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Principal's Newsletter – 11 October 2019   

Open Morning   

We had a tremendously successful Open Morning last Saturday, with the record numbers of visitors predicted arriving and all our volunteers – pupils and parents - providing an excellent service as hosts and guides, as well as providing extraordinary resources, such as our amazing equestrian display! All this alongside the fabulous show our great staff put on in presenting the very best of Gosfield life. A huge thank you to everyone who helped support us on the day. 

All our guests commented on how engaging and enthusiastic our staff were and how polite, knowledgeable and passionate about their school our pupils and parents were. So many told us they’d fallen in love with the School and were desperate to join! It’s great to hear and a tribute to all those who’ve made it possible.  

We are a very popular destination for parents and pupils who want the warm, family friendly education we provide, together with the chance to help all our children excel and exceed their own personal best. Next year’s Year 7 cohort are oversubscribed, with about 30 families on the waiting list, and it looks like the 2021 Year 7 will be in a similar position, which is why we’re saying to anyone interested in joining us in Seniors that the best way to guarantee that is to join us in Prep first. If you have friends who are thinking of joining in Year 7 then I’d urge you to share the same message with them. 


Free Family Fun Morning



We are holding a Free Family Fun Morning for prospective families with pre-school children for a morning of Pumpkin Soup activities in our beautiful Forest School. The morning activities will take place on Wednesday 16 October from 9:30am to 11:30am. We would be very grateful If you could kindly share this with friends and family. facebook.com/gosfieldschool/ 


Parents’ Evening 

We are looking forward to welcoming you for our Prep and Senior Parents' evening next week, Tuesday 15th 5pm - 8pm. For Prep pupils, the appointments will be in your child's classroom and for Senior students, the appointments will be in your child’s Tutor Room. You should have received a Parent Mail communication regarding this and there is still have time to book your appointment if you have not done so already. If you need any help with this, please contact your child's class teacher or the school office. 


Harvest



This week the children have been learning about Harvest time in school. They were very interested in assembly when Mrs Edna Philp spoke to them regarding Harvest time on a farm, including showing them the grains that are harvested and what foods they become. The Philp family also delivered a tractor to school that morning so that we could compare it to a vintage tractor and plough. Mr Lawrence, who owns the vintage tractor, spent some time talking to the children, answered all of their questions, and he even let some of them sit on the tractor! The Prep School would like to thank them both for helping to bring our learning alive. 


Autumn Fest

We are delighted to inform you that on Wednesday 16 October the Music and Drama department invite you to come and enjoy Autumn Fest. This will be a family friendly event with something exciting and entertaining for all ages. The evening will feature an array of Dance, Drama and Music with some special guest appearances.  

Our entertainment will begin at 6:30pm and refreshments will be available courtesy of The Mongolia Expedition Team throughout the evening.  

Tickets are free to all and places can be reserved via the form on ParentMail.  

Performers are welcome to stay after school until the performance and will receive refreshments and a chance to rehearse during that time, or if they go home, they must return in full school uniform at 5:30pm.  

Please let the school office know if your child usually travels by school bus and will not require this service on this date. We very much look forward to welcoming you to what will be another exciting event. 


Prep Harvest Festival    

We are also delighted to invite parents to our Harvest Festival service at St Catherine’s Gosfield on Friday 18 October. Because we know this event will be very well attended, we have taken the opportunity to allow more families to join us by running two services: 

Service one will be led by Reception, Year 1, 2 and 3 and this will commence at 11am. The children will be transported to and from the church by school minibus. They will leave school in time to arrive at the church by 10.30 and return to school in time for their lunch. 

Service two will be led by Years 4, 5 and 6 and this will commence at 2.15pm. The children will be transported to and from the church by school minibus. They will leave the school after lunchtime and will arrive back to school before the end of the school day. If you do attend this service, there will be the option of collecting your child at the end of the event. Please indicate via the ParentMail form if you would like to do this so we can ensure the safe collection of the children. If we do not have prior permission, your child will need to return to school and be collected as normal. 

If your child has been selected to be a reader, they will be leaving school at 9am in order to rehearse. They will also attend both services but will return to school for their lunch. 

In order to prepare and settle the children, we would ask that you do not arrive earlier than 30 minutes before the service time. 

As part of the celebration we would like to make a donation of tinned, dried and long-life foods to The Halstead Food Bank who will distribute the food to local families in need of assistance. All donations will be gratefully received and should be handed to your child’s class teacher on Wednesday 16 October. Please find below a list of suggested, suitable items. 

Breakfast cereal                        Fruit (Tinned)                         Dried Rice 

Sugar                                        Meat (Tinned)                         Pasta Sauce 

Long Life Milk                           Tomatoes (Tinned)                  Tea Bags 

Long Life Juice                         Baked Beans (Tinned)            Jam 

Spaghetti (Tinned)                    Rice Pudding (Tinned)            Biscuits 

Vegetables (Tinned)                  Dried Pasta                            Tuna (Tinned) 

Cup a Soup                               Soup                                      Coffee 

We hope that many of you will join us in in this celebration at the end of our first half term. 


PTA Meeting   

The PTA will be holding its AGM on Monday 14 October at 7.30pm at the school. At this meeting all those currently serving as chairman, secretary and treasurer will stand down and candidates can volunteer to take on these roles and a new committee will be formed. This meeting is also for those who just want to find out what the PTA does or to get involved as much or as little as suits. The PTA support the school and raise funds in lots of different ways so there are a wide variety of ways to help them to help our school. 


