Headmaster’s Letter to Parents
July 2022
Dear Parents For this, my final final letter of the year, I would like to thank you for all your support once again – for your children, the School and, indeed, me. The last couple of weeks have encapsulated all that is best about Chigwell: pupils working together to balance commitments in and out of the classroom, events taking place virtually every evening, families supporting in droves and the sun shining on the outstanding facilities and grounds that we enjoy. I hope those pupils and staff leaving will be happy and successful in all their future endeavours; for everyone else, please continue to take advantage of all that Chigwell has to offer and develop your considerable talents to the full. After fifteen years, I will miss you and the School very much but I know that you and it will continue to thrive. Best wishes Michael Punt
Mr Michael Punt M.A. M.Sc. P.G.C.E. Headmaster mpunt@chigwell-school.org
Contents Page 1
Dr Peter Clayton Drama
Page 2
Speech Day and the Summer Ball
Page 3
Speech Day and the Summer Ball
Page 4
Activities Week
Page 5
Activities Week
Page 6
Junior School Sports Day
Page 7
Junior School Sports Day
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Senior School Sports Day Middle Sixth Leavers Trips Over the Summer Break
Page 9
Examination Results
Page 10
Art Design and Technology Speech Day Exhibition 2022
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Art Design and Technology Speech Day Exhibition 2022
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Art Design and Technology Speech Day Exhibition 2022
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Cricket
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Staff News
Dr Peter Clayton It was with shock and sadness that we learned of the unexpected death of Dr Peter Clayton at the beginning of July. Peter retired in 2020 having served forty-five years at the School. He was a talented physicist and amongst the responsibilities that he held over the years he was variously Head of Physics, Head of Science and Head of IT; latterly he wrote the timetable. Our thoughts and prayers are with Peter’s wife, Clare, and their wider family.
Drama with an unusually powerful mind. The comedy was very well received and clearly much enjoyed by the cast of Lower Sixth students who put the play together in one week flat.
This has been a busy half term for drama. The Junior School play, “Chicken Run” by Aidan Chambers, was enjoyed by the whole of Year 6 in a matinee performance and by parents and other students that very same evening. This was a classic period piece about gangs in the 1960s.The actors thoroughly enjoyed what was for many their first time on stage for three years or more! Many thanks to Mr Roderick Lonsdale for all his efforts in getting the Junior School play up and running once again after the Covid years.
Finally, the Remove GCSE students performed a showcase of their first work in drama. This was a series of monologues performed by the actors with light, sound and costume provided by the design students. This was a great opportunity for students to experience live performing after several years off stage and get a taste of what GCSE drama will be like for them in the next two years. Monologues included themes such as phobias, relationships, parenting, and many more.
Next, we had the Scholars’ Play, “Ernie’s Incredible Illucinations” by Alan Aychbourn, directed by Lower Sixth Drama Scholar, Sebi. This was a highly entertaining piece about a boy
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Speech Day and the Summer Ball It was lovely to see so many Chigwell families at the various speech day events last weekend. Friday afternoon saw the service in St Mary’s Church led by Reverend Chris Davies for pupils in Reception to Upper One and this was followed by a very wellattended garden party in the Pre Prep. On Saturday morning, pupils in Lower Two to Fourth Form attended their service in St Mary’s which was followed by the Senior School service for older pupils. At both the preacher was The Venerable Vanessa Herrick, Archdeacon of Harlow. Prizegiving itself took place in the marquee at Chigwell Hall where the Guest of Honour was Professor Gurminder Bhogal, Catherine Mills Davis Chair in music at Wellesley College, Massachusetts. The formal
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proceedings were followed by afternoon tea and then the Chigwell Ball took place in the evening for Middle Sixth pupils and parents, as well as staff.
