23rd February 2024
This week has had a strong sports theme running through it, with coaches from Henley Cricket Club leading a fun and very interactive assembly on Monday Morning to kick it all off.
The Year 2 Education Henley Rugby challenge took place at Henley Rugby Club on Tuesday afternoon, with children from Trinity and Danesfield Primaries joining us and was a great success. I enjoyed putting on my coaching kit to lead one of the activities and watching the children developing a number of skills while charging around on the Tiger Turf. An Education Henley TAG rugby INSET led by Mr McArthur then took place on Tuesday evening and it was super to be able to equip other coaches with the skills to develop their school rugby programmes. This follows a successful football INSET before Half Term and with a Gymnastics session to follow next week. The Year 5 and 6 pupils enjoyed their inter-house cross-country races yesterday and we had a fun (if very muddy!) Running Club session this morning. This afternoon, the Year 3 and 4 boys are taking part in a rugby Festival at Brockhurst and the Year 3 girls are playing netball against St Pirans. Best of luck to them all!
We celebrated World Thinking Day in assembly on Thursday where Mrs Fletcher and Mrs Newman spoke to the children about the theme for this year: ‘Our World, Our Thriving Future’. It was lovely to see a number of the children proudly wearing their Rainbows, Brownies, Scout, Beavers, Guides and Cubs uniforms.
This morning, Mrs Light led a fabulous Singing Assembly, with a wide range of voices and ages performing, from soloists and duets through to a rather grisly Horrible History-esque Y4 song about the Egyptians and an extraordinary Year 6 four-part harmony number. Well done to all who took part!
The Great School Run of Henley
On the theme of sport, the Great School Run is back again for its third year and is taking place on 21st April for children aged 3 to 18 (and their grown-ups!) at Stonor Park. It is free to enter (with a suggested donation of £2 to charity) and is a fun event for all. Please enter via the Great School Run website. There is more information below.
STEAM week – Pre-Prep
The Pre-Prep children will be getting creative with junk modelling and combining this with AI during STEAM week. Please could parents bring in clean junk modelling items next week and put them in the conservatory outside Miss Woolven’s classroom, where there is a designated area. Cardboard items are preferable – e.g. cereal boxes, egg boxes and toilet rolls. Many thanks in advance.
Calling all Retailers!
This week, children in Year 6 began work in Maths lessons on a project to design and run their own fantasy retail business. The project will run in Mr Dwinell's Maths lessons for several weeks, encompassing a wide range of topics in Year 6 mathematics, including data presentation, statistics, different contexts for arithmetic (such as currency conversion and calculating revenue and profit) and some more open-ended scenarios. Over the last few days, the children researched other retailers that operate in their 'space' (mapping the market, in other words), used AI software to assist the graphic design of the logos other branding for their 'business', and created a detailed catalogue of products and current inventory. We would be very keen for any parents with experience running a retail business to get in touch if they would be prepared to offer the Year 6 children any tips or words of wisdom! Please do email Mr Dwinell if you are willing to help.
House Music
Next week the Prep children will be auditioning for the House Music solos. Mrs Light would like to invite parents to come to school to watch their child’s audition. Please find further details in this letter.
Senior Schools News
I was delighted to welcome Jane Evans, the Head of Wychwood School in Oxford, earlier in the week for a tour and to learn more about each other's schools. Yesterday, Dr Chris Stevens, the Head of Bradfield College also visited and was keen to discuss ways in which we could work closely together in the future. St Andrew's (13+ Prep) is now part of the Bradfield Group and he and Ed Graham, the Head there, are very keen to have Rupert House children who are wanting to go on to 13+ senior schools (such as Bradfield), go to St Andrew's for Years 7&8, as some of our former children have already done very successfully. St Andrew's have an Open Morning next Friday and Mr Graham would be delighted to meet any parents who are considering this as an option.
On Wednesday we will be joined by Dr Julian Murphy, new Head of The Oratory, to give parents the opportunity to meet him and find out more about the school in the next of our series of Meet the Head coffee mornings. If you might be interested in learning more about the The Oratory, please join us for coffee and a chat at 8.30am in the Music Studio. Please do let us know if you would like to come along by filling in this short form.
Parking and waiting outside school
Please can I ask parents to park considerately when dropping off or picking up their children and use the Waitrose Car Park wherever possible rather than parking in the proximity of Kings Road, which can make it difficult for the residents there to get in and out of their properties. I have had a number of complaints which have not been unreasonable given the photos I have been shown of some of the parking.
Also, if you happen to be waiting outside the Big Blue Door with younger siblings, please could I ask that you do not let them climb on the columns to the sides of the door or on the railings, both of which have sadly been damaged as a result. Some of the children also enjoy ringing the doorbell, which I understand, however it can be very distracting for the Office team!
I would appreciate your support and understanding in these matters.
The Little Blue Door
I’m delighted to share with you the first issue of our children-led publication – The Little Blue Door. It is packed with fascinating articles and academic challenges. If your child would like to contribute to the next edition, please contact Laura Candy
Staffing news
I am delighted to share with you the wonderful news that Miss White is expecting, with the baby due in July. We will be advertising for a maternity cover role imminently and Miss White will be closely involved in recruiting an excellent temporary replacement. Mrs Steer will take on the Head of Early Years role alone in Miss White's absence.
Next week is another busy one with trips for Years 3, 6 and some of Year 5 on Tuesday, and creative workshops for Year 5 on Thursday. Henley Youth Festival starts on the Saturday and will run through the following week with all manner of fascinating sessions that our children will be attending.
Tomorrow is the final event in the South Oxfordshire Cross Country series at Maiden Erlegh Chiltern Edge School. All children in Years 1 to 6 are welcome to attend, with the first race starting at 10am. I hope the weather behaves and best of luck to everyone taking part!
Best wishes,
Nick Armitage