The Christ’s

Chronicles

22nd April First day of Summer Term

22nd April Year 10 Work Experience until 2nd May

25th-28th April Year 7 French Trip

6th May Summer Uniform begins

9th May French Exchange departs

12th May GCSE Exam period begins

17th May French Exchange return with French friends

23rd May French Exchange students leave

2nd -3rd June Duke of Edinburgh practice

13th June Year 10 RE Trip to St Pauls Cathedral

17th June Year 10 A level taster Day

23rd June INSET

30th June-2 July Duke of Edinburgh

4th July SPORTS DAY

7th July Year 6 Induction Day

9th July Activities Week

10/11/12 July SCHOOL PRODUCTION: Bugsy Malone

14th/15th July Year 10 Geography Trip

16th July Year 9 RE Trip

18th July END OF SUMMER TERM

Future events for your diary

Special points of

interest:

Reviews

Coming

Events

Sports News

Messages

Requests

Advertising

Inside this issue:

Belgium Trip 2

Bugsy Malone 3

Oxford Trip 3

Jack Petchey 3

Comillas 2014 4

Yr 11 Citizenship 5

Sports 6/8

PTA 9

Sixth Form 10

Notices 11

April 2014 Issue 91

Welcome to the latest issue of Christ’s School’s newsletter

Please check the school sports board for up to date weekly fixtures

You can also check the school events calendar,

which is updated regularly for more diary dates on our website at

www.christs.richmond.sch.uk

Page 2 The Christ’s Chronicles

Visit to Belgium – WWI Battlefields

We started the day at a brisk 6:30 in the morning and went straight to Dover and over the

channel where we went to our first stop, a war memorial. On that day we saw many war

memorials and graves, some large and some small. A couple of graves stood out; the first being

a grave of a fifteen year old, who would be starting GSCEs if he was at our school. The second

one was a grave belonging to a Jewish man, which you could tell from the Star of David. Finally,

we saw a grave with the Victoria Cross, the highest medal one could achieve, engraved on it.

We also visited a German grave where, unlike British grave stones, the graves where dark

plaques on the ground. I also stood where Hitler once stood, who had visited the cemetery in

1941.

In the afternoon we visited a chocolate shop in Ypre. At eight o’clock James and I had the

honour to take part in the Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate. The whole community

gathered around this giant arch-like structure with all the names of soldiers who had fought for

the commonwealth engraved on its walls. The buglers played a small piece to start the

ceremony and then we walked up to lay a wreath from Christ’s School, with over three hundred

eyes on us.

The next day we went to visit a sight where the East Surrey Regiment would have fought. It was

mounds upon mounds of grassy hills with exposed roots, it was a weird scene. We could really

see how the war had changed the landscape forever. We then visited a brilliant museum where

you could walk through a British trench, a French trench, and a German trench. We all agreed

the Germans had the best trench! Probably the highlight was visiting the largest Commonwealth

grave memorial at Tyne Cot. There are rows upon rows of graves, and even more names

engraved in wall at the back. Many of them said 'Unknown Unto God' because their bodies

couldn’t be identified. There were also two German graves in this cemetery; men who had been

treated by Commonwealth medics and buried among British soldiers. All are equal in death.

We would highly recommend this trip for anyone who wants to have an interesting and fun, trip.

It really makes make you think about the scale of the war and what previous generations

sacrificed so we can live in peace.

Mark Dyce Stagg

Issue 91 Page 3

20 year 10s went to Oxford to find out more about studying at the

university. The visit included meeting undergraduates and touring

Oriel College. It was a very useful and inspirational day with plenty of

opportunity to ask questions, understand more about how the

colleges link to the university and in addition to lectures, how the

tutorial sessions at Oxford work. The undergraduates who talked to

the group were both History students and were very good at talking about how they organised

their time to complete all their work (mounting up to a large number of hours) but also found

time to join in with activities such as the college choir, debating societies and many other

things.

After lunch in Oriel's grand dining hall, we went to Oxford's Natural History Museum, a most

splendid cathedral-like building and were lucky enough to be able to handle a number of

exhibits such as fossils and a gigantic elephant's tooth as well as some living exhibits including

large spiders which apparently make great pets. Not for the faint hearted. The main message

for ALL year 10 students considering university: it is worth getting the best GCSE grades that you

can, it will make a difference.

Jack Petchey Speak Out Challenge

We held two Jack Petchey sponsored Speakersbank Speak out

Challenge days for about 50 year 10s. The day is spent with a

professional speaking coach and covers every aspect of public

speaking, from initially making an impression (there are just 7 seconds

to do this), a range of tips to engage an audience, including eye

contact and smiling, as well as the many ways to open a talk,

structure and deliver a short speech.

There were many excellent efforts which made choosing winners each day extremely difficult.

Four students were asked to develop their speeches further and two of those will go through to

the regional final which will be in school on 12th May at 6.30pm- 7.45pm. Please put that date

in your diary

Bugsy Malone

We are delighted to announce that Christ's School will be

putting on a production of Bugsy Malone on 10th, 11th and

12th July. The musical is open from years 7-10 and

rehearsals are due to start after the Easter holidays .

