We had some fantastic events this week to close the first half of term. Matilda the Mini Musical was a triumph with great songs belted out by a very fine cast made up entirely of Prep School pupils. Superbly drilled by Mr Robb and Mrs Martyn, this group treated us to the best of the very popular musical with songs written by Tim Minchin. Yes, they were a little bit naughty, there was an awful lot of chocolate cake eaten and at times they were truly revolting children but they had the audience laughing and applauding in time come the end of the show. Fabulous performances all round and everyone involved, both cast and crew, should feel very proud and hungry for the next show, as well as the next performance event which will come with Summer Fest, as mentioned further in the newsletter below. My great thanks to all those who made this possible, including parents as well as Mr Robb, Mrs Martyn and Mr Daniels.
It was then my great privilege to move from the first night of Matilda to the thrilling late night finale of the 1st XI winning the tightest game imaginable against a talented North District side. You can read Mr Stephen’s match report below which captures the excitement, never say die attitude and camaraderie of this developing young team.
Great performances, great spirit and great tenacity shown by all our performers on this particular night – a wonderful advert for all Gosfield is about and all we want to achieve. I know that our cricketers and our actors left School that evening somewhat taller, somewhat more confident and ready to relish the next challenge coming their way – a great way to cap this half term and welcome the break to come. I wish everyone a very relaxing half term break, and all those preparing for exams the very best as they continue their studies towards hard earned success.
End of Term Events
A reminder to keep your calendar free for all the many exciting events we have at the end of this term, including:
- Summer Fest Thursday 13 June
- Year 11 and Sixth Form Leavers’ Assembly Friday 14 June
- Our 90th Birthday celebrations Friday 21 June
- Sports Day Wednesday 26 June
- Activities Week 1-5 July
- Speech Day Tuesday 9 July
There will be more information about all of these events in due course.
News from Prep School
Mrs McCann writes: Many of the children in the Prep school have been doing a lot of thinking about nature and our environment this week. In Forest school, Mr Davies had discovered that some White Tailed Honey Bees had nested in a rabbit hole (which might explain the 'bunny' that keeps popping into the Meadow Court playground!) and used this as a wonderful
learning opportunity for the children. The children learnt that bees are very sensitive to noise, so they had to be very quiet to be able to look at them. They found out all about worker bees and how important their job is.
In Year 3, pupils have been learning about our environmental issues and have been independently researching causes that they feel passionate about. This week the pupils have posted letters to a variety of different charities, companies or individuals to either thank them for their work in this area or urging them to do more! Look out Mr Gove, Braintree Council, Cadburys, World Wildlife Fund, Born Free Foundation , and others, for your letter next week!
And also…
On Thursday 23 May, Miss Wiggins took Fareeda, Freddie, Elliot and me to Littlegarth School to take part in a Mathematical Problem Solving Challenge. There were 8 rounds of exhausting problems! We worked hard as a team, and at the end of the day, Gosfield came a very respectable 6th Place.
By Tanaka Mutswunguma
Exam Week for Year 7-9
Good luck to all our Year 7, 8 and 9 students who will be taking their end of year exams in our first week back after half term. We have been preparing them for these important tests throughout this term in lessons and in PSHE, looking at revision strategies, how to construct a revision timetable and which areas of the curriculum to revise so that they are well prepared.
Of course, there’s more to life than exams, but these are an important opportunity for our students to show how much they’ve learned and also which areas will be best for them to develop as they continue to learn with us. We encourage all students to work well so they can show us their best in the exams. Advice for parents has already been sent home in a letter about the exams, including our recommendation regarding how much revision should be undertaken during the half term holiday. Of course, there is plenty of support available from tutors and other school staff should students and parents need it, please do contact the School in the normal way if you would like further information about this. We wish all those taking exams the very best for the week itself, and during the revision period leading up to it.
Work Experience Year 10
We also wish the very best to all our Year 10 students who will undertake their work experience week directly after half term, having completed their exams prior to the break. This is a fantastic opportunity for all these students to experience over an extended period what the workplace expects of them, providing insights into what they might wish to undertake as their own preferred career – even if the experience of this week demonstrates how they don’t want it to be in their work experience placement.
All students benefit from the added motivation that a vision of their future provides. GCSE and A Level exams mean so much more if there’s a good reason to study hard for them, and get the grades one needs to enter the world of work one wants. It’s always good to have a dream, to have something to aspire to, and work experience will always help to make that a reality. Our thanks go to Mrs Flynn-Haddon for helping to organise many of the placements and the entire week itself.
