Claires Court Bulletin
JUNIOR BOYS
Bulletin 10 | Lent 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 HEADS DESK
The week began with a wonderful surprise - I received a phone call from Susan Payne on Monday morning. She is speaking well, has her usual dry sense of humour, and was complaining about the quality of the porridge served in hospital! While her recovery looks to be a long and gruelling process, she has made excellent progress to date and we are all remaining positive.
On the staffing front, I can inform you that Mrs Parr, our part-time music teacher, will be leaving us at the end of this term. She has produced some excellent work with our younger pupils and we will really miss her. Mr Rowan and Mr Goddard will be taking on the music responsibilities for the summer term.
In other news, I sent Mrs Vine and Miss Jones to London earlier in the week to establish along with other Independent school subject leaders, how the New National Curriculum for English and Maths has impacted on all schools. They came back with some interesting findings. When we created our curriculum for the boys at Claires Court, we ensured that we captured the core elements of subjects which provide the building blocks and templates for pupils to apply to new situations, most of which are found in the New National Curriculum. However, not being ‘bound’ by the Curriculum, we are able to do more - to develop other skills which extend, which inspire, and hopefully which engage the boys more readily. We are also continually analysing the curriculum and adapting it to suit our ever changing world. On Wednesday, when I saw Year 2 actually burning their model of London in their investigation of The Great Fire of London, it brought home to me how important it is for our boys to be able to write creatively from their own experiences, rather than just from things they have heard or read.
I was disappointed to learn that our Assessment group who provide all of our summer standardised tests have removed creative writing from the papers. For me, the notion that boys cannot write creatively or do not like to express themselves in a piece of writing is nonsense - it is by challenging our pupils to ‘up level’ their sentences, their vocabulary, their planning, and their thinking that we get the best work out of them. In our summer assessments at Claires Court, we will be including a longer piece of writing for Year 1 and above as an extra paper, and you as parents will have complete feedback on this as well as the other tests.
So, to our pupils. The highlight of the week for me has been the Thursday evening Workshare where the boys proudly took you through some of their work. I hope you all enjoyed seeing this one aspect of the education your sons’ are receiving. I am also hatching ways to allow you to see some of the more practical academic work that is not always reflected on paper……...I will get back to you on this!!
And finally to the weekend ahead. Three sports tournaments for our Under 9, 10 and 11 teams are running alongside our Easter Egg Hunt, and I hope to see lots of you there!!! Have a super weekend!
Justin Spanswick
IMPORTANT NOTES
This is the last Junior Boys bulletin of the Lent Term. Fees invoices and a new fee scale letter will be sent home on Wednesday. An across school bulletin will be sent on the last day of term with information on menus, dates and the parental questionnaire.
If anyone still wishes to order the DVD from the recent concert please bring your completed order forms with payment to the office on Monday.
Please observe a 5mph speed in the car park and when using the 'kiss and drop' . Additionally it is essential you follow the one way system as some parents are executing u-turns and causing traffic chaos. Thank you for your cooperation.
Grey shirts for boys in Years 3,4,5 and 6 should be long sleeved. Short sleeved grey shirts are being phased out and will no longer be uniform from the start of the Autumn Term.
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
Commemoration Service
All parents are invited to join all Senior pupils and staff at this annual event, which will take place on Tuesday, 22 March at 2.30pm at the Magnet Leisure Centre. It is a chance to reflect on the year so far. All welcome.
Claires Court Old Boys v Desborough Old Boys Rugby Match
Come and support the players at Braywick Rugby Club on Friday 25 March at 2.00 pm. All welcome.
FORTHCOMING DATES
Saturday 19 March -Join us for our Annual Easter Event with activities including Easter Egg Hunt, competitions, face painting and much more…
Monday 21 March - Tuesday 22 March - No activities. Early buses only.
Monday 21 March - Year 3 Informal concert 4pm along with Y4 soloists
Tuesday 22 March- Reception to Junior Girls for Easter Crafts
Wednesday 23 March - Term ends midday. Boys need to be collected at 12 O'Clock. There is one bus to take boys to the College Avenue site and Senior Boys. There is NO AFTER SCHOOL CARE on Wednesday.
Wednesday 13 April - Summer Term starts
Saturday 14 May - The Great Gatsby Ball.
We now have reservations for well over 400 people for the annual ball, quite amazing! If you have reserved a table you have until 1st April to pay. If you would still like a table please let us know and we can add you to the waiting list pta.ccgs@gmail.com
ACTIVITIES
Deadline for application is 12 noon on Monday 21 March. You will be contacted by email on Thursday 24 March ONLY if there are issues with numbers applying for certain activities.
RABBITS
Various Artwork
HOLIDAY CLUB
HOLIDAY ACTIVITIES – Easter holiday (Tue 29 Mar to Fri 8 Apr)
Book NOW to get the best rate with holiday and sports activities at Easter- this offer ends TODAY (FRI 18 MAR).
Join Sports Xtra for Cricket, as well as a range of Olympic sports. Also, come and journey through space, get with nature, and enjoy specialised workshops with Kool Xtra and Holiday Club.
For more details, dates and booking please go to www.clairescourt.com/holiday-activities or email holidayclub@clairescourt.com