Unattended Cars in the Car Park

We have had a concern raised by a parent about cars being left in the main car park unattended but with the engine running. This has been pointed out to be concerning for a number of reasons; environmentally, in terms of air quality for young children, and because it may lead to an accident. A lot of children walk through the car park and should a child enter an idling car and somehow manage unwittingly to knock it into gear, the results could be catastrophic. 

Additionally, leaving an idling car unattended is a breach of The Highway Code, which states that 'You must not leave a parked vehicle unattended with the engine running or leave a vehicle engine running unnecessarily while that vehicle is stationary on a public road. … However it is permissible to leave the engine running if the vehicle is stationary in traffic or for diagnosing faults.' 

Therefore, please can we respectfully ask parents not to do this. Thank you in advance. 


Sports News

Well done to all the girls who took part in the U11 hockey match against St Margaret's on Wednesday. For many of the girls it was their first experience of playing a competitive game. Although the results did not go our way the girls should be congratulated on their perseverance and determination.  

At the end of each game after the 'three cheers' the team vote for their player of the match. I am delighted to inform you that Rachel from Year 5 took the accolade for her fantastic performance in goal, and in the other game Nancy from Year 6 for her superb work ethic on the pitch. 


Impressive Achievements 
 

Luke from Year 7 has been selected for The Essex Hockey Academy Training Centre. He will be attending their monthly weekend training sessions. Well done, Luke! 

We are also delighted to inform you that James from Year 11 will be representing Gosfield at the Essex Schools Golf Championships next Monday 14 October. We look forward to reporting back to you on this. 


Queries 
 

Reminder that all queries in the first instance should go to form tutors. Email addresses can be obtained through the school office.  


ParentMail Payments 
 
All trips are to be paid for on ParentMail, by clicking on ‘Payments’ and then ‘Shop’. When booking Breakfast or Late Club you will need to click on ‘Payments’ and then ‘Accounts’. 


Absences  
 

A reminder that all absences must be reported to absence@gosfieldschool.org.uk before 8:30am. 


Culinary corner 
 

This week Year 3 were tasting fruits and Year 5 made cheese scones. Year 7MFH made fruit salad and 8MAS tackled samosas. Year 10 GCSE group continued their work on vitamins and minerals making a variety of different salads rich in these nutrients. 

Next week (also on SMHW) 
7CLS chickpea and mushroom curry 
8LWS chicken chow mein 
9PB & HC sweet & sour pork 


Star of the Week 

We would like to apologise for last week's error, Leo Treddinick in Nursery was awarded Star of the Week.   

Year 

Star 

Reason 

Nursery 

Noah 
Karsai-Berman 

For setting a great example to his peers by sitting beautifully at the lunch table. 

Reception 

Arabella Cummings  

For a fantastic first week in Reception and developed confidence.  

Henry Butler 

For improved concentration in class. 

Eloise Marshall 

Producing beautifully neat work.   

Niall 
Goodlad         

For beautiful expressive reading.   

Amy  Whitwood 

For excellent Maths work. 

Rachel 
Ihonor 

For a great week in school –achieving her pen licence and being a fantastic goalie in the hockey match, well done.  

John Bowen 

Working hard to develop his character in our class assembly and for showing initiative with his performance. 

Mr Davies’ Star of the Week 

William Kane

For his consistent positive and polite attitude and work ethic both in and out of the classroom. 


Dates for your Diary 

Monday 14 October 

Reception Parents Forest School Visit  

U9 Netball vs St Marys Colchester (away) 

PTA Meeting in School Library 7.30pm 

Tuesday 15 October 

U15 Hockey Fixture vs Helena Romanes School (away)  

Parents’ Evening 5.15pm to 8.15pm 

Wednesday 16 October 

Year 6 Prep Assembly  

ISA Prep Swimming Gala  

Year 4 Parents Forest School Visit 

Autumn Fest 

Thursday 17 October 

Year 6 Trip to Horniman Museum  

Reception to Year 2 Swimming Lessons 

U13 Girls Hockey vs Helena Romanes School (away) 

Friday 18 October  

Harvest Festival 


Important Dates  

I’d like to take this opportunity to remind all parents that we have an Inset Day on Monday 4 November, so the first day back after half term for pupils will be Tuesday 5 November. Please remember not to bring any pupils into School on that Monday! 


Also, in that first week back we have our Year 11 Parents’ Evening, and Sixth Form Open Evening at School on the evening of Tuesday 5 November, so very early on after our return. Please do put the date into your diary if you are a Year 11 parent, and also if you are a Year 10 parent as this event will be open for Year 10s too as an early introduction to the possibilities of Sixth Form life. 

And a reminder to everyone, next week is a Week 1 on our two-week timetable. Good luck to everyone with all their endeavours. As ever, my door is always open if you would like to book an appointment in advance via Mrs Bowles.      

Yours   

  

  

  

Guy Martyn  

PRINCIPAL | GOSFIELD SCHOOL 

 

 

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Gosfield School, Cut Hedge Park, Halstead Road
Gosfield, Halstead, Essex, CO9 1PF

Telephone: + 44 (0)1787 474040
Email: registrar@gosfieldschool.org.uk

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