Upton Update Spring 2020

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Upton

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Spring 2020

Update @UptonHouseSch

Special Features Leavers’ Destinations 2020

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NACE Challenge Award Accreditation

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Swimming Galas

Welcome from Mrs Thornton With the Spring Term sadly brought to an unexpected and sudden close, this was and still is, an anxious time for children, parents and staff. Most importantly in these difficult days, I do hope you are well and safe.

In the Easter sunshine that has recently arrived, I will just take a moment to reflect on the weeks before we closed, which were filled with the usual Upton magic. The House music competition, LAMDA exams, class assemblies, World Book Day challenges, Prep House swimming gala, sports fixtures and the incredible PTA Pub Quiz night. The children worked hard, performed on many platforms and laughed lots!

Elvis, our baby bearded dragon joined us, as did the ducklings and Hope, Joey, Cookie, Happy and Lightning swiftly arrived. We were absolutely thrilled to be awarded the NACE Award (National Association for Able Children in Education). Equally, we were very proud of our 2020 Form 6 results, with 11 scholarships awarded.

Congratulations girls. The children were absolutely brilliant in the face of uncertainty and unexpected changes and I am very proud of each and every Upton child.

Once closed, our focus then turned to expediting the launch of UptonHouse@Home. As a working mum of three children, I feel passionately that it is our job to educate your children at home at this time and parents should not be expected to teach through these troubled times, whilst, in many instances, trying to work alongside. Therefore, UptonHouse@Home has been developed with the key focus of educating the child and enabling parents to work. The day will start with registration, valuable class time together, and assembly as usual. Lessons then begin – live – our teachers on the screen teaching.

Contents

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Welcome

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Leavers’ Results

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NACE Awards

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Swimming Galas

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Mental Health Week

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Little Upton

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Transition

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Music

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The Arts

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PTA News

We know that copious worksheets that require printing, using endless toner cartridges and constant supervision are not practical for parents. We have planned each activity/lesson to support home learning and independent home learning as far as possible, age approriate.

From the start of the Summer Term, the children will have uninterrupted access to their Upton curriculum, now redesigned for digital consumption, delivered by our trusted team. Proven Upton education from creative, caring staff that your children know and love, in your home.

It is a little more challenging for our very youngest children of course as they are so young, but our Little Upton teachers, Mrs Bish, Mrs Phelan and Mrs Adnan will be in touch regularly offering fun 1:1 interaction, fun activities and story times.

These remain critical weeks and months in your child’s intellectual and emotional development, and we remain focused on educating and nurturing your children within the security of the Upton community. They will continue to thrive.

So, our virtual doors will open on the 21st April. We are excited and ready to welcome you to UptonHouse@Home and be with you all again.

With kind regards Mrs Rhian Thornton Headmistress

Leavers’ Destinations 2020 11 SCHOLARSHIPS AWARDED

3

2

4

Art

Drama

Academic

1

Sport

Music

5

HEADINGTON SCHOOL OXFORD

1

1

2

HEATHFIELD

LEH

1

LUCKLEY HOUSE

2

1

GUILDFORD HIGH

ST HELEN AND ST KATHARINE

45

10

10

SIR WILLIAM PERKINS’S SCHOOL

PLACES AWARDED TO

ST GEORGE’S ASCOT

26 students

4

2

ST GEORGE’S WEYBRIDGE

WELLINGTON COLLEGE

2

THE MARIST

3

THE ABBEY

CORRECT AT TIME OF PUBLISHING: MARCH 2020

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1 ST PAUL’S GIRLS SCHOOL

ST MARY’S SCHOOL ASCOT

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NACE Challenge Award Accreditation I am absolutely delighted to inform you that Upton has been awarded the NACE Challenge Award. We were inspected in March after a two year journey and we are very proud of the feedback and the award. This puts us amongst a group of schools nationwide, committed to and successfully challenging and inspiring every child to a high level whatever their starting point.

Despite the topical issues we are dealing with at the moment, it is business as usual here at Upton. Our focus is always the highest quality learning experiences for EVERY child, and to have this accreditation and recognition really is super.

The National Association for Able Children in Education (NACE) has named Upton House School the 442nd school to be accredited with the NACE Challenge Award. The award is given in recognition of school-wide commitment to high-quality provision for more able learners, within the context of challenge for all.

NACE CEO Sue Riley said: “Upton House School has worked hard to attain accreditation through the NACE Challenge Award. It has shown itself to be committed to developing an environment in which all learners are challenged and supported to be the best they can be.”

The award is based on the NACE Challenge Framework, which sets out criteria for high-quality provision for more able learners within a wider ethos of challenge for all.

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The experience and evidence gathered by Challenge Awardaccredited schools shows that effective strategies to improve provision for the more able are likely to have a positive impact on the achievement of a much wider group of learners.

