Leweston Life
Autumn 2019
Leweston Prep was delighted to celebrate the opening of our new Padua Hall this term.
LEWESTON EQUESTRIAN TEAM WIN NSEA SOUTH WEST RPL TITLE FOR THE FOURTH TIME!
The impressive new building supports the School’s continued expansion with four new classrooms as well as space for the whole School community. The Hall was opened by Dr and Mrs Guy, long-term supporters of the School, and blessed by Monseigneur Robert Draper of the Sacred Heart and St Adhelm’s Church, Sherborne. Parents, pupils and staff then enjoyed a circus skills party and even the poor weather couldn’t dampen their spirits.
There was a lot to celebrate for the Leweston equestrian squad this term as not only have they won the NSEA South West RPL title for the fourth time but with 275 points accumulated during the 2018/19 season, they achieved the highest number of points of all the Schools competing in the National School Equestrian Association. Dr Geoffrey and Mrs Kate Guy very kindly invited the team and their parents to their new world class training centre near Beaminster for a tour of the amazing facilities and an inspirational show jumping coaching session with Eventer Chris Burton. Chris is ranked No. 3 in the World FEI Eventing rankings and has competed at two World Games, and two Olympics, winning a team Bronze
CIRCUS CELEBRATIONS OPEN THE NEW PREP HALL!
at Rio in 2016. Chris was keen to share his knowledge and expertise with eight of our riders during their coaching session. Well done to Maria S, Sacha GD, Matilda J, Sophie S, Issy C, Flora M, Rosie G and Phoebe S for riding and to the whole squad for your contribution to an amazing result for the School. Further congratulations goes to Issy C who was named the new National Preliminary Dressage Champion after winning the Dressage ride-off at the NSEA National Schools Competition. at Addington. This was a significant win in a very competitive class. Our grateful thanks to Dr and Mrs Guy, Chris and Bek Burton and the team at LCMF for your generosity and hospitality.
STUDENTS VISIT LEWESTON’S SISTER SCHOOL IN NEPAL Leweston’s connection with Jana Jyoti School in Nepal started over thirty years ago when, then member of staff, Liz Rutter and a team of Sixth Formers came across the school whilst trekking. Since then, Leweston’s pupils Weraised had afunds good for start the Hockey season, withto have thetoschool and been on trips visit. A number of former pupilsWarminster, have also spent their gap some great matches against years working Girls, at Jana Sherborne StJyoti. Mary’s Shaftesbury and
Hockey
Clayesmore. Proceeds from the pupils’ Tuck Shop have been collected andAwe are have specialdelighted mention that goesthey to the 1stsponsored XI who areAshish, a former Jana Jyoti student, through University in Nepal. unbeaten in all of their games so far, and also to
Netball
Both the U16 and U19 netball teams had a number of closely contested matches in their respective North Dorset Tournaments, either winning or losing many of their games by a single goal.
the U12 andYears U13 10 teams eachout hadtoimpressive Students from andwho 11 flew visit thisvictories Octoberagainst and were learn aboutThe theU13s St excited Mary’s, to Shaftesbury. developments there whilst meeting and working with also won all of their matches against Sherborne some of the students. They trekked the mountains, Prep, Wells Cathedral School and Stonar. helped in the school’s English classes and aided in some of the school’s building work. The trip was a fantastic opportunity to see first hand where the money raised at Leweston is going and the effect it is having on so many lives.
AUTUMN CONCERT AND BLESSING OF THE NEW MUSIC SCHOOL
LEWESTON HOSTS FIRST BOYS’ CROSS COUNTRY RACES
We were delighted to welcome family and friends to our Autumn Concert and the blessing of the new Music School in November. The concert featured performances by Music Scholars, instrumentalists, and examination candidates. Visitors also toured the new facilities.
Leweston made history this term as we hosted our inaugural boy’s Cross Country Races! Congratulations to all of the competitors who took part in the event. Boys in Year 5 and up from Leweston, Millfield, John Colfox and Sexey’s raced in slightly soggy conditions. Well done to the Senior team who won their race and Sam S and Archie C who took individual medals in their age group.
Leweston is delighted to be shortlisted for Outstanding Musical Initiative in the Music and Drama Education Awards. The nomination recognises the innovative Staff Music and Mindfulness Scheme that Dr Milestone launched in 2018. The vision for the scheme is to offer music lessons to staff, both academic and support, as a way of promoting well-being, mindfulness and CPD. At inception Dr Milestone said ‘my hope was that it would also promote social relationships within the School and improve staff output and engagement and therefore, ultimately, pupil outcomes’.
