Claires Court Bulletin
JUNIOR BOYS
Bulletin 1 | Lent Term 2017
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
Welcome back! I hope you all enjoyed a lovely Christmas break and a Happy New Year. I have been hearing stories of ski trips, Lapland adventures, visiting family and huge celebrations…...and now we are back to reality with some freezing weather and unfortunately for many, a large dose of lemsip!!
You might think that with only a few days to report on that my words may be rather brief…..on the contrary, it was Wednesday late morning when I had my first set of pupils visit my office and there has been some beautifully descriptive writing on the subject of holidays, snow, monsters, and best of all, recipes!! Indeed, Musa Baber and Morgan Munn wrote some wonderfully vivid accounts of how to capture the essence of the Frost, and I was able to read several of the pieces out in assembly this morning. Similarly, Seb Seaman, Taimoor-Ali Baig, Anthony Chan and Nicholas Carmen wrote very mature and comprehensive stories of their Christmas experiences, showing a superb grasp of grammar and sentence structure.
We are very proud to report that during the Christmas holidays Hou Ning Zu, or Kida as we know him best, excelled on the Winter Chess circuit, scoring an impressive 5 wins out of 7 matches in the London Congress tournament, and then winning the Under 11 Sussex festival - Kida is only 7 years old. This ranks him at around No. 6 in the country for his age - a simply outstanding performance from a lovely young man.
I have also been extremely impressed at the thoughtfulness and maturity of one of our Year 3 boys, Thomas Scargill. He approached me on Wednesday wondering if he could donate all of his old toys to charity, and he has inspired others to want to follow suit. Therefore, if you have any old toys that your children are not playing with anymore (and may be clogging up the cupboards!), please bring them to my office next week and Thomas and I will distribute them to worthy recipients in the local area.
At the start of next week I will be sharing my two year School Development Plan with all of your sons - they will then have the chance to add to it!! Mrs Stay, who runs our Pupil Voice, and I would like to hear what the boys want to introduce and develop in the school whether it be in the curriculum, facilities, or extra curricular ideas. Although our younger boys may need a bit of help from their teachers to complete this, they often come up with the best ideas…...in saying that, I can confirm immediately that we will not be purchasing ‘under football pitch heating’ as has been suggested by one student!!
Next week we will be welcoming a number of our families to Parents Evening, and hopefully fresh from reading your son’s Autumn Term report you will be able to have a purposeful dialogue with the relevant teachers on how your son is progressing in all aspects of school life. Our activity programme also starts next week, as do the football fixtures. Kicking off the proceedings are our Year 4 boys on Tuesday against OPS…...I instructed Mr Butterfield and his team to watch Liverpool play throughout the Christmas break to pick up some decent managerial and tactical tips!!!!
We have also been hearing of success in music exams, and Jeremy Chen should be very proud of his Grade 1 pass with distinction on Piano. I will bring you further news on music matters next week.
In the meantime, I hope you all enjoy a lovely weekend.
Justin Spanswick
IMPORTANT NOTICES
Announcement
After six years of service as Headteacher of Claires Court Nursery, Girls and Sixth Form, Paul Bevis has decided to move on from his work at the School at the end of this current academic year in July 2017. Paul has made an immense contribution to the School during his time with us, including the development of the Claires Court Essentials approach to teaching and learning.
The Principals wish to thank Paul on behalf of all the pupils, parents and staff of the School for his enthusiasm, commitment, hard work and above all interest in the development of every child in his care during his time in leadership at Claires Court, and he will be leaving the school very well placed for the future.
We are now actively working to prepare appropriately for his succession with effect from September 2017 and expect to confirm arrangements later this term.
Paul Bevis said, “This was not a decision made lightly. There is no doubt, that what will be six years in my role, will have been the most fulfilling, energising and enjoyable time of my professional career. Each morning it is a joy to greet pupils and students as they enter school, and to share with them their triumphs and tribulations. I am surrounded by colleagues who work unstintingly, creatively and with a huge amount of care for the pupils and students in our school. However having spent 43 years marching to the drum of the school day and annual school terms it is time to take more control of my time and have the flexibility to undertake projects and work more of my own choosing.“
REMINDER
In order to adhere to NHS guidelines and our own school policy we will not allow any pupil to attend school for a minimum of 48 hours after any episode of diarrhoea or vomiting . Thank you for your co-operation.
