Celebrating Chinthurst 2020–21
CHINTHURST SCHOOL
HEAD’S WELCOME
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am delighted to welcome you to the latest edition of our annual magazine, Celebrating Chinthurst. It captures just a small part of the exciting and varied lives that our children lead here and I hope their happiness and sense of fun shines through – as this is the true essence of life at Chinthurst. It is wonderful to see a return to normality following 18 months of the Covid-19 pandemic, which brought with it lockdowns, back-to-school restrictions and complex guidelines. It was a most unusual and challenging time for everyone. As always, the robust and resilient Chinthurst community of staff, pupils and parents pulled together, providing the most fantastic support for our online schooling programme, unstinting adherence to the complexities of the Covid protocols and a continued and unrelenting focus on the wellbeing of the wonderful children in our care. Throughout, our award-winning programme, Wellbeing at Heart remained and still is at the centre of school life, building self-esteem and equipping our young people with the skills to manage their mental health effectively. I was extremely proud that Chinthurst was a finalist for the 2020 ISP award for Independent Prep School of the Year in the wellbeing category. This was a wonderful achievement and deserved recognition of the hard work and excellent care given by our teaching staff every single day. The children have continued to excel in academic performance, and our Year 6 leavers, the classes of 2020 and 2021, all moved on to their choice of senior school, many with scholarships across a range of subject areas. More than that, they left us as engaged learners, excited for the next step and with strong foundations for a happy and fulfilled future. School life at Chinthurst continues to be enriched by an exciting curriculum, cutting-edge technology, visitors, trips, and a range of creative and sporting opportunities for all of our children, from Early Years right through to the final year of Upper School. This breadth of experience alongside excellent teaching ensures that our children get the very best start in life and shapes them into inquisitive, enthusiastic and thoughtful individuals who are excited to take on the challenges of senior schooling and beyond.
Cathy Trundle Headteacher
CELEBRATING CHINTHURST
WELLBEING AT HEART
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ellbeing is at the very heart of everything we do at Chinthurst, and the children are encouraged to understand how their minds and bodies work and the importance of looking after their mental health. We give them the space and time to be happy – because happy children can achieve amazing things! Scout, Chinthurst’s very own wellbeing dog, is extremely popular with the children. She comes to school every day with Miss Trundle and loves being part of the fun. She has lots of jobs to do like listening to readers who might need a bit of encouragement and having cuddles with children who are feeling a bit sad. She is gentle and kind and makes everyone smile! The Wellbeing Room provides a quiet, cosy area for the children to go to when they need to have some space, to talk through a problem or if they are feeling anxious. It is a relaxing place and the school counsellor can meet children there to help them with issues they may be having difficulty with.
CHINTHURST SCHOOL
ADVENTURES OF EARLY YEARS
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ur youngest children enjoy a packed timetable of activities including specialist teaching in drama, music, sport, and languages and they spend a great deal of their time learning through play outdoors. Storytelling forms an integral part of the day at this stage and sparks the children’s imaginations in lots of ways. Reception particularly enjoy re-enacting some of their favourite stories together out in the playground in the summer term. Nursery children love being creative with nature in their art sessions and used lots of different things from nature to build a fantastic bug hotel. Drama and music lessons are often the highlight of the week for everyone and exciting interactive games are designed to develop confidence and self-expression. There is always plenty of fun and laughter to be heard during the sessions and the children love to sing and play musical instruments.
CELEBRATING CHINTHURST
ADVENTURES OF EARLY YEARS
CHINTHURST SCHOOL
FOREST SCHOOL
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hildren in Early Years have regular Forest School with our specialist highly trained practitioner. Forest School is a hands-on learning experience in a natural environment and the children are encouraged to investigate and explore their surroundings. The sessions build independence, resilience, confidence, problem solving and creativity and the children’s progress is closely monitored so each session can be tailored to the specific needs of each group.
