Newsletter 6th October 2023

Saint Nicholas School

From the Headmaster's desk

Friday 6th October, 2023

Dates for your Diary

9th October

Harvest Festival

Lower School 10.15am

10th October

Hello Yellow, World Mental Health Day

11th October

Reception Parents’ Phonics Workshop

14th October

Open Morning

16th October

Dear all,

Another week has come and gone, and I feel certain that we have all noticed the dip in daylight hours and the drop in temperature this week. Historically, October is the month when our minds turn to liberating our coats from storage but with predicted temperatures of between 22- 24 degrees over the next four days, you might just want to put your expedition into the attic off, for at least one more weekend. To quote Scottish poet Alexander Smith, 'In the entire circle of the year there are no days so delightful as those of a fine October.'

In October, we celebrate Black History Month and in my lower school assembly last week, I introduced the month and this year's theme, which is 'Saluting our Sisters.' The theme of 'Saluting our Sisters' highlights the crucial role that black women have played in shaping history and inspiring change. With that in mind, I spent a little time sharing the stories of Mary Seacole, Lilian Bader and Alex Scott; three black women whose 'grit' and determination to succeed, are an inspiration for us all. Last week's assembly was the launchpad for a month of activities which celebrate the contribution black people have made in shaping the dynamic and diverse country we have today.

Year 9-11 Blood Brothers Workshop

17th October

Pre School Dough Disco

17th October

Friends Halloween Disco

18th October

Year 11 Parents’ Evening

18th October

Reception Class trip to Hatters Farm

20th October

Year 5 Polar Explorers Enrichment Day

1st November

Rocking Horse Parents’ Coffee Morning

7th November

Year 8 trip to Stratfordupon-Avon parents’ information evening

'The end of the summer is not the end of the world. Here's to October!' - A.A. Milne

r o m t h e H e a d m a s t e r ’ s d e s

With the half-term break only two weeks away, I wanted to update you on three staff departures. Long-serving mathematics teacher, Mrs Storey, will be leaving us at the end of this term after 11 years at the school. Mrs Storey leaves us to take up a mathematics position at Melbourne Village College in Cambridgeshire and I am certain you would join me in wishing her all the very best for the future. Parents may also have heard whispers on the 'Twittersphere' this week that chemistry teacher, Mr Rodriguez, is to take on a new role at The Hertfordshire and Essex High School. Mr Rodriguez was successful in being appointed to the aforementioned role and will be leaving us at the end of the February half-term. We wish him every success at Herts and Essex. And finally, Mrs Whittaker, lunchtime and homework club supervisor, will be leaving at the end of this half-term to take up an administrator role outside of the education sector. Mrs Whittaker has always been a firm favourite of the pupils and I feel certain that her presence at the school will be missed greatly by Saint Nicholas pupils of all ages. It is always sad to say farewell to departing staff, but I am a strong believer that 'when one door closes, another bigger and better one opens' and I very much look forward to updating you when we have completed the recruitment process for all three of these vacant positions.

As we move into the weekend, you might be interested to learn that October is Positive Attitude Month, a month that promotes positive energy and a 'glass half full' mentality. A positive attitude is the best trait you can carry with you, because it makes any difficult or frustrating situation a lot easier to deal with. To quote legendary baseball player, Wade Boggs, 'A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events and outcomes. It is a catalyst and it sparks extraordinary results.'

My very best for a relaxing weekend, enjoy the predicted sunshine!

