FROM THE HEAD MASTER
Activities Week
Every time I have gone for a wander round the school this week, I have been bowled over by the huge array of activities going on or hearing about the various trips out. The children appear to have had a quite fabulous time; it really has been a tremendous experience for them. My enormous thanks to all the members of staff involved, particularly the Activities Week leaders and activity organisers.
Year 8 Fashion Show
What an evening! This was an absolutely superb event, with so much work having gone into the ‘costumes’, accompanying videos and their moves on the catwalk. It was just so lovely to see Year 8s doing something so different to everything they have achieved this year so far. Well done to Mrs Moreton, Miss Savage and the rest of the team.
National Athletics Finals
As mentioned in the newsletter two weeks ago, four of our pupils have won through to the National Prep Schools Athletics Finals to be held at the Nuneaton Stadium on Monday. I wish all the very best to Ellie Allsopp, Ludo Lindsay, Ezekiel-David Peat and Harry Rogers.
SHSPA Spring Party
Marina Hopwell, Chair, is delighted to announce that a hugely impressive total of £3197.05 was raised at the Spring Party last month. Thank you so much to each and every one of you who attended. SHSPA is also looking to donate £3,000 to the Faraway Children’s Charity before the end of term.
Old Sprattonian’s Success
I was so pleased to hear that Freddie Ling, who left Spratton in 2019, has just been appointed joint Head Boy at Uppingham. What a brilliant achievement for Freddie. Many congratulations, indeed, to him.
Staff News
I am sad to report that Ms Bianco will be leaving Spratton at the end of this term. I am very grateful to her for everything she has done for our pupils. As you will know, she is currently off school following a nasty fall but I am pleased to say that she is recovering, albeit slowly.
I am very pleased to announce that I have appointed Miss Emily Williams who will be joining Spratton in September to teach Maths up to Year 6 and she will be a Year 4 Form Tutor. Emily (who is actually Mrs C. Williams’ daughter) is currently the Maths lead in her current school and is a former Spratton pupil herself who then went on to Kimbolton. She is very much looking forward to joining the staff.
Open Air Concert
The stage is set, the rehearsals are just about completed, the weather looks settled – tonight’s ‘Best of British’ Concert is ready to roll!
Finally, with one week of the school year to go there is still plenty to pack in, with Year 8 Cricket matches v Parents on Monday, the Summer Concert in the Hunter Hall on Tuesday, final cricket matches on Wednesday, Pre-Prep Speech Day on Thursday and Prep School Speech Day on Friday. I very much look forward to seeing you at the concert this evening and those events next week.
Thank you
Simon Clarke
PRE-PREP
Reception Trip to Everdon Outdoor Learning Centre
On Tuesday, our Reception children enjoyed a fabulous day out at Everdon Outdoor Learning Centre.
The beautiful woodlands provided a glorious setting for discovering and making animal homes for foxes, birds, badgers and rabbits. Peering down a badger sett that had been in the woods for over 100 years, and playing games like Gruffalo Hide n’ Seek amongst the log stumps and trees, certainly made for an active day of fresh air fun.
Year 1 Picnic Lunch
Staying outdoors, Year 1 decided to ‘up sticks’ and head onto the fields for a picnic lunch this week. There is nothing like fresh air to stir up an appetite and the children certainly enjoyed their assortment of wraps, carrot and cucumber sticks, and delicious diddy doughnuts to round it all off.
Sports’ Day – ready, get set, go!
Our Pre-Prep Sports Day was everything that it should have been with children racing, galloping and giggling their way down the track, to huge applause and cheers from the crowds.
Clutching watering cans and balancing ‘beans’ on spades, the Reception children delighted us with their ‘Flower Power’ race. Whilst in Year 1, the children combined speedy feet and leaping movements to give the wonderful feel of being ‘On Safari’. To the sound of rapturous cheering, Year 2 provided the finale with a nail bitingly close relay race, which saw 2A claiming victory this year after a brilliant effort by all the children. We even got to cheer on some of our future ‘Spratton stars’ in our pre-school races for younger siblings. Fruit ice lollies helped to refresh the children’s energy levels after a fabulous afternoon of fun. Please do visit our website to view the photographs and relive the memories.
Year 2 Choir – ‘Best of British’ Outdoor Concert
Early this evening, our Year 2 Choir will be taking to the stage once again, as they perform alongside the Prep School in Spratton Hall’s ‘Best of British’ outdoor concert. The choir, this year, have surpassed themselves in their enthusiasm for coming together and their love of singing and we cannot wait to admire them outside on the big stage, side by side, with the older pupils. Picnics and singing voices at the ready, it promises to be a spectacular evening of entertainment.
And finally …
With the Pre-Prep and Prep School Speech Days just around the corner, it will not be long now until the huge white marquee appears on the field. Marking the end of another productive, rewarding and successful year at school, our Pre-Prep Speech Day is a wonderful opportunity for parents, friends and family to come together to celebrate the children’s achievement and effort, whilst also saying a fond farewell to our Year 2s as they make the move into the Prep School.
