HM Letter to Parents October 2015

HEADMASTER’S LETTER

OCTOBER 2015

T0 PARENTS

Dear Parents Once again the first six and a half weeks of the school year have been incredibly busy and I have been impressed at just how much pupils have achieved. I hope all children are happy and established in their year group, and that they are taking full advantage of the opportunities available to them. What follows gives a taste of some of the activities that have taken place over the last few weeks.

Contents Page 1

Third Form Curricular Day Theatre Trips Sixth Form Centre

Page 2

Open Days

Page 3

Drama Music Festival

Page 4

House Music School Shop

Page 5

Girls’ Hockey

Page 6

Girls’ Hockey Boys’ Football

Page 7

Boys’ Football

Page 8 Page 9

Boys’ Football Royal Parks Half Marathon

Page 10 Page 11

Lower fifth Activity Weekend in South Wales Interview Practice for Middle Sixth Students Sixth Form Choices Evening German Exchange Traffic

Page 12

Staff News Page 13

Friends of Chigwell – A message from the Chair, Mrs Purnima Sen

Page 14

Chaplain

Third Form Curricular Day It may not have been the brightest

are swept out of patrons’ hands and cellar

September day ever, but the greyness

doors lock themselves… This was

suited the Third Form perfectly for their

rounded off with two brilliant workshops

cross-curricular day focusing on the topic

with Mr Steve Davis (Reprographics

of Horror as per the English curriculum

Manager) who talked through the

this term. All the Third Form embarked

construction of a tourism leaflet (perfect

upon a walking tour of Haunted London

for one of the Third Form homework

where they discovered the fate of Queen

tasks this term!) and Mrs Louise Bengtson

Isabella (forever condemned to carry her

(Head of Psychology) educating the

dead husband’s heart around after

students on the Psychology of Fear – how

murdering him with her lover!) as well as

it is a crucial part of our lives and how we

the mysterious pub ‘The Viaduct Tavern’

can manipulate others to fear anything!

where the lights suddenly go out, drinks

Third Form parents: be very afraid!!

Theatre Trips We have had a plethora of theatre trips this

term).The Royal Shakespeare Company

term involving students in the Upper Fifth

are also coming in next term to lead

and Lower Sixth – “An Inspector Calls”

workshops on “Measure for Measure” and

(Cambridge Arts Theatre), “Measure for

we also have a day for the Fourth Form

Measure” (The Globe Theatre, London and

where author Neil Arksey will lead a

The Young Vic, London to come next half

workshop on detective fiction..

Sixth Form Centre Work on the Sixth Form Centre has begun and you may well have seen the site on the edge of Top Field. We have impressed upon pupils that they must stay outside the site fencing.

1

Open Days We have had two highly successful open days and I am very grateful to the pupils who acted as guides. As in the past, we have had a number of very favourable comments from prospective parents who have contacted us to say how helpful their guides were

2

Drama This term got off to a great start with the

Max Albert and Rhea Gupta for their

GCSE Make-Up workshop, an all day event

fantastic work organising this event. The

for girls in the Lower Fifth who are taking

Upper Fifth performed their devised

the costume and make-up option for

pieces this week. This was a festival of

drama. Rosemary Swinfield, the author of

original drama spread over three evenings

our course text book, came in for the day

of six plays covering themes ranging from

and did some fine work with the girls.

mental illness, the seven deadly sins, murder mystery, comedy and rape.

The Gala Evening on Friday 2nd October

Candidates offered light, sound, set

was a charity event involving lots of music

design, costume and make-up as well as

and drama by pupils from the Senior

acting. Once again, we were treated to

School. Over £1,000 was raised for

some really impressive acting and highly

Médecins Sans Frontières and Smiles

original work. Well done to all involved.

With Grace. Well done especially to

Music Festival The day offered pupils the chance to explore music in a variety of forms.

Orchestral instrumentalists worked on repertoire which included professional sectional coaching.

There were opportunities for pupils to be part of the string instrument discovery sections, song writing and electronic music sessions. Pupils from fifty-five schools were invited and the day culminated in a fine spectacle where participants displayed their completed works from the day. Orchestral pieces included ‘Autumn’ from ‘The Seasons’ by Vivaldi (arr. R. Ling), ‘Persian March’, Johann Strauss Jnr. (arr.

R. Ling), and ‘Lazy Horse’, R. Ling, ‘Basin Street Blues’ – Trad. Vocal pieces included Basin Street Blues, Eye of the Tiger and We are the Champions.

3

House Music One of the highlights of the Senior

Swallow’s. In item 3, all members of each

School year is the annual House Music

house perform – singing, dancing and in

competition which took place recently.

co-ordinated outfits – together. There was ‘You Can’t Stop the Heat’ from Caswalls’, ‘We’re All In This Together’ by Penn’s, a Children in Need Medley from Lambourne, and ‘I’m A Believer’ from Swallow’s.

