Normanhurst School

NEWSLETTER

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December 2015

Item Page

Headmistress’s Message......................1

News from Kindergarten .....................1

Kindergarten’s World Tour ..................2

Infant Nativity Play...............................2

Scholastic Book Fair .............................2

All Smiles in Year 2 ...............................3

Geography in Year 4 ............................3

Remembrance Day 2015......................3

ISA Art Competitions 2015 ...................4

Year 7 Medieval Castle Competition ...5

Daily Mail Parenting Feature ...............5

Year 11 Science Live GCSE Trip ............6

Duke of Edinburgh’s Award

Presentation Evening ...........................6

Dream Factory .....................................7

Dream Factory Christmas Party ...........7

House Music Competition ...................8

PHSE Drugs Alert Assembly .................8

LAMDA Success ....................................8

Sports Report .................................... 10

Carol Service ..................................... 10

NSPA ................................................. 12

Headmistress’s Message

On Tuesday afternoon the whole school community joined together at the Parish Church for our Christmas Service. It was lovely to meet Father Andy, the new Rector, and to see and hear the children present the Christmas story in such a fresh and lovely way. I was delighted that so many parents joined us too and that you enjoyed the service. There are a number of pictures which capture the event on the school website.

The pupils enjoyed Christmas lunches on Wednesday and had the privilege of being served by the Normanhurst staff. Furthermore, the juniors had a visit from Santa in the afternoon, which provided a special end to a Christmassy day.

After Christmas there is an opportunity to come and have coffee with Mr Hagger and myself on a Friday morning to discuss school life. We value your opinions and hope a good number of parents will be able to join us.

As the term ends and holidays begin, I wish you all a peaceful and joyful Christmas and I send you my best wishes for 2016.

The Spring Term starts on Tuesday 5 January at the normal time, 8.40am. I very much look forward to welcoming the pupils back for another busy term and I wish the Year 11 students all the best as they prepare for their mock GCSE exams.

Mrs Claire Osborn

News from Kindergarten

On their most recent forest walk, Kindergarten were on a mission to find reindeer. As you can see, they were not disappointed!

The children decided that if there are reindeer around, Father Christmas cannot be far away.

Normanhurst School

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Kindergarten’s World Tour

Last month the Kindergarten children went on a forest walk to find the owl babies tree. While there, we had lots of fun trying to catch the leaves as they blew from the trees: it was “like catching butterflies......” one of the children told us.

Next we visited in China. We found out about dragons and the great wall of China, and had a ‘taste of China’ using chopsticks.

As our journey around the world neared its end we had fantastic fun in Mexico where we learnt to ‘party’. We ended our world tour in the North Pole on a hunt for Father Christmas. The children used ‘torches’ and ‘candles’ as we played hide and seek , looking for clues!

Infant Nativity Play

After weeks of effort and practice, ‘Straw and Order’ was finally shown to parents and teachers. It was an enthralling production, with standout performances from Henry as Judge Grumps, Charles as the narrator and Kelaiah, Charlie T and Charlie C as the wise men. That said, the whole cast was brilliant: there were adorable sheep mesmerised by angelic and sparkly angels led by shepherds with military precision. The Kindergarten children were fantastic animals and citizens of Nazareth who sang and sat beautifully.

The teachers would like to thank parents for their support as make-up artists and costume changers, and for ensuring that all the children had their costumes for the performances.

Most of all, Mrs Willemse, Miss Greenin, Miss Smith, Mrs Fisher, Miss Shipley and all the other adults involved would like to thank the children for their hard work and effort throughout the rehearsals and the outstanding, sell-out shows.

Scholastic Book Fair

In November the Book Fair returned to Normanhurst School, and we made an amazing £446.54! This money goes towards us being able to buy new and exciting books for the pupils to read, as well as resources for all subjects in the Junior School! It demonstrates what passionate readers we have!’

Normanhurst School

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All Smiles in Year 2

During November in PSHE lessons, the children in Year 2 have been learning about oral health and how they can look after their teeth. They all came home with a toothbrush and toothpaste. The children have been finding out why it is so important to take care of their teeth. They have also been given a brushing chart to fill in and return to school.

