7 DECEMBER 2020
Message from the Headmaster Dear Parents, I know the pupils were excited about their final week before the Christmas break and it proved to be an active, festive and fun-filled end of term with our Nativities, Carol Service, fund-raising for Christmas Jumper Day and many other activities. Thank you to everyone for their generosity this week in raising over ÂŁ1,100 for our charity, Cherry Trees. In addition, the classrooms were busy with computer coding, science experiments, tea parties, plate making and interesting lessons exploring the contrast of teaching modern day mathematical algorithms and completing some imperial unit measurement questions from the 1950s. Well done to all the readers, singers and musicians who were involved in the Carol Service last night. It was an ideal opportunity to pause and reflect on the exceptional term we have had. A special thank you to Mr Jakubowski for co -ordinating the event. It was brilliant to see our rowers back on the water at Walton and congratulations to Igor on setting a new personal best and British record for the 500m ergo time trial at the British Rowing Indoor Championships. Another special mention to Jackson who excelled at the South East Regional Finals on Saturday, winning his individual event. Finally, thank you to all the pupils, parents, staff and governors for contributing to this term and bringing our Cranmore community closer together. Have a peaceful Christmas break. Mr Everitt
Christmas Jumper Day and Christmas Lunch Great fun was had by all on Thursday as pupils and staff donned their Christmas jumpers and enjoyed a delicious Christmas feast prepared by our wonderful caterers, Harrisons. Various classes presented them with cards and sang them a Christmas carol to show their appreciation of the excellent food we all enjoy on a daily basis.
Carol Service Our first virtual Carol Service was streamed on Thursday 10th December. Our pupils read, played their instruments and sang beautifully. Mr Harris, Mr Jakubowski and Mr Hinds deserve our gratitude for organising an uplifting and joyous event.
Year 7 explore some ‘Modern’ and ‘Not-so-Modern’ themes In their Decision Maths lessons, 7MH have been introduced to a variety of algorithms to solve various problems this term.
For those pupils who happen to be in my Year 7 maths set, they will be going back in time in their penultimate lesson of term and seeing what an entrance exam looked like in pre-decimalisation times (and without a modern calculator!). Thankfully the pressure is off and they will have the chance to ask about all of those imperial units of measure…
Modern lessons rotate termly, so Politics and Self-Regulated Learning awaits 7MH, whilst the other Year 7 Forms will have the opportunity to explore some of these ideas for the first time in the spring and summer terms. Mr Pulford
Cross-curricular challenge! Can you find out what ‘s’ and ‘d’ stand for in Latin?
Year 4 and 5 pupils take part in the Hour of Code The Hour of Code takes place each year during Computer Science Education which is this week! Our Year 4 and 5 pupils have been busy taking part in the Hour of Code and so far, have written over 28 thousand lines of code. They have been using Minecraft coding blocks to solve a range of problems on land and under the sea! This is a great way of consolidating their programming from the first half of the term where they learnt some basic Javascript.
The pupils have been using repeats, ‘if’ statements and a range of functions. Even top universities teach blockbased coding. Under the hood, the blocks assembled can also be shown in JavaScript, the world's most widely used coding language and the code above can be viewed as:
Well done Year 4 and 5. Remember to keep coding! #HourOfCode
Mr Hinds
Music Success Congratulations to: Alexandra N, who achieved Distinction in her Grade 2 flute exam.
Louis L, who achieved Merit in his Grade 3 flute exam.
Sam M, who achieved Distinction in his Grade 4 piano exam.
Christmas Poems by pupils in Year 4 Crystal snowflakes falling from the sky, Hurricanes of wind gushing this way and that. Racing reindeers towing Santa’s sleigh, Icicles hanging from caves far away. Santa is coming to give us all presents, To make children happy. Merry Christmas to all. You have presents to open. All the wind and hail has gone away. Santa has gone for now but he’ll be back! By Alexander Denham Christmas Cheers all around, Hail and pits of snow in the woods. Raising snowmen through the winter season, Icicles dropping from balconies. Snow falling in big icy blizzards, Trees that are evergreen swishing and swashing in the air. Many fires lit up. As many elves come, you will have to be good. Santa giving presents to everyone. By Jack Thompson Santa’s Arrival On Christmas night I hear a sound, I look outside and all around. Then I see behind a tree Santa landing on the ground! His cloak was red and his beard was white, The reindeers must have flown all night! His sack full of toys for all the girls and boys. In a flash he flew away, Hoping to see him another day. By Oscar Boorman
Year 2 study Materials in Science Last Friday, pupils in Year 2 tested tea bags as part of their ‘Materials’ topic in Science. The children were asked to find out which material made the best tea bag.
Year 2’s Willow Pattern Plates Last week in Year 2, we read the Chinese Fable of the Two Doves with the Willow pattern plate. The children loved the story and were inspired to design their own willow pattern plates. They also took part in English activities related to the activity. They demonstrated high levels of concentration and good fine motor skills to create their detailed designs.