Football
Rugby
The Year 3-9 boys have had a fantastic half term of football fixtures. They have played in several tournaments as well as friendly fixtures against Perrott Hill, Clayesmore, Castle Court, Sunninghill and Yarrells.
EIGHT LEWESTON STUDENTS’ QUESTIONS CHOSEN ATHLETES REPRESENT GB AT THE WORLD BY OXPLORE 16 pupils in Years 7 to 13 took part in Oxplore, a live stream debate hosted by Oxford University. The students had the opportunity to vote and to submit questions on the topic ‘Is School the best place to learn?’ Congratulations to Oliver D, Year 7, whose question “What new subjects do you think will be studied in the future?” was picked up on the live stream, and to Rosa, Year 8, who won Best Question of the Day with “Should Schools put more emphasis on students asking questions rather than teaching the answers?” Caitlin W, Year 7, wrote about the opportunity: On 7 October, a few students took part in the 2019 Oxplore live stream. A panel of four judges from Oxford University discussed the big question “Is School the best place to learn?” The live stream consisted of a picture round, two quiz rounds and a lot of discussion about the question. In the picture round, each judge picked a picture and described what was going on in it. The quiz rounds were not based on facts but on opinion. All the way through we were sending in questions relating to the big question. About half-way through one of our questions was read out to the panel. The question was “What subjects will we have in the future that we do not have now?”. This was really interesting because one of the judges studied schools from the past and so she could explain that in the past they had whole subjects for something that might be a topic within a subject, for example magnetism. At four o’clock the question entries closed and the panel decided the most thought provoking question and we won. The prizes were: some book vouchers for the School and a goody bag which consisted of a pen, wristband and jellybeans for each of us. Overall it was an inspirational experience and I hope we do it again next year and I would like to thank Mrs Dencher for organising it all.
BIATHLE AND TRIATHLE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Eight athletes from Leweston represented Great Britain at the World Biathle and Triathle Championships during half term in St Petersburg, Florida. A massive well done to Sam S, Lucie G, Vivien T, Ginny B, Archie C, Darcy D, Nikita M and Charlie O achieved some excellent results including two Team Gold Medals. (Results are available in full on the School website).
SUPERB RUNNING AT THE INTER-HOUSE CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS Congratulations to the 169 pupils who completed in this year’s Inter-House Cross Country Championships. All competitiors ran 2.5k to win points for their Houses. Well done to the top three girls: First: Darcy D (Year 9) 10 minutes 51 seconds Second: Lucy B (Year 8) 11 minutes 13 seconds Third: Lucie G (Year 11) 11 minutes 27 seconds and the top three boys: First: Archie C (Year 9) 9 minutes 27 seconds Second: Sam S (Year 12) 10 minutes 31 seconds Third: Matthew P (Year 9) 10 minutes 58 seconds
Leweston enjoyed hosting Millfield, Sir John Colfox and Hugh Sexey Middle School at our inaugural Boy’s Cross-Country Races. A competitive event, with Colfox taking the honours in the Junior race, whilst Leweston won Team Gold in both the Minor & Open age groups.
FINE ART AND DESIGN TRIP TO LONDON Pupils in Years 10 to 13 visited London and attended various Exhibitions on a trip at the end of half term. Design students visited the V&A and the Natural History Museum whilst Fine Art students went to The White Cube to see Damien Hirst’s Mandalas Exhibition and The Antony Gormley Exhibition at The Royal Academy of Arts which included his sculptures, installations, drawings and sketchbook works. They also visited The National Portrait Gallery to see the Exhibition of Elizabeth Peyton, a female contemporary portrait painter. At The Natural History Museum the students researched and drew from life, especially enjoying the minerals and fossil cases. Pupils also viewed the Museum of the Moon, a touring artwork by UK artist Luke Jerram. This six-metre model features meticulously detailed NASA imagery of the lunar surface, ambient moonlight and an evolving soundscape. After lunch the group toured the Victoria and Albert Museum viewing 20th Century furniture, stage and theatre design, and the beautifully lit jewellery exhibition. Before heading back to School pupils took in the fabulous and historic Mary Quant Exhibition. From miniskirts to vibrant tights and
makeup, pupils discovered how Mary Quant launched a fashion revolution on the British high street, with over 200 garments and accessories, including unseen pieces from the designer’s personal archive. Hannah Lee, Year 13, has written about her experience at the Antony Gormley Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts: “Visiting the Antony Gormley exhibition at the Royal Academy was genuinely unforgettable. In the courtyard as we entered the academy, was a life-size newborn iron baby, placed off-centre and almost as if people could trip over it. The vulnerability and the honesty of this baby lying naked with raindrops covering its back made me very emotional and I couldn’t look away. All of the work was so powerful and I felt quite overwhelmed as I walked around. Gormley deals with human form in terms of ‘vessels’ rather than beings and I found it fascinating, the incredible literal weight of his work and the weight of meaning behind them is truly beautiful and I feel very inspired.”
