HIGHLIGHTS AUTUMN 2019
C RO S F I E L D S SCHOOL
FROM THE HEADMASTER We all know that schools do not wind down. They wind up and then they stop. It is only in the deafening silence of a school without children in the holidays, that you can look back on the business of a busy school and call to mind moments which spring out for their happiness, success, triumph or joy. And though the ever wonderful Christmas Carol Service may herald the start of Christmas proper, the school had already enjoyed five superb Christmas concerts and plays, as many performances as there were Christmas trees at school. It felt like only days before that we welcomed the new term, the new pupils, the new Year 7 in uniform flecked with raspberry, and then the news we were in week 2 to be inspected. It was magnificent to be given the highest grade of ‘Excellent’ and yet odd so early in the year – almost as though the grade had become before the exam. When we waved the Inspectors goodbye term really began and this business of being busy started and it is this which is captured here in these pages.
Mr. Craig Watson
NEW FACES This term, we welcomed the following new Team Members to the School:
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Mr Adam Mallins Deputy Head Pastoral
Mrs Linda Barnes Junior School Teacher
Mr Andrew Clarke Teacher of Games
Mrs Maura Crawley Teacher of Cookery
Mrs Susan Nicholas School Nurse
Mrs Chan Odedra Compliance & Governance Co-ordinator
CROSFIELDS SCHOOL HIGHLIGHTS - AUTUMN 2019
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ANIMALS IN ACORNS Luke Quirk and his animal roadshow were back in school in October, talking to children in Year 2 about how animals can be classified into different groups as part of their science topic on animals. The children were excited to touch, hold and stroke the interesting array of creatures which included Mr Slimy the Snail, Sid the Hissing Cockroach, Legs the Tarantula, Splat the Tree Frog, Jaffa the Corn Snake and the children’s favourite, Sven the Rabbit.
BRICK-TASTIC TIME AT LEGOLAND Having had their trip postponed due to inclement weather in September, Year 1 finally made it to Legoland in October‌and it was worth the wait! The rain stayed away and the children had a wonderful time exploring the park. From the moment the coach turned into the Legoland driveway, the children were filled with excitement and gasps of delight echoed through the coach. It was a fun day and, as the park was so quiet, Year 1 took full advantage and managed to visit each zone. There were many tired and sleepy children on the way back home. A memorable day was had by all!
RECEPTION GET HANDS ON AT DISCOVERY CENTRE All Reception classes took turns to visit The Look Out Discovery Centre in Bracknell during October. The children had great fun exploring all of the science exhibits, with
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the fire and light show being a firm favourite! The additional excitement of having a packed lunch to eat and a ride on a coach made the day even more fun.
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MARVELLOUS MATHS WEEK
With much excitement and anticipation, Maths Week began at the end of September and a whole schedule of activities ensued with children in Years 6, 7 and 8 solving a number of mathematical problems and puzzles. Children in Year 4 took part in the Mathematics Challenge, where 16 local schools visited Crosfields to compete in an afternoon of mathematical tasks in the Sports Hall. This included mental arithmetic and games, and, to their delight, one of the Crosfields teams came second! (We didn’t fix it, honestly!). Throughout the week, children enjoyed working with the Happy Puzzle Company who brought in a clever array of puzzles that encouraged children in all year groups to work together, solving visual maths problems. Girls and boys in the Pre-Prep used Lego and butterflies to think about symmetry, as well as getting creative by painting repeating patterns. Architecture Bridge Building workshops that explored geometry and the properties of shape took place. The week culminated with children in Year 8 spending time in the Nursery, having fun with numbers. It really was a terrific week that encouraged the children to think about the application of maths in everything that they did, and demonstrated that maths can be found everywhere.
