RSM Chronicle 2017 Summer

SUMMER 2017

INSIDE Oh I do like to be beside the seaside!

Year 1 become palaeontologists Outdoor learning in full swing Year 3 go back in time to Lullingstone Fabulous residentials in Years 4, 5 & 6

Crash landing on the Bund!

Success for RSM musicians in competition Pond dipping and mini beast traps Robotics lowdown of the year An insight into the life of Roald Dahl

From The Headmaster

 KINDERGARTEN’S ASSEMBLY 

The year passes so quickly and as the saying goes “time flies when you are having fun”. An amazing amount of fun has been had this year and within this we have experienced great success in a multitude of different areas and all the while, fantastic learning has taken place.

I still have parents regularly telling me how their children love to come to school and nothing makes me happier than hearing this.

Triumphs of this term include the excellent residential trips, the choirs’ successes at the Leith Hill Festival and in the Reigate and Redhill Music Festival, the performance of the chess team in the Europa League finals and a range of educational visits and special events at Reigate Grammar School. The RSM dancers have enjoyed performing at both Reigate Grammar School and at Reigate St Mary’s, to packed audiences. Of course our end of year Sports Days and Quest Day were as competitive and enjoyable as ever, and we have enjoyed other great competitions too, all undertaken with a growth mindset.

I may say it a lot, but I say it because it is absolutely true - the school is only as good as its staff. The staff at Reigate St Mary’s, both teaching and support staff, are outstanding and this is why the school is so successful and why the children are so happy.

I hope that you enjoy browsing the following pages, gaining a sense of all that has taken place throughout this term.

 

On Wednesday 17th May, Kindergarten performed their version of ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ to the whole school and Mummies and Daddies. They had been practising very hard in the run up to the morning, and were both excited and nervous about the performance!

The children each had a themed

headband to wear, and everyone took it in turn to say a line from the story.

They also sang songs about the lifecycle of a butterfly.

We all thought they did amazingly well in retelling the story to the largest crowd they had ever faced. We think the rest of the school enjoyed the assembly too.

RECEPTION  After having great fun learning about ‘Yucky Worms’ Reception presented a fabulous assembly incorporating everything they had discovered. Everyone performed brilliantly, remembering their lines and delivering them clearly. They sang with great gusto and brought the house down with their ‘Worm Samba’. A big thank

you to Mrs Whitehead, Mrs Wright and Mrs Petersen-Jones for all their help with the music, singing and dancing.

I liked the dancing  RF I was a blackbird and I liked it when we sang the bird song  RH My mum thought it was absolutely brilliant!  RH I enjoyed all of it!  RS I was a worm and I loved doing the Worm Samba  RS I enjoyed saying my lines on my own  RS We loved having an audience  

YEAR 1 ASSEMBLY

YEAR 2 ASSEMBLY

 

 I felt excited and nervous at the same time but overall I loved being a clownfish.  I liked the clown fish part of the assembly best especially where I got to jump around.  I liked the way the scenes changed and how colourful the costumes were.  I liked being sea weed and doing the sea weed dance.  I thought the seaweed were the best part of the assembly. 

3M’S ASSEMBLY 3M’s Assembly in 2017 was about friendship. The play was called The Little Beaver.

Jacob was duck, Sofia was the Otter, I was the turtle, Hamish was a frog and Aqsa was the Cygnet. Izzah was the old beaver and Jack was the magican. At the start I was a cheerleader and we had pom-poms. Our main job was to come on and spell the word FRIENDS wrong so it spelt DREFINS instead!!

The story was about how the little beaver went all around the pond to find some friends. In the end he had lots of friends. The Old Beaver told the Little Beaver all about the echo and how it was happy when Little Beaver was happy and sad when he was sad.

At the end we performed a dance called You’ve Got a Friend in Me and we all shouted out “ You’ve got a friend in 3M!”  Our assembly was fun to do because we all had to work together to help the little beaver (Oscar) find a friend. I was the Otter. I felt nervous when I saw the parents. 

RECEPTION’S EARTHWORMS During Reception’s topic on Earthworms, Reception F had a lovely time making both a real wormery and a paper wormery to help them consolidate their knowledge. The children worked together to put alternate layers of soil and sand into a plastic container before putting in some of the worms they had found living on our nature trail. Over several days, the children observed how the worms dug down into the soil and sand to make burrows.

The children then worked in pairs to make a collage version of this underground setting, paying great attention to detail and accurate use of colour. The children loved this topic and, at the end, everybody decided that worms were nice and not at all yucky!

Royal Marsden Zumbathon

In April, Reigate Dance Studio held a charity Zumbathon to raise money for George and the Giant Pledge, a charity campaign set up to help raise money for the Royal Marsden Hospital. This is a charity close to our hearts as it was set up by the Woodall family whose children attend RSM and whose son George is suffering from a very rare cancer.

We danced for an amazing 2 hours! It was so much fun and very tiring! A huge thankyou to Lucy from Reigate Dance Studio for arranging this event and thankyou to the staff and children from RSM who attended.

YEAR 3 MATHS

YEAR 4 MATHS CLUB

In Maths in Year 3 we have been investigating tessellation. We looked at pieces of artwork

by M.C. Escher and then made our own tessellating shapes and pictures.

We enjoyed doing work on tessellation. Mrs Gower showed us some tessellating pictures by an artist called Escher. They were all amazing. I particularly liked the one with the fish and geese. I also loved making our own pictures!

I made a house shape for my tessellation. It took time and perseverance to colour and add details to my houses. 

In Maths we learnt about Roman numerals.

We then created a shopping list using Roman numerals for the prices. We got to draw objects which had a value and we had to work out how much it came to using Roman numerals in our sums. We learnt that I is 1, V is 5, X is 10 and L is 50. 

    

We really enjoyed Year 4 Maths club. We did fun things like a triangle puzzle where we had to find as many combinations with 4 colours as we could, then fit our solutions into irregular polygons. We also made lots of different shapes inside shapes in an activity called ‘Shaping It’. Our favourite game of the year was Yahtzee. In Yahtzee you can play against each other or the computer, rolling dice to get the best scores.

We would highly recommend this club.

Maths club would never have been on if there was no Mrs Gower or Mrs Doorey.

Thank you Maths teachers!  

Amazing Chessington Zoo Adventure In line with Year 1’s topic on Animals, the intrepid Year 1 explorers got to go on an amazing adventure to Chessington Zoo on Tuesday, 20th June. Fortunately, the weather was fantastic (if a little too hot!) which brought out a vast array of animals for them to view and learn about. In the words of the children, particular highlights included the prowling ‘Big Cats,’ the incredible array of beautiful, colourful sea creatures within the Sea Life Centre, the balmy monkeys and the brilliant, challenging and fun ‘Tree top’ adventure playground.

All of the children were impeccably behaved and were a huge credit to themselves and Reigate St Mary’s School.

GROW YOUR OWN POTATOES 2017 - RECEPTION In February we chitted our potatoes.

We had two kinds. One of them was called Rocket and one of them was called Rudolph.   In March we planted the potatoes. We put a lot of soil then put the potatoes in, then we had to give them water.

Then we had to wait patiently!  May 10th - The potatoes have grown very big since we planted them.  June 15th - It was very exciting when we dug up the potatoes. We found lots of potatoes.  The Rudolphs were very red.

The Rockets were a very light colour.    

