Newsletter - Summer Term, 27.06.17
After discovering new ways of working in school during Arts Week, this week finds Cottesmorians learning in a number of locations, both at home and abroad. Ranging from France to Sussex, Hampshire and Somerset, new experiences await!
The 4th form trip got off to a flying start on Sunday with a smooth Channel crossing to Caen. Their first full day was packed with fascinating learning experiences, including a trip to Bayeux with its famous tapestry, stunning Gothic cathedral and British war cemetery. The beaches at Arromanches were also on the day’s agenda. A quick visit to the hypermarket is always appreciated and in the evening there were plenty of games and activities on the beach, right outside their accommodation. There’s full and busy schedule ahead!
An extra-busy busy week for these two departments sees trips to Lullingstone Roman Villa, Hever Castle, Fishbourne Roman Villa, Portsmouth’s historic dockyard and Herstmonceux. We look forward to hearing all about these fantastic destinations.
‘Every great advance in science has issued from a new audacity of the imagination’: John Dewey, The Quest For Certainty (1929). With this firmly in mind, the 6th form and 1st forms have been designing standing catapults with lolly pop sticks and elastic bands utilising their knowledge of forces and motion. The aim was to get a solid structure that a rubber could be launched from and sent flying through the air with the furthest-travelled rubber the winner. Well done to Matt and Yang, who won for the seniors, with Julia and Frankie winning the junior competition.
Mr Walker says: “We were well and truly beaten by Copthorne on Wednesday. They had a strong chap who hit us for 152 in 60 balls, mainly over mid-wicket. Anything slightly short or over-pitched was dispatched, and with a relatively short boundary, there wasn’t much we could have done to prevent it.
We did, however, put him down on 11, which will probably count as one of the costliest drops in Prep school history! We were never likely to chase 205 to win in 20 overs, particularly when the same chap was able to bowl faster than I have ever seen at U13.
He took an ‘all-bowled’ hat-trick to see off Ollie, Pablo & Dima, having already seen to Sam. Ollie and Will batted well, as did Harry & Bertie, who had some good square time towards the end of the innings. Baron bowled a very good spell earlier in the day”.
Milestones from the match:
Ollie has passed 200 1st XI runs (218 @ 16.77)
Will P has passed 100 1st XI runs (101 @ 16.83)
Milestone Targets:
Matteo has 97 1st XI runs going into his final game for the team
Ollie has 28 1st XI wickets going into his final game for the team.
The boys started slowly at the Ashdown Sixes but got into their stride to comfortably beat the best side in the semi-final, St Christopher’s.
Unfortunately we had to chase a slightly bigger-than-hoped target in the final, and finished just short against St Ronan’s. All 8 boys played at least 3 games each in what was a great day out.
A very happy Mr A-B said: “The boys saved their best until last with a resounding victory. Batting first, we reached 100 in ten overs with a fine partnership between Yode and Gleb who smashed the ball to all parts, the foundation for a huge total. An electric fielding display snuffed out any resistance and nine bowlers shared the wickets. Well done on a season of solid development!”
1st team triangular v Windlesham and Dorset House
Mrs Watkin reports that this triangular was great fun and that all girls played stoically in the intense heat.
Our first team finished in second place overall, losing to Windlesham but beating Dorset House 12.5-5.5. Girls of the Game were awarded to Emma for batting and Isobel for fielding, then to Amber for batting and Lilia for fielding.
True to her usual form, Tallulah scored well and took some fine catches. Abby and Cece also displayed safe hands, adding to an afternoon of spectacular catching from our girls. The Cottesmore 3rd team (average age 11.5) lost to Windlesham U13 3rds 9.5 - 12.5, so very well done to them for achieving such a competitive score.
The girls were disappointed to lose to Windlesham, but scored a convincing win against Dorset House. Girls of the Game for the first match were Sophie for batting and Tara for fielding. In the second game awards went to Myriam for fielding and Clara A for batting.
“This was a great final match!” enthused Mrs Perry. “We batted first getting 11 ½ rounders with some great full rounders. The girls saw the weakness in the fielding side and took advantage. When it was time to bat there were some great outs on third by Jessy and strong team work from backstop Layla to second post, meaning Ashdown only scored 8 ½. Batting for second innings (with Ashdown having changed bowler) our girls scored 6. Ashdown came back and got 9 rounders leaving the final score a draw. Well done on a good session and a now having a solid skill base to work on next year”.
Girl of the Game was awarded to Rosie, with top scorer Gesi scoring 5 full rounders.
