Upton Update Summer 2017

Upton Update Summer 2017

INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS INSPECTORATE - JUNE 2017

ONE BIG HAPPY FAMILY was inspected in May. Three inspectors spent three days with us. We were delighted to receive our report in June.

• Upton children are happy, articulate, creative, confident and successful.

• There are relationships between all in the school.

• Pupils have outstanding communication skills.

• Pupils have notably strong creative skills in a wide range of areas, with art and design technology referred to as exceptional.

• Upton offers an innovative curriculum.

• Strong music and sporting success. progress of children from • their starting point.

• Pupils have highly competent maths and ICT skills.

• High numbers of scholarships awarded to selective senior schools • The pupils have high levels of selfconfidence but with humility. The behaviour and strong pupils’ moral understanding and appreciation of the non-materialistic aspects of life was highly praised.

• Upton pupils like to debate and their intelligent discussions and pertinent questioning was celebrated in the report.

• Pupils are very well motivated and seek out opportunities for showing their skills and talents.

• Respecting diversity and cultural understanding is an intrinsic part of school life.

• Pupils are naturally respectful of each other and of those within their community.

We are very proud of all our children and our wonderful school.

Upton really is

UPTON’S ANNUAL SCHOOL PRODUCTION -

The year has been full of dramatic arts events, including some extremely entertaining Christmas productions, followed by our LAMDA exams which every pupil from Forms 1 to 6 within the school takes part in, and for which they achieved a wealth of high results, and now moving on to our end of year prowith our duction of leavers playing the leading roles. is a magical journey through Alice’s dream world where she meets creatures big, small, bizarre and

fun. The curious Alice finds herself wandering after a rabbit into the grounds of Wonderland. Everything is so wonderful and exciting there! Alice has a tea party with the Mad Hatter, talks to a Cheshire Cat and even encounters the fury of the Queen Of Hearts! The question is; how will Alice get out? Follow Alice in her adventures, become enchanted by the mysterious world of Wonderland and be hypnotised by Lewis Carroll’s classic world of wonder!

This year the Form 6 have worked extremely hard on creating their amazingly animated roles in this truly magical play. Each and every one of them has worked as part of a solid team, putting effort into the staging, characterisations, choreography, and singing. You will be amazed at the amount of talent that these budding young actresses have. You will definitely have been entertained by the amount of hard work that will be shown on the Upton House stage.

Phil Buck

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Macy Brooke (St George Sports Captain), Scarlett Tunn (St Christopher Sports Captain), and Emilia Moderc Wahlstrรถm (St Andrew Sports Captain).

Our Young Uptonians take part in their Sports Day here at Upton

Congratulations to everyone who took part!

Triumphant St Christopher!

The true Upton spirit shone through on Early Years’ Sports Day. Everyone tried their best and gave it a go. The watching parents cheered loudly for their children. A splendid day was had by all. Three cheers to our young Uptonians!

Sue Bish

What an amazing time Form 6 had when they went to France in May. Some of the highlights were a shopping trip to the local market where they showed super control with their budgeting and a visit to the local snail farm, which was fascinating. We learnt that all snails begin life as male, mate and turn female and then lay up to 100 eggs before dying of exhaustion! The girls were also treated to a visit to an artisan sweet maker who demonstrated, in French, how to create the delicious candy sweets he creates using sugar and water.

The tour of the battlefields of the Somme was really interesting and the girls asked some thought provoking questions and listened most attentively to the guides. They were able to recall a wide range of facts about the visit and presented their thoughts at the end of the day in small groups.

The trip went very well with no delays to the journey out or back from France. The girls behaved extremely well and everyone had a good time.

Sarah Smith

For the third consecutive year twenty-three Form 5 girls and three staff went on a three night camping trip to Ashdown Forest in Sussex. The focus of the trip was team building and leadership skills, hopefully to inspire the girls to think about Duke of Edinburgh Awards at their senior schools. The instructors were a team we have worked with before. They worked closely with us to make sure all the needs of this group were met. The activities were split over the 4 days starting with setting up camp. The girls were in pairs in their tents and staff had their own. Most activities were on the campsite, which is owned by the scouts. Lighting fires was one of the highlights. All the girls were given the opportunity to make a small fire and light it. Other activities included a night walk, orienteering, rock climbing, navigating around the countryside and seeing Bluebell the steam train, raft building and low ropes. The food was fantastic, particularly on the last night when we had a bbq and cooked food on the fire. The spirit of the girls was fantastic; key words would be risk takers, communicators, perseverance and leadership. A very successful trip.

The team leader commented on how caring and empathetic the girls were and how impressed he was with how they took everything on board, helped, encouraged and listened to each other.

Kate Newcombe

The final week of term was a memorable one for our Form 6 girls; starting with our surprise visit to ‘School of Rock’ in London, and culminating in their 10-5 win over staff in the Form 6 vs. staff rounders match and their Leavers’ Assembly. During this week, the girls reflected upon their time at Upton and hosted an Afternoon Tea for their parents. The girls put their cooking skills to work to make jam tarts and scones for their parents to feast on, and also showcased their recent project work such as their Science Space Projects and their Upton Magazine, which was written and created by the girls themselves in English. All parents were wowed by the two fashion shows the girls presented; one focused on their amazing fascinators created in Art and the other their runway-ready binbag dresses and outfits. A great afternoon was had by all!

