Headmaster's Letter March 2023 by Chigwell School

Headmaster’s Letter to Parents

March 2023

Dear Parents

I hope this newsletter finds you well and you are enjoying the company of your children as we start the Easter holidays. For many pupils, this will be a period of intensive revision for the upcoming summer examinations; others will be involved in school trips, and for some the holiday provides a chance for them to engage in their own interests at a more leisurely pace. Whatever the holiday holds, I hope that your children, along with yourselves, have a chance to take a break and recharge batteries ready for the Trinity Term.

These newsletters give me a chance to reflect on the school’s progress each term, and report back to you some of the many highlights. However, before I embark on this, I would like to take a moment to share with you some of the work which has been taking place this term behind the scenes. As you may be aware, the school reaches the significant milestone of the 400th anniversary of its founding in 2029, and it is therefore an opportune moment to develop and refine Chigwell’s strategic vision for the years leading up to this. We are consulting with many key stakeholders including staff, pupils, feeder schools and the local community; and it is of course also vitally important that we include you, the parent body, in these discussions. I will be holding a series of forums early next term to give you an opportunity to discuss your thoughts on the school: what we are getting right, and what we might improve on or prioritise going forwards. In preparation for those forums, I will be sending a questionnaire to all parents, and would be grateful if as many of you as possible were able to complete this.

It has been a pleasure to see a Chigwell Lent Term for the first time, and I have been struck by not only the sheer number of activities which have taken place, but also the willingness of pupils to take advantage of the opportunities presented to them. What I am most pleased to see when I have attended many of the events that you will read about below is how strongly the Chigwell values come through from both the pupils and staff.

If you would like to follow the activities at the school in real time, then our school social media pages can keep you updated.

Damian King Head

dking@chigwell-school.org

Page 1Climate & Biodiversity Action Committee

Shrove Tuesday Supper

Page 2 Staff Appointments

Driving on Site

Page 3Festival of the Foreign Word

Page 4World Book Day

Visit of Jenny Valentine

Page 5 Netball

Page 6 Netball

Page 7 Cross Country

Page 8 Swimming

Girls’ Football

Page 9 Boys’ Hockey

Page 10 Boys’ Hockey

Page 11 Boys’ Football

Page 12 Battlefields Trip

Page 13 Battlefields Trip

Page 14 FPQ Presentation

Linguistics Olympiad

Page 15 Drama

Page 16Music

UCAS Presentation Evening

Page 17 Careers Convention

International Womens’ Day

Page 18 Middle School Public Speaking Competition

Sixth Form Induction

Page 19 Staff News

Page 20 Message from the Chaplain

Page 21 Message from Mrs Janey Foster

Climate & Biodiversity Action Committee

The pupil Climate and Biodiversity Action Committee has been meeting weekly this term. They began the term with a series of assemblies for different year groups on the climate and ecological emergencies, which were well received. They have then been drawing up lists of priorities for the school, in their subgroups: Emissions, Biodiversity, Food, and Communications/ Curriculum, which have been presented to the Head and Governors. They are also planning a Climate Action Week for the first full week of next term.

Two requests for help - 1: As the MVI move towards their A levels and leaving Chigwell, they now need new members from the LVI and UV to take the lead in this vital work. If your child (all years from Year 7 upwards) is concerned about the emergency and would like to help, please ask them to come to a meeting (Friday, 1pm, Sixth Form Centre). And 2: We would love to hear from parents who are interested in what we are doing, have questions, or have connections/experience/expertise which might be useful: please email cbac@chigwell-school.org.

Shrove Tuesday Supper

The Old Chigwellians’ 155th Shrove Tuesday supper took place on Tuesday 21st February. As in previous years, OCs gathered to enjoy an evening back at school, and the event this year was particularly well attended by younger Old Chigwellians.

Staff Appointments

I am delighted that we have made a number of key appointments this term, and we look forward to welcoming them in September.

•Mr Thomas Burnside will be the new Deputy Head Pastoral. Tom has been the Head of Sixth Form at Whitgift School for the last five years. Prior to that he was Assistant Head of Sixth Form at Forest School from 2012-2018. He has spent time teaching in Sao Paulo and Taiwan. Tom has a First class degree in English and American Studies from Manchester University, where he was part of the University Challenge team in 2001.