The junior Athletics squad travelled to Hurstpierpoint College recently for the biggest event to date, with 29 schools attending. Well done to the whole squad, with special mentions for the following pupils: Barnaby finished in 1st place in the U11 200m final, with a time of 31.75s and in 2nd place in the 800m final at 2.47.16. Gesi finished 3rd in the U11 70m Hurdles at 15.72. Sophia set a new record in the U11 Rounders Ball event, at 42.33 and finished 11th in the U11 High Jump at 1.05. William P finished 7th in the U10 Cricket Ball event at 32.08
There were some great results from this event:
Tallulah: 1st in shot put and through to Nationals with distance of 9.52 meters.
Ollie: made the finals in 75m hurdles and 2nd in javelin so through to the Nationals. He broke the open school javelin record with 33.61 meters.
Abigail: 3rd in 100m and through to the Nationals. She broke the open school record with 14.32 seconds.
Alfred: 7th in U14 200m heat
Will: 13th in U14 long jump
Clara: 8th in U13 300m and 8th in U13 800m
Jamie: 9th in U13 shot put
Cyprian: 4th in U12 100m heat
Gleb: 5th in U12 triple jump
Millie: 9th in U12 shot put
Mrs Perry reports that there was a great team atmosphere: “We set up a spot at K2 in the shade on the bank side. All athletes were so supportive of whoever was competing, being there on the finish line or at the side of the event, encouraging each other along. They all did their best and we got some good results. They were so proud to be representing Cottesmore and I was too for their sportsmanship, as well as leaving the tidiest plot — no litter in sight!”
With so much still ahead in the remaining days of this term, the Pre-Prep also have their eyes fixed on the future. Today is ‘Move Up’ day and each class will be meeting their new teacher, ready for September. We will be delighted to see Miss Evans, who is coming in to meet her Year 2 pupils, ahead of her return from maternity leave when the new school year begins.
Year 3 are especially excited as they are a having a boarding ‘taster’ night and after tea will be joining in some special activities with the Prep school pupils, before they too will head to the showers and bed. In the morning they will come down for breakfast, then it’s straight into their taster morning in the Prep school. It will be a great chance for them to experience boarding and to get to know the staff, and for the staff to get to know the new pupils.
Transition meetings have taken place between the year groups in the Pre-prep and Mrs Price has met with all the Prep school teachers to aid a smooth start to the next school year. Miss Curwood-Moss will be on hand to ensure that the children settle quickly into their new routines.
At the end of term we will be sorry to say ‘goodbye’ to Mrs Armstrong, who has been a Higher Level Teaching Assistant for the past two years. We wish her well.
The Library Services have been to visit and every child has an invitation to join the reading challenge over the summer in their book bags. The children showed lots of interest in joining their local library and were very excited about the wide range of books, audio books and DVDs available to them.
The Pre-prep summer concert takes place in the Hall this Friday at 2pm. Tea will be served afterwards and we look forward to a terrific afternoon.
Here’s the latest class news:
The children are consolidating their phonic knowledge and working on letter formation, as well as writing about their trip to the farm. In Maths, the children will be continuing their learning about measurement of height, length, weight and capacity. They will be making farm booklets and painting some pictures from their farm trip, as well as practising for the concert on Friday.
This week in Creative writing Year 1 will be continuing their stories about Vincent van Gogh, using the book Camille and the sunflowers. They will continue to weigh using non-standard and standard weights and will be revising the names and properties of 2D and 3D shapes.
There will be observational drawings for Art and the children will be out and about in the school grounds as much as possible.
This week Year 2 will be making a booklet entitled ‘My time in Year 2’. They will write about their favourite lessons, their achievements, school trips, their memories, their thoughts about forest school, and of course, what they are looking forward to doing in Year 3! On the front of the booklet will be an observational sketch of the school. In Maths they will be counting in 3s, recognising numbers in the 3 times-table; writing multiplications to go with arrays and using arrays to solve multiplication problems. They will also be revising their knowledge of the 2,5,9,10 and 11 times tables.
During their Maths sessions this week Year 3 will continue to practise using all four mathematical functions to solve word problems. During their English lessons they will practise their instruction writing skills by writing up how to make pirate biscuits. This week’s topic will be tsunamis and tornados. In Science the children will learn how fossils and soil are formed. During their RS lesson they will continue their work on Judaism and will be learning about its significant places and its festivals. During Art sessions the children will use their observational skill to sketch the Cottesmore landscape.
Our Leavers are discovering new skills and talents on an adventure week in Somerset. An exhilarating week is ahead in which they will undertake new challenges, as well as enhancing all-important skills such as resilience and team work.