The evening was expertly compered by the Head Boy and Head Girl, Max Albert and Imogen Padwick, with adjudication

The event is designed to engender a

by Deputy Heads Mr David Gower and

really positive house spirit with all

Mrs Anna Savage. The winner by the

members of each of the four senior

narrowest of margins was Caswalls’ but

houses, Years 9 to 13, rehearsing and

the participation, enthusiasm, and sense

performing together. Item 1 was the

of togetherness gave all four houses

same for all houses with a small group of

plenty to celebrate.

The School Shop pupils performing Baldwin’s ‘Neath the

Please note the School Shop will be open

Elms’ unaccompanied.

at the following times over half term:

A group from

each house arranged an accompanied

19th – 23rd October: 10am to 3pm daily

item 2, each of which was of an

27th – 29th October: 10 am – 3pm daily

impressive standard: ‘Piano Man’ by

The shop will be closed on 26th October

Caswalls’, ‘Ain’t No Mountain High

and 30th October. Normal opening hours

Enough’ by Penn’s, ‘Mr Bojangles’ by

will resume from 2nd November onwards.

Lambourne, and ‘Feeling Good’ by

4

Girls’ Hockey After having the best pre-season

knowing that a win would see them

possible with a tour to South Africa

qualify for the Regional Finals. Despite

during the summer, the 1st XI girls hit

having numerous chances and a large

the ground running this term with some

amount of possession, it was Coopers

fantastic performances and results.

that scored the only goal of the match,

Chigwell hosted their annual 1st XI

which saw them go through to the next

tournament at the start of September

round to represent Essex. Despite the

and played some great hockey along

disappointment of being so close, the

with some very pleasing results, beating

girls took great comfort in their

Bancroft’s, Brentwood and Forest. The

performances throughout the day and

girls have trained well all term, and went

finishing the highest they ever have at

into the Essex U18 tournament full of

this tournament.

confidence. This was not ill-placed and

The U15s have had a very successful

they notched up three wins, one draw

start to the season, with a number of

and one loss and had only conceded two goals by this point.

wins in friendly fixtures, notching up a

They found

lot of goals, but more impressively a

themselves entering the final match

long list of different goal scorers. The

5

Girls’ Hockey

Boys’ Football

U15s played a year young at the Essex

The start of the football term has been

U16 tournament, and despite winning

as busy as ever with lots of boys playing

most of their matches, it came down

the game.

to two big matches against Felsted

Manchester Grammar school on the first

and Coopers, where the Chigwell girls

weekend of term and finished as runners

were only able to earn a point from

up in the plate competition of the

The 1st XI travelled to

the pair. Chigwell finished 3rd, missing out on qualifying for the Regional Finals. They face their first match in a new national competition (ISHC) and hope

to progress well. This squad

continues to be one of the most enthusiastic in the School with large numbers participating, and this was shown during an U15B fixture v Bancroft’s, with a squad of seventeen

Independent School sixes after losing to

players travelling to OLHC when

the hosts in the final. The 1st XI have

Chigwell came out victorious with a 1-0

secured fine victories against Alleyn’s (1-

win after a goal from Katie Rutter.

0) and John Lyon (3-2). However, they

The U14 girls have followed suit, with a

were convincingly beaten by Repton School in the 1st round of the ISFA cup.

large enthusiastic squad who are

The other senior teams have had lots of

hardworking and love their sport. The

football with the 2nd XI putting in solid

girls have trained hard all term and adjusted well to playing 11-a-side hockey

this

determined

term. and

Despite

some

progressive

performances, the U14As are still looking for their first win of the season.

However, the U14Bs enjoyed a good match against Bancroft’s and came out 1-0 winners with a well struck goal from Ava Moore.

6

Boys’ Football performances to beat Bancroft’s and

The U16s are through to the 2nd round

Ibstock Place. Joint 1st XI captain Matt

of the ISFA Small Schools Shield after a

Koczan has been selected to represent

convincing 10-1 victory over Portland Place. They await the 2nd round draw.

The U15s have put in some strong performances this season and played some impressive football.

ISFA South against Kent Schools FA. Alec Osborn, who has already played for the ISFA U16 national squad this season, has been selected to represent ISFA South U16 in their match vs Shropshire Schools.

7

Boys’ Football They have beaten Alleyn’s, Brentwood

have been incredibly keen and all the

and John Lyon in regular fixtures and

boys in the year group have represented

are through to the 3rd round of the ISFA

the School so far this season. The aim is

cup after beating Kew House 9-0 and

to get as many boys playing football as

Princethorpe 10-1. They will face

much as possible which is always

Chobham Academy of Stratford in the

difficult depending on who we play.

