What a magical start to the second half of term with the misty weather and the deep russet colours of autumnal leaf fall; the smells of wood fire and the chill in the air serves as a reminder of the forthcoming winter period.
8th November 2024
You’ll find plenty of information below preparing you for the busy winter festivities in the weeks to come from the FOST fair (29th November) to our Carol Service (5th December) to our Christmas Concert (9th December) with trips to the theatre, visiting workshops, anti-bullying week, Maths week, Santa Fun Run and Christmas Jumper Day!
But first, our Year 6 girls sit their Senior School Entrance Examinations on Tuesday and those that have elected to will attend 11+ Scholarship events. We wish all the girls all the best next week – you are in our thoughts and prayers.
Remember:
“Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.” Pelé
Have a great weekend and if you are attending the Cranmore Fireworks Gareth Tindall
Key Diary Dates:
Mon 11th Nov Anti Bullying Week All Week Whole School Remembrance Service AM
Tue 12th Nov Year 6, St Teresa’s Entrance Examinations, Mairlot hall AM
Wed 13th Nov Year 6, Drama Scholarship Afternoon Prep School Location Update Meeting , Sixth Form Lecture Theatre 5.30pm
Thurs 14th Nov Year 6, Art Scholarship AM Year 6, Music Scholarship Afternoon
Fri 15th Nov Year 6, Sports Scholarship All day Wear Odd Socks (and crazy tights) Day for Anti Bullying Week All day
Mon 18th Nov Maths Week All Week
Wed 20th Nov FOST Parents Christmas Wreath Making 8.45am, 3pm & 5.30pm
Thurs 21st Nov Subject Revolution Workshops for Maths week AM
Tues 26th Nov Year 4, Viking Workshop All day
Wed 27th Nov 5 AB Class Assembly, Henderson Hall 8.30 - 8.55am
Fri 29th Nov FOST Christmas Fair 4.30pm
Pastoral Pause
How did you do on Optimistic October?
I spent a lovely day looking for the good in the people around me (actually, I do that most days – you should try it and let them know what you see); I called an old friend and spent a good hour chatting to him, during which time I shared an important goal; I did ask for help from family and friends to overcome an obstacle I was facing and was much appreciative for their loving support; I spent more time reading and crocheting which meant less time watching TV and so less energy used which is a positive change I want to see in society; and we did plan a fun activity, as I shared with the girls in assembly on Monday, we went shopping in Westfield Mall!
Welcome to November and the Action for Happiness calendar for this month is New Ways November | Action for Happiness
I have already completed actions for days 2 – 7! This week I attended Module 1 of a Masters in Catholic Leadership with St Mary’s University (Day 4); changed my bedtime routine in terms of earlier to bed earlier to rise and reading both ends of the day (Day 5); I responded to a difficult situation using thoughts from my assemblies from this term and Proverbs 21:21 AND it made all the difference.
I look forward to hearing the New Ways you find to live life to the full (John 10:10) during the remainder of this month!
God Bless You all,
Mr Tindall
Prep Director of Pastoral
Shoebox Appeal
For the past 30 years, the Children in Distress charity has been bringing joy and hope to the marginalized and needy in Romania through the gift of shoeboxes. This program has touched the lives of thousands of Romanian families, and we are proud to have been part of this incredible journey.
If you would still like to make up a shoebox they will be collected on Tuesday 12th November
Recycling Heroes Competition!
Before half-term we asked pupils to take part in the Recycling Heroes Competition and had some fantastic entries.
The Eco council came down to judge the entries this morning and will announce the winners in assembly on Tuesday.
Thank you for all the amazing creations!
End of Day Collection from the Prep School
Now that it is so dark at the end of the day, in order to keep the girls safe, we will only release them to you when you reach the turning circle outside the Prep School. Please could you ensure that you have a name sign on the dashboard as additional staff may help with dismissal. Thank you for your understanding.
Message forYear 6 Parents
If you wish to accept the place for your daughter to join the Senior School in September 2025, please return your completed reply slip to Mrs Charles as soon as possible but no later than Friday 6th December 2024 in order to guarantee the place.
