RSM Chronicle Winter 2016

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WINTER 2016

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INSIDE Year 4’s Visit To The Hindu Mandir London Sights At Legoland RSM Christmas Concerts ‘Our Wonderful World’

An Hour Of Code Wild And Wonderful At Wisley Portsmouth Sports Tour Visit To Hampton Court Palace

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From The Headmaster I love the Autumn term because with the slow change from late summer warmth through to the chill of the winter months, such a diversity of activities take place. From the fun of the summer French residential, through to the Christmas Concerts, with a plethora of outings, sports fixtures, music, art and dance activities in-between this really is a jam packed ‘high octane’ term.

Firsts this term include the opening of our FOSMA eco garden, EDEN. We also had the first UK Choir tour during half term and we were delighted when our U11 girls’ hockey team became district champions at the East Grinstead tournament for the first time. So many other events have been enjoyed and in the following pages we are pleased to share these with you.

Marcus Culverwell Headmaster

As ever, it is the wonderful teachers, teaching assistants and support staff who make this happen and I thank them again most sincerely for their dedication to the enjoyment of the children and the success of the school.

I hope that you enjoy flicking through the following pages.

THE RGS GODFREY SEARLE CHOIR UNEARTH A SOLDIERS MOVING LETTER Mrs Glynne Jones unearthed some letters in the archives of Godfrey Searle which were particularly poignant at Remembrance.

George Garton, a young chorister at St Mary’s church, wrote to Godfrey Searle in February 1915 to explain why he would not be able to attend Old Boys’ Day. He had joined the 37th Brigade (his division was known as ‘The Buffs’) and was in the middle of training prior to being deployed on the Western front.

He writes: ‘I am very sorry I cannot be present on Old Boys’ Day at Reigate. I should like very much to be there but it is impossible. All weekend passes are stopped now except very special ones indeed. We are getting close to the time when we go abroad as we expect to be in France by the end of March. The rumour is about that we are leaving this district for Aldershot about the 20th of this month.’

The letter is beautifully written and continues with details of George’s daily routine with the regiment.

Sadly, just three months later George’s Mother wrote to Godfrey Searle, including in her letter this extract from a letter sent by the Chaplin of 37th Brigade to her.

‘I am indeed sorry to say that George has been killed in action but in a most famous Charge of the Buffs, one that was really heroic – one company after another went up over the parapet in waves and alas were stricken. Nine out of ten officers were killed but it can with truth be said that everyman who took part in that charge knew they would almost certainly be killed – yet never hesitated. Your son was such. I knew him well and knew what an influence for good he was. He helped my colleagues and myself in many ways and was a noble example of a Christian life. He lies with his comrades near Vermelles.’

We shared these extracts with the children in an assembly as they bring home the fact that these were real youngsters, just like our

children, who grew up and went off to war, but never returned. The sacrifice of these young men, and the subsequent sacrifices of lives in other wars, has allowed us to enjoy the peace, the democracy and the security which we have in our country today.

History of the Godrey Searle Choristers and Reigate St Mary’s School In 1898, Godfrey Searle, then a young stockbroker and son of a former Mayor of Reigate, was invited to become ‘Superintendent’ of the Choristers of the choir of st Mary’s, Reigate. For the next 60 years, until his death in 1958, he trained boys’ voices and encouraged their sporting activities.

During that time he acquired the playing field attached to Sunnyside, the large house opposite the church and eventually owned the house itself. He lived there with his two sisters and also used Sunnyside as the headquarters of the choir. During the second world war the choristers sang at St Paul’s cathedral on one Sunday each month, the cathedral choir having been evacuated to Truro. The Reigate boys were also invited to sing at many important national services at St Paul’s, including the celebration of V.E. day.

When Searle died in 1958, he left his considerable wealth in trust to form a preparatory and choir school housed at Sunnyside which is the origin of Reigate St Mary’s Preparatory and Choir School. Reigate Grammar school has since taken over the running of the school and in November 2011 absorbed the former Godfrey Searle Choir trust.

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Our Assemblies 5F ASSEMBLY: DRAGON’S DEN

6W ASSEMBLY: THE TUDORS

5F based their assembly on the television show Dragon’s Den and their research into this term’s topic of Ice Worlds. The entire script and order was written by the children and evaluated by four “Dragons” from Reigate Grammar. As well as selling their Arctic innovations, the children presented Selfishness, Courage, Dishonesty and Teamwork.

For 6 W’s Assembly everyone dressed in their Tudor outfits and performed a playlet about Tudor times emphasising how life was so very different back then.

6B ASSEMBLY: HENRY’S WIVES We are studying ‘The Terrible Tudors’ in Year 6 and paying particular attention to the mean old monarch Henry VIII and his collection of wonderful wives.

6B had a great time acting out his life story this morning, and couldn’t resist a bit of dressing up!

6GW ASSEMBLY: THE TUDORS 6GW’s Assembly was entertaining for everyone and we really enjoyed putting it together. All of us agree that it was a success. We based it on all we have been learning about in class such as the Tudors, yeast and how it makes bread rise. In our Tudor topic we had been learning about Tudor illness and how to cure them so we created a sketch based on the TV show called ‘Good Morning’!

It was our last Assembly at RSM and we had great fun doing it.

Annabel Thomsen and Charlotte Springett

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YEAR 1 TELL THE TIME

A Greenshoots Day

Year 1 had great fun playing the game ‘What’s the time Mr Wolf ?’ to consolidate their understanding of time, particularly o’clock. The children were very excited with the idea of making their very own analogue clock.

Their clocks came in really useful when telling the time during the game and the school day. Fortunately, Mr Wolf managed to escape being caught!

