Blackheath High School Magazine

HIGHLIGHTS Spring Term 2011

SPRINGING INTO A SPORTY SUMMER Sports round up including our successes across the year groups

GIRLS EXCELLING IN ENGLISH AND MATHS Debating Team’s success at ESU

SPECTACULAR SPRING PRODUCTIONS Audiences wowed by Senior and Junior Spring Performances

welcome

Welcome I hope that you enjoy our new magazine. This is a new venture for us and we will be pleased to receive your feedback.

We have decided to move from our annual magazine to a shorter version that you will be sent on a termly basis. We are hoping that you will find this more interesting and relevant as it will contain more recent news and information from both Junior and Senior schools. The idea is to include stories/reports that highlight key events in more detail than can be covered in our weekly Newsletter.

The Spring Term was so busy that we had difficulty selecting the content; inevitably we couldn’t include all that we would have wished to but hope that it provides a good overview of what was a very productive term.

So please let us know what you like/don’t like and wish had been included and we shall take your suggestions on board for the Summer Term edition.

With best wishes

Headteacher

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FUNDRAISING

FUNDRAISING Comic Relief Day he whole school entered into the spirit of things on Red Nose Day and metaphorically painted the school red, raising, with your generosity, a very impressive £1800. Our warm hearted girls organised and participated in many events throughout the day and also continued the fundraising at the school ‘s Easter Fair.

The junior girls donned creative, wacky outfits, complemented by red hair styles and make up and of course accessorised with that famous red nose!

Martha Nash, Hannah Goode and Connie Kovats went the extra mile by selling raffle tickets in classrooms and the lucky winner of the enormous banana prize was Leah Anderson, 3IM. The fun continued at Seniors where the day began with an assembly from Charity Prefect Rouchelle Ross, who reminded everyone of the importance of Comic

Relief and how the money raised is used.

Our generous girls thought of many ways to raise money for the charity, from cake sales to sponsored swims. Louise Wright Y7 not only took part in a sponsored bike ride, but also made bookmarks, key chains and masks, adding £100 to the total raised.

Staff karaoke was another highlight, with teachers singing and dancing to their favourite songs in front of a giggling audience of pupils: bravest of them all was Mrs Lardner, who rapped Chipmunk’s ‘Look for me’.

Prior to Red Nose Day, three Senior girls were lucky to have the opportunity to visit Comic Relief’s headquarters, where they learnt that ‘giving to charity can be fun and rewarding’ after a media assistant explained the inner workings of the huge media event that is Red Nose Day and how the media machine can influence TV viewers’ feelings in order to increase donations.

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NURSERY

NURSERY

London Aquarium

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ur three nursery classes all enjoyed lovely days out at the London Aquarium in March.

We travelled by train from Blackheath to Waterloo East and there was lots of excitement as we saw many interesting places on the way; we then counted lots of steps at each station! Our topic this term has been on the theme of ‘water’ so it was great for the girls to experience underwater life first hand rather than from books and films.

They enthusiastically commented on the sealifes’ beautiful patterns, colours and shapes and really enjoyed touching starfish and crabs as well as having their nails cleaned by the cleaner shrimps. The girls then took inspiration from the fascinating things they had seen during the trip to produce beautiful works of art for the annual Art Exhibition. The nursery staff were very grateful for the wonderful parents who came with us to make the trip possible.

“I enjoyed it when I saw the sharks.”

“I loved seeing the Dory fish, it looked like a big circle.”

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“I liked the cleaner shrimps, they cleaned my finger nails, it was tickly.”

“I loved seeing Nemo.”

JUNIOR DRAMA

JUNIOR DRAMA A knight to remember!

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fter weeks of hard work, the Year 3 and 4 Production of ‘What a Knight’ was performed to an audience of impressed parents and friends on Wednesday 30th March.

From the moment they read through the script, the girls knew they were going to love performing the Play and approached the planning with enthusiasm and excitement.

