Newsletter - Winter Term 2018 - 19.12.18
As usual Cottesmorians have applied their boundless energy to academic study, sport, hobbies and activities. However there is always time to pause and reflect; our Chapel services at Harvest Festival and Remembrance Sunday in particular provided opportunities for stillness and to appreciate all that we have.
School News
45 pupils across both Prep and Pre-prep, along with two new members of the academic staff received a warm Cottesmore welcome in September, enabling them to quickly settle in to the rhythm of a new school year.
Sports Round-up
This term has seen a great many fixtures at all levels for the girls in both Hockey and Netball. On several occasions, every single girl in the school from PP3 up to 6th Form represented Cottesmore on a pitch or a court. We were delighted to welcome back Leah Wilkinson, Wales Hockey Captain, for another superb training session which left the girls buzzing to press on with their own Hockey development.
The U11s kicked off their Hockey season with an impressive 5-1 win over Great Walstead.
Netball is still in its infancy but the training we have seen so far belies a promising season ahead. We have some talented shooters, fast mid-field players and feisty defence – keep your eyes peeled for more news...
The senior boys had a good set of results in football this term but the 2nds were the stand out team, losing only once. Nicholas Russell won Golden Boot with five goals for the 1st XI and Huw netted 13 balls for the 2nds. The U9s had a good season – Wilbur, George and Caspian each scoring three goals. Rugby has started well. In two blocks v Copthorne and Ashdown we won four games and drew two. We recorded two swimming victories over Ashdown this term – both junior and senior.
The Play
Cottesmore’s premiere of ‘Will Shakespeare Save Us’ was an outstanding success, with over 30 pupils taking part. The soliloquies were delivered to a very high standard and the entire production was a comedic triumph. There were plenty of scene-stealing moments in what was unanimously agreed by audiences from three performances as a resounding success.
Staff News: Salvete and Valete
Miss Tilda Emlyn-Williams and Mr Rory Barraclough joined our academic staff in September as Head of Classics and Form 4 tutor and Teacher of Humanities and Form 3 tutor respectively.
Our Australian gap students returned home at the end of term after a year of contributing to Cottesmore life in so many ways. As always we wished them ‘bon voyage’ and ‘good luck’ in their future endeavours. Miss Hanna returns to us next year along with a new cohort of ‘gappers’.
Charity Support
Charity Support Jeans for Genes Day and Children in Need raised significant sums for both charities, with the little ones in the Pre-prep enjoying a very spotty day for Children in Need.
At Harvest Festival we received generous donations of food gifts, which were donated to a local food bank and Help the Aged. The Pre prep pupils joined in with their gifts for the Harvest Festival and they also took part in the Samaritans’ Purse Appeal, filling shoeboxes with gifts as part of a worldwide appeal for children by the Samaritans.
Lectures and Visits
Our extensive and varied programme of daytrips and visiting speakers augmented pupils’ learning across every year group. Senior pupils headed to London’s West End at the end of term to see the award-winning play ‘The Play that went wrong’, which had just won ‘Best Comedy’ at the Olivier Awards. The popular Watts Gallery provided a stimulating and creative day, organised by our Visual Arts department. A rich visiting speakers programme this term included author Piers Torday and motivational speaker, James Shone. Sapphire, an up and coming pop singer, came and sang and answered questions on topics including cyber bullying and mental health. We also welcomed the Science Institute who gave a spectacular workshop on ‘Exploding food’!
Chapel and Music News
Our daily morning services provide a reflective start to each new day and along with Sunday prayer and evensong services, encourage opportunities for quiet reflection. We are always pleased to welcome visiting headteachers and registrars to Sunday evensong and this term our visitors included guests from King’s Canterbury, Bedales and Wellington College.
The Harvest Festival was celebrated with a traditional service and in November our Remembrance Sunday service took place in a packed chapel. In both services we paused and gave thanks for all that we have, as well as the sacrifices that have been made for us.
Our candlelit carol service at the end of term brought everyone together to celebrate the meaning of Christmas with traditional readings of the Christmas story. Led by our choir, traditional carols along with contemporary Christmas works filled the hall with joyful sound. The Christmas tree and log fire provided their own seasonal, magical backdrop for this special celebration.
Pre-prep News
The Pre-prep children have had an exciting and busy term, welcoming in many new families to Cottesmore and creating lovely memories through their experiences. The Reception children learnt ‘all about me’ through a variety of scientific and creative activities, including a theatre workshop learning about our bodies. They explored fireworks and Diwali which were in the same week, producing beautiful night time scenes on the computers. The topic of ‘people who help us’ was enhanced by a visit from a parent paramedic who created scenarios to explore, learning valuable skills for life preserving.
The Harvest assembly and the Nativity performance were delightfully performed, demonstrating confidence and enjoyment in singing, acting and talking to an audience.
The Year One children were in awe at the Chichester observatory where they had a fantastic visual experience of the night sky, enhancing their learning, and they creatively demonstrated their knowledge of space through 3D modelling. Meeting John Harris, the author really inspired the children in their own writing, particularly about the little red hen and Tattybogle, the scarecrow. The riding club, the tennis club and the swimming club have been particularly popular in the year one class and they made fantastic mice in the nativity, speaking up so beautifully!
Year Two have delighted in role playing about Captain Scott and his race to the South Pole, creating their own props and using the Pre-prep space to take their acting beyond the classroom. They were thoroughly immersed in learning about the Great Fire of London in the classroom and through a theatre workshop. Their artistic displays reflected their enthusiasm in history. The street dance and sports clubs have been very popular with the children and their commitment to learning their parts for the nativity were commendable.
The Year Three children have had such a busy term with learning all around the world! Many activities have been linked with different cultures and countries and the children have absorbed some fascinating facts following their own case studies of countries. Their historical learning about World War Two demonstrated the children’s fascination with the past as they imagined being in the difficult situations and writing heartfelt creative pieces. Their scientific interest has been heightened by relating nutrition to their diets and learning about muscles and movement. The children have grasped opportunities for competitive sport, competing for Cottesmore and enjoying sessions with the Prep school in hockey, netball, football and rugby. The French club and the outdoor experiences have been very well subscribed by the year three children and they have been inspired by visits from musicians, authors, and theatre companies.
Fun Activities and Sundays ‘In’
As always there has been a full term of activities planned for Sundays ‘in’. Hobbies, games and activities organised by the staff on duty make leisure time fun, while there is also a programme of trips on offer. This term these have included Brighton pier and funfair, Chessington World of Adventure and Brighton ice rink. Back at school Ceramic Shack came to Cottesmore for a day of creative activities making plates, mugs, money boxes and ornaments.
Our bonfire night celebrations were the traditional and exuberant mix of a huge bonfire, a dazzling firework display and plenty of warming food. Energetic country dancing was accompanied by a live band, with a guest appearance by the Headmaster on his guitar.
The term was rounded off by our splendid Christmas event ‘The Feast’: a celebration of another successful term for both staff and children.