Whole School
Prep School Christmas Theatre Trip, 10/12/24
Maths Week Workshop, 21/11/24
Remembrance Poppies
Road Closure 04/11/24 and 05/11/24
Year 6
Year 5
Year 4
11+ Prep Entrance Exam, 12/11/24
Prep School Location Information Evening, 13/11/24
Headlice
Maths Masterclass (Selected pupils), 22/11/24
Prep School Location Information Evening, 13/11/24
Viking Workshop, 26/1/24
Disclosing Tablets, Science lesson, 19/11/24
Please contact the School Office if you need copies of any of this information
prepinfo@st-teresas.com
Golden Book
Well done to all of the girls in our Golden Books this week:
4 KC Olivia H for her understanding of estimates and using mathematical language in her explanations.
Leila A and Flo EN for their fantastic daily reading in the holidays and enthusiasm when reading aloud in school.
4 LH Florence H for her speed and accuracy in Maths this week when completing column addition and subtraction including exchanges.
Florence D for the care and attention she has given to Maths this week. Spotting errors and using mathematical language to explain clearly to the class where the error occurred
5 AB Isla M for her tremendous effort this week to focus and complete tasks independently.
Jemima H for her enthusiastic contributions during discussions about our new topic, the Ancient Egyptians.
5 KH Daisy B for her thoughtful and reflective contributions and work in RE lessons.
Megan S for her absolutely fabulous attitude towards our recent Maths work, relating to times tables. Her enthusiasm and hard work is evident in our lessons.
6 SG Sophia S-S for her wonderful creativity and forward thinking when playing our 'This is not a square' game.
Poppy E for her beautifully descriptive writing about a jungle setting.
6 MK Ruby for her excellent use of figurative language in English this week when describing a jungle setting.
Natalia for her love and enthusiasm of Maths, her enquiring mind and her passion for asking others challenging mathematical questions.
Art Stars
Year 4
Year 5
Year 6
Florence D for her careful colour mixing, using acrylic paint, to match the shades of colour on a fish.
Olivia L for her creative notetaking, summarising information about the artist, Rachel Parker.
Evie R and Lily B for their excellent construction skills and solving problems independently when applying modroc onto the polar bear sculptures.
Drama Stars
Year 4 Millie G for unstinting enthusiasm and committed participation in our lesson on friendship.
Year 5 Thea S for imaginative participation during our first lesson exploring Ancient Egypt through Drama
Year 6 11+ Entrance exams,Tuesday 12th November, Reminder
Please bring your daughters to school for 8:15am at the latest. Girls can arrive on the playground any time from 8am. This will give your daughter plenty of time to organise herself, settle in, chat to friends (nervously or excitedly together), go to the bathroom (!) and be ready to line up at 8:25am in the Henderson Hall ready for our Senior School Admissions team to lead them to Mairlot Hall for 8:30am prompt.
The Admissions team would like me to remind you that all she needs to take with her in her pencil case that day are the following items:
Pen
Pencil
Eraser
Pencil Sharpener
30cm ruler
Plus a bottle of water (still water only)
Anti Bullying week
This year, our Anti bullying week will be taking place between Monday 11th to Friday 15th November. The theme this year is ‘Choose Respect’. To raise awareness, the topic will be covered during PSHE lessons throughout the school.
Odd Socks Day - Friday 15th November
To mark Antibullying week we are inviting everyone to wear odd socks or crazy tights to school on Friday 15th November to show how unique and special we all are.
Odd Socks Day is designed to be fun! It’s an opportunity for children to express themselves and celebrate their uniqueness.
We would like to invite participating children to make a £1 donation to support the Anti Bullying Alliance using their JustGiving page here: Anti-Bullying Alliance - JustGiving
Word of the Weekend: Psithurism
Get out in nature this weekend and simply stop.
Stop. Listen for the sound of the wind in the trees.
Smile as you remember this word. Let it roll around your mind while you simply listen.
Breathe deeply. Life in this moment is simple.
Just you, the trees, the wind and God’s love holding you, embracing you, uplifting you, whispering to you.
Journal that moment. Those feelings. And repeat often.
Year 5 OS Maps
Year 5 have been learning about OS maps and investigating our world. They have looked at the scales, roads, symbols and have identified buildings and amenities in our local area. They were particularly delighted to find St Teresa's School! After games of 'find the survey symbols' and 'match the symbol on the key', the children thought up some wonderful ideas for symbols of their own.