A great term in Reception! We are really proud of how hard Reception have worked this term and of the amazing progress they have made. Every single one of them has made huge leaps in their development and it is lovely to see them now choosing to write independently in the role play areas to continue their learning. They are also very creative with construction activities and their designs are becoming more intricate and detailed. Well done Reception!
Nursery children enjoy a fire at Forest School and a tea party At Forest School the Nursery children had a fire and learnt all about being ‘safe’ in our fire circle. Mrs Woods made popcorn for them and they toasted their own marshmallows. The children made fairy cakes and shortbread biscuits for a special tea party.
A message from our Chaplain A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke. Glory to you, O Lord. He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. As it is written in the book of Isaiah the prophet: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. And all people will see God’s salvation.’” The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Reflection Advent is a 4-week period which the Church gives to us to prepare our hearts for the coming of Jesus. It is so easy for us to miss the mystery of Jesus' birth. What can distract us from the true meaning of Christmas? How can we get ready for Jesus' coming? May I urge everyone in this Advent Season to be encouraged, for God has not left us alone. He has come to be close to us. Mr Jakubowski
Chaplaincy Notices
Click on the link below for the Wednesday Word for pupils: https://www.paperturn-view.com/uk/wednesday-word/ holiday-special?pid=MTA101634&v=7.7
Sports Update Swim Squad Success - Virtual Gala The Cranmore Swim Squad performed superbly well in last week's Virtual Swim Gala. Over 50 swimmers from the school took part in the event which included many schools in the region. The times produced were fantastic and it certainly bodes very well for when 'real' galas and championships return. Sarah Calpin, Head of Swimming
Virtual Gala Winners U9A Backstroke – E. Wilson U9B Backstroke – M. Gates U9B Breaststroke – D. Verster U9B Freestyle – E. Fuller U9A&B – Freestyle Relay (A - E. Fuller, E. Wilson, M. Gates, B. Mutch/B - D. Verster, D. Leuvennink, M. Davies, J. Thompson) U9A&B – Medley Relay (A - E. Wilson, D. Verster, M. Gates, E. Fuller/B - M. Davies, J. Thompson, B. Mutch, D. Leuvennink) U12B Breaststroke – L. Hume U13A Butterfly – J. Ward
Cranmore pupil Igor sets new British record! Huge congratulations to Igor T who did brilliantly in the British Indoor Rowing Championships 12 and under category. He managed two new PBs in both the 3 mins (891m) and the 500m (1.35.8) events, the latter being a new British record.
NSEA Show jumping - Jackson B Well done to Jackson B who won the individual South East Regional Final Championship (Felbridge, Sussex) on Saturday in the 40cm on his pony Rolo.
Year 6 Inter-Winter League Champions
Year 6 Henderson Run
Cranmore entry in The Cricketers Magazine Top 50—Success for third consecutive year! We heard just recently that we have been included in The Cricketer magazine’s ‘Top 50 Schools Guide 2021’ for cricket schools. This is the third year in a row that we have been awarded this accolade. More information including the special magazine edition can be found at: https://www.thecricketer.com/Topics/schools/the_cricketer_schools_guide_2021_list_announced.html
Next term - Rugby & Hockey Rugby and hockey will be taking place in sports lessons next term. Shin pads and mouthguards are needed for all pupils from Year 2 to year 8. Due to contact rugby happening in Games lessons for pupils in Year 4 upwards, a change of clothing is required. This is even more important in adverse weather.
Development Centres Please see the flyers on the next page regarding the cricket and hockey development centres. Also, a new Chelsea FC Pre-Development Centre is starting at Cranmore. Please contact the development centres directly for further information.
For regularly updated sporting action, follow: instagram.com/cranmoresport twitter.com/cranmoresport
Mouth guards Please go to https://www.opromouthguards.com for information about buying mouth guards. Year 5 Games
Year 4 Penalty Shoot-out
Year 5 Football and Fitness
Year 3 Inter-Winter League Champions and Games Lesson
Menu Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Pasta Carbonara
Chicken Tikka Masala
Traditional
Inset Day
Mild Beef Chilli Served with Rice & Nachos Sliced Iceberg Lettuce & Sliced Beef
Chef’s Salad
Tomato &
Main
Chef’s Trolley
Vegetarian
Sides
Additional
Dessert
Battered Cod & Cod Fish
Chef’s Salad
Cucumber
Tomatoes
Salad
Masala
No Meat Meatballs in a Fresh Tomato Sauce with
Green Beans
Rice &
Fries & Peas
& Carrots
Broccoli
& Beans
Jacket Potato & Beans
Jacket Potato & Beans
Jacket Potato & Beans
Carrot Cake
Lemon &
Sticky Toffee Traybake
Fresh Fruit Salad
Fresh
Spaghetti
Vegetable & Bean Chilli with Rice & Nachos
Neapolitan
Sweetcorn
Jacket Potato
Blueberry Slice
Items in Italic - Sourced from F Conisbee’s, our local butcher
Vegetable & Chickpea