evening for parents of children in Year 6 (Surname L-Z) Friday 14 October 2016 06:30 Departure for IAPS Hockey Regional Qualifiers (Repton School) (A): U11A. Pick up 18:30 09:30 Year 8 visit to Cheltenham Literature Festival 11:00 Rugby Training - Yr 3 with James Simpson-Daniell 11:15 Year 7 visit to Cheltenham Literature Festival (group 1) 13:00 Year 7 visit to Cheltenham Literature Festival (group 2) 14:15 Kingfishers and Lower School Chess Challenge. Pick up 16:00 14:15 Chapel (parents welcome) Saturday 15 October 2016 08:15 Coach House & EAL Coffee Morning (Coach House) Cancelled 09:00 Cheltenham College Open House for Prospective Parents (College Houses) 09:00 Departure for Rugby v Bromsgrove (A): U11A IX, U11B IX, U11C IX, U10A VIII, U10B VIII, U10C VIII. Start

10:30. Pick up 13:30 09:15 Departure for Severnside Hockey Tournament (Dean Close) (A): U9A, U9B. Start 10:00. Pick up 12:30 09:30 Baby to Big School: Getting Ready for School Information Morning for Prospective Parents 09:30 Middle School House Hockey. Pick up 11:00 09:50 Departure for Rugby v Bromsgrove (A): U13B XIII, U12A XII, U12B XII. Start 11:15. Pick up 14:15 10:30 Upper School House Hockey. Pick up 12:00 10:30 Rugby v Bromsgrove (H): U13A XIII. Pick up 12:00 Sunday 16 October 2016 10:00 Boarders' Theme Park Fun (Full and Regular Flexi-Boarders Only) Prep for The Week Issue Number 1839 7 October 2016

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NOTICES Happy Birthday to the following pupils this week!

Alfie Hayden Josh Mansell-King Tobias Evans Star Jamieson Aaron Yousuf Eve Loosemore James Dutton Maxim Pioli DeCam Ben Richards Archie Wills Ollie Blanchfield Joseph Coley Luke Richardson Leah Richardson Max Brown

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The Cheltonian Association Dates for the Diary Thursday 17 November London Drinks at Davy’s Wine Bar Crown Passage, 20 King’s Street, St James’s, London SW1Y 6QY

Sunday 27 November Cheltenham College Christmas Shopping Fair

In Forest School we found leaves and trees and mud pies and creepy crawlies!

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