The Lark - Autumn 2015

The Lark

Autumn Term 2015

Christmas and “The Best Gift of All”

Christmas is always a magical time here and the festivities started early with the annual Christmas Bazaar in November.

In keeping with tradition the Bazaar opened to the sounds of the sweet voices of the school choir, all in hats and scarves on a brisk chilly morning, singing to welcome Santa Claus and his reindeer Comet & Blitzen. Returning old girls and boys, prospective pupils and our school families packed the car park to enjoy the wondrously decorated courtyard, Santa’s grotto, the bustle in the Christmas market and the delicious smells of the festive lunch. We thank our Social Committee and all their helpers for their hard work, superb organization and flair.

The festive spirit then grew and grew as the term has drawn to a close. Shepherd Little was beautifully performed by our Year 1 & 2 children and our Nursery and Reception children proved they too can tread the boards in their Nativity production. It told the story of a poor stable girl, Dani, who discovers, to the audience’s delight, that the “Best Gift of all” for baby Jesus is Love.

As well as an invitation to our grandparents for tea, mince pies and Christmas pieces performed by our Prep pupils and a welcome to parents and pupils who joined the Running Club on their Santa Run, we took Christmas outside the school gates into the community too. With Woodcote House School and Windlesham Infants, we made some wonderful Christmas tree decorations for the Windlesham Village community tree. Carols and Christmas cheer were spread by the choir at Dormy Residential House and at the Chobham Christmas Extravaganza rounding off with our treasured candle-lit Carol Service at Chobham St Lawrence Church – whose superb acoustics set off the festive music sung and played by our talented Prep girls.

www.coworthflexlands.co.uk

Tel. 01276 855707

Netball

Football

A Common Bond

Berks County FC U12’s have continued to train hard every Saturday morning on our pitches, with several Coworth Flexlands’ girls representing the team playing their first matches this term. Their first against Sandhurst resulted in a 3-1 loss but in their second against Caversham they came out with a hard earned 1-1 draw.

Swimming Every child at Coworth Flexlands School learns to swim.

This term it was the turn of Years 5 & 6 ending in a gala cheered on by parents. Well done to Topaz House for securing the swimming cup.

Our Years 3 to 6 had a packed fixture calendar this Autumn resulting in 10 wins, 7 losses and 2 draws. The term ended triumphantly with a fabulous win for the U11’s against rivals Bishopsgate, scoring 18-1. Across all teams there has been a marked improvement in skill and teamwork, a just reward for the hard work and perseverance in training and matches.

U11/U10 Cross Country Event at Prior’s Field Thirteen girls from Years 5 & 6 took part in Prior’s Field School Cross Country Event. Special mention goes to our best two performers - Suzie placed 50th out of 120 in the U11’s and Orla, 40th out of 90 in the U10’s.

Every school year has enjoyed time outside with our Forest School practitioner. Taking in the sensory environments of our woodlands and open fields, seeing, hearing, touching and smelling, the children have been creating nature gardens, inspecting various fungi, examining and playing with the autumn leaves and making clay models of animals and autumnal flora.

And New to Coworth Flexlands School this Term...

Nursery even turned the exciting topic of hibernation into a number recognition game with their version of ‘We’re going on a hedgehog hunt’. A toy hedgehog is at this moment in hibernation mode in a special leaf bed made lovingly by the boys and girls in Nursery who also modeled their own spiky creatures out of clay!

….Go Fence – a club which runs after school for Year 3 upwards, a fun and easy introduction to fencing which has proved immensely popular. Do sign up!

A great boost to our Forest School this term is the adoption of the local Surrey Wildlife Trust reserve, Chobham Common, as a charity focus. The school will be raising money to help regenerate the area and protect the habitats. The school is particularly thrilled that their support will help the Common’s Skylark population prosper. The Skylark is the school emblem. Mrs. Claire Alderton of Surrey Wildlife Trust launched the partnership at a morning assembly. The children were enamoured with her explanations of how the Trust works to preserve the habitats and particularly liked the Belted Galloway cow which is used for grazing. The awareness of the lark, its beauty and singing has made everyone more proud to wear the skylark on their uniforms.

Surrey Wildlife Trust will be providing a range of activities such as Ranger talks, activity to support and enhance the Forest School curriculum, advising the school on wildlife gardening and loaning equipment and a number of educational trips are being organized.

Medals in Judo Our judoka were put to the test this November at the Core Judo Annual Tournament.

Seven girls successfully represented Coworth Flexlands School and were among 41 girls competing across 23 groups, bringing back a clutch of 1 Gold, 4 Bronze medals and highly placed results.

Ancient Forest School Rain gear adorned, Year 3 headed off to Butser Farm, nestled in the rolling South Downs National Park.

We are very proud of them.

This ancient farm displays ongoing constructions of Iron Age buildings based on real sites, crops from prehistory and rare breeds of animals. The girls learnt about wattling - a fence weaved with hazel rods up to 4m long.

Coach Sam Wyke commented “All the girls showed some lovely judo in some challenging groups. It was great match experience and will help the girls’ confidence for January’s IAPS Championships.”

www.coworthflexlands.co.uk

Tel. 01276 855707

Pupils also helped to mix mud, manure, straw, clay, horsehair and water and apply it to the wattle to fill the gaps and seal the wall against draughts.

www.coworthflexlands.co.uk

Tel. 01276 855707

Keeping to Tradition

Happy Memories Reception class went on their first class outing to see ‘Beasty Baby’ at the Polka theatre in Wimbledon. It was a delightful production about the trials of looking after a baby cleverly told with puppets, music and gymnastics! The children found it very funny and Miss Engley, Reception Teacher, added “it proves a trip for the memory books; our children in Year 6 always seem to remember the first exciting outing of their schooldays!”

Year 2 took the school mini-bus for the traditional visit to Windsor Castle on a cold, rainy day but this did not dampen spirits at all. The children learnt about life in the castle, past and present, from the housemaids emptying chamber pots to knighthoods and luxurious banquets. They also met the lady who has the job of decorating all the Christmas trees in the royal palaces and castles. What a dream job!

Chertsey Museum

Incredible Invaders Mrs Grace organized a super trip for Year 4 to enjoy a performance of ‘Horrible Histories- Incredible Invaders’ at G Live in Guildford. Much was learnt and the 3D glasses donned with excitement…..

Year 1 enjoyed a toy workshop brought in from Chertsey Museum. The children had the opportunity to play with both old toys, such as zoetropes’, wooden skittles and wooden pop guns and new toys too. The children sorted an array of toys into different categories, e.g. soft and hard, old and new, noisy and silent and drew pictures of toys from Chertsey Museum. Some of the toys from the museum were over 100 years old. Chertsey Museum staff returned to Coworth Flexlands School to present an assembly to the whole school on the Battle of Agincourt and then host a workshop for Year 5.

Many Battle of Agincourt soldiers were from the local area which added a nostalgia to the workshop. A discussion and debate to decide tactics and strategies on medieval warfare then led to a re-enactment with hobby horses and baguettes for the French & bows and arrows for English!

A Message From Our Head The Autumn Term is a very productive term which concludes in considerable excitement around our Christmas festivities. I would like to congratulate our choirs for all their beautiful singing performances both in school and the local community. The annual Pre-Prep school performances were truly delightful, making staff and parents alike very proud.

Academic work has been supported with various trips out and visitors into the school, some of which we can read about in this edition. A special mention must go to Year 6 who have been working particularly hard in preparation for their Senior School papers in January. We wish them good luck. May I take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy and restful Christmas holiday.

Anne Sweeney, Head

www.coworthflexlands.co.uk

Tel. 01276 855707