Upton Update Spring 2019

Upton

Update

Easter 19

SPECIAL FEATURES Celebration of The Arts | 6 Form Celebrates | Our Sustainable School WWW.UPTONHOUSE.ORG.UK

It has certainly been a term of vibrancy, energy, hard work and innovation here at Upton House School.

Rhian Thornton Headmistress

Welcome from Mrs Thornton The Art Exhibition exuded true vibrancy celebrating the artistic talent throughout the school. The work was vivacious and vivid, attentive and brilliant, and I could not write this edition of The Update without thanking Mrs Dearsley for all her hard work, sense of fun and inspiration during her time at Upton House.

Our budding orchestra and the musical soirees demonstrate the children’s confidence and talent. This is recognised in the children’s incredible success shown in their Royal Academy of music exams, with many distinctions awarded. This self-belief is nurtured here at Upton with resilience and key life skills such a firm part of our curriculum. The children’s sense of pride and enjoyment is always so distinctive and exciting.

Energy this term has emanated from all areas of the curriculum and none more than in our Sport. The Prep girls enjoyed great success in hockey and netball and took part in the IAPS netball and hockey championships for the first time. The Swimming gala was absolutely thrilling with a photo finish and one point between first and second place! We look forward to further developing our swimming as we move through next term and into the Autumn.

Hard work – Our Form 6 girls have certainly worked hard this year achieving an outstanding record of offers to the Senior schools of their choice. Our scholarship success was also again to be celebrated. Well done girls.

The hard work continues at the other end of the school.

Pre-Nursery and Nursery are where it all starts at Upton.

They light up our day watching them grow and thrive. Mrs Bish and team are exceptional in their care and dedication to the younger children. Nursery happily join us for special assemblies and sit so beautifully watching the older children performing.

2

Innovation – The SUPA committee has certainly shown great dedication and innovation this term, moving Upton towards a single use plastic free environment. Annie and Imogen were equally innovative organising our first Upton House Careers Fair. It was inspiring to see so many parents offering their time to talk to the children about their chosen careers and roles. In a period of history where there is so much uncertainty, lack of cohesion and discontent in all areas of politics, it is very moving to see so many wonderful people, Parents, Staff, and Governors, surrounding Upton with commitment, professionalism, and positive role models.

Mr Jonathan Story, Chair of Council, is one such individual who has shown dedication and commitment to Upton for many years. Mr Story will step down in July and will be missed, but I am delighted to announce that Mrs Virginia Barker, currently Deputy Head at St Mary’s Ascot, will be the new Chair of Council thereafter. Mrs Barker knows Upton well and is an existing member of the Council of Management.

We very much look forward to the Summer Term. Sunny weather, Summer uniform, residentials, Sports Day, Aladdin, cricket and Upton Rocks! So much to look forward to.

Wishing you a peaceful Easter break.

Kind regards, Rhian Thornton

Welcome from Mrs Thornton

2

Trips this Term

7

Special feature - A Celebration of The Arts

3

Music Report

9

Form 5 Maths Award

4

Our Sustainable School

10

Form 1 Grandparents’ Tea Party

4

Sports Report

11

Form 6 Celebrate

5

PTA News

12

Mental Health and Well-being

5

Future Events - Summer Term

12

WELCOME

Special Feature Celebration of The Arts

At Upton we are so proud of the strong and enduring tradition of excellence within the Arts.

We are committed to the values embedded in creative endeavour and how it plays a key role our emotional wellbeing and academic development. This term we can reflect on this and the wonderful memories made during Arts Week, when pupils, parents and staff came together for a week-long celebration.

Our week began with a showcase of ballet and dance in a beautiful assembly for parents. Children from Pre-Nursery to Form 6 attended puppet-making workshops led by the puppeteer and voice actor Marcus Clarke, best know for the BAFTA-winning CITV series Bookaboo. The Bigfoot Theatre Company enthralled us all with a unique story telling assembly and delightful drama workshops.

