St Teresa's Prep Weekly Bulletin 16 January 2023

Message from Mrs Conrad

The start of a new year inspires many of us to make new year resolutions and this has been a discussion point with the girls over the last few weeks. Many of us have decided to take up new hobbies, give up bad habits and strive to be a better person physically, mentally and spiritually. Being able to start afresh is, psychologically, very reassuring and empowering and, in a Christian context, it is wonderful to know that God forgives us and encourages us to start again every moment of every day. For those of you who have made a new year’s resolution, I wish you every success in your endeavours!

This weekend, many of our global sisters and brothers will be celebrating Chinese New Year and the beginning of the Year of the Rabbit. We were delighted to welcome girls from the Sixth Form to our assembly on Monday who told us all about Chinese New Year and why and how it is celebrated. May I take this opportunity to wish ‘Xin Nian Kuai Le’ to all our families celebrating the start of the new lunar year.

Key Diary Dates:

Wed 25th Jan Year 4, Open Book Morning, Henderson Hall & Classrooms 8:15 9:00

Thu 26th Jan Year 4, Residential Trip Information Evening, Henderson Hall 16:30 17:00

Fri 27th Jan Years 5 & 6, Young Shakespeare Company Hamlet Workshop AM

Sat 28th Jan Burns Night Celebration (see over for details)

Wed 1st Feb Year 6, Open Book Morning, Henderson Hall & Classrooms 8:15 9:00

Thu 2nd Feb 5MK Class Assembly, Henderson Hall 8:30 9.00

Thu 2nd Feb Music Trip to the London Community Gospel Choir, Cranmore

Mon 6th Feb Parents’ Evening (on-line) 18:00 20:00

Tue 7th Feb Year 3, Gods and Mortals Workshop All day

Wed 8th Feb Parents’ Evening (in person), Henderson Hall 16:30 18:30

Prep School Open Book Mornings

We will be holding Open Book Mornings for each Year Group starting in the Spring Term. This is an opportunity for your daughters to show you their books and their classrooms. Refreshments will be served in the Henderson Hall from 8.15am and, once the girls are settled, you will be taken to the classroom from 8.30am until 9.00am. Please see the dates below. You will be sent a form to confirm your attendance nearer the time.

Wednesday 25th January Year 4

Wednesday 1st February Year 6 Wednesday 15th March Year 5

5MK

Class Assembly

Parents of girls in 5MK are invited to join us for their class assembly on Thursday 2nd February 2023 at 8.30am in the Henderson Hall Refreshments will be served in the Henderson Hall from 8.15am

Maths problem solving club will not be running on Wednesday 23rd January.

Parking at the Prep School

In order to keep traffic flowing smoothly, please may we ask that you do not park on the road running up to the Prep School for events such as Open Book or Class Assemblies. Please may you park in the main car park and walk down to the Prep School.

Could we also ask you not to wait at the Prep School if you are collecting a Senior pupil. Please may you collect them from the Senior School.

In order to keep the girls safe at pick-up we will radio for them when we see you and you can collect them from the teacher on duty when you arrive at the mini roundabout. They will no longer walk down to the car.

Drama Stars of the Week

Anna R for expressive use of her body when using a mask Apollonia C-D for working creatively and contributing wonderful ideas to discussions Alice F for showing strong directorial skills in group work. Paris C for her fabulous characterisation using facial expression.

Years 5 & 6—RotaryYoung Photographer Competition

This is a three-stage competition designed to support and encourage the development of photographic skills starting with a local heat in February, with the best entries going forward to a District competition and on to a National Final at the end of March. Entries are submitted in age groups for fairness. The initial task is to submit one photograph based upon the theme, “The Beauty of Architecture” with a sentence to explain the relationship to the theme.

Competitors will receive a certificate of participation with appropriate awards for the winners at all stages of the competition. Entries for the local heat, closing date Saturday 4th February 2023, are invited on behalf of the Mole Valley Rotary Clubs and should be submitted to Miss Shear - s.shear@st-teresas.com no later than Wednesday 1st February ‘23.

Isadora Moon

A huge congratulations to Kaiah in Year 6 who has been chosen to voice the character of ‘Mirabelle Starspell’ next year in the animated television series of the ’Isadora Moon’ books. Well done Kaiah, we can’t wait to watch it!

Lego House

Over the Christmas holiday, Isla spent hours and hours constructing the house from the film ‘Home Alone’ out of Lego. She had very little help, as she was determined to complete it independently. We are so impressed at her skill and perseverance. Well done, Isla.

Explore Lectures

As you are aware, we are celebrating the value of Intellect this year. When we speak of ‘Intellect’, we strive to explore different spheres and topics beyond the curriculum – and just for the sheer joy of it.

Under this guise, we have organised a fabulous series of lectures on a vast and diverse range of topics to run throughout the rest of the academic year. Our eminent and exciting speakers will aim to stimulate curiosity and encourage us all (parents, friends, family and staff) to explore something new.