POETRY COMPETITION The Upper School Poetry Competition is proof (if proof were needed) that poetry can be incredibly entertaining. Our 18 finalists performed in front of the rest of Years 3 to 6 plus their parents and lots of staff, and held their audience spellbound!   (Year 3 winner and overall winner)  (Year 4 winner)   (Year 5 winner)    (Year 6 winner) Thank you to all the finalists who had clearly worked incredibly hard on their performances.

 

KINDERGARTEN’S SUMMER TERM ROUND UP!

Kindergarten Visit Bocketts Farm On Friday 11th June, Kindergarten visited Bocketts Farm in Leatherhead as our Fantastic Finish for our topic for the term ‘Amazing Animals’.

What a busy term we have had in Kindergarten! Our first topic of the term was ‘Helping Hands’ and the children enjoyed learning about doctors, dentists, vets, firemen, the police and the ambulance service. The highlight of the topic has to see the fire engine visit and the children were allowed to spray the hose! We were also lucky enough to have a visit from Dr Kalidhar who talked to the children about being a doctor. The children have really enjoyed their role play areas this term, especially the doctor’s surgery and police station.

Mr Culverwell paid Kindergarten a visit with his guitar and we enjoyed a rousing chorus of ‘Heads, Shoulder, Knees and Toes’. Then the children asked Mr Culverwell a variety of questions (some trickier than others!) about how HE helps us around the school!

We also worked very hard to practise for our ‘Very Hungry Caterpillar’ assembly, and performed amazingly well to the whole school. The children have also enjoyed creating caterpillars and a variety of story themed art work for a display in the classroom.

After half term we began our ‘Amazing Animals’ topic and enjoyed a visit by Zoolab. The children were fascinated by all the creatures they saw, and a lot braver than the teachers in their ability to hold them! They have been painting a variety of animals and making clay models of animals too.

Fitting in sports day and picnic, we then loved our visit to Bocketts Farm.

The children have worked really hard this term.

The day dawned sunny and bright and with much excitement we boarded the coach and set off. We arrived at the farm with no mishaps and after a quick snack and toilet stop it was off for our first activity of the day – a tractor ride! We held onto our hats and set off. Andrew, our guide, drove the tractor around the farm and talked to us as he drove about all the animals living on the farm.

Then we moved onto the feeding pens and Andrew told us about some more animals, and we even got to stroke some of them – the baby pygmy goat was a real hit, and Mrs Hardy had a lovely cuddle with him while the children stroked him!

After that we moved onto the animal handling area where we saw a goat being milked and had the chance to stroke some more animals – a guinea pig, a mouse, a chick and a rabbit.

We had a welcome break for lunch then moved on to the final activity of the day – the pig race! We all cheered for the pigs as they raced around the track – such fun.

With half an hour to spare we let loose in the play area before boarding the coach to come home.

We all enjoyed the day even though we were all exhausted at the end of it! A special thank you to all the Mummies who came with us to make the day so happy and successful.

DINOSAUR JAWS Year 1 used a variety of sources to find out that dinosaurs ate different things (carnivores, herbivores and omnivores). We then talked about the fact that teeth are useful for helping us to chew our food and that dinosaurs would have done the same.

By looking at the different reference sources we could see that the dinosaurs had different shaped teeth and we then identified that some had just sharp, pointy stabbing like teeth, others had flatter teeth and some had a combination of the two. The children then chose the type of dinosaur (either meat eater, plant eater or ate both meat and plants) and made a jaw with the appropriate teeth out of clay.

The RSM Dance Showcase The show kicked off with a fantastic performance by kindergarten. The three of them did an excellent dance. As they were representing the whole class, they did a brilliant ballet performance called ‘The March’.

Next was Mrs Evans’s ballet students dancing to a classical piece of music. In their floaty dresses they looked very elegant.

The drill team performed after that to ‘Do your thing’. They did an outstanding dance, as it was their third and last time performing to the audience.

The boys followed after taking a slightly different route to street dance with ‘Move

YEAR 3 GO APE

your feet’ from Trolls. The audience was blown away by their excellent technique.

After that, year 3 and 4 put on an adorable show to ‘I don’t need anything but you’ from the movie Annie. They did great partner work to a fantastic routine.

Year 5 and 6 were up next with ‘Can’t stop the feeling’ by Justin Timberlake. All of the parents joined in by clapping along to the beat. The girls did very well, considering there was a large group of them dancing at once on a small stage.

Everyone did an excellent job all thanks to Mrs Ebrel and Mrs P-J. Hopefully we will do even better next year!

For our Fabulous Finish we went to Go Ape and we ate our lunch, then Go Ape people came and they told us the rules.

Then we got our harnesses on. After that we went to the shelter. Next we sat on a wooden rail, after we did the safety rules on me. After that I went first on the Go Ape equipment but before I did that I had to do the small training one and then the metal trolley fell off and I had to catch it, then I went to the big one before I went up some steps because I needed to get higher. Next I walked across a wobbly bridge, then I had to go over lots of other objects. After I had to go to the zip wire, at the top of it I felt sick and then I went down and I said “weeeeeeeeeeeeee”, I felt fuzzy inside. After that they hooked me on to round two, then I did round two and there was a really hard one that you had to hold some little ropes dangling down from the wire and go across the wire and go across the line of wire.  On Wednesday 29th March 2017 it was our Fabulous Finish to our Rainforest topic. For it we went to Go Ape, at the start I felt excited. Alex went on the course and he was amazing at it. I was behind Josh for a while, but I didn’t want to do the level I was on. After I was fine and did 5 levels. 

HOBGOBLIN THEATRE GROUP PERFORM FROM KINDERGARTEN TO YEAR 2 In May, the Hobgolbin Theatres Company visited the Early Years and Lower School. They performed to gales of laughter from both the children and the staff.

Watching a play is fun, but did you know that it is also good for us? Research shows that as well as enhancing our literary knowledge, it also builds tolerance and empathy in its audience!  I liked the funny part when the witch asked me to clean up.  It was good – Hansel pushed the stepmother into the oven!  I enjoyed the middle part when the Step Mother said to the Father, “Take them into the woods,” and she put potion in the cakes. 

At Go Ape 3P and 3M put some harnesses on. Next we went on the tester the harness was very uncomfortable! It was very fun! I wanted to jump off but I was too afraid.

Some of the challenges were tricky but I liked it. It was the best trip ever!!  For our Fabulous Finish we went to Go Ape and went in the playground for a start then when we had finished we ate our sandwiches for our lunch. After that we put on our harnesses and started climbing the course. The practice course was really easy but then…round 1. First I felt really confident and did round 1 then round 2-3 it was brilliant!  Steven helped us to put on our harnesses.

Then Alex demonstrated what to do.

Alex’s group went first. Finally, my group went, I was so excited. At the same time a tiny bit nervous. When I finished the first bit I went on the zip wire. The first time I landed backwards on my bottom!

After my second round I went on the zip wire again and I took Lexi’s advice. 

YEAR 4 GO ‘INTO THE WOODS...’ oods’ as nto the w we got ‘I d e k li ecause I really is year, b ys in a topic th e and not alwa d id ie to be outs sroom. We all tr nd the clas apping and fou d use st tr minibea minibeasts. We . l s o p o c a f tr o r lots d jam ja potato an

YEAR 4 VISIT GATTON PARK

Ben

A GUIDE TO POND DIPPING

topic ‘Into I have enjoyed our ing on e go the woods’ becaus field to th the bund and e and es tre t ou learn ab ating. in sc fa s wa e wildlif Aime

I enjoyed our topic ‘Into the woods’ because we were outside a lot and we learnt about trees and wildlife which was interesting.

