Claires Court Bulletin
JUNIOR BOYS
Bulletin 6 | Autumn Term 2016
Email: dsp@clairescourt.com
Website: http://www.clairescourt.com/news-and-media/bulletins
Location: SL6 3QE for sat nav SL6 4QQ
Phone: 01628 411490
Facebook: facebook.com/clairescourt
Twitter: @clairescourt
FROM THE HEAD'S DESK
It has been quite an unusual week for me! I do not like being away from school, and yet I found myself on Tuesday inspecting another independent educational institution of ISI (Independent Schools Inspectorate). Both Tuesday and Wednesday were very intense in regard to collaborating evidence and interviewing senior teachers at my allocated school (which was a stone’s throw from the sea...I was very jealous!). It was a superb experience, and one which I will be repeating early next year. Nevertheless, travelling down our driveway at Junior Boys on Thursday morning gave me such a warm and reassuring feeling, and I knew I would not want to be teaching anywhere else.
‘Delegation’ has been my word of the day, and so I have practised what I preach and am letting some of my other staff fill you in on the weeks details!! However, I will mention that in my photo gallery are some brilliant snaps of further academic and pastoral success from our Reception cohort and Year 4, coupled with the the wonderful chess players Moksha Suriarachchi and Kida Zhu who both excelled at the weekends chess tournament.
Stories from Year 6 and Osmington bay have been coming in thick and fast from our lucky pupils and teachers who enjoyed the brilliant sunshine of the Dorset coast, and they are all currently preparing for the Osmington Exhibition this afternoon. Year 2 and 3 have been working extremely hard this week on heart rate graphs, Maths problems and their Handwriting skills, and I am pleased to report that Year 4 found their way out of the maze at Hampton Court on Monday with enough time to spare to visit the Gift Shop!
Year 5 are now illustrating their Haunted Horror descriptive writing pieces, and Reception and Year 1 gained the most amount of Merit certificates this morning due to their wonderfully expressive reading and their kindness to others. All in all, another brilliant week at Claires Court!
I hope to see many of you at Fireworks display tomorrow, you will find me helping out behind the bar!
Have a lovely weekend
Justin Spanswick
YEAR 6 FIELD STUDIES - OSMINGTON BAY
Year Six boys and girls had a superb week down in Dorset staying at Osmington Bay overlooking Weymouth Bay. The weather was very kind to all, bright and sunny, if a little chilly. The purpose of the week was to engage in field studies enjoying practical activities, studying river formations, invertebrates, rockpool organisms as well as really challenging themselves with physical activities such as Abseiling, Giant Swing, Jacob’s Ladder and Aeroball.
The children behaved admirably throughout and it was a huge pleasure to take them away. They have certainly returned buzzing with new found knowledge and stories. The staff, however, are exhausted and are certainly glad it’s the weekend!
PTA News
Dear All,
I am looking forward to seeing you at the Spectacular Fireworks tomorrow. Our PTA at CCJB is looking after the bar and it will be an amazing event for the whole family. Thank you in advance for those who are volunteering to help.
You may double check your slot in the rota by clicking this link, email ptaccjb@gmail.com or call 07742372511.
Many thanks
Ana Sidders
Chair PTA CCJB
Forthcoming PTA Events
Saturday 15 October - PTA Fireworks held at our Junior Boys site.
Saturday 12 November - Chess Tournament at Junior Boys
Friday 18 November - Fright Night Disco for Junior Boys and Girls held at the College Avenue site
Friday 9 December - Christmas Fair & Nearly New Uniform Sale at Junior Boys. Great shopping for gifts. There will be a raffle and refreshments.
And one for the future .... Saturday 13 May - Annual Ball
PTA FIREWORK SPECTACULAR
PARKING - please enter the large field from the driveway and follow directions of the parking assistants to park your car. Please remember that it will be dark when you leave, so bring a torch and take extra care when leaving the car park.
TICKETS - The Online Payportal closes 5pm TONIGHT (Friday evening)
If you have already paid for your tickets via the parent payment portal, please collect your ticket (wristband) at the entrance gate, where we will have 6 ticket stations to hand over tickets.
After the closure of the Payment Portal, further tickets (wristbands) may be bought by cash at the entrance gate on the night .(Adult £8, Child £5). Wristbands are exchanged for the BBQ food. If we sell out of our 1200 tickets, then entry is still available, but there will not necessarily be food available.