The funny and action-packed script (with catchy tunes that we are still singing), was set in Camelot Castle

on the day of King Arthur’s birthday. When young squire Watt Cobblers is expelled from Knight School, he reluctantly becomes Merlin’s new apprentice. Trouble is never far away and soon Camelot Castle collapses into chaos; Merlin loses Excalibur, King Arthur’s daughters are kidnapped by the evil Black Knight and the brave knights of Camelot have been turned into chickens!

Watt and his new found friends Dusty Dragon and the feisty Princess Alice set off on the biggest quest of their lives and, of course, nothing ever goes to plan!

Despite the nerves of having to perform to such a big audience, the play went brilliantly.

Many of the girls commented on how proud they were of each other and how exciting it had been to be part of the production. Well done girls, definitely a night to remember!

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Senior drama

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or the seven years that I’ve taught at Blackheath High girls have always asked me to produce a production of the ever-popular “Grease”. Eventually this year I gave in and, together with our Music Department, we put on the biggest musical to date. Just over 100 girls were involved in the production, acting, singing or dancing; or all three! The show included a band comprising even more of our talented girls and yet more putting their technical skills into practice. The scale of the production was huge and the end result was really impressive, with girls giving their all to such well-known numbers as “Summer Lovin’”, “Greased Lightin’” and “We Go Together”.

Perhaps the show-stealer was the Drive-In Movie film that was made for the performance featuring the company in a spoof 1950s horror film. However, there was something for everybody in this production which thrilled us with a combination of accomplished acting from characterful parts; wonderful dancing, with original choreography; and a great Rock and Roll band. The seven year wait was well worth it!

Senior Drama GREASE

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Senior drama

The scale of the production was huge and the end result was really impressive

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Maths

Maths

Making learning fun with inspiring and creative teaching!

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t has been a busy to use at their own schools.

“Overall, I enjoyed the F1 mathematical term Girls in years 10 and 11 entered the at both Junior Intermediate Maths Challenge, which Challenge for the team work and Senior schools . At the is a multiple choice style puzzle and the very well designed and beginning of term, the sheet with 25 very challenging girls from Year 6 joined questions. Lucia Whapham organised website. I enjoyed girls from Year 7 and Year achieved a Gold certificate and the adjustments to make sure 12 as well as other Year 6 seventeen other girls achieved children from local primary Silver and Bronze certificates that our car would get round schools for the “Morning of – well done! a whole practice lap. “ Théa Maths” at Vanbrugh Park. The Whilst at Juniors, Year 5 and morning consisted of four rounds 6 pupils have been involved in the Sabattier 5BD of puzzles, problems and games, Jaguar Cars Maths in Motion national stretching the children and encouraging competition. Girls have been using different all of them to participate. This fantastic event mathematical and scientific theories and concepts not only challenged the girls to use their skills, from to engineer virtual F1 cars and the contest in class, to number to shape and space, but also gave them the reach the top step of the podium, has been intense opportunity to be part of a team with people they had to say the least. The project has proved to be a very only just met. Once the activities got going the children engaging way of bringing real life maths into the worked together to great effect, discussing problems classroom and already there have been requests for and finding solutions with ideas and strategies going another race to be held. Mr. Collinson has been running back and forth. The whole event was a great success F1 Club as part of the project and a team from Year 5 with our partner schools taking away a pack of resources won their regional final to book the school a place in the national semi-finals. Demand is such that a second F1 Club will be starting in the Summer Term and we look forward to more success in the future!

Year 6 have been taking inspiration from Dutch artist Piet Mondrian to help them transfer 2D patterns on to 3D shapes. Their efforts created an eye-catching display based on his abstract geometric work.