Making new friends

Gingerbread making

YEAR 1 VISIT WISLEY Year 1 had a very enjoyable day out at Wisley in October to launch their term’s topic work on ‘Wild and Wonderful Gardens’. The children learnt a lot about plants and different types of trees and because the weather was so wonderful they were able to see first-hand all of Wisley’s splendour.

The children also had great fun making crowns out of Autumn leaves and enjoyed exploring plants within the glasshouse and were amazed by the different climates that they experienced within this setting. The children were very excited with the idea of planting an acorn and many have grown into saplings!

Our Gingerbread people

vest ing Har Celebrat

Making Gingerbread peo ple

me ehog ga A Hedg

Looking at frost on a lea f

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Year 2 Visit Legoland The children in Year 2 had a wonderful time going to Lego Land for their topic, London’s Stunning Starter. They were amazed and excited by all of the mini structures of London and were able to name quite a few which was fantastic.

They also enjoyed a Science workshop on forces.

In groups the children designed a vehicle out of Lego that they thought would move quickly down a ramp. Needless to say there was much competition and cheering as they launched their vehicle. Alas there could only

OUR FOSMA TEAM We are so grateful for the hard work from our FOSMA team. This year they have funded Brian Moses the Author who came in to inspire Reception to Year 2 with his poetry and creativity and of course our wonderful Outdoor Classroom and New Garden area.

be one winner per class, but in my view they were all winners on this outing as their behaviour was impeccable and they were a credit to the school. Well done Year 2.

They have organised the fantastic Fireworks and a wonderful Christmas Fair. The Christmas Fair made a profit of £1,845.51 this year which is one of our best ever results for this event.

CHOIR TOUR For the first time in its recent history, the Godfrey Searle Choir embarked on a tour of cathedrals. The boys have sung one off evensong services at Chichester and Arundel but they have not travelled away together before and this proved to be a great deal of fun.

In the October half term, choristers combined forces with RGS Polyphony and visited Wells, Salisbury and Sherborne. We

stayed in ‘The Close’ at Salisbury in a stunning location, Sarum College, with wonderful views of the cathedral. The choristers were able to experience what life would be like singing in one of these beautiful buildings as a member of a cathedral choir, warming up in their choir rooms and being allowed ‘back stage’. It felt very grand and the music making was extremely rewarding. We will definitely be doing this again.

The Christmas period has been as busy as ever, a highlight for the senior boys being a special evening at The Guildhall to sing at The Worshipful Company of Cutlers’ Boar’s Head Feast.

A royal feast was served to The Lord Mayor of London and 600 guests, amid much pomp and pageantry. The boys were part of the procession as a boar’s head was brought in to the chamber on a platter – not a job for the fainthearted.

This is something for the more junior choristers to look forward to next year!

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YEAR 1 SHAPES Year 1 have been very creative when using 2D shapes to create their own pictures. It was wonderful to see the children think of such imaginative ideas for these. They had considered carefully what shapes would be appropriate, discussed their properties and produced some amazing outcomes!

YEAR 1 ART MAKING Year 1 had a wonderful time creating ‘Secondary Colours’ from red, blue and yellow paint.

This process involved mixing two colours to create a new colour and the children could not believe their eyes when they saw the new colours they had created. Many thought it was magical! The children then went on to carry out some mark-making techniques using a variety of resources, including lolly sticks, leaves, pipe cleaners and many more.

YEAR 1 BUNNY Year 1 thought about all the wild and wonderful things they might see in a garden. They then went outside to see if they could use their senses within own school garden to observe what was out there. To their surprise they came across a trail of leaves, lettuce leaves! Who could they possibly belong too? They followed the leaves to a shed and found bunny!!

Here are the children with bunny and it looks like he has made the shed his home but as Rory pointed out they normally live in burrows!

YEAR 1 SYMMETRY This term Year 1 have been exploring symmetry and its place in our everyday life. The children thoroughly enjoyed exploring the symmetrical patterns on butterflies and used this as inspiration to create their own patterns using a variety of resources.

YEAR 1 PLANTS Year 1 were surrounded by tissue paper, pipe cleaners, coloured card and many other resources to design their very own plant. The children embraced this activity with great enthusiasm and it was wonderful to hear them talking to one another about the different parts of the plant and their function.

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Kindergarten: ‘Our Wonderful World’ Kindergarten have enjoyed learning all about ‘Our Wonderful World’ this term. During this time they enjoyed being Pirates for a day and went on a treasure hunt where they discovered a whole chest full of treasure buried in the grounds of the school! They had fun making and decorating their individual chests in order to divide out the spoils of their hunt.

YEAR 3’s FAB FINISH Yesterday we had our first Fabulous Finish, we did a poem for the start and end. I enjoyed the poems and we also did a fable. 3P did ‘The lion and the mouse’ and ‘The tortoise and the hare’.

3M did ‘The country mouse and the town mouse’ and ‘The boy who cried wolf ’. I was a narrator; I was a bit nervous but after I was ok. We made our own masks and really it was fun.

Jaya Patel Today was our Fabulous Finish. We acted stories and poems with 3M in the church hall. All our parents came to watch. I enjoyed acting out my play, I had FUN. Riya Musthyala

When learning all about dinosaurs they built and exploded Volcanoes. They all enjoyed dressing as explorers and becoming Palaeontologists when they uncovered dinosaur bones in the Nature Reserve.

They even managed to reconstruct a T rex from all the bones found in our grounds.

Year 3 Fabulous Finish was great fun, we did some rhymes, plays and read some fables.

Benjamin Fraser

Kindergarten had fantastic fun learning about the polar regions. They had an igloo in their classroom and even built a camp fire to cook their fish! They enjoyed playing with foam and making snowmen. They also explored how heat melts ice and learning about two Polar cubs who floated away from their mummy because global warming caused the ice to crack. Luckily their mummy found them and all was well. The highlight was Kindergarten’s Polar Party, when once again everyone came to school dressed up!