•Mr Philip Harrison will be the new Deputy Head Academic. Philip currently teaches at Merchant Taylors’ School, Northwood where he has been since 2012. He is the Director of Scholarship and Enrichment and Head of Classics. Prior to Merchant Taylors’, he taught at Highgate and St Swithin’s. He studied Classics at Christchurch, Oxford.

•Mr Gareth Thomas will be Deputy Head of Junior School. He is currently Deputy Head of the Prep and Pre-Prep at Haberdashers’ Aske’s, a role he has held since 2019. For a period in 2022 he was acting Head, and he has previously also run Yrs3&4, was IT co-ordinator and is the DSL at the same school. Before HABS he taught in Cooper Kilifi School in Kenya, and St Martin’s Prep School in Northwood.

Driving on Site

Many thanks for adhering to the new parking system, which we implemented at the start of term. I am pleased to report that with the next phase of the Sports Centre being completed, the pathway between the new building and the road will return to us next term. In helping the traffic flow, and keeping everyone safe around the car park, can I ask parents to reduce their speed when driving on the school site. The younger pupils are not easily visible in rear view and wing mirrors and extreme caution is needed, especially when reversing or approaching crossings etc.

Festival of the Foreign Word

The Festival of the Foreign Word is held annually and aims to celebrate the beauty of the languages taught at the school (French, Spanish, and German) in their infinite sounds and nuances. It also offers our foreign students an opportunity to assert themselves, to be proud of their identity and literature. The event helps pupils to discover prominent authors who have

contributed to the influence of their languages through literature along with raising pupils’ cultural and global awareness through the medium of great literature. This year, the winner of the contest was Dan (MVIS) who read Barbara by Jacques Prévert. The poem condemns war and narrates the misery and desolation it brings.

World Book Day

World Book Day was celebrated across the school this month. In the Junior School pupils were entertained and inspired by author Clare Elsom’s stories, illustrations and costume. Meanwhile, the Scholastic Book Fair provided an exciting opportunity to purchase books, and everyone enjoyed dressing as their favourite book character. Pupils in the Senior School discovered their teachers’ favourite books on posters around school, debated whether authors’ works should ever be changed to suit the changing sensibilities of society, and enjoyed a choice of book quizzes.

Visit of Jenny Valentine

Author Jenny Valentine visited school on 17th March talking to Years 5-8, over two sessions, about the inspiration for her novels and her experience of the writing process. A later session with the Journalism Society enabled members to quiz her about the writing and publishing worlds. Our thanks to Jenny for an enjoyable and stimulating day.

Netball

Netball has got off to a positive start this half term with the same momentum that we ended with in February. Whilst the majority of the seniors’ matches were before half term, pupils still had a 5-team block fixture against Forest to prepare for. This fixture saw more than thirty-five pupils out representing the school enjoying an afternoon of competitive netball. With Chigwell winning 4 of the 5 fixtures as well as so many pupils playing, the afternoon was a success. The seniors also had their house netball afternoon. This is one of the highlights of the term where competitiveness, house rivalry and a lot of fun takes place. It was pleasing to see so many pupils out representing their houses, that we were able to hold two pools of match play.

The U15s, U14s, U13s and U12s have continued to have a busy and full fixture list with matches against, Bancroft’s, New Hall, St Edmund’s, Dame Alice Owens, Felsted, Bishop’s Stortford College, Haileybury, Park and St Aubyn’s. We have been encouraged by the number of pupils attending training and their willingness to be involved in fixtures. Fixtures have continued to see varying levels of

success, but pupils’ focus during matches and their resilience has shone through. Pupils in Key Stage 2 have had fixtures against Avon House, St Aubyn’s, Bancroft’s and New Hall as well as continuing to work on ball skills and game play in games afternoon and training evenings. The L1 and U1 year groups have been progressing well in BEE netball learning ball skills and the introduction to 5 a side game play. Towards the end of the first half term the U11s attended the IAPS competition at Felsted School. After a busy morning of match play, they progressed through to the Bowl semifinal beating St Cedds, before winning the Bowl final 7-4 against Dame Bradbury's School. Well done to the U11s. The U12s attended their IAPS on Thursday 16th March at Ipswich School, ending the tournament positively beating Hall Grove and St Hugh’s in a triangular to win the Shield. Congratulations to the U12s.

Well done to all the pupils involved in netball this half term.