Geography in Year 4

Year 4 have been learning all about coastlines in Geography, and created their own sandy and rocky coastlines over the half-term. Mrs Osborn and Miss Barnard were very impressed with their independent work and creative use of materials, as well as their excellent explanations of coastlines using geographical terms.

Remembrance Day 2015

Normanhurst pupils learned about why the poppy is an important symbol of Remembrance Day during a thought provoking assembly delivered by Year 11. David explained how the poppy represents remembrance and hope rather than death or blood, and we also watched a video clip on how it should be worn and the numerous places to display it. Zehn then explained how the red Flanders poppies survived and thrived in the chaos and destruction of the Western Front.

Assembly continued with a moving reading of John McCrae’s famous war poem “In Flanders Fields” by Mitchell. Important facts about World War 1 were read out by Ella, and Alex then talked about World War 2, where total casualties are estimated from 50 to 70 million people. Dominic explained how the Second World War finally came to an end in Europe with Operation Overlord on 6 June 1944, eventually followed by Victory over Japan Day on 15 August 1945.

Shivam finished by reminding students that conflicts continue around the world today, and that only last month two RAF personnel were killed in a helicopter accident in Afghanistan. After a one minute silence Max in Year 10 played a superb rendition of the Last Post before we all sat down.

Max played again later at 11am after a second minute of silence was observed by our juniors at the front of the school.

Normanhurst School

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ISA Art Competitions 2015

Regional Competition

On Wednesday 14 October Normanhurst School took part in the annual ISA Regional Art Competition. Our work was exhibited along with other independent schools across the London North area. The competition showcases the best artwork selected by Independent Schools from Knightsbridge to Bedford and the standard of work is exceptionally high.

The artwork is judged by a team of artists and the artwork that is awarded 1st place goes through to the ISA National Art Competition held in November.

Our pupils did exceptionally well this year winning seven 1st places, along with a number of second and highly commended places!

1st Places

KS3 Art 2D individual – Maya Simms (Self Portrait) KS4 3D Individual – Emily Sheard (Organic Pot) Textile KS3 - Gloria Mugabi (Kandinsky Bag) Fashion KS 3,4,5 Joseph Coley (Treacy Hat) KS3 Drawing - Maya Simms (Dancer) KS3&4 Photography - Ben Tran (Movement) Computer Animation KS3 4 5 - Osian Pickering (Coffee Magic)

2nd Places

KS3 Art 2D individual – Maya Simms (I’ll Rise) KS3 Textiles individual – Lia Garcia (Kandinsky Bag) Fashion KS 3 4 5 - Ben Tran (Treacy Hat)

Highly Commended

KS1 2D Art individual - Laila Beint (Cat) KS3 3D Individual – Taylor Bennet (Wire figure) KS4 3D Individual – Annabelle Aiken (Organic pot) KS3 Textiles – Harrison Peeling (Kandinsky Bag) Fashion KS 3 4 5 - Khan Gorgulu (Treacy Hat) KS4 Drawing - Annabelle Aiken (Despair)

Normanhurst School

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Year 7 Medieval Castle Competition

Prizes for building superb Medieval castles were given out to Year 7 in a whole school assembly. All students participated in the annual castle building competition, and devoted part of their half term holiday to producing an authentic Motte and Bailey or Square Keep castle.

Everyone was awarded two house points for taking part. The winner of the competition was Ubaid who received 10 house points as well as a tin of chocolates. Second prize went to William, who also received a tin of chocolates and 7 house points. Joint third prizewinners were Beth and Illayda, who both received a prize along with 5 house points each.

Two further pupils, Scott, and Alex , also received commendations and 3 house points each. Well done to Year 7 for making a fantastic effort this year.

Daily Mail Parenting Feature

One of our Year 7 pupils, Hashim, is proud to have been featured with his mother in a recent Daily Mail article about differing attitudes to parenting.

Click here to read the article:

ISA Art Competitions 2015, continued

National Competition

On 13 November the National ISA Art competition finals took place at the Daventry Court Hotel in Northamptonshire. The artwork in this competition showcases the best artwork being produced in ISA schools across the country. The artwork is judged by a team of professional artists and the standard of work is extremely high. This year, Normanhurst pupils won awards in three different categories. The winners were as follows:

Gloria Mugabi (1st place winner for KS3 Textiles) Maya Simms (Runner up for KS3 2D Art) Joseph Coley (Highly Commended KS 3,4,5 Fashion) Congratulations to all our winners!