On Wednesday 7th December year threes Fabulous Finish took place in the church hall. Everyone did really well with their rolls and acting. My favourite part were the rhymes and fables. It went smoothly and that’s all thanks to teamwork. Thank you teachers.

Monty Robins

This term the children have been exploring ‘Our Wonderful World’, as part of this theme they celebrated ‘Talk Like a Pirate Day’ on the 19th September. The children and staff all came to school dressed as pirates, boarded their pirate ship in the classroom and went on a Treasure Hunt.

After following clues, they finally ended up in the den where they dug up a whole chest of gold coins and jewellery! They decorated their own treasure chests and took home their share of the treasure.

Elfie Kindergarten’s Elf on the Shelf turned up again on the 1st December. He has travelled every night to inform Santa about the behaviour of all the children in both Counting Crocodiles and Rhyming Rabbits. Elfie has been very mischievous and the children have enjoyed finding him every morning!

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COME AND HEAR ABOUT CHRISTMAS Parents and other family members came to hear about Christmas as children in Reception and Kindergarten quite literally spelt out the meaning of Christmas with a song for each letter whilst narrating the nativity along the way.

On the Wednesday 7th December weeks of hard work and preparation paid off with excited and eager children from Reception and Kindergarten telling us the story of Christmas. The aptly named ‘C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S spells Christmas!’ Saw the children acting out the Nativity, singing beautifully and playing instruments with gusto! Everyone worked really hard including the teachers. A BIG thank you must go to Mrs Whitehead and Mrs Wright for all their hard work with the songs.

“I liked it because I had to say “what about us.”

Joseph Dawes who played a sheep.

“I loved singing the innkeeper song.”

Isla Cleland who played an innkeeper’s wife.

“I liked singing – A Very Happy Christmas.”

Reeya Khemani

“I liked the bit when I rocked the Baby and sang the song to Him.” Charlotte Hutchings

“I liked the bit when we shaked the bells, Come and hear about Christmas.”

Feyi Onamusi

“I liked when the angels had a party when they were shaking the pompoms.”

Charlotte Lupinski

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YEARS 1 & 2 CHRISTMAS CONCERT UPPER SCHOOL CHRISTMAS CONCERT

On Wednesday 7th December 2016, children in Years 1 and 2 performed their Christmas play - Children of the World to a very appreciative audience. The traditional nativity setting of a humble stable is where the children brought the story of Jesus to life, through a wonderful arrangement of music, songs and dances, depicting the different ways Christmas is celebrated around the world, which included places such as Malawi (Africa), Poland, USA, Australia, China and Eire (Ireland). Everyone clapped heartily and joined in the festivities as the children demonstrated their truly remarkable timing, acting ability and commitment to a wonderful performance.

The standard of costumes was superb and truly reflected the whole spirit of Christmas as seen from afar. In particular, several members of staff should be praised for their particular flair with tailoring skills, creative backdrops and keeping the children in musical time.

When asked to comment on the play, this is what we heard the children say...

What did you enjoy?

“I enjoyed my solo.” Niccolo “I really enjoyed after the play – walking round the hall and thinking I’m a film star.” Sophia What was difficult?

“Saying my lines.” Alannah “Playing my clarinet.” Michael The best bits?

“Singing together.” Adeola “All of it!” George Who would you like to thank?

The children of Y1 and Y2 would like to thank all of their teaching staff and Mrs Whitehead for organising the play, music and the fantastic scenery.

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YEAR 3 LEARN ABOUT DIWALI

Year 4 Visit To The Hindu Mandir

Mrs Dutta visits Year 3 to teach us about Diwali, Monday 10th October 2016.

On Wednesday November 16th the whole of Year 4 went on a trip to the Hindu Swaminarayan Mandir. We went by coach all the wat to London to get there.

On the way we saw Wembley Stadium!

Mrs Dutta came in to speak to us about Diwali and read us the story about Diwali. It was a lovely story, I really liked it and it was very interesting.

Next we tried on some Indian clothes and did a dance, the dance had a meaning. I had a lot of fun.

Kester Buzzacott 3P We listened to a story about Rama and Sita who are two people that went to fight a ten headed monster. Mrs Dutta also bought in a few Indian dresses, called saris, for us to try on. After that we learnt a dance called “zoom zoom”.

Then she showed us some diva lamps and spoke about how Diwali is all about being happy, Diwali is the festival of light.

Luella Taylor 3P

YEAR 4’s INDIAN TOPIC On Wednesday I went on a flight to India with my class 4G! I was so excited the minute I strolled into the classroom.

Firstly, I had to get my passport checked and stamped. Next my compact yellow suitcase was placed in the luggage area.

We all got ready for the flight and I decided to sit next to marvellous Marley.

The amazing cabin crew then gave us safety instructions before we took off.

ZOOM ……….. off we vanished into the sky. It was an amazing view when you peered out of the window. I could see other huge aeroplanes, the massive runway and then fluffy clouds!

During the flight Marley and I cheerfully doodled in her Top Model activity book which I loved. Then it was time for yummy apple juice and biscuits. I was so hungry so enjoyed gobbling them up!

Just before we landed we watched a short interesting film about India. It was a fabulous flight!

Georgina Winters (4G)

The outside of the Mandir was picturesque and it was the same on the inside. The gardens were lovely, they nearly looked like mazes.

We had a clip board and a quiz and we went around the exhibition trying to answer them.

It was really fun. We even took part in a ceremony which was a lot like matins.

I really liked the trip because it was very decorative. I learned that people dress the gods and goddess statues every day. The burning incense smells amazing.

