Celebrating Chinthurst
HEAD’S WELCOME
Welcome to the latest edition of our annual magazine, Celebrating Chinthurst. It captures just a small part of the exciting and varied lives the children lead here, and I hope their happiness and sense of fun shine through – as this is the true essence of Chinthurst.
With the world changing at a phenomenal pace, workplaces of the future will be very different when our children reach adulthood. There will be challenges that we cannot even begin to imagine and wonderful opportunities, too. To enable our children to meet both head-on, our curriculum focus, from Early Years upwards, is firmly on curiosity, adaptability and critical thinking. This helps our youngest children to begin to develop the skills they will need for a happy, healthy and fulfilling life as they grow up, and I am delighted that Chinthurst has been shortlisted for two awards in 2024 in recognition of this exciting Early Years programme.
As the children progress through the school, we place tremendous importance on developing 21st-century skills and strong information literacy. Cutting-edge technology is integrated into all aspects of education here at Chinthurst and carefully planned STEAM lessons (drawing together Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths) are designed to develop well-rounded critical thinkers. Our 3D printers and pioneering software packages foster and inspire the children’s learning further alongside VR headsets for topic work and the use of personal devices in the Upper School to fully prepare the children for senior school. This year has seen an exceptional breadth of experience for the children, and further investment is planned over the next 12 months.
The children have continued to excel in academic performance this year and our Year 6 leavers – the fantastic class of 2024 –all moved on to their recommended senior schools, many with scholarships across a range of subject areas. Importantly, they left us as engaged learners, excited for the next step and with strong foundations on which to build a happy and fulfilled future.
And finally, I am thrilled that our senior school, Reigate Grammar School, has been named The Sunday Times UK Independent School of the Year for 2025. The Reigate Grammar School group continues to be at the forefront of education, with a strong focus on producing inquisitive, enthusiastic and thoughtful individuals who will be effective leaders of the future.
Cathy Trundle
Headteacher
WELLBEING AT HEART
At Chinthurst, we know that happy children can achieve amazing things. Our Wellbeing at Heart programme supports the children’s understanding of how their minds and bodies work and gives them the skills to navigate life’s inevitable ups and downs. Our Head of Pastoral Care, Mr Thomson, oversees the emotional wellbeing of the children and provides extra help and guidance should they need it.
Our Wellbeing Room provides a safe space for the children to go to if they need a moment away from the crowd. It has a warm and cosy woodland-themed design which helps the children feel calm and secure.
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!
ADVENTURES OF EARLY YEARS
Our 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. 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. Weekly STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) lessons help our youngest minds become creative and critical thinkers by drawing together a wide range of practical skills, such as problem solving and resourcefulness.
ADVENTURES OF EARLY YEARS
CHARITABLE GIVING
Charitable giving is an important part of Chinthurst’s values and philosophy and has an overwhelmingly positive impact on children, improving their feelings of self-worth, self-esteem and empathy. We allocate time within the curriculum to discuss the needs of others and think of ways to support people. Each year in their Houses, the children decide which charities they would like to support. Year 6 plan a business enterprise sale in the summer term, donating the proceeds to their chosen charity (which was Solving Kids Cancer UK this year).
The children have loved taking part in national giving days too, like Children In Need, Comic Relief and Save The Children’s Christmas Jumper Day. As a school, we have supported local charities such as The Children’s Trust (including a fantastic whole-school Elf Run), Renewed Hope Surrey (a local food bank) and Stripey Stork.
WORLD BOOK DAY
The children came to school in a wonderful array of creative costumes to celebrate World Book Day 2024 with a magnificent range of authors and genres being represented. Everyone excitedly shared their reasons for choosing their book characters with their classmates.
OUTDOOR LEARNING
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 woodland skills sessions build independence, resilience, confidence, problem solving and creativity.
DAY TRIPS
Learning can be brought to life in imaginative and fun ways by outings to interesting places that link with the children’s topic work, and this year has certainly been packed full of exciting trips to enhance learning. Lower School children enjoyed going to stunning Leeds Castle, the Sea Life Centre in Brighton, Bocketts Farm, Gatton Park and Drusillas Zoo. Upper School were fascinated by the Living Rainforest, Wild About Britain, Juniper Hall and Bough Beech. Everyone had a marvellous time and came back with smiles on their faces, tales to tell and a deeper understanding of the subjects they were studying.
