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The Acorn

Newsletter of Solefield School

Issue 184, 10th March 2023

STEM Week - Flight Themed

STEM Week this year has had the theme of ‘Flight’. After beginning the year building two Spitfires in honour of one our first Heads, the boys continued in the same manner with a whole week dedicated around Flight.

After an informative assembly, mainly based around an article written by Ben H in 6B, the week got underway in dramatic fashion with trips to Biggin Hill Airport for Years 7 and 8. It was an inspirational visit with the boys having the opportunity to see behind the scenes of a working airport: experiencing the luxury of the Jetex lounge, sitting in helicopters at Castle Air, seeing private jets being refitted at Bombardier and getting a guided tour of the Spitfires in the Heritage Hangar – a truly memorable experience for the boys (and for Mr Smeeth).

Meanwhile, back at school, Pre-Prep were busy making paper planes for the whole school competition under the guidance of the Year 8 boys and Year 5 flew Mr Coston’s drones in the playground. Click on the link below to find out more about the week's activities...

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SPA Music & Curry Evening Success!

Solefield Parents' Association (SPA) would like to extend an enormous thank you to all those who performed, organised, helped and hosted an exceptional Music & Curry Evening on Friday 3rd March.

The entire school community showed overwhelming support for the event, with tickets selling out and an incredible line up of exceptional performers. Staff and parents braved the stage to a packed hall for an evening filled with a genuine rollercoaster of emotions. Special thanks to Mr Fenning for organising the evening, Mr Coston for hosting, all the wonderful and hugely talented performers, our fantastic Parent Band and all the SPA volunteers for setting up, running the bar and clearing away on a very bleary-eyed Saturday morning!

SPA will use all proceeds to help Demir in Year 3 reach his fundraising target for survivors of the earthquake in Turkey.
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Mario Day - March 10

Our Solefield Food committee is an opportunity for boys to put forward ideas for lunches and themed meals. Henry in Year 7 suggested we celebrate 'World Mario Day'.

The boys had spaghetti meat balls and Mario cupcakes. A brilliant idea Henry!

Thank you to our wonderful catering team, Jane, Kadine and Amy.

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U11 Philps 7’s Rugby Tournament

Solefield’s annual U11 Philps 7’s Rugby Tournament saw boys from nine schools compete in two sections in yet another wonderful festival of rugby. This year Solefield were in the fortunate position to enter a B team into the Blue division for the first time, with these boys epitomising the values expected of a Solefield boy. It was a joy to see their determination, teamwork and spirit throughout the day and they certainly gained the respect of all the teams and spectators.

Solefield’s A team competed in the Red division and got off to a fantastic start against St Ronan’s, winning comfortably after a lightning start to the game. Their next fixture saw us take on a very competitive Hilden Grange side, but again ran out comfortable winners due to our physicality and some quick thinking from the kick off. In our next two games we would take on the two tournament favourites, New Beacon and Yardley Court.
Fortune was on Solefield’s side, with Solefield coming out winners in the Philps 7’s for the first time in the tournament's history. A very proud day for all involved!

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Reception & Year 1 Visit Leeds Castle

Year 1 and Reception had a lovely day at Leeds Castle. They took part in the retelling of ‘The Swan Princess’, had lunch with some hungry ducks, had a historical tour of the castle and of course, had lots of fun in the play area and maze.

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Year 2 Tower of London Trip

Year 2 had the best day at the Tower of London and visiting the Monument at Pudding Lane.

Click on the video below to watch their adventures.

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Catering Certificate of Excellence

This week our catering team had an unannounced inspection. The inspector was very thorough and scrutinised our systems and paperwork. Well done to wonderful catering team Jane, Kadine and Amy of Holroyd Howe. We not only passed, but were given a 'Certificate of Excellence' for the first time! Thanks also to Miss Crowley, our Finance & Premises Manager for all her work on our regular Health & Safety checks and visits.

Stay and Play

Today we had a very special visitor at our Stay & Play session. Children loved being able to gently stroke the first of our newly hatched ducklings in our Reception classroom. The children also enjoyed an engaging storytime as well as free play including duckling crafts and Lego construction. We welcome parents with pre-school children to our friendly and fun Stay & Play sessions, held on Fridays, 9.45-10.45 am.
Please share with other parents in the wider community and book your space via the link below.

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Suns Basketball Camp at Solefield

The Suns will be running another outdoor camp from 3rd April to Friday 7th April here at Solefield School. Solefield staff member and Suns coach, Mr Jankowski is running the camp. Places will be limited per session, so secure your spot by registering here.

Time and Age Groups:
9:45-11:00 - Reception to Year 2 - £10 per day
11:15-13:00 - Years 3 to 5 - £15 per day
13:15-15:00 - Years 6 to 8 - £15 per day

To register, click here.
More information on the camp is available on the Suns website here.

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Notable alumni journalist writes about time at Solefield

Tim Stanley, British historian and journalist for the Telegraph was a gap student at Solefield School during the 1990s. In a recent Daily Telegraph article, Tim writes about the, "sensitivity audit of Roald Dahl books, to make them more palatable...to snobs, bores and maiden aunts."

In the Daily Telegraph article, dated 19 February 2023, Tim refers to when he worked in a prep school, which of course is our very own Solefield School!

He writes, "Once upon a time, I worked in a prep school, and one of my happiest memories was book day. The other teachers read aloud from dusty classics, I chose "Little Red Rising hood" from the Revolting Rhymes. In this version of the fairy tale, when Red finds her grandma eaten by a wolf, "One eyelid flickers/She whips a pistol from her knickers" - and shoots the doggy dead. The boys howled with laughter; an air of mutiny englufed the classroom. My poor colleagues had to spend the rest of the week trying to persuade the boys not to say "knickers" in front of their parents - for the saucy, subversive genius of Dahl was that he wrote what kids think and adults don't want to hear."

The full article can be accessed on the Telegraph website here.
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SPA Diamond Ball

Established in 1948, Solefield School invites you to celebrate its 75th anniversary at the “Diamond Anniversary Ball” on Saturday 24th June 2023 from 7pm.

To commemorate the decade the school was founded, there will be a stunning marquee on the school playground, a jazz band with welcome drinks, a fabulous three course meal, hotly-contested auction, and a DJ until late on a full dance floor. Tickets are now on sale here with all proceeds to go towards the new wrapped minibus and further enriching life at Solefield or the boys.

February Half Term Holiday Camps

Our upcoming Easter Camp will be running for two weeks Monday 27th to Friday 31st March and Tuesday 11th to Friday 14th April. Bookings are now open on the link below!

Cost: Full day camps are £50 per day (9am-4pm). Half day camps are £25 (9am-12pm or 1-4pm). There is no extra charge for the lunch hour 12-1pm for those parents that opt to do two half day camps.