Fortnightly Update. 6 th March 2015

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1 Dear Parent It has been a busy couple of weeks since the half term break! As far as Brooke Priory is concerned that is situation normal! Just before half term, we were busy preparing for the World War 1 Assembly. The assembly was a huge success. The children s composure, confidence and their performance greatly impressed the guests of honour. As the High Sheriff of Rutland, Air Commodore S Miles D Williamson- Noble, said of the children in a letter of thanks to Mrs Bell, I was most impressed with the self assurance of those reciting poems and readings. The uniforms of the guests of honour greatly impressed the children! Brooke Priory Open Morning Brooke Priory is holding its Open Morning next Tuesday, 10 th March. There will be a range of activities to view from the Pre-Prep through to Year VI; we hope you will join us between 9.00a.m. and a.m. Please do spread the word! We look forward to welcoming you all to the school. Parents Evenings Parents Evenings will be taking place the week commencing 16 th March. Please sign up for an appointment on the board in Reception. School s Values Thank you to all who returned the values questionnaire. Your responses have been most helpful. The values identified by the staff and children reflect those communicated to parents. Mr Flint, with the support of all members of staff, is working on incorporating those into the heart of the school, where appropriate embedding them into the curriculum and other aspects of school life.

2 Fortnightly Update Format Thank you again to those who responded to our questions regarding the Fortnightly Update. We have received the message, loud and clear, that the content and format is appreciated. We will therefore continue to use the Fortnightly Update as an opportunity to post photographs of the children s activities and achievements as well as using the newsletter to keep families informed of future events. Twitter Just a Reminder. Do please follow us! The Brooke Priory School Twitter account (@BrookePrioryS) is getting a new lease of life. Please do, if you are of a technological mindset, join Twitter and follow the school. We will be tweeting many and various things, using the account as a means of keeping parents up to date with news and events as well as exceptional examples of the children supporting the school s focus values. Spotlight The focus for this newsletter has to be the girls Under 11A Netball Team. They have successfully seen off tough opposition at the Rutland High-5 Competition to become County Champions and now go on to represent Rutland at the Youth Games in June. Well done to Lizzy McCluskey, Lea Swanick, Jemima Hart, Olivia Dent, Olivia Brown, Grace Beadsley and Gabi Gelderbloom. Spotlight on Learning On Wednesday, 4 th March, the Year IV children had an excursion to the Market Overton Free Church. Their focus for the trip was to learn about the spread of Christianity through the Acts of the Apostles. The story was told through the eyes of Paul. After hearing the story the children completed a quiz, dressed up as Bible characters and tried foods from the time.

3 Events Round Up Sports Results One of Brooke Priory s strengths is the opportunities it provides for all children. A wonderful example of this was on Wednesday, 4 th March, when every boy from Year III up had the opportunity to represent the school in a football match. With netball matches happening at the same time, a total of 168 children were competing at Brooke Priory. This is a testament to the commitment of the staff in providing the children with as many opportunities as possible for them to compete and be successful. The U 11A boys football team went to the Central Region IAPS tournament on 25 th February. The set up and organisation of the day had a feel of a professional and prestigious event. There were only 18 schools in the tournament, so only top football schools with a strong programme were in attendance. As you can expect, the standard of opposition was very high. Although we lost our 4 group games, all games were close and we showed great organisation to fend off some of the country s top young footballers. The boys learnt a lot from the day and were able to use that experience to beat Copthill on 4 th March. I was really pleased the boys were able to continue their development and get a well earned win by playing passing the football with confidence and control. Mr Wand has been fantastic in his ability to give all the Year V and VI boys as much opportunity to play as possible this season. All the boys have been part of the squads and benefited from playing competitive sport. They played very well against Laxton in a game they lost, but they bounced back with a spirited 4-6 loss and a 0-0 draw against Copthill. Mr Weeks has been working hard with his U9 team. They are largely Rugby players by preference, but it has been great to see them gradually improving. I look forward to taking them to the Laxton Tournament in a couple of weeks. Mr Betts has been coaching the U8 team this season; they have

