CASTLE COURT SCHOOL
SUMMER TERM 2024
DOMINUS SAPIENTIAM DAT
A SUMMARY OF THE TERM
Every time I look through these end of term books, I am always amazed at how much the children have achieved over the past twelve weeks. This term though has impressed me even more than usual. Our various activities towards our 75th anniversary celebrations have given an extra dimension to our term. It was wonderful to welcome back over 120 Old Castellans, Governors and Staff to a lunch at the school before many of them joined us in Wimborne Minster for our Service of Celebration.
My team is dedicated to ensuring that your children have as rich and broad an experience as possible during their time at Castle Court. Looking through these photo memories, I think we can all agree that this term the children have had the joy of a truly enriched educational experience and
I know that there are more events, trips and achievements that we just couldn’t fit into this collection.
I would encourage you to take the time to relax, pick up a coffee and enjoy the memories that these photos will evoke, or enjoy taking a peek at the great experiences that your child will enjoy as they go through the years during their time at Castle Court.
With best wishes for a wonderful family filled summer
Katie Johnson Head
SUMMARY
All of Pre-Prep have positively embraced summer term at Castle Court. We feel blessed to be able to spend so much of our time at such a wonderful setting and the children have enjoyed spending lots of time outdoors. Here are some of the many highlights from this term:
Nursery
Badgers and Cubs have thoroughly enjoyed using our wonderful, heated swimming pool at school.The children have developed their water confidence, and it is an absolute joy to see them so proud of their skills. We prepared well for Sports day and the hard work paid off with our super teamwork and skills. To celebrate our 75th year we were delighted to invite parents to a tea party in the sunshine. Watching the children and parents enjoying the grounds was heartwarming.
Reception
The summer term is always a favourite in Reception! It is filled to the brim with visitors, trips and special events, that help to bring our learning to life. As part of our ‘Amazing Animals’ topic, the children learnt about dinosaurs and minibeasts. A highlight was our visit to the Etches Collection, to see the newly discovered Pliosaur skull.The children have also enjoyed visits from some real-life superheroes, including firefighters, police, paramedics and a dentist. We all enjoyed our trip to the RNLI, Swanage to find out about their amazing work. We celebrated the end of Reception with a trip to Farmer Palmers. The year really has flown by and we are so very proud of the children, who are now ready for their Year One adventure!
Year 1
We have been focusing on the topic of ‘Birds’. We have learned about many of our UK garden birds and enjoyed following the
progress of the Poole Harbour osprey nest online. As part of our topic, we enjoyed a visit to Poole Park and Whitecliff where we observed many water birds and their babies. In art, we have used our outdoor space to create bird sculptures from natural materials found in the environment. We have also modelled our own robin or blue tit from papier mâché in the classroom and painted them carefully.
Year 2
We have had another action-packed term full of fun and learning to finish the year. To launch the topic, ‘Oceans and Seas’, they visited Weymouth’s Sealife Centre early on, and then consolidated their studies with a trip to Hamworthy beach, where they were able to identify lots of seaweed, shells and coastal birds. In their June Jamboree, Year 2 sang, danced and performed musical melodies to a delighted audience. They made two visits to Silverwood Farm too, where they enjoyed meeting Farmer Shelley’s animals and doing farmyard crafts. The ever-popular annual summer trip to Studland with Year 1 was also a huge hit and a lovely way to finish the term.
As the academic year drew to a close, we enjoyed hosting the long-anticipated Performing Arts and Jamboree concerts to parents. The children showed confidence beyond their years. Finally, Pre-Prep Sports and Speech Day was a fitting end to a wonderful year. Our amazing children are ready for their next adventure at Castle Court!
Mr Graham Antell Section Leader Pre-Prep
Scott Speaker – Rosie Adcock
Year 8 PSPQ Exhibition and TEDX style talk
SUMMARY OF THE TERM: YEAR 3 AND YEAR 4
What a fantastic final term of the school year it has been in the Year 3 and Year 4 Section.
There were several trips to enjoy before the long-awaited Activities Week. Year 3 visited the Ancient Technology Centre in Cranborne in connection with their history topic on Invaders and Settlers. Here they enjoyed forging Celtic knives, making Roman bricks, collecting and using natural dyes, and dining in an enormous roundhouse. Staff at the centre really enjoyed the ‘enthusiastic, informed, brilliantly behaved and knowledgeable group’.
