St Teresa's Prep Bulletin 5 December 2022

Message from Mrs Conrad

It was wonderful to welcome so many of you to our Christmas service on Wednesday evening. I was extremely proud of all of the girls and the standard of singing and musicianship they displayed was outstanding. Accompanied by professional musicians, the girls sang in 2 and 3 part harmony as they performed a selection of songs from the oratorio ‘Holy Boy’. We were delighted that my father David Palmer, the composer of the piece, was able to join us and I know it is a memory he (and I!) will treasure forever.

Key Diary Dates:

Wed 14th Dec Christmas Music Celebration - Choirs and Music Ensembles, Chapel 17:30 18:30

Thu 15th Dec Santa Dash refreshments served from 8.15am AM

Fri 16th Dec Wear a Christmas Jumper (optional) All day

Prep School Christmas Lunch Lunch Time

Prep School Christmas Pantomime Jack and the Beanstalk Afternoon Term Ends 16:15

No After School Care Study will run as usual until 16.15

Mon 9th Jan School closed for staff INSET day All day

Tue 10th Jan Term starts

Wed 18th Jan Year 3, Open Book Morning, Henderson Hall & Classrooms 8:15 9:00

Thu 19th Jan 4BB Class Assembly, Henderson Hall 8:30 9.00

Thu 19th Jan Year 6, LifeLab commences Afternoon

Fri 20th Jan Young Voices Choir at the O2 Arena Afternoon

Young Voices Concert at the O2 Arena 19.00

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

Christmas Celebration Invitation

Wednesday 14th December

All are welcome to attend our informal Christmas Celebration, where the choirs and music ensembles will be performing a variety of festive pieces on

Wednesday 14th December at 5.30pm in the School Chapel Festive refreshments will be served afterwards.

4BB

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Class Assembly

Parents of girls in 4BB are invited to join us for their class assembly on Thursday 19th January 2023 at 8.30am in the Henderson Hall

Refreshments will be served in the Henderson Hall from 8.15am

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 18th January Year 3

Wednesday 25th January Year 4

Wednesday 1st February Year 6

Wednesday 15th March Year 5

Drama Stars of the Week

Jemima H for her positive attitude and wonderful contribution to the lesson

Jasmine N for her creativity and strong group work skills

Tabitha P for learning her lines and creating a consistent character in performance

Lettie W for her fantastic enthusiasm in all aspects of the lesson

Whole School

Strep A Infection letter

Whole School Clubs and end of term letter for last week of term (see details below)

Years 5 & 6

Gymnastics invitation to watch information

Please contact the School Office if you need copies of any of this information prepinfo@st-teresas.com

Christmas Jumpers—Friday 16th December

We would like to invite the girls to wear a ‘Christmas jumper’ with their school uniforms (if they would like to) on Friday 16th December. This is the last day of term, so it should help us all to get into the festive spirit for our Christmas lunch and end of term panto!

Christmas Post Box

The Christmas post service is now up and running. If the girls would like to send cards to their friends they should write the name of the recipient and their class clearly on the front of the envelope. The cards will be delivered at the end of term.

Clubs and End of Term—W/C 12th December

Most extra-curricular clubs and squads will not be running before, during or after school next week apart from the following which will run as usual:

• Study (Monday to Friday until 4.15pm)

• After School Care (Monday to Thursday until 6.00pm)

• Tennis

• Gymnastics (Monday)

• Orchestra (Tuesday)

• Swim Squad (Thursday after school)

• Forest School (Lunchtime)

• Rugby Club (Lunchtime)

• Football Club (Lunchtime)

• Netball Shooting (Lunchtime)

• Cross Country League (Wednesday Lunchtime)

• Running Club (Thursday Lunchtime)

• Future Stars Hockey Club - TBC

Please note that school ends at 4.15 on Friday 16th December, with the 4.30pm buses departing as usual. There will be no After School Care or late buses on Friday.

SpringTerm Clubs List

The Spring Term Clubs list will be sent out next week. The majority of clubs will remain the same, but there have been some changes, so please do check the timetable carefully. You will need to re sign up for some clubs as priority will be given to the girls on waiting lists.

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.

Bockets Farm Christmas Video

Alana and her sister were chosen to be part of a promotional Christmas Video for Bocketts Farm this week. Well done Alana, the photographs look wonderfully festive!

Golden Book

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

3RN Skyla N to instructions and answering questions on times table confidently Sienna Di N has completed all her activities and listened carefully to the objectives for learning her times tables.

3KC Esme S work. Well done for expanding your sentences too. Cecily P countries around the world too.

4BB Summer C confident delivery. Imogen S Recount in English.

4CR Matilda G Evie R Emily W

5MK Mia M, Sienna L English, paying particular attention to their use of similes, metaphors and personification.

5HC Scarlett M for her excellent progress in reading comprehension lessons, now being able to justify inferences with evidence from the text.