To attain the Challenge Award, we completed a detailed selfevaluation using the NACE Challenge Framework, submitted a detailed and thorough portfolio of supporting evidence, and went through a thorough inspection and assessment by a NACE associate. The assessment process includes examination of school data and key documents, lesson observations and interviews with school leaders, learners, parents and governors.

CEO Sue Riley said, “The award is presented in recognition of whole-school commitment to and achievement in providing effective challenge and support for all – spanning school leadership, curriculum, teaching and learning, processes for identification and tracking, extra-curricular opportunities, strong communication and partnerships, and ongoing evaluation.”

Upton House School will now be invited to join the NACE Leading Schools Network, a community of schools which have demonstrated a sustained and effective commitment to meeting the needs of more able learners, and an interest in sharing expertise for the wider benefit of the education community.

Find out more: www.nace.co.uk/challenge

Upton Swim Club and IAPS Here at Upton, we are always looking for ways we can improve our competitiveness in all sports, which led to us launching the first Upton Swim Squad in September 2019.

Initially for Forms 4 – 6 with Form 3 joining in the upcoming term. This is an invitation only swim team where selection is based on time trials carried out during termly lessons as well as at the House gala. The ongoing assessments provide us with opportunities to bring in new recruits throughout the year.

The results have already started to pay off with some of the team having had the opportunity to take part in the IAPS swimming gala. This sees IAPS member schools come together to race against each other in both individual heats and relays.

It was extremely tricky deciding which members of the swim squad should represent Upton House at the IAPS gala as they have all worked incredibly hard. However, numbers were limited and the pictured swimmers were our selected team on the day and they did the school proud, displaying excellent team spirit and determination – with everyone achieving personal bests on the day.

Upton House Gala Just after half term we held our annual Prep House Swimming Gala. It was as exciting as ever with every swimmer participating in both front and back stroke races. With the points between each team very tight right up until the last race it made for a dramatic relay which saw St George claim the top spot and retain the trophy for another year.

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Mental Health Week 2020

In February we celebrated ‘Children’s Mental Health Week’ which is run by the children’s charity Place2Be who support children all over the UK in schools. This year’s theme was ‘Find Your Brave’ encouraging children to share how they feel so they can get the support they need.

Our Heads of Wellbeing, Avani and Emma, with members of the Wellbeing Council led a school assembly explaining how being brave means different things for each of us. We were reminded of how to keep ourselves healthy, mentally and physically with top tips followed by a ‘Mindful Moment’ to practice breathing and being present. During the week the children enjoyed doodling on the wellbeing roll, sharing messages and writing inspiring stories for friends in the ‘I am Brave’ book and Avani and Emma read stories to the younger children about being brave.

This term’s parent talk also linked into the theme looking at neuroscience and offering practical strategies to help manage difficult emotions with our children, building language and awareness, self-care strategies, relaxation and breathing exercises. Science tells us that the more we practice a thought or action the more we build and strengthen these connections in our brain. If we can incorporate simple exercises that boost our wellbeing and make these part of our daily routine just like brushing our teeth then we will feel the benefits on our overall mood and capacity to manage challenges or stress. Our aim at Upton is to help each child flourish, learn and succeed by providing opportunities to help develop their personal ‘tool box’ of strengths and skills that underpin emotional resilience and positive life choices.

The Wellbeing Library is full of stories and activity books that parents and children are welcome to borrow at any time. Parent leaflets covering a range of different topics relating to emotional wellbeing are also available outside the office. Please do not hesitate to email me with any queries, concerns or suggestions for future parent discussion topics. AnnaHewitt@uptonhouse.org.uk

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Little Upton What a busy term we have had in the Nursery.

Nursery

Pre-Nursery

Spring is such an exciting time of year and we thoroughly enjoyed our trip to the local garden centre to buy seeds, potatoes, herbs and flowers to plant back at school. Once we returned we eagerly started our runner beans and were fascinated at how quickly they grew! Our seed potatoes took a little longer to chit although it was worth the wait to see how long their eyes grew. We are looking forward to enjoying the crop later in the year.

The children celebrated World Book Day in the Upton Pre-Nursery. They all looked lovely dressed up as their favourite character from a story book. They enjoyed the Hungry Caterpillar story experiencing it through sensory and tactile play filled with laughter and excitement. What a wonderful day!

We were excited to meet Elvis, our new school bearded dragon, and are doing our best to grow some delicious fresh herbs for him to enjoy. The early wet weather this term gave us lots of opportunity to get involved with the whole growing process from planting, watering and providing warmth and light.

Pancake Day provided us with the opportunity to learn how to make batter and the difference between traditional batter and vegan batter that is thickened using vinegar rather than egg. We certainly found it difficult to tell the difference. Both were equally delicious.