2nd round of the ESFA cup after a 1-0 win

At KS2 the U11s won the ISFA Essex

against Richmond Park Academy in the

competition which was hosted at

1st round. Lower Fifth pupils Tommy

Chigwell School. The boys won all their

Redhead and Jake David, and Remove

eight matches and did not concede

pupil Joe Williams, will represent the

during the entire tournament.

ISFA U15 and U14 sides respectively at a

boys will now travel to the FA’s national

half term development camp.

football centre, St George’s Park in May

We have been incredibly impressed

to represent Essex in the national

with the attitude of the U14 boys as a

finals. KS2 football club on a Thursday

whole as the vast majority of the year

is as popular as ever with lots of boys

group have represented the School this

and girls playing every week.

term. They are playing the game in the right way as well as being competitive.

The U13s reached the 2nd round of the ESFA small schools cup after victory against GGSK in the 1st round, but they were beaten by Sadlier Academy in the 2nd round. Unfortunately, they were knocked out of the ISFA cup after a very close 1-0 defeat against Westbrook Hay. The U13s finished fourth out of six in their group at the IAPS Sixes which did not see them through to the next round of the competition, but 31 boys are going to Barcelona at half term on a football development tour. The U12s

8

The

Royal Parks Half Marathon I was hugely impressed by the staff, parents, Old Chigwellians and friends of the School who came together to form the biggest Cancer Research team to ever run in the Royal Parks Half Marathon. There were over a hundred runners who completed the 13.1 mile course with an army of supporters which made for a wonderful day. I understand that collectively they may have raised ÂŁ50k through this single event which will make a significant impact on the work of the charity as it tries to help families affected by cancer.

Thank you to

everyone who participated or supported.

9

Lower Fifth Activity Weekend in South Wales Lower Fifth girls travelled to Porthcawl, South Wales, for a weekend of outdoor activities. The girls were able to test their driving skills on quad bikes and then by racing each other around a very bumpy course. They then travelled to the coast where they enjoyed a picnic by the sea, before changing into their wetsuits, ready for their surf lesson. The girls were taught how to paddle in and catch a wave and learnt how to jump to their feet and ride the wave into shore.

In addition to this, they enjoyed some games in the sea, running across a ‘surf board bridge’ and a team ‘life guard challenge’ where they had to sprint into the sea with their boards, paddle out around a buoy and race back into shore.

The whole weekend was a fantastic experience for everyone involved and a big thank you goes to the staff and local instructors who made the weekend so enjoyable.

10

Interview Practice for Middle Sixth Students Once again, we will be holding an

not matter if the interview is in the

interview

for

discipline they wish to study as the

students in the Middle Sixth on

students need to learn how to present

Thursday 12th November between 2pm

themselves and think on their feet.

and 4pm.

If you would like to be involved, we

practice

afternoon

The students find this

tremendously useful and we find that practising interview technique and receiving constructive feedback really helps develop confidence and skills in the build-up to their interviews. It does

would be delighted to hear from you.

Please contact Mrs Sue Lee on slee@chigwell-school.org / telephone: 020 8501 5750.

Sixth Form Choices Evening Members of the Upper Fifth will be focussing on their GCSE exams but will also be starting to think about A level choices for next September. All pupils will be interviewed about their A level choices later in the term when we will help them consider where those choices might lead. However, the A level choices evening on Thursday 5th November at 7pm provides an opportunity for Upper Fifth pupils and parents to discuss A level options and I look forward to seeing you there.

German Exchange The sixteenth German Exchange will take place next February half-term. Last year’s Hamburg Exchange was record breaking. Forty Chigwellians took part in the exchange, the biggest exchange visit in the long history of the School, and amongst them was a large group of new Year 7 learners of German. The classics of the last years will be back on the itinerary: the adventure-swimming pool, the chocolate factory, the visit to the Volkswagen factory – plus new exciting things! Of course, the students also have the chance to practise the language and to experience the culture of Germany first-hand.

All students of German from Year 7 to Year 13 are welcome to take part. Hamburg – wir kommen!

11

Traffic

Staff News

It has been drawn to our attention by

Congratulations to Mrs Nicola Rawlings

several members of the public recently

and her husband David on the arrival of

that cars waiting to pull in to the car

their baby daughter Isla, and to Mr

park at the front of the Senior School

Andrew Chapman and his wife Jodie on

have been causing traffic to back up

the arrival of their third son Charlie. Sadly,

along the High Road in both directions.

we are saying farewell to Mr Jamie Sliwa

If we could avoid this by having pupils

who has worked as an art technician with

dropped off slightly further away from

us for the past eleven years. We send

the School, I would be most grateful.