FORTHCOMING DATES
Monday 24 October - Friday 4 November *****H A L F T E R M*****
Saturday 12 November - CC PTA Chess Festival in the Sports Hall CCJB
TRIPS
Thursday 10 November - Friday 11 November Y6 First Aid and Bushcraft days
Thursday 10 November -Sunday 13 November Y6 Cornwall Rugby Tour
IMPORTANT NOTES
Education news.
Discovery Education are a company that provide the school with many online resources. They are moving all their services on-line. Pupils are now able to access the site as follows: www.discoveryeducation.co.uk
espresso
Login as : student32463
Password : ridgeway
The boys can watch videos, research topics and also practise their skills with the different activities.
The espresso site may still be accessed via the weblog and the boy’s Claires Court email address.
Judy Nott
Deputy Head
Scholarships
The Scholarship programme for pupils entering Years 7, 8 , 9 or Sixth Form in September 2017 is now available. You can request a scholarship application pack from the school office, or download one from the website. Please note, there was an error in the printed leaflet, please refer to the website for the correct qualifying ages.
To aid parents with the planning of their child’s education and the high demand for places we have two Scholarship application rounds for 2016-17. Candidates can only take part in one round. Dates for round one are as follows:
YEAR 7, 8 & 9
CLOSING DATE: Monday 14 November 2016
EXAMINATION/ASSESSMENT DATES:
ART/SPORT Friday 25 November 2016
ACADEMIC Saturday 26 November 2016
CHORAL/DRAMA/ART Saturday 26 November 2016
FROM THE SPORTS MASTER
With Year 6 away at Osmington Bay this week, enjoying Science and Geography field work and outward bound activities; you might think it has been a quiet week of sport. It has not been anything of the sort!
Last weekend the U11B team travelled to St Bernard’s Festival. Mr Pennington and Mr Gillespie were hugely impressed with the commitment the boys showed on the Saturday morning beating St Bernard’s 15-0 and Gateway 10-5 to finish 3rd overall.
The Year 3 rugby has been progressing nicely. Mr Barber and the other Year 3 coaches have been so impressed that they would like to start introducing the skills involved with tackling. A letter will be coming home next week as all Year 3 pupils will need a gum shield in the near future.
Year 4 have had an outstanding week of fixtures playing no fewer that 10 fixtures against Thorpe House and St George’s. The number of fixtures is impressive alone but to have come through them all unbeaten is superb, with 8 wins and two draws. I hope the Year 4 pupils can carry on going from strength to strength.
Year 5 had a particularly busy Wednesday afternoon playing both Caldicott and Davenies at home in the same afternoon. We had a total of 15 teams playing 14 different matches of rugby . Davenies put up some stiff competition with our U10A, B & C teams all drawing against them. While our U10A & D teams both enjoyed wins against Caldicott.
With just a week to go until the half term holidays we still have another 15 matches to play. I think all the pupils will enjoy a well earned rest by then!
Nick Butterfield
Head of Sport
FROM THE CHESS GRAND MASTER
The Berkshire Under 11 and Under 9 Trials took place over the weekend with several boys from Claires Court taking part. I was extremely proud of all the CC boys who entered. They played with the right spirit and did the school proud.
Congratulations go to Henry and Tom Dargan, Nayan Popat, Josh Spanswick, Moksha Suriarachchi, and Kida Zhu who all qualifies outright to play for Berkshire, with Samuel Tschiesche in reserve by half a point with every chance to secure his place in the not too distant future.
Special mention goes to Kida who came joint first in the Under 9 section. However, the last word goes to Moksha, who was forced to withdraw from the competition due to falling between rounds and bumping his head. In spite of missing the last round due to injury (something not all too common in chess) Moksha was still able to qualify. Very well done indeed!
There is a month to go until the PTA Chess Festival and entry forms are coming in. To avoid any late fees, please do get your son's entry form in asap. A copy can can be taken from the chess noticeboard or by clicking on this link.
Richard Hogg
MUSIC & DRAMA NOTES
A Night at the Movies - presented by Claires Court
Friday 11 and Saturday 12 November at Norden Farm
This year’s show is filled with song, dance, performance and music, from some of the world’s most famous and favourite cinema soundtracks. The programme includes The Great Escape, Pirates of the Caribbean, What a Wonderful World, Ghostbusters, Moon River and Stand By Me. Get your tickets now, from the Norden Farm online box officeRABBITS
HOLIDAY CLUB
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