Cranmore Senior Chronicle 10 October 2022

Message from the Headmaster

The senior assembly for Black History Month gave us an insightful look not only at role modelling in the celebrity sphere, but also into some compelling individuals who are unsung heroes in their communities. It was an inspiring and informative presentation by the 8RC pupils. Their assembly catalogued important events from Carter Woodson, the ‘Father of Black History’, in 1926 to present day composer and conductor Dr Shirley Thompson whose musical piece was chosen to mark the late Queen’s Jubilee.

Last week, we had a visit from author David Farr, a leading UK screenwriter and director for film, TV and theatre. The inspiring author talks continued this week with Tom Palmer and Sarah Govett visiting our school. Tom delighted pupils with a quiz and an interactive question and answer session explaining how he became an author and the inspiration behind his books. Sarah spoke to our older pupils about her books which include the dystopian trilogy, The Territory. She generated some interesting discussions about the threats posed by artificial intelligence, genetic engineering and global warming. The final part of Book Week included the pupils taking part in the book quiz and attending the Usborne book fair.

Action Day was again a resounding success with every pupil displaying their hidden talents in front of their year group and we were wonderfully entertained while raising vital funds for our chosen charity, Action in Africa.

The first weekend back after half term will bring what promises to be another spectacular event run by the CPA in the form of the Cranmore Fire Works display. I have just purchased my tickets and am certainly looking forward to being there. I hope everyone has a restful half term break.

Mr Everitt

10 OCTOBER 2022

Book Week

Pupils throughout the school have been involved in a variety of book themed activities this week, including: • An author visit by Sarah Govett for pupils in Years 8 and 9 • Competitions to win book prizes • Making hedgehogs out of old library books • Attending the Usborne book fair We have been thrilled by the enthusiasm shown by our pupils throughout the week for the various activities and we very much hope that the week will prompt an increased interest in the fabulous books we have on offer in our libraries as well as those at home! Mrs Watkinson, School Librarian

Read more about this and other school events on our social media pages: Twitter Cranmore (@CranmoreSchool) / Twitter Instagram Cranmore (@cranmoreschool) • Instagram photos and videos Facebook Cranmore | Facebook

On the second day of Book Week, author Sarah Govett came to speak to our Year 8 and 9 pupils. She talked about the inspiration behind her books and how she became an author. Her talk generated some fascinating discussions about the threats posed by genetic engineering, global warming and artificial intelligence. Many pupils took home a signed copy of her books and we look forward to hearing what they think of them.

Mrs Watkinson, School Librarian, and Ms Newton, Head of English

Some feedback from Aidan H Year 8 Pupil

“I loved the visit by Sarah Govett because we were taught about lots of different things, just one of these things is an expanse on vocabulary because I had never heard of dystopia before I was told today. She was very affirmative when talking about her books and how much they meant to her. I say this because of how she talked about her daughter and that she would do bad things to save her and that was like in her book. I liked that she hadn't written to many books so she could give us all a brief summary of what happened in every one of them. Obviously she talked about the territory the most because there were three books on it. It sounded really interesting and I managed to get one from the library so will definitely have a go at reading it. I liked that she was trying to spread the message of global warming through her books with all of the flooding of water. It was a really nice way of explaining her thoughts at this moment in time. I think she was also very good at persuading us that are exams in later life e.g., GSCE and A level would be fine because you are not going to die if you fail them. I don't know if she did this on purpose or not but I kind of saw it a bit like that which I really loved. I loved the thinking around her books and the dystopia fiction which sounds really interesting. It was fortunate that she said she would write some books for adults because I think my dad would love it. Having these author visits at school is so amazing and they influence us a lot but in my year and a bit at this school, this was the best one just because of the reasons shown.”

Sarah Govett visits Years 8 and 9

ART

Rotary Young Photographer is a well established and successful annual competition promoted by Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland (RGBI).

It 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 submit one photograph based upon the theme, “The Beauty of Architecture” with a sentence to explain the relationship to the theme.

This competition aims to encourage young people to experiment and express their ideas and interpretation of the subject through the medium of digital photography. Judges will consider technical merit, content and composition, and imagination and style. 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 Mrs Sanders felicity.sanders@cranmore.org no later than Wednesday 1st February.