New Pupil Visits
At this time of year I have the great pleasure of visiting our incoming Year 7 students at their current Primary Schools. These visits are designed to allay any nervousness our new students may have about coming to Gosfield prior to their New Pupil Day, which will take place on Tuesday 18 June.
However, they also provide me with a wonderful opportunity to meet our new students in their own familiar environment and hear from them about what they like and dislike, and how proud they are of their current Schools. All these pupils are looking forward to a rich array of farewell events, including residential trips, plays, concerts and leavers’ assemblies. Just like our own Year 6s they have mixed emotions as they wave farewell to being a Primary pupil for ever, but are excited and impatient for the next stage in their school career to start.
Half Term Revision
Our GCSE and A Level students have had a very positive start to their examinations so far this term, with a lot of quiet confidence and optimism regarding how the exams have gone so far. We wish to maintain this positive momentum, so I am very grateful to all those students and members of staff who will be coming into School this half term for further revision sessions prior to the final few weeks of exams which take place after the break.
Summer Fest – 13 June
Following on from the recent very successful performance of Matilda, we have Summer Fest a relaxed performance for our talented musicians, dancers and actors. This will be an opportunity for children all through the school to share their work with you.
Summer Fest will take place on 13 June from 5 until 6pm for Prep performers and 6 until 7pm for Seniors in the Dining Hall.
Watch out for more information, we look forward to seeing you there!
The Sound of Music
Year 10 student Gabriela, as part of the Braintree Musical Society, was a cast member in the recent production of The Sound of Music. The society put on four performances which ran at the Braintree Arts Centre from 16 to 18 May. Gabriela had the role of Liesl, the eldest daughter of Capitan Von Trapp. The audience really enjoyed the show and the adjudicator from NODA (National Operatic and Dramatic Association) filed a very positive report that said the seven children in the family Von Trapp ‘were an absolute delight to watch’ in this ‘very polished production from a very talented group’. Congratulations Gabriela!
Sports Round Up
1st xi v North Essex U15 - WON
Batting first Gosfield posted 84 in 19 overs with Shaamil top scoring with 46. A jubilant 1st XI went into the field determined to defend the low score. It took a few overs to make the break through, but when it came the team were ruthless in their wicket taking!
Some great ground fielding, catching, bowling and all round team performance kept our side in it til the end, wanting 4 to win with 2 wickets in hand the North Essex side looked to have victory in their hands but both Lucy and Bella had other ideas!
Lucy took a wicket on her last ball of her spell and with 1 run to play with Bella bowled an amazing delivery to take the top of off stump and bring home the first victory of the season for our first team!
With a never say die attitude and a truly great team performance our 1st xi played some brilliant cricket in front of an excited crowd of parents and onlookers. The North Essex side were made up of some great calibre cricketers but our team raised their game and out performed them in all areas.
A great game to remember for the young cricketers involved! Well done everyone - the hard work and long hours training in the winter months paid off for results like this one!
U9 Cricket at Framlingham College Prep School
The U9 Cricket team played their first game of the season at the Framlingham College Prep School on Wednesday 22 May. Lucas, captaining the side, lost the coin toss and Gosfield were put into bat. Lucas and Oscar took to the pitch first and set Gosfield off to a good start scoring around 10 runs off 2 overs which included a great 4 from Oscar. Next in to bat were the girls combination of Miley and Emily, who despite being a little nervous managed to hit the ball beautifully and add to the run tally. Adam and Harvey were next up; Harvey struck the ball all over the field and scored plenty of runs and both boys showed great communication skills when running between the wickets. Izzy and Amy were pleased with their total and coped very well under the pressure of a good bowler. Our final pair of Dhian and Calvin ended the innings with some excellent batting and picked up around 8 runs.
Lucas showed great captaincy by sorting the team into their fielding positions as Framlingham came in to bat. Everyone had a go at bowling and wicket keeping with Amy taking the only wicket of the innings with a well placed delivery. Gosfield were alert in the field and managed to return the ball quickly to the wicket to stop Framlingham from building a big score.
The final result saw Gosfield win by just three runs!
Gosfield 364 Framlingham College Prep School 'C' 361
Well done to all the team! A super effort in your first match.
ISA Athletics Report
ISA Athletics Report On Thursday we took a squad of 35 athletes to compete in the ISA Regional Championships in Cambridge. The sun was shining and there was a great friendly but competitive atmosphere in the stadium. The standard was extremely high with impressive performances being seen in every event.