“I really Mrs Parnum enjoyed the mathematical has been running a popular and aspects of the F1 challenge, successful weekly particularly experimenting club for Senior girls in Years 8 and trying out workshop and 9, solving adjustments” Nadia complex problems in preparation for Cooper 5BD 8 Blackheath High School Spring 2011

MATHS

entering a team of two Year 8 and two Year 9 girls for the UKMT Team Challenge, hosted at Trinity School in Croydon. This is a national whole day event which is held annually. The competition combines mathematical, communication and teamwork skills and offers pupils another way to express and develop their enjoyment of Mathematics. The girls had a very enjoyable day and Mrs Parnum was proud of their performance.

These are just some of the activities that our teachers are using to make learning of maths fun and exciting.

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Junior english

Junior English

The Fledgling Competition and Able Writers’ Workshops

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n 27th January 2011 girls from Year 2-6 competed in the annual Fledgling Competition. Each pupil wrote her own poem then, in groups, the girls learned a poem written by a well known poet.

They practised both their individual and group poems; dramatising them and making sure their voices were audible and clear. Two girls from each class were chosen to go through to perform on stage in the individual competition and one group from each class in the group competition. A group in 4TS won the group competition for performing ‘The Ssssnake Hotel’ by Brian Moses, and Georgina Elliott, in 6ZP, won the individual competition for writing her own poem, ‘The Dark Night’, which the judges thought had beautiful description. The afternoon was a huge success and it encouraged and inspired the girls to read and write more poetry.

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Able Writers’ Workshops On 18th November 2010 and 11th February 2011, we hosted an ‘Able Writers’ Workshop for 34 Gifted and Talented writers in Year 5 and 6 (28 pupils from 7 local schools and 6 pupils from BHS). For the first workshop, Chrissie Gittins, a poet, came into school to teach the children about different styles of poetry and she used one of her poems as a basis for the children to write their own poem. The second workshop, Rob Parkinson, a writer and storyteller came in to teach the same group of children about effective story writing. He played numerous instruments and incorporated this into his wonderful storytelling. He read mythical stories and used one of his stories as a starting point for the children to write their own mythical story. The children gained enormously from both workshops and enjoyed speaking to and working with like-minded pupils. These were very successful workshops and we received a lot of great feedback from the visiting schools; from both children and teachers.

Junior english

The afternoon was a huge success and it encouraged and inspired the girls to read and write more poetry.

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SPORT

Senior Sports

Sporting News Round Up - Spring 2011

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he Spring Term’s sports calendar was bursting with activities and the girls braved all weather conditions in pursuit of sporting success, team building and having good fun!

Following our ski trip in January, 21 pupils and three staff members returned flushed with success after a week in Torgon, Switzerland. Great fun was had both on and off the slopes and, thanks to some fantastic instruction, everyone’s skiing improved by the end of the week.

Three of our wonderful dancers Emma Stanworth, Connie Smith and Anne-Marie Sewell really wowed the audience at the GDST Day of Dance with their impressive, technical solo routines.

Once again, our cross-country runners put in a

Our netball teams are improving steadily, securing some inspiring wins and talented playing

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sterling performance at The London Schools’ Athletics Association Cross Country Championships. A very determined Damilola Adewakun, Year 7, bravely found the strength to finish despite injuring herself early in the race. Super speedy Sabrina Sinha put in another aweinspiring performance, running to victory and winning first place.

Our netball teams are improving steadily, securing some inspiring wins and talented playing including Phebe Hughes’ impressive tally of 20 goals scored at the Kent County Schools’ Netball Competition. Likewise, our Hockey performances have improved immensely with notable successes; defeating some of our most formidable opponents.

Signalling the conclusion of the Spring term sports programme for Year 8 and 9 pupils were our inter-house hockey, netball and dance competitions. These provide a great opportunity for girls to unite with their house mates and strive for success! Netball was particularly intense for both year groups, while the creativity displayed on stage from the Year 8 dancers was truly impressive. But...there can only be one winner....and for both Year 8 and 9, Morden won, with Meridian 2nd, Vanbrugh = 3rd and Paragon came in 4th place.

