A milestone passed for our Year 6 girls following their 11+ mock examinations on Tuesday. They had the opportunity to experience the settings and conditions for their Entrance Exams in November and will have learned some valuable experiences from the day.
The girls all looked well presented for their individual and sibling school photographs on Thursday morning.
We were delighted so many of you could join us for our Harvest Celebration assembly this morning, where the songs, poems, stories and prayers performed by the girls were a poignant reminder of Harvest past and the gratitude we feel for Harvest present. My thanks again to Mrs Gibson and Mrs Giannopoulos for leading the girls in this and supporting them through their practices.
Next week, as we wrap us this half term already, Year 5 look forward to their Shang Dynasty workshop and we look forward to sharing with you how your girls have settled into and begun performing academically in the new school year through our first parents’ evenings.
"Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant."
Robert Louis Stevenson
“Always do your best. What you plant now, you will harvest later.”
Og Mandino
Best wishes,
Gareth Tindall
Pastoral Pause
This weekend, in a fresh surge of Autumn sunshine, get outside as you contemplate the challenges set for these days. Set yourself some hopeful but realistic goals for the week ahead. Identify one of your positive qualities, really do it, in fact for some of you making a genuine list of ALL your positive qualities will be challenge well worth the time – but Sunday’s challenge goes further and asks you to take one of your positive qualities and determine how it will be useful in your future. Later in the week, definitely tackle a task you’ve been putting off and relish the joy of it completed! Always let go of the expectations of others, real or imagined. Recognise your choice in how you prioritise. And end the week writing down three things that have gone well for you during the week – and celebrate those with gratitude and thanks.
God Bless your weekend and week ahead,
Gareth Tindall
Golden Book
Well done to all of the girls in our Golden Books this week:
5AB Isabelle C for her detailed planning and creativity writing her own 5
5HT Zoe G and Ottilie H f own myth in the style of ancient Chinese legends.
6MK Sophia C for consistently applying herself with dedication and care across all are as of her work particularly in Topic and RE.
Ellie BS for her focused and enthusiastic approach to writing, making excellent use of the SHAMPOO technique, to enrich her language and style.
6RG Harper AS for working hard to create a detailed and attractive information leaflet about Baptism.
Jessica S for the compassion that she shows towards others, spotting somebody that needs support and not hesitating to help.
Drama Stars
Year 5: Hollie G for helping to teach the class sign language for their Harvest performance.
Year 6: Thea S for working so hard to learn her lines and for rehearsing so positively.
Scientist of the Week
Year 5: Kimberley C and Ottilie H for their participation, attentiveness and experimental skills.
Year 6: Rosalind and Isla McC for their wonderful understanding of how animals are adapted to their environment.
FOST 2nd HAND UNIFORM SHOP
Submission forms are under FOST 2nd hand uniform on the St Ts website: Second-hand Uniform Shop
REMINDER: CASH or CHEQUE only please for the foreseeable future.
Open Fridays 8.30am-9am and First Saturday of every month 10:30am 11.00am by appointment only:
Please contact Wendy or Camilla: Fostuniform@gmail.com
Prep News
Parents’ Evenings — 15th and 16th October 2025
Formal parents’ meetings for the Prep School will take place on to following days:
Wednesday 15th October: Online 17.00 to 20.00
Thursday 16th October: In Person 16:30 to 19.00
Please book your appointments here: https://est.schoolcloud.co.uk
As we continue to develop our use of Atom Learning for Schools: Atom School, some of you have reached out to Atom enquiring about use of Atom Home, their platform to support learning for children and parents. Please find below some links shared with us by the team at Atom to support your understanding of the differences and how Atom can support learning at home.
• Atom Home Information Sheet
• A video on the differences between Atom Home and Atom School
• A short Atom Home platform demo
Changes to Bus Schedules or End of Day Plans
To make things smoother and safer, we've introduced theVectare Travel App. If you haven't registered yet, please sign up at this link: Vectare Travel using your email address from iSAMS. You can make all the necessary changes on the website.
If you need further help, please reach out to the transport team at effinghamschoolstrust@vectare.co.uk or transport@effinghamschools.org / 01372 750255.
Any end of day changes, please email your class teacher and copy in the school office prepinfo@st-teresas.com.
Absence Notification & Evidence Form
A reminder to complete this form if your child will be absent from Prep due to illness or other valid reasons. To ensure accurate attendance records, please upload evidence (e.g. appointment text, letter, or email) if the absence is due to a medical appointment. Wherever possible, appointments should be made outside school hours. We will not necessarily respond to them unless there is extra information or evidence required for attendance records.
Trip/Workshop Form & Payment Completion
As part of the upcoming Prep School trips/workshops, we kindly ask that you complete both of the following steps as soon as possible:
Microsoft Online Form – This form is essential for confirming your child’s participation and providing necessary details.
Payment via Evolve – Please ensure payment is made through the Evolve system.
Please note that our accounts team operates separately within the Trust. This means that even if you have already made the payment, we do not automatically receive confirmation of it in the Prep School. Completing both the form and the payment ensures your child is fully registered for the event.