Rhianna Pricopie

We went to the Hindu temple on Wednesday. When we got inside we were split into groups and put our shoes away.

There was a guy who showed us around.

We saw a massive shrine and the carpets were very colourful. All the wood decoration was carved into lots of lovely shapes.

The temple had marble walls with statues of gods. I learnt that they give the temple lots for cleaning and take good care of it and burn incense to give off a nice smell.

I liked the trip because it was decorative and very large.

Ben Hoad

On Wednesday, 16 November I ran into school because Year 4 were going on a trip to the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Hindu Temple and I was so excited.

When we came into the classroom we handed out the sandwiches and fruit.

Then we went back into the playground to meet the other class. Once the other class came outside we slumped onto the bus and into our seats. We were going to the temple because we wanted to learn more about Hindus and India.

After we got there Year 4 stumbled off the bus. Next we all got into our groups (I was in Mrs Nicholson’s group). Once we were all in our groups we all walked inside. When we got inside there was a big scanner like the one they have at the airport. Then we had to take our shoes off and put them on the racks. After that we went through a little room with a god/goddess in the middle with gold and marble carving outside of it and there were also some paintings.

Next we went upstairs where all the shrines were. My group all had a little look at the shrines until they closed them off to change their clothes. Then we went back downstairs and into the exhibition. In the exhibition we had to answer loads of questions. After that we had our yummy lunch where there were also lots of other schools. Next, Year 4 all got back on the bus. (I sat next to Bridget.)

I think that this trip is a very fun trip and others will enjoy it very much!

Olivia Harris 4G

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Reception Visit The School Kitchen

RECEPTION BEE KEEPERS VISIT

On Tuesday 15th November 2016, the children were shown round by Chef Mike and Chef Viv and looked at the similarities and differences between the school kitchen and our kitchens at home.

As part of our topic ‘Yum! Yum!’ We were lucky enough to be visited be a Mr Gallo, a Beekeeper. Before Mr Gallo came to see us Reception discussed what they already knew about Bees and what they would like to find out. They recorded their questions and were engrossed by the information Mr Gallo shared. After the visit, we talked about what we had learnt and what we could remember. Lots of us listened incredibly well and remembered all sorts of facts. Well done Reception and a BIG thank you to Mr Gallo for taking the time to come and see us!

Here are some of the things we learnt…

‘Bees like flowers’ Sophie James ‘The bees carry pollen on their legs’ Andreea ‘Bees take pollen from the flowers’ They take it back to the hive and give it to the Queen Bee. Peter Lee ‘Bees get angry when their hive is open’ Anousha ‘If you want to keep bees, you have to speak to a beekeeper and they will help and teach you’ Oscar Clarke

‘YUM! YUM!’ After receiving surprise invitations through the post from their class teddies (Edward, Bertie and Edwina) Reception began their ‘Yum! Yum!’ topic with a Teddy Bear’s Picnic. The children brought in their favourite teddy, made honey sandwiches (a favourite with all teddies we understand!) and shared them on The Bund. As the term continued we had a visit from a Beekeeper, watched food as it changed and went mouldy (ergh!!) and explored how different foods taste. We

compared salty crisps with sweet honey and sour lemon. After half term we all visited the school kitchen where Viv and Mike showed us around and we were even able to have a peek inside the fridge.

We all agreed It’s a lot bigger than the ones in our homes! To finish the term off we made Mince Pies and Jam Tarts!

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VISITING AUTHOR BRIAN MOSES

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On the penultimate day of term the upper school pupils all flexed their mental agility in the annual Inter House General Knowledge Quiz. The children combined their brainpower and attempted to answer questions within their year groups on Music, Sport, Christmas, General Knowledge, Reigate St Mary’s and TV/Film.

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The pupils all enjoyed the fun afternoon and obviously the mandatory Inter House Dance-off !

The children demonstrated that enthusiasm, determination and teamwork can achieve fantastic things, or scores in this case!

Congratulations to Malcolmson who were the overall winners in what was a very close and high scoring contest throughout.

Well done children and thank you for all of your contributions from all of the Heads of House.

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For our marvellous middle we had a mini Ancient Greek Olympics. We had a running race and a chariot race, boxing and made a sacrifice and ate a Percy Pig sweet. It was great because we got a certificate. But that’s not all we made an oath to Zeus the God of Lightning. The real Greeks ran with no clothes but we wore togas. I had great fun, I was glad.

Jacob Lee In our marvellous middle we did ancient Olympics. We did chariot racing. We also did slow boxing and a running race. I had lots of fun. We even got a Percy Pig because we had to sacrifice an animal. Archie said that he didn’t have one so he got 2!

Emma Shipley

INTER HOUSE GENERAL KNOWLEDGE QUIZ 2016

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Year 3’s Marvellous Middle

For our marvellous middle we did the Ancient Greeks Olympics. I liked the chariot racing when I was the horse because I got to run very fast and my partner was Izzah. We also sacrificed Percy Pigs to the Gods because we didn’t have any real pigs to sacrifice.

Lizzie Fisher

HARVEST

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RSM Trip To Chateau La Baudonniere Dad’s voice sliced through my comfortable dream. “Ollie, wake up, get ready. Today is the school French trip.” I glanced through eyelids heavy as soggy sandbags at my alarm clock. It was 3 am. Oh no.

Suddenly I remembered why I was having to get out of my warm, cosy bed at this ridiculous time of day. The school French trip! A surge of excitement jolted me upright like a jack-in-the-box. Boing!

An hour later we were met by Mr Hollands and the other teachers at RSM and I gave my Dad a hug, left my case with the others and jumped aboard the coach. Soon we were aboard the ferry which was huge, modern and comfortable, and before we knew it we were powering across the English Channel.