CALCULATING LAUGHS At the end of September, children in Years 2 to 6 filled the Theatre for two special performances of The Calculating Mr. One – a lively show put together by the Quantum Theatre, London that explored Key Stage 1 and 2 Maths. The performance, which was the finale to Maths Week, was set in London in 1898. The children laughed as someone tried to steal Professor Ebenezer Brain-Teaser’s latest invention, an incredible calculating machine. Watching closely, the children saw Josiah Bloodhound, probably Britain’s worst Private Detective, trying to add two and two together. With Circus Numero as the ‘prime’ suspect, the children counted along with Kitty Beagle to ‘calculate’ who Mr. One was. Quantum Theatre provided tailored performances to the younger and older audiences; while the older children enjoyed manipulating larger numbers, rounding, factors, square numbers and prime numbers, the younger year groups listened out for number patterns, the four functions, how to solve problems using mental methods, number bonds, using a number line, place value and ordering numbers. It was an entertaining show that encouraged mathematical participation from the children but also had them laughing along in enjoyment.
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DRAWING TO LEARN Crosfields was brimming with creativity towards the half term break in October for the annual Big Draw Festival, a celebration of drawing in which hundreds of schools around the world take part in. The theme this year was ‘Creativity and Wellbeing’ and children in Reception to Year 4 learnt how important it is to maintain a healthy body and mind by exploring a range of creative activities including giant collaborative mandalas, plasticine modelling and painting. In addition, children were involved in therapeutic sessions in peer massage, dance and mindfulness thanks to two outstanding guests, Be Relaxed Kids and My Dance Land. Much has been made of the benefits of being actively creative to make positive change and improve wellbeing, and the Big Draw at Crosfields this year certainly encouraged the children (and adults!) to use drawing as a tool to navigate the challenges of the busy lives that we lead.
HARVEST OF PLENTY Towards the end of September, donations flooded into school for the Harvest Festival. Girls and boys in Year 8, ably assisted by children in the Pre-Prep, sorted and packed hundreds of items of food into crates. Crosfields was proud to say that, thanks to generosity of the school’s community, over 15 crates of food (and a further car boot full!) were
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prepared for Wokingham Food Bank and Readifood, who provide food parcels to those in need in the local area. The importance of their work was explained to the children in a special Collect in September by a representative from the Wokingham Food Bank, and the children enjoyed being able to contribute to this worthy cause.
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GETTING TO GRIPS WITH THE ANCIENT GREEKS In September, girls and boys in Year 4 walked over to the Ure Museum of Greek Archaeology at the University of Reading. As part of their topic on the Ancient Greeks, the children examined the Museum’s fascinating collection of vases and pots which helped them to understand and visualise how the Greeks may have once lived. From tiny pots for perfumes and oils to larger containers for water, the children even got to hold some of the artefacts which they enjoyed immensely. This fired their imaginations and they then created story boards for the pots that they had seen, as well as enjoying a ‘treasure hunt’, following clues and finding the artefacts on their worksheets.
ON THE HUNT FOR NURSERY RHYMES Girls and boys in the Nursery were thrilled in October when they had a visit from the Freshwater Theatre Company, who came in for a fun morning of Nursery Rhyme themed activities. Working together using their senses, the children found clues to missing Nursery Rhymes. They had special binoculars to help look, an extra sensitive nose to help with the smells, feeling gloves for touching and a great big set of ears to help them hear! At the end of the session, the girls and boys found several clues that lead them to Humpty Dumpty, Incy Wincy Spider, 1,2,3,4,5, and Five Little Ducks. Once they had found each clue they sang the nursery rhymes through together and took the clues back to Big Bird. It was an imaginative and enjoyable session that really encouraged the children to work together.
KEEPING IT REAL AT KIDZANIA
In November, girls and boys in Year 3 went on an exciting trip to Kidzania in London. Kidzania is an indoor city where children can earn money by working different realistic jobs. Jobs included working for the emergency services, being a vet, pilot, reporter or studying at the Kidzania University! The children got paid in Kidzos and enjoyed working hard to earn their cash. At the end of the experience the children cashed in their money at the bank and created accounts where they received a debit card. The children learnt how to work together, listen and work hard, as well as learning about what skills are needed to be good at certain jobs.