The Two World's of Charlie F'

A group of Year 9 students attended a theatre workshop at Richmond Theatre based on the

play 'The Two World's of Charlie F'. Students were given the opportunity to work with the script of

the play which was produced using injured soldiers as a form of retail therapy using real life

stories. The students also got to meet two of the cast members and ask them about their

experience of putting on the show.

Joanne Randall

Oxford Trip

Page 4 The Christ’s Chronicles

Comillas 2014

We took 45 very excited year 7s to Comillas, Spain for a long weekend. On the first full day the

pupils met up with some of their pen pals they have been writing to since learning Spanish at

school. Together they completed a treasure hunt allowing them to learn more about the small

village whilst practicing their Spanish. We were then invited to their school where an impromptu

Spain vs England football match took place and walking on stilts was mastered. Next stop was

Picos de Europa where we took a cable car to the top of a mountain with over a foot of snow

waiting for us! Incredible views and a snowball fight were enjoyed by all! We finished the day

with a walk around the gorgeous town of Potes that had an amazing cake shop. The next day

we did a tour around Santander, ordered “churros con chocolate” in a local cafetería, took a

trip to a park where we were greeted by seals and did a two hour salsa and flamenco dance

class. On our final day once all the suitcases were packed we made our last stop at a gorgeous

little cobbled village called Santillana where the pupils were able to explore and buy all their

souvenirs

Issue 91 Page 5

The last few weeks have seen HumSoc meetings taken by year 11 groups who are undertaking various

campaigns for their GCSE controlled assessment. The campaigns range from Elvis, Demetrius and

Abdeslam talking about the UK's withdrawal from Afghanistan to a campaign for greater press freedom

(led by Ned Scott-Mends and Sharooz Deghani. The Making Politics Matter campaign by Milly Logan-

Wilson, Clio Tucker O'Sullivan, Daisy Ireland, Issy Smith, Sophie Brown and Ruby Wheeler also made a film

which is being shown in Citizenship classes and via their twitter (@mpmcampaign)

and facebook pages.

Chantelle Coster and Lara Soubra's 'Save the Planet' campaign has run a lively poster campaign and

twitter feed: @savetheworldlc and they will be running a HumSoc meeting after Easter.

Mr Butler

Year 11 Citizenship Campaigns

Public Speaking Success

Is learning philosophy as valuable as learning mathematics? This is the question Dorsa Nasrollahi

had considered in preparation for the English Speaking Union's public speaking competition at

The Lady Eleanor Holles School in February. Dorsa, as speaker, was joined by Ben Patterson, as

chairperson, and William Imber-Coxhead, as questioner. Ben and William were given half an

hour to prepare an introduction and questions for a speaker from Coombe Girls' School, on the

topic of immigration.

Eloquent speeches were delivered and perceptive questions were asked by

each of the teams, with all the elements being held together by the

chairperson. The team from Christ's were articulate and confident and,

despite facing tough competition from a range of private and state

schools, Dorsa was judged as best speaker and the team were runners up

overall.

It was a valuable experience for all the students and well deserved success.

Claire Lorenz

Page 6 The Christ’s Chronicles

Sports Review

Multi-Sports

Junior Netball

Congratulations to all of the girls who have been training and playing for our league fixtures and

tournaments this year.

All the girls have been incredibly motivated to come to training and earn their place in the

team and their efforts have been rewarded with some excellent performances.

Our Year 7 A/B & Year 8 team played brilliantly in the tournaments and the Year 7 A team

finished 3rd in the Borough which was thoroughly deserved after losing to Waldegrave in the

Semi Finals.

Thank you to all the girls who have been so loyal to Christ`s school and working so hard and a

special thank you to Florence West for captaining the Year 7 team and Daisy Regan for

captaining the Year 8 team.

Mrs Bromly

Junior & Senior Rounders

The league and tournament fixtures have now been published. We look forward to a summer full

of fun outside in the sun. All welcome to training on Tuesday 22nd April.

Mrs Bromly

Athletics

Athletics will begin after Easter. We would love to see as many students come to training as

possible in preparation for Sports day and Borough Sports. We have organised for some

specialised coaches from Real runners to come in and work with students who show an interest

so please ask your son/daughter to look out in the bulletin for further notices.

Mrs Bromly

Year 2 Multi-Sports

On Monday 24th March, we welcomed 100 Year 2 students into Christ`s School for our Multi

Sports extravaganza! Each team of 10 students were competing/having fun to earn a place in

the Borough finals. Each team took part in 10 different activities ranging from zig zag run and

firemans ladder. The Year 2`s had the time of their life at ‘big school’ and couldn`t have been

helped and given better guidance than by a team of 25 Year 7`s (and 4 Year 8`s) young leaders

who were exceptional. It was a pleasure to host such an event and we hope to run many more

festivals in the near future.

