Godstowe News: Autumn Term, 30th September

Godstowenews

Autumn Term 30th September 2022

Key Dates for next week

3rd October 6th October

U8 U11 Cross Country Relay (away)

Main School Activities Day

7th October

2 30pm Lodge Harvest Festival, Recital Hall

4 30pm Student Recital

7pm U12/U13 Swimming ESSA relays (away)

8th October

U10 A&B Netball (away)

A letter from the Headmistress

It was a joy to host Friday Assembly this morning for our ‘back to front mufti day’ as we came together to raise money for SKSN and I am looking forward to hearing the final total shortly. Another host of awards and monitor badges for Music followed and well done to Alice G for her winning artwork, which is very accomplished

I visited Downe House this week with Mrs Reynolds and whilst I thoroughly enjoyed the trip on so many levels, by far the best part was meeting the large group of old Godstowe students who came flying over to meet us. What a group of accomplished, polite, happy and grateful girls It was good to see them all thriving in their next chapters and to hear them excitedly talking about how much they had enjoyed their time at Godstowe Whilst I had not previously met any of the girls who came up to chat, I felt proud to be part of this vast network of very likeable high achievers!

My thanks once again to Pete who came to speak on behalf of SKSN on Wednesday this week

The video that he showed us was very emotive and what an inspiring project. I do hope we can continue to raise as much money as we can to purchase the washbags filled with essential items Our Wednesday assembly was a real success and I know it had a big impact on the girls and their compassionate natures it certainly made me sit on the edge of my seat and only want to help and visit!

I wish you all a very good weekend and I’m getting ready to attend the FoG Race Night tonight with a table of Staff happy days and I’m sure there will be photos to share next week!

McQuaid Memorial Garden

Lodge had a very exciting time this Wednesday, when each year group took part in a Perform! drama workshop The children went on a magical adventure to rescue Merlin's sword from Morgan Le Fay's castle, learning how to fly on broomsticks and make magic potions on the way Great fun was had by all!

This week Nursery have enjoyed lots of exciting learning Some favourites have been baking smiley face pizzas, making tennis rackets for our sound of the week ‘t’, exploring shapes and cutting skills and also making some amazing Penguin One Penguins to add to our Number Zoo. The children are trying hard to learn the songs for Harvest and are hoping that you may come and watch them perform next week Finally they enjoyed a visit from Perform!, who took us on a great drama adventure!

This week in Beginners we have been thinking about all the brilliant actions we can do with our strong and healthy bodies We can run, hop, skip, jump and dance! We had fun trying out the actions and then having a go at hearing and writing some of the sounds in the words. In Phonics, we are enjoying learning our new sounds and we are listening out for them in words throughout the day We also really enjoyed doing some woodland counting this week, using our careful counting skills in the woods and then doing some art with the treasure we collected We also loved having a special drama workshop this week, using our imaginations along with our listening and acting skills.

At play times, Lodge children have really been enjoying the two new sandpits kindly donated by FOG. Thank you very much!

There are lots of FoG events coming up therefore lots of opportunities to fundraise for our amazing school.

We are very much looking forward to our Harvest Festival next Friday at 2 30pm and hope to see many parents there

Kindergarten have extended their work on more than/less than by looking at the symbols used for this topic They have enjoyed using the ‘Hungry Crocodile’ to aid their understanding In Geography, we have explored different types of homes across the globe, discussing how their design is influenced by climate To support this topic, the children have magically transformed a brown paper bag into their very own ‘home’.

Kindergarten and Transition enjoyed an assembly by Mrs Gommo this week, on working together as a team, ably assisted by Miss George and Mrs Kiri.

This week, Transition have been studying the work of Klimt in their Art lessons, and have been using metallic paint to create their own versions of 'The Tree of Life' In History lessons, Transition have been enjoying finding out more about the Victorians. This week, they have been learning about life at a Victorian school, comparing it to life at Godstowe Things have definitely changed for the better!

Thank you for your support for our charity Mufti Day today It has been lovely to see the children in their bright colours

Claire Gillett, Head of Lodge Hannah Smart, Head of Nursery

WeeklyAwards

Boarders of the Week

NationalOnlineSafety

Highlands Turner Walker IC

Pretty W Annabelle B

Duchess N

Friday Badges

IH

IM

A.R

Bee M

Chloe B Atiya S

Aadhya L

Artwork of the Week

Alice G

Typing

Beginner Advanced

Yasmin S Neeva P Athena L

Sports Stars

Clementine S

Taliya A Valentina B Una H Millie B Alice L S

House Points

1st: 2nd: 3rd: 4th:

We are proud to be a certified school for Online Safety for the second year running As part of our commitment to keeping children and young people safe online, the staff have undertaken CPD accredited online courses. Online safety continues to be taught every half term in the ICT lessons and the children are kept constantly up to date with how to stay safe online

As with everything we do at Godstowe, it is important that parents and guardians work with the school to take an active role in teaching children about online dangers Therefore we are asking all parents and guardians to create a NOS account and hope that you find this comprehensive resource useful and we look forward to working with you to continue to keep our children safe online

Click on the image to register your account and view their fantastic resources

Doyoufollowuson

We have accounts on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and all areas of the school are covered from Nursery and Lodge, to Main School, to Music, Boarding and Sport.