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HAVING A BALL IN HOCKEY The Year 6 girls and the Crosfields Hockey Squad were incredibly fortunate in early October to have a visit from Team GB Hockey player Shona McCallin who came into school to run their hockey lesson. Shona, who currently plays hockey for Great Britain, was part of the Olympic team who won the Gold medal in Rio in 2016. She gave the girls an opportunity to train like a professional hockey player by setting up several drills to encourage them to pass and move into space, at the same time reminding them to keep their heads up so they could
see! Shona ended the session with small-sided games to put what she had taught the girls into practice. It was a fantastic opportunity for the children to learn from one of the top athletes in the country, and what’s more, Shona had brought in a signed hockey ball plus one of the skirts she wore whilst out in Rio to award to two of the girls. Evie was the lucky recipient of the ball, and Cindy was given the skirt for their hard work and enthusiasm during the session.
SUPER SKI SQUAD SUCCESS The Crosfields skiers had a fantastic start to the Autumn term. 15 children joined the Crosfields Development Squad and took part in training sessions at Aldershot Alpine Snowsports Centre during the summer months and Mrs. Parlane was thrilled to hear the race coaches applaud the commitment and attentiveness of the children. On Sunday 15th September, 5 children competed in two teams at the English Schools’ Ski Association National Championships (ESSKIA) Dry Slope, along with over 200 children aged from 8 to 17 years old. There was a hive of activity upon arrival at 8.30am, and a great entry-level race for our first dry slope ski race. There were many different emotions expressed on the day, but the feeling of achievement and happiness far surpassed it all. www.crosfields.com
Towards the end of September, 10 children competed in three teams (2 boys’ teams and 1 girls’ team) at the BISS National Indoor Open Ski Championships with the Ski Club of Great Britain. This race formed part of the National Schools Indoor Series and over 450 children, aged 8 to 17 years old, took part in the event. Team Crosfields arrived at the Snow Centre in Hemel Hempstead where the atmosphere was very busy, energised and excited. The children were calm but excited at the prospect of finally skiing on snow after months of training on dry slopes, and they certainly didn’t disappoint. Congratulations to Leah who came 5th in the U14 girls category and to our girls team that again included Leah, as well as Matilda, Bea, and Imogen who came 3rd overall in the Junior girls category. CROSFIELDS SCHOOL HIGHLIGHTS - AUTUMN 2019
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SPORTING COLOURS
All children in Years 4 to 8 were involved in a series of exciting inter-house handball, hockey and basketball matches shortly before the half term break. Always lively and entertaining games, the inter-house matches gave all the children an opportunity to participate in fast-paced competitive sport. Girls and boys played in their house colours and proudly gave their all to win points.
SPECTACULAR CHEMISTRY Girls and boys in Year 5 took part in an exciting and gripping science event that kept them on the edge of their seats for a whole hour at the end of November. Hosted by Wellington College, the children were taken on a journey of scientific discovery, watching demonstrations of different chemicals to showcase their uses. Gasps were audible as hydrogen balloons were exploded, physically shaking the auditorium. Hands were waving at the opportunity to have hydrogen bubbles popped on outstretched arms. Quieter moments showed the glowing phosphorus ‘light bulb’, as well as the effect of dry ice on alkali solutions. The coach trip home was a lively as the children talked animatedly about which experiment wowed them the most.
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CHRISTMAS STARS In the first of our Crosfields Christmas performances, children in the Nursery bravely took to the stage to tell the wonderful story of the First Christmas to a packed theatre on 15th November. Looking resplendent and singing their hearts out, every child contributed to a magical production. It was so impressive to see how confidently the children, who are just completing their first term at Crosfields, moved around the stage and the joy they took from performing. The audience were all left feeling quite Christmassy and very proud indeed!