Music was also celebrated with a highly interactive singing workshop for all Prep students led by Ian Taylor, Director of Music at Farnborough Hill School. Meanwhile, Pre-Prep pupils immersed themselves in rhythm and beat in their Indian drumming workshops.

The Prep musical soirée saw over thirty children performing to staff, parents and peers. Their confident performances were remarkable as many took to the stage for the first time.

The grand finale to our week was a wonderful Prep Art exhibition with the children’s artwork for sale! The children took great pride in escorting their families around the exhibition to find their professionally framed artwork. We were delighted to welcome back some Old Uptonian artists who returned to show younger pupils their GCSE and A’Level pieces. Vibrant, lifelong learners and creatives, engaged and thriving at their next schools.

It a happy thought that our children are well on the way to possibly “The children becoming the next generation of world class designers, took great pride in architects, actors, writers escorting their families and musicians, thinkers and innovators. Now there’s around the exhibition to a thought.

Mrs Dearsley, Head of Art

find their professionally framed artwork. ” - Mrs Dearsley, Head Of Arts

SPECIAL FEATURE

3

News from Classes Form 5 Maths Award Following our Form 6 National Young Mathematicians award in February, pupils in Form 5 recently won the Marist Schools Maths Award. Teams from many neighbouring schools were represented with the Upton team, Janna, Lynn, Riya and Suraby finishing in first place. Mr McCloskey, Principal at the Marist School commented “This is a truly fantastic achievement in a keenly contested challenge.

Well done Upton House School!”

Have you been Doodling?

Doodle Maths is an award winning and very popular Maths App which we have recently introduced to all our Prep pupils. We have found that Doodle Maths helps boost attainment in all areas of the maths curriculum, reinforcing the learning taking place in the class room allowing for repetition of key concepts.

Doodle star rewards and daily streaks keep pupils highly motived while parents are also able to track progress and target maths age. We are delighted with the results so far.

Mr Tom Brown, Head of Prep

Form 1 Grandparents’ Tea Party The Grandparents’ tea party was a truly magical event which reflected all the hard work of the children who had been practising very hard!

Grandparents of boys and girls in Form 1 came from far and wide to watch their grandchildren perform and celebrate their achievements.

There was an opportunity for the children to greet their grandparents in the classroom and show them their work before leading them down to the hall for a glorious selection of tea and cakes.

They were then entertained as children put on a wonderful show full of songs, poems and delightful artwork of the grandparents themselves. At the end of the afternoon children gave their grandparents gifts they had made them to thank them for all they do. It was a truly wonderful occasion.

Mr Craig McEvoy, Head of Pre-Prep 4

NEWS FROM CLASSES

News from Classes Form 6 Celebrate Congratulations to all our Form 6 girls who have secured places at a most impressive set of Senior Schools for September.

The girls have worked incredibly hard and achieved wonderful results with a 94% offer rate from all schools applied for. All the staff at Upton are immensely proud of them. We look forward to following their progress and future careers, satisfied that they are well-equipped and fully prepared for the next stage of their education in Senior school.

Senior School Offers Sir William Perkins’s

Wellington College Heathfield Abbey School Eaton Grange St George’s Ascot Luckley House Farnborough Hill

St George’s Weybridge Lady Eleanor Holles

The Marist

Leighton Park

8 30% 94% 29%

Senior school scholarships received from class of 16 pupils in 2019.

Mental Health and Well-being The issue of how to support the mental health of our children and young people today has never been more important.

We are living in an increasingly competitive, complex and technologically evolving world and the presence of the internet and social media has changed the way in which we view interact with each other and the world around us. Our aim at Upton has always been to foster a happy and stimulating environment in which every child can prosper socially and emotionally alongside academic success. Statistics show that 50% of all adult mental health conditions start before the age of 14 (excluding dementia).

