Dear Parents,
This week I held my half-termly meeting with the class reps from the Lower and Middle School to discuss their views and opinions on school operations, answer any questions they have and share some of the new ideas that my team and I are proposing. I find the feedback from these meetings and parents’ ideas very useful in moving the school forward, and in assessing the impact of some of the changes we have already introduced - what is working well and what we can improve on. I would like to thank all the class reps, and in particular the lead reps, for each of the three phases who chair the meetings.
If you’ve seen Mr Le Tissier hobbling around school this week, it is because he completed the Pilgrims Way ultra-marathon on Saturday. A gruelling 33-mile off-road race in the North Downs. He is raising money for Cancer Research, and if you would like to sponsor him, please do visit his fundraising site here.
As we approach the half-term break, parents will begin to receive senior school offers. I will be available over half-term should any parent wish to discuss this with me.
With best wishes,
James Stenning
@NBHPrepHead
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Click here to see the full school calendar on Firefly.
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ALL YEARS
Pobble
We are currently experiencing some technical difficulties with the writing platform Pobble. Whilst this is frustrating for many of you, we would like to thank you for your patience during this time. We appreciate that you may have experienced difficulties signing in or viewing your child’s work. The team at Pobble are currently working on the problem and will let us know as soon as it has been rectified.
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YEAR 4
London Transport Museum trip
Please see the trip letter here for details of Year 4's visit to the London Transport Museum happening on 13 March (4BB and 4T) and 20 March (4Pol, 4Fos, 4Pow and 4Mal).
Iron Man Recycling
Thank you for sending in all the recycling so far. We will be making the Iron Man models this week, so please send in any other recycling you have at home e.g. cardboard boxes, egg cartons.
Half Term Project Homework
Please note that the deadline for the Half Term project homework is this Monday 10 February. The children will be sharing their projects with their classmates throughout the week. We look forward to seeing the finished projects!
YEAR 5
Trip to Tate Modern
As part of the Year 5 Art curriculum, the students are destined to visit the Tate Modern on Wednesday 26 February. Please see the trip letter here for more information.
YEAR 6
Information Evening: Year 7 and 8 for current Year 6 parents
For those parents interested in the Year 7 and 8 (Upper School) programme at North Bridge House, Nicola Swales (Head of Upper School) will be presenting on the curriculum and life in the Upper School on Tuesday 25 February at 6pm in the drama studio.
Hollywood Bowl Trip
Please see here the information letter regarding the Year 6 trip to Hollywood Bowl, Finchley, taking place on 14 February.
YEAR 8
Common Entrance Exams Survey
Please could Year 8 parents complete this survey regarding the period of time after the Common Entrance exams (8-10 June 2020).
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Arts Council Trip to Tower Bridge and the Unicorn Theatre
On Thursday the Arts Council (students from year 4-8) were out and about in our wonderful city. Travelling from Camden to London Bridge, we started by sketching Tower Bridge from the southern side of the river. The Arts Council are some of the most talented artists at the school and both myself and Mr Grahame were blown away by the skill and speed of the students work.
After some lunch, we walked a short distance to the Unicorn Theatre to see ‘The Bee in Me,’ a story which was skillfully told by three actors. Inspiring and ultimately uplifting, the students enjoyed the show and during a brief post performance discussion, discussed its purpose.
Felix, a Year 8 council member said of the day: ‘ As the first Arts Council trip, it was fun to be able to firstly spend some time in our city and then see a professional theatre performance.’ Avishag, an arts council member from Year 5 said: ‘It was an inspiring experience and was made more enjoyable as we spent time with other council members, who are interested in the arts and who you otherwise would not always get to talk to.
We look forward to further Arts Council trips.
Mr White and Mr Columb.
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School Discos
Last Friday, Years 3 and 4 enjoyed a fantastic 80s themed disco. There was lots of dancing, smiling and brilliant outfits. A big thank you to all the parent helpers for organising and running the event.
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School of Rock
Year 3, 4 and 5 students can enter a poster competition at school to design the front cover of the programme. Please put entries in box in reception.
Rehearsals continued well this week. Any questions please email Simon.white@northbridgehouse.com or Helen.Greenham@northbridgehouse.com.
Rock on!
