FROM THE HEAD MASTER
It has been a rather miserable week weather-wise, but there is plenty of happy news and lovely seasonal events at school to bring us good cheer.
Scholarship Successes
Many congratulations indeed to Benedict Briggs and Max Yuill who have each been awarded a Sports Scholarship to Uppingham. Congratulations, too, to Eddie Greany, Milo Green, Elsa Miles and Imogen Turney who have all been awarded a Sports Scholarship to Rugby. This is a tremendous achievement – very well done to each and every one of them.
Christmas Artwork
It is always such a magical moment in the year when the children come into school to find the decorations have gone up and a sprinkling of fairy dust has been thrown over the school. The Christmas cards that the children produced in Art earlier in the term are all on display in the main building, hanging down in the stairwell. They are so impressive and well worth a look if you have time to pop in. I am sure many of you will have seen the quite brilliant nativity scene created by Mrs Moreton, Miss Savage and the children now on display on the terrace. Very well done to all those involved.
Productions this Week
As always, the Pre-Prep Christmas plays were an absolute delight. The children performed their hearts out to packed houses who were thoroughly enchanted from beginning to end. Really well done to the children and, of course, to the staff for all their hard work.
The Year 5 play ‘Reflections of War’ last night was also a fantastic evening. As I said after the show, there is so much value in this particular production with the children learning so much about the subject matter of World Wars I and II as well as learning the valuable experience of performance and stagecraft.
Final Week of Term
With next week being the final week of term, there are some big events still to come with the Christmas Music Concert on Monday, the SHSPA Christmas Fayre organised for the children on Wednesday, and then our two Carol Services in St Andrew’s Church. The Years 3, 4 and 5 service is on Thursday at 3.00pm and the Years 6, 7 and 8 service is on Friday at 2.45pm. These services are always extremely busy so please can I urge you to be there in good time so that you can ensure you have seats. There is not enough parking near the church so please do park at school and walk to St Andrew’s. I very much look forward to seeing you there for what are always very special and memorable occasions.
Thank you.
Simon Clarke
PRE-PREP
Pre-Prep Christmas Nativity Magic!
The sleeps were counted down and two of the most wonderfully enjoyable Pre-Prep days of the year were finally upon us this week ~ our Christmas Plays! I cannot put into words how incredibly proud the staff and I are of all the children. The weeks of rehearsing stage movements, practising lines, songs and actions all paid off with two highly enjoyable performances. As ever, the confidence of the children shone through, and the pleasure they gained from performing to their special grown-ups was heart-warming to see – watching our little ones in their nativities is most definitely what puts the magic and sparkle into Christmas. They were amazing!
Christmas Performance Photographs and Recording
On Tuesday, I emailed parents with the secure online links for each class’s gallery of Christmas photographs. Scrolling through the pictures really does help to relive those magical nativity moments. The photographer has certainly captured some beautiful pictures.
It is also worth remembering that the live streaming links, which were sent in the same email, now act as recordings that can be watched at any time – your children can enjoy singing and dancing along in the comfort of their own homes!
Run, Run, as Fast as You Can!
With the confident charm of the Gingerbread Man and the sly, sneaky old fox, a familiar traditional tale has been inspiring the Reception children over the last couple of weeks. Having learnt the story structure off by heart, the children’s imaginations took over and ‘The Gingerbread Man’ has led to some wonderfully creative ‘Talk for Writing’ activities taking place. Building on all of the language rich activities, one of the children’s favourite tasks came mid-week, when they enjoyed mixing, sifting, rolling and baking their own spicy gingerbread mixture – and then eating it, of course!
Christmas Jumper Day and ‘Christmas Cracker Lunch’
Christmas activities have rippled merrily on throughout the week, finishing with a bumper day of festive fun today.
Clad in our Christmas jumpers and festive colours, our Christmas lunch provided a wonderful end to a busy week. The dining room looked splendid with all its festive tablecloths and decorations. Following the snap and pop of crackers, we tucked into traditional roast turkey with all the trimmings, or a cheesy leek Homity Pie, followed by juicy satsumas and little mince pies. With music playing and plenty of amusing cracker jokes to enjoy, it was a very special occasion indeed.
Year 2 Choir – Jingle all the Way!
This afternoon could not be finishing in a more perfect way. With its abundance of energy and enthusiasm, coming together, alongside Mrs King, with the Year 2 Choir on a Friday is one of the highlights of my week. Today will be rather special as the Choir are inviting their parents in to gather around our twinkling tree and enjoy some warm mince pies, whilst we entertain with a selection of our favourite songs from this term. A festive treat to end the week!
Pupil Achievements
Congratulations to Emma Hassell (RG) who has successfully passed her Pre-Primary Ballet Examination.
Very well done to Willa Mercer (1N) for gaining her Level 2 Swimming Award and to Liliane Scott (RY) for gaining her 10m badge.
Congratulations to Autumn Dunkley for achieving her Level 8 certificate in gymnastics.
Very well done to Rufus Roworth (1N) for achieving his 10m Swimming Award.