HOUSE NEWS
A new competition is running for the Lent Term so do not forget to record those House Points boys!
PTA NEWS
Dear all,
Happy New Year 2017!
We have three PTA committee meetings scheduled this term, the first of which
will be on Wednesday 11th January at 8.45am. The focus of this meeting will be to decide how we should invest the PTA CCJB funds we have raised and also to plan any future projects. One of these is the Easter Event on Saturday 18 March. We will need a theme for the event, so please, think..., be creative. A detailed agenda will be shared on our Facebook page and via the class reps on Monday next week. If you cannot make this first meeting but would like to contribute your ideas please just send an email to ptaccjb@gmail.com.
If you would like to be part of the facebook group CCJB PTA, please ask your class rep to request an invite. The Facebook Group to all parents in school even if you can’t attend meetings or help organise events.
Have a great term,
All the best
Ana Sidders
CHAIR OF CCJB PTA
Also note.....
There is still time to place an order for the Pre - Prep class calendars which the PTA organised. We do, however, need a minimum order of 20 to enable us to proceed with the order. The cost per calendar will be £20 and order forms are available from the school office.Whatever the weather….
As the weather gets colder, may we take this chance to remind our parents of the School’s Emergency Closure Guidance in case we need to close the School due to adverse weather conditions.
FORTHCOMING DATES
Monday 9 January - Activities commence and late buses run.
Thursday 12 January - Reception - Year 6 Parents Evening commencing at 6pm. Appointment times will be sent home on Monday via boy post.
Tuesday 17 January - PTA Main Board Meeting
Tuesday 17 January - Reception - Y6 Parents Evening commencing at 4pm. Appointment times will be sent home next week via boy post.
Thursday 19 January - The Learning Dome Year 1 and Year 5. This is taking place in the Sports Hall.
NOTES AND TO DO LIST
Winter apparel
As the winter weather may be on its way, we ask parents to make sure that their boys have suitable warm clothing. This includes games lessons, where school tracksuits are an essential item of clothing. With the cold temperatures which could potentially be forecast for later in January and February, gloves and base layers are also recommended for boys taking part in outdoor sports and activities.
Church Collections
Due to your generous donations on leaving the church after the Christmas Nativity and Carol Service we were able to raise £576 which will be split equally between Thames Hospicecare and Leukemia and Lymphoma Research . Thank you.
Reception/Year 1 pick up
Under no circumstances will children be released to parents through the fire doors in Year 1 unless it is on an afternoon where pickup is allowed from the front (Wednesday and Friday). Please park in the parents car park and walk up to the playground where your son will be dismissed at the end of the day into your care.
FROM THE SPORTS MASTER
Firstly I would like to say a huge welcome back to all parents and pupils. The Staff are all looking forward to the football season. Fixture cards were given out to all pupils in Years 4,5 and 6 this week and should have arrived home. Fixture details can also be found on the school's website under Parents section.
With our first fixtures next week, Years 4, 5 & 6 have been practising their skills while coaches have been working hard to give the pupils every opportunity to demonstrate their talents so that we can select teams for the matches against Oratory Prep School. All year groups have all been working hard as well to develop their basic skills of passing and moving into space.
This term is notoriously cold and bearing that in mind I would ask that all pupils always have their tracksuit packed in their Games bag so that it is there when needed. I would also ask that all pupils in Year 2-6 have shin pads for games lessons and matches. The Football Association state that shin pads are a compulsory safety item for all players.
Parents of boys in Y4, 5 and 6 should have received an email regarding base layers this week. A base layer is a useful addition to the sports kit at this time of year and we would ask that it be a plain colour. Preference would be for black, navy or white garments.
We encourage parents on the sidelines to support our teams and welcome as many as are able to come and watch the matches.
Nick Butterfield
Head of Sport
FROM THE CHESS GRAND MASTER
Richard Hogg
MUSIC AND DRAMA NEWS
All music lessons commence next week. Some Drama lessons took place this week to make up for any missed last term.
Please note that lessons are subject to times/days altering so it is imperative that you check the timetable regularly thus ensuring boys have their music and/or instrument in school on the correct day. Thank you.
We would like to welcome Mrs Gill Ross as our new singing teacher. She will be teaching singing on a Monday.
RABBITS
HOLIDAY CLUB
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