Upton Update Autumn 2018

Upton

Update

Autumn 18

RW

SPECIAL FEATURES • Upton Science Week • Harvest Festival • Christmas Nativity WWW.UPTONHOUSE.ORG.UK

Pupils learn in a safe and friendly environment with outstanding facilities that help fulfil a child’s potential, whether that be in the arts, sport or academically.

Rhian Thornton Headmistress

Welcome from Mrs Thornton As we reach the end of this term it is quite incredible to look back at the events, achievements and enjoyment the Autumn term at Upton has brought. The thrill of learning is never far away at Upton as each day in lessons our children debate and discuss, develop their initiative, critical thinking and questioning skills. Our teachers plan wisely to achieve this. Their inspiration is evident throughout the day, from Pre-Nursery to Form 6.

Upton fosters future Astronauts, Scientists, Actors, Entrepreneurs. Will they start a company or save the World?

Upton teaches life skills. Skills our children need for a future where 65% of future jobs have not yet been invented.

There have been so many highlights this term, showcased in this Update. Sporting success, Musical performances, Maths Challenges, the SUPA Committee aiming to transform Upton into a plastic free school, and of course the exciting news that Upton will be taking boys in Prep from September 2020. Upton exists to provide the highest quality education to children.

We are delighted that we will now be able to extend this to boys in Prep. We know our balance of very strong pastoral support, endless opportunities and impressive academic results will be as successful for the boys as it is currently for our girls.

The extended weeks for Little Upton Nursery is also exciting news this term. Nursery always keep me on my toes and it is always an absolute pleasure to join Mrs Bish and team.

Form 6 have been working through their assessments and interviews for Senior schools this term and this continues early next term. The girls have worked very hard and it is always a delight to interview them. We are incredibly proud of all they have and will achieve. Your children are very proud of you, and we are very proud of your children. Thank you for allowing us the privilege of teaching them.

I do hope you all have the most wonderful Christmas and a very happy new year.

Kind regards, Rhian Thornton

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Welcome from Mrs Thornton

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A curiously captivating Science Week

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Little Upton to open 48 weeks a year

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Holiday Club at Upton

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Young Mathematicians

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Harvest Festival

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Trips this Term

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Mesmerizing Music!

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Sports Report

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Nativity Productions

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Upton PTA

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Future Events 2018/19

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WELCOME

Special Feature A curiously captivating Science Week

From explosions and potions to space exploration, dressing up and entertaining snakes and lizards, Upton House pupils had a captivating time during Science Week this term.

The week began in space with the Wonder Dome planetarium which filled the school hall. Astronauts told stories and experiences from the depths of space while the children gazed at the wonders of the universe above them.

Outside learning trips included a visit to the Forest School, the Natural History museum for some dinosaur explorations and the Brooklands motor museum for hands-on engineering fun. Back at school, we welcomed reptile expert, Steve Elkington for an opportunity to learn about and hold some of our planet’s most wonderful creatures. Snakes, bearded dragons, tarantulas and tree frogs delighted the pupils.

Later in the week we were treated to an interactive family Science evening. The school was transformed into a giant science laboratory as each classroom offered hands-on practical science activities and experiments. The black-out UV room delighted young and old, while magnets, electricity, parts of the body and food experiments captivated Upton explorers on a mission to collect their science stickers in each room.

The week concluded with ‘Scientific Dress-up Day’ and a visit from the Science Boffins for children from Nursery to Year 6. Workshops were held with magical gases, potions and experiments galore.

“Science week is all about engaging children and captivating their imaginations to bring the science curriculum to life. Thank you, Mrs Webb and Mrs Lewin, for inspiring our pupils!”

Mrs Rhian Thornton, Headmistress.

SPECIAL FEATURE

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News from Classes Little Upton to open 48 weeks a year We are delighted to announce that from February Half Term our Little Upton Pre-Nursery and Nursery will be open 48 weeks a year and with extended hours provision during those times if parents require it. Parents will be able to book additional weeks of their choice in advance through our website. We are so proud of Little Upton and the outstanding education and professional care given to the children and delighted to be able to extend this into holiday periods for those parents who require it.

Children will still be able to enjoy our full, outstanding Early Years curriculum during the term as currently stands, however parents will also have the option to extend their sessions into the holiday period if they so wish. Upton House staff, with whom the children are familiar, will run Little Upton in the holidays and our catering staff will be on site to provide the same high-quality meals and snacks.