Marcia Soares

Macy Brooke Rosaleen Cunningham-Day Carmela Daniel Olivia Ferrer Katerina Flores Madison Fordyce Lucia Hall Anya Harper Leonora Harrison Amrita Hothi Eva Koroleva Pula Laughton Elysia Maiden Emilia Moderc Wahlström Annabel O’Donnell Octavia Pritchard Sofia Radin Nejatbakhsh Grace Thompson Amy Towner Scarlett Tunn Ishleen Walia

/Wellington (2019)

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Wellington (2019) -

Rhian Thornton

In the Easter holidays we went to India to see our relatives whom we have not seen for years and to see the beautiful sights there, for example The Golden Temple in Amritsar.

Whilst there we also visited an orphanage near my nanaji’s (grandpa’s brothers) house in Mohali. It is called Gur Aasra Trust. This is a girls’ only orphanage, is housed in a tiny building (much smaller than Upton) and accomodates girls from the age of 4 to 26. There are around 80 children there.

The owner showed us around the orphanage, which had no more than four rooms. We first saw a room with four bunk beds for the older children. The other 76 children slept on the floor in one room. The kitchen is outside and the children eat food from metal plates.

There is an outside bathroom and just two toilets. All the children spoke perfect English.

I was struck by what I saw and plan to support the Gur Aasra Trust in whatever way I can.

This is what they say:

Sixty children from several schools participated in the recent Camberley Junior Chess Club Jamboree. Upton House was represented by Janna Tageldin, Celia Valverde Fernandez and Gabriella Griffin. They played in the lower section of three.

Celia, with five wins, scored maximum points and won the individual title. The team finished midway in their section.

We plan to have another tournament jamboree in May 2018.

Ian Searle (Chess Teacher)

“The children in the Nursery at Upton House School have been learning about hospitals and children who are poorly. They have had plenty to contribute to discussions from their own experiences and have enjoyed engaging in role play to make the toys and each other feel better. There has been some interesting diagnoses. Combining the ambulance role play with riding bicycles, they decided to challenge themselves to ten sponsored laps around the netball court in order to raise money for the Alexander Devine Hospice. Their pedal push raised £900 and Fi Laws, a representative from the charity, was delighted to join the children for assembly to accept the cheque. Now I wonder what the next challenge will be?”

Sue Bish

On Thursday 6th July Upton held two Prize Giving Ceremonies. The first one, our Pre-Prep Prize Giving, took place at 10.00am and this celebrated the achievements of our Transition, Form 1 and Form 2 children. This year our guest prize speaker was Sue Buxton, Director of Science and STEM at Wycombe Abbey. Her speech was ‘experimental’, showing the gathered audience and children a number of interesting science experiments. She then went on to present scrolls to the Transition children who had graduated from the Early Years Foundation Stage to Key Stage 1, and the Form 2 children who had graduated from Key Stage 1 to Key Stage 2.

This was followed by Effort, Achievement, Form Prizes and, finally our cups. It was a memorable occasion.

In the afternoon the Prep Prize Ceremony took place. We had a very special speaker this year, Mr Zinzan Brooke. He spoke about his life and career as a top New Zealand All Blacks rugby player and how the choices he made have shaped his life today.

It was lovely to welcome back last year’s Form 6 leavers to join our Form 6 girls on Monday 3 July as we all set off for a secret destination.

After the traditional photo on the Upton House steps, everyone boarded the coach.

There was much excitement and chatting as everyone caught up with each other’s news over the past year. As we pulled up outside the theatre, a cheer went up as everyone spotted that we were there to see “School of Rock: The Musical”, one of this year’s best reviewed musicals.

What a show, a feast of music, dancing and laughs, with a fair bit of audience participation along the way.

Hats off to our Leavers sko

Exert from a poem written by Dr Seuss and spoken by Mr Jonathan Story, Chair of Council of Mangement, at our Pre-Prep Prize Giving.

Congratulations!

Today is your day.

You’re off to Great Places!

You’re off and away!

You have brains in your head.

You have feet in your shoes.

You can steer yourself any direction you choose.

You’ll be on your way up!

You’ll be seeing great sights!

You’ll join the high fliers who soar to high heights.

You won’t lag behind, because you’ll have the speed.

You’ll pass the whole gang and you’ll soon take the lead.

Wherever you fly, you’ll be best of the best.

Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.

Thank you to the patient parents who had a much longer wait than expected to collect their tired but happy children.

Sue Selisko

Vestibulum suscipit:

It was with great excitement and curiosity that the Form 2 boys boarded the minibus for their surprise leavers' outing on 4th July. A day of independence it certainly proved to be, starting with the fact there would be no lessons! All day! The boys began the day with an adrenaline-filled activity; an indoor skydive at the iFly centre in Basingstoke. After donning what can only be described as astronaut suits, ear plugs, goggles and helmets, they had the opportunity to soar like birds in a wind tunnel, approximately 14 feet wide and 40 feet high. Those who were ready to dance with their fears managed to let go of the instructor and whooshed up into the air soon to plunge again in what felt like a nanosecond.

