Prep Chronicle 4 Mar 24

4 MARCH 2024

Message from the Head of Prep

The thought of Book Week can be an unnerving prospect for many parents. Discovering that their trusted Where’s Wally? costume has disappeared or their child has presented them with a last-minute plea to dress up as the actual Hogwarts Express train from Harry Potter can be a source of some frustration and anxiety. This must be balanced, however, with the absolute joy that the children experience when they share in this occasion with their friends. This year we have enjoyed another incredible Book Week and the costumes on show today have been truly remarkable. What has been immensely rewarding to hear is the praise that has been lavished on our pupils from the authors who have visited us. In the same way that the group Stringfever were blown away by our pupils on Friday, this week our visiting authors were running out of superlatives to describe how impressed they were with everyone, which given that they are wordsmiths is quite incredible! Well done to all of the children and thank you again to you, their parents, for your support.

On Wednesday, Year 3 enjoyed a trip to the Winchester Science Centre where they explored a range of exciting interactive exhibits and learnt about Science in a very practical way.

Nursery and Reception put on a truly heart-warming performance on Tuesday to celebrate Mother’s Day and we hope that all of the mothering figures in our children’s lives are spoilt with love and affection this weekend.

Mr Heaver

Pupils in Years 6, 7 and 8 had an exciting author visit on Tuesday with Helen Dennis, author of The Secret Breakers and Ink series. Helen shared what led to her becoming a writer and the inspiration behind all of her books. Helen ended the sessions by giving the pupils their own codes to break. Her talk gave us a fascinating insight into the world of code breaking, adventure and mysteries and many pupils have bought signed copies of her books.

Year 6 Author Visit by Helen Dennis

Mrs Watkinson, School Librarian

Year 3 thoroughly enjoyed their trip to the Winchester Science centre on Wednesday. It was a day full of chances to experiment, explore, discover and collaborate with friends.

The pupils participated in a rocket building workshop and were also treated to a planetarium show all about the galaxy.

The only disappointment was that we could not stay for longer.

Mrs Sinclair and Miss Freeman

Year 3 Trip to Winchester Science Centre

Mother

EYFS welcomed their Mummies to a very special assembly on Tuesday morning to celebrate Mother’s Day. They performed a selection of songs, shared reasons why they love their Mummies and presented beautiful flowers they had drawn and decorated. We were so proud of the youngest members of our school community, and are excited to perform again together in the Summer Term, when we celebrate Father’s Day.

Mrs Prothero, Head of Early Years

’s Day Assembly

Cranmore Live: Stringfever

We were thrilled to welcome back the Broadbent family, aka Stringfever, to perform at this year’s Cranmore Live. Cousin Graham, brothers Neal and Ralph, and sister Sophie, are all superb musicians in their own right but the magic really happens when they come together as Stringfever. Violinist Ralph oversaw the afternoon workshops which saw 43 young string players from Cranmore, St Teresa's, Manor House and St Thomas of Canterbury work on their concert piece, 'Stand by Me'. After the workshops and a hearty dinner, the pupils, supported by Stringfever, put on a fabulous rendition of their piece at the start of the concert. This was followed by an immensely entertaining set by Stringfever, the highlights of which were the film medley, Tchaikovsky medley, The History of Music in 5 minutes and their ever-popular and extremely amusing take on Ravel's Bolero. The 250strong audience showed their appreciation with applause and laughter in equal measure. A special mention must go to Mr Chapman and Mr Heaver, who were somewhat surprised to be plucked from the audience and displayed their talent for violin playing during the Bolero. They may have played just a single note, but what a note it was! My thanks to Claire Harris (Director of Music, St Teresa’s Prep School) and Nevada Summerley (Head of Music, Manor House ) for bringing and supporting their pupils throughout the event. Thanks also to Cranmore music staff, Piers Roberts and Lara Horn, for their support on the day. Lastly, thank you to Caroline Yalden (Director of Music, St Teresa’s Senior School) who joined us for the concert. It was a truly wonderful and inspiring evening for us all and I am already looking forward to planning next year's Cranmore Live.

Mr Harris, Director of Music

Music News

Well done to Harriet W in 2NS who performed The Lonely Piper on the piano in Monday’s Lower Prep assembly. She demonstrated a melodic and confident performance.

Mrs Thornton

Nursery News

The Pre-Nursery and Nursery have all worked so hard preparing for the Mother’s Day Event over the past few weeks. They performed their songs in front of their very proud Mummies. It was truly a wonderful celebration!

Ms Luke, Head of Nursery

This Week’s House Cup Winners

Congratulations to Tylor House in the Lower Prep and Morton House in the Upper Prep for gaining the highest number of merits this week!