Children ages 3 and up will have the additional option of staying from 4pm until 6pm with our fabulous holiday club provider, In-2-Sport held in the grounds of Upton House. In addition, those parents opting for the full year 48-week attendance will benefit from a further two flexible weeks of holiday which may be taken including during term time, with no charge.

Little Upton will be closed for one week at Christmas, one week at Easter and two weeks at the end of the summer holidays.

It will also be closed for bank holidays and two days before the start of the Autumn term for staff training.

The Little Upton extended weeks booking form is now available on our website.

For more details on this exciting new provision at Little Upton please speak with Mrs Bish, Miss Dow or contact our Registrar Miss Rachel Atkins on 01753 862610.

Holiday Club at Upton It’s been great fun working at Upton House School with all the children in our action-packed Holiday Club!

At In2Sport we deliver a fun, safe and happy environment for children during the holidays. Children take part in a range of exciting sports activities as well as arts and crafts supervised by our qualified staff. We are passionate about the care we offer.

Full days (9am-4.30pm) and extended days (8am-6pm) are available for children aged 4-12 yrs. Half days are currently available for 3 year olds however from February Half Term holiday provision for Pre-Nursery and Nursery children will be available in Little Upton.

Discounts apply for siblings, RBWM advantage card and Early Bird bookings. Book now for Christmas Club 17th-21st December on www.in-2-sport/uptonhouse CJ Glover – In2Sport

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NEWS FROM CLASSES

News from Classes Young Mathematicians We are absolutely delighted to announce that the Upton Maths team have won round two of the National Young Mathematicians’ Award 2019. There were approximately 1300 school entries nationally which have now been narrowed down to 140. From those schools presented in our region, Explore Learning Centre in Slough voted Upton House as their top entrant. Our team’s work will now be put forward to their Head Office, who will decide which ten teams go through to the final round at Cambridge University in January. The girls have worked incredibly hard and been constantly complimented on their team spirit, perseverance and high ability levels in tackling the complex mathematical challenges presented. Congratulations to Emily, Naia, Emma and Paris in Form 6.

Harvest Festival

Harvest festival this term reminded us all of some important messages of gratitude, sharing and environmental protection.

Every child from Transition to Form 6 sang beautifully and older girls recited poems and gave readings. Thank you to all our parents for your Harvest food donations. This year they provided over 200 meals to Slough foodbank.

NEWS FROM CLASSES

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Trips this Term Learning outside the classroom offers a huge range of benefits for all our pupils. It provides a context for learning and helps children develop greater interest in the world around them.

Upton lessons are frequently held outside in our grounds and we have regular off site trips.

Forms 1 and 2 came face to face with a T-Rex and learned fascinating facts about dinosaurs. The children had the opportunity to get up close and personal with some of the larger mammals such as the giant whale and a selection of reptiles and amphibians as well as some much smaller creepy crawlies. Our Pre-Prep explorers travelled through the centre of the earth and enjoyed hunting for different rocks and minerals with their binoculars. They became palaeontologists for the day unearthing giant dinosaur bones and piecing them together in their workshop.

Form 3 and 4 became real scientists for the day investigating the wonders of human and animal teeth, bones and skulls.

They attended some fabulous interactive workshops and as well as making their own investigations with microscopes. Great fun was had by all!

Transition had an exciting outdoor adventure at the Forest school. They collected Autumn treasures and hunted for the ‘Forest baby’ who they discovered was very well camouflaged in the autumn leaves.

Form 5 visited the Brooklands Museum where they and learnt about forces, engines and aircraft. They loved the displays and activities which included engine design, gears, levers and pulleys. The highlight was visiting the world’s most famous aircraft, Concorde.

“Upton is so fun. I love the lessons and all the school trips we have.” - Holly Form 3 Forms 1 to 4 visited the Natural History Museum this term and enjoyed fact-filled and fun-filled days at this wonderful museum.

Form 3 had a wonderful time in October on their camping challenge with Rich Adventures.

Activities were planned to develop initiative, team work, communication and leadership skills. We enjoyed team games in the Great Park, giant problem-solving puzzles and a delicious BBQ dinner.

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TRIPS THIS TERM

Trips this Term

Parliament Week Parliament Week at Upton House has inspired our future politicians and prime ministers!

The school has been full of debate and discussion on topical issues such as Brexit, votes for women and eliminating plastic.

Forming reasoned arguments, asking questions and holding debates are all hugely beneficial life skills that we encourage in all our pupils at Upton House.