Eco and Gardening Club
The pupils made ephemeral art in the style of Andy Goldsworthy. They collected various items from the school grounds such as leaves, pine cones, stones and pine needles. Afterwards, they made their own pictures using what they had found on a vibrant background. We talked about the autumn colours too and how they could recreate these pictures at home or when out and about in nature.
Year 4 Art Club have put their sketching skills to the test to draw an image of a lion's head. The outcome was very
Year 4 have begun to learn about the digestive system. This week, we have started to learn about teeth. First, we used a mirror to examine our own mouths. After exploring the different types of teeth, we then used marshmallows to make models, shaping the teeth to show the differences between incisors, canines, premolars and molars. We all marvelled at our new 'grins' and were very careful to stop all our teeth from falling out!
Year 6 RE
Year 6 were thinking about the inspirational women in their lives in RE this week.
Year 5 Science
Year 5 were learning about the Solar System in science this week and mapped out the distance between the planets on the playground!
Remembrance Poppies
This week, our Year 6 Prefects have been hard at work selling poppies and various accessories in preparation for Remembrance Day on Monday. Their efforts paid off as they successfully sold out all the poppies and a wide range of accessories. Well done, girls!
Class Assembly Dates 2024 - 25
27/11/24 - 5 AB
30/01/24 - 4 KC
26/02/25 - 5 KH
20/03/25 - 6 SG
07/05/25 - 4 LH
14/05/25 - 6 MK
At 8.30am in the Henderson Hall
Refreshments will be served in the Henderson Hall from 8.15am
Open Book Dates 2024 - 25
Year 4 - 22/01/25
Year 5 - 29/01/25
Year 6 - 05/02/25
Refreshments will be served in the Henderson Hall from 8.15am 08.30 - 08.55am in the Year Group Classrooms
Key Dates 2024 - 25
As outlined in the Parent Handbook, and reiterated at the Parent Welcome Reception, there are three key dates in the school calendar that are compulsory for all the girls to attend. This is to help them understand the importance of team work and collaborative responsibility as these are events where they are all involved and need to support each other.
These dates are as follows:
Christmas Service, Thursday 5th December, 18.30 to 19.30
Spring Concert, Thursday 13th March, 18.30 to 19.30
Prep School Prize Giving, Thursday 3rd July, 19.00 to 20.00
We would be grateful if you could keep these dates free so that all girls can be present at these important community events.
Sports News
Netball
U9B On Friday 18th October, the U9B team travelled to St Catherine’s. The team displayed outstanding team spirit, resilience and were making great interceptions. Unfortunately, the team struggled to create many opportunities in attack and were defeated 4-0. Congratulations to Lulu for being awarded player of the match and for helping to lead the defence to a much improved performance.
U9C On Friday 18th October, the U9C team took on St Catherine’s. It was a closely fought match. St Teresa’s were great in attack, moving into space and talking about their positioning. Unfortunately, St Catherine’s were strong in defence and scored a goal from a penalty shot. The final score was 1-0 to St Cats. Congratulations to player of the match, Zoe G.
Hockey
On Tuesday, the U11 B&C hockey teams travelled away to Danes Hill. The teams worked exceptionally hard to drive into space to receive the ball from their teammates, this allowed the teams to move the ball down the pitch and create some goal scoring opportunities. Well done to both teams, the final scores were 5-0 and 4-0 to Danes Hill and the player of the matches were Zara H and Darcey R.
Pupil News
Well done to Jena W in Year 6 who competed in some swimming galas over the half term, Jena won two silver medals in her 200m races and a bronze medal in her 50m freestyle race. Excellent work, well done Jena!
Well done to Olivia H in Year 4 who completed her Scuba diving course over half term!
Well done to Elizabeth E in Year 6 who competed in a swimming gala at Dorking over half term and won a sliver and bronze medal in her races. Excellent work!
If your daughter has completed any sporting achievements outside of school, we would love to hear about them. Please email Mrs Hitchman with a short description and photo to a.hitchman@st-teresas.com.