COMPETITION

Harvest Collection

Thank you to our Cranmore families for their really amazing response to our Harvest collection. Myfanwy from LeatherHEAD START was delighted to receive the generous donations in fact, we almost couldn’t fit it all in the car!

Year 9 Black History Month in Drama

As part of Black History Month, pupils in Year 9 Drama have been working on extracts of the play Noughts and Crosses, adapted from Malorie Blackman’s novel by Dominic Cooke. They explored the idea of status and what it meant to be “someone” over “making a difference.”

Mrs Hanson, Head of Drama

WORLD SCHOLARS CUP

This week Reception have been talking about what they want to be when they grow up. The children then did some wonderful sentence writing really focusing on their letter formation. What an amazing job they all did! We are so proud of you.

In Senior Assembly, we had the chance to celebrate the successes of our Renaissance Challenge participants. Certificates were awarded to those pupils in Year 8 and Year 9 who had shown independence of thought and self motivation to produce work on a range of topics. Various badges were awarded for submitted pieces which included an exploration of the history of cinema, reflections on D Day and an analysis of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix of 2021.

Miss Hurl and Mrs Prothero

On Wednesday, we welcomed Ms Hobkinson and pupils from St Teresa’s for the launch of the World Scholars Cup. WSC is a multi disciplinary global competition where pupils from around the globe go head to head in teams of three to showcase their scholarly knowledge, debating and persuasive writing skills. Pupils from both schools will be training for the competition after school each week from the start of next half term and we look forward to working together to showcase our knowledge and skills at the regional round that is scheduled for March 2023.

There is still an opportunity for interested boys in Years 7 9 to join, so please contact Ms Newton if you are interested in taking part.

We hope that after Ms Hobkinson’s inspiring talk, they will join others in putting themselves forward for the World Scholar’s Cup.

Our very successful football season continues with some great results taking place. On Monday, our U13s beat Hall Grove School 4 3 to progress through to the semi final of the Surrey Cup. On Wednesday, our U13s had 8 sides representing Cranmore against Northcote Lodge. Four sides played at home on the fantastic Henderson pitches, whilst four sides travelled to Wandsworth to play in the away matches. It’s pleasing to report that Cranmore secured eight wins across this fixture block.

We had pupils representing Cranmore at the ESSA Cross Country Cup at Stoke Park. 3 pupils competed in both age categories, U12 and U13, with all runners performing very well.

Last Saturday in Norwich, our U14 ski squad came a respectable 5th in the English Schools National Dry Slope Finals. This is very encouraging as the skiers who competed will be eligible to race again next year.

Cricket Coaching at Cranmore

Please see flyer regarding information of individual and small group cricket coaching held at Cranmore.

Half-term Sport Camps at Cranmore

Please see flyer regarding information of holiday football camps held at Cranmore

Year

Games

Sports Roundup

6

Mr Hodgson, Director of Sport U13s versus Hall Grove School U13s versus Northcote Lodge National Dry Slope Finals

This Week’s House Cup Winner

DRAMA COMPETITION

Congratulations to Morton House for winning the House Cup this week for the highest number of merits!

Outreach

Thought for the week: How will you encounter Jesus through the poor and needy?

Compassion

Lord, make our hearts compassionate towards others. Let us look upon the world and take pity on those who are in need. Help us rise to the challenge that you set before all of us, that we might share your wondrous gifts of faith, hope, and eternal life with the world. Lord, have mercy and hear us. Amen.

REFLECTION

Pope Francis has spoken of his belief that real charity is about encountering Christ in the poor and needy, not merely handing out aid to soothe one's conscience. This term, as part of our ongoing efforts to see Christ in others, we are asking our Cranmore community to support a number of good causes. Our recent Harvest donations have gone to support the homeless and we also appeal to you to donate to Action in Africa, as part of our Action Day fundraising as well as to our Christmas Shoebox collection, details of which can be found in the Cranmore School weekly correspondence email.

Let us Pray:

Our Father

Hail Mary

1 minute silence

“Christian charity is not simple philanthropy but, on the one hand, it is looking at others through the eyes of Jesus Himself and, on the other hand, seeing Jesus in the face of the poor.”

Pope Francis

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

A Message from our Chaplaincy Team

Notices