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Activities Week Pupils in Years 7 to 13 had a funpacked time during Activities Week and it gave them the opportunity to ‘do something different’ and think ‘outside’ the curriculum. We encourage pupils to seize opportunities around them, support and collaborate with each other and also make a positive contribution to the wider community. Pupils were able to use their problem-solving skills during the CSI: Storm Raiders and Taskmaster bunker activities and their lateral thinking skills during the treasure hunt in Stratford. The trips to Colchester Zoo, the humanities-
focused visit to the British Museum, Verulamium Trip to St Albans and the geography field trip to Walton on the Naze ignited pupils’ imagination and brought the curriculum to life. The Fourth Form spent three days in their new Senior School Houses preparing for their Eisteddfod which allowed
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them to bond together in their new House tutor groups and develop and showcase their talents in English, drama, music and art. The performances were outstanding and we were treated to an afternoon of high quality performances including gumboot dancing.
Remove pupils completed their Bronze DofE expedition around Skreens Park and the Lower Sixth took part in an action-packed trip to the Lake District where they had the opportunity to climb Red Pike, mountain bike in Grizedale and kayak on Derwent Water.
Pupils also took part in community based projects and worked alongside volunteers at 3foods4u, The Sunflower Charity at Grange Farm and the Chigwell Care home. The pupils showed incredible maturity and enjoyed working with members of the local community – they truly made a positive mark on all those with whom they worked.
Well done to everyone involved.
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Junior School Sports Day Thankfully the weather stayed fine for sports day on Saturday 25th and it was wonderful to see the whole Junior School community coming together for a celebration of sport on the athletics field over a four hour period. Every Junior School pupil was involved in at least two events with some Year 7 and 8 pupils participating in four. Four school records were broken by Phoebe U9 girls 50m, Freddie U9 boys 50m, Justin U10 boys 50m and Bobby in the girls U12 75m race. Certificates were awarded to those placed 1st, 2nd and 3rd. Individuals who accumulated the highest individual points total received a cup: Those recipients are listed below in the following order Lower One to Fourth Form:
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Boys – Freddie, Joshua, Evan, Oscar, Felix and George Girls – Phoebe, Elizabeth and Freya ( shared ), Jasmine, Maddie, Pia and Alice House results were : 1st Stuarts, 2nd Windsors, 3rd Hanovers and 4th Tudors A massive thank you goes to all of the PE department, especially Mr Kevin Farrant for organising this event, and to the Junior School and support staff for their hard work on the day.
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Senior School Sports Day Senior School Sports Day ran very smoothly and efficiently this year. Overall, it was a very successful day and thankfully the sun was shining. It was great to see so many pupils and teachers from the Senior School coming together to celebrate the sport of athletics and the talent displayed by the Chigwell students. Pupils from across the Senior School participated in a range of field and track events to earn points for their houses. Congratulations to Caswalls’ for their victory! The following pupils were individuals who scored the highest number of points, in their age groups:
Remove Girls – Evie, Hermoine and Grace Remove Boys – Milun and Mark Lower Fifth Girls – Sophia and Lily Lower Fifth Boys – Pranay Lower Sixth Girls – Sara and Sally Lower Sixth Boys – Simeon, Jordan A massive thank you to the PE Department, especially Miss Jordan Castle, for organizing this event, and to all of the staff involved for their hard work and help on the day.
Middle Sixth Leavers Pupils in the Middle Sixth and their parents gathered for a service and bbq to celebrate their time at Chigwell. We shall certainly miss all those who are leaving and hope that they will stay in touch. Please make sure we have personal email addresses for the O.C. database.
Trips Over the Summer Break There will be various Duke of Edinburgh trips over the summer break including foot training practice and canoeing in Scotland.
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Exam Results Days A Level Results – Thursday 18th August
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At 8.00am results will be made available to students electronically. Students can access their UCAS applications from 8.15am to consult course confirmations.
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From 8.15am onwards Mr Neil Saunders, Mr Simon Coppell, Miss Roxanne Darkin, Ms Charlotte Nairac and Mr Michael Punt will be available in the Sixth Form Centre for advice or help, along with other senior colleagues.
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Heads of Department will be contactable on the day by email or Teams. Enquiries about remarks should be addressed to Miss Darkin from 10.00am.
GCSE Results – Thursday 25th August
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At 10.00am paper copies of exam results will be issued to students in the Sixth Form Centre and members of senior staff will be available for advice or help.
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GCSE results will be published electronically from midday.