Gosfield students were up in the mix with numerous medals being won and personal best scores across the board. On the track Joe won bronze in Year 7 boys 100m, Ella silver in Year 7 girls 800m, Evie bronze in the Year 7 girls 1500m and Alex silver in the Junior boys 1500m.
In the Year 7 boys’ field events Joe won a second bronze in the long jump, Heston won silver and bronze medals in the Discus and Shot and Harry won bronze in the high jump. In the Junior boys field events Will won silver in the javelin, Griff won silver in the high jump, Will won silver in the discus and Freddie bronze in the long jump.
In the girls’ field events Annie won silver in the junior girls long jump with a huge PB and Grace won Gold in the Shot for the second year in a row in the Inter girls event.
Well done to all those who took part but special congratulations to Grace and Ella who qualify for the National Finals in June.
Year 9 Ollie - U14 Football League Division 1 Winner
On Wednesday night this week, Year 9 Ollie played in the final League game of the U14 Blackwater & Dengie League with his team, Rayne Eagles
They played away at Writtle Whites in a League title deciding game. Rayne had to win the game to win the League, a draw or loss would hand the League to Writtle.
Writtle were clearly playing to avenge their recent Cup Final loss, as reported last week in this newsletter, and started strongly. The first half was hard fought, with both teams restricted to long range speculative efforts only, with neither troubling the opponent’s keeper. The first half finished 0-0.
The second half continued in the same vein but with 10 minutes left an audacious shot from just inside the corner flag from the Rayne winger sailed over Writtle’s keeper and curled in just under the crossbar and inside the post to make it 1-0 to Rayne.
It was a goal worthy of winning any match, however Writtle threw everything at Rayne to get the equaliser and with it the league title winning goal, but Rayne held on to win 1-0, and become League Division 1 winners.
The team celebrate the League & Cup Double in style!
Victory for Mr Hume and Year 11 Sam
In further football tales of success, our very own Mr Hume, manager of Halstead Town Under 16s, along with his son Sam won 5-1 against Wivenhoe Tempest to win the Colchester and District Youth League Cup. Sam contributed by scoring a goal during the tie. Well done Mr Hume and Sam!
Mrs Allwoods’ Culinary Corner
This week was a week of cakes! 7MFH made delicious ( and BIG) carrot cakes, 8MWT finally got to make their cheesecakes, Annie Schofield’s picture below, and 9CAR made Pineapple upside down cakes which were a huge hit.
Next week (also on SMHW):
7NAJ Carrot cake
8MAS Chicken Parmigiana
9DAJ Pineapple upside down cake (20cm baking tin with sealed bottom)
Star of the Week
Year
Star
Reason
Nursery
Junior Waterfall
For settling in so well and making lots of new friends.
Reception
Anthony Fellows
For great reading and writing in Read Write Inc
1
Betty Sakal
Imaginary story writing and great care taken over the presentation
2
Whole class
For fantastic team work and camaraderie this week.
3
Amy Whitwood
For writing a marvellous mystery story and reading it out to the class brilliantly.
4
Miley Cummings
For writing her Tudor sailor’s diary with great enthusiasm.
5
Noah Jones
For being a superstar helper at Creative Art club with Miss Wiggins on Wednesday and approaching school with a beaming smile all week, even through the assessments!
6
Bella Gregory
For her dedication, commitment and performance as Matilda whilst maintaining a great attitude and work ethic in class.
Mr Davies’ Star of the Week
William Stapleton
For marvellous mud making!
Diary Dates
Monday 3 June
Yr 5-7 Cricket Scholars only v North District @ home
Tuesday 4 June
Years 7 - 9 Cricket vs Finborough @ home
Wednesday 5 June
U11 Soft and Hardball Cricket A-HB T20 B-SB Pairs vs CHS @ home
Y7-9 Cricket vs CRGS 2.15pm T20 5pm finish @ Gosfield CC
Thursday 6 June
Yr7/8 boys cricket vs Helena Romanes @ home
Friday 7 June
D of E Bronze practice to 8 June
ISA Junior Athletics
And a reminder to everyone, the first week back after half term is a Week 1 on our two-week timetable, but of course is exam week for Years 7-9 and Work Experience for Year 10. Good luck to everyone with all their endeavours during half term and our first week back. As ever, my door is always open if you would like to book an appointment in advance via Mrs Bowles.
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