LOOKING AFTER OUR HABITAT

Rose

MAKING & SETTING MINIBEAST TRAPS YEAR 4s FAUVIST WOODLAND PICTURES

I liked our topic ab because I enjoyed out woods our trip going outside a s and lot.

Lauren

SKETCHING SILVER BIRCH TREES

our topic ‘Into I have enjoyed use I liked the woods’ beca the animals t all learning abou s of trees. pe ty d an William

   

I was walking along the beach wishing I had put some warmer clothes on. We were on holiday in Cornwall for the summer. We had been there for a couple of days now and were staying in a holiday home on the cliffs. It didn’t look that good on the outside but it was lovely on the inside.

I decided to go for a walk on the beach and have a look at all the rock pools and sea life. It was a sunny day and not many people were there. The wet sand was sticking to my feet as the tide had just turned and was on its way out and the sun hadn’t come out to dry it. Suddenly I thought I heard a scream up from the cliff but to begin with I just assumed it was just a family sitting up on the cliff. It seemed to be getter louder and no-one was sorting it out. I started to get this feeling that someone was in trouble. I scrambled up the steep stone steps, slipping as I went. I sprinted across the dewy grass making sure I didn’t trip over the mole hills. I could hear the scream get louder as I went eastwards.

I was getting closer to a blow hole. I thought to myself “no, don’t tell me someone’s down there”. I carefully stepped up to the edge of the big black hole. All I could see was a faint figure at the bottom of the hole. I frantically wrenched my phone out of my pocket and dialled 999. I just remembered I had no proper signal so it wouldn’t work. I was sure that you could get a phone signal on the beach, so I carefully but quickly made my way down the stairs. I tried calling 999 and it worked.

I got hold of them. They said they were going to send an air ambulance as soon as possible. As I was down there I remembered about the second cave that led to the bottom of the blow hole. I slid carefully under the crystal small cave. It was like sliding under laser beams. Finally, I reached the patient. She was shivering like a leaf. Her face was as white as the froth on the ocean. She clung onto the swaying ladder. Suddenly she slipped. Luckily I caught her. I said to her “Come on, you can do this”. Tightly she held on. As she flew away in the big red glossy helicopter I thought to myself “I hope she’s OK”. I clambered out under the glistening diamonds. I realised as I was walking that I had cut my hand on the rocks. I realised that it must have been when the girl fell from the ladder and I must of scraped my hand on the sharp walls.

As I was eating dinner with my parents my mum saw my cut and she said to me “What happened?”. “Long story” I replied.

MFL Mastermind at RGS On Wednesday 24th May, ten of our Year 5 took part in an inter-school MFL Mastermind hosted by Reigate Grammar School. Other schools taking part were Micklefield, Aberdour, Copthorne and Yattenden Primary.

The challenge began with the opportunity to design a poster expressing the many positives each school could think of that should contribute to their success in the competition and then to present to the other schools.

There were rounds of questions on Flags of the world, Food, Words we use that originate in other languages, spellings of non-English words that we use in everyday language, and International Landmarks.

Reigate St Marys participated enthusiastically. Our amazing team comprised: Hannah Brewer, Luke Fowler, Maebh Gibbs, Ruari Gibbs, Thomas Harris, Caitlin McGuigan, Ryan Panose, Billy Radford, Orlaith Skelley and Annis-Clara Wright.    

    

     

Micklefield were the eventual winners. We then went outside to enjoy our picnic lunch provided by RGS. The children were accompanied my Monsieur Hollands and Señora Chalder.

    

YEAR 6 VISIT SUTTON LIFE CENTRE On Friday 9th June, Year 6 set off to the Sutton Life Centre.

At first we thought it would be some nature show, but as soon as we got there we were overwhelmed with excitement. After the introduction we got separated into two groups. In one group we learnt about: eating healthily, Childline, cyber bullying and what to do in an event of a fire.

After that we travelled to another zone which taught us about: how to behave on transport and how to react to peer pressure.

After that the two groups joined together to learn about the environment in the virtual reality room. Did you know electricity can jump up to 3 metres? 

YEAR 1 MATHS In Maths the children had great fun solving multiplication word problems using cubes and were able to share these out into groups to find the answer.

    On Thursday 8th June, Green Shoots and Kindergarten made their way to the field for their Sports Day and picnic. They had been practising for the event and were all very excited about running in their lines in front of their Mummies and Daddies!

The children enjoyed a variety of different races and luckily the rain held off and we were able to enjoy a lovely picnic after the event with our families. Everyone received a medal for trying so hard and left with a smile on their face.

Thank you to the Year 6 children who helped out at the event guiding the little ones to the right places and stopping the games equipment from flying away in the wind!

YEAR 5 BECOME EVACUEES FOR THE DAY As part of their work on World War II, Year 5 had a visit from the Rainbow Theatre Company and were immersed in the life of an evacuee for a morning. They went by train to a secret location (Sussex, as it turned out) and were chosen by the local people who gave them homes.

Having come from a poor area of London it was the first time some of the children had ever seen cows or horses. They missed their parents very much, but were happy to be looked after so well in their new homes.   I especially enjoyed the acting, because if felt like you were there.  I enjoyed all aspects of the theatre workshop. It gave me a feel for what it would have been like being an evacuee.  It was really fun and exciting, because it was like you were really there.

The children wrote postcards home to their parents in London…  I wanted to tell you about my new home belonging to Mrs Burnley. I miss you terribly, but things aren’t so bad over here. Mrs Burnley feeds me well and I have to do daily

chores around the farm like milking the cow and feeding the pigs. I was sad at first, but I’m warming up to it now.

Love   At first I was petrified, petrified about everything about cows and about the people.

I was picked up and brought to a home with six other students from my school. I was lucky, because I didn’t really have a job to do apart from things around the house. I’m growing to like everything, but it is a pain having a ration book.

All the best from your favourite child! 

FIRE ENGINE VISITS RSM KINDERGARTEN As the ‘Marvellous Middle’ to our topic of ‘Helping Hands’, on Thursday 18th May, Green Shoots and Kindergarten were treated to a fantastic morning when the Reigate Fire Service brought a Fire Engine to the school for a visit.

The firemen explained to the children we must always call 999 if there is a fire, and talked to them about smoke alarms. Then the children were allowed to sit on the fire engine and used the hoses to spray water!

ROBOTICS

AT REIGATE ST MARY’S             

  The  children learn to improve their understanding of directions through the use of Bee-Bot. Bee-Bot’s simple and child friendly layout is a perfect starting point for teaching control, directional language and programming.

   have been learning how to send direct instructions to the EV3 robots. The pupils have gained an understanding of the Mindstorms software and how to create basic algorithms. They have made the robot complete basic movements and play sounds.  have built on the skills they developed in Year 3. They have focused on making the robot turn and learnt how to change the variables on the Move Steering Blocks with greater control, choosing the appropriate unit for the task.

The children have problem solved with their partner to create a program to instruct the robot to navigate the obstacle course.

In  the children have been introduced to the First Lego League competition table.

The table contains real world challenges based on a topical theme. The pupils have chosen which challenge they would like to solve, differentiating their challenge and selecting their own level of difficulty.  have been creating algorithms to instruct the EV3 robot to solve challenges on the First Lego League Competition Table. The pupils have worked collaboratively with a partner to create innovative solutions with the goal of scoring as many points as possible in 2 minutes. The children have incorporated sensors to make the robots more effective and autonomous.