‘RESILIENT ME’ WORKSHOP Years 10 and 11 took part in a ‘Resilient Me’ workshop this term. The day focused on managing stress and revision techniques and was split into two themes; The Circus of Life and Prepare to Pass.
Year 10 and 11 began by looking at self-belief and examining their own reasons for wanting success in their exams, followed by a comprehensive set of revision techniques that offered something to suit everyone.
The Circus of Life focused on understanding and managing teenage stress, mental health awareness, and building resilience. The students were introduced to a whole new way of thinking about mental health, personal wellbeing and their future development.
Pupils thought about organisation, including the study/ life balance and pacing with a rigorous look at how to maximise the impact of every revision session to boost exam results.
In the afternoon the students took part in the second half of the workshop, ‘Prepare to Pass: Perfect Preparation, Radiant Results!’ They were asked to focus on the key areas of selfbelief, organisation, and stress management, equipping them with a complete revision toolkit.
The students had lots of fun throughout the day whilst thinking about the key theme of resilience.
LEWESTON PREP HOST FIRST HOME RUGBY FIXTURE
This term rugby was introduced to, what is already, a very busy sporting calendar. Boys from Year 3 upwards participated in our first competitive and non competitive fixtures and, at their match at Port Regis, the U10 and U11 players were lucky enough to meet England rugby star Lewis Moody after the game. The U10 and U11’s also hosted our first home fixture! With Mr Cannon, Leweston’s Head of Rugby and Housemaster, leading the boys’ training and development we look forward to the future.
PARENT WELCOME MORNING
Leweston Prep pupils had a fabulous time in lessons at the Parent Welcome Morning. They got to show their parents what they have been working on and participate in games, puzzles, problem solving, spelling and times tables alongside their family, putting their parents’ skills to the test!
SANTA’S HELPERS COLLECT PREP’S LETTERS Prep pupils had a very special visit from Santa’s helpers kindly flown in by the Royal Navy to collect the children’s letters to Santa. Despite the wind and rain Santa received every child’s letter. A massive thank you to RNAS Yeovilton for organising this fantastic opportunity.
CHILDREN IN NEED Pupils in Nursery to Year 6 ditched their uniforms and donned colourful, dotty outfits for Children in Need, raising funds with £1 donations, a sale of home-baked cakes and a 3.5 mile ramble! Well done to everyone for your fantastic efforts and raising an amazing £385 for charity!
YEAR 6 EXPLORE COMPUTING CODING TECHNIQUES This term Year 6 have been developing their computational thinking and coding skills in their Computing lessons. They have explored how to design, write and debug programs using small robots (Ozobots) and learned to predict and investigate blocks of code that form algorithms. This prepares them for more advanced aspects of physical computing using Micro:bits and Raspberry Pi’s in Years 7, 8 and 9. By working in pairs, they learnt how to confidently detect and correct errors in programs - a key skill in Computing!
YEAR 3 AND 4 D.T. TOPIC WEEK Year 3 and 4 had an exciting Design Technology Topic Week where they went through the tricky process of creating volcanoes using recycled materials. Despite challenges, they persevered and felt a great sense of pride and achievement when they finally got to explode their volcanoes using bicarbonate of soda and vinegar!
PREP RAISES MONEY FOR MEN’S HEALTH AT THEIR INTER-HOUSE CROSS COUNTRY Mr Ainsworth and Mr Cannon took part in Movember, sporting moustaches for the month, to raise funds and awareness for the Movember Foundation which tackles some of the most significant health issues faced by men. Prep pupils supported their fundraising at their annual Inter-House Cross Country wearing some fabulous moustaches, and donating £1, towards the charity. Thank you to everyone who helped Leweston to raise an amazing £258 and well done for running so brilliantly.
UPLIFTING CAROL SERVICES END AN EVENTFUL TERM!
What better way to close the Autumn Term than with our festive Carol Service in the beautiful Sherborne Abbey and the Prep service in our School Chapel. Thank you to Prep pupils, Cantemus, Schola Cantorum, the Sixth Form Choir and all of the soloists and readers for such stunning performances, and a big thank you to Sherborne Abbey and Canon Eric Woods.
Follow us for the latest news @Leweston
Leweston School, Sherborne, Dorset, DT9 6EN www.leweston.co.uk | 01963 211015 | admissions@leweston.dorset.sch.uk
@LewestonSchool @leweston1891