YEARS 4&5 RESIDENTIAL TRIPS
Year 4 had a fantastic time on their residential trip to High Ashurst. They enjoyed lots of exciting activities including orienteering, archery, high ropes and woodland skills. The teachers were delighted with the children’s independence, teamwork and sense of fun.
Year 5 set off in the sunshine for their much-anticipated, three-day residential trip to Croft Farm. They experienced an exciting range of activities including paddle boarding, kayaking and climbing, all sprinkled with a dusting of water fights to keep cool. Singing around the campfire was an evening highlight and the children came home with many memories of a wonderful trip.
YEAR 6 RESIDENTIAL TO FRANCE
Year 6 enjoyed a marvellous language and activity-filled, cultural five-day residential trip to France. Nestled amidst picturesque landscapes, the Château de la Baudonnière became their home for the week, whilst providing the perfect backdrop for an immersive French experience. The children enjoyed orienteering, breadmaking, treasure hunts (which involved unravelling clues and solving riddles in French!), tasting escargots and having picnics on the sands of Mont St Michel. It was a transformative adventure where cherished memories were made and we hope the children built a love of the French language for life.
ART AT CHINTHURST
We 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. Throughout the year, Year 6 were inspired by artists across the world to come up with some unique and engaging work. Using all the skills built up over the past few years, they produced the most beautiful self-portraits which reflected their wonderful creativity.
MUSIC & DRAMA
ALI BABA
Parents, friends and family members were thoroughly entertained with a spectacular performance from Year 6 in their production, Ali Baba & the Bongo Bandits. Spectators slipped into their sandals, ready for some sandy silliness as they embarked on a thrilling carpet ride alongside Ali Baba and his quirky camel, Humphrey. The children’s performances were outstanding, with many of the audience members commenting on the excellent comic-timing displayed, way beyond their years. Their performance skills were phenomenal, and their enthusiasm and energy on stage, electrifying!
“The audience was utterly captivated with every cast member delivering a fabulous performance!”
Year 6 Parent
CHRISTMAS PRODUCTIONS
Classes from Nursery to Year 2 performed a wonderful array of Christmas plays to packed audiences of parents and friends in the run up to the Christmas holidays. The children had been rehearsing their parts for many weeks and learning lots of songs and actions to go with them. On the day, they spoke clearly and sang beautifully, giving everyone a lovely festive start to the Christmas period. They dazzled us with their abilities and everyone looked fantastic in their bright and sparkling costumes.
CHRISTMAS PRODUCTIONS
“The Christmas shows are always a wonderful way to begin the festive season.”
Mrs Burton
DRAMA & LAMDA
LAMDA exams are designed to develop life skills, such as clear communication, self-confidence and teamwork, and many children throughout the school have oneto-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 169 children entered exams and 93 per cent were awarded distinctions with the rest gaining merits.
Every year group from Little Chicks upwards have weekly curriculum 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.
MUSIC AT CHINTHURST
We have a thriving peripatetic music programme covering a wide variety of string, brass, woodwind and percussion instruments. There are choirs, bands and ensembles for the children to join and plenty of performance opportunities. Curriculum music lessons are great fun and classes learn to play the recorder, ukulele, violin and keyboard as they move up through the school.
SPORT
LOWER & UPPER SCHOOL SPORTS DAY
Lower and Upper School Sports Day was an exciting event with lots of good-natured House rivalry and plenty of laughs. In the morning, 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. In the afternoon, it was Upper School’s turn to compete 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. Well done to Pegasus, the overall winning House for 2024.
“You could feel the Chinthurst spirit as the children cheered each other on in the House relays!”
Mr Mussellwhite
NURSERY SPORTS DAY
The Nursery children were raring to go on the morning of the muchanticipated Nursery Sports Day. Parents lined the field to watch them running, jumping, throwing and even trying out a relay race. Everyone was immensely proud to see how well they tried each event and the fun they had participating with their friends.
TEAM SPORTS AT CHINTHURST
Sport 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, hockey, netball, football and cricket are our main sports and are offered to both boys and girls. 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. In recognition of this, we were thrilled to be named School of the Year for Sporting Achievement, a national award that usually goes to senior schools.
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 sidelines whilst the children enjoy being out in the fresh air, developing their skills with their friends.
This year we had another fabulous Multi-Sports Week when external sports people provided additional sports coaching and the children had the 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