The  pupils have built upon skills previously developed to create more complex algorithms.

Incorporating the theme of their Combined Humanities topic ‘Under the Sea’ the pupils have programmed bigtrak to navigate the island.

The children had to avoid the obstacles to reach the treasure chest where they could take real rewards – House Point Tokens!

Within  the students learn to incorporate duration into their computational thinking, with a more complex user interface and greater potential for control. With the introduction of bigtrak the children not only have to think about direction but how much the robot needs to turn or travel, using minutes of the clock to turn and the length of the robot for distance.

The First Lego League Elective         

 

    FOSMA exists to enhance the school and social life of pupils through a variety of fund-raising and social events.

Funds raised are for the benefit of current and future pupils of the school. The 2016/17 school year has been a busy one, with a range of events: THE FOSMA BALL

• • Musical Fireworks Spectacular for children to design their • Opportunity own Christmas cards • Christmas Fair • Cinema afternoon Egg Hunt for the Lower School, • Easter with eggs for the whole school Ball, which saw the Sports Hall • May transformed into a twinkling wonderland, Quiz Night for parents

FUNDED BY FOSMA

complete with flamingos!

• Summer Fair • Upper School end of year discos uniform sales throughout • Second-hand the year • Cake sales Back in September, at the start of the school year, the Eco Shelter was officially opened.

Given the name EDEN by the children, it has been well used as an outdoor classroom and as a quiet space at playtimes. The project was the result of a number of years of fund-raising by FOSMA. Other items purchased by FOSMA over the year include:

FOSMA SUMMER FAIR

THE CHRISTMAS FAIR

FUNDED BY FOSMA

A FOSMA PURCHASE

FUNDED BY FOSMA

FUNDED BY FOSMA

play equipment for Early Years, • Outdoor including a playhouse & planters for Green Shoots, as well as tricycles for Kindergarten and Reception for ‘events’ organised by the • Funds school, including author visits and Perform workshops contribution for books for • Athesubstantial school library • Netball post covers • Ukuleles for the music department • Leavers hoodies & badges for Year 6 • The Christmas tree for the playground.

YEAR 5 REVIEWS OF THE YEAR This year has gone to quickly. As I look back over the year I have had a load of fun learning about War and peace, ice worlds and Africa . This year has been a tough one scaling climbing walls traveling through snow storms and learning African drumming. I am looking forward to the trips next year in year 6 because they will be as fun as the trips in Year 5. My best moment in year five has got to be our Mable treat it was so much fun. Going on the Isle of Wight trip was such a luxury trip as well as the evacuation day.

My funniest moment in year five is when on African day Mrs Chalder was dancing it was really funny. I want to see Miss Chalder dance again. I think that I made progress on the Isle of Wight because I was really scared of heights and I conquered my fears a little bit, although I was really scared while I was on the leap of faith.

I can’t wait for year 6. I will still talk to Miss White if I see her around school.  I am really looking forward to year 6, but I am not sure if it will live up to year 5. I have loved having: Mrs Nicholson, Mrs De Graauw, Mrs Chalder and Miss White. Everything this year was amazing and I will be so so sad to leave. 

YEAR 5 ACTION POEMS

YEAR 5 ROALD DAHL TRIP As a stunning start to our topic WWII, Year 5 visited Great Missenden and the Roald Dahl Museum. The museum is an eclectic mixture of information about Roald Dahl’s life, and his writing, with lots of really fun interactive activities.  I found out that Roald Dahl had the biggest hip bone his surgeon had ever seen!  I liked the story centre, because there were lots of fun activities to do.  My favourite gallery was the Solo Gallery, because it told you everything about “Roald Dahl’s l life after school. 

  Skilfully making last minute checks, Sitting stiffly anticipating the worst, Desperately trying to calm down, Slowly devouring their last mouthfuls of food, Thinking hard of what they shall do when they do eventually take to the sky, Rushing towards their planes on hearing the dreaded call, Jumping into their vehicles as swiftly as possible, Cautiously activating their planes, Gradually rising into the air,

Waking up thinking of your duty, calmly, Playing expectantly, Preparing skill fully, Double checking.

Darting out the window, Shouting the message urgently, Scramble!

Sprinting to their stations, Jumping in their plains, Starting the engines, Only needing to hover for a split second.

Soon everything becomes a blur, Picking up the pace frantically, Heart racing fit to burst, Booming the bomb crashes to the surface, Instant cries come from below.

In a second they were sawing, Miles above the ground, Flying in formation, Planning their next move.





 Relaxing on the beach enjoying themselves, With the sun glaring on there tanned faces, Preparing and repairing with a wide smile on there faces , Anxiously waiting for the sound of “Scramble Scramble!”, Expectantly the urgent sound on the RAF general yelling, Suddenly the terrifying scream of the general, hell had unleashed, Rushing to there planes the engines had started, Getting there helmets on and climbing in, The irritating sound of the stiff seat belt button, Off we were up up and in the sky bravely, Then even though there sun was nice when relaxing, Now it was a piercing ray of light blinding them, That was the life of a World War Two pilot. 

  First we visited the library, which inspired him to write a worldwide favourite, Matilda. Just down the road was the Big Red Pump the description of which was included in Danny the Champion of the World. After that, we visited Crown House which acted as Sophie’s orphanage which was in Roald Dahl’s favourite book the BFG. Moving swiftly on, we visited Roald Dahl’s grave where there are the footsteps of the BFG, leading to it.

  This gallery was at the Roald Dahl museum and it explained Roald Dahl’s childhood. As soon as we walked through the doors, we smelt the distinctive smell of delicious chocolate walls flying up our noses. In all his school reports they thought he was one of the naughtiest children in the year! On a humongous table there were hundreds of photos of him as a child.

  In this exhibition there was exact same items as there were is his writing hut.

There was also a quiz on all of his books.

We really enjoyed our trip to Great Missenden and The Roald Dahl Museum.

       INFORMAL CONCERT Audiences have continued to be wowed and amazed in our termly Informal Concerts held in the stunning Recital Room at Reigate Grammar School.

Children of all abilities are encouraged to play and gain experience of solo performance. All our instrumentalists and singers rose to the challenge this term and confidently delivered their pieces.

SUMMER SOIREE Our Summer Soiree this year had the theme of Collaboration. And what a collaboration it was! There was an evident love for music and working together as song and music filled the air. Everyone came away from the evening celebrating the fact that beginners and more advanced players had worked in partnership.

Parents and teachers came away proud and delighted with the evening.

REIGATE AND REDHILL MUSIC FESTIVAL Our Year 1 and Year 2 Choirs competed in the Reigate and Redhill Music festival at the beginning of May. This is a real highlight of the year and the children work so hard to prepare.

This year the programme included rounds, part-singing, solos and even A Capella! Both choirs received positive feedback from the adjudicator praising their energy, smiles and enthusiasm as well as their high standard of singing.

LEITH HILL SINGERS Year 5 and 6 choir featured in a large concert at Dorking Halls in April as part of the Leith Hill Festival.

Every year, this celebrated week of choral singing ends with a collaborative concert featuring choirs from throughout the county singing a large scale work with professional orchestra and soloists. 2017 saw the first ever participation of RSM and RGS students in this concert.