Issue 91 Page 7

Christ’s Junior Netball

Teams

Year 2 Multi Sports

Page 8 The Christ’s Chronicles

Sports Clubs and Reviews continued

Year 7 boys’ rugby Union

The year 7 boys have enjoyed more success this term. They are currently

undefeated in the borough and are through to the borough final, which

is due to be played at the beginning of the summer term. The boys

should be very proud of themselves, as the rate of their progress is something that both I and

the RFU development officer did not anticipate. With several pupils being scouted by London

Welsh and the team putting 50 points on two borough teams this season, the RFU have

expressed their desire to work more closely with Christ's school next season. The team must now

remain focused on the task of winning their next match. Regardless of the result, this has been

an outstanding season for the year 7 rugby team.

Year 7 girls’ rugby league

I recently had to cover a girls rugby league session and thought it would be a one off.

However, by the end of that session, I was so overwhelmed by the enthusiasm and

commitment the girls demonstrated I decided to carry on coaching them. I took the team to

the Richmond borough RL competition, where they reached the grand final (after only three

training sessions) and were defeated by a strong Orleans Park team. Unbelievably, they

qualified for the London finals, where they faced off against the top rugby league schools in

the capital. The girls played three matches, losing two and winning one. This is a truly

outstanding achievement by the girls, considering their inexperience compared to the

opposition. They should be extremely proud of themselves, as I am, and look forward to an

exciting season in September.

Rowing club

The rowing club has now been up and running for two term and the

students are starting to experience the joys of sculling in better

conditions, and sometimes even glorious sunshine. Some students

competed in their first regatta a few weeks ago and they enjoyed the chance to race against

other local schools. There are a few spaces available for after Easter so do collect a letter from

Miss Needham once we have returned after the Easter break.

Extra-curricular clubs will commence the week after the Easter break; please see the board by the sports

hall for timings of the activities that are on offer.

Issue 91 Page 9

Quiz Evening

Thank you to everyone who helped make this year’s quiz a huge success. It was a fun and

enjoyable evening with great company and delicious food. We made a huge profit of £1,700

which will go directly to benefit our children. The teachers told us how much the children have

appreciated the new table tennis tables recently purchased by the PTA, so we are planning to

put the money towards more outdoor equipment and a canopy so it can be used in all

weathers.

May Fair – Saturday 10th May

Once again, we will have a Christ’s School stall at the prestigious Richmond May Fair on

Richmond Green. As well as raising money this is a great opportunity to exhibit the school to

the wider community. There will be the excitement of both a children’s and adult’s tombola for

which we need you to contribute prizes. So please start sorting out your cupboards for items

such as small toys, stationary, sweets, cheap jewellery, boxes of chocolates, bottles of wine

and beer etc. which can be delivered to the school after the Easter holidays. People will be

invited to bid at our fantastic silent auction so please start asking local businesses, shops and

restaurants to donate vouchers and products. We will also be selling cakes so get ready to

bake (or buy) those delicious cakes again! And of course we need parent volunteers to help

set up and serve on the day, together with the children. Please contact

janeefitch1@gmail.com if you would like to help in advance or on the day.

Parents Forum

Thank you to everyone who came to the last Parents Forum meeting on 12th March or who sent

in questions – it was lovely to see so many enthusiastic, supportive parents. Thanks also to Mrs

Dixon for her presentation on the “next steps” for the school following the Ofsted inspection –

you should all have received a copy of the presentation by email. If you didn’t and would like

to receive a copy, have any suggestions for future Parent Forum topics, or would like any

further information about the Parents Forum, please email rowan@oddbod.org.uk. The next

meeting will take place in the music block at 7pm on Wednesday 11th June.

The winning Quiz Team!

PTA - News

Compliments of Vicki

Sharp photography

Page 10 The Christ’s Chronicles

Notices

Information for parents

Electoral registration

Don't leave your vote behind If you move house, please remember to register to vote at your new address. Go to www.richmond.gov.uk/vote for more information.

Homework Help public library sessions

Weekly Homework Help sessions are starting the week beginning 3 March in four public libraries:

Castelnau, Tuesdays, 3pm-4.30pm Richmond and Whitton, Wednesdays, 3pm-4.30pm Hampton Hill, Thursdays, 3.30pm-5.30pm.

All 8-14 year olds welcome. We will help you to find all the resources you need to do your homework.

Issue 91 Page 11

Page 12 The Christ’s Chronicles

Additional information:

To contact Staff by e-mail please use their first initial

and then surname written as one word followed by

generic ending: @christs.richmond.sch.uk

There is also a quick link via school website. Christ's School

Queen's Road

Richmond

Surrey

TW10 6HW

Phone: 020 8940 6982

Fax: 020 8332 6085

E-mail: info@christs.richmond.sch.uk

www.christs.richmond.sch.uk

Timetable for school day

All students to arrive at

school and be ready for

registration at 08.30

Morning break 10.20-10.40

Lunch break 12.20-13.00

End of school 15.00

Summer uniform from 6th

May 2014

To order uniform go to our

website: http://

christs.richmond.sch.uk/

home

Term Dates 2014

Summer Term

Tuesday 22nd April 2014—Friday 18th July 2014

Half Term

Monday 26th May 2013—Friday 30th May 2014

INSET Days

Monday 23rd June 2014

INSET days are subject to change. Please check

website.