CELEBRATING CHINTHURST
WORLD BOOK DAY
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national lockdown did nothing to deter the enthusiasm for this year’s World Book Day. It may have been a little different to previous years, but there was no shortage of creative ideas from the Chinthurst children. They made a huge effort to get involved by dressing up as their favourite book characters for the day and sharing their reasons for choosing their characters during live lessons or by sending in fantastic photographs. The teachers set a Masked Reader Challenge on video and the children had to guess which teacher was reading The Gruffalo by listening carefully to their voices.
CHINTHURST SCHOOL
OUTDOOR LEARNING
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ere at Chinthurst we take the children’s learning outdoors whenever possible. Children learn best when they are having fun, and lessons outside are always memorable. Concepts can be taught in relevant and practical ways and often children can grasp concepts outside that they have had difficulties with in the classroom. Presenting tasks and problems outside allows for discovery and exploration in a way that only nature can deliver. Time spent outside also boosts wellbeing and the children know they can take a Mindful Minute out in the fresh air during the day.
CELEBRATING CHINTHURST
DAY TRIPS & VISITS
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earning can be brought to life in imaginative and fun ways by visitors to the school and outings to interesting places that link with the children’s topic work. We were delighted to be able to recommence educational trips in the summer term and the lower school children enjoyed going to stunning Leeds Castle, beautiful Wisley Gardens, fascinating Juniper Hall and the wonderful Bocketts Farm. They had a marvellous time and come back with smiles on their faces, tales to tell and a deeper understanding of the subjects they were studying.
CHINTHURST SCHOOL
ART AT CHINTHURST
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e value a breadth of curriculum at Chinthurst and know that tapping into children’s creativity is essential for their overall academic success. The study of art provides a valuable change of pace to learning and requires children to think and express themselves in a different way. During lockdown the children continued to have weekly art lessons and to study the work of artists from different cultures. They produced outstanding pieces of work that were imaginative and beautifully executed. When the children came back onsite, Year 6 were given the independence to choose a renowned artist to inspire their own self portrait. They produced a series of stunning self portraits in that style, which were collated into a fabulous virtual exhibition for parents and friends to enjoy.
CHINTHURST SCHOOL
YEAR 4 & 5 RESIDENTIAL TRIPS
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ear 4 ventured to multi-activity centre, Blacklands Farm for their residential trip this year. They enjoyed lots of amazing activities including high ropes and rock climbing and were excited to sleep in dorms with their friends. The weather was fantastic and lots of brilliant memories were made. Meanwhile, Year 5 set off in the sunshine for their much-anticipated, three-day residential trip to PGL Liddington. Activities ranged from climbing and canoeing to archery and zipwiring with lots of problem solving and teamwork along the way. The teachers had a go at everything too and the whole party returned with lots of stories of good times with friends.
CELEBRATING CHINTHURST
YEAR 6 LEAVERS
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ur Year 6 have shown the most incredible determination and resilience particularly in their last and most unusual Covid-restricted year at the school. Their fantastic work ethic has been balanced by a wonderful sense of fun and they have been fantastic role models for the rest of the school. Lasting memories were made during the last few weeks of term when the children enjoyed an exciting PGL residential trip, showed their professionalism during a business enterprise project, camped overnight in the school grounds and had a host of other adventures together. We hope their special Leavers’ Hoodies will always remind them that they are part of the Chinthurst family forever. #TEAM6
MUSIC & DRAMA
CELEBRATING CHINTHURST
SHAKESPEARE ROCKS!
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his year, the amazing Chinthurst drama and music teachers transformed the annual Year 6 production from a stage play into a wonderful movie complete with clapperboards, filming on location in the woods and lots of outstanding performances. As audiences were restricted by Covid guidelines, the parents were treated instead to a film premier at home whilst enjoying a delicious bag of special Chinthurst popcorn prepared for them on the day. The show was definitely worthy of an Oscar and a fantastic experience for all the children involved. Next stop Hollywood!
“The rehearsals on location in the woods were so much fun!” Year 6 Child
CHINTHURST SCHOOL
CHRISTMAS PRODUCTIONS
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he pandemic did not prevent the children from taking part in an array of delightful Christmas productions this year, which were filmed so parents were able to share in their performances at home. The children had fun rehearsing their parts and learning lots of songs so on the day, they spoke clearly and sang beautifully giving the whole school a lovely festive feel.