Younger children have been learning fascinating facts about the three different parts of Parliament, the work of MPs and the role of members of the House of Lords. An interactive Parliament assembly raised some important questions such as What is an MP? How do you become an MP? And what is the Chequers plan?!

The Prep department had a visit from Councillor Natasha Airey who was elected at just 21. She gave an inspiring talk about life in politics and challenged the pupils to make their own campaign promises, which ranged from more green spaces to affordable care homes in Windsor.

In the classroom, pupils looked at the role of the Government and Elections & voting.

Later in the week, Form 6 enjoyed a tour of the Palace of Westminster and took part in a Laws & Debating workshop while learning about the role of the Commons, the Lords and the monarch. Paris from Form 6 commented Miss Sarah Smith, Head of Humanities.

“Parliament Week has been great because I’ve loved debating. I also visited the Houses of Parliament and just thought to myself, I hope to be here some day!”

Paris Form 6

TRIPS THIS TERM

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News from Classes Mesmerising Music!

What an eventful term we have had in the Music department. Term began with several Upton instrumentalists performing in a Windsor Festival concert in Windsor Parish Church.

The girls played beautifully and were a credit to the school.

The Maidenhead Festival was a wonderful musical experience and Senior choir are to be congratulated on winning a silver medal at Maidenhead Festival with their outstanding performances. Our congratulations also to Clara Form 4, Summer, Ava, Lyn and Madelyn Form 5 and Sofia Form 6, our fantastic soloists who each won medals at the festival.

All the members of the Senior ensemble have travelled to Downe House School, Newbury to participate in the Orchestral Fun Day, which was a tremendous experience for the students. Musical outings continued throughout the term to watch some thrilling concerts and performances which have enthused many students to start learning musical instruments at school.

We love to support our local community with music and our pupils have visited local groups such as Age Concern, Connaught Court and All Saints Church lunch club to sing carols to the elderly.

Term concluded with the senior choir performing in in the fantastic Youth Messiah at the Royal Albert Hall with the English Festival Orchestra. What an incredible musical experience for our pupils.

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NEWS FROM CLASSES

Our annual Carol Service at Windsor Parish Church marked the culmination of an incredibly busy term. The carols were beautifully sung by all and it also marked the debut performance of the newly formed and highly anticipated Upton Orchestra. My thanks go once again to the staff who helped in co-ordinating this wonderful event.

Miss Olya Shafikova, Head of Music

There has been outstanding music exam success this year with over 50% distinctions and almost 70% distinctionmerit in both ABRSM and LCM examinations.

Congratulations to all our musicians!

Sports Report Form 3 also played netball against Coworth and Marist drawing one match and losing by 1 goal in both other matches. Later in the term the team played Eton End with wins at both matches.

This term 10 girls from Form 6 and 5 participated in the IAPS hockey tournament at St Edward’s Oxford. They played incredibly well as a team against some tough competition and their confidence grew after each game.

Our thanks to Mr Baber who has really helped their progress in Hockey club on Friday nights.

We are very grateful for his time and skills.

Form 6 had a fabulous win at Staines Prep School netball tournament in October showing wonderful skills on the way to victory. A brilliant result for the girls. They also played netball fixtures against Bishopsgate, Coworth Flexlands and St George’s this term with a mix of wins, draws and loses. They have shown fabulous teamwork and skill development this term.

All year groups 3–6 played St George’s Windsor at hockey at the beginning of the term winning all matches at these fixtures.

The Marist swimming gala was a great occasion for our Prep girls with great confidence and drive shown by every girl in the pool.

Well done to all!

Form 5 have played netball against Coworth, Marist and St George’s with convincing wins against all teams.

They also played against Bishopsgate playing well against some strong opposition.

Form 2 have played at Papplewick and Lambrook football festivals and really had fun playing friendly matches against other schools. A great experience for all.

Miss Trisha Corless, Head of Sport Form 4 played hockey against Coworth winning one match and losing 1-3 in another. They then went on to play netball at Marist, with both teams winning the fixture and later against Bishopsgate drawing 5-5. They are progressing well and showing great aptitude and keen skills for this sport.

“I’ve really developed my sport at Upton. I’m getting fitter and faster!”

Phoebe Form 5 SPORTS REPORT

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Nativity Productions ‘Born In A Barn’

by Pre-Prep The children in Pre-Prep celebrated the magic of Christmas in glorious style with their performance of Born in a Barn.