Sadly, it is not just our Year 2 children that we will be saying goodbye to at the end of this academic year. Alongside Miss Anscomb who, as you know, is leaving us for pastures new, Mrs Abbott, will also be finishing her time with us. Mrs Abbott, an Early Years Teaching Assistant, has been a tremendous support to the Reception staff and children this year and will be missed by all of us. We wish her well in her next ventures.
Pupil Achievements
Congratulations to Lexi Mercer (2M) who won gold and silver medals in a Gymnastics Club Championship, Lexi even won a section a year above her age, before going on to be crowned Overall Winner.
Congratulations also go to Sophia Hodgkins (2L) for gaining her Level 4 Gymnastics Award.
Very well done to Samuel Bradshaw (2M) who has achieved his Level 3 Swimming Award and to Clemence Chambers-Hall (1S) who has gained her Level 4 Award.
Very well done to Dakshan Premkumar who has not only been striving towards Tamil exams in Speaking, Listening and Writing, but he also competed for Northamptonshire County in Tennis, winning many of his matches.
Congratulations to Leonardo Dep-Shepherd (RY) who gained his Tactician Badge in Football.
Very well done to Jai Chavda (1N) who successfully completed a 1km fun run.
Final congratulations go to Reuben Desai who has been awarded his orange belt in Karate.
Fiona Sanchez
Head of Pre-Prep
YEAR 8 FASHION SHOW
Well done to the Year 8s, Mrs Moreton and all those involved in helping to make this year’s Fashion Show such a great success. This year’s theme was called ‘Artist’s Style – Sustainable Fashion’.
ATHLETICS
Well done to the Year 4 Girls’ Athletics team who made 14 out of the 15 finals at the IAPS Junior Athletics meeting at Cambridge.
| K. Kanjurs | U10 | Girls | 75m | 11.22 | 1 |
| I. Szechenyi | U11 | Girls | 200m | 32.20 | 1 |
| E. Spencer | U10 | Girls | 55m Hurdles | 11.60 | 2 |
| K. Kanjurs | U10 | Girls | 100m | 15.10 | 2 |
| B. Dayman | U11 | Boys | Long Jump | 3.73 | 3 |
| C. Spencer | U11 | Girls | 70m Hurdles | 15.70 | 3 |
| I. Szechenyi | U11 | Girls | 100m | 14.90 | 3 |
| H. Sandall | U11 | Boys | 200m | 31.80 | 3 |
| O. Keki, D. Rogers, Z. Maule, O. Phipps | U10 | Boys | 4 x 100m Relay | 64.70 | 3 |
| I. Szechenyi, I .Woollcott-Price, I. Wallace, C. Spencer | U11 | Girls | 4 x 100m Relay | 63.40 | 3 |
MUSIC
Summer Concert – Tuesday 4th July, 5.30pm
Our ensembles have been working hard preparing music for the Summer Concert on Tuesday. Letters have been sent out by Clarion to all those involved. All performers will be provided with tea, please do email the school office to request tea for any siblings.
Music Lessons – Autumn Term
Lessons are available on a range of instruments as well as voice. Should your child be interested in learning an instrument, please contact Mrs King on nck@sprattonhall.com for further details.
Music Exam Results
In the newsletter last week, you will have seen the wonderful set of exam results from this term. The mark sheets should now be available to download through your online ABRSM account. A link to set up an account was sent to your email address when the entry was made in May.
ACTIVITIES WEEK 2023
It has been a very busy week with Years 3-7 out on trips for Activities Week and Year 8 on tour in Norfolk. Whilst ‘off-timetable’, the children have been enjoying organised activities including orienteering, lego building and laser tag.
PUPIL ACHIEVEMENTS
Congratulations to Charlotte Berry who, following her performance at Mid Bucks Ballet Festival last week, has received a qualifiying
mark and will go through to the regional finals next year.
Well done also to Florence Campion who, following a busy week at Outward Bound, went on to Eland Lodge in Derbyshire to compete her pony where she won a British Evening 90cm U18 Class.
Well done also to Zara Bushell who, after over five years of training, received her black belt in Shotokan Karate last week!
ONLINE SAFETY
WhatsApp – New Features
As one of the most popular messaging apps around the world used from Year 3 upwards, WhatsApp continue to add new features to keep users onboard. Two of the newest features are the ability to edit a sent message within 15 minutes of it being sent, and ‘Keep in Chat’.
The first (edit within 15 minutes) is exactly what it says. You can send a message to someone or a group and, if you need to make changes you can do so within 15 minutes. This is good, particularly for someone who may have rushed a reply to something and didn’t critically think about it before pressing ‘Send’, or realises that the message could be taken out of context.
The second, ‘Keep in Chat’ is where someone can select certain messages that they want to keep in a folder called ‘Kept messages’.
There’s more detail to the explanation than I have given above, take a look at the Childnet article HERE for further details, including the positives and negatives to these new features.
Here is the link to the school website where you will find more details and further helpful information about online safety.