BOY LEAVER DESTINATIONS Franco Bigmore Wallace Ali Hussain Dara Lawson Eliot Mackin Edoardo Tenconi-Gradillas Leon Thompson Euan Totays Matteo Warf

After all the morning's excitement, the boys boarded the minibus once again to travel back closer to home to enjoy a beautiful picnic in the stunning grounds of Windsor Great Park. As all boys understand, there is only one way to let your food digest properly and that is with a good old game of football with tracksuit tops for goalposts. With a pond nearby it was inevitable that the game would be temporarily interrupted by some fishing; unfortunately this meant fishing the football out of the water with a stick. The day resolved with an ice-cream from the village shop to cool down before we returned to school.

It was a wonderful day, and one which I hope the boys will remember fondly in the future.

Craig McEvoy

Bishopsgate The Royal School Papplewick St John’s Beaumont Papplewick Papplewick Claires Court Eton End

Rhian Thornton

happening in Prep and explains how life in the Prep department works. We have a special evening for parents of boys on Tuesday 3 October. Our boys are incredibly important to us and if you have a son at Upton this is an important evening for you.

We look to adding brass and woodwind to our Coffee mornings…class assemblies…musical musical repertoire, and will have two Junior soirees….Harvest Festival and sporting Choirs next year adding to our Senior and fixtures and much more. So much to look Staff Choir. Music is at the heart of Upton life. forward to next term.

Exciting times ahead.

Form 6 girls have now left and will be missed.

Our new website will be launched early I very much look forward to Mr Whitfield, Mrs Their achievements were strong. It was a September, and please do not miss the VIP privilege to work with them and get to know Richardson, Mrs King and Miss Smith joining launch for parents of our new Upton House us in September in their new roles, and to the them better. I look forward to Form 5 promotional film on at 8pm. stepping up to their responsibilities in Form 6 best of my control, more consistency and This is black tie and red carpet and though the stability with staffing. Excellence in teaching and to preparing them for their assessments event date has changed for many reasons, and school interviews in the Autumn Term. and learning is our core purpose.

October 13 is now the final confirmed date.

We announce our new Head girl and Deputy Head girl in our first week back at school, and I wish you all a wonderful summer holiday, We will build on our sporting strengths next the many important roles Form 6 fulfil. year as we move towards Prep having sport and thank you for making me so welcome in every day. Our artificial grass will enable my first year.

From Pre-Nursery to Form 6 I expect the very greater opportunities to practise our sports on best for every child in their time with us. site. We will continue with cricket, swimming football, tag rugby, netball, hockey, rowing, We are planning a new porch which will tie in running and gymnastics. Sporting fixtures are with our new security arrangements. an important part of our calendar, and will Please check the diary for key events such as grow. I thoroughly enjoy cheering our teams our Prep showcase evening next term for on. The clubs will offer more tennis opportunities along with other sports such as parents of children in Pre-Prep. This highlights for parents the rich and exciting curriculum fencing, gym and judo. Golf will be an It has been a very busy year at Upton House and it is quite amazing to have come to the end of my first year as Headmistress here.

There has been much change and a fast pace but ending in our wonderful ISI Report. Thank you to all the staff here for all their hard work this year. We are so blessed to have such a dedicated and professional team here at Upton House.

addition to our sporting talents next year. We will use St John’s Beaumont for our off site sport next year rather than the Ministry of Defence grounds. This allows us further sporting opportunity.

The theme for next term’s assemblies is Resilience Here is a summary of some of the key events taking place next term. For a full list please see the termly calendar, this is on our website as well as in hard copy.

participating in our first golf tournament under the leadership of Mr Whitfield.

By Week 4, all children should be in their winter uniform.

Term starts on with a whole school assembly On there is a special Form 6 Presentation Assembly where our older girls find out their responsibilities for the coming year.

On at there is a PTA meeting to plan the events for the coming year. This year we have a new Chair and Vice Chair, Mr and Mrs Maskell-Smith, who take over the reigns from Mr Warf. They bring new energy and ideas for fundraising to the PTA. If you are able to come along you would be very welcome.

On

we are

On from 9.3011.30am we are going to open our doors to prospective parents. We are so proud of Upton and want to show it off to everyone. If you know anyone who might be interested in coming along please do mention the date to them.

. We are planning a special black tie evening event to ISI Inspection celebrate our Report, the launch of our new website and promotional film. An evening not to be missed.

from 11-2pm On we will be holding our annual PTA Christmas Fair. Please do make a note of this date in your diary so that you can start your Christmas shopping.

As is traditional here at Upton we will be coming together to mark the Harvest Festival on at Holy Trinity Garrison Church, Trinity Place.

This event is for our Transition to Form 6 children. Please do come along and enjoy the service.

On we have our Christmas productions. Times are as follows:9.30am Nursery Nativity, 11.00am Transition Christmas Play, 2.15pm Pre-Prep Christmas Play Please make a note of the date for your diary. The PTA Childrens Christmas Discos will take place later the same day.