The lectures will take place on Monday or Tuesday evenings, starting in January. They will be held in the Sixth Form Lecture Theatre and are open to all, free of charge. Nibbles and drinks will be served from 5:30pm for a 6pm start and a 7pm finish.

Golden Book

Well done to all of the girls in our Golden Books this week:

3RN Eloise B should live in Sparta. Eloise the best city to live in during Ancient Greek times!

Sophia C week. Sophia researched the difference between two Ancient Greek states and worked exceptionally well in a group to present reason why we should live in Sparta!

Beatrice St G computing. Beatrice followed instructions carefully and made her Lightbot compete the first level, well done!

3KC Ava-Skye N signs, symbols and colours associated with this special occasion.

Olivia L increased confidence in her mental maths is so apparent.

Victoria M their book look. Well done!

4BB Jena W Amelie A problems.

4CR Isabella MS Khrystyna H Arabella H

5MK Isabella C with incredible illustrations and speech bubbles. Sienna L for making huge progress with her performance and skill in netball

5HC Scarlett C and Willa S for their excellent work in Maths, persevering with a challenge and showing resilience when learning a new method.

Scarlett M and Jessica T for their beautifully designed and informative comic strip about the Battle of Bosworth.

5KH Maysie R for consistent effort and enthusiasm in every lesson and every subject, which is a pleasure to see.

Sophia C for her hard work and effort in maths - she is always willing to have a go and to contribute to discussions

6JG Alana E and Georgia C for great empathy and detail in their evacuation memories

6HI Poppy H for logical, outstanding maths skills shown this week, completing challenging decimal calculations.

Ruby G for always giving her best, in every area and including contributions within discussions. This was particularly demonstrated in the Life Lab workshop, where Ruby answered and asked many questions.

Ella J for quietly and consistently giving her best, always being helpful and reliable.

Year 4 Class Assembly

The Year 4 girls took us back to post Roman Britain today in their Invasion Assembly. They taught us about Viking Gods, Anglo Saxon and Viking raids and even threw in a few Saints!

Chinese NewYear

Our Prep Prefect, Charlotte, led an assembly with Coco and Amelie from the 6th Form about the upcoming festival of Chinese New Year. The girls really enjoyed working out which animal they were by their birth date and also learnt about food eaten and the story behind Chinese New Year. Thank you so much, girls, for bringing the festival to life.

Year 3—Open

Book

We were delighted to welcome parents to the first Open Book Morning of the year. Our Year 3 girls were able to proudly share their hard work and we look forward to welcoming the other year groups over the coming weeks.

Year 6—Life Lab

Year 6 have started their young enterprise work with LifeLab - imagining, planning and creating their own mini businesses using a real cash loan of £40. We look forward to seeing which business will make the most profit!

Music News

Musicians of the Week

Year 3 Mariella D for wonderful knowledge of musical vocabulary

Year 4 Avery K for fantastic singing especially in 4BB’s Viking assembly!

Year 5 Maysie R for always trying her best and producing excellent work in music.

Year 6 Ella C for an amazing first keyboard lesson. She picked up chords from a lead sheet very quickly!

Flute Introduction

Ms Geldard our lovely flute teacher brought in a ‘toot’ for Mrs Harris to show the girls.

This is an excellent introduction to the flute for younger children who may be too small to handle a flute. It has an interchangeable mouthpiece so that melodies can be played immediately rather than waiting until their lip position is good enough to make a sound. They are also inexpensive at around £28. Ms Geldard is offering lessons to girls who may want to try this as a precursor to learning the flute. She is offering group lessons and individual lessons at a discounted price.

If your daughter would like to try the ‘toot’ or is interested in introductory flute lessons, please contact Mrs Harris who will put you in touch with Ms Geldard.

We still have some spaces for lessons and some instruments that can be hired from the school. If you would like to try out any instruments or need any more information, please don’t hesitate to contact Mrs Harris.

Netball

The U10s played netball at Freemen’s on Tuesday. The girls played well, despite the cold weather. The A team narrowly missed out on a win, with a final score of 3-2. The B team won 7-1, C team won 6-0 and the D team won 7-0. Players of the matches were Lainey, Pascale, Bella G and Rachel. Great effort girls! Due to the cold weather and a few of the courts not being available, the remaining girls stayed at home to play an internal netball tournament and enjoyed learning yoga in the warmth. Players of the matches were: Coralie, Izzy C, Viola and Scarlett.

On Tuesday afternoon the U11s played in a netball match against Downsend the girls played very well, we saw some lovely netball and great teamwork throughout all teams. Players of the matches were Steffi C-B, Kaiah, Coey, Nicci, Tabby S-T. Excellent work girls well done!

Football

Year 3 travelled to Manor House on Friday to take part in their first football match. They played a round robin tournament, applying their newly learnt skills from their lesson during the week onto the pitch. The girls developed their defending skills, applying pressure on the opponent and showed superb dribbling skills up the pitch. Players of the matches go to: Ivy, Mariella and Victoria. A special mention to Thea, who played outstandingly as goal keeper, showing great positioning on the pitch.