Following Nursery, children in Year 1 also took to the stage to perform ‘The Inn-spectors’. After lots of hard work, the Year 1 children put on a dazzling production, and what a success it was! The Inn-spectors were in Bethlehem and they were not pleased. A stable was no place for visitors with a newborn baby and it really was a health and safety nightmare! In the end the inn-spectors were convinced that the stable was really fit for a King and thankfully marked the Olde Inn as ‘EXCELLENT!’ www.crosfields.com
The following week, it was the Reception children who made their debut in the Crosfields theatre performing Little Star to family and friends. The story followed Little Star as she tried to find something special for the baby Jesus. Of course there were sheep and shepherds, Wise Men and camels to meet along the way. The Reception children did a super job and each one proved to be a little star as they all did the most amazing singing, dancing and acting. Finally, during the last week of November, it was the turn of Year 2 to put on their Christmas performance. The children brought a flavour of the Far East to Crosfields with their fabulously colourful production of Aladdin and treated the audience to a host of dances. From the comical to the elegant Arabian dances, there was even a conga-dancing Father Christmas! The children sang with gusto, raising the roof with their finale ‘Rocking around the Christmas tree’. Their hard work paid off and they performed brilliantly with clear voices and lots of energy.
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JOLLY JUNIORS
Christmas had well and truly arrived in the Junior School during the first week of December when the children brought their Christmas cantata to the stage! In Santa’s grotto and surrounded by fairy lights, the girls and
boys dazzled the audience through their fantastic singing and humorous take on ‘Strictly the Nativity’. With a colourful array of Christmas jumpers, and plenty of Christmas spirit, the Junior children proudly gave it their all.
MICROSOFT VISIT YEAR 6 A team from technology giant Microsoft visited Crosfields in November to provide four workshops to girls and boys in Year 6. The children experienced programming with Micro bits, offline programming using cups, and computational thinking. They also considered how the use of technology can help with future-proofing, and how Artificial intelligence can help everyone. It was a really exciting and challenging morning where the children engaged with, and thought about, technology on a much bigger scale.
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MIDDLE SCHOOL MATHS AND MUSIC
Children in Years 5 and 6 had a busy day at the end of November as they enjoyed a visit from Tim Godwin at Thrift Musical Theatre, with children in Year 6 also taking part in a Maths problem solving Workshop. The time they spent with Thrift focused on positivity and ‘living in the now’, where the children thoroughly enjoyed Tim’s entertaining and musical delivery of these concepts. The children were able to reflect on and rationalise emotive thoughts about the past and the future, and focus on the present through the creative use of music and drama. Girls and boys in Year 6 had also spent the morning working in teams of four completing a series of problem solving tasks. It was a terrific morning that saw the children working together, focusing solely on the task in hand with the ultimate outcome of putting problem solving into a meaningful and interesting context.
ECO COUNCIL MAKE A DIFFERENCE
that if everyone could make small changes to their energy consumption, our planet would benefit. The week before Switch Off Week, the Eco Council carried out energy audits to see where lights and equipment could be turned off when not in use. This enabled them to measure the results during the last few weeks of term.
At the end of November, the Eco Council ran two green initiatives that encouraged the whole school to think about the environment and what they could do to make a difference. New to Crosfields, Switch Off Week and Walk it Wednesday were confidently introduced to the pupils by the Eco Council during Collect, where they explained
Walk It Wednesday encouraged children to walk to school rather than travel in the car and saw a total of 72 children completing a walking leg of their journey to school on 27th November. Each walker then checked in with the Eco Council upon their arrival at the White Building, where the councillors recorded where the children had walked from to gauge an idea of distance. It was certainly a worthwhile cause, and the Eco Council is very much looking forward to repeating the exercise next term to see if they can further increase the numbers of children walking to school.