In recognition of the challenges facing children today we are putting mental health and emotional wellbeing at the heart of our education provision. In school children are encouraged to reach out and tell someone when they need help, to look out for themselves and each other and know it’s okay to talk about things without feeling judged or criticised. We have our own Pupil Wellbeing Council, Worry Monsters and Buddy boxes in classrooms, a new Wellbeing library, yoga club and in February as part of Children’s Mental Health Week we held our first Parent talk discussing anxiety, sleep and exam stress. Please look out for our next Parent talk next term, for further information, advice and resources email AnnaHewitt@uptonhouse.org.uk.

Mrs Hewitt, Mental Health and Wellbeing Co-ordinator

of Form 6 pupils have received 1 or more Senior School scholarships in the last 3 years. success rate in entrance exams to Senior School.

of boys at Upton have received scholarships to next schools over the past 2 years.

NEWS FROM CLASSES

5

News from Classes Excitement in English!

What a wonderful term we’ve had in the English department at Upton with several exciting events demonstrating the whole school’s love of reading, writing and creative thinking.

Form 2L’s amazing assembly showed their understanding and love of classic tales written by the great Hans Christian Andersen through song, artwork and the tales themselves. We continued to create cross curricular links during Arts week, with the fantastic Bigfoot Theatre Company inspiring not only some amazing dance routines but also the retelling of the incredible Anansi story in various creative ways. It was lovely to see the children enthralled by traditional tales and inspired to write their own stories as a result. Imagination and creativity flowed through Prep and Pre-Prep as children wrote stories to entertain each other and many have entered the fantastic Radio 2 500 words competition as a result.

On World Book Day, the children had the opportunity to attend some fantastic story telling workshops while learning about history, structure and the traditions of oral story telling. They used their skimming and scanning skills to hunt for Wally in the playground and shared the love of reading across the school in paired reading activities. At break times they had the choice of attending the Scholastic book fair as well as the Book exchange which resulted in an incredible 200 books being swapped.

We were also fortunate enough to have the inspiring author and illustrator Harriet Muncaster come to visit Forms 1-3 and share her Isadora Moon series. She held interactive workshops and shared imaginative ideas to get children started on writing paths of their own.

All in all, a fantastic literary term was had by all.

Basil and his Farmyard Friends

Miss Smith, Head of English

The Upton Ducklings What a wonderful time we had with the ducklings this year.

Children watched in awe and wonder as 6 eggs hatched and before long, after many cuddles and much encouragement, Otto, Patrick, Dylan, Poppy, Violet and Sunshine were happily swimming around successfully. The ducklings brought so much learning and happiness to the school for children, staff and parents. Thank you Mrs Broad!

6

NEWS FROM CLASSES

There was great excitement in school when Basil and Crew came to visit Little Upton, Transition and Pre-Prep. The children were keen to hold the animals, groom and feed them. We had to remember to hold our hands flat and hold or stroke them gently.

We loved the tortoises, rabbits, guinea pigs, ponies and cheeky goats however feeding the lambs was a highlight. Children were lucky enough to feed them their milk which was eagerly devoured as we held tight to the bottles!

Trips this Term

Learning outside the classroom is an important part of life at Upton. Trips this term were as exciting and varied as ever. The children were pleased to tell me all about their adventures!

Nursery enjoyed more forest schooling this term including a wonderful trip to Windsor Great Park environmental centre.

The children made some very sticky but tasty sourdough and enjoyed some outdoor cookery. After an earlier visit to the Garden Centre, the children were pleased to plant some vegetables in the Nursery garden and are looking forward to harvesting and eating them later in the year.

Transition experienced many different types of transport at the Combermere Barracks transport museum. They enjoyed treasure hunts, dressing up and meeting Bentley the horse. Later in the term we visited Wisley gardens and had a wonderful time planting marigolds, creating nature crowns and exploring the plant centre. We love explorations in our natural world.

“We picked

pretty things up from the seeing the ground and made tiger tanks they crowns.” were big and scary - Valentina and green to help them hide.”

“I loved

- Darcey TRIPS THIS TERM

7

Trips this Term

Form 3 became local curators at the Windsor Through Time exhibition at the Windsor and Royal Borough Museum.