Look out France, here we come”!

I played cards with Ollie Ford and Charlie Petersen-Jones to pass the time; the rest of the time I stared out of the window at the grey foamy sea and other ships as they passed by. For lunch I had Spaghetti Bolognese which was a bit lumpy. At last I truly appreciated my Mum’s cooking!

After a few hours we were safely back on dry land and travelling in a coach across the green and pretty landscape of Normandy, finally pulling into the grounds of the Chateau.

The first thing which struck me were all the animals roaming in the big garden – chickens, peacocks, rabbits, all seeming to live happily together in a grassy country paradise surrounded by deep woods and tall trees.

The Chateau looked dramatic – all pointy turrets and cream-coloured stone and quaint windows as if out of a fairy tale.

As we piled out of the coach we were met by two of the animateurs, our hosts for the week. They were very friendly and they took us for a tour of the Chateau. As we followed them round I suddenly realised the

challenge of the week to come – no English to be spoken here!

Our first dinner looked very different to what I was used to. But once I tasted the succulent chicken in its creamy sauce garnished with plum eggs and sweet carrots from the Chateau garden I knew I was going to love this place. At bedtime we were shown our dorms and I bagged a top bunk near a window out of which I could see trees which reminded me of the view from my bedroom at home.

However, there wasn’t much time to think about being homesick because ….

We did so many activities.

We did canoeing in a big lake with an island in the middle. We did orienteering in the countryside around the Chateau and three of us went up the wrong hill and found people doing a completely different activity, following a rope blindfolded. Don’t ask!

In fact, do ask and I’ll tell you – later in the week we did that activity which was a leadership task. And it was surprisingly fun with Scarlett leading brilliantly and giving us our directions. Then there was the French night with the talent show. And the rock climbing, which was my second favourite activity next to canoeing.

chocolate please.” These are the important things in life, you know”. At the end of a brilliant week we waved goodbye to all our new friends at the fantastic Chateau and climbed aboard the coach.

One day we left the Chateau and went to the village market. It was very busy with people selling fabrics, vegetables, hats, toys and gadgets. It was exciting to hear all the traders shouting to get you to buy their stuff. And I found I was beginning to understand what people were saying. And I was magically beginning to speak French!

As I sat on the deck of the ferry with Mrs Hopkins and Mrs Salmon I watched the coastline of France shrinking into the blue sea and thought about my brilliant trip to France and all the exciting new things I had done. And tried to forget the snail I had eaten.

“Je voudrais encore du chocolat chaud s’il vous plait.” For those of you who haven’t been on a French trip that means “I would like some more hot

Thanks to Mr Hollands and all the other RSM Staff for making our fantastic trip possible.

Oli Ayling

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Year 4’s ‘Flight’ To India The children were asked to write a recount of our ‘flight’ to India using powerful verbs and exciting adjectives.

On our flight to India I was sitting next to John and Zac with Carter at the end of the row. I was very excited and also slightly nervous, I was sure I had forgotten something.

As the plane took off I was overcome by excitement. I felt so excited I felt like I should have leaped out of my seat and started bouncing around like a pingpong ball! Then the captain said “If you look out of the left window you will see the Eiffel Tower!” Since there were several I wondered which one he was talking about!

I reached for my bag but I could not feel anything – then I remembered – it was in the overhead locker. Luckily I’d put a few of my things under my seat to use during the flight. I took my doodle book and pencil and started to draw. I was so intent on my doodling that when the fire alarm went off I didn’t even hear it. John had to tell me to stand up, turn around and walk out. The timing was perfect as we had just landed to refuel. The fire (which I did not notice at first) was so serious we had to change planes.

Once on our new plane, we realised we had first class tickets. The advantage of that was that we got given a snack and we were allowed to watch TV. I looked at the map in front of our seats and realised we had taken a detour and landed in Russia. I thought the pilot had gone bonkers! I did not tell my friends so that they did not worry.

YEAR 4’s INDIAN TOPIC On Wednesday I went on a flight to India with my class 4G! I was so excited the minute I strolled into the classroom.

Firstly, I had to get my passport checked and stamped. Next my compact yellow suitcase was placed in the luggage area.

We all got ready for the flight and I decided to sit next to marvellous Marley.

The amazing cabin crew then gave us safety instructions before we took off.

ZOOM ……….. off we vanished into the sky. It was an amazing view when you peered out of the window. I could see other huge aeroplanes, the massive runway and then fluffy clouds!

After making two more fuel stops we finished our flight and started to land. I heard someone say “We are going to crash” and someone else screeched “We are all gonna die!” which cheered me up (not). Then we landed (safely) and they both said “Phew!” We had arrived.

During the flight Marley and I cheerfully doodled in her Top Model activity book which I loved. Then it was time for yummy apple juice and biscuits. I was so hungry so enjoyed gobbling them up! Just before we landed we watched a short interesting film about India. It was a fabulous flight!

Freddie Trimlett

Georgina Winters (4G)

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THE YEAR 4 INDIAN WORKSHOP We learnt how to write our names in Hindi and how to pronounce our name. Tom

I loved tasting Indian food as I love trying new things and it was yummy! Caitlin

I liked sharing my topic folder with my Mum because she got to see all of my Combined Humanities folder. Francis

My favourite activity was putting on Indian clothes. Jamie-Faye

We all tried on Indian clothes and we had so much fun. Bibi

In PE we had been working on a Bollywood dance and we showed it to the parents.

Georgina

My favourite activity was having the henna tattoos because they look so beautiful!

Olivia

We were trying Indian food and my friend gave everything 10/10! Bridget

Overall, it was a really fun afternoon. Thank you to everyone who was involved.

Claudia

I think the best thing was the food tasting.