Cross Country

On Wednesday 8th February Chigwell took a squad of twenty three Year 7 and 8 pupils to take part in the Essex Schools Cross-Country Championships, held at Writtle University College in Chelmsford. Our Year 7 boys came 37th out of forty-one schools with Thomas W being the first Chigwell boy in the team, gaining a time of 14.42 for 3000m. Well done to Yuvraj W, Archie C, Luca B, Jacob S and Rory E who also took part. The Year 7 girls came 28th out of thirty-nine schools with Betsy W achieving a time of 16.02 for 3000m and Rosie R coming in close behind with 16.05. Well done to Isla O’D and India H-H who also took part. In Year 8, the boys team came a very impressive 10th out of thirty-six schools with Archie B coming 14th and achieving a time of 13:19 for 3600m and being selected to represent Essex at the Inter-Counties event on 25th March. Well done to Dean S who achieved 14.28, Felix L with 14.55 and George W with 15.20, and to Syon E, Latif K, Bieant B, Ileri A, Ben R and Theo C who also took part. Our Year 8 girls did not have a full team but ran as individuals. Well done to Grace G who was the first Chigwell girl with a time of 17.34 for 3600m and also to Emily H and Amelia H for taking part.

Swimming

At the end of February, twenty swimmers from Year 5 to Year 8 travelled to Culford School to compete in both individual and relay events at the IAPS swimming competition. Congratulations to the following for coming first in their events: U12 Medley relay team (Betsy W, Isla O’D, India H-H and Rosie R), George Edwards in the U10 25m Butterfly, India H-H in the U12 50m backstroke, Rosie R in the U12 50m breaststroke. Well done too to Ben for 2nd in the U13 50m butterfly, Ben M for 2nd in the U11 50m freestyle and Isla O’D for 2nd in the

Girls’ Football

All girls from Year 3 to Year 13 were invited to take part in the FA’s Biggest Ever Girls Football Session on Wednesday 8th March. Just under one hundred girls from Chigwell took part, contributing to the 285 thousand girls who participated across the UK. Our U18 team also played their first football match of the season against Sevenoaks School as part of the ISFA Cup. The U14s represented Chigwell in the U15 ISFA Cup against Brentwood and whilst they fought well, Brentwood proved to be too strong an opposition for them.

50m freestyle. All swimmers showed spirit and enthusiasm. We find out in May as to whether anyone qualified for the National Finals in June at the London Aquatic Centre.

Boys’ Hockey

It has been a truly fantastic season for boys’ hockey. Despite the challenges faced before half term, with frozen pitches, snow and postponed tournaments, the boys’ achievements have been outstanding. In the Junior School, more pupils than ever have represented the school in competitive fixtures including over eighty pupils on a Saturday block versus Felsted . With participation numbers increasing, stronger links with local clubs, this in turn has led to strong performances on the pitch. Furthermore, with the Sports Hall close to completion, and additional indoor hockey provision available, the future of boys’ hockey is very bright.

At the youngest age groups, the U10s have commenced competitive fixtures this year, with the aim to apply their core skills under pressure and they have risen to the challenge. The U11s finished runners-up in the Essex Schools Tournament, and competed in the regional finals at Gresham’s School, highlighting the strength and depth at KS2. At the top of the Junior School, not to be outdone by KS2, Third and Fourth Form pupils have been a credit to the school. Over fifty pupils play hockey each Tuesday afternoon, and like in KS2, both the UI2s

and U13s qualified for the regional finals where they competed against leading independent schools in the East of England.

In the Senior School, the 1XI finished the season on a high. A victory over Bancroft’s at home was the pupils’ reward for their perseverance and highlighted their potential as a team. The 2XI continue to be one of the most successful teams across all sports and

their results this term highlight this will continue to be so moving forward. In the middle school the U15s, have developed technically and have benefited from having a large squad this year.

The stand out performance of the season however, was from the U14 team. Qualifying from the Essex Schools Tournament as County winners, this group then went on to win the Regional Finals held at Ipswich School. This

resulted in the squad heading to the National Finals at Nottingham University Sports Centre. The boys won their group, conceding a single goal and went on to play St George’s College in the final. Ultimately this proved to be one step too far losing 4-0 in the final. The boys were a credit to Chigwell both on and off the pitch and they should be extremely proud of their achievements, finishing as National Runners Up.

Boys’ Football

Another fantastic year for football is closing this term with a few notable successes. The U13s continued to build on their good year by defeating Lingfield College in the ISFA quarter-finals 3-1. In the semi-finals, they played Eaton Manor School and fought hard but lost the game to a solidarity goal. The U13s have exceeded expectations this year with five of the boys representing ISFA as well.