Form 1 had a wonderful time at Windsor castle as part of their topic work on castles. They visited St George’s chapel, the staterooms and enjoyed dressing up as characters from history and learning about the Knights of the Garter.

“I liked seeing the flags of the soldiers and there were so many guns and swords!” - Jack Form 1 Form 2 had fun exploring HMS Victory at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.

“We were able to hold real museum objects such as old coins, a Roman helmet, Victorian irons and animal bones.”

- Harriet, Form 3 Form 4 had adventures at the Science Museum this term.

“At the top of the ship there were big canons and I even saw the place where Nelson died! The boat was rocking and a bit smelly and the doctors had to sometimes cut off legs and arms. It wasn’t fun on the ship in those days but I had fun with my friends looking around.”

- Ella, Form 2

“We found out about transport in the old days

from steam engines to transport of the future.

We saw what life was like in space in the IMAX cinema and space exhibition. Then we thought about the effect the future might have on our own bodies in the ‘Who am I?’ exhibition.

It was great fun.”

- Evie and Clara, Form 4

8

TRIPS THIS TERM

Trips this Term

Music Report

As well as a trip to Pizza Express to learn the art of pizza making, Form 5 really enjoyed their time at Sir William Perkins’s school show, Mary Poppins.

Musical Performances A certain highlight for pupils this term was the House music competition.

“We were so impressed with the acting and singing it was really just like a professional theatre. Everything was arranged by the children, the set, the lighting and make up.

We were totally inspired”

All the Houses truly shone and our fantastic Form 6 were a credit to the school. They organised all the performances and choreographed the House songs themselves with a remarkable level of competence. The competition was judged by a renowned trumpeter Tom Rainer Head of Music at Aldro school for boys, Surrey. He was extremely impressed with the overall standard of music at Upton and shared some lovely comments with the children and staff.

Erin and Emma, Form 5 Form 6 visited the interactive Space exhibition and learnt all about life in space and the moon landings.

“We went to the Wonder Lab which had a number of experiments to test for friction. We saw how liquids turn into gas in a science workshop and had an exciting visit to the shadow room to play with light”

We love to encourage all our musicians with many opportunities to perform in public. The Pre-prep music assembly was a great example of this with children of all abilities performing with great confidence. Upton orchestra will also perform their newly prepared repertoire.

- Imi and Erin, Form 6

Miss Shafikova, Head of Music

The term will end with our Easter assembly led by Forms 3 and 4 which will continue with the Arts week’s theme of music around the world.

TRIPS THIS TERM | MUSICAL REPORT

9

Our Sustainable School First School in Berkshire to be Accredited Plastic Free!

Thanks to a monumental effort by our pupil-led Single-Use Plastics Free Alternatives (SUPA) Committee, Upton House School is proud to be the first school in Berkshire to receive official Plastic Free School Status accreditation by the national Surfers Against Sewage (SAS).

Upton’s SUPA Committee began as part of the school’s enrichment programme for more-able pupils whose research revealed the devastating effects of plastic in our environment.

It has rapidly gathered pace as other pupils and members of staff have felt compelled to join the all-encompassing, highly charged campaign. Joining forces with the highly valued Plastic Free Windsor group has also been a tremendous boost to the children’s work in achieving SUP status.

Mrs Ward, More Able Co-ordinator at Upton explains “The Department for Education released a statement last December urging all schools to eliminate their use of single-use plastics by 2022. Our pupils decided they weren’t going to wait that long and set to work immediately, with the aim to make us all stop in our tracks and think! Their passion for this cause has been incredible from the start and academically is highly beneficial for our children.”

“This innovative campaign is the perfect example of the inspirational teaching at Upton where we encourage critical thinking, complex problem solving, co-ordination with others, negotiation and effective communication – all essential life skills we value so highly at Upton. To have reached our goal so quickly is an amazing testament to their hard work and dedication, and as always we are extremely proud of their efforts and achievements.”

- Mrs Rhian Thornton

10

OUR SUSTAINABLE SCHOOL

“Well done

Upton House!

