FROM THE HEAD MASTER
Scholarship Success
I am delighted to announce that Teddy Green has been awarded a Roxburgh Scholarship to Stowe. This award reflects strong academic potential as well as excellence in other areas, in Teddy’s case Sport and Drama. Very many congratulations indeed to Teddy on this superb achievement.
Swimming Success
It is always a pleasure to hear of the many successes of our pupils’ achievements outside of school. I was so pleased to hear how well Izzy Frow is getting on with her swimming. Recently, Izzy took part in the County Championships with a total medal haul across the whole championships of 3 Gold, 3 Silver and 3 Bronze. This has really pushed her up the rankings both in the county and the East Midlands region. Very well done, indeed, Izzy.
Church Services
The Ash Wednesday Services were lovely events. Very well done to all the children who gave readings and a particular well done to Athena Adam for her beautiful violin solo.
Common Entrance Mocks
I wish all the very best to Year 8 for their CE mock exams next week. As I say to them every year, these exams are all about practice and getting things right for the real thing come June time. These exams serve to help the teachers know where to focus in the coming weeks and for the children to understand where they can make improvements. Good luck to all.
World Book Day
We are very much looking forward to taking part in the annual World Book Day event, joining schools up and down the country to celebrate all things literary. I am sure the children will thoroughly enjoy dressing up as their favourite book characters. My costume, obviously a closely-guarded secret, is ready and waiting!
Thank you
Simon Clarke
PRE-PREP
How uplifting it is to finally be arriving for and leaving school in daylight hours. This, and the sprinkling of snowdrops scattered around the school grounds, tells us that Spring really is on its way. Quite remarkably, this also means that the children are now over half way through this academic year!
Reception Venture Off to Abington Park Toy Museum
On Tuesday, our Reception children set off to Abington Park Museum to explore a fascinating collection of old toys. From wooden yoyos, to porcelain dolls, tin soldiers and metal spinning tops, the children had a wonderful time investigating, questioning and exploring. They even took part in a toy-themed treasure hunt, which took them all over the museum.
Pancake Day!
Shrove Tuesday was definitely a high point of the week for many. Not just because the children enjoyed squeezing lemon juice onto pancakes at lunchtime, before devouring them, but also because Mr Clarke (rather bravely!) whisked up a bowl of pancake batter, with the children’s help, in his morning assembly. There were gasps of delight as all the ingredients came sloshing together, including two eggs rather expertly cracked by Florence – not one piece of shell escaped into the mixture! Having prepared two cooked pancakes in advance, the grand finale was flipping the pancakes from their frying pans, high into the air. Alex was brilliant at this with, luckily, no gooey pancakes left stuck on the ceiling!
Year 2 Choir – Performance Preparations
Our Year 2 Choir are soon to be performing at the Regional Festival of Music for Youth. Mrs King and I are squeezing in a few extra practices with the children and are polishing up the songs by experimenting with the dynamics, adding in some group solos and even a few props. We have even arranged for the children to sing in an upcoming Prep School assembly, so that we can showcase their vocal abilities in front of a large audience! An email to the parents of choir members will be sent out early next week, containing all the final arrangements.
It’s almost time for … World Book Day!
Finally, the countdown is on with only 7 sleeps to go until World Book Day! Growing excitement can be felt amongst the children, as they swap details of which story character they hope to come dressed as. Ripples of World Book Day fever have also reached the Pre-Prep staff, with morning coffee break conversations frequently punctuated with questions such as, ‘Does anyone have a long straggly beard I could use?’ or ‘if I roll myself in corrugated card, do you think I’ll be able to sit down?’.
In between costume planning, the teachers have also been preparing a whole host of exciting activities. From a costume parade, to story times hosted in unexpected places, plus buddying up with the Prep School pupils to read stories together, World Book Day promises to be a brilliant day of fun from beginning to end!
Pupil Achievements
Congratulations to the following children for their swimming achievements – Myles Capelle (1N) Level 1, Max Ley (1S) Level 2, Henry Chard (1S) Level 2, Cole Purcell (1S) Level 3 and to Luca Sidhu (2A) who gained a certificate for his independent swimming.
Cole Purcell must also be congratulated for scooping 1st and 2nd place trophies in a karate competition.
Very well done to Lexi Wallens Foyer (2A) who performed three dances, gaining silver and bronze medals, in a recent Dance competition.
A further well done to Veryan Moss (1S) who was awarded ‘Star of the Week’ for her effort and skill at Stagecoach Theatre School.
Well done to the following children who have received badges and certificates for their skills on the ski slopes – Alex Schwartz-Jones (2L), Samuel Bacon (2M) and Charlie Scott (1S).
Alex Schwartz-Jones must also be congratulated for gaining first prize in a recent chess tournament.
Congratulations to Willa Mercer (RG) for gaining a certificate for her effort and skill in Gymnastics.
Further congratulations go to Rudy Boswell (1S) who has achieved his yellow belt in Karate.
Finally, the effort and kindness of Noah Carlin (1N) must be celebrated. Inspired by an activity in class about the charity work of Marcus Rashford, Noah decided to complete a 6 mile sponsored bike ride and raised a wonderful £110 for the Rugby Food Bank.