We are looking forward to the Summer Sports programme and the opportunities it will bring, under the leadership of our new Director of Sport , Miss Holland who, as you can read from her feature, has some fantastic plans to enrich the curriculum and extra-curricular activities programme to engage, inspire and motivate our students.

sport

MISS HOLLAND

Junior Sports

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he PE calendar at the juniors was very busy over the spring term and we enjoyed varying successes in netball, cross country, gymnastics and swimming.

Our netballers had some great success in the interschool netball competition with some great wins over several schools including Breaside, Merton Court and Babington House. It would be fair to say that the Under 11 netball team has gone from strength to strength this term and this was evident at the GDST Netball Rally held at Wimbledon High School.

The team of Cicely McFarlane, Laurel Shaw, Freya Elliott, Alex Biss, Georgina Elliott, Ellie Branigan, Wemi Oshun Williams and Shauna Clark Fitzpatrick made the quarter finals of the Trophy Competition and finished in a very respectable 8th position out of 21 other GDST schools. Well done girls!

Our annual inter-house netball tournament was also a great success, with all the girls in Years 5 and 6 participating. After some strong competition, the final was played between two Morden teams with Morden retaining the trophy.

At the Lewisham Swimming Gala in March, several of our swimmers reached the finals of their events.

Selina Watson came third in the Breaststroke final and Emelia Hughes and Lara Atkinson both reached the finals of the backstroke race. Selina, Eleanor Maidens, and Olivia Rigby also

represented the school at the GDST Swimming Gala.

Girls represented the school at the Farringtons’ Cross Country and the Merton Court Cross Country Relay with excellent results. Georgina Elliott placed second overall in the year 6 girls’ race at the Farringtons’ Cross Country and our Y6 team of Georgina Elliott, Ellie Branigan, Sian Palmer Price and Gracie Holland came third in the Merton Court Competition.

Year 6 girls travelled to Farringtons to compete in a gymnastics tournament this term with great success. Cicely MacFarlane, Trinity Western and Priyaanka Madduri were part of the winning group performance and Cicely and PhoebeRae Levene both came away with individual certificates for the Best Forward Roll.

Well done for a great spring term of sport! We look forward to rounders, tennis and sports day this term.

Ms McCutcheon

I am delighted to have joined Blackheath High School as Director of Sport, at this exciting time running up to London 2012. The media hype clearly highlights what an integral part sport plays in our society and therefore, I hope to tap into the spirit of the Olympics and get everybody fully involved albeit on a slightly smaller scale!

The PE department is already well established and highly competent and as a team we are committed to promoting and fostering all that is to be gained from school sport via the curriculum and extra-curricular programme. The emphasis therefore is on maintaining and extending standards and opportunities for students to get involved in sporting activities and perhaps to try something completely new. There are already a few new activities in the pipeline for this Summer Term and beyond, and we shall soon be asking students to sign up their interest on the boards in the PE department and further information will come home via the usual channels of the HIGHlife Newsletter and email so, as they say, ‘watch this space’.

I join BHS from Wilmington Girls’ Grammar School where I was the Head of PE and Progress Manager of Years 10/11 and where I had the opportunity to develop the PE curriculum and extra- curricular opportunities and raise attainment in sport. My sporting background is varied and can be completely accredited to having had a tremendously positive experience through my own school years in both individual and team sports, which has fostered particular passions for outdoor pursuits and all activities aquatic. From this solid beginning I have adopted the philosophy; that every pupil should have the range of opportunity needed to achieve an active and healthy lifestyle, thereby easing the transition from school sport to sport in the community, whether that is pursuing competitive levels of sport and excellence or discovering a possible ‘sport for life.’

Working towards this aim, already it is evident that Blackheath High School offers a strong out of hours programme and has developed key partnerships with local community sports clubs and institutions. I am keen to ensure these links are fully utilised and developed, enabling our students to gain access to specialist coaching.