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If, post results day, the student makes an agreed A level subject change following parental request to the Head of Sixth Form, they must complete any holiday homework for this as well as their other A level subjects.
If there is a change to these, students should confirm their A level subject choices to Miss Roxanne Darkin, Sixth Form Coordinator, in person or by email (rdarkin@chigwell-school.org) on the day.
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Art Design and Technology Speech Day Exhibition 2022 Another year of exciting creativity has flown by in the Junior Art room, and this is evident to see in the wonderful array of colourful projects in this year’s Art, Design and Technology KS2 Speech Day Exhibition. We have everything from still life studies to robots with flashing eyes. Our wonderful one-day art workshop on ‘Interesting Insects’ just shows the details and care that every pupil made. The look of delight on their faces with the finished array of insects was very rewarding for us all. Probably my favourite display is our mounted papier mache fish, so bright and colourful and full of perfect patterns. This year, pupils in the Senior School have created a wide and thoughtful range of art and design work. An abstract investigation of sound, dystopian future societies, language and identity, hybrid-style footwear, luxury and materialism, progressive rock, the cycles of the natural world and hand-made flying machines are just some of the many topics and areas of interest they have successfully explored during the last academic year. Our pupils have consistently made
work to the highest of standards using both hand-made and digital media, and it has been wonderful to see their work develop and progress. Much of the work which has been created is now on display in the Speech Day Exhibition. Do please come and visit the art gallery, the displays will be up until just after Open Day in October.
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Cricket The Chigwell Cricket Week started off with the annual fixture against The Reg Scarlett XI, which consisted of players who attended Haringey Cricket College in the early eighties to the early nineties. This year they came with a team consisting of six exprofessional cricketers who played county cricket. The Reg Scarlett team posted a total of 126 for 5 wickets. Chigwell in return scored the total in the last over beating The Reg Scarlett team by 5 wickets.
total, with the opening batters applying themselves to knock off the score in only 15 overs for a Chigwell victory. The MCC came with a much stronger team this year after their defeat last year. They batted first and declared on a generous total of 243. However, in reply the MCC made early inroads into the Chigwell top order which made it hard to recover. Chigwell retreated to bat out for the draw, but unfortunately the Chigwell lower order was not able to and were bowled out with 5 overs to go.
The second match was against The Haydn Davis XI. On a scorching hot day, The Haydn Davis XI decided to bat, putting on a total of 141 for 6 in 20 overs. In response the Chigwell School 1st XI made light work of the
The week rounded off an excellent season.
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Staff News We send our congratulations to Mr Richard Hume who will be marrying Alfa over the summer break. We hope they have a wonderful day and enjoy their celebrations. Sadly, we say farewell to a number of staff who are leaving at the end of this term. Mr Adrian Sherriff and Miss Victoria Vickers have both come to the end of their maternity covers; we thank them for all that they have done over the past year and wish them well for the future. We also say goodbye to our Drama Centre Manager and Technician, Mr Daryl Blair, who leaves us after three years to move to Manchester to continue his career in theatre. Mr David Hartland is retiring after thirty-two years at the School. During his time with us he has been a teacher of geography, Head of Geography, Housemaster of Caswalls’ and he has made a huge contribution to the School through sport. We shall miss Dave but send our best wishes to him for a long and happy retirement. We also send our best wishes to Mrs Janet Long who retired at the end of June after twenty-five years running the admissions office. During her time at the School she has liaised with many, many families. We hope that she too will enjoy a very happy retirement.
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TERM DATES 2022 Michaelmas Term 2022 Staff meetings and INSET on Monday 5th and Tuesday 6th September First day:
Wednesday 7th September
Half term:
Saturday 22nd October to Sunday 6th November
Term ends: Friday 16th December Lent Term 2023 Staff meetings and INSET on Monday 9th January First day:
Tuesday 10th January
Half term:
Saturday 11th February to Sunday 19th February
Term ends: Wednesday 29th March Trinity Term 2023 (Easter Day is 9th April) First day:
Wednesday 19th April
Half term:
Saturday 27th May to Sunday 4th June INSET Day Monday 5th June
Term ends: Wednesday 12th July
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