The Chronicle - May 2024

THE CHRONICLE

The Musical

JOHN MUIR AWARD

Fifteen brave Year 7 and 8 adventurers completed a John Muir Award “Discover” challenge camping trip this past weekend! Despite the chilly weather and overnight downpour, they learned valuable skills like camp stove cooking and roasted marshmallows under the stars. Most importantly, they had a fantastic time connecting with nature and each other!

THE BIG FEED

Claremont Fan Court School and our caterer, Thomas Franks joined forces for The Big Feed over the Easter term break, and together with City Harvest London we achieved some incredible things!

Over 100 parents, pupils and staff came together under the amazing leadership of our very own Mrs Smith along with Raj Patel to create a whopping 6,000 meals for the most vulnerable members of our society.

But that’s not all! We also managed to intercept a staggering 6 tonnes of food that would have otherwise gone to waste.

A huge thank you to everyone involved, especially Thomas Franks, City Harvest London, all the volunteers, and of course, Mrs Smith and Mr Patel!

This was a truly joyous venture –proving that a little teamwork can make a big difference.

YEARS 7 & 8 MATHS CHALLENGE

Our Years 7 and 8 tackled the UK Maths Trust Junior Challenge earlier this month! This problem-solving challenge encourages critical thinking and mathematical fluency. The top 50% of participants will receive Bronze, Silver, or Gold certificates, “Best in Year” and “Best in School” students will also be recognized with special badges.

DUKE OF EDINBURGH

We were thrilled to have so many pupils participating in bronze, silver, and gold DofE. They have been working hard on their expeditions. Take a look at some photos from their camping trips!

YEAR 8 TRIP TO DENBIES AND BOX HILL

Year 8 have been learning about the geography of food this term and they had a trip to Box Hill and Denbies to get hands on. They learnt a lot more about viticulture as well as how the original dairy farm at Denbies has diversified since they first planted vines in 1986. The forecasted wet weather held off and the pupils had a fantastic day of learning outside of the classroom.

STRING TEA

The music department hosted a charming String Tea on 14 May, showcasing musicians who are learning to play the violin and cello. We had a total of fifteen students performing across the whole school. The string ensemble and string quartet played to a very high standard, which was immensely enjoyed by our participating audience. All students were a delight to watch perform and make music!

JGP INSPIRE LECTURE SERIES

With the Joyce Grenfell Programme of inspire lectures continuing this half term, we welcomed another fascinating speaker to Claremont. Jihyun Park held a lecture and Q&A session in a packed Great Room. Mrs Park is a North Korean refugee living in the UK and spoke on “Indoctrination to enlightenment and transitioning from propaganda to learning.” The next JGP inspire lecture will take place after the term break.

SIXTH FORM

We celebrated our incredible Year 13’s at the annual Leavers’ Breakfast and Leavers’ Ceremony. We are extremely proud of everything they have accomplished during their time at Claremont, and we can’t wait to see what amazing things they achieve next.

HOUSE UPDATE

This term has been filled with various house events and competitions. Many students participated in a Dragons Den-style challenge, proposing solutions to remove plastic from our oceans. Stanmore emerged victorious, with Norwood and Banstead close behind. To welcome summer, over 100 students planted sunflowers near Cedar Lodge. Be sure to visit on Gala Day to see whose sunflower has grown the tallest.

The final competition of the term was to create a fashionable outfit using newspaper. We were impressed by the students’ creativity and the quality of their designs, despite the time constraints. It was a tough decision, but Esher managed to secure the win.

Looking ahead to next term, we have two exciting competitions planned: a short creative writing task and a house dance. Along with Sports Day, these events could significantly impact the current standings: Stanmore in 1st place, Banstead in 2nd, and Norwood in 3rd.

Dragons Den

Newspaper Fashion Show

SPORTS HIGHLIGHTS

FOOTBALL

Earlier this month we hosted the Girls U13 ISFA 7-a-side Surrey qualifier. It was a fantastic event where we welcomed 15 schools for the annual tournament seeing approximately 150 girls participating. Claremont did incredibly well winning one, drawing one and losing two matches. The girls narrowly missed out on qualifying for the semi-final in their last game and were determined throughout. It was great to see some stand out performances from Freya M, Eve M, Isobel S and Thea H.

ATHLETICS

Three of our Claremont archers competed at the Royal Richmond Pagoda shoot, showcasing their skills in challenging conditions! Finn (Albion round) and Rosie & Comet (Windsor round) all braved the unpredictable weather and shot superbly! Rosie even achieved a Robin Hood (one arrow hitting another in the target). Rosie took 1st place in Junior Barebow Ladies, with Comet following closely behind in 2nd. Finn also secured a well-deserved 2nd place in Junior Barebow Men. Huge congratulations to our talented archers! We can’t wait to see what other medals, memories, and fun they bring back from future competitions!

For the first year running we entered the English Schools Track and Field Cup. Each competitor has to do a track and a field event or a field and a relay. Our athletes were in action on Wednesday 15 May and we had some notable performances from a number of pupils. Our junior girls came in 4th and junior boys finished 10th. Our intermediate girls came in 5th and intermediate boys finished 10th.

GOLF

CRICKET

Claremont girls and boys cricket teams are having a great start to the season. Having played some of the toughest opposition this summer, the girls U13 and U14 were finally able to show how much they have improved against their recent match with LVS. The boys teams have also had some great wins against teams like LVS and Salesian School.

We would like to thank PXG for hosting some of our golfers and their parents earlier this month. Our pupils were able use the bays and the PXG master fitters assessed the data points around our pupils’ swing dynamics. They used the latest technology Trackman launch monitor to assess pupil’s natural swing. It was an amazing opportunity for these pupils. They also played nearest the pin and had a putting session with a pro golfer. We look forward to welcoming PXG on site on Gala Day with their golf simulator where you can take a swing too!

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