Within the curriculum we have signed up to work towards the accredited athletic awards of the Aviva Sportshall Athletics Programme which underpins the skills needed for our Senior Sports Day, this year.

I look forward to working with you all in the forthcoming months.

Naomi Holland n.holland@bla.gdst.net

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sixth form show

Sixth Form Show Timeless

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t the start of the academic year, our Social Prefects began working on producing another fantastic Sixth Form show; and based on the incredibly high standard of past shows, the girls really did have their work cut out!

Facing the challenge bravely and determinedly, they began brainstorming ideas and listing all of the different tasks that would need to be completed at each stage of the production process; from setting the theme to casting models, assigning make-up artists and scheduling meetings with the caretakers and technical team. The team also designed the programmes and posters and managed the sale of tickets.

This year’s show involved more people and a greater range of performances than ever before at BHS; from the Gospel Choir to incorporating both dancing and singing.

The girls did a fantastic job and produced a real spectacle, showcasing the wealth of creative talent we are so proud to nurture and develop in our pupils.

“It was a real honour to be one of the main presenters, on what has been a fantastic show full of unforgettable live acts and inspiring fashion designs. Working behind the scenes with the Social Events Prefects on this exciting event has also involved producing the programmes and tickets. After months of preparation, everyone’s hard work really paid off and created a spectacular to remember!” Yuan Chen “After months of countless rehearsals and stressful meetings, the event turned out to be an incredible success with over 100 students involved, raising over £1,300! We were both relieved and very proud!” Emma Kenny

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SIXTH FORM SHOW

“The production not only demonstrated the amazing talents that pupils of Blackheath High have but it also showed me how productive I can be as I was involved in the whole fashion show from organising rehearsals to working in the tech studio on the night of the show. None of the Social Prefects have been involved in previous fashion shows but I think we would all agree that this one was the most enjoyable show as we watched it grow from what was originally a terrifyingly challenging nightmare to an amazing show!“ FRANCESCA LAWRENCE

“My role in the Sixth Form Show was to help prepare all the singers for their performances as well as performing myself. I found working with such talented singers really enjoyable and they all showed such determination to get each performance perfect. Despite a few sore throats, headaches and colds threatening the performances, they all did a wonderful job. It was also real fun being able to perform myself singing the popular 80s song ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’. As a singer it was great to be able to perform something so different to my usual repertoire and the lighting and effects made it all the more fun to perform. It was a fantastic event enjoyed by everyone.“ REBECCA FALK

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LATIN TRIP

Latin Trip Sorrento

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n February half term our Classics Department arranged for 45 Latin students from Years 7 to 10, accompanied by 5 teachers, to travel to Italy to explore the Roman sites and volcanic regions of the Bay of Naples, and to experience a taste of modern Italian culture.

We stayed for four nights in the seaside town of Sorrento, which provided a convenient and relaxing base. The town of Pompeii is an important focus for the girls in their study of Roman life in the Cambridge Latin Course, so it was to there that we made our way on our first day. It was easy to get a sense of what was once a thriving commercial town from the expansive forum, with its public buildings, the shopping streets, theatres and amphitheatre, but also the luxury of some of the homes with their wall paintings and gardens. In contrast,

We stayed for four nights in the seaside town of Sorrento, which provided a convenient and relaxing base.

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LATIN TRIP

Everyone came back inspired and re-vitalised by the rich culture of Italy, ancient and modern.

the town of Herculaneum had a much more domestic and residential feel, with everything on a much smaller scale. The mosaics and household objects which we saw in the Naples Archaeological Museum helped to complete the picture.

Although the focus of the visit was primarily about how the Romans lived, it was also important to learn about how the towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum were destroyed and preserved for us. We therefore visited two volcanoes. We made the majority of the ascent of Vesuvius by coach, but made the final part on foot to view the crater and to see Pompeii and modern Naples lying below. At Solfatara, our guide escorted us across the crater itself, and demonstrated jets of steam and bubbling mud.