Jamie our very best wishes as he moves on

Similarly, please can I also remind

to become a driving instructor and we thank him for his huge contribution to the

parents to continue to turn left out of the

School and the life of the art department

School site at Hainault House so that we

in particular.

can avoid causing traffic problems on that part of the High Road too.

I hope pupils and parents manage to have some time off over half term.

There is a language trip to Madrid and football tour to Barcelona over the half term break, and we look forward to hearing about both of these.

With best wishes

Yours sincerely

Michael Punt

12

Friends of Chigwell – A message from the Chair, Mrs Purnima Sen I believe, like me, you have by this time truly forgotten the much needed break we all had over the summer and all things summer holidays seem to be a thing of the past. The summer had sent the FoC too into its annual hibernation and blissful slumber, only to be awakened by the annual netball and football event. Suddenly it all came back to me, and kicking and screaming I got the rest of the team out of bed on the morning of Saturday the 12th of September and it has all started again.

On the 24th of September the FoC had its annual AGM at which I provided the members with the Chairman’s Report. My team and I were re-elected to continue in office for another year and we have agreed to do so. For the trust placed in us by the FOC members and Heads of School, I am truly humbled.

Our next event is of course the popular fireworks on the 6th of November and I hope you have all by now got your “early bird“ tickets for this event. Children, please do not forget to get your pumpkins and carve them and bring them into school on the 6th of November.

Also, for future events, past photographs and the Chairman’s report please do not hesitate to visit our newly updated (thanks Faith!) “Friends” page which can be found on the Chigwell School website.

So to get you up-to-date – the FoC have this year raised £31,387 (Sept 2014 to Sept 2015).

This has made us a profit of £12,600 of which we have donated £700 for various projects including flooring for the astronomy department, £593 to the Music Department towards the grand piano, and recently £10,000 towards the purchase of canoes and a trailer for the School, which will benefit not just the Duke of Edinburgh participants but the whole school in its new outdoor activities curriculum.

What we have achieved would have been impossible without all your help. The FoC members are, of course, a triumph with their fantastic efforts, energy, time and uncompromising commitment, and without them we would certainly not be so successful.

We cannot forget teachers and the support staff who help with printing, supplying, moving, providing relentlessly to all our demands. The three Heads, Mr Michael Punt, Mr Simon James and Mrs Evelyn Gibbs, and Mr David Morrison the Bursar, are forever standing by ready to pat us on our backs and encourage us at the next event. Please make no mistake that for a PTA volunteer organisation to work effectively and constructively, the entire value stream needs to function in collaboration and in this case it is not just us leaders, members, friends, but also all the teachers, the PAs and The Heads.

And last, but certainly not least, a big thank you to all you parents of the School who contribute in a big way by supporting our events as spectators, clients – you make the Friends of Chigwell the successful fundraising charity that we are.

13

Chaplain To have humility at the centre of Chigwell School is to remind us that there is always more to learn, there are always greater triumphs to reach out for, and, that failure is not to be feared but instead to be welcomed for what it teaches us.

“Equality” is an outstanding principle but so Firstly, may I thank you for the wonderful

difficult to achieve. Society seems intent on

contributions towards our Harvest Appeal for

creating division. For Chigwell School equality

Streets2Homes, the Harlow charity working

has to be at the heart of everything that we

with homeless people. The Chapel has been

stand for. Equality between young and old,

filled with a huge amount of non-perishable food

between male and female, and between those

which will be delivered to the charity.

with different gifts and abilities. Equality which challenges hierarchies and reminds us that each

The test for any community is the level of care

individual is a child of God, precious and special,

and concern for those in need. This term we have

unique and valuable.

been thinking about how we, as individuals and as a community, can make sure that our

“Aspiration” is about making sure that what we

priorities are focussed in the right direction. We

are working for in life is positive. “Progress” is

have used powerful and challenging words in

the test that measures how well we have dealt

order to do this.

with our selfishness, our desire to put ourselves above others, and, our need to be powerful.

Words have the ability to define us and to shape

Progress is the test of our humanity.

the vision of how we should live. Words can inspire us towards greatness and remind us of

May I wish you a restful and enjoyable half term

our weaknesses.

holiday.

We began with the word “Humility”. Humility challenges us to see each other as special.

Father Simon.

Humility encourages us to celebrate our triumphs; but, not use them to put others down.

14

Term Dates 2015 Michaelmas Term Half term: Saturday 17th October to Sunday 1st November Term ends: Wednesday 16th December 2016 Lent Term First day: Thursday January 7th Half term: Saturday Feb 13th to Sunday Feb 21st Term ends: Wednesday March 23rd 2016 Trinity Term First day: Monday April 18th Half term: Saturday May 28th to Monday June 6th Term ends: Wednesday July 13th