LOWER SCHOOL MUSIC ASSEMBLIES The middle of June saw a series of three Lower School Music Assemblies totalling over 30 performers! The confidence and enthusiasm of the children showed no bounds as they proudly showed their musical skills to their parents and friends.

YEAR 2 CHOIR VISITS EVERSFIELD Earlier in the year, Mr Hollands was asked by Eversfield, the care home where we go carol singing each December, if we would return to entertain in the Summer Term. Consequently, on Tuesday afternoon, 13th June, the Year 2 Choir, very ably led by Mrs Whitehead and very ably accompanied by Mrs Wright, gave a musical presentation to the residents.

The children enthusiastically sang a number of their favourite songs to entertain and to delight

the residents. Micaela and Mia played their violins, Imogen and Lucy played their clarinets and Alexa played the piano. It was a wonderful opportunity to share the enjoyment of making music together.

A big ‘Thank you’ to everyone who took part and to those who supported this venture.

The piece ‘Benedicite’ written by Andrew Carter features a chorus of children who sing about the wonders of nature and our students received very positive feedback for their bright and uplifting performance.

We hope to continue the association with this festival, established over 70 years ago by the British composer, Vaughan Williams.

EXAMPLES OF YEAR 5 ART

A YE A R 6 S TO RY





“I’m going in, if things get dangerous I’ll need a quick getaway so try and find a good spot to wait until it’s safe again.” Whilst he waited for an answer, Trev pulled on his heavy spacesuit and clipped Pegasus 5 to his belt. “Shall I get M.O.C.A.G.E. ready Captain?”

“Good idea”, Trev replied activating the air lock. “The claw will surely be useful.” He braced himself as he pulled down the rusty lever and the heavy metal door slid open.

Trev knew the minimal gravity on this planet would be a problem but he knew what to do. After kicking off from the shuttle, he grabbed onto a single rock protruding from the ground, he swiftly flipped over, finding a foothold in the jagged earth. Expertly manoeuvring towards the alien ships, Trev started hearing strange sounds: Click, ckickeeur, coocke, keekeo’o. Definitely the sound of aliens.

Eventually, Trev managed to grab onto the ship and heave himself up and into the first room. In the room he found 6 huge doors and 6 buttons next to each door. This could either be a secret code, a puzzle, a trap or all three. “I need a satellite scan”, he ordered through his transmitter. “There’s 6 different doors and I need to know which ones are safe and which ones are not.” He also got Pegasus 5 to analyse some of the buttons for things like finger prints, radiation and DNA. “The first and second door are all clear but the others are inhabited” was the reply from Jutland HQ. “That doesn’t tell me which one is safe.” “I’m not sure you’re really meant to know which one’s safe, this type of story is meant to have a sense of danger.” “You’re not helping.”

After some arguments about story genres and how ‘exciting’ is different to ‘life threatening’ Trev slammed he transmitter on the ground and blasted it to pieces. “I didn’t need him anyway.”

Without hesitation, he went to the third door and pressed two, six, one and four. Nothing happened. Trev was getting nervous. Five minutes went by and nothing happened. Trev got even more nervous. Then Trev realised nothing was meant to happen and there’s no point waiting.

So he went to the first door and pressed five, then he went to the fifth door and pressed two. After pressing a load of other buttons, Trev realised he had no idea what he was doing and blasted open door six with the gun feature on Pegasus 5. This seemed like a good idea until alarms started going on all over the place, every door opened and aliens came out of them.

Flying towards the door, Trev pulled out a camera and started filming the extraterrestrial beings. The aliens were just like he imagined; hunched over, green, slimy goblin like creatures with rusty Hydra 6’s and Cranberry 2.3’s flung over their backs. Trev leaped off the ship as the aliens blasted away at him, thankfully their guns had the old targeting system that didn’t work anymore. M.O.C.A.G.E.’s claw grabbed onto his backpack and pulled him to safety with the aliens in hot pursuit. Pulling a spare transmitter out of a drawer, Trev turned it on and started talking: “I’m really gonna need that safe spot now!” “I don’t think I want you to live after the rudeness earlier.” It was him again. “Oh, come on!” “Fine, I’m sending you the coordinates now.”

Trev uploaded the coordinates to the navigator and entered auto-pilot mode. Trying to shoot as many aliens as he could with Pegasus 5, Trev closed the heavy metal door and prepared for blast off. As the shuttle separated from the ground, a single alien grabbed onto the steps. The alien got ready to blast the door open but M.O.CA.G.E.’s got to him first. Trev could hear the pleasant rumble of the engines, he could smell the soothing scent of burning fuel and he could see the beautiful landscapes of the planet Quanta from the windows. How he adored the feeling of flight. Suddenly, Trev heard a noise like an engine exploding, because an engine had just exploded. His engine.

Rushing over to the control panel, Trev deactivated auto-pilot mode and tried to steer the shuttle upwards to avoid the vast ravine he was about to fall into. For a moment it looked like he might make it to the other side when the aliens hit again and the other engine was destroyed. With nothing to propel it forwards and no way of steering, Trev’s shuttle and all its contents plummeted into the ravine to meet its unfortunate end.

Year 6 Cosmic Drama   Use me, said Red. I dance in the fire, spinning, turning free.

Cherries, strawberries and apples are me.

I am the colour of mischief, of danger, of fun, The devil, anger and the sun.

I give your cheeks their rosy blush From coral to deep crimson I am dangerous.

Use me, said Green I’m your landscape, your rolling hills I’m fragrant basil and refreshing mint.

I am the things that grow.

I am the colour of peace and tranquillity The colour of the forests and jungles of the earth Without me you can’t breathe.

Use me said Blue.

I am the Admiral of the navy ocean.

The sapphire sea and majestic rolling waves.

The azure dolphin leaping in the indigo night.

I give our planet life, From sea creatures to the blue sky of long summer days.

Use me, said Purple.

I will bring colour to your picture.

Pansies, blackberries and sloes.

I am the darkness that lays in the deep.

The glow of a box jelly fish flashing in the sea.

From lilac to wine, My colours will make royalty leap.

I’ll give your painting life.

Use me, said White.

The colour of light I am the colour of clouds and snow Without me you wouldn’t have a fun winter The reflection of the moon.

I am white that stands out at night.

Use me said Black.

I am the ruler of darkness, I come alive at night.

And hide behind the glowing sun.

The galaxy is mine.

I bring emotion to your funeral.

I am the crow’s wing as it soars through my stormy skies.

But the painter only said: No. Today I will use no colour.

Today I will work at piece of sculpture.

YEAR 5 FOOD POETRY Year 5 learned about metaphor, simile, onomatopoeia and alliteration, then we studied Spaghetti by Frank Flynn. After that, we wrote a class poem in the same style, and finally wrote our own poems based on eating messy foods.

 The poem has a clear structure and celebrates colours found in nature and all around us. 6B were asked to right a follow up verse, choosing their own colour. We think Grace Nichols would have been very proud to have read some of these.  Use me, said orange I’m as sweet as a tangerine I give you warmth in the winter An emotional sunset Just when you need  Use me, said Brown I am the bark of a giant tree I am the clay waiting to set, The colour of Jupiter and comets Chocolate – a colour everyone loves!  Use me, said Silver I am the shining of the moon The sparkle of the North star The colour to hid away your gloom So go and dip your paintbrush in my jar. 

     Watching the posh lady Who looked like a peacock in a blue dress Guzzling a ginormous burger She must have got it from Big Belly Burger Opening her jaws She started ….