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A variety of skills have been promoted and encouraged, from producing wanted signs for the cheekier characters to making their own magic beans to count with.”

Transition Transition kick-started the term with a focus on ‘people who help us’. The children enjoyed learning about a variety of roles within the community before engaging in conversations about what they might like to do when they grow up.

The children showed a wonderful interest in this topic and were keen to discuss how they could support others and the world around them. The topic concluded with a great trip to the Combermere Barracks where the children explored the museum and learnt about the roles of the Household Cavalry and the Welsh Guards. Following on from ‘people who help us’, the children engaged with their most favourite topic as of yet, ‘space’! They were amazed by the many fascinating facts surrounding space whilst learning all about the planets through a variety of songs and dances.

Both of the Transition classes performed their first class assemblies with confidence and great energy. Transition B taught us all about happiness and discussed what makes them happy, before sharing a vibrant dance

routine which had the whole school on their feet! Transition S’ assembly was filled with fun facts about space and touched on Valentine’s Day with a song all about love.

Since returning from half term the children have had lots of fun revisiting some of their favourite stories and characters as they have engaged with their fairytale topic. A variety of skills have been promoted and encouraged, from producing wanted signs for the cheekier characters to making their own magic beans to count with.

Finally, Transition’s trip to RHS Wisley has been another memorable part of this half term, the sun was shining as the children enjoyed exploring the huge cathedral-like glasshouse with a collection of plants from around the world. The children were lucky

to find frogs in the stream along with lots of frogspawn before designing their own crowns with flowers, petals and leaves which they worked together to find outside!

They were amazed by the many fascinating facts surrounding space whilst learning all about the planets through a variety of songs and dances.”

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Music Spring Term has been packed with a variety of music events. In the first half term, the Middle Choir took part in a choral competition at Heathfield School, Ascot where they competed against five other schools.

Despite being the youngest choir in the competition, the girls sang beautifully, reallyimpressing the judges who particularly commended them for singing with ‘real commitment and joy’.

The half term concluded with the annual House Music Competition. Form 6 truly shone and organised every aspect of the event, from initial auditions to devising the music and teaching it to the younger pupils. Every pupil put their heart and soul into their performances and our Judge, the Director of Music at Farnborough Hill was thoroughly impressed with the overall standard. It was particularly good to see a diversity of instruments and musical acts in this year’s competition.

In the second half term we welcomed our vocalists and instrumentalists who performed in music assemblies for both Pre-Prep and Prep pupils and parents. It was a lovely opportunity for our Pre-Prep children to see our younger musicians performing in front of their peers and parents.

This term has seen a significant increase in new pupils starting to learn musical instrumentswith many learning more than one instrument. All the peripatetic teachers are now completely full. Our latest ABSRM exam results have been excellent with several instrumental pupils obtaining distinctions.

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“

Despite being the youngest choir in the competition, the girls sang beautifully and really impressed the judges. They were particularly commended on singing with real commitment and joy.”

Design and Technology building their creativity Over the last term, Prep have been working proactively to create exciting design and technology projects that solve real and relevant problems we see in our daily lives.

Using their creativity and imagination, the girls have tackled problems and designed solutions, relying upon a broad range of subject knowledge. Drawing upon disciplines such as mathematics, science, engineering, computing and art the girls have been learning to take risks and become resourceful, innovative and enterprising.

The next stage will be evaluating their designs to develop a critical understanding of how this is relevant within their own lives and the wider world.

Each year group was set a different task: • Form 3’s brief was to design and make a castle with a drawbridge.

• Form 4’s brief was to design and make a magical box with hinges and a magical lock.

• Form 5’s brief was to design and make a magical night light for someone who is afraid of the dark.

• Form 6’s brief was to design and make a battery powered emergency vehicle.

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PTA News!

Another term has flown by, and with fantastic support once again. The floodlights were installed early in the term and pupils were finally able to make the most of the astroturf in those dark, gloomy January afternoons.

We are now busy raising funds for equipment for the Music Technology Department. As always, our uniform sale was a real success and we raised over £1100.

The PTA’s biggest event of the term, however, was the Pub Quiz. And what a night! The hall was packed with quizzers all looking fab in their bright 80’s costumes. Our hosts, Jen and Ben, didn’t disappoint with their humour, challenging questions and the introduction of a Karaoke round was a touch of genius. Huge thanks to everyone who helped us raise a magnificent £1600.

The PTA can’t run without your support and we really do value every single donation whether that’s your time or your hard earned money.”

The PTA can’t run without your support and we really do value every single donation whether that’s your time or your hard earned money. Thank you.

Sam Young. Co-chair PTA

Upton House School

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