‘A King is Born’ in Nursery The children in the Nursery delighted their audience with a wonderful performance of the Nativity story, A King is Born. The singing was beautiful and the children performed their parts with great confidence. What a valuable experience for them and a joy for us!

Preparations for a performance at this age are always exciting.

It is always amazing to observe how quickly the children learn the words and embrace the feelings in the meaning.

The language developed through discussions about costumes and characterisations has given valuable input to circle time lessons, with children clearly identifying with their parts.

Christmas is always a special time within the school calendar as the youngest children embrace all our celebrations which run across the curriculum.

Mrs Sue Bish, Head of Early Years

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NATIVITY PRODUCTIONS

The Pre-Prep children sang, danced and acted with tremendous passion, pouring their hearts into this festive celebration. It was a real pleasure to see them perform in front of a such a warm and supportive audience made up of friends and family, and if for any reason you were not feeling the Christmas ‘buzz’ before the show, you certainly were by the end of it! Well done to the children for a heart-warming performance and for getting us in the mood for Christmas.

Mr Craig McEvoy, Head of Pre-Prep

Nativity Productions ‘Away in a Manger’ in Transition The children of Transition delighted us all with their incredible performance of ‘Away in a Manger’.

The story told us of a long-suffering donkey, Maurice, who had to put up with all sorts of comings and goings in his stable.

There were noisy hens, geese, goats and mice who wouldn’t let Maurice have a moments peace. He showed great patience and was rewarded finally by the arrival of a very special baby right there in his very own manger!

The children rose to the challenge of performing on the big stage with gusto, great confidence, big voices and superb singing.

Well done Transition! We are sad it’s over as we’ve thoroughly enjoyed all the preparations and excitement.

Mrs Suzi Broad and Miss Jessica Shaw

What does Upton mean to you?

We are delighted to present the Upton House word cloud put together with input from staff, parents and pupils. Based on our core values, the word cloud illustrates our very special delivery of academic excellence together with a well-rounded character education for all pupils.

Academic excellence and achievement are at the core of what we do at Upton however it is clear that Upton delivers so much more than this. Upton House offers a wonderful balance between hard work and nurturing loving care.

Through the depth of our curriculum and vibrant teaching methods our pupils develop life skills which will equip them for the future and prepare them perfectly for their next schools.

We carefully develop leadership opportunities, teamworking skills, communication and social skills, critical thinking and many more skillsets. Our pupils emerge as well-rounded, confident and passionate individuals with a life-long love of learning. We call it the #UptonDifference delivered with a little magic and sparkle.

“The lessons are amazing, and I love all the activities we have.”

Ruby Form 3 “Upton has really helped my confidence and I feel so settled. I’m not afraid to go up on the stage!”

“Every day is a day to learn at Upton” Avaani Form 5

Lynn Form 5

NATIVITY PRODUCTIONS

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Upton PTA

This term has seen some fabulous events for all the family organised by our wonderful PTA team. Our thanks to Zoey and Jamie Maskell-Smith and all the PTA committee for their hard work and commitment to the school.

The Upton Rocks Festival included live music from two brilliant bands, unlimited bouncy castle fun, inflatable Sumo wrestling and no end of glitter and shine. Wet weather certainly didn’t dampen spirits at Upton.

A spooky fun time was had by all at the Halloween Disco with some scary dressing up outfits worn by parents and children.

Oooooooooo!!!

The Upton Family Christmas party was full of festive spirit and cheer with donkey rides, Santa experiences, a festive disco, face paints and glitter nail bar. The annual hamper raffle and carol singing was not to be missed. Happy Christmas to all our Upton families and all best wishes for 2019.

Future Events 2018/19 Autumn Term Ends - Friday 14th December 12 noon

Arts Week - 25th Feb – 1st March

Christmas Holiday Club In-2-Sport Monday 19th – Friday 21st December

World Book Day - Thursday 7th March

Spring Term Begins - Tuesday 8th January Coffee Morning for all Parents Tuesday 29th January 8.30am Road Safety Awareness Week - 28th January – 1st February Wellbeing and Mental Health Meeting Friday 8th February 8.50am Half Term - Monday 18th – Friday 22nd February

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UPTON PTA

PTA Pub Quiz - Friday 8th March 7.30pm LAMDA Exams - Thursday 14th and Friday 15th March Scholastic Book Fair - Tuesday 5th – Monday 11th March Whole School Open Morning Saturday 16th March 9.30am-11.30am Form 1 Grandparents Tea Party - Thursday 28th March 2pm Spring Term Ends - Friday 5th April