Jessica T for her fantastic free verse poem about space, remembering to include lots of figurative language and powerful vocabulary.

5KH Ella M and Tabitha P for choosing to challenge themselves in Maths and successfully completing problem solving questions on fractions.

6JG Jessica L for her fantastic work in Maths. Felicity S for her focus and hard work.

Olivia K for her thoughtful contributions to RE and for spreading Christmas joy everywhere that she goes.

6GH Lettie W and Coey L for their determination and resilience in preparing for Holy Boy this week.

Paris C for excellent effort and focus in English.

Year 4—Art

Year 4 have created these vibrant, detailed fish paintings within their topic, "The Blue Abyss" by building up layers of watercolours and exploring and then incorporating a range of techniques. They studied the artist Yusei Nagashima, who has dedicated his work to exploring how to capture the many colours and textures.

Eco & Gardening Club

The girls in Eco and Gardening Club had a wonderful time one break time planting pansies and cyclamen into the raised beds. They are now experts at removing plants from their pots. A huge thank you to Alan, the gardener for providing the plants and for removing the weeds in the raised beds beforehand!

Primary Maths Challenge

Congratulations to our brilliant Year 5 & 6 girls who took part in the Primary Maths Challenge this year. Independently, they had to approach a range of different types of questions covering all different areas of Mathematics and often including more than one concept. With confidence and enthusiasm, they all tackled the problems well, applying knowledge and unpicking questions involving many different steps. Well done to all of the girls that took part and those that were awarded Bronze, Silver or Gold certificates.

Chess Challenge

We invited Cranmore Chess Club to join us last night for a Chess Tournament. This was an opportunity for the children to practise their skills against new opponents, enjoying competition in a friendly environment and sharing their enjoyment of the game. Well done to all who took part!

Year 5—Shackleton’s Expedition

Year 6 have really enjoyed being creative with the final part of their 'Frozen Kingdom' topic that focuses on the adventures of the Antarctic explorers! After writing letters to Ernest Shackleton, applying to be part of his 1914 expedition, the girls have created fabulous non-chronological reports as guides to prepare them for the journey ahead!

Music News

Musicians of the Week

Year 3 – Ava-Skye N for working so hard at learning the names of the lines and spaces on the stave

Year 4 – Isabella M for such wonderful singing in Holy Boy

Year 5 –Florence D for excellent ensemble skills and music reading

Year 6 – Isola R for exquisite solo singing and learning an extra part at the last minute!

Holy Boy

We were so proud of each and every one of the girls on Wednesday evening. - all their hard work definitely paid off. They performed beautifully. We received so many wonderful comments from the guests and parents. You should all be very proud of yourselves!

Exam News

Sophie B

Piano Initial with merit

Iola M Piano Initial with merit

Apollonia CD Piano Grade 2 Alana E Harp Grade 1 with merit

Ella J Singing Grade 3 with merit

Coey L Violin Grade 2

Apollonia CD Guitar Grade 2 with merit

Felicity S Flute Grade 2 with merit.

Senior School Performance

Years 5 & 6,YoungVoices Concert at the O2 Arena

Our Years 5 & 6 Young Voices Choir are be performing as part of a massed choir at the O2 Arena on Friday 19th January 2023.

Please may the girls access the website and keep learning the songs words and melodies over the Christmas break.

We were treated to a wonderful performance of ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’ by some of the senior girls, and Mrs Yalden as a last-minute stand in, this morning which had us feeling very festive!

Instrument Lessons

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.

Sports News

Hockey

Last Friday, the U8’s played a hockey match against CLFS. It was a chilly afternoon and the girls demonstrated tenacity and enthusiasm. Players of the matches were: Sophia D, Ava-Skye, Lucy and Mariella. A good effort all round!

Santa Dash

This year’s Santa Dash is taking place on Thursday December at 8:45am! The girls are welcome to bring their festive attire or festive accessory. Parents are welcome to join in the festive fun. Hope to see you there!

Refreshments will be served from 8.15am at the pavilion.

Clubs (week commencing 12th December)

Tuesday Years 3 & 4 Netball Shooting Club and Year 3-6 Rugby Club 12:45-13:15

Wednesday Years 3 & 4 Running Club 12:15-12:45 and Year 3-6 Football Club 12:45-13:15

Thursday Years 5 & 6 Running Club 12:15-12:45 and Year 5&6 Swim Squad 15:45-16:45 and 16:30-17:45

Biathlon Results

The qualifier times are out from the GHS and South and South East Regional qualifying races. A huge well done to all the girls for taking part. Our top results from each race were:

GHS

U8: Thea B-H: 1st

U9: Sophia L: 10th

U10: Isabella: 4th with the fastest U10 run time of the day

U11: Natalia: 10th

South and South East Qualifier

U8: Amelia: 18th with an improved swim time of 5 seconds and run time of 7 seconds

U9: Sophia L: 10th with an improved swim and run time of 3 seconds and swim time of 2 seconds

U10: Amaya: 41st

U11: Natalia: 13th

This Week

In addition to all the other decorations slowly spreading across the school, this week we added the Crib to the Chapel.