4 focussed on individual skills and fundamentals in lesson time. It was fantastic to see them win their first match against Copthill. Congratulations to Atan who was man of the match. What an extremely busy and exciting two weeks of netball we have had! Last week all girls in Years V & VI played some tough and challenging matches against Laxton Junior School with both A&B teams narrowly missing out on a victory. The U9 Netball team also played Laxton away. It was an exciting match from the start with Laxton taking an early lead. In the third quarter the girls were encouraged to bounce pass as this would mean the taller girls didn't keep getting the ball. It worked and Brooke was able to score 2 goals. The goals gave the girls an extra boost and they defended very well from then on but sadly were defeated 9-2. Well played, girls. On Sunday, 1 st March, the U10A team played in the Oakham Tournament. This was the first time the girls had played as an U10 team and they quickly settled in to some solid passing and marking. They got through to the Plate Semi-Finals where they played a fast, end-to-end game against Fairfield. Fairfield popped in a late goal and beat us by just one goal, 4-3! On Monday, 2 nd March, two U11 teams took part in the Rutland High-5 Competition at Oakham. The B s battled hard and just missed a place in the semi-finals. The A team played some superb netball, winning all of their 6 matches and the final, making them Rutland County Champions. They will now go on to represent Rutland in the Youth games. On Wednesday, 4 th March, all girls in Years V & VI played against Copthill. The A team were triumphant with a 15-5 win and the B & C teams were narrowly beaten. We travelled to Uppingham on Thursday to face our biggest challenge of the season at the IAPS Netball Regionals. Seeing 42 teams at the venue was quite a sight! Drawn in a strong pool, we faced tough opposition but our girls were not daunted. We came away with a school record points tally for us, scoring 22 having won 3 matches, drawn two (with bonus points for high percentage) and lost 3. We were placed fourth in our pool of nine schools. We played our best netball in the final two games showing great determination and team spirit against, yet again, schools much larger than ourselves. Everyone in the squad played their part but special mention to our excellent Captain Olivia Brown who led by example. Not only did we play our best, we did so in the finest spirit and had a lot of fun along the way. A huge thank you to our travelling parents (and drivers!) I speak on behalf of the girls and myself in saying that you made a great difference with your positivity and encouragement. Also a big thank you to Charlotte Southall from Oakham School who came with us to umpire. Her coaching tips were brilliant and she brought a big bag of sweets! Girls, we were immensely proud of you, well done. Good luck to all the children taking part in next weeks sponsored swim. It will give the pupils a chance to test their endurance in the water while raising money for two worthy causes; Help for Heroes and Anna s Hope. Duncan Flint, Head of Sport Visitors to School Year VI Wire Workshop with Rob Fogell On Friday, 27 th February, we did a wire workshop with Rob Fogell. We were shown how to build a wire horse. We started by making the legs and body. Wrapping the wire around the legs was really annoying and we had to get the body shape exactly right, but it was a lot of fun and we were really happy with what we made. Louis Ongley (Form VI IW)

5 Diddley Dee Puppets On Monday, 23 rd February, the Nursery and Kindergarten were visited by Diddley Dee Puppets. The children enjoyed a Goldilocks and the Three Bears puppet show and were inspired to make some puppets of their own: I liked Goldilocks! Elodie Warke (Nursery) I liked it when Goldilocks broke the bears chairs! Theo Allen (Nursery) I liked it when the star went up! Charlie Roche (Nursery)

6 Optician Visit to Nursery and Year III On Tuesday, 3 rd March, James the Optician came to talk to Year III. He chose three volunteers to do a puzzle and then chose three more to do the puzzle wearing a blindfold! He gave us each a contact lens to feel. First it feels very wet and soft and then after a while it dries out. James then gave us a quiz with questions such as, how many metres can an eagle see? It was brilliant. By Eleanor Hart (Form III DP) and Eloise Snape (Form III SB)

7 Trips & Visits Pre Prep Trip to Uppingham Theatre On Thursday, 26 th February, the Pre Prep went to see Captain Flynn and the Pirate Dinosaurs at Uppingham theatre. It was a very exciting play about Flynn and his friends going on an adventure and defeating the dinosaurs who had taken a pirate ship captive. The children loved it, especially joining in as pirates to help Captain Flynn. Kindergarten and Year I Visit Pinder s Circus On Friday, 27 th February, Kindergarten and Year I visited Pinder s Circus in Oakham. They met some of the performers and were given a tour of the big top. I liked it when the clown fell off his bike! Gus McMurray (Kindergarten) I liked eating the popcorn! Hugh Culloty (Kindergarten) I liked it when the clown cried and squirted water at us! Alexander Wand (Kindergarten) I liked the giant slinky dance. Angus Hinnell (Kindergarten)

8 Dates for the Diary Week 9 Sponsored Swim Week Monday 9 th March 1400 U8, U9, U10, U11 Cross Country at Copthill* Tuesday 10 th March 0900 Open Morning* Wednesday 11 th March 1330 U11A&B Netball Tournament at LGJS (A)* U11A Football Tournament at LGJS (A)* 1500 U9 Netball v Grantham(A)* U9, U11B Football v Grantham (H)* Thursday 12 th March 0845 Years I & II Parent Assembly* Friday 13 th March Red Nose Day Week 10 Parent Consultations Week Monday 16 th March 1100 Sports Photos Late Night Parents Evening Wednesday 18 th March 1545 U9 Football & Netball Tournament at Laxton (A)* Thursday 19 th March Year IV Parent Assembly* Year I Trip to Gates Nursery Stay & Play (Music Dept)* Saturday 21 st March MISGA Championships at the Blue Coat School, Birmingham Sunday 22 nd March MISGA Championships at the Blue Coat School, Birmingham * Denotes that parents and friends are welcome to attend this event With best wishes Elizabeth Bell Headmistress