Dear Parents
The last fortnight has been incredibly rewarding but also a challenging time for us as a school.
The various Remembrance services – both internal and with guests gathering in Ash Court – have been a tremendous reminder of our heritage and a lovely opportunity for performance and communal gathering. Success on the rugby and hockey fields – including national championships; regional representative games for the Saltires; local tournaments and matches (both midweek and over the weekend) – has been a tremendous boost to morale. Fund raising initiatives in the Pre Prep are starting to make a contribution to our new School charities….and our older children are preparing for their mock examinations which will take place next week. And to top it all, we’ve had invasions from Romans, Vikings and dinosaurs.
The last week has seen us experience a larger number of COVID cases than we’ve had before and this has stretched us all as we try to manage the needs of individuals while still keeping group activities going. I’m extremely grateful to my colleagues who have tried to be flexible to meet the many different needs. For those who have their children at home, please do stay in touch with your child’s form teacher and we will do our best to make sure that we are keeping your children busy (while being sensitive to the fact that every family’s situation will be slightly different).
I will be writing separately to parents to reflect on the current COVID outbreak but also to propose our plans for Christmas celebrations. While we will keep a close eye on levels of the virus and changing government guidance, it is important that the children are able to enjoy the traditions and fun of a Prep School at Christmas and we will be creating plans that might allow parents to be part of some of this.
Take care and, as ever, thank you your support through both the uplifting and the more challenging news!
As always, you can keep up to date with things here at Cargilfield by following our various social media channels which are constantly updated; the links to these are at the bottom of this newsletter. Our news page on the website is updated daily and can be accessed here.
Rob Taylor
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New School Film
As you will be aware, we had a film crew in earlier in the term to produce a professional film of the school and we are delighted to share it with you today. We hope if gives a flavour of what goes on at Cargilfield and please do forward the link on to any friends you have who might be thinking of a Cargilfield education for their children.
Watch it here.
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U11 Girls reach National Finals
Many congratulations to the U11 Girls who have reached the IAPS National Hockey Finals to be played at Millfield School later in November. At the qualifiers at Fettes, they played some terrific hockey, beating everyone in their group, and after winning their semi final they beat St Mary's Melrose in the Final. A terrific achievement, girls!
Read more here.
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Remembrance Service
We came together in Chapel as a whole school for the first time since March 2020 as we held our annual Service of Remembrance to remember the 190 old boys who died in both World Wars. We were honoured to welcome General Alastair Bruce, Governor of Edinburgh Castle, to preach and it was lovely to hear the choir and congregation in fine voice too, before the Pipe Band brought the Service to an end.
Read more here.
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The Pre Prep Remembers
Remembrance in the Nursery and Pre Prep was held outdoors in the sunshine on Armistice Day. The P1, 2 and 3 children had all created beautiful wreaths and P3 read their ‘Remember’ class poem. Everyone gladly and respectfully held a minute silence whilst the sun was shining down.
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P1 Toy Sale
On Thursday P1 held a pre-loved toy sale to raise money for Riding for the Disabled. They chose a fabulous selection of toys for their shops, devised their own selling techniques and collected the cash from the children from the Nursery, P2 and P3. They raised £234, which we will send on to support our charity. Thank you to everyone who donated toys and gave children money to spend at the sale.
Read more here.
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Outdoor Nursery fun!
Another exciting week of outdoor learning in the nursery. The children have been making good use of some of our new outdoor learning resources; wheelbarrows, trolleys, bikes and a hammock between the trees. A fabulous time in the autumn sunshine has been had by all!
Read more here.
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U13 Girls at IAPS Hockey Finals
Well done to the Under 13 girls who played at the IAPS Hockey Finals at Cheltenham College this week. While they finished 3rd in the Bowl competition, they were very much in the thick of it having put up a great show against some of the top performing teams in England. Cargilfield were once again Scotland's only representative at this National competition and conformed our position as one of the top prep schools for hockey.
Read more here.
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STEM Club
A group of girls and boys have enjoyed taking part in the new STEM club which has allowed them to do a number of experiments and investigations in Science at break times. This week, they tried to make reusable hand warmers!
Read more here.
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P3 Roman Day
Salve on Roman Day. P3 started with a parade of costumes, and here were all sorts of gladiators, gods, goddesses, Roman citizens and legionaries. The first activity was chariot racing round the Circus Maximus! The horses and charioteers were timed to complete seven laps with the help of our gold dolphin point keepers keeping count. P3 then had a Roman 'build off' judged by Mrs Taylor who enjoyed seeing their well designed Roman architecture. This was followed by a large banquet of Roman food and the drank from their well designed Lycurgus cups!
Read more here.
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Mini Concert
Well done to all those who performed in this week's lovely mini concert, both beginners and more experienced musicians, and thank you, as always to our talented team of teachers. We hope you enjoy it!
Watch it here.
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Coached sport everyday
Children at Cargilfield have coached sport everyday. We do enjoy considerable success but more importantly, children learn the values of sport and the benefits it can bring in to their other work at school. We take part in regional and national competitions and regularly play schools from England to have more competition and to make new friends, such an important aspect of playing sport.
Read more here.
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Guy Fawkes in Nursery
The pre-school children have been learning about Guy Fawkes and why we celebrate bonfire night. The children have created the most wonderful fireworks pictures and we even managed to have our very own bonfire in the nursery garden on Friday afternoon.
Read more here.
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Winners of Ardvreck 7's
Many congratulations to the 1stVII who won the 25th Ardvreck Sevens on Sunday. They played some terrific rugby throughout the day and won a very exciting final against Belhaven by scoring in the last play! Thank you to all at Ardvreck for hosting a wonderful day of schoolboy rugby.
Read more here.
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Diwali in the Nursery
The Nursery children have been learning all about the Hindu and Sikh festival of Diwali. We have been creating all sorts of wonderful rangoli patterns, decorating our hand with henna patterns, dressing up in bright clothes and talking about the story of 'Rama and Sita' and why people, when celebrating Diwali, use lights to celebrate.
Read more here.
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Cramond Tree Planting
Sylvan, Judith and the Headmaster joined the whole of P4 from Cramond Primary and members of the congregation of Cramond Kirk to help plant a lovely new oak tree and unveil a plaque to accompany it. The tree will mark a place of remembrance for those in Cramond who have lost a loved one from COVID-19 and was one of the suggestions that came from the Imagine Cramond Project in which we all took part.
Read more here.
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Tatler Schools' Guide 2022
Once again, we are delighted to appear in this year’s Tatler Schools’ Guide which features the very best Senior and Prep Schools in the UK.
Find out what is different and so special about a Cargilfield education by coming to our Open Morning on Friday 1st October. Register by clicking on the link.
https://www.cargilfield.com/open-morning
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Calling all Former Pupils!
We are always keen to reconnect with former pupils and parents. We are beginning to plan a number of exciting events as we look forward to Cargilfield's 150th anniversary in 2023; we hope that our former pupils will take a central part in the celebrations of this important milestone in the school's history.
Please do pass this Newsletter on to any former pupils or parents; we would love to get back in touch and keep you updated as to our plans for 2023 and #Cargilfield150.
Click here to add contact details.
Click here to read the latest news from our former pupils.
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The Week Ahead
Monday 22nd
School Exams start for Forms 6, 7 and 8
Nursery, P1-3 PT Meetings (all week)
Wednesday 24th
Matches - see iSAMS Parent App for details
Pre Prep Book Fair
Thursday 25th
1400 1st, 2nd and 3rdXV v Aysgarth (h)
Friday 26th
Pre Prep Ceilidh
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