The U15s managed to go one better. They defeated Rossall School on penalties in the semi-finals to book their place in the ISFA shield final to be held on 20th April at Burnham FC. A hard-fought game saw the U15s come from a goal down in unseasonably harsh conditions. They showed true Chigwell spirit to overcome all the odds. Under the stewardship of Mr Mickey Payne the U15s again have proved their worth and find themselves in this prestigious final. The school hopes this is a successful occasion and will be the first time for a number of years to see Chigwell back in a national final. We wish them every luck in pursuit of the title. The details of the match are:

I.S.F.A. U15 SHIELD FINAL, Chigwell v. Epsom, Burnham F.C. Thursday 20th April 2023, 3.30 p.m.

Battlefields Trip

Over two days in mid March, fifty Removes pupils travelled to the Ypres region in Belgium and around the Somme River in France. The trip was packed with educational value, experiences of a lifetime, and observations to bring the classroom to life. Our pupils had the opportunity to learn so much at every stop. The icing on the cake for Mr Andrew Long was to find out about his relative on the Menin Gate and learn more about how he came to be there. The Guides were excellent; their passion, research and well-judged delivery was brilliant. Thanks to Mr Ian Goddard, Mr Rob

Richardson, Mr Andrew Long, Mrs Teresa Kwiecinska and Miss Jordan Castle, who all played a part in making this well organised and valuable trip a fantastic experience for the pupils.

FPQ Presentation

The FPQ qualification is now in its second year offering Junior School pupils the opportunity to plan, research, write and present a project on a topic of their own choosing.

In early February, twelve Year 8 students presented their FPQ projects on an extremely varied range of topics: feminism, sign language, make up, Zeus, sports footwear, homework, climate change, Otto von Bismarck, keeping otters as pets and conspiracy theories on the deaths of Marilyn Monroe and Princess Diana. The evening was very enjoyable, and several comments were

Linguistics Olympiad

A Linguistics Olympiad is a language-analysis competition in which pupils solve language puzzles. A typical puzzle is based on data from an unfamiliar language and requires competitors to work out some part of the system illustrated by the data. The intellectual experiences provided by the Olympiad competitions are not part of the normal school curriculum, but many pupils greatly enjoy the challenge and the competitions promise a number of important educational benefits. Senior School pupils competed in the event this year and the following students from Years 13 and 12 obtained an award: Gold award: Agnes, Niklaus and Dylan; Silver award: Karolina,

made regarding the high standard of the presentations. Well done to all the pupils!

Sulayman, Radek and Gosia; Bronze award: Zaara, Dan, Justina and Dariia

Well done to everyone who participated.

Drama

Since half term, the drama department has performed A level devised pieces and the GCSE scripted extracts. The devised pieces were inspired by practitioners Artaud and Brecht, and were original pieces of drama lasting twenty minutes each covering a range of topics relating to mental health, relationships and sexism. Pupils offered acting, light, sound and set design for assessment and produced three very high quality performances.

The GCSE scripted pieces were taken from a range of playwrights including Sophocles, Euripides and Shakespeare as well as more modern writers. Students made a total of twenty-two performances to a visiting examiner and offered acting, costume, light and sound. It was a tough challenge to produce all these extracts on one day to a large audience. It was marvellous to see the students rise to the occasion so well.

Music

The Choral Concert was the highlight of the term supported by the exuberant sounds from Redbridge Brass; the choirs amassed to sing Rutter’s Gloria, Parry’s ‘I Was Glad’, before finishing with a thousand singing Jerusalem. Ben Copsey presented an energetic, lively and poignant (especially in the slow movement) rendition of Derek Beorgeois ‘Concerto for Bass Trombone and Brass Band’ and was awarded the Concerto Shield by last year’s soloist, Dominic Tunks. We were glad to be able to share this

experience with choristers from Loyola, Woodford Green Prep School and St Aubyn’s. In total, some 280 pupils performed on the evening. We have had three wonderfully received recitals in our Live@6 programme from the Fourth Form, Removes and Years 10 and 12. They can be found on our YouTube channel.

On Friday 17th March we hosted the Rotary Youth Makes Music concert in which our senior big band and string orchestra Musici represented the school with great energy.`

UCAS Presentation Evening

A reminder to Lower Sixth pupils and their parents that Head of Sixth Form Mr Simon Coppell will be hosting an evening presentation in the Drama Centre from 6.30pm on Thursday 20th April giving a detailed overview of UK university application procedure.