Fiona Sanchez
Head of Pre-Prep
HOUSE COMPETITIONS
Scrabble
Spread over a few weeks this term, competitors from each year group have been battling it out to be crowned ‘Scrabble Champs’. There was an instructional video for those who were new to the game, but everyone soon got into the swing of searching out double-word-scores and desperately trying to get all seven tiles down in one go. As you can see from the results table, the Junior Competition was very hard fought indeed, but Raleigh ran away with the Seniors.
| Year – Juniors | DRAKE | FROBI | GREN | RAL |
| 3 | 4th | 2nd | 1st | 3rd |
| 4 | 4th | 2nd | 1st | 3rd |
| 5 | 1st | 2nd | 4th | 3rd |
| JUNIOR TOTAL | 9 | 6 | 6 | 9 |
| JUNIOR PLACE |
3rd= | 1st= | 1st= | 3rd= |
| Year – Seniors | DRAKE | FROBI | GREN | RAL |
| 6 | 4th | 1st | 3rd | 2nd |
| 7 | 1st | 4th | 3rd | 2nd |
| 8 | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 1st |
| SENIOR TOTAL |
7 | 8 | 10 | 5 |
| SENIOR PLACE |
2nd | 3rd | 4th | 1st |
Junior French
This Tuesday, competitors from Years 3, 4 and 5 took on the grand challenge of the Junior House French Competition. Whether trying to be fastest finger first on the buzzers, deciphering parts of speech on their whiteboards, or having a go at pronouncing numbers in French, all the children contributed. However, there was one House that were clearly “tetes-et-epaules” above the rest – Raleigh were unstoppable in all three years, winning by a record margin of quarante points. Well done tout-le-monde – formidable!
Year 6 Gaming
In the first semi-final of our Sonic Racing House Competition, Elliot (Grenville) took on Kaylen (Raleigh). Entering the final lap, there was very little between the two drivers but a couple of shrewd manoeuvres by Kaylen gave him victory and a place in the final.
The second semi final saw Hallum (Drake) take on Shiro (Frobisher). The first couple of laps saw places change between the drivers but a commanding final lap granted Shiro a place in the final.
The final was a tense battle with places changing throughout. Shiro, driver as Miles ‘Tails’ Prower, finally took the lead with a few bends to go, and she held on for a famous victory. The cheers went up by her Frobisher followers.
Well done to all the competitors.
Years 3&4 Cross Country
Girls – 1st Raleigh, 2nd Drake, 3rd Frobisher, 4th Grenville
Boys – 1st Drake, 2nd Frobisher, 3rd Grenville, 4th Raleigh
ECO CLUB
On Monday, Eco Club set off around the school to do some litter picking. It’s amazing what you find tucked away in corners and hedges!
THE SECRET OF MONKEY ISLAND CLUB
The Secret of Monkey Island Club invites pupils to guide the hapless Guybrus Threepwood in his quest to become a mighty pirate and defeat the ghost pirate LeChuck! The children must use logical thinking to solve puzzles in Mr Canty’s favourite childhood ‘point and click’ adventure game. It has been graphically remastered, but has kept all the memorable & hilarious dialogue, all together now… “That’s the second biggest monkey head I’ve ever seen!”
BOOK SWAP REMINDER
Please bring any unwanted books (max. of 3 per child) that are in good condition to Mrs Alexander before the end of the day on Tuesday 28th February. You will then be given tokens to use at the book swap on Thursday and Friday next week.
Many thanks – Mrs Alexander
WEIRD & WONDERFUL PLACES WE READ IN!
Next week seems the perfect opportunity to focus on reading!
Where is the most extreme place your child has ever read a book? Whether it is up a tree, on top of a mountain or stood on their head, we would love your photos! Your challenge is to take a picture of your child reading somewhere extreme and send it into school, either via their tutor or email them to saa@sprattonhall.com
Obviously, we encourage you to keep safe and would not recommend reading in the jaws of an aligator! A display will be made of the pictures and we really look forward to seeing who in school has such a passion for reading that they have to do it everywhere!
ART
Years 5&6 Art Club have been busy painting large eggs for the Easter Egg Hunt.
PUPIL ACHIEVEMENTS
Following training and trials through the winter, many congratulations to those selected for the Girls’ Northants Country Cricket teams.
U13 – Imogen Turney, Cecile Jackson
U12 – Ceecee Guest
U11 – Juno Dow, Ginny McAra
U10 – Poppy Turney
Well done to Mara Hamilton who has been awarded 1st place in Spoken Prose and 2nd place in Solo Drama at Milton Keynes Festival of the Arts.
SPRATTON HALL PRINTS
If you wish to purchase a Spratton Hall framed print priced at £175, originally painted by Martin Taylor, please email Julie Gallo at jga@sprattonhall.com.
SHSPA – UPCOMING EVENTS
NSPCC DISCO
NATIONAL ONLINE SAFETY GUIDES
What Parents and Carers Need to Know about Spotify
From Ariana Grande to Dua Lipa, Katy Perry to Justin Timberlake, even the most mainstream and conventional artists in pop aren’t averse to releasing the odd track which contains swearing or explicit lyrics. Although that’s not especially Earth-shattering in itself, of course, it could prove an upsetting experience for a young person who stumbles across such songs on Spotify.
That’s before we even take into account the multitude of other age-inappropriate lyrics in genres like hip hop (a profanity every 47 words, according to one recent study) or towards the harder end of the rock spectrum. As our #WakeUpWednesday guide discovers, the occasional unexpected expletive isn’t the only aspect of the music streaming colossus Spotify that trusted adults should be aware of.
Here is the link to the school website where you will find more details and further helpful information.