The first crib was the creation of St Francis who famously enlisted the help of local villagers to re-enact the nativity scene in their town square. This tradition proved so popular that you will now find crib scenes across the world.

Pope Francis has particularly encouraged us to make good use of the Christmas Crib, including during this time of Advent preparation. Following the lead of St Ignatius, he encourages us to enter into the scene in the crib, perhaps imagining ourselves as one of the main characters and to reflect on our experience and what the birth of the Christ-child means to us.

In Chapel this week we particularly focused on the role of the innkeeper who, according to tradition, was the one person who responded in compassion to Joseph and the all-too pregnant Mary when they could find no place to rest for the night on their arrival in Bethlehem. We are challenged to do the same - amidst all the busy-ness of this season, we are reminded to set aside time to reflect on how we can make the Christ-child welcome in our lives, to set aside anything that is a distraction or obstacle to our celebration of Christmas, and to focus on that is at the heart of the seasons, and the heart of the crib, that is, the birth of the saviour who brings hope, peace, joy and love to the world

Thinking of Joining FOST?

FOST is always looking to increase its team size, especially with parents from senior school, so we can do more in terms of events and improvements for our school community! Should you be interested in assisting on an ad hoc basis or joining the committee, please get in touch with Cathy Hastoy, Deborah Whipple or Jo Clark via Classlist.

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

Booking System

st-teresas-equestrian.ecpro.co.uk

This has been our tenth and final week of timetabled lessons for the Autumn Term! We hope that you have enjoyed riding this term as much as we have!

Unless you have booked in for a ridden adhoc lesson between Monday 12th and Thursday 15th December then we will not be expecting you for a riding lesson, the Pony Club sessions or the Challenge Awards.

If we will not be seeing you next week or over the holidays, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and will see you in 2023!

Christmas Holidays

There is still availability for our Christmas dates!

Please check out our online site to book your spaces now!

The flowers in the centre square at equestrian have been planted and look really nice!

A reminder that this is the last week of lessons for the term and they finish on Saturday 10th.

If you want to ride in the holidays, STE run Christmas Pony Days which include riding, grooming, and learning LOADS about horses and ponies, there are still bookings available so book it in whilst you can! ~ Libby C

NSEA News

It was a busy weekend at Felbridge Show Ground for our NSEA riders this weekend, with lots learnt and plenty of good results too!

Saturday was the rescheduled county qualifiers: In the 70cm Pernille A had a great round to finish 8th!

The 80cm team of Lilly S, Amber B and Chloe B weren't placed but Lilly and Amber both jumped great clear rounds! Chloe B was also competing as an Individual in the 1m and jumped a clear round to finish just outside the placings. Sunday was the Grassroots Regional Championships: We had a 50cm Team of Jess R, Florence B, Rosie C and Holly C who gave it a good go but it unfortunately wasn't their day. However, Holly C jumped a great clear round and would have been 3rd but she wasn't qualified for the individual final. We also had Abbie K and Pernille A competing in the 60cm as Individuals. They both jumped clear rounds in a class of over 50 riders. Huge congratulations to Pernille who won the class by over 2 seconds and Abbie finished in 9th!

Cherry Trees Christmas Concert—Sunday 11th December

Join us at our Cherry Trees Christmas Concert in the atmospheric Mairlot Hall at St Teresa's in Effingham on Sunday 11th December. Doors open at 15.45 with the performance from 16.30.

Expect a festive afternoon of fun-filled, family entertainment including:

• Nativity & Carols from pupils at St. Teresa's & Cranmore.

• A rousing medley of Film Favourites & Christmas Classics from Fitznells Concert Band.

• Special performance from Britain's Got Talent winner, Colin Thackery.

Bring friends and family to this wonderful afternoon of Christmas magic with all proceeds supporting Cherry Trees and the children and families that rely on our support.

Get your tickets here: https://www.cherrytrees.org.uk/Event/christmas-concert

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

Prep School Pork sausages & mash Pasta Bolognese & crusty bread

Spaghetti Bolognese with crusty bread

Festive or cheese & tomato pizza slice

Festive pizza’s –Come & try a slice of Christmas on a pizza

Creamy chicken curry, rice & poppadum’s

Chicken tikka masala with rice & poppadum’s

Christmas lunches with all the traditional trimmings

Christmas lunches with all the traditional trimmings

Eat healthy choice Turkey & roasted peppers in a tomato sauce with wholewheat pasta

Spanish style chicken & chorizo with wholemeal rice

Beef & broccoli in black bean sauce with noodles

Pulled pork tacos with fresh pineapple salsa & mixed salad Vegetarian Cumberland style vegetable sausages &

Red lentil & vegetable tikka masala with rice