Ralph

I tried some Indian food and my favourite was called a Chapatis. There were lots of different foods. We recorded what we tried on a sheet of paper and gave it a score.

Mariyah

We did a quiz about India and it was quiet hard. It was about pronunciation mostly as well as writing our name in Hindu. Ben Hodges

When we were in the hall we tried on some Indian clothes. All the girls got to put on two outfits. The clothing I tried on was really nice, one pink and gold with shiny bits on and one lilac. Emmeline

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YEAR 5 TRIP TO K2 CLIMBING WALL On the Monday 28th December year 5 had a trip to the K2 Climbing Wall in Crawley to finish our topic of ICE WORLDS. Everyone was truly excited about the day ahead, (even the people scared of heights.)

We set off in a coach and the journey took a while. When we arrived everyone was divided into groups, 1,2,3,4 and 5. Once everyone was in groups we all got harnessed up and we did a warm up.

As soon as possible everyone started to climb the 5 walls. There was a bouldering wall, an extremely high wall, a blue wall and a medium size wall.

Every group got to climb three walls.

The first wall my group climbed was the medium sized wall and I really enjoyed that because the wall wasn’t too tall, and it was pretty easy. The second wall we climbed was the blue wall which was my least favourite wall as the holds were extremely far apart. The third and final wall was the bouldering wall that you didn’t have to wear a harness as the wall was a lot shorter, and there were crash mats underneath. My favourite wall was the bouldering wall because you didn’t wear a harness also I really enjoyed the games. After this year 5 got back on the coach just in time for lunch. Most people really enjoyed the climbing, that included me! This school trip was one of my favourite that I have ever been on.

Orlaith 5W

ERNEST SHACKLETON DRAMA To launch Year 5’s Ice Worlds topic, actors from the Yvonne Arnaud theatre visited. We re-enacted Ernest Shackleton’s epic journey across Antarctica.

“It was really funny when we had to flex our muscles to show if we were strong enough to join Shackleton’s team.” Sophia Scaglione

“It was quite lifelike. You did actually feel like you were on an expedition to Antarctica with Ernest Shackleton” Hannah Brewer

“We were sitting quietly when I noticed the box trembling and up jumped a stowaway! It made me jump too!” Jasper Casale

“I really enjoyed the snowstorm but then realised how terrifying it would have been for the men on the expedition.”

Orlaith Skelly

“I wasn’t expecting the stowaway to jump out of the box, it made me jump out of my skin!” Byron Wood “I really liked it when they gave us all jobs.

I was a head scientist and surgeon.”

Henry Helm “I loved dressing up as Lewis Rickson, it made me feel like I was actually him. I had a great day.” Alexander Hodges

“The whole experience was interesting because it felt real. It was a great start to our topic.” Matthew Laird “I liked the day because we were all given a name and a role to play which made me feel I really was on the expedition.”

Luke Fowler

“It was great fun to dress up as a character, it made it more real. I was Frank Hurley, the photographer on Shackleton’s voyage.”

Caitlin McGuigan “The whole day was amazing. I really enjoyed dressing up as the Third Officer.” Lexi Goddard

REMEMBRANCE Year 2 showed their respect for those that died in the war by creating a paper monument and filling it with cress. They were all very proud of their efforts and contributed to the class discussion well showing a large amount of compassion towards those who had lost love ones in various wars.

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Sir Walter Raleigh Sir Walter Raleigh was born in 1553, Devon. Little is known about his early life, but he did spend a lot of time in Ireland and people believe that he grew up in a farmhouse, near the village of East Budleigh in Devon. He was the youngest of five sons. At the age of 7, Walter left England to go to France to fight with the Huguenots (French Protestants) in the wars of religion. His father was Walter Raleigh; his mother was Catherine Champermowne.

Between 1579 and 1689, Raleigh fought in the serve of Queen Elizabeth 1 in Ireland. Queen Elizabeth 1 started to like Raleigh.

In 1591 he secretly married Elizabeth Throckmorton, one of the Queen’s Lady in Waitin, without the Queen’s approval, which they were sent to the Tower of London for, but got released. They had three children; Carew Raleigh, Walter Raleigh and Damerei Raleigh, all boys. He was executed on 29 October 1618 for hampering the friendship between the English and Spanish.

Sir Walter Raleigh was famous because he was an explorer, spy, courtier to Queen Elizabeth 1, poet, writer, politician and soldier. Apparently he laid his cloak over a puddle so Queen Elizabeth 1 could not get wet feet.

Walter had 8 siblings, some had the surname Gibert and the others had the surname Raleigh. He secretly married Elizabeth Throckmorton, she worked for Queen Elizabeth 1.

They had three children, Carew Raleigh, Walter Raleigh and Damerei Raleigh In 1587 he explored from North Carolina to what we call Florida, naming the region Virginia. In 1588 he took part in the victory over the Spanish Armada.

Sir Walter Raleigh was an English adventurer, writer, soldier, spy, Tudor Courtier. He is well known for bringing tobacco and potatoes into England. In 15954 he heard of a ‘City of Gold’ and sailed to find it, he put what he found into a book that contributed to the legend of El Dorado. It is also said that he spread his cloak for Queen Elizabeth 1 so she didn’t need to stand in water.

Isabelle Church

He and his wife and children were locked in the tower in 1603, during his time there he wrote the book ‘History of the world’ in 1614. He was released in 1616 for an expedition to find El Dorado, but returned in 1618 and was executed.

Sir Walter Raleigh did a lot for English history and did a lot for his country even if he was locked up several times.

By Joseph Batchelor

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INFORMAL MUSIC CONCERT

An Hour Of Code With technology changing every industry on the planet, computing knowledge has become part of a well-rounded skillset.