Clubs

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

7:50-8:20am,

Thursday Years 3-6 Football Club 7.45-8.25, Years 5 & 6 Running Club 12:15-12:45, Years 5 & 6 Swim Squad 15:45-16:45 and 16:30-17:45

Friday Years 3

Swim Squad and Development 7:50-8.20, Years 5 & 6 Netball Club 16:15-17:30

This Week

As we continue our journey through the season of Christmas (remember the Church continues to celebrate this great season through until 2nd February!) we this week ‘fast-forward’ thirty years to begin our reflection on the ministry of Jesus. It is as if we are asked to consider all that we have found out about Jesus at the Nativity and to then apply it to the adult Jesus - king, God and saviour.

This week we reflected on the Baptism of Jesus. Many find this, at first sight, a little bit of a strange event. Indeed, John the Baptist is surprised to see Jesus coming to him for baptism. Baptism was intended to mark a change of life and an opportunity to ritually wash away past sins. But Jesus hadn’t sinned, so baptism wasn't necessary. But remember, John has already described Jesus as ‘the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.’ And Jesus confirms that the reason for his baptism is to ‘do all that righteousness demands.’ Perhaps that word, ‘righteousness’, is the key. Here it means much more than some sort of personal, moral status. Instead, it means the ‘putting right’ of all that is wrong, particularly in terms of human relationships with God. If Adam had broken that relationship, then Jesus’ mission was to repair and restore that intimate relationship with God. Through his baptism Jesus begins his ministry to bring that ‘right– relationship’, that ‘righteousness’ for all humanity. And the fruit of that very first act is confirmed as the heavens open and Jesus is declared God’s son. The door to that ‘right-relationship’ with God is opened for all humanity. Our challenge is to recognise that we too are called to that ‘right-relationship’ with God. All the barriers that separate us are removed and we are invited to enter into that relationship between a loving Father and a beloved Son that Jesus has won for us all!

Booking System

st-teresas-equestrian.ecpro.co.uk

Visit our website www.st-teresas.com/ equestrian

Or find us on Facebook “St Teresa’s

We have unfortunately been unable to run riding lessons for a few days this week due to the cold. When the arena freezes, it is too hard to ride on and is then a risk to everyone’s safety. As an alternative, we do offer stable management lessons in the warm barn or the classroom where you can learn about how to care for a horse or ridden theory.

As the weather is so variable at the moment, please make sure that you come with a jumper (no hoodies!) and/or a coat to wear when it’s chilly out or raining. As we are on top of a hill, we get a bit of a cold wind when riding in the arena!

February Half Term Activities

Check out our online site to book your spaces now!

This week it has been VERY cold! The staff have been getting chilly and the ponies too! The staff also found out that Barney has been able to get out of his field, so watch out when your on the sports field next!

The horse of the week is Oliver!

~ Libby C

NSEA News

It was a brilliant weekend of competitions for some of our NSEA riders who headed to Merrist Wood for the Arena Eventing competition on Sunday 15th January.

Lots of super riding, happy ponies and great results.

In the 70cm, Pernille A finished a great 2nd and Claudia B had a good round for just 4 faults.

In the 80cm Claudia B jumped a speedy round to take the win, with Pernille A finishing a very close 2nd!

In the 90cm Lulu S took the win with a super double clear and finished 3rd in the 1m with the fastest 4 fault round . Lulu S has also just received the results from the Pop-Up dressage competition in December where she took the win with a great score of 74.7%!

Well done everyone!

Hot lunches include a selection of family favourites and suitable alternatives for children with allergies and intolerances.

Prep School Pork sausages & mash

Main Locally sourced pork sausages & mashed potato

Chinese New Year themed lunch (as below)

Chicken chow mein with prawn crackers

Roast chicken breast with Yorkshire pudding

Roast chicken breast with Yorkshire pudding

Creamy turkey pie & diced potatoes

Turkey & sweetcorn pie with new potatoes

Fish fingers/ tomato pasta

Traditional battered cod fillet or jumbo fish fingers

Eat healthy choice Turkey & vegetable tikka masala with vegetable rice

Vegetarian

Cumberland style vegetable sausages & mashed potato

Hoisin style beef & vegetables

Beef & vegetable goulash with sweet potato

Marinaded tofu with pak choi

Sides

Mashed potato Broccoli

Steamed rice Carrots & green beans

Desert Chocolate brownie Mango & pineapple smoothies with fortune cookies

Leek, potato & mature cheddar bake

Pulled pork tacos with fresh pineapple salsa & mixed salad

Red lentil & vegetable tikka masala with rice

King prawns with Chinese vegetables & noodles

Macaroni cheese with green salad

Roast vegetables Mixed vegetables

New potatoes Carrots Chips Peas Baked beans

Carrot cake with frosting Chocolate sponge & chocolate sauce

Desert of the day