Fiona Sanchez
Head of Pre-Prep
MUSIC
Christmas Concert – Monday 11th December
We are really looking forward to the Christmas Concert on Monday. Tea will be provided for all performers and any siblings that have requested it. A reminder to all pupils performing to bring something Christmassy to wear. This could be a Santa hat, headband or some tinsel. No Christmas jumpers though please.
Senior Choir – Tuesday 12th December
There will not be a Senior Choir rehearsal after school next Tuesday.
Carol Services
Our Carol Services, which take place on the last two days of the term, are something that we always look forward to. Junior Song and the Year 5 Choir members will be singing as part of the Junior Carol Service on Thursday 14th December and the Years 6, 7 & 8 Choir members will be singing as part of the Senior Carol Service on Friday 15th December. Parents are most welcome to attend.
Instruments
Please can pupils ensure that all instruments and music folders are collected before we finish for the Christmas holiday.
DRAMA
Well done Year 5 on a great performance last night of ‘Reflections of War’, with it’s usual mix of history, nostalgia, comedy, sadness and festive cheer!
ART
Artist of the Week
Artist of the Week goes to Henry Chard (2M) for his really impressive painting of a tree frog. He obviously does have quite a natural talent!
Click here to see all the winners of ‘Paint a Pet’
Christmas Art Installation
If you haven’t already seen it, please pop to the Terrace when you get a chance to see the fantastic nativity display created by Years 3&4, Miss Savage and Mrs Moreton, with a little help from Year 7 and the gap students! Once it gets dark it’s even more impressive!
HOUSE COMPETITIONS
Junior Verse-Speaking
1st Drake, 2nd Raleigh, 3rd Grenville, 4th Frobisher
CHRISTMAS JUMPER DAY
Thank you to everyone for wearing their most Christmassy jumper today to support Guide Dogs for the Blind, RNLI and Cancer Research. We are having a fun-filled day which commenced with our annual ’12 Days of Christmas’ assembly with this year’s honorary partridge being Mr McKenna, followed by a delicious Christmas lunch of roast turkey with all the trimmings!
CROSS-COUNTRY
Beachborough Chase 2023
On Thursday, 28 pupils took part in the Beachborough Chase, where around 10 schools competed. It was a great challenge in very wet and muddy conditions. The Junior race was over 2 miles and the Senior races were over 2.6 miles.
All our competitors showed resilience and determination and all who had the pleasure of watching them were incredibly proud of their performance.
The Junior Boys came 2nd. This was a tremendous result for them as the team was missing two of its runners due to illness. Well done to those who stepped up on the day and ran with such determination. This shows the breadth and strength in this squad. Henry Sandall was Spratton’s first runner home.
The Junior Girls also had a good run, coming in a very sound 3rd place, with Isabella Szechenyi first runner home.
The Senior Boys had a tremendous afternoon where they came in 2nd place overall. This was the best team we have seen from the Senior Boys at Spratton in the last few years. Teddy Blake came first home for Spratton.
Finally, the Senior Girls continued to perform at a very high level. We entered two teams in the event. The B team came a very commendable 5th place, with Amber Bowyer first runner home, whilst the A team drew on points with the Dragon School, with Isla Allsopp first home for Spratton. Sadly for us, a decision was made on a count back taking into consideration the position of the first runner home rather than the 5th runners position in the team. As a result, we narrowly missed the trophy and medals. Spratton did, in fact, have a 5th and 6th runner in before Dragon. But, it can be said that both Spratton and Dragon’s A teams were brilliantly matched and the running outstanding.
Full individual results will be published once we receive them from Beachborough.
EQUESTRIAN
EQUESTRIANLast Saturday, in freezing conditions, Spratton Hall’s Equestrian team fielded a fantastic turn out in the NSEA Regional Championships at Bury Farm Equestrian.
Our 40cm team, consisting of Isabella, Annabelle and Martha, kicked off proceedings bringing home 2nd place. This was swiftly followed by the 50cm team of Annabelle, Martha and Isabelle who came 1st with individual placings of 3rd and 5th for Isabelle and Martha.
The 60cm team of Isabelle, Olivia and Emily finished in 4th with incredibly fast individual rounds by Isabelle 2nd and Emily 5th.
Our final team of Olivia, Emily and Ottilie placed 3rd in the 70cm and Emily and Ottilie went on to ride beautiful rounds in the 80cm.
Huge congratulations to all the girls, you rode superbly and can be very proud of your achievements on behalf of your school.
Katie Lamb
TOWNSEND LIBRARY
Christmas Tree Competition
Can you guess how many books were used to build our ‘book tree’ in the library? Please send your answers to saa@sprattonhall.com and the answer will be revealed next Friday. The person with the nearest (or exact) estimate will win a prize!!!
PUPIL ACHIEVEMENTS
Well done to Mimi Hamilton who has now raised £300 for the RNLI with her Camp and Run Challenge.
She camped out on Saturday night when it was -4C and has run 30km in one month.
Here is her Just Giving link should you wish to donate:
STEM WEEK 2024
SPRATTON HALL PARENTS’ ASSOCIATION
SHSPA Christmas Fayre
Donations for the Christmas Fayre are still required please and can be left in the Hunter Hall foyer. Cakes for the refreshment stall are to be brought to school on the day of the Fayre.
Thank you.
NETBALL COACHING
Just a few places left!
