A Friday Night Round Up

Good afternoon,

It may be rather wet but nothing can dampen the excitement of the last two weeks!

I spent an amazing two days with Year 2 in Swanage last week. The weather was glorious and we had an absolutely fantastic time filled with fun and learning. We hopped on the ferry to Brownsea Island and learned about island life and hunted for red squirrels, we splashed about in the sea and played games on the beach, we munched our way through several bags of chips and learnt all about fossils and how to find them. The Youth Hostel was superb and we returned back to school on Friday evening feeling rather tired but bursting with excitement about our adventures.

Last night was the final night of the school production and with the sounds of Amarillo still ringing in our ears, it’s always worth a quick reflection. What an amazing community we are part of! Your support as parents and carers is phenomenal. Your children are truly fantastic. They sing and act their hearts out, they step beautifully in time to Miss Whiting’s choreography, and we have a playground full of music, song and joy to fill us all with such pride. But as always it’s their confidence that astounds me, and their absolute love of performing. On the last night they performed in front of over 400 people, including many of the faithful St Stephen’s alumni – never phased and always smiling. A truly wonderful end of year event – thank you to everyone who helped make this special week possible.

I would like to give a special mention to Prestina, a talented and relatively new pupil to St Stephen’s who sang Never Enough, with a voice that defied her age and filled the playground with its beauty and quality – and not a dry eye in the house. We may all be rather tired today, but memories were created last night, that will last a lifetime. Our official photographer, Winky, has sent me lots of fantastic photos to capture those memories, which I will share with parents next week. But for now enjoy these superb video clips.

Video of Year 3 to 6 group performance last night. Please see the link below:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/tt8u15vp5vcf9qa/20230713_202833.mp4?dl=0

Is This the Way to Amarillo? Please see the link below:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/6arv5srzhlk6488/Greatest%20show.MP4?dl=0

We have a number of The Greatest Show posters up for a cheeky bid. I have got one fully signed by the cast but can get the other four signed. Please email me, with your bid, if you would like one – head@ststephensce.lbhf.sch.uk

A Spot of Chess

Ten of our very best Y4 chess players joined 300 others from all over the UK to enjoy a day of Chess fun with a tournament, simul and lessons at ChessFest. They have learned lots over the year from organisers at Schoolschess and our very own Miss Cummins too, bringing home three medals!

Year 5 Larking About

As part of our eco-code commitment, Y5 have been involved in the at Urban Wise London Mudlarks project. This week some children took part in a conference sharing findings about water pollution, presenting work confidently and highlighting issues around plastic pollution. Well done team!

As part of the Mudlarks project the children have borrowed and installed a camera in the hope of capturing some images of the night time wildlife that inhabits the middle playground. Any guesses Chris Packham, who will be our first visitors?

Thank You Kenny

Huge thanks to Kenny Addeh for coming in and talking to the children in Year 6 about the huge variety of roles in the creative sector. As a Motion Designer, Animator & Illustrator, he outlined opportunities, shared his top tips and answered lots of great questions.

Everything’s coming up Roses

Thanks to all who entered the Children’s London Flowers Summer Seed competition. We had SO many entries, (100 in total) that Caroline, the judge, ran out of certificates! Well done to our green fingered students.

Trigonometry

Trig Day took place in Y6 last week and a taster of what’s in store at secondary school. The children learned a little about ancient Greek, Indian, Islamic and medieval use of astrolabes before making one themselves. Then they took readings, used trigonometry for calculations and Excel to display results!

Nursery updates

Nursery have had a busy week which has included meeting a few exotic creatures mid-week in the classroom and a mini sports day this afternoon. .We have some fine athletes in the making. Well done everyone.

Year 4 at the Zoo

Both Y4 classes had a superb time making a beeline for London Zoo. Having planned their visit meticulously in advance, they soon sniffed out the habitats of interest and were not disappointed. They were all out; tigers, monkeys, sloths, lemurs and loads more…

A final week to go and so many more events to pack in.

Have a good rest and a lovely weekend.

Mr Schumm