9th November

Year 11 Further Education Evening

8th November

Lower School Parents’ Evening

9th November

Year 7-11 ISA Regional Swimming Competition, Ipswich

10th November

Bonfire Night

13th November

Odd Socks Day

14th November

Individual school photos

15th November

2 Johns E-Safety Workshop

16th November

Year 8 trip to Stratfordupon-Avon

20th November

Year 2 trip to Colchester Castle

20th November

Year 3 & 4 trip to the Barbican Centre, London Symphony Orchestra Concert

21st November

Year 9 trip to Harry Potter Studios

22nd November

Year 6 Parents’ Evening

23rd November

Year 5 trip to Duxford

Please note Lower School Parents’ Evening takes place on 8th November NOT Tuesday 7th as previously advertised

To keep up to date with events on the school calendar

Little Saints

This week pupils enjoyed a visit to Wings Cafe in North Weald, to view the aircraft. They spotted helicopters, ambulances, police cars, lorries, motorbikes and fuel tankers to name a few! They were lucky enough to see two helicopters land and a couple of planes take off.

Pupils have also enjoyed spending time in the muddy area, and making the most of the warmer weather.

Reception Class

This week Reception classes read the story 'Funny Bones'. Pupils talked about being healthy and keeping their bodies fit and strong. In maths, pupils have been ordering the length of different bones as well as creating towns with tall and short houses. They have also loved playing with the small world town, pretending to be the different characters from the book and enjoyed creating their own skeleton pictures using cotton buds as well as moving skeletons.

N e w s Forest School

This week Year 1 and Year 2 had great fun den building. They then tested to see if the dens were water proof!

Rehearsals for the Lower School production of 'Oliver'

Pupils in Years 3, 4 and 5 are hard at work rehearsing for the Lower School production of 'Oliver'. All of the pupils are very excited to be part of the show and are thoroughly enjoying the rehearsal process.

Year 7

This week pupils in Year 7 have been consolidating their learning of factors that affect population, by playing the smarties population game. Each coloured smartie represented a different group of people within a country, and the pupils picked chance cards which either resulted in their population increasing or decreasing. This reinforced the work they have been doing on birth rates, death rates and migration. Pupils were rewarded with some treats at the end of the lesson for resisting eating any of their population during the game!

Year 10

On Friday 29th September, Year 10 went to The Globe Theatre to see ‘Macbeth’. There were some funny parts and some sad parts – especially the bit where Young Macduff was strangled by his own birthday balloon! But, it was not as gruesome as I thought it would be. Some of it was tricky to understand because of the old, Shakespearean English but the actors were very good – especially the actor who played Macbeth.

We were lucky to sit in seats at the top of the theatre, and were pleased not to be ‘Groundlings’, who had to stand for the whole performance, as they would have done during Shakespeare’s time.

We travelled by coach into London, and The Globe Theatre is near the River Thames. The theatre is made of wood – it was quite cool! It was a beautiful day out and we all really enjoyed ourselves.

Artie Year 10

Year 11

Today Mrs Nicholson’s class took part in a 10 minute Macbeth play as part of our GCSE work.

We had a lot of fun acting out the play, which was very enjoyable. Thank you to our drama teacher for allowing us to use her props for this activity as we acted out key parts of the play.

Lily Year 11

Arts Award

We are delighted to introduce the Arts Award to Saint Nicholas School.

What is Arts Award?

Arts Award takes children and young people on a creative journey, exploring the arts world, discovering their potential as artists, developing leadership skills – and gaining a recognised qualification along the way.

Pupils can do an Arts Award in any area of the arts, from fashion to poetry, rapping to dancing, sculpture to drama and many more.

Mr Keenleyside is an Arts Award advisor for Bronze and Silver levels, Bronze level is aimed at Year 8 pupils and has been introduced this term. The Silver level is aimed at Year 9 and Year 10 pupils. Year 10 pupils have the opportunity to start this term and Year 9 pupils will commence later in the year.

Bronze is a Level 1 qualification on the Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF) and typically takes 40 guided learning hours and 20 independent learning hours to complete (60 hours total qualification time). It is Equivalent to a GCSE 1-3 (credit score 6)

Silver is a Level 2 qualification on the Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF) and typically takes 60 guided learning hours plus 35 independent learning hours to complete (95 hours total qualification time) it is Equivalent to a GCSE 4-9 (credit score 10)

To achieve this award requires commitment, and pupils will be responsible for organising themselves to undertake the activities they set and the Arts Award advisor will run weekly session to aid them in successfully completing their journey.