While all of us know that it’s important for children to learn how to navigate today’s tech-saturated world, we also want to prepare the pupils for the future and give them experience in creating algorithms.

At Reigate St Mary’s we thoroughly believe that every student should have the opportunity to learn Computer Science as before that improves the lives of billions of people!

The children enthusiastically participated in this year’s initiative and enjoyed a lesson of Computer Science designed to demystify code and show that anybody can learn the basics. There was an awesome buzz of excitement in the Computer Suite whilst the children had great fun creating algorithms in a variety of fun and exciting ways! it helps nurture problem-solving skills, logic and creativity. By ensuring that the children experience programing/coding early it will ensure that they have a foundation for success in any 21st-century career path.

It is quite possible that a current pupil at Reigate St Mary’s could, in the future, design something new that wasn’t there

100 million students have now discovered how accessible and fun Computer Science can be by doing just one Hour of Code.

The Hour of Code. Learn more at http://HourofCode.com, try an hour yourself!

Simon Williams

CHEF’S AWARD Our Chef Viv won the Harrison Catering School Chef of the Year award 2016 .

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Visit To Hampton Court Palace On our trip to Hampton Court Palace, on Tuesday, 11 October 2016, we walked around the grounds of the Palace and learnt all about Henry VIII’s younger life.

LADY MACBETH

By Grace Hodges

Dear Macbeth, Fate has come to you, this is your chance my dearest to rule as king.

Take it, take it while you can, you must be head strong. No is cowardly answer. Say yes to being king.

My beloved, tears are drowning this page, swelling up in my eyes and dripping down. I am so joyful for you, you could even make it quicker, a dagger a sleep potion in fact ….. Ohh I have always dreamed of these days in early childhood my future is in your hands, holding our family name up in power.

It was a very amusing trip. We learnt about Henry VIII’s younger life in the most entertaining way. We acted it out. It was so amusing to see people step out of their comfort zones and act in all these hilarious characters, and put in their own way of acting it out. As that was probably my favourite part of the trip, I enjoyed it the most.

I would worry about you but I want you to do well, take the chance my love. I am here for you always and now it’s mostly up to you. So make a wise, wealthy and kingly decision.

From your most loved one Lady Macbeth

YEAR 2 DT PUPPET My second favourite part of the trip was when we walked through the gardens.

The main reason why that was my second favourite part was because it was so entertaining, being able to sit in old remakes of the carriages that they would have gone around in. It was also fun to take all the photos in front of the fountains and the Palace. The only thing that upset me was that we weren’t able to go in the maze.

To sum up the trip, I’ve got to say that it was a privilege to be able to go on such a remarkable trip with such a tremendous

group of children and teachers. Overall, it was a breath taking trip, the amount of fun memories that we can cherish forever.

Lilly Chalmers

We had a beautiful day at the palace looking at the Tudor tennis courts, gardens and the palace kitchens and King Henry’s apartments.

The children had a drama workshop with Richard dressed as a Tudor and were able to show off their knowledge about Tudor life and even took part in a mini play.

The palace staff told the pupils about the ghost of Anne Boleyn so everyone kept their wits about them just in case she made an appearance.

Year 6 rounded the day off with a stroll around the grounds and a trip to the gift shop. A pleasure to take them all out.

Year 2 had a super time cutting, colouring and sticking their beefeater puppet together. I think you would agree that the end result is magnificent.

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Sports Roundup PORTSMOUTH SPORTS TOUR On Friday 14th October, boys and girls from year 5 & 6 departed for the sports tour to Portsmouth. We had a lovely journey up chatting with our friends. We kicked this sports tour off with fixtures against Princess Mead. Unfortunately, the U11 girls lost their match 12-5 and U10 girls lost their match as well, 7-3. the boys had a better afternoon with one win, two draws and a loss. We all had fun and tried our best which was the main thing.

When we got to the Premier Inn, where we were staying, we definitely made ourselves at home. We had a wonderful dinner at the local Pizza Express and went back to our rooms and had a peaceful sleep. We woke up having a rested night and ready for our next match ahead of us. All of us had a filling breakfast and were ready to play. Our Saturday match was against Portsmouth Grammar School and they were really strong defeating us 21 -1 and 20 -5. The boys all played well winning all their three matches.

After all our matches we got the opportunity to do Laser Quest. We all had a great time and wishing the tour was longer. I would definitely recommend this trip and I would give it 100%.

Angelina Lafe

On the sports tour 2016, we all had a lot of fun. My highlight of the tour was my second match against Portsmouth Grammar School because we won and Portsmouth are a very good side. All the football teams on the tour at least won one match which was fantastic!

Unfortunately for the girl’s teams didn’t win a match but they played really well.

As well as playing matches we also went to pizza express. We went on the Friday night the day we got there and just after our first set match. On the Saturday we went to laser quest just after our second set of matches. That was great fun! Overall the sports tour great fun. Thank you to all the staff that came.

Ben Ware

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U11’s FOOTBALL SEASON

YEAR 2 SPORTS AT DOWNSEND “On Friday we went to Downsend School and the girls played netball while the balls played football. First we played some games and the teachers taught us how to shoot the netball into the net. We then went outside and played more skilled games. The first game was about passing to people in your team. I was in the light blue team and we unfortunately lost both our games but it was lots and lots of fun.”

“After the skilled games we then started to play some matches. A lot of the time the other team has the ball but we soon got it back and won three of the four matches we played. We had so much fun at Downsend School on Friday.”

Charlotte

“The boys played football and I scored a goal. We all practised some dribbling and we learnt how to do a chop with the ball, it was great fun.”

Archie

“On Friday we went to Downsend, the boys played football and girls played netball. I loved playing and throwing

By Harry McDonald Year 6 had a decent start to the football season with a 1-1 draw against Homefield school followed by a 2-2 draw against Chinthurst school at home in their first two matches.

the ball into the net.’’

