5th OCTOBER 2020
Message from the Headmaster Traditionally, during this first half term of the academic year, you will have had the opportunity to come into school for information evenings, Mass, sports fixtures or perhaps a music assembly. For now, we are embracing other ways for you to ‘meet’ with us. Whilst these are online rather than onsite, I hope that many of you have been able to experience life at the school by watching our new Welcome to Cranmore video. I know the pupils are excited about preparing for our Action Day, which will take place on Friday, just before halfterm. Action Day is a longstanding event at Cranmore, giving pupils in our Upper Prep and Senior School the opportunity to perform a talent. The performances have always been varied including poetry reading, telling a joke, playing a musical instrument or performing a drama sketch. This is also an opportunity to raise awareness and funds for our associated charity, Mary’s Meals. A representative from the charity spoke during our online assembly about the wonderful work they are able to undertake with help from our Cranmore community. There were some notable successes for our pupils outside school in equestrian and karting competitions. Congratulations to those pupils. Mr Hodgson has been busy liaising with external specialists who wish to create new sporting development centres at the school, in both cricket and hockey. Finally, I would like to thank all the pupils, parents, governors and guests for joining us on Thursday for a thoughtprovoking Harvest Liturgy. It reminded us that we should be grateful for the gifts we have been given and to share with others who may be in need.
Mr Everitt
Black History Month Activities related to Black History Month have been incorporated into our school day and will continue throughout next week. Here are a few examples:
Mr Harris has been playing famous pieces by black singers and composers in assembly, which have included Aretha Franklin’s ‘Say a Little Prayer’, Louis Armstrong’s ‘A Wonderful World’ and Scott Joplin’s ‘The Entertainer’.
Some forms have taken part in a quiz with questions on Modern Black Britain, World Black History and a picture round.
Year 6 English pupils have learnt about Malorie Blackman, the incredibly talented author of children’s books, including ‘Cloud-Busting’, which they are studying in their English lessons.
In their Latin lessons, our Year 7 pupils learnt that Africans first came to Britain with the Roman Empire.
Year 2 have enjoyed learning about Rosa Parks and her impact on Black History.
There are some excellent resources on the BBC website if you would like to consolidate their learning at home: https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/curations/black-history-month
Year 5 investigate the reproduction of flowering plants Year 5 pupils at Cranmore have been studying flowering plants and their reproduction. Thank you to Jake in 5TH who took this wonderful photo. Next, they will be investigating the effect of wing size on the dispersal of helicopter seeds like sycamores.
Tips for trouble-free homework time 1.When your child comes home ask him/her to show you what s/he has to do. Don't ask him/her to do anything at this stage but just to explain what has to be done. This consolidates the instructions s/he heard when the teacher set the homework and your child's mind will begin preparing his/her answers. 2.When s/he has changed into comfy clothes, has had a snack, and it is time to begin, ask him/her to decide which subject s/he will attempt first and how s/he intends to start. 3. Set a timer for fifteen minutes and ask your child to work until the timer goes off when s/he can have a short break, run around the garden, do some star jumps, have a drink, throw a ball for the dog etc. 4. Get back to work for another timed fifteen minutes. It is remarkable how knowing that the timer is about to go off concentrates the mind and increases our concentration and speed of work. Breaking homework up into manageable chunks, with a movement break of five minutes between tasks, is much easier for most children to manage. Each section is finite and works toward the finishing line. This method works well for weekend homework too. On Friday evening ask your child to explain what has been set. S/he won't do the work then, but s/he will have been reminded of the questions so s/he doesn't have to retain the information until Sunday.
Autumnal fun in the Nursery The children had a very wet and muddy adventure at Forest School this week. They prepared lots of delicious treats in the Mud Kitchen and played with the ropes. With Autumn as their theme, the children engaged in an Autumn number ordering activity and created vibrant pictures printing with vegetables. They used the interactive board to produce some wonderful hedgehogs! In their box craft session, the children made their very own special happy boxes!
Reception celebrated Grandparents’ Day Our Reception children had a lovely day celebrating Grandparents’ Day. They participated in a carousel of craft activities in the morning and recorded a song and some messages to play to our grandparents at home.
Year 1 children created splendid stained glass windows in R.E.
2JC enjoyed making castles and creating their grandparents’ gifts 2JC have made beautiful castles and have been painting them this week. This has enabled them to develop their teamwork skills. They also enjoyed writing a poem and printing their hand on a heart for a special grandparent. They wrote: Today l take my little hand and place it on your heart. So you and l will never part.
Year 2 Science In their Science lesson on ‘Materials’, Year 2 pupils were finding out what would be the best material for curtains.