Fixtures week commencing 11th November 2024
Wednesday 13th November U10 UKSA Hockey @ The Triangle 11.15am start
Friday 15th November 11+ Sports Scholarship Assessments
Saturday 16th November U9A Hockey Tournament @ Downsend (A) 9am start
Music News
Musicians of the Week
Year 4 Isabelle EN for superb singing with wonderful energy and enthusiasm! Year 5 Abi VR fantastic ukulele playing with amazing focus and resilience. Great work, Abi! Year 6 Poppy E for amazing work on the keyboard – well done, Poppy!
We hope everyone enjoyed a restful half-term break! The Music Department is now back in full swing, with rehearsals well underway for our Christmas repertoire. Each ensemble is diving into festive preparations, excited to bring seasonal music to life for the end-of-term celebrations.
Our Chamber Choir and St. Teresa's Singers are working hard on beautiful choral pieces that will add a touch of magic to our festive performances and the Orchestra and String Ensemble are thrilled to bring their talents to a range of Christmas classics.
With so much enthusiasm and new music in the air, we can't wait to share the joy of the festive season with the whole school community.
We are delighted to invite you join us to celebrate the wonderful work of our talented musicians for our whole school Carol Service on Thursday 5th December and our Christmas Celebration featuring our choirs, ensembles and soloists on Monday 9th December.
Our Young Voices choir is buzzing with excitement as they prepare for their upcoming performance at the O2 in January! The girls have been working incredibly hard, learning an impressive setlist of songs and even mastering some fun dance routines to go with them. Keep practicing ,girls!
Music Clubs
Monday
12.45: St Teresa’s Singers (Year 4 & 5 Choir)
3.45 - 4.30: Training Orchestra
Tuesday
12.45: Ukulele Club (Year 6)
3.45- 4.45: Young Voices Choir
Wednesday
10.55: Training Wind Band
3.45-4.30: Chamber Choir
Thursday
12.45: String Ensemble
12.45: Recorder Club (Year 4)
This
Week
Bible Reading
Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. St Paul’s Letter to the Romans
Reflection
As we enter the month of November the Church gives us time to remember those that passed from this life. In this month we are encouraged to pray for our loved ones that have gone before us. Greif and loss are some of the most difficult things we have to face in our humanity but our faith in Jesus, our faith in His Resurrection must give us hope that nothing can separate us from the love of God.
Prayer
We pray for all those who nurse the sick and comfort the dying. Lord, make them strong to do their work, make them gentle as they look after the weak, make their hearts grow in love.Amen
“May today there be peace within. May you trust that you are exactly where you are meant to be.” St Teresa of Lisieux
We hope that you have had a good half term break.
STE didn’t get any time off as we had Pony Days, Private Lessons and Staff Training during the two weeks of half term. The ponies did get a small break and physio treatment to make sure that they are in tip-top shape for the second half of the Autumn Term.
We will have a new pony joining us soon who looks just like King! She will need some time to settle in to a new environment, so if you do see her around, please give her some space and make sure that you are quiet and calm around her.
NSEA News
While we were having a relaxed half term, the NSEA team headed to the Championships at Addington!
An outstanding 8 teams and 17 individual qualifications headed to the National and Plate Championships, read below for some highlights!
In the National Show Jumping 90cm, the Blue Team rode a clear and fast round to put them into the top 8 for the jump off and places 5th overall!
In the 1.10m Show Jumping, Amber also places in the top 8 and came 7th!
In the Jumping with Style 80 cm, Lilly was individually qualified and rode an amazing round to be placed 4th out of 36!
In the Combined Training, 1m class Antonia did a superb dressage test followed by a clear show jumping round to come 4th overall!
And during the Plate Show Jumping in the 90cm class, the Blue Team came 5th overall and Rosie came 4th as an individual!
Well done to all who travelled to Addington!
A full write up will be on our Facebook page and on the Equestrian Competition Reports on the website.
Booking System: st-teresas-equestrian.ecpro.co.uk
For more information, please visit our website www.st-teresas.com/equestrian
You can also call direct on 01372 750257 or email : equestrian@st-teresas.com
Find us
Menu—w/c Monday 11th November 2024
Hot lunches include a selection of family favourites and suitable alternatives for children with allergies and intolerances.
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Soup of the day
Tomato & basil
Prep School Pork sausages & mash
Main
Eat healthy choice
Vegetarian
Sides
Dessert
Additional
Locally sourced pork sausages & mashed potato
Roasted red pepper, tomato & turkey coated wholemeal pasta with house salad