Normanhurst School

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Year 11 Science Live GCSE Trip

On 26 November, our Year 11 pupils were taken hear a series of Science Live lectures at the Apollo Theatre in Victoria. The talks were inspirational and fascinated their young inquiring minds. Most of the speakers were famous and a few of the pupils recognised them from their TV appearances.

Professor Robert Winston discussed how his pioneering work over twenty years ago helped shape our world with the birth of test tube babies. He then talked about how the work he is doing now in cutting edge stem cells research could open up the future of medicine with its endless lifesaving uses.

Professor Andrea Sella discussed the hidden codes and patterns of stripes found in the laboratory, and how they could be linked to the beauty of zebras in nature. There were lots of colourful experiments performed on stage that dazzled the audience.

Professor Jim Al-Khalili made us feel very small compared to the Universe. He talked about visiting parallel worlds and tried to sell the idea of bending space and forming a black hole tunnel that would transport us into the future!

Professor Dave Cliff gave sound advice on how to wait for technology to get cheaper before investing in it; apparently every few months the price of technology comes down! He was trying to inspire the future technology millionaires on how to make quick money.

Professor Alice Roberts discussed how we evolved over time and how we could be connected to birds, fish and reptiles. A human foetus has an egg sac, gills and a tail that will turn into a spine. I was amused to hear how easy it can be to confuse a five week old dog foetus with a human one as they look the same.

In addition to the mind boggling talks, expert GCSE examiners discussed the Do’s and Don’ts of the final exam.

Our Year 11 pupils came back inspired and hopefully more prepared for their Science exams next year!

Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Presentation Evening

On Thursday 19 November 2015, our Year 11 Duke of Edinburgh's Award participants received their Bronze Award at the Waltham Forest Duke of Edinburgh's Award Presentation Evening at Chingford Assembly Hall. Guest speakers at the event were the Mayor of Waltham Forest, Councillor Karen Bellamy and Peter Fleet the Director of London DofE.

Over 100 students from across Walthamstow were presented with their awards for their hard work and dedication. Leaders from each school took the stand to recall anecdotes and read the names of their

students. It was a proud moment for all parents and teachers to witness this incredible achievement.

Students were sad it was over but are now looking forward to completing their Gold Award at their sixth form school or college.

Normanhurst School

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The Dream Factory

Avril Mills from The Dream Factory came to school on Monday 9 November, to tell the school about her charity and how it was started. The Essex charity, which was chosen by the charity committee as the school’s nominated good cause for this year, grants wishes to children and young people with life limiting or life threatening conditions or severe disabilities.

A total of £196.50 was raised for The Dream Factory from ticket sales for the recent Infants Nativity Play.

Mrs Prior and the charity committee look forward to a successful year of fundraising for The Dream Factory and all the causes that the school supports throughout the year.

Anti-Bullying Week Presentation

On 16 November I did an ‘Anti-Bullying Week’ presentation along with my fellow prefects Michael and Yazmin to Years 7, 8 and 9. We focused on three major topics, which were cyber-bullying, relationships, and how to stay safe. We talked about each topic individually in a lot of detail; we were all very delighted that the younger students were answering the questions we asked them and that they understood what action to take if they suspected they were being bullied.

The main aim of the anti-bullying talk was to make sure all students feel safe and not intimidated by anyone. From the feedback from the younger students, we believe it was a complete success and they know we are there for them if they have any enquiries or need help with anything.

Hannah 11B Senior Prefect

The Dream Factory Christmas Party

On Sunday 22 November Mrs Prior took three pupils from the Charity Committee to The Dream Factory. Yazmin, Michael and Maya volunteered to give up their Sunday to help at the children’s Christmas party. They were a credit to the school and worked hard serving on the sweets counter. Yazmin even sang for the whole party!

Mrs Prior was very proud of them, and Avril Mills from the Dream Factory was very grateful for their help and support on the day.