Amelia

“It was such fun when I was playing netball, I was having the best time ever.’’

Johan

“On Friday we went to Downsend to play football. I learnt a skill with the ball called the chop. After some skills we played matches, it was lots of fun.”

Eloise

“It was very fun playing netball. We were trying hard as a team to get the ball into the netball hoop.’’

Micaela

“I liked the football because we all worked together. I never used to like football but I do now.”

Fifeh

“The girls from Downsend School were really nice.”

Imogen

“I really liked playing netball with my team.”

Shivali

We started our journey to the Surrey county cup by travelling to Kingston to play Rokeby school in the first round.

Rokeby were a tough competitor but we ended the first half in front, and ended the game with a 6-3 win, what a fantastic win well done to everyone.

The team then went on tour to Portsmouth and played Princes Mead School and Portsmouth Grammar. In our first game against Princes Mead we lost 4-6 although we played very well. The second game we won 4-2.

Our quarter final match was played at Kings House School in London. We put up a great fight but lost 6-1.

Well done to Henry Russ, Will Simpson, Ben Ware, Eddie Fisher, Luke Metcalf, Edward Duff, Hector Buzzacott, Pietro Villa, Owen Webber and Harry McDonald We had a great season!

BIATHLON On a sunny Sunday in October eleven Year 5&6 students took part in the Surrey Schools Biathlon at the K2 in Crawley.

Biathlon events are running and swimming.

Everyone who entered performed brilliantly especially Max Jarrams who came 4th in the Under 11’s group.

I really enjoyed the day, especially the swimming. A big thank you to Mrs Wright for looking after us on the day.

Charlie Petersen-Jones

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HOCKEy: LINGFIELD U9 TOURNAMENT

as well 2-0 both scored by Emily Burke well done Emily.

Our third match was against Croydon High School 2-0 with one bring scored by Anna George and the other being scored by Sophia Clark. Our fourth match was against Brighton and Hove and we won that 1-0 being scored by Etalie Cullverwell.

Our first match was against Lingfield. It was a tough one but we managed to win 3-0. They played really well.

Our next match was against Rose Hill it was going to be 2-2, but right at the last minute the ball went out of play, when it came back onside we scored a goal so it ended up 3-2.

Tournament hosted by the Hawthorns.

There were 7 teams playing - Felton Fleet, Hazelwood, Mickelfield, Rowan Prep, St Goerge’s, the Hawthorns and RSM. We started off really strongly and won our first three matches against Mickelfield, Hazelwood and Felton Fleet - the scores being 4-0, 2-1 and 2-0. We then had a break and scoffed down jam doughnuts and juice. This might have been a mistake as our next match was against St George’s, one of the strongest teams in the Tournament. Whilst we tried our hardest to score they managed to beat us 0-3.

The last match was against Royal Russell, this was our easiest game, even though we thought it was going to be a tough one. Most of the play was in our D, and we scored lots of goals, the final score was 9-0 - WOW! In the end we won overall, everyone played really well and it was very exciting.

Emmeline Halliwell

HAWTHORNS HOCKEy TOURNAMENT On Thursday 6 October the U9A hockey team took part in a Mini Hockey

We then went to through to the semi-finals we were all amazed and SO excited. First we played St Michaels in our first semi-final it was a VERY close match and we drew 0-0 now as we are all freezing so we waited in the bus. Now the time has finally come Mrs

Our next match was against Rowan Prep. We had a lot of possession and made some great passes but unfortunately they managed to just beat us in a tight match by 2-1. We then had our last match against the Hawthorns. There was lots of loud support from the sidelines and we found our best form just in time to beat them 5-0.

Everyone worked really well as a team and we are lucky to have Ella, Emmeline and Georgina up front providing the goals.

I supported them in midfield, along with Sophia and Caitlin. Aime and Bibi worked really well in defence to block the other team’s shots.

Claudia Shaw

GIRLS U11 HOCKEy TOURNAMENT On Friday 4th November the U11 girls went to EGHA hockey tournament. All the girls had a great time and played fantastic. Our first match was against Burgess Hill and we won the match by 3-0 with all were scored by Sophia Clark. Our second match was against Lingfield Notre Dame and we won that one

Eveleigh has found out the score St Michaels won 1-0 all we need to do is win 2-0 the the speaker blows the horn. The match has started we go 1-0 up it is getting towards the end of the match Sophia Clark plays a ball through to Emily Burke. Emily Burke takes one touch and smashes into the goal. We won 2-0.

The results we are definitely in the top two everyone is nervous and the winners of this tournament are Reigate St Marys we went for a victory run and celebrated it was a very good day! The joy got the better of us so we went for a victory run around the pitch.

I would also like to give a special to Vicky Clark who was amazing in goal she didn’t let a single goal in without out her I don’t think we would of won. It was a great day!

Sophia Clark

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yEAR 5&6 HOUSE HOCKEy RESULTS 1st 2nd 3rd 4th

Osmond Malcolmson Searle Hobson

Well done Osmond Girls Year 3 & 4 1st Hobson 2nd Searle 3rd Malcolmson 4th Osmond Well done Hobson

RUGBy

Reigate St Mary’s is an HMC, co-educational, independent day school for children aged 3 to 11. For more information, log on to our website at www.reigatestmarys.org or e-mail us at office@reigatestmarys.org If you would like to obtain a prospectus and an application form, you may also contact us at the following address: Reigate St Mary’s School, Chart Lane, Reigate, Surrey RH2 7RN Tel: 01737 244880 Fax: 01737 221540 Email: office@reigatestmarys.org www.reigatestmarys.org

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