Year 3’s Great Conker Challenge Year 3 collected conkers from the school grounds and then in teams they completed several challenges including:
Who could roll their conker the furthest? Who would win the conker and spoon race? Which team could make the best conker creature? Predicting how much various quantities of conkers would weigh and then weighing them to find out how close their estimates were.
Sporting Development Centres Two exciting sporting development centres will be commencing after half-term here at Cranmore: - Effingham Cricket Development Centre: Mondays & Thursdays from 6pm, Saturdays from 9am (coaching sessions also available in the half-term holiday - 19th to 23rd October, 10am to 4pm) - Effingham Hockey Development Centre: Wednesdays from 6pm
The cricket and hockey evening sessions will provide outstanding coaching, using our fantastic facilities at the school and the provision will be open to both Cranmore and non-Cranmore children of all abilities. Please see the flyers attached for more information and booking details.
Sports Reminders Rain or shine, sports lessons for Year 4 upwards will always take place outside. Pupils must have a change of clothing in school on the days they participate in sport, particularly in periods of adverse weather. Please ensure that the spare clothing is Cranmore sports kit where possible. Pupils in Year 2 upwards should have their shin pads, boots and water bottles with them for their PE and Games lessons. Mouthguards There is now the option to buy customised Cranmore mouthguards. See flyer overleaf or go to: https://www.opromouthguards.com
House Polo Shirts Larger sizes of House Polo shirts are now available, including for those pupils in Year 7 and above. https://www.schoolblazer.com Year 6 enjoy a variety of sporting activities including hockey, tennis and table-tennis
Year 5 enjoy activities such as tennis and hockey
Individual Sporting Successes Congratulations to Year 7 pupil Oliver, who completed a successful day of racing in the Junior InKart Championship, Cadet A Finals. After successful qualification, Oliver was awarded Runner-up for the Championship and was awarded this spectacular trophy.
Congratulations also to Jackson in Year 5 who achieved 1st place in the individual 40cm race at the National Schools Equestrian Association show jumping competition in Horsham last weekend, which means he qualifies for the regionals.
Camp Information Activate Camps are back at Cranmore School this October half term to deliver the Hockey Masterclass. Sessions are 3 hours long and separated by age groups with robust COVID safety measures in place. Book now https:// www.activatecamps.co.uk/venues/cranmore-school/ For rugby and cricket, please see the ‘The Only Camps’ flyer .
A message from our Chaplain A Reading from the Book of Psalms
May the peoples praise you, O God. God, show mercy to us and bless us. Look on us with kindness. So that the whole world may know your will; So that all nations may know your salvation. The land has produced its harvest God, our God, has blessed us. God has blessed us; May the people everywhere honour him. The Word of the Lord Thanks be to God
Reflection
Over the next two weeks we will be turning our attention to Harvest. Let us be mindful of all those who need our help. At Cranmore we strive to reach out to others. For Action Day this year we will be raising money for Mary’s Meals. The money raised will go to feeding disadvantaged school children around the world. It costs £15.90 to feed one child for a year. Our target this year is to raise £4,200 which will mean that all the children in one school will be fed for a year. Please see below for the link if you would like to donate.
Mr Jakubowski
Chaplaincy Notices
Click here for the Just Giving link to donate to our Harvest appeal for the homeless people in our area.
Click here for the Just Giving link to donate to Mary’s Meals for Action Day.
Click on the link below for the Wednesday Word for pupils:
https://www.paperturn-view.com/uk/wednesday-word/messenger?pid=MTA101634&v=5.5
Menu Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Main
Chicken & vegetable pie
Pasta Bolognese
Sweet & sour chicken breast strips
Chef’s Trolley
Chef’s salad
Chef’s salad
Chef’s salad
Vegetarian
Thursday
Friday
Locally sourced pork sausage in a soft roll Chef’s salad
Battered cod goujons & cod fish fingers Chef’s salad
Fresh vege- Quorn table & lentil mince Bolopie gnese & pasta
Oriental tofu & vegetables in sweet chilli sauce
Vegetable sausage in a soft roll
Macaroni cheese
New potatoes
Crusty bread
Rice
Jacket wedges
Chips
Broccoli
Sweetcorn & peas
Additional
Jacket potato & beans
Jacket potato & beans
Jacket potato & beans
Jacket potato & beans
Jacket potato & beans
Dessert
Iced vanilla sponge
Chocolate brownie
Banoffee traybake
Raspberry & apple crumble squares
Tropical fruit pots
Sides
Mixed vegetables
Items in Italic - Sourced from F Conisbee’s, our local butcher
Peas