Newsletter 13th March 2023

Kindness, Trust, Respect, Honesty, Tolerance

Diary Dates

The Week Ahead

Trial Exams (Years 11 and 13)

8:00am Monday 13th March to 4:30pm Friday 24th March

Please see the final page/s for timetables

Shakespeare Rehearsal (Year 9)

4:30pm-6:30pm, Monday 13th March

Shakespeare Rehearsal (Year 9)

8:30am-4:30pm, Tuesday 14th March, Woodville Halls

Shakespeare Performance (Year 9) 7:00pm-10:00pm, Tuesday 14th March, Woodville Halls

Anti-Bullying Training

12:45pm-3:25pm, Thursday 16th March

Shakespeare Festival Performance

7:00pm-8:00pm, Thursday 16th March

MUN Conference

9:30am-4:30pm, Saturday 18th March

Looking Further Forward

Round Square European Conference

Thursday 23rd – Monday 27th March

Year 8 Parents’ Meeting

5:00pm-7:30pm, Tuesday 28th March

Unicorn Easter Egg Raffle

1:00pm-2:20pm, Wednesday 29th and

Thursday 30th March, outside the Gilt Hall

Year 13 Service Placement

1:25pm-4:00pm, Wednesday 29th

March, Leybourne Lakes

Trampolining Competition

9:00am-3:00pm, Thursday 30th March, Rebound Centre, Gillingham

Cobham Hall News

Monday, 13th March |Week B

Open Morning

Our School Open Morning took place on Saturday 4th March Our Benesonantes Choir greeted visitors with a varied repertoire as they settled into the Gilt Hall After Mrs Barrett’s welcome, Bethany, Year 7, and our Guardian, Alyssa, Year 12, took to the floor, explaining why they chose to come to Cobham Hall and offering insight into their experiences here.

Accompanied by our excellent student guides, visitors were then invited to take part in an assortment of activities, from science experiments to trampolining, and were later treated to performances by our talented singer Rhiannon, Year 13, and harpist Lillian, Year 8.

We are pleased to share some of the positive feedback we received from our visitors:

“Thank you for making me feel so welcome Please do thank the girls for doing such a fantastic job, they are wonderful ambassadors for the School.” (Year 11 parent)

“Carmen was the best guide ever, she’s a credit to your School” (Year 6 parent)

“The School is lovely and I’d very much like [my daughter] to attend. If you could thank Olivia for taking us around.” (Year 2 parent)

The event was a huge success thanks to our students and staff. We would like to say a big thank you to everyone who helped to make sure the morning ran smoothly, and well done to our students who took part.

Cobham Hall News

Monday, 13th March |Week B

Kindness, Trust, Respect, Honesty, Tolerance News

Saturday Enrichment Programme

Saturday 18th March at 9:15am12:35pm:

• Art workshop (Years 7-9)

• Year 12 Personal Statement Workshop

• Service Saturday

Saturday 25th March at 9:15am12:35pm:

• Drama Production

An Elder’s Advice

On Monday, Cobham Hall Elder Alessi Vaughan Feast visited us and spoke to students in Upper School about her University application process, offering advice as to what to look for in a course. She also stayed to talk to the Humanities Forum about her ongoing dissertation, which is on the subject of conflict diamonds.

Her discussion on conflict diamonds was extremely interesting and informative and helped our Humanities Forum to see a potential direction they could go in for their own studies.

It was incredibly useful for our students to hear first-hand from an Elder about what to expect after leaving school and their possible next steps. We would like to say a big thank you to Alessi for taking the time to come and speak to our students.

Cobham Hall News

Monday, 13th March |Week B

Kindness, Trust, Respect, Honesty, Tolerance News

Night-time Sky

Thank you to our Estates Manager, Mr Allen, for this stunning photo of the night sky over Cobham Hall on Tuesday evening

Fundraising for Turkey and Syria

We would like to share with you this message of thanks from the charity Save the Children for our recent fundraising efforts to support the help they are giving to earthquake victims.

“I’m dropping you a quick message to say a huge thank you for supporting our work in Turkey and Syria in the aftermath of the earthquakes.

This situation is devasting, but Save the Children is already responding through our existing local partners in both countries. Damaged roads, airports and communication lines, continued aftershocks, and poor weather conditions are complicating relief efforts, but we're moving quickly, working around the clock, to provide urgent support to children and their families as soon as possible.

In Turkey, we’ve supported more than 6,500 people – including more than 3,900 children We’ve given out more than 1,000 blankets, 300 beds and 24,000 tonnes of firewood. We’ve offered psychological first aid and emotional support to children and linked up with local mukhtars to share information on available support.

In North West Syria, we’re continuing to work closely with partners to deliver essential items and support services to children and families. We’re providing fuel to health facilities to keep services running for people who’ve been injured. We’re planning to install toilets near new temporary shelters, as well as providing safe drinking water via water trucking and by installing water storage tanks to lower the risk of water-borne diseases. In the next few weeks, we will set up safe spaces where children can rest, play and take small steps on the road to recovery.

Thank you for being part of this collaborative effort to help children and for choosing to fundraise for us. Together, we can help children get the future they deserve.”

The School would also like to take this opportunity ourselves to thank you for your generosity. If you would like to donate, you can do so here. Or click here to find out more ways you can help.