Normanhurst School

NEWSLETTER

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House Music Competition

The House Music Competition was held on Monday 9 November. Connaught

House and Warren House had spent considerable time preparing for the competition and the standard of performances was higher than ever before.

Excellent solo performances from Max (Warren) and Yazmin (Connaught) started off the competition. The ensemble category this year featured a gospel song: Warren's by Michelle Williams and Connaught's taken from the film Sister Act. The House Song this year was inspired by the Rugby World Cup with a medley of Swing Low, Sweet Chariot and World in Union (Warren) and Ireland Calls (Connaught).

The overall winners this year were Connaught House: congratulations, Connaught!

Connaught teachers Mrs Prior and Mrs Kazim were delighted with the result and very proud of how beautifully the Connaught pupils performed.

PSHE Drugs Alert Assembly

Legal “highs” can be as dangerous as their illegal equivalents. That was the stark warning given to our Years 10 and 11 students by Darren Gould of the Drugs Alert Workshop. Darren, a recovered drug addict, told students about Connor, a 19 year old boy who was declared brain dead after taking a synthetic marijuana. Tragically, Connor had a promising musical career ahead of him, which was abruptly ended after he consumed the deadly poison.

His American family have organised a campaign to help prevent other young people from sharing the same fate. Meanwhile, Darren warned that an increasing number of British people are ending up in Accident and Emergency after taking legal “highs” such as laughing gas or nitrous oxide. This starves the brain of oxygen which leads to brain damage and the inability to hear or move.

Darren said he has lost many friends over the years, including one whose heart stopped after taking a deadly combination of drugs and sleeping pills. He added that cannabis smokers are usually unaware that what they smoke often includes twigs, fertilisers and excrement, and that one in four people go on to develop mental health issues. This can include twitching uncontrollably or the inability to maintain eye contact.

All alarming warnings from Darren. He pointed out that cigarette smokers do not inhale such dangerous

substances, but our students would do well to avoid cigarettes also.

LAMDA Success

Congratulations to the following students who passed their LAMDA speech and drama examinations in October. They all achieved very high merits or distinctions: Rowan (Year 3), Michaela (Year 4), Emmeh (Year 5), Ben (Year 7), Imogen (Year 7), Katy (Year 8), Darby (Year 8), Bilal (Year 10).

Normanhurst School

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Sports Report

Wow!! What a busy term. Pupils have spent time in their lessons preparing for all the competitions they have been taking part in.

Swimming

The junior swimmers had extra sessions practising for the ISA Gala at Copthall Pool in Barnet. Their efforts were rewarded with one gold medal(50m backstroke) and a silver medal (50m freestyle) for Matthew (Year 5), and a silver medal (50m backstroke) for Eric (Year 4). As a winner in the London North Gala Matthew will represent Normanhurst in the ISA National Finals to be held in January at the London Aquatic Centre. Well done to all our swimmers who took part.

Athletics

The Year 7 girls prepared well for the Sports Hall Athletics that was held at Rushcroft School; we are eagerly awaiting the results as the girls won many races and field events. This was a London Youth Games qualifying event and if the girls win they will go forward to the finals held at Crystal Palace in the summer.

On Friday 4 December, a mini version of the Sports Hall Athletics was held at the Peter May Centre for Key Stage 1 pupils. Seven boys and girls represented us and had a fabulous time. The main emphasis of this event was participation but there was a competitive element, and out of twelve primary schools Normanhurst finished a respectable third.

Year 11 Training

The Year 11’s have been experiencing a bit of team building and outdoor education with a course of lessons at Gilwell Park, and have been undertaking an induction to enable them to safely use the gym facilities at the Peter May Centre.

Badminton

Boys from Years 9, 10 and 11 have formed a team to represent the school in the Waltham Forest Badminton Tournament (another London Youth Games qualifier), to be held on home turf at the Peter May Sports Centre on the 11 December. I wish them well!

Netball

The Senior Girls Netball Team finished in 4th place in the Waltham Forest

Netball League. Well done to all the girls who supported the team.

The Year 7 and 8 girls played a friendly match against Braeside. This was to help prepare the girls for the start of their Waltham Forest League matches which begin in February.