We would love for you to follow along, like and comment on our posts as we show you an insight to our daily lives at Godstowe

Pankhurst Franklin Seacole Adlington

McQuaidMemoryGarden

Over the past few years we have been developing a Memory Garden in Nursery, in memory of Mrs McQuaid who taught many children during her time in Nursery It is now really developing and we would like to invite any children and families that knew Mrs McQuaid to visit the garden at any time and remember their time with her Children that knew Mrs McQuaid are also welcome to add a plant to the beds if they would like to add their own part to her memory garden We are sure that Mrs McQuaid would love this space, as she loved gardening

A big thank you to Mark, our gardener, who has put a lot of effort into this special project

@GodstoweSchool/GodstoweSchool www.godstowe.org@godstoweprepschool SocialMedia?

Godstowe'sWashbagProject2022

Today was our "Back to. Front" Mufti day raising money for SKSN school to be able to provide the children with washbags

Pete Gill from Indiability came into our assembly on Wednesday and showed the children a video on how our previous efforts had impacted the children at SKSN residential school

View the video here: Godstowe and SKSN

MrsRosieLakesay,"Amassive,massivethankyouisduetoyoufrom thebottomofmyheart.Wehavecurrentlyraisedover£2200!Soas youcanseewearegettingvery,veryclosetothetargetof£2500to beabletobuyawashbagforeverysinglechildintheSKSNschool.

IfIknowGodstowe,we'llbetherebynextweek!Iknowthatmanyof youhavenotyethadthechangetodonatebutintendtodosooverthe weekend.TherewillalsobebucketsavailableattheRaceNight tonightaswell letsgetthosefinal30bags!"

If you would still like to donate, please do so via this link: Godstowe's Washbag Project 2022

Boarders'Corner MovinguptoaSeniorHouse byLydiaandDuchess

It was really nerve-racking on the first day of term because moving up to a Senior House is a big step; from later bedtimes to meeting new friends and staff, there is a lot to learn!

There are exceptionally high standards and expectations as well as new responsibilities. Our dorm is the Duty Dorm this week which means we have lots of chores to do in the morning, such as saying Grace at breakfast and emptying the dishwasher.

Dorm Scores encourage us to get to bed on time and to keep our dorms neat and tidy. If you get less than 25 points in a week, the whole dorm is on Sanction which means going to bed half an hour earlier!! However, if the dorm gets more than 35 points, we get to stay up later on a Wednesday which gives us lots of time to really enjoy the House Treat (it’s chocolate and sweets this week!).

So far, we think it is great to be in a Senior House and we can’t wait for the weekend!

SportsSnippets

Rebecca Turner, Director of Sport

It has been a busy week for sport!

Our cross country runners have been to Gayhurst to compete in their annual race The girls did brilliantly with our U8’s having their first experience of a cross country fixture. Thank you to Mrs Sloggett for taking the girls and Mrs MacDougall for scoring the event

The U10s had their first fixture of the season against Maltman’s Green It was lovely to see the girls put the skills they have learnt in lessons to the test Although both teams won their matches the match itself was relatively even with most of the play in the centre third However when we were in possession of the ball Godstowe were able to convert their chances in the D

We have been invited to Berkhamstead’s Bee Netball tournament Saturday 8th October so keep your eyes peeled for information about that!

On Wednesday our U11C&D had a lovely afternoon of netball at Heatherton Prep during their double PE lesson on Wednesday For some girls it was their first time playing a netball match and they were amazing ambassadors for Godstowe and played brilliantly The C team won convincingly and the D team unfortunately lost but everyone had great fun

To finish off the week a group of girls travelled to Lambrook to take part in their annual biathlon It was an incredibly exciting day filled with delicious packed lunches and snacks and that was before we got on the minibus! The event was run by individual chip timers which the girls attached to their ankle on arrival. The girls had to swim 100m and run 1 5km

The U10s went first and we waited with anticipation for the first Godstowe girl to come to the transition zone All the girls were absolute superstars and it was clear to see that they really enjoyed themselves The U11s were next and again, smashed it like the U10s A fantastic afternoon and we look forward to going next year Individual results will be available next week

And finally HUGE good luck to Miss Hill and parents who are taking on the London Marathon on Sunday!

Doyouneedababysitter?

I'm Harley and I am currently working as a GAP in Lodge and the PE department I previously worked at Godstowe in 2019 and got a lot of experience in childcare and babysitting.

I am 22 with a car and clean license. I'm happy to work evenings, weekends and holidays. If you are interested, please email me on harley@moriarty.co.za