AUTHOR INSPIRES JUNIOR SCHOOL Children in Years 3 and 4 were delighted towards the end of November when children’s author and illustrator, James Mayhew paid a visit to Crosfields. With his unique style of storytelling and illustrating, the children were enthralled by the ease with which James created www.crosfields.com
beautiful sketches during the time he spent with them. They were captivated as he told the girls and boys his stories from Russia, whilst at the same time, drawing illustrations to really give the children a flavour of James’ travels, as well as showcasing his extensive talents. CROSFIELDS SCHOOL HIGHLIGHTS - AUTUMN 2019
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SENIORS HAVE TEA AND TALK ABOUT TV
Following an amazing selection of sandwiches, children in the Senior School were treated to a large slice of caramel chocolate brownie before sitting down to listen to guest speaker, television producer, Louisa Pond-Jones in the week before half term. Ms. Pond-Jones, who was introduced to the children by Year 8 pupil Johane Myburgh, spoke passionately about how she became qualified to start her career in television and her first experiences as a runner, to how she progressed and became a producer on shows such as I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, Big Brother and Shipwrecked, to name but a few. The presentation considered the many fun aspects of the work, such
as live broadcasting, planning shows and the tough challenges faced when under pressure, to the more down-to-earth trials of working in television and the perks of meeting celebrities! Eshaan Firake then closed the presentation and thanked Ms. Pond-Jones for visiting Crosfields. Some of the children commented afterwards about how much they enjoyed the talk. “Louisa didn’t talk down to us, and it was a brilliant and informal introduction to working in television” said Priyanka, and Luc said, “I could not believe all the various roles involved in TV producing!”
YEAR 7 EX‘CELL’ IN SCIENCE! Children in Year 7 approached their topic of cells and their structure in a practical way in September by creating 3D models of plant and animal cells. Combining their model making skills with their scientific knowledge, and applying plenty of imagination, the children built intricate and clever models from cookie dough, sponge footballs and cake to name but a few materials that showed the different parts of cells.
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SENIORS TAKE TIME OUT
Children in the Senior School had two opportunities to take some welcome time out from their busy schedules this term. In October, girls and boys in Years 7 and 8 spent the evening at the popular Cosmo Restaurant in Reading town centre shortly before half term. The ‘all you can eat world buffet’ catered for the girls and boys very well indeed; the children sampled the enormous range of foods that they have on offer, with many trying out cuisines that they had never had before. “The sweet and sour chicken was my favourite, and I had pizza and chips too!” said one pupil. “I ate so much that I didn’t want any breakfast the next day!” said another. The sweet buffet was definitely a favourite with its chocolate fountain, marshmallows, ice cream and jelly selection, to name but a few of the goodies that were on offer. “We had such a good time, it was really nice to spend time with all of our friends outside of school, and it meant that everyone could come.” Well said!
Reading. Pupils could be seen bouncing alongside some ‘brave teachers’, especially Mrs. Stewart who proudly dominated the gladiator bar! Balls were flying all over the place in the ‘slam dunk’ arena, though not many made it into the hoop! The children were dazzled by some of their peers displays of hand springs and back flips, while others were content to whack the bounce and bash wall. The teaching staff were pleased with the children’s feedback and it was nice to hear Year 8 pupil Senem comment, “Everyone united and played so well together.”
Then, in the penultimate week of term, the children enjoyed a session at Red Kangaroo Trampoline Park in
AWE-INSPIRING AUTUMN CONCERT November was a busy month for musical performances at Crosfields, and this term’s Autumn Concert certainly warmed up a cold and chilly evening. This beautiful Autumn Concert was the first opportunity for family and friends to hear what the children have been rehearsing during the first few months of term. The Orchestra played majestically, which was followed by the cinematic strings. Soloists were sprinkled throughout the concert, with performances from children playing the cello, three separate pianists and one tenor horn.