Your incredible work is helping to create huge waves of positive environmental change.”

- Plastic Free Schools, Surfers Against Sewage

Sports Report

Sporting Success This year’s Form 6 was the first year to enter IAPS netball.

Queen Anne’s School in Caversham hosted the fantastic tournament. The girls played incredibly well against some tough competition in the larger schools category. We were one goal off qualifying which just highlights how hard the girls worked and how far they have progressed. Excellent work girls.

Form 2 boys and girls had a great afternoon playing rugby in the Papplewick rugby festival. The girls and boys showed great determination and agility competing in several matches.

Form 5 have played several significant netball matches this term. They won comfortably against St George’s Windsor demonstrating some outstanding shooting skills. At Eagle House they showed remarkable resilience in particularly cold conditions. Upton House were invited to St George’s Ascot for a tournament and were placed 4th overall. This was great experience for all players.

The House swimming gala this term was incredibly close and enjoyed by all. All prep pupils swum in an individual freestyle race and a house relay. The girls competed with grace and humility supporting their team members and cheering everyone on. Congratulations to St Georges’ House who came first, narrowly beating St Christopher. It was a wonderful afternoon full of Upton spirit and excitement.

Mrs Walsh, Head of Sport

Form 4 remain undefeated in all matches this term.

The girls have worked incredibly hard and showed a great understanding for the game. Most recently they played in the Bishopsgate tournament where they brought home silver medals, losing to only one team. The future looks bright for Form 4, well done everyone.

Form 3 matches have been incredibly close this term with several excellent wins. The girls have worked hard to learn new skills and put them into a match situation. They participated in the Bishopsgate tournament on a very windy afternoon but showed some promising movement and defensive skills.

SPORTS REPORT

11

PTA News The PTA Great British Pub Quiz was a sell out again this year. Ten teams of parents and teachers battled it out over the evening in a closely fought contest.

After several nail biting moments the Nursery parents ‘Quizteama Aguilera’ won the coveted title, narrowly beating Form 5 ‘5Alive’ in the final round! Our thanks to Dr Stewart and Dr Sanghera for organising this renowned Upton event which raised almost £2,500 for PTA funds!

Form 4 had a wonderful cinema night at school last month. This was held as a special PTA prize after their form Christmas Hamper won first place. A great evening was enjoyed in PJ’s and onesies watching Peter Rabbit.

Nursery have been making good use of the new building blocks purchased recently by the PTA. They support the children in so many ways as they construct and build together using creative thinking, problem solving and communication skills. Thank you PTA! There are many more fabulous PTA events being organised for the Summer term.

Please see the calendar below and reserve the dates!

OPEN MORNING

Wednesday 15th May - Tours start 9.30am

Come and meet staff and see classes in action.

UPTONHOUSE.ORG.UK | 01753 862610

Future Events - Summer Term Spring term ends - Friday 5th April 12 noon Easter Holiday Club Week 1 - 8th-12th April Week 2 - 15th-18th April Summer Term - Tuesday 30th April PTA Family Open Air Cinema Event - Mamma Mia 2 Bring your own picnic - Friday 10th May 5.30pm PTA Parent and Staff Party at the Palmers Arms, Dorney Saturday 15th June 7:30pm PTA Upton Rocks Family Festival at Upton House Saturday 29th June 3-6pm

Whole School photo - Wednesday 8th May Residential trips - Form 4 Monday 20th to Weds 22nd May Form 5 Tuesday 21st to Friday 24th May Form 6 to France Monday 13th to Friday 17th May Half Term - Monday 27th May – Friday 31st May Sports Day at TVAC for Trans to F6- Friday 7th June Summer Production, Aladdin - Thursday 4th and Friday 5th July Wellbeing Meeting for Parents - Thursday 20th June 8.50am Prize day - Thursday 11th July Leavers service for Form 6 Friday 12th July at 11am Term Ends - Friday 12th July 12 noon

12

PTA NEWS