CELEBRATING CHINTHURST
CHRISTMAS PRODUCTIONS
“The Christmas shows are always a wonderful way to begin the festive season.” Mrs Burton
CHINTHURST SCHOOL
DRAMA & LAMDA
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AMDA exams are designed to develop life skills, such as clear communication, self-confidence and teamwork, and many children throughout the school have one-to-one LAMDA drama lessons with our Drama Lead, Mrs S-T. The children’s exam successes are always outstanding and this year was no different. An amazing 55 Chinthurst students entered exams. Seven were awarded merits and 48 received distinctions. We are immensely proud of them all! Every year group from Little Chicks upwards have weekly drama lessons and as the children progress through the school, their confidence, performance and presentation skills grow. Classes are always interactive and lots of fun and the children rehearse and perform in assemblies, concerts and productions throughout the year.
CELEBRATING CHINTHURST
MUSIC AT CHINTHURST
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any of the children in the school have been involved in our peripatetic music programme this year. The music department has delivered over 100 individual lessons per week on a wide variety of string, brass, woodwind and percussion instruments. The children attend lessons with plenty of enthusiasm, with many of them working towards music examinations.
SPORT
CHINTHURST SCHOOL
UPPER & LOWER SCHOOL SPORTS DAY
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lovely sunny day greeted us for our Lower and Upper School Sports Day this year. In the morning, our Lower School children enjoyed running races, sack races and an egg-and-spoon race, culminating in an exciting house obstacle relay. The children tried their very hardest and there were excellent performances all round, with Nelson narrowly coming out on top. In the afternoon, we moved on to Upper School with 70 track events taking place alongside the long jump, high jump and javelin, and, of course, the keenly anticipated house tug o’ war for each year group. It was a fantastic afternoon of athletics, teamwork and outstanding sportsmanship, with Wellington ultimately being victorious. For the overall result, we added together all of the scores on the days with the result as follows: Wellington – 994 Raleigh – 933 Nelson – 808
“You could feel the Chinthurst spirit as the children cheered each other on in the house relays!” Mr Mussellwhite
CELEBRATING CHINTHURST
NURSERY SPORTS DAY
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eavy rain meant that the Nursery sports day had to take place in the lower school hall this year. The weather certainly did not dampen the children’s enthusiasm however, and they all enjoyed lots of running, jumping, throwing and even a relay race to end the morning.
CHINTHURST SCHOOL
TEAM SPORTS AT CHINTHURST
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port is at the heart of Chinthurst with children having the choice to take part in a wide range of different games. We have specialist sports coaching which enables us to focus on the specific needs of each child, supporting or challenging them so that they can succeed to the best of their abilities. Rugby, netball, football and cricket are our main sports and are offered to both boys and girls. The children can also take part in additional sports such as swimming and tennis after school in one of our many sports clubs. We believe in opportunity for all, and gender is not a barrier to participation at Chinthurst. You will see girls playing in rugby fixtures and boys in hockey matches, and everyone plays cricket in the summer. There is so much more to success at sport than winning alone. It is about participation, inclusivity, leadership and teamwork. That is why we have a comprehensive fixtures programme ensuring that every child has the chance to represent their school. Optional Saturday sport sessions are an ideal way for the children to build upon the coaching they have received during the week and are also lots of fun. Parents are able to enjoy a bacon sandwich on the side lines whilst the children enjoy being out in the fresh air, developing their skills with their friends. Sport is always evolving at Chinthurst and this year we are looking forward to a Multi Sports Week when external sports people will provide additional sports coaching and give the children a chance to try out a wide range of different sports.
“Sport at Chinthurst is all about fun, inclusion and choice!” Mrs Atkinson-Hunt
KEEPING IN TOUCH WITH US As Celebrating Chinthurst illustrates, we are an extremely active school with a host of activities happening throughout the year. To keep up to date with school news, please visit our website or join us online: ChinthurstSchool chinthurst.school @ChintSchool
Chinthurst School, 52 Tadworth Street, Tadworth, Surrey KT20 5QZ 01737 812 011 | admissions@chinthurstschool.co.uk www.chinthurstschool.co.uk