Oak-Tree Shield

This term we re-established the Oak-Tree Shield Sports Competition. Girls from Years 5 and 6 took part in a netball tournament with all four Oak-Tree schools represented. Coopersale Hall emerged worthy winners as they were

undefeated on the day. Normanhurst finished in 3rd place by only one goal behind Oaklands. The next Oak-Tree event is due to be a hockey competition in the spring term.

Normanhurst School

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Sports Report (continued)

Oak-Tree Shield (continued)

Year 5 and 6 boys, meanwhile, have competed towards the Shield in a series of 5-a-side football matches against teams from the other Oak-Tree schools.

The results of the football matches were: Normanhurst A 2 - 1 Coopersale Normanhurst A 4 - 0 Oaklands Normanhurst A 10 - Normanhurst B 1 Coopersale 6 - Normanhurst B 1 Oaklands 4 - Coopersale 2 Oaklands 7 - Normanhurst B 0 Football The Waltham Forest Cup was the first football fixture for the Years 9 and 10 boys, involving Leytonstone and ourselves. The PE department would like to congratulate the boys who took part in the game and came out 5-4 winners. We ae waiting to see who we draw in the next round of the Waltham Forest Cup. Some 36 pupils signed up for this years Normanhurst 5-a-side competition which started in September. There are six teams involving pupils from Years 7 to 10, who compete every Wednesday after school at the Peter May Centre Most of the rounds have now been played, although some fixtures will be carried over till next term. At present Nyat’s Nuggets lead the table, followed very closely by Bilal’s Babies and Shabaz's Shakers. Good luck to all the teams. Well done to everyone who represented the school, attended a sports club or gave their best in lessons!

Extra-Curricular Sport in the Spring Term

In the spring term, Mr Tuvey and Mrs Taylor will hold the following extra-curricular clubs:

Monday: Golf Club and Junior Football Tuesday: Senior Netball Wednesday: Senior Badminton Thursday: Junior Gymnastics and Junior Netball/Basketball Friday: Mini-tennis (this club will commence after February half term).

Carol Service

The stage was set and the school community - pupils, teachers and families - came together to celebrate our Christmas carol service, which this year followed the theme ‘Christmas of the World’. In a twist on the traditional story, the Christmas angels visited different countries around the world to find out about their festive traditions.

The children had worked hard to learn songs, practise tableaux and readings, and the result was a beautiful service enjoyed by all.

Normanhurst School

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NORMANHURST SCHOOL PARENTS’ ASSOCIATIONNORMANHURST SCHOOL PARENTS’ ASSOCIATION

This is the final newsletter of 2015 from the NSPA, and it has been a great year where we have welcomed new parents onto the committee and we have tried out different approaches to our regular

events. The Summer BBQ, with its wild west theme, was a fun family afternoon, enjoyed by adults and children. It was amazing to see what talent is nurtured amongst the Normanhurst students in the Normanhurst’s Got Talent competition and we were so pleased to attract some interesting and diverse stalls.

We had an ideas evening at the beginning of the new academic year, where parents came and generated fantastic ideas on other events and activities that will enhance our very special school community, which will hopefully mean more resources to support our children’s school experience.

On the 27 November we had Normanhurst School’s first Rock’n’Roll Bingo. This Bingo Night with a twist really tested everyone’s music knowledge and was a wonderful opportunity for parents to socialise and enjoy some friendly rivalry.

Thank you to everyone who supported our recent Phil the Bag event; we collected a whopping 360kg of textiles, raising £126.00 for the school.

For 2016 we already have plans in motion for a children’s disco in the first half term; details will be published in the new year.

An NSPA Facebook group has been set up; there are lots of great photos from the Rock’n’Roll Bingo as well as from school events including the pantomime trip and the kindergarten nativity performance.

As a Parents Association we need to improve our understanding of what is expected of us. So at the start of 2016 we will be sending out a short survey to every parent to find out what parents really want from the NSPA. Please look out for the survey, which will come to you by email. It will take less than three minutes to complete and your opinion will make a big difference to what we do as a Parents Association.

All that remains for me to do is wish you all a very happy and restful Christmas break, and I look forward to meeting you in 2016.

Vandita NPSA committee