Reception News

Reception’s topic this term has been Happily Ever After and the children have been exploring lots of traditional tales. In expressive arts and design the children created a bear face using lots of mixed media. The children had lots of materials to choose from such as paint, oil pastels, tissue paper and card. They had so much fun designing their own bears. What a great job children!

Miss Hurl and Mrs Prothero

Gardening Club

Weeds are nature’s graffiti. – Janice Maeditere

After spending a few weeks planning, preparing and planting, we are happy to share that the students have ventured out to Forest School for the first time. They worked hard to prepare the soil for the planting of a variety of edible plants. We are also looking forward to planting out sweet peas (Lathyrus odoratus derives from the Greek word lathyros, meaning ‘pea’, and the Latin word odoratus, meaning ‘fragrant’*), marigolds (Calendula officinalis, coming from the Latin word calendae, or ‘calendar’) and sunflowers (Helianthus, from the Greek word helios, of course, meaning ‘the sun’).

*That’s where the word ‘odour’ comes from!

Mrs Varney and Mrs Green

Sport Update

This week, the U9s and U11s played hockey against Danes Hill and Feltonfleet respectively. The U11A team played in the UKSA tournament on Wednesday. Our U10s had a fixture against Danes Hill yesterday and have matches today against Homefield.

Swimming

We had a fantastic swimming gala against ACS Cobham on Tuesday. It involved over 30 swimmers across age groups U11s to U15s. It was a close final result, but Cranmore won 149 to 143. Well done to all swimmers.

Two National Champions!

On Saturday 2nd March, 6 of our Senior Cross-Country team headed up to Yorkshire for the ISA Cross Country National final. After qualifying through previous rounds, they were now representing London South. The conditions were very wet but the boys all ran superbly. Incredibly, Ben S and Theo L were crowned ISA National Champions in their respective age categories. Daniel B came 5th, Henry C came 8th and Oli W and Sam S ran a great race and they both came in the top 20. Well done to all six runners; we are extremely proud of your performances!

Sport Update

Senior Rowing

At the end of last week, the Year 10 rowers had an opportunity to use an indoor rowing tank as an alternative form of training. All the boys had a great time experiencing the facility and equipment at Molesey Boat Club. Rowing tanks are a great coaching tool. Therefore, these sessions allowed the boys to receive many individual and group feedback pointers all in a very advantageous environment. We look forward to seeing how the boys progress through the spring in time for the local regattas in the summer.

Easter Camps taking place at Cranmore

Surrey Football Coaching

https://www.participant.co.uk/surreyfootballcoaching/event/465006/?x=1#init

Activate Camps

https://www.activatecamps.co.uk/venues/cranmore-school/

Goalkeeping Camp

https://ab1academy.com/horsley-camp/

Mr Hodgson, Director of Sport

A Message from our Chaplaincy Team

Reflection

Reflection

"Lent comes providentially to reawaken us, to shake us from our lethargy." ~ Pope Francis

Amen

Take some time this week to examine your priorities. How much of your heart do these things take up? Are these things bringing you closer to God and becoming the best version of yourself? If not, where can you reduce or remove them? Maybe you could even make a good confession this week and avail yourself of the graces God wants to offer you in order to start afresh.

Chaplaincy News

Year 7 pupils enjoyed a wonderful Lenten Retreat at Wintershall. They learnt more about the importance of Lent and took part in a number of Stations of the Cross reflections. It was a great day, when faith was strengthened. Pupils were given the chance to take a step back from school life and grow spiritually.

Prayer

Lord, my world is so loud sometimes. Help me to create times of silence so I can really listen to Your loving word for my life. Speak to my heart and show me how to speak to Yours. Help me to grow closer to You this Lent.

St Andrew Pray for us.

St Maximilian Kolbe ….Pray for us.

Amen

Monday Tuesday Wednesday

Thursday Friday

Soup Soup of the day Soup of the day Soup of the day Soup of the day Soup of the day

Main Locally sourced pork sausages & onion gravy

Mild beef chilli con carne served in a taco & dips

Jacket potato & beans Plain pasta & tomato sauce

Roasted pork loin with Yorkshire puddings & apple sauce

Freshly baked pepperoni pizza with Italian style salad

Traditional battered fish fillet or fish fingers

Jacket potato & beans

Plain pasta & tomato sauce

Jacket potato & beans

Vegetarian

Sides

Vegetarian style sausages & onion gravy

Mashed potato

Broccoli / sweetcorn

Quorn & bean chilli

Vegetable rice

Roasted carrots / Mediterranean vegetables

No meat meatballs in a tomato sauce

Freshly baked cheese & tomato pizza

Roast potatoes/ mixed vegetables

Mac ‘n’ cheese with chef’s salad

Jacket wedges/ sweetcorn Chips/peas/ baked beans

Additional Salad bar Salad bar Salad bar Salad bar Salad bar

Dessert

Chocolate cake with chocolate sauce

Rocky road Shortbread biscuit