Cobham Hall News

Monday, 13th March |Week B

Kindness, Trust, Respect, Honesty, Tolerance News

Artist of the Week

The artist of the week is Chloe, Year 7. She has worked hard to improve her overall drawing skills by looking at how to add tone correctly to make objects look 3D. She has also started to focus on colour theory and how to mix paint effectively. She has produced a great collection of work in a short space of time. Congratulations, Chloe

Cobham Hall News

Monday, 13th March |Week B

Kindness, Trust, Respect, Honesty, Tolerance News

Ukrainian Assembly

Friday 24th February sadly marked the one-year anniversary of the start of the war in Ukraine. Last Friday, Anna and Yevanhelina, Year 11, represented our Ukrainian student body by presenting an assembly to raise awareness of the war. They shared their personal experiences of how their lives have been affected and expressed gratitude for the help they have received.

They said, “Recently, a year has passed since the full-scale invasion of Russia on the territory of Ukraine. A year in which the life of every

Ukrainian changed forever. A year since millions of people left their homes without any choice. A year since thousands of human lives became the price of our country’s existence. And a year since a full-scale war began, taking place in the centre of Europe in the 21st century.”

Anna and Yevanhelina presented an impactful video which demonstrated the contrast between life in Ukraine before and now during the war. They also described how, despite the devastation, people still live with positivity and make the most out of each day:

“Ukraine is still living. People sing songs in bomb shelters, drink coffee with their friends, learn English, go out shopping and rebuild buildings destroyed by Russian missiles. We fought, we fight, and we will fight.”

They concluded their assembly with an appeal for more voices to speak out and help implement change:

“The voice of each of you is very important. For example, recently we really needed leopard tanks, but the German government decided not to hand them over to us. Ukrainians started a ‘Free the Leopards’ flash mob and Europe joined in. This attracted the world's attention, and Germany changed their decision. Please remember one of your Instagram posts can save thousands of lives.”

We would like to say a huge well done to Anna and Yevanhelina for their moving assembly.

Kent County Netball

Last week, Nancy, Year 9, and her netball team competed in and won the U16 Kent County League, as well as the London Southeast Regional league. This means they will now compete for the National title in April. This is a huge accomplishment - well done, Nancy.

Cobham Hall News

Monday, 13th March |Week B

Kindness, Trust, Respect, Honesty, Tolerance News

SLT Instagram

Our new Student Leadership Team have come together for one of their first acts of leadership: creating an Instagram account so all staff and students can keep up to date with upcoming events and news.

To stay in the loop, please follow their new account: @cobhamhallslt

Swimming Gala

Last Tuesday, our students competed in a swimming gala at Sutton Valence School. It was a very close and exciting gala. The lowest points win, and whereas our team finished with 72, Sutton Valence finished with 59 points, meaning we lost overall. Despite this, there were many individual wins, including in some of the relay races. All the students swam to the very best of their ability, and there were only fractions of seconds between positions in most of the races. It was lovely to have the swimming teams from Years 7 to 13 all enjoying the competition together. Special mention goes to Olivia G, Year 10, and Natasha, Year 12, for winning all their races.

Networks Revision

Last Friday, Mr Kipling ended the week with his weekly Fun Friday Computer Science lesson. For this, the Year 10 class got creative by making posters for their revision of networks.

Monday, 13th March |Week B News

A Letter to New Year 7 Students

Following our Open Morning last Saturday, Adriana, Year 8, has written this lovely letter to our new Year 7 students. It is heartening to see current students so warmly welcoming newcomers, and Adriana’s experience of overcoming her worries and settling in here at Cobhamisbound toputour newstartersatease whentheyjoininSeptember.

Years 7 and 8 Netball Fixture

On Tuesday evening, the Year 7 and 8 Netball teams competed against Fort Pitt Grammar School. It was a tough competition, and although both resulted in a loss, the teams showed some fantastic improvements. The Year 7 team demonstrated improved confidence and resilience since their last match, and the Year 8 team kept their great spacing, despite the pressure of a strong team. Fort Pitt students selected Mariia (C), Year 7, and Jane (GD), Year 9, as their players of the match. A huge well done to all students who took part

Cobham Hall News

Monday, 13th March |Week B News

Snow Day

Our grounds were looking stunning on Wednesday, covered in snow. Thank you to our Head of Art, Mr Turner, for these beautiful photos.

Cobham Hall News

Monday, 13th March |Week B News

Experiencing the House of Commons

This Tuesday and Wednesday, Rhiannon, Year 13, had work experience with Laura Trott who is the MP for Sevenoaks. She experienced both sides of working in an MP’s office and learnt about the work they do, both in the Commons and constituency based She describes the experience here:

“I had a fantastic two days. On the first day, I sat in on Suella Braverman’s statement on the illegal immigration bill, where the chamber was full of major politicians such as Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer. On the second day, I joined the local constituent team on Teams. Throughout the days, I learnt so much, and it gave me an in-depth insight into what working in an MP’s office involves.”

Coming up: STEM Club

4:30pm-5:30pm every Wednesday, Week B. All year groups are welcome.

Wednesday 15th March (British Science Week): Students will take part in the Royal Society of Chemistry global challenge. The results will be uploaded and shared with the world.

“Taking part in our global battery experiment will give you the opportunity to explore the science behind batteries –and why they are such an important part of our bright energy future.”

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Royal Society of Chemistry

Monday, 13th March |Week B News