Crunching it Munching it Biting it Liking it Spilling it down her throat Filling her stomach The lady looked so greedy With her beady eyes I was so tempted to…

Steal it Run across the room Snatch the burger so I… Victor Ran towards victory Almost there Arm extended Then the lady Snatched it Scoffed it I was done for, I fell to the floor, In pain and hunger.    The baby sat, staring at the oozing cake, His first birthday candle right in front.

The flickering flame caught his eye, And he now wanted to munch.

He blew out his candle in a rush, Then face - planted into the runny icing river.

A pot of potato chips broke his fall, He gazed up from the floor.

Like lightning he crawled, A flash, flying up the table leg.

This time he seemed to fly into, The pit of delicious goo.

Sweet heaven filled his mouth, A sugar rush overcoming.

His fingers stuck together, The best feeling since forever!

With joy, he burst out of the top, Icing all over his gob.

Greedily he chewed, And swallowed the whole in two!

     

 It was a privilege to take Year 6 to Snowdonia once again and a focus on individual, team and environmental well-being remained at the centre of all that we were doing whilst away. The children enjoyed gorge walking, rock climbing, team building and, of course, the famous Snowdon climb. What impressed me most and made me proud of the children was their mature, reflective approach in all we did. Through the week they focussed on sticks, stones and leaves. The stick represented something they had learned from the week that they wanted to stick with. The stone represented something from the week that they wanted to build upon. The leaf, something which they recognised as being unhelpful and they would ‘leave’ behind. As I say, I was extremely proud of them all.

They worked so well together and they also learned a lot about well-being which they then reflected upon, blogged about and fed back in our reflective times each evening.    

“I know that I feel mentally and physically stronger from the experience of going to Snowdonia.”

“I have made better friendships with people I would not normally talk to.”

“In North Wales it was very peaceful and I love the lush, green grass.”

“I have learned to listen to other’s ideas, not just my own. Trying new activities and helping others if they are hurt or down was really good.”

“I think it was great that the activity groups were all mixed up in different classes. It helped me to make better friends and talk to people I don’t usually speak to.”

“I don’t think anyone else in the whole world has had as much fun as I had on the trip.”

“I learned how to live without my family and show myself what I am really made of.”

     

  On the Isle of Wight I sleep talked and sleep crawled (as I like to call it). Luke heard a creak from the bed and looked up to the top bunk where I was nearly falling out of the bed and mumbling. Quickly, Luke pushed me back before I squashed him and I achieved one thing that night: I gave Luke the scare of his life!  One of my best moments had to be on the 3G swing on the Isle of White. I did it with Hannah who was very confident about it. I, on the other hand, was slightly different. I was really scared. Half way up when I looked down because I thought I was going to fall. When we were at the top Hannah said, “Pull the leaver,” but neither of us knew where it was! I found it, and Hannah still didn’t know where it was. Then I pulled it and Hannah screamed like crazy. It was really funny!  The thing that I thought was the most enjoyable on the Isle of Wight was going on the 3G swing, I liked the fact that you went on with 2 people as it meant that you were both able to encourage one another.  My favourite moment of the whole year would definitely be going on the 3G swing with Oli, my friend. We almost got to the top of it. When it wasn’t my turn on the swing, I encouraged my friends.

   



CHORISTERS ROUND UP This term we sadly say ‘goodbye’ to two long standing and fantastic choristers – James Benton and Gus MacPherson. They will be greatly missed. Both have been absolutely model choristers, hard-working and loyal and I would personally like to thank them for the enormous contribution they have made to the choir over the years. We wish you a fond farewell.

Year 6 Moon Buggies Over the half term year six created all different types of moon buggies and would be testing them on: tarmac, sand, wood chipping and grass; we needed to make them work on all of those surfaces. Everyone tried their best, and unfortunately not all buggies functioned properly on all the surfaces, whether being broken or not going over with motors.

First, we tested on tarmac, and nearly all of the buggies operated properly. Some took multiple pushes, some motors crashed or broke, but most ended off fine.

Next, we tested the moon buggies on the sand. It took more pushes for many moon buggies, and a few more broke.

Next, was wood chipping and, if a motor wasn’t built with the proper wheels, it would only dig a hole in the ground. This was where most were destroyed and took the most pushes on average.

Finally we tested the moon buggies on the grass, and some lego moon buggies fell apart, and parts went missing, but for others, it was fine. Everyone really enjoyed themselves, and it was a great day all together! 

YEAR 3 OUTDOOR LEARNING As is the way in the life of the choir, new recruits have joined as others are leaving. Welcome Jack Leigh and Oscar Wright. Also worth noting is that in September there will be four new choristers, some of whom have decided to come to RSM particularly to be part of the choir. This is a very exciting development.

September will also see the beginning of the girls’ choir. This is an enormous step in the history of the choir, perhaps a little overdue! Mrs GlynneJones is very excited to announce that auditions for this choir have taken place and ten girl choristers have been selected from across both RSM and RGS. The two choirs will perform separately and also together, depending on the occasion.

Girls will at last be given the opportunity to sing in matins and raise the roof with even more beautiful singing at RSM. We are very blessed.

On outdoor learning day, 3P were retelling traditional tales and we had lots of fun.

Mrs Page put us into groups and we had to choose our tale; we choose our favourite and a back-up story so that we all retold a different tale in our groups.

I learnt a new traditional tale called The Emperor’s New Clothes and I was the Emperor. We practised together to perform the story well, we had to make sure we listened to each other whilst we were talking about our ideas because we all have a voice and should be heard. I was proud that everybody had tried their best, not just in my group but in all the groups. It was a nice and sunny day and we all had a great time! 

Year 3 Roman Mosaics As part of our Roman topic we made mosaics with little bits of paper. I thought it was hard but fun. You could do a pattern or a picture. Some people did a bunny, including me! 

In Roman times the Romans used small tiles to make mosaic patterns for their floors. We made some in 3M! Mine was multi-coloured. 

After visiting Lullingstone Roman Villa, we made Roman mosaics. In Roman times mosaics were the most expensive type of flooring you could get. The Romans had their mosaic in the audience chamber so their guests knew how much money they had. They are made of little squares called ’tesserae’ pressed into a fine mortar. I enjoyed making my mosaic. 

BEING A PALAEONTOLOGIST Year 1 really enjoyed being a palaeontologist, painstakingly removing chocolate chip fossils from the hard rock cookie! They agreed that you would have to be very patient to be a palaeontologist, especially when you want to eat the chocolate chips. 

It was really nice to be a palaeontologist. It was tricky but fun getting the fossils out! 

I digged in a bit of the cookie and got the bits out and then chipped away to get the fossils out. 

It was really fun being a palaeontologist. You really have to concentrated when you are a palaeontologist. 

It was good to know what it was like to be a palaeontologist. It was easy and really fun getting the fossils out.  .

BUSY BEE TIME IN YEAR 1 In Year 1 the children take part in ‘Child Initiated Learning activities,’ referred to as ‘Busy Bee Time.’

Providing the children with opportunities to work creatively allows them to develop their ideas and imaginations. This term the children have been inspired by our topic work on Dinosaurs and have incorporated elements of our topic into activities led by them during Busy Bee Time.

KINDERGARTEN ZOOLAB VISIT On Wednesday 24th May, Green Shoots, Kindergarten and Reception were treated to a very exciting morning when Zoolab came to visit with a set of interesting animals.