In Art club, the girls have enjoyed painting some colourful and fun pictures, using cotton buds. After looking at some aboriginal art, they were inspired to use the artistic technique, pointillism.
Sunflower Growing Competition Update
We’ve received another fantastic entry for the Sunflower Growing Competition launched by Mrs Cooper at the end of the Summer Term. A big well done to Olivia H, whose sunflowers have reached an impressive 1.65 metres tall! She also enjoyed a beautiful bunch brightening up her dining table for weeks what a lovely way to celebrate her green thumb!
The girls in Lego Club have been busy crafting imaginative harvest creations, adding a colourful and creative touch to our celebrations.
Prep News
It was wonderful to celebrate Harvest with the Prep School, families, and friends this morning. Guests were greeted by a harvest display created by members of the Lego Club. The girls sang and performed with enthusiasm, reminding us of our role in our communities and the wider world.
The orchestra set the scene with their performance of Autumn from Vivaldi's Four Seasons, followed by a Harvest acrostic poem performed by 5HT. Year 5 had written their own lyrics reflecting on the school, past and present, and performed their song with percussion accompaniment.
We then went back to the beginning of time as 6MK told the story of creation, using their performance skills to show the development of the world. Once again, percussion formed the basis of Year 6’s song, which included a range of tempos, rhythms, and styles.
The impact of pollution was the focus for 6RG, before the Chamber Choir sang about Seeds of Friendship. 5AB led the interactive prayer before we all joined together to sing the old favourite, All Things Bright and Beautiful
Many of the goods that have been donated have already been taken to Cranleigh Foodbank, and we are grateful for all the contributions we have received.
Music News
Orchestra
The orchestra has really come together this week and we hope you enjoyed our performance of Vivaldi’s Autumn at Harvest Assembly. I’m so proud of all the girls for learning their notes, mastering the rhythms, including dynamics, listening to one another and watching their conductor!
Chamber Choir
What a beautiful performance at the Harvest Assembly, from our soloists to our smaller groups to the full choir; everyone sang beautifully and remembered to smile!
Year 5
Year 5: Florence D, Well done for mastering the tricky G7 chord in our ukulele class; super enthusiasm today.
Year 6: Olivia L, Thank you for focussing hard in our music lesson and for working brilliantly with your group to create imaginative body percussion rhythms.
This week Year 5 have been learning music from our musical heritage and understanding the links between music and the world we live in. We have been talking about Parry’s setting of Blake’s poem ‘Jerusalem’ and considering how the lyrics were a reflection of the Industrial Revolution and how the music was influenced by the First World War. We have also explored a more modern interpretation of Jerusalem and created our own ‘Jerusalem Fusion’ including improvised body percussion.
In the ukulele groups we have added G7 to our repertoire of chords and had fun playing The Lion Sleeps Tonight and Can’t Stop the Feeling.
Year 6
This week Year 6 have been thinking about working together to create a performance. They have reflected on ‘What Went Well?’ and ‘Even Better If…’, sharing their ideas and collaborating to improve. They have thought about confidence, timing, words and articulation, harmonies and rhythms.
In our keyboard classes we have continued exploring the range of the piano, improving finger independence and improvising in small groups.
Sport News
U10 NetballVs Manor House
Well done to the U10A&B Netball teams who played against Manor House on Tuesday afternoon in the sunshine! It was great to see them enjoying playing and some excellent footwork was displayed. We look forward to watching them develop their skills further. The players of the match were Monica and Layla.
On Tuesday, the U10C and D Netball teams took part in a triangular fixture against Manor House. The girls showcased excellent passing and movement skills on the court, resulting in some well-deserved goals.
Throughout the matches, both teams were highly receptive to feedback from their coaches and showed noticeable improvement in their understanding of positional play. Their growing confidence in knowing where each position is allowed on court was evident as the games progressed. Well done to all the players for their positive attitude and teamwork! Players of the match were Florence E-N, Ava B, Florence D and Ella.
Message from Mrs Fogwill
Development Squad, please note that if there is a Gala running, no training will take place that evening.
You will be able to access fixtures for the day, alongside the Sports Calendar which can provide you with all the sports fixtures weeks and months in advance. If a team sheet has been published for a particular fixture, the blue ‘person’ symbol will be available to click on. Simply click on the blue symbol next to the fixture to access the team sheet.
St Francis Pet Blessing Assembly
Friday 3 October
The stormy weather on Friday couldn’t dampen the spirits for one of St Teresa’s most beloved annual events: the St Francis Blessing Assembly.
The service is a chance to show gratitude for all animals, great and small, who mean so much to us. Gentle Sidan joined many other much loved pets for the service. Whilst being the smallest pony at STE, Sid was by far the largest animal at the service and was a reminder of how beneficial horses/ponies can be to mental wellbeing. Animals as therapy/support companions is just one of the incredible and diverse ways animals benefit and underpin our lives.
The Assembly was a really fun way to celebrate this.
Equine Fun Fact
Horses can’t vomit or burp
Horses have a very strong muscle ring called the cardiac sphincter at the entrance to their stomachs, stopping food being expelled. They are also physically unable to squeeze their stomachs with their abdominal muscles to force food back up the oesophagus.