Our trip was completed by a journey by boat from Sorrento harbour over to the small island of Capri where, as well as visiting the shops and enjoying drinks and ice creams in the square, we made the pretty walk to Villa Jovis, one of the residences of the Emperor Tiberius on the island he retreated to for part of his reign.

Everyone came back inspired and re-vitalised by the rich culture of Italy, ancient and modern.

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DEBATING SOCIETY

Debating Society

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The BHS Debating Society, comprising 25 girls from across the Senior school, has enjoyed a very busy term. The Middle School team has seen weekly prepared and impromptu debates, public speaking bouts and mock trials; some of our girls have faced particularly fierce prosecution lawyers in ‘the dock’ but were fortunately supported by a well prepared defence team! The confidence, articulacy, reasoning and improvisational skills demonstrated this academic year bode particularly well for future national competitions, which are open to students in Years 10-13.

Such preparation served the Senior Squad well in 2010/11. Having won the London regional round, Buffy EldridgeThomas made it to the final of the GDST’s public speaking Chrystall Prize, putting in a sterling performance at Northampton High School. Buffy enjoyed further success , with team-mate Lata Nobes, in the national English Speaking Union’s Schools Mace Competition as they won the first round and progressed to ESU Headquarters in Mayfair for the regional final where they put in an admirable performance. However, this year’s greatest success was in the ESU Public Speaking Competition where Buffy and Lata were joined by Laura Nash to form a formidable team. Having already seen off local rivals Eltham College and Colfe’s in the first round, they went once more to ESU Headquarters for the London regional final beating prestigious schools including City of London Girls, Latymer and London Oratory to come second place to King’s College School. Their performance was outstanding and one of the judges reported that there was just one mark that denied us victory.

Not to worry: we’ll be back next year!

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Their performance was outstanding Buffy EldridgeThomas

Laura Nash

Lata Nobes

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

Forthcoming Events Annual Senior School Art Exhibition Wednesday 22nd June, 6:00-9:00pm, Vanbrugh Park Admission: Free You are warmly invited to our annual senior school Art Exhibition; a wonderful opportunity to view the extremely high standard of Art and Design work that our GCSE and A level students produce. Works on display include: films, photographs, paintings, drawings, textile pieces and garments. Guests will be entertained by the talented Blackheath High School Chamber Choir whilst enjoying light refreshments.

Summer Music Concert Thursday 7th July, 7:00pm, Chapel of the Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich At 7:00pm on Thursday 7th July, a choir and orchestra of over 180 Blackheath High School pupils and teachers will perform a concert in the Chapel of the Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich. The concert, given at one of London’s most important historical venues, will feature Mozart’s Missa Brevis in B flat K. 275, alongside his Symphony No. 6, Dvorak’s Slavonic Dance No. 1 and ‘Ocean World’, a contemporary cantata by Peter Rose and Anne Conlon.

Performing Mozart’s well-loved and challenging work will be a significant achievement for the young musicians, many of whom will be in Years 4 to 7. The experience of participating in such an event will, I am sure, give all those involved the sense that all of their dedicated preparation has been worthwhile. Parents are warmly invited to attend what promises to be a memorable occasion.

After the concert, the audience is invited to enjoy a glass of wine in the Queen Mary Undercroft and, we hope, in the evening sunshine on the banks of the Thames.

Sunshine or drizzle, we’re sure little could dampen the spirit of this performance!

Tickets are priced at £10 (£5 for children not performing) and are available from the senior and junior school offices.

Sports Days Senior Sports Day, Tuesday 5th July, Sports Fields, Kidbrooke Grove Junior Sports Day, Wednesday 6th July, Sports Fields, Kidbrooke Grove

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SUMMER ISSUE OUT SOON!