3M Visit Lullingstone Roman Villa We went to a Roman Villa. We got a coach and set off on our journey. It took almost an hour to get there. I almost fell asleep in the coach! When we got there, we went into a dark and scary room with the remains of a Roman villa. 

We went in the Roman villa and got dressed in some Celtic clothes. Then the groups joined together to watch a film about the history of the building. After lunch we went back in and saw some goose bones and other types of bones. I definitely want to go again! 

The children learnt all about a variety of animals and insects including snakes, crabs, millipedes and Tarantulas. They were allowed to stroke most of the creatures and hold some of them, and all the adults were impressed with their ‘Have a Go Hippo’ ability to handle them!

Yesterday on the 24th May Year 3 went to Lullingstone Roman Villa. Everybody was very excited. We went into the Roman Villa to watch a short clip upstairs. Then my group went downstairs and we dressed up and looked at Roman jewellery. Next I felt different rocks. After that we looked at some busts. After lunch we went back in the Roman Villa but this time we went upstairs and did some mosaics. 

YEAR 6 SPACE STUNNING STARTER In the middle of our English lesson horror struck when Mr Culverwell appeared in our class. He explained what had happened and we all were a bit worried. It was an enormous crash site and year 6 were privileged enough to investigate it on behalf of the police. We all approached the menacing crash site with year 6 intrigued about what there was to come.

Step by step our hearts were pummelling.

We couldn’t believe our eyes! Wires were splattered all over the grass carelessly. Perplexingly enough there was a Neil Armstrong ID badge!

Broken computers, USB, sharp plastic, metal, tinfoil, goo (everywhere). And much more.

The police were delighted to hear that RSM were helping them in their investigation.

Investigators of RSM were told that the police would clear all this mess up and they did a sterling job! 

YEAR 2 MAKING CEREAL BOXES I designed a healthy cereal box that would be a good breakfast for kids. It is called Monkey Flakes and has lots of healthy ingredients in. 

YEAR 2 MAKING PIRATE HATS IN DT I still have my pirate hat at home. I enjoyed cutting out all the bits and putting it together. 

I used bright colours because rainbow colours are liked by children and I would like children to like my cereal. 

I designed a box for chocolate Cheerios. It was nice to be a designer and think about the pictures to put on and which ones children would buy. 

My cereal box is bright and colourful because I don’t think kids like dark colours. I made the rainbows because little children like rainbows. 

Year 2 Visit Brighton and Shoreham Year 2 visited the Brighton Sea Life Centre and The RNLI Centre at Shoreham during the Summer Term as part of our Oceans topic. We learnt many valuable lessons especially about how it’s important for all of us to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle to help the environment. It is everyone’s responsibility to look after our oceans.

I liked learning about how a lady left lots of money to the RNLI to fund a lifeboat. 

I liked looking at the RNLI life boats. 

I enjoyed cutting my pirate hat out and putting it together. It was a bit tricky. 

Making pirates hats was fun. I enjoyed wearing it and pretending to be a pirate. 

I liked seeing all of the wonderful, colourful fish. 

I liked seeing the anaconda. 

I liked seeing the fish through the bubble hole and Dory and Nemo. 

I liked seeing the piranhas. 

I liked seeing all of the fish and sharks and learning that not all sharks are dangerous. 

We had to cut them out and then get a skull and cross bones and cut and stick that on too. It was a bit tricky but after I started I found it easy. 

MINI BEASTS TAKE OVER GREEN SHOOTS Early one morning four little caterpillars arrived in Green Shoots in a pot. Over a period of two weeks, the children were fascinated to see them grow and gradually make their way to the top of the pot where they formed a cocoon around themselves. After another two weeks, the Painted Lady Butterflies started to emerge. We gave them sugar water and slices of orange for nectar. After one more week on a sunny day, we watched them fly away.

    Green Shoots had a fabulous finish to their Mini Beasts topic with a visit from Ranger Joe at Zoolab. He brought along a variety of Mini Beasts including Max the Cockroach, Pokey the Hermit Crab and Tango the Corn Snake. The children behaved beautifully and all had an opportunity to touch or hold the Mini Beasts.

 Green Shoots children have really enjoyed their Beside the Seaside topic this term. They have been fishing for crabs and fish, exploring the rock pool and dressing up in flippers and goggles from the Beach Shop.

YEAR 3 ITALIAN STUNNING START We made Pizza because it comes from Italy.

We used magic dough for our base and then we used red paint for tomato sauce.

On the top I made ham, peperoni and olives from paper. It was fun!  On Wednesday 26th April, Year 3 had their Stunning Start. 3P came into 3M to taste some food from Italy. The Italian foods we tried were bread dipped in olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I liked the olives but the others didn’t. Everyone tried some breadsticks. We also watched a clip about life in Rome. In the clip we learnt what the colours in the Italian flag stood for.  The only two things I did not like were the balsamic vinegar and the tomatoes. We made pasta and put it in the pasta machine. 

YEAR 2 PORT HOLES

YEAR 2 STUDY WILLIAM TURNER

2M thoroughly enjoyed their design and technology session creating a port hole. I think you would agree that the end products are magnificent. They were very proud of their work and very complimentary of each others design.

Year 2 looked at the artist Turner in depth.

They discussed what influenced him and inspired him to paint. They looked closely at his painting of The fighting Temeraire and then had a go at recreating his piece using oil pastels.

YEAR 2 MATHS GAMES Year 2 have enjoyed lots of practical maths games this term.

RECEPTION’S MINIBEAST DAY! SPRING POEM                                                     

YEAR 6 CHARITY SALE Enterprise was a huge success! All of the enterprise groups worked really hard designing, making and decorating our products. We had to sign for our £5.00 loan and had to prepare a spreadsheet showing our outgoings and income. We learnt what it was like to run a business, it was a great learning experience. In total we made over £500 for our two charities – George and the Giant Pledge and the Child Accident Prevention Trust. Thank you to our maths teachers for their hard work and effort and also a big thank you to the rest of the school for their support.  On Thursday 22nd June 2017 it was the year 6 Charity Enterprise Event. But let’s backtrack a bit – prior to this we were told there would be a charity event in about 4 weeks, we were also told that the theme must be “Safety”. We were then told to pick a product and start making it.

We had a few lessons in maths to assemble our products and create a spreadsheet which made us think about the cost of the product and how much profit we would make for charity.

On the day we were all really excited and it was great fun with lots of children smiling up at you and offering their money. But then… a disaster struck!! A clap of warning thunder sounded. About 30 seconds after that it was raining heavily and lightning and thunder engulfed the sale! Everyone moved undercover but continued selling nonetheless. Despite the weather we raised over £500 for charity. 

We celebrated the end of our topic with a Minibeast Day! Great fun was had by all making headbands, hunting for minibeasts, creating minibeast pictures out of natural materials and making clay snails. The children had a fantastic time and enjoyed working together and sharing their ideas during the various activities.

We tried to look for bugs – I found two – one was a spider and one was an earwig.  The best bit was having a picnic and doing art on the sports field!  We found a ladybird and someone found a really big worm.  Elsa found a slug and I found a worm.  I liked making the snails.  I found the biggest worm. 

   This year in cricket all the colts cricket teams did really well. We had a total of 5 teams! Everyone in year 5 and 6 played in at least one of those teams.

All teams won at least one match and some even two matches which is amazing.

All teams did extremely well even in the hot weather!

Everyone had really good determination and concentration because cricket is a very long game and you can easily get distracted. Well done to everyone that took part in cricket this season. 