Careers Convention

As I said in my last letter, the Trinity Term will see the return of our annual Careers Convention. We are pleased to be able to host this event in-person again on Thursday 27th April between 5pm and 7pm in New Hall. The aim of the event is to help pupils think about possible future career options which are available to them and it will also enable them to meet representatives from different employment areas. Pupils from the Removes to Middle Sixth are welcome to attend with their parents. Amongst the institutions and

organisations already confirmed are Royal Holloway University, JP Morgan, Queen Mary University, Higgins Partnership, Escape Studios, The University Guys, Birmingham University, surveying apprentices from Allsop, and representatives from the Royal Society of Chemistry and the NHS. Full details about all those attending the convention will be sent out nearer to the event. For further details please contact Miss Roxanne Darkin (rdarkin@chigwell-school.org)

International Women’s Day

For international women’s day 2023, the Equality Ambassadors put together a range of activities for the school to take part in, as well as presenting an assembly which taught the Senior School about the 2023 theme of ‘Embracing Equity’. Pupils across the school, from the juniors to the sixth formers, enjoyed posing for pictures in the ‘embracing equity’ frame, which helped to spread the core message of International Women’s Day. Pupils were also given the opportunity to share ideas and opinions during form time, through presentations made by the team which involved various discussion

points, and also informed students about International Women’s Day as a whole and the importance of it.

Middle School Public Speaking Competition

The competition was closely fought with some excellent speaking skills on display. The audience were treated to a variety of topics from ‘the power of crying’ to the ‘concerning nature of AI generated art works’. Yuvan (Caswalls’) was judged the best chairperson, while Harry (Penn’s), was an entertaining winner in the vote of thanks competition. It was a difficult task for adjudicators, Ms Niamh Feeney and Mr Simon Mills, to decide on the best speaker, but they ultimately named joint winners Eloise and Sofia (both Swallow’s). Runner-up Johan led the Lambourne B team to victory as the best team, ably supported by Sarah and Aswini`

Sixth Form Induction

We are planning to hold a Sixth Form induction day on Tuesday 20th June for day pupils coming into our Lower Sixth this September. It is an opportunity for us to give them a flavour of the type of lessons that they can look forward to in the Sixth Form along with setting expectations for next year. The day will include sessions in their chosen A level subjects, a chance to meet new joiners, and a launch of the summer project which they can involve themselves in. Pupils can wear either Upper Fifth or Sixth Form uniform for the day.

Staff News

We send our congratulations to Mrs Imogen Sutton and her husband Tommy on the birth of their baby son Henry, and we also congratulate Miss Katie Cross, now Mrs Coleridge, on her marriage to Anthony.

With best wishes,

Damian King

Message from the Chaplain

Dear all

The shortest day is past and the possibility of spring is ahead of us. After the dark days of winter the soul longs for spring and new life. I am sure that this feeling is shared across our school community and the hopes and possibilities lie before each one of us. I know that at this time of year many of our young people are taking important exams and my prayers are with them. In the life of the Chapel we have been welcoming our friends from the Gideon Bible Society and Bishop Lynne. I look forward to a trip to Ireland to work

through a schedule to re-install the Chapel Organ and in the light of this hope to ‘spring clean’ the Chapel by bringing life, music and flowers! A place of spiritual upliftment.

I very much wish each one of you a happy Easter and I pray that this will be, for each one of you, a season of hope.

With blessings

Fr David

Message from Mrs Janey Foster

After twelve happy years at Chigwell, I am leaving to take up the role of Assistant Head Pastoral at St Francis College. Chigwell students are a special bunch, and I will miss their talent, diligence, and positive attitude.

It has been a pleasure working in the drama centre and I will miss my colleagues in the drama department. It has been wonderful to watch pupils perform in productions across each key stage, from large scale Junior School plays to challenging A level texts. Miss Bella Cavicchi is a fantastic addition to the drama department, and I wish her all the best as my successor.

The house system at Chigwell is integral to the Senior School and being Housemistress of Penn’s has been such a joy. Penn’s pupils have a strong house identity and competitive spirit: from everything to house chess to house music, Penn’s pupils continue to show up for their house. I have been lucky to work with a superb team of tutors and I know Penn’s will go from strength to strength with Mr Graham Sexton as Housemaster.

I leave Chigwell with many happy memories. It is bittersweet to say farewell, but I’m excited for the new opportunities and experiences that await me!