The Crosfields Chamber Choir breathed new life into classic songs, too. The cello group soared, the piano duet magnificent and the youthful Year 5 Band were original and fresh. Musical Theatre gave the audience a fitting finale, full of exuberance and fun. www.crosfields.com
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CHARITY CHAMPIONS LAUNCH POPPY APPEAL During the first week back in November after half term, the Senior School pupils who take part in the Charity Champions Co-Curricular sessions officially launched this year’s Poppy Appeal at Crosfields in a special Collect. The Charity Champions confidently introduced the work of the Royal British Legion charity to the children and invited them to purchase a poppy in the run up to Armistice Day which took place on Monday 11th November. All of the children at Crosfields then gathered in the Quad the following week to observe a two-minute silence in memory of those who have lost their lives fighting in wars. To mark the occasion, Year 6 pupil Madeleine bravely performed The Last Post on her Tenor Horn, while Year 7 pupil Stephanie played I Vow to Thee My Country on the violin.
ROWING ROCKS!
At the beginning of October, the Crosfields’ School Rowing Club were very lucky to welcome current Team GB Rower Matthew Tarrant to coach the session. Matthew is a world rowing champion who competed at the Olympic Games in Rio in 2016, and he is now set to head to Tokyo next year for the 2020 Games. With the club new to the Co-Curricular schedule for the Autumn term, the Crosfields rowers listened intently as Matthew talked them through the fundamentals of the rowing stroke and gave each pupil specific development points. The children took it all on board, but gasped in astonishment when Matthew talked about his training regime, which the day before included a 90-minute weights session, followed by a 16k row on the river and then 12k on the rowing machine!
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SENIORS MAKE THEIR MARK Early in October, children in the Senior School took to the Polling Station (a.k.a Mrs. Gillow’s classroom) to cast their votes and participate in the annual UK Youth Parliament’s ‘Make Your Mark’ campaign. The children voted in their droves for a range of issues that they would like to see debated in the House of Commons, and after the polling station closed, the results were submitted to the British Youth Council for counting. The national results were revealed in November and, by and large, tracked the Crosfields results with the number one priority both nationally and at Crosfields being to protect the environment. Putting an end to knife crime was number two on the agenda. The children then voted on a range of local issues, where taking care of our local environment topped the poll, followed by homelessness and child poverty. Head of PSHE, Mrs. Gillow commented, “Each year I am both humbled and proud of what our young people speak up about. The local issues that were raised by the pupils were varied, with many really thoughtful statements. I am privileged to see how much young people care about very grown up issues in every lesson. We do need to listen (as well as hear) their voices.” Well done Senior School for Making your Mark!
RIGHT HONOURABLE SENIORS In the first week of December, children in Year 7 were immersed in the world of politics as they took a trip to the Houses of Parliament in London as part of their PSHE topic on democracy. A busy but insightful day, the girls and boys were taken on a tour of the Parliament buildings, and even got to take a seat on the famous green benches. What’s more, they learned how Parliament has developed over the centuries into its current modern form, how a bill becomes a law and about ‘Parliament Ping Pong’ through an interesting workshop on laws and debating. Wearing the appropriate attire for the occasion, the children adopted the roles of MP’s and took part in a debate on a topic of their choice, even using the language that we hear so often on the television or radio. It was a thought-provoking day that led one child to comment, “I could not believe the importance of the rooms I stood in. I am proud of my Nation and the United Kingdom.”
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YIPPEE FOR YOUNG SUPPORTERS CONCERT Barnardo’s is a fantastic charity that puts young people at the heart of all their good work. It was therefore encouraging to see so many children from 32 schools collaborating through singing, dancing or playing to produce such an outstanding and entertaining Young Supporters Concert early in November at the Royal Albert Hall on behalf of the children’s charity. 22 pupils from Crosfields were lucky enough to attend, and they
spent the first half of term learning and rehearsing the different parts for the massed choir performances of 14 songs at the concert. This was quite an achievement and the children were rightfully proud of their contribution. It is on nights like this that memories are made; performing at such a prestigious venue and being the ‘star’ left all the children wanting more.