St Nicholas School Friday 15th September 2023

Saint Nicholas School

From the Headmaster's desk

'You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.' - Dr.

Friday 15th September, 2023

Dates for your Diary

18th September

Reception Parents Coffee Morning

18th -22nd September Healthy Choices Week

20th September

Year 6 trip to Legoland (STEM activity)

21st September

Year 1 Parents Coffee Morning

25th September

Dear all,

The year has got off to a flying start and it has been wonderful to see our pupils settle back into the ebb and flow of school life so quickly My first assembly of the year was all about 'Grit', a quality which will be a theme of my assemblies throughout this academic year. I am a strong believer that good old-fashioned grit, a combination of passion and perseverance, is a key personality trait for success and during my assembly, I gave examples of a range of famous individuals who have gained success through being gritty and determined.

In my Lower School assembly, I read the pupils the story of Izzy Gizmo, a girl who often failed but persevered and was then successful, and in the seniors, I showed them an extract from a TED talk on Grit: the power of passion and perseverance, which you can view by clicking on this link .

Year 2 Parents Coffee Morning

27th September

Year 11 Geography Field Study Day

28th September

Year 3 Parents Coffee Morning

29th September

EYFS Open Morning

29th September

Year 10 MacBeth at the Globe theatre trip

Seuss

I ended both my assemblies, by encouraging the pupils to be gritty this academic year, and persevere when faced with failure and challenge, leaving them with the following quotation, 'We don't grow when things are easy, we grow when we face challenges.'

As you would expect, the first week and a half has been devoid of the normal cornucopia of trips and events, as we settle pupils into their new timetables and routines. We are becoming a great deal busier, starting with our Year 7 trip to the Norfolk Lakes which headed off today, with me in tow. The Year 7 pupils will be spending the weekend climbing, paddleboarding, caving and kayaking, amongst other things, and my thanks to Mrs Ridley-Warren for leading the trip and Ms Jeppesen and Mrs BranfordJackson for accompanying.

Next week, we will be marking Healthy Choices Week, and we will be encouraging pupils to think about their lifestyles and make healthy choices. There will be a range of activities throughout the week, and I would encourage families to get involved at home.

To quote English poet and essayist, Leigh Hunt, 'The groundwork of all happiness is good health.'

As we move into the weekend, it is worth noting that it is both National Gymnastics and National Dance Day on Saturday.

With rain predicted on Sunday, this weekend could prove the ideal moment to kick off Healthy Choices Week in style with a twirl, twostep, jump or pull-up so, in the word of Dr. Seuss, why not put your feet in your trainers and steer yourself in a direction you choose!

My very best wishes for an active weekend

Dates for your Diary

2nd October

Year 4 Parents Coffee Morning

3rd October

Year 4-6 ISA Regional Swimming Competition, Ipswich

5th October Year 5 Parents Coffee Morning

12th October U10 ISA Boys’ Football

14th October Open Morning

17th October Friends Halloween Disco

18th October Year 11 Parents’ Evening

19th October Reception Class trip to Hatters Farm

4th December Lower School Carol Service

6th December Middle and Upper School Carol Services

s Summer Projects

We are delighted to reveal our brand new Lower School playground and Library. The children have really enjoyed exploring all the new additions.

s Reception Class

Reception pupils have been enjoying the new playground, as well as having fun playing in the hairdressers and settling into their new classes this week.

Gardening Club Award

At the end of last year, Gardening Club were working toward their Level 4 Gardening Award with the RHS. To achieve this level, the pupils started a growing project that included beans, potatoes and tomatoes. We successfully grew all three and had a tasting session with Marco, our chef, and shared them with some of the maintenance team. We are so proud to have achieved this level and look forward to continuing our work in the new Year 1 and 2 Eco Club

Junior Eco Club

Year 2 Maths

Year two have been getting hands on in maths, learning to write numbers in words, partition tens, ones and even hundreds!

A wonderful first session in infant Eco club. The children dissected an old sunflower to extract the seeds. They then created a sunflower seed packet with instructions to plant in the spring.

Junior Eco Club

This week in Eco club, Mrs Peckham and Mr Jackson were helping the pupils harvest all the vegetables that were grown in the allotments. We also discovered, a barn owl nesting near the eco garden.

Year 2 Art

Year 2 have started an art topic looking at the artist L. S. Lowry. The children looked at how Lowry created self-portraits and gave their opinions on his artwork. The children then created their own self portraits.

Photography Club

The pupils in Photography Club enjoyed experimenting with the lens globe. They produced some very interesting and colourful photographs.

Lower School Reminders

PE kit reminder year 4 and 5 games lesson

A reminder that all pupils in Year 4 and 5 need studded boots and shin pads, ready for their games lessons every Wednesday.

Spanish Club

Years 1-2 Monday 3.30 to 4pm.

Years 3-6 Monday 4 to 4.30pm.

The Club will run for 12 weeks from 11th Sept-11th Dec. The cost of the club is £120. Please contact Rosalind Clay to register your child.

Tel: 07535 209025 Email: rosalindazeez@aol.com

Pupil News

Lucy Year 11

Congratulations to Lucy in Year 11, who had an unbelievable football season last year. She has secured a professional contract with Spurs Women's Academy, as well as being awarded Manager's Player of the Season. The good news doesn't stop there! Lucy attended the ISFA National Football Trial at the end of the summer term and learned that she has secured a spot as the goalkeeper for the national team! Lucy attended a two-day camp over the summer in preparation for the upcoming season. Well done, Lucy!

India Year 9

Congratulations to India Year 9 who competed at the Royal International Horse Show in July, after qualifying earlier this year, and placed 6th out of 25. Only the top 8 are placed .

Gabriella Year 6

Congratulations to Gabriella who achieved Grade 6 drums over the summer, with an outstanding score of 73%.

3D Art Super Cars

We were delighted to welcome our Chair of Governors, Mr Rob Ellice, to school on Wednesday morning, to meet with three Year 11 pupils who have all chosen a theme for their GCSE work based around sports car design and Formula 1. The pupils had a rare opportunity to see high performance cars up close, rather than from behind a barrier, so commonly the closest they would usually get. This enabled them to fully appreciate the work of the car designers.

Netball Tournament

On Tuesday Year 10 and 11 played in a Harlow netball tournament at Passmores. The team drew their first and second matches to Burnt Mill and Mark Hall, which were our strongest performances. In their last two matches they played St Marks and SFG, and, although they played well, were beaten.

Well done to all the girls, and especially well done to our goal scores Phoebe and Rhian.

Team line up : Phoebe, Lucy, Rhian, Tiffany, Desiree, Mia, Polly, Delilah, Becky, Gisel and Bethany.

t h e r N e w s