Throughout the Summer term we have been doing cricket in our games lessons.

We have been improving our cricket skills this season with the help of: Mr Hilton , Mrs Walters, Mr Forsyth and Mr Hatton.

We have especially enjoyed cricket this year and feel that we’ve improved as players. We’ve learned how to improve our bowling by bending our elbows and looking over our shoulders when bringing your arm up to bowl. We have learned how to do a front foot drive which helps us to hit the ball more straight. In fielding we have learnt to always make our hands into a bowl shape and when catching, you must bring them into your body. As you can see we have been learning a lot. We have really enjoyed our Year 4 cricket season. 

This year in Year 5&6 house cricket everyone played their part for their house.

The first game was Malcolmson vs Hobson. It was a very tight match and it had to be decided by boundaries.

Malcolmson were eventually decided as winners and they were through to the final of the House Cricket.

The next match would be Searle vs Osmond. In the end Searle won it but well done Osmond for trying their very best.

  Rounders this year was so exciting, however the highlight has to be the house rounders competition. After a great term of rounders this was the perfect way to end the season!

The first matches started off with Searle vs Malcolmson and Osmond vs Hobson.

These were both very tough matches. For Malcolmson without one of their strongest players, Sophia Clark, they fell behind a little bit and Searle just beat them 9-7 ½ .

Well done Searle!

Then onto Hobson vs Osmond…this match was neck and neck throughout the whole match and they ended up having a draw! Sophia joined the next game, giving them a slight boost vs Hobson resulting in an 8-6 ½ win! Well done Malcolmson!

Now the final would be Searle v’s Malcolmson to face off. After a well fought match the winners in the end were Searle.

The next match was Searle vs Osmond.

Searle persevered but Osmond just pipped them to the post in the end giving a score of 1 ½ to 3 ½.

Congratulations to the winners and well done to everyone who played. In the end everyone enjoyed it and all had a smile on their face, and that is all that matters. 

Malcolmson vs Osmond was another gruelling match but Malcolmson kept their game together throughout the whole match and came out on top with a score of 5-6 1/2.

 A successful year of School Chess.

This academic Year the school has competed in several Chess Tournaments and we have our first Player representing Surrey in Bjorn.

In the School’s Individual Challenge the school team came 7th out of 14 school teams and we are so proud of the children taking part as they give up their whole day on a Saturday for an intensive day of usually at least five rounds. In the August Bank Holiday Final this summer of the English Chess Challenge Bjorn Madsen has qualified in the Under 11 Boys Final and Jake Greenland in the Under Seven Boys.

We know their hard work and effort will be rewarded. Many of the School Club have qualified for the Tournaments and the Club has a strong basis going forward and it has become increasingly popular.

Searle vs Hobson was the last match.

Hobson just pushed a little bit more and used tactics which gave them an extra boost to win 5 ½ - 5.

It was a brilliant tournament, the total score was Searle 4th, Osmond 3rd, Hobson 2nd and congratulations Malcolmson for coming 1st . Well done all the teams for trying their hardest and keeping going when things got tough.

semi-finals where we met a very skilled group from St Georges.

Unfortunately we narrowly lost by ½ a rounder meaning that we were not through to the finals. However, the Year 6’s were not dispirited and fought their hardest in the 3rd/4th playoff to take joint 3rd with Hazelwood school.

     On Saturday 10th June, 10 year 6 children played exceptionally well at the Hawthorns U11 rounder tournament. F rom the outset, the children played brilliantly, displaying consistent contact with the ball when hitting and very tight fielding.

This led to very safe victories over Aberdour, Hoebridge, St Michaels, The Study, Halstead and Danes Hill. This then meant that we were straight through to the

  RSM Karate students were excited to perform their first karate demonstration at the Summer Fair. Students from years 1-6 worked in unison and enjoyed showing their parents what they have been learning at karate club. Well done to all!

   In May, The RSM Dance Drill Team were invited to take part in the Reigate Grammar Dance Slam. RGS students can choreograph their own routines and perform in front of a judge. We opened the show dancing to Do Your Thing. Our team weren’t part of the competition but we really enjoyed performing and I liked seeing the older students perform their energetic dances.

Thank you to Miss Hare for inviting us. 

    This year we have really enjoyed our rounders lessons. My favourite position in rounders is deep field in the middle of 2nd and 3rd base because when I get the ball I can throw it to 2nd base so they can stump the batter out. This year in rounders I have improved my batting thanks to the good practice we’ve done to improve our technique. We must use the side on position and bring the bat across our body.

We have to thank Mrs Seymour and Mrs Eveleigh for making our rounders practice so much fun and for being helpful teachers. 

   

            

    

      

    

     



      

           

                  At the first bit, we all cheered until our voices hurt, but it was no use.

Hobson lead the whole way by at least 30 points which was a downer, but we all kept up the spirits. Because Mrs B is a lower school teacher, she could sadly only stay for 1 hour, but her arrival gave us new hope.

Sophia was the star by lunch time breaking 2 school records! For lunch, the kitchen staff made a fantastic barbecue which was delicious so thank you Viv and Mike.

After lunch we had the stressful sprints.

The tension was building between the houses, but we did very well and bagged some more points. As the house point tube levels were growing higher, the relays had started to be called. We weren’t as successful but we persevered and that was better than winning for me and Eddie.

Hobson did very well and came first, we were very proud with second, Searle third and Osmond fourth. It was a thrilling day, only able to happen with the help of our amazing teachers.            We did OK in the relay events but overall came 3rd in these.

We also won a lot of sprints and running races but fell behind in the field events.

We all enjoyed sports day and are looking forward to it next year. I hope the next house captains have a more successful day. Well Done to all of OSMOND !!!      In Hobson we tried our best and supported each other and it really paid off in the end when we had the great honour of WINNING (!!!!) this house event.

In Hobson a special well done to Kester Buzzacott and Aaron Delafaille for winning their events and showing great team spirit.

Well done Hobson you did great at achieving 1st place! 

Farewell To Our Year 6 Leavers

Farewell To Our Staff Leavers  Mrs O’Neill has been a totally dedicated Kindergarten teacher who joined the school in 2012. She is relocating to North London and we wish her all the very best for both the move and her new job.

 Mr Hilton has been a fantastic GAP student with great sporting prowess and he has been a real asset. He returns to complete his final year at university and we wish him every success in the future.

 Mrs MacPherson has brought so much energy not just to Year 3 but also to the Drama Department putting on great productions and we will miss her greatly as she relocates to Cambridge.

 Mrs Betts has brought so much creativity, not only to Year 2 but also to the Eco Committee where she has driven things forward gaining us a Green Flag status twice. As she takes up a new career we wish her every happiness.

 Mrs Seymour has fulfilled a great role as a Phase Leader at Reigate St Mary’s and she will be a hard act to follow.

We congratulate her on her appointment as Assistant Head (Teaching & Learning) at Taunton School. We wish her all the very best as she relocates to Somerset.

 Mrs Winchester has been a wonderful Form and Music Teacher and we congratulate her on her appointment as Deputy Head at Chinthurst School.

 Mrs Hills has worked with us an Early Years Teaching Assistant since 2014 and has now taken a job closer to home and we wish her ever success in this new position.

 Mr Edwards has been on loan to us from Reigate Grammar School for the last 5 years. He is a brilliant teacher and we will miss him as he takes retirement.

         



We say goodbye to a number of wonderful colleagues this term. We wish them all the very best for the future and very much hope they will stay in touch with us.