Year 4 enjoyed a visit to The Tutankhamun Exhibition in Dorchester where they were fascinated by the life size replicas of his tomb and sarcophagus.They busily explored the museum searching for answers to the questions on their quiz sheets, whilst studying the exhibits. Much of the geography work during the first term was in preparation for our field trip to Wimborne. Having come back after the break we had a lovely morning in town practicing our geographical skills. One of the activities involved interviewing members of the public. This they did both confidently and politely with people commending them for their courtesy once they had answered the questions put to them.
Activities week started with trips to Monkey World and Go Ape. Year 3, organised and encouraged by Evie, collected food, bedding and entertainment items to donate to this pioneering Primate Rescue Centre. We found the educational presentation and tour very thought-provoking and emotive; so many Year 3 children are now even more keen to be primate and planet protectors! Year 4 had a great time working well as a team as they solved a variety of problem-solving tasks given to them. It was great to see them exhibiting PSB skills such as communication, cooperation and leadership. The afternoon was spent high in the treetops with the challenging fifth course being the most popular. The thrilling ride on the zip wire back down to earth was of course the highlight!
Year 4 were the first to camp. Before they slept, they treated us all to a wonderful talent show featuring singing, knot skills and reenactment of movies (even featuring a live music backing courtesy of the French Horn!). A twilight walk brought sightings of bats and rabbits, but the elusive badgers stayed out of view this year. The following day was an opportunity to try out some bushcraft skills in the woods courtesy of the team at Wildfire Campfire. Camouflage techniques featuring mud and ash and the toasting of marshmallows proved as popular as ever.
Year 3 enjoyed the Swimming gala and their visit to the Etches Collection. They were awed by the newly discovered pliosaur head and the opportunities they had touch and see so many ancient wonders. They came away with their own bag of fossils, all ready to follow in Mary Anning and Steve Etches’ footsteps. Although the Year 3 camp was postponed due to terrible evening weather, Year 3 still had a great time using the camp site during the day for a range of problem solving and camp-based activities. Thankfully the weather warmed up before the night of the rearranged camp for Year 3 and gave us perfect conditions for camping. We ‘organised’ our tents, toasted marshmallows, sang campfire songs, showed off our talents, dined in fine style, learned to wash up....and got very little sleep!
As we end the term as a section we will be saying “Goodbye” to our Year 4’s as they move up through the school. We look forward to welcoming the current Year 2 children after the summer and sharing all the great things we do with them. From all the staff in Year 3 and Year 4, we hope you all have a great summer and look forward to seeing everyone again in September.
Mr Andy Laidler
Section Leader Year 3 and Year 4
SUMMARY OF THE TERM: YEAR 5 AND YEAR 6
What an end to a fantastic term! I can honestly say that it has been a joy to work with your children and I will be very sad to see some of them leave my section and, indeed, move on from Castle Court. However, I feel they are well equipped for the next phase of their journey.
We have shared the laughter at our Roald Dahl evening and our performances of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ really showcased the work we have been doing in class. Both evenings were outstanding. Most recently, we have seen some of our Year 6s perform in the Senior Play, ‘Peter Pan’ – such incredible talent on the stage!
Activities week for both year groups was exciting and full of adventure; Year 5 on their residential to the Isle of Wight and Year 6 on their camping trip to Buddens. Both trips saw children challenging themselves but most of all, having fun!
Sports Day was such an amazing day for everyone and it felt even more special as it took place on the Michael Wheeler field – very fitting for our 75th anniversary year. Lots of teamwork took place and even a few PBs! The sun shone and we all enjoyed a day with our families. The swimming gala was another great success – again, some more PBs and everyone taking part in the afternoon, cheering on for their teammates.
It is the time of year when our Geographers are out on field trips – Year 5 went off to Durlston Country Park to learn about the landscape along the Jurassic Coast and Year 6s were busy understanding the physical processes which shape the River Allen - collaboration at its best!
Lots of new initiatives have been launched this term which will continue into the future, one of which is sailing. A huge number of pupils from this section have benefited from this opportunity both to compete for our school, but more importantly, to challenge themselves to learn new skills (including capsizing!) We also celebrated our excellent sailors with our Under 11 crews finishing second in the National IAPs finals and winning the Dorset County Finals!