Since horses cannot expel toxins, it’s very important to be vigilant about what they eat. Championships
17 Oct—20 Oct 2025
GOOD LUCK!
Please join us in wishing the NSEA team the very best of luck as they head off to the National Championships at Addington next week.
Go girls!
You have worked so hard to get to this point and you deserve every success and should be so proud of all you’ve achieved so far.
This Week
Bible Reading
A reading from the Gospel of Matthew
Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit sthe kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you zvisited me, I was in prison and you came to me.
Reflection
No sooner than we finish celebrating the feast of St Therese, we immediately celebrate the feast of not only one of the most popular saints, St Francis. The life of St Francis is rich with significance for today. He lived a life of extreme poverty, forsaking all other earthly possession, despite coming from a wealthy family. He is a model for us of a saintly life, one dedicated to becoming the person God calls us to be. He is perhaps best remembered by us today because of his great Canticle of Creation, where he recognises our closeness to the beauty of creation, God’s most abundant gift to us all. St Francis was a man with eyes that were open. He loved God not in the abstract but in the present moment, in each person and animal and flower that he encountered.
Prayer
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is error, the truth; where there is doubt,the faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy. Amen.
"Sanctify yourself and you will sanctify society." ~ St Francis of Assisi
Christmas Shoebox Appeal 2025
Donate a shoebox gift for marginalised and needy families in Romania. Refer to leaflet section titled “How to pack your Christmas Gift SHOEBOX”
Drop-off in the chapel, from Monday 6th October to Friday 17th October.
Prep Clubs AutumnTerm 2025
MORNING
MON School Council
TUE Years 5 & 6, Netball Club (7.50 - 8.20, Sp. H)
(12.45—13.15)
Years 5, Forest School
Years 6, Forest School
Orchestra, by invitation Grade 1+ standard)
Years 5 & 6, Prep GK Club (Astro)
Chaplaincy Team meeting
Years 5 & 6, Lego Club
Years 5 & 6, Netball Shooting Club
Years 5 & 6, Swim Squad (7:45 - 8.30)
WED
Years 5 & 6, Prayer Group (10.55 – 11.15)
Wind Group (10.5511:15)
THU Years 5 & 6, Hockey Club (7.50 - 8.20, Sp. H)
Years 5 & 6, Chess Club
Years 5 & 6, Recreational Netball
Schola Cantorum (by invitation)
Years 5 & 6, Football Club
String Group
Years 5 & 6, Running Club (Astro)
(16.15 – 17.00)
Equestrian Riding (16.00 –17.00)
Year 6, ESTA Tennis Coaching (16.15 - 17.15)
Young Voices Choir (16.15 - 17.00, until January)
Years 5 & 6, Art Club (16.15 - 17.00)
Years 5 & 6, LAMDA Lessons (30-minute lesson between 16.15 - 16.45)
Equestrian Riding (16.00 –17.00)
Pony Stars (16.30 – 17.30)
Years 5 & 6, Drama Club (16.15 - 17.00)
Years 5 & 6, Hockey Club (16.15 - 17.30)
Equestrian Riding (16.00 –17.00)
Years 5 & 6, Ballet Dance (16.15 - 17.15)
Year 5, ESTA Tennis Coaching (16.15 - 17.15)
Years 5 & 6, Art Club (16.15 - 17.00)
Year 5, Swim Squad (15.45 - 16.45)
Year 6, Swim Squad (16.45 - 17.30)
Equestrian Riding (16.00 –17.00)
Years 5 & 6 Frisbee Club (16.15 - 17.00)
Chamber Choir
FRI
Touch Typing
Years 5 & 6, Netball Club (16.15 - 17.30)
Equestrian Riding (16.00 –17.00)
Pony Stars (16.00 – 17.00)
Schola Cantorum (16:30 –17:30, by invitation)
(17.00-18.00)
Year 5 & 6, LAMDA Lessons (30 -minute lesson between 16.45 - 17.45)
Years 5 & 6, Street Dance (17.15 - 18.15)
Menu—w/c Monday 13th October 2025
Hot lunches include a selection of family favourites and suitable alternatives for children with allergies and intolerances.
Diwali Menu Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
Soup
Main
Soup of the day Soup of the day Soup of the day
Pulled Pork Mexican Tacos with a selection of Dips and Cheese
Vegetarian Smokey Bean Chimichangas
Pasta Bar
Pasta with Tomato & Basil or Carbonara Sauce
Southern Fried or Grilled Piri Piri Chicken
Sticky BBQ Cauliflower Wings and Corn Riblets
Pasta with Tomato & Basil or Cheesy Pesto Sauce
Slow Roasted Beef Lasagne with a Mozzarella Top
Spinach Butternut and Feta Gnocchi Bake
Pasta with Tomato & Basil Sauce
Mulligatawny Soup Soup of the day
Freshly
Cari Poule (Mauritian Chicken Curry)
Aloo Gobhi Adraki (Potato & Cauliflower with Ginger)