This is open to all pupils who would like to further their creative talents, regardless of their level.

For further information please click on the links below: What is Arts Award? - Arts Award on Voice (voicemag.uk)

Arts Award

Social media @voicemaguk

Mr Keenleyside would be happy to answer any questions. s.keenleyside@saintnicholasschool.net

Arts Award Year 8 Project

Pupils in Year 8 will be starting a cross curricular art project after half term, starting in English and will be continuing throughout the year.

‘The Artist Book Project’

Through art, storytelling, poetry, design, drama, music and more, each pupil will create a portrait built around their individual identity. They will explore new and familiar cultures, discover new artists, share experiences and embrace their fears and aspirations.

On completion of this project, the pupil’s work will have fulfilled the criteria to be considered for The Bronze Arts Award. This is externally moderated and when awarded, pupils gain a Level 1 qualification.

Senior Prefects

2023-24

We are delighted to introduce Mrs Simpson, our new Lamda tutor to Saint Nicholas School. LAMDA has huge value in nurturing life skills, not just performance skills

Mrs Simpson will be running 1:1 lessons from Year 1 upwards every Wednesday to Friday.

Lessons will focus on:

Fostering a love of literature and story-telling

Inspiring creativity in an engaging and focused setting

Focusing on individual performance and vocal skills

Building self confidence

Developing memorising and recital skills

Improving communication and conversational skills

Pupils have the opportunity to gain UCAS points in Level 3: grades 6 to 8.

Please contact Mrs Simpson directly to book your child’s place: petrova@seizetheplay.co.uk

Open Morning

We are holding a whole school Open Morning on Saturday 14th October, 10am-midday, which is an opportunity for prospective parents to view the school all the way through to seniors.

Our pupils are tremendous ambassadors for the school, conducting the guided tours and being involved in class and we always receive high praise from prospective parents impressed with their conduct, enthusiasm and pride in their school! We hope your child will wish to be involved and we encourage them to sign up with their form teacher.

O t h e r N e w s

Netball

On Wednesday 27th September, Year 10 and 11 netball team competed against Harlow schools. On the first match we lost against Passmores 8-5, with one player down. In the second game, against Mark Hall, we won 6-1, with great communication and team work! In the 3rd game we lost against Mark Hall but were chasing their tail the entire game. During the final game we drew against Burnt Mill at 7-7. Well done to all the girls that participated! I was lucky to be named player of the tournament. Thank you to Mrs Oakley and Mrs Sanders!

Delilah Year 10

Rugby Year 7 and 8

Our match against Passmores was fast paced from the get go. The opposition dominated in height and scored the first try. Saint Nicholas managed to produce a marvelous come back with some great tackles and passes. Our scrum game was strong and a last minute try meant the game finished 5-3 with Saint Nicholas taking the victory. A great team effort from all.

Rupert Year 8

Senior Rugby

On Tuesday 3rd October, the Year 10 and 11 rugby team took part in the 2nd round of Harlow schools’ rugby fixtures. Our two opponents on the day were St Marks and Passmores. Our first game was against a strong St Marks team. We managed to open the scoring with a brilliant try, scored by Jack. Our smart, tactical plays and outstanding passing were complemented with a well taken second try by our scrum half, Thomas. The game ended 10-0.

Our second game was against Passmores whom we took apart with our great team play and constant pressure. Some great kicking from Thomas also allowed us to maximise our total score, not only scoring tries, but conversions as well. Furthermore, there were some excellent individual plays in the match, as Terry and Suraj managed to run past the whole Passmores team on separate occasions to score us a try . We ended up winning 45-0. Thank you to Mr Tucker and Mr Brown for giving us the opportunity to play, and thank you to Harlow Rugby club for hosting the fixtures.

Suraj Year 11