We saw more success with our Under 11s Cricket team who won the Dorset County Cup and went on to represent Dorset at the South West Regional finals, finishing third. We had great success at the junior and senior Wessex Athletics Meetings where twenty medals were won in total, including a national qualifier! Well done to all those who took part! We also had success in swimming with a team of five pupils representing the school at the national finals which took place in the Olympic pool in Stratford.
And finally, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very relaxing summer holiday. It has been a pleasure to teach and support your children this year and I am very proud of their achievements. I wish those who are leaving, the very best of luck. Please do keep in touch with us and let us know what amazing things you are doing. You will always be part of the Castle Court family.
Mrs Louise Munns
Section Leader Year 5 and Year 6
Year 5 Showcase – Roald Dahl
Inside and Outside the Classroom :
Classrooms without Walls
SUMMARY OF THE TERM: YEAR 7 AND YEAR 8
And this term the final words of this booklet have to go to our Year 7 and Year 8 Section Leader Mr Dave Higgins, who is retiring from Castle Court after 36 years service. Dave has been a leading light in helping Castle Court become the school that it is today; with it’s astro, forward thinking approach to the curriculum and History in particular and was the organisational brains behind a number of ever popular trips including to The Houses of Parliament and Hampton Court. Dave was the final member of the current teaching team to have been appointed by the school’s founder Mary Donald Scott, and was a key link between the foundation of the school and the current teaching body. His hard work and dedication to our fabulous school means that he has been instrumental in ensuring that the foundations of the school are strong and that they will support future generations of Castellans to enjoy the legacy he helped to develop.
The summer term for year 7 and 8 flew by in a breathless succession of days with impressive work in the classrooms cunningly interwoven with multiple field trips and visits, sporting competitions, stage performances and big school events. The ability of our Castellans to manage a complex and ever-varying summer term weekly schedule is hugely impressive – and likely to be good training for later life!
There have been so many highlights. Year 8 have awed at the most magnificent of thrones in the House of Lords and stood at an empty House of Commons dispatch box, its next tenant to be known a few hours after we break up. Year 7 began the term in warm spring sunshine marking out the beach profile at beautiful Durdle Door; many of them, and year 8, ended their trips out in even hotter sunshine, learning about D-Day, Elizabeth I as a princess, and the history of pies (!) at the Chalke Valley Festival. In between, it was cool and damp until the final couple of weeks, but that didn’t deter our cricketing boys and girls from getting some fine results, the latter as County Champions; some of our swimmers and one of our athletes competed in their IAPS Nationals after excelling at Wessex; many year 7s and 8s took to the water to develop their sailing skills, with our team boats almost reaching the top of IAPS nationally – well helmed and crewed! There were some CCS firsts this term: the inter-house cross-country
being held in the summer term, and sports day on the MW field; both were great events, thanks in no small part to the have-a-go determination of year 7 and 8. The activities week trips were wonderful, with year 7 biking, canoeing on the River Wye, surfing and loving their time at ‘The Poplars’ in Herefordshire, whilst year 8 climbed, kayaked and took their surfing to the next level on the North Devon coast, from our traditional base at the superb St George’s House. Perhaps there were three ‘biggest of all’ events for our section this term: the celebrations, centred on the beautiful Minster service, for Castle Court’s 75th birthday; the challenging but brilliantly executed year 8 PSPQ exhibition and TEDx talks; and, finishing in just the right spirit of endeavour suffused by fun, the magnificent performance of ‘Peter Pan’, for which almost half of year 7 and 8 volunteered, taking their acting experience to amazing new heights and lending their creativity to set and costume design, choreography, lighting and stage management.
Year 7 and 8 have managed all of that and a great deal more this term. Even more important has been the spirit in which they have done it. I have seen countless moments of initiative and compassion, as individuals have stepped in to help their classmates and their teachers, and to give support to anyone having a bit of a moment; I’ve seen the delight of the school’s youngest children as the oldest ones take time to chat with them, help them with reading or sport; I’ve seen the outstandingly confident and fluent way in which our senior section, and especially our year 8s, have presented themselves, their work and their school when talking with adult visitors. Truly, our PSB curriculum, 7Cs and Christian foundation have given them skills for life. I have felt blessed to work with a fantastic, talented, determined, funny and most of all kind team of 55 children and 5 tutors during my final lap at Castle Court; all of us who are moving on from CCS this term will have a host of treasured memories. A huge thank you, and my very best wishes for the future, to all 60 of you.
Mr Dave Higgins
Section Leader Year 7 and Year 8