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5 Sassery- collected the most merits this week
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Congratulations to our Stars of the Week:
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Year 3
- 3Colledge: Elliott S
- 3May: Misha K
- 3Truesdale: Thomas K
- 3Gomez: Freddie E
- 3Purcell: Andrew Y
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Pobble writer of the week
- 3Colledge: Faris KR
- 3May: Jack C
- 3Truesdale: Ziad F
- 3Gomez: Leyle LB
- 3Purcell: Max B
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Year 4
- 4Polglaze: Guy H
- 4Foster: William O
- 4Barrett-Brown: Benjamin Y
- 4Malone: Mark K-K
- 4Truasheim: Cassidy C
- 4Power: Anna L-B
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Pobble writer of the week
- 4Polglaze: Jake P & Noah D
- 4Foster: Emily R & Ted G
- 4Barrett-Brown: Florence R, Elliot K & Yoav L
- 4Malone: Tara T & Jacob T
- 4Truasheim: Nico G & Gaia B-A
- 4Power: Margot M & Florence V-G
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Year 5
Chosen by form tutors
- 5 Purchase: Gigi S-F
- 5 Soni: Aiden UW
- 5 Sassery: Lionel J-U
- 5 Lianou: Alex E
- 5 Delaney: Yair B
- 5 Knibbs: Nandi S
Merit achievements
Most merits (individual): Mila J, 5 Sassery
Most merits (collectively as a class): 5 Sassery
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Eco Warriors – Sustainable Thinking
Carrying on the great work that Ms Symmons started, Dr Purchase has taken over our hard-working Eco Warriors this term and the group now meet every Monday morning.
In addition to last term’s “Plant a tree” fundraiser, the Eco Warriors initiated the “Pick it up, clean it up” campaign during park breaks, which has become an ongoing initiative.
We also have some members of the team focusing on “Sustainable Stationary” and they have been gathering information to share with the school community to try and help us purchase stationary that uses less (or no) plastic. Chris, leader of this group, explains:
Nowadays most stationary is made from plastic that easily breaks soon after it is bought. Plastic is a huge problem as it pollutes the seas and deadly toxins are released in production. In the Pacific Ocean there is a garbage patch that is 1.6 million square kilometres. Luckily there are some really interesting sustainable alternatives to plastic stationary, such as recycled refillable highlighters with plant-based ink, or a recycled pencil that has a capsule where the rubber usually is and contains a seed you can plant! There is even a pencil case that is made from car tyres.
The group have shared their findings on a poster up in the foyer (pictured above), which also identifies numerous sites that sell sustainable stationary; please do consider what type of stationary to buy when next re-stocking your child’s pencil case. Thank you!
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School Council - Good Deed Challenge
Our school council have decided to launch a 'Good Deed' initiative, which will be shared in each newsletter. They are delighted to share this weeks 'Good Deed' Challenge:
Help out at home!
The school council is challenging everyone to help out at home a little more than usual this week. Do some dishes, tidy their room, clean the car or walk the dog! Please let us know if you have any particularly helpful children over the next week.
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Games & Fixtures
Boys
Year 4
The Year 4 cohort took on The Hall this week in what was for most of them their first contact fixture. The boys put in an outstanding effort against some very strong Hall teams. It was impressive to see real effort from start to finish. Each of our boys learnt a lot and by the end of the fixture it was great to see real improvement in how we played the game. We began to play with structure and a great deal of skill. A special mention must go to Connor P and Tommy F for never giving up throughout the match and for making some very good tackles.
Year 5
Our Year 5 rugby boys took on St Anthony’s this week in an away fixture and came away with a hard-fought win after an impressive team display. Max G was able to nab two individual tries while Bede O used great strength and power to also crash over for a try. A special mention must also go to Lewis H for some excellent clean out work at the rucks.
Girls
Year 5 had their first fixture against Chepstow House on Thursday afternoon. They played with confidence and it was great to see the skills we've learned over the last few weeks demonstrated in a match. Great job to all the girls for putting 110% effort into their fixture. A special mention must go to Victoria C had an outstanding match, always pushing the ball forward down the pitch and moving into space.
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Concussion – return to play protocol
If your son or daughter picks up an injury or ailment that may affect their ability to participate in physical activity, please email Mr Branch (richard.branch@northbridgehouse.com) to ensure the PE Department are aware. This is particularly important in regards to head injuries. It is vital that their return to play is carefully managed to avoid the possibility of secondary concussion.
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Sports Personalities Of The Week
Daisy H - For being an all-round great sports person with excellent hockey skills.
Aria A - For countless powerful runs through St Anthony's defence, resulting in serious metres gained towards our try line.
Max F - For scoring two electric tries against St Anthony's and helping set up for a victory.
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Mr Le Tissier's Ultra Run
A HUGE thank you for the support and donations. The thought of the money being raised helped propel him across the North Downs Way. He was not familiar with 'Box Hill' until 20 miles into the run and now never wants to see those steps again! He managed to raise over £900 for Cancer Research - thank you once again.
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Lockers
All lockers for Years 5-8 have now been re-assigned so that they are now located closer to children’s classrooms and are more easily accessible.
Additionally, there is a sign-up sheet for children to report any locker issues for our maintenance team to deal with, situated outside Miss Vivian’s and Miss Wood’s office on the middle corridor. Please encourage your child to record any issues on this sign-up sheet as they may not be aware of this system.
Finally, we ask that you remind your children that they are permitted to carry around a canvas bag or a folder with their relevant books and equipment for a few lessons in advance, rather than what they require for the whole day. This will help them ensure that they are not carrying too much around the school.
Many thanks for your support.
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You can now view previous newsletters here.
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