14th March 2025
Firstly, well done to those who took part in various events last weekend. Lots of children joined the Henley Youth Festival Run, while others took part in the Woodley Festival choir competition, with our Little Singers coming third in their category and a number of others playing in the Youth Festival Music Makers event we hosted on Sunday afternoon.
Our artists had a very successful time as well at the Henley Youth Festival, winning no less than thirteen different prizes! It is super to have so many children involved in the Festival, which is a wonderful series of events that we are fortunate to have available to us here in Henley.
Children across the school have been taking part in Henley Youth Festival activities throughout this week including music making and arts & crafts which they all appeared to thoroughly enjoy. You can read all about it here.
Also this week, we held our own STEAM week with science, technology, engineering, art and maths activities based around the theme of 'Change and Adapt'. There were a number of inspiring events including a trip to The Oratory for Year 5 to discover ‘The Secret Life of Scent’, an environmental architecture session for Year 4 and a Science Fair for the Prep children, where pupils showcased scientific experiments they had designed and created as part of their enrichment homework. You can read more about the week’s timetable here.
Well done to the Year 5 pupils who took part in the Quen Anne’s Spelling Bee today and to all those who competed in fixtures this week. Year 5 and 6 finished their last netball matches of the season with some excellent results and the Year 5 and 6 boys won against St Edwards Prep when they joined us for a rugby tournament on Wednesday.
Bake Sale
Thank you to Mrs Benson and the Year 3 parents for organising yesterday’s bake sale. The children were clearly delighted at the sweet treats on offer and although the event was not expected to raise a huge amount for charity, your generosity meant that they did raise a total of £120 for The Chiltern Centre. This is in addition to the £740 raised by last week's book sale.
Year 2 football festival
It is the much-anticipated Year 2 annual football festival on Thursday next week (20th March). Parents are more than welcome to come along and watch. Please read the information below.
Head’s Coffee Morning
On Thursday 20th March at 8.30am we have the next in our series of Meet the Head Coffee mornings, which take place in the Music Studio. These are informal opportunities for you to gain a flavour of the Senior Schools we regularly feed, and please do come and join us, whatever stage you are at in your child's journey at Rupert House. We often have Pre-Prep parents join us as well, which we welcome. On this occasion, I look forward to welcoming Dr Sarah Tullis, the new Head of The Abbey, a girls' school in Reading. If you wish to join us, please register here: https://forms.office.com/e/cBii0qScHp
Comic Relief
Next Friday, 21st March, is Red Nose Day. We shall be raising money for Comic Relief in exchange for wearing red accessories with our school uniform. Any donation is welcome (the suggested amount is £2). Donations can be made in cash on the day, or online via our Just Giving page: Rupert House School is fundraising for Comic Relief
Reception Discovery Day
Next Friday, 21st March, we are holding a Reception Discovery Day for children who are due to start school in September this year. If you know anyone that may be considering Rupert House for their child, please do encourage them to come along. It is a great opportunity to meet the Early Years teachers, other new parents and explore our Forest School. More information can be found here.
Discover Easter Camps
There is still time to book the Discover Easter Camps which are open to all children from age 4 to 14. Choose from the Activity Camp or the Netball Camp, which is in association with Henley Hawks. The early bird booking discount has been extended until the end of March – use code DISCOVERMORE when booking to save 10%. This also applies to the May half term and summer camps. More information can be found here: Rupert House School - Discover Activity Camps
Great School Run
Planning is underway for the 4th annual Great School Run at Stonor Park on 18th May. Please save the date! We are in the process of updating the event website and will let you know when registration is open. The races will take place from 9.30am to 11.30am and are open to everyone of all ages from 3 to 100! Medals will be presented to the top 3 in each category and there is a cup for the school with the most participants relative to its size. Can we retain the cup for a second year?!
FORH Social Committee
FoRH are looking for parents who would be keen to help develop and plan social events for our community (Welcome Back Party, Christmas Party, Bi-annual Ball). This would be an excellent opportunity to help if you'd like to get involved with Friends, but don't want to be a Class Rep, or maybe you've been a Rep already and would like a different opportunity to help with Friends activities. This won't be a huge time commitment - just a few planning meetings spread across the year and a bit of involvement before the event. If interested, or you have any questions, please get in touch with Mrs Benson: 07798801328.
I hope Year 6 are looking forward to their French trip next week. Best of luck with the packing this weekend!
Best wishes,
Nick Armitage