From the Head

Dear Parents,

Happy New Year. I hope you had a brilliant Christmas.

The cold weather may have welcomed us back this week, but the warmth of the St Michael’s community can already be felt again. We have enjoyed seeing you and your children as well as welcoming some new families who we look forward to sharing the St Michael’s journey with.

With the added excitement of snow on the grounds, we began our week together on Tuesday when laughter and squeals of delight could be heard at break time as many Christmas stories were shared and snowmen made. Inspiring lessons have also brought joy to our first days of 2024 together as pupils enjoy their teachers’ creativity and wisdom once again.

On Wednesday, we were delighted to welcome Maggie Speirs, a representative from Guide Dogs UK, and her German Shepherd puppy Che to speak to children in Years 3 to 8 about the charity’s important work. Thank you to Maggie who was both informative and inspiring and of course, Che, for being very cute and willing for over 200 children to stroke him!

Next week we look forward to more learning and experiences together including the first of our Year 3 Rocks Days, Year 4 Young Voices at the O2 arena and a Year 4 theatrical make-up workshop.

Best wishes,

Nik Pears

From the Head of Pre-Prep

Dear Parents,

Happy New Year and welcome back to Lent Term. What an exciting start to the term with snow laying thick and fast!

I am pleased to start the term with three new members of staff in Pre-Prep. Mrs Anna Windover who is our new teacher in Year 2 job sharing with Ms Salmon; Mrs Anne Wilson who is our new full-time Teaching Assistant in RMP with Mrs Playell and Mrs Martin and Mrs Emma Lindsay who is our new, part-time Teaching Assistant in 2P.

This half term we will have another Open Class event where a parent is welcomed into their child’s class to see what they have been doing. This will be Tuesday 6th February. I know this can be tricky for some working parents so if you would rather arrange for a grandparent or other relative to come in your place, you are welcome to do so. Only one adult per child though as we won’t be able to fit all the adults in! Please note, there are only paid activities on this day so your child will need to be collected.

As the cold weather has now kicked in, please can I remind you to name all the hats, gloves and scarves? No children are allowed out to play unless they have their coat on. The children are still playing on the grass if they are wearing their wellingtons. I am afraid some coats are coming home rather muddy as the children slide about on the grass.

I have tasked the children with trying to learn their address this week so if you are able to prompt them on a few occasions it would be a good thing for them to learn.

Overheard in Pre-Prep:

Teacher: “Who left a glass of milk out for Father Christmas?”

Child: “We left a glass of champagne!”

Have a good weekend,

Zerrin Leech

At the end of this week we will be saying goodbye to the following individual:

Sarah Grayland – Games Teacher

Sarah joined St Michael’s as a Girls’ Games Coach in 2008. I first met Sarah on the netball court when we both played for the same netball team. I soon realised that she was a very reliable person as well as a knowledgeable netball player and coach; great traits to have so I was delighted when she applied to join our team. She has brought these traits to St Michael’s in abundance over the years and had much success with teams that she has coached.

In addition to being a super coach of netball, hockey and cricket, she has had great relationships with pupils and staff alike and will be sorely missed by us all.

Sarah has a great sense of humour and is fiercely loyal and as such; I am sure that she will be hugely successful in her next venture.

We wish Sarah a huge amount of luck and happiness as she goes off to the Philippines for 6 months to do her Master Diver’s certificate. I know that she will succeed doing something that she truly loves.

Good luck, Sarah!

Words by Mrs Wade

Sarah’s association with St Michael’s goes back 25 years (initially as a parent). She has always been a supporter of the school and has been instrumental in helping to build the strength of the Girls’ Games Department – especially for netball, where she has led teams to success in a number of national tournaments. She has always been a fair and encouraging coach who is very much loved and respected by pupils and staff alike.

Words by Mrs Shield

This week we have welcomed the following individuals:

Trish Peachey – Head’s PA 

Trish is married and has two grown up boys. She is an avid gym goer and has spent most of her spare time over the last few years involved in the renovation of their home. She has over 25 years’ of PA/Office management experience, gained in the private and public sectors. She has enjoyed meeting the team at St Michael’s and beginning her role this week.

Anne Wilson – Pre-Prep Teaching Assistant 

Anne has worked as a Teaching Assistant for 13 years in various educational sectors including state primary, special needs and prep. Alongside her support role, she is a qualified swim instructor, teaching curricular swimming and coaching at swim schools.

She is married with two adult children. Most of her spare time is taken up with studying for a Psychology degree, which she hopes to put to good use in the future through supporting the mental health of children in education.

When taking time away from the books, Anne can be found baking, especially elaborate cakes for special occasions. She also like to run and earlier this year took on her greatest challenge to date – a triathlon.

Anne is delighted to be joining the St Michael’s community.

Emma Lindsay – Pre-Prep Teaching Assistant 

Emma has been part of the school community for the past 10 years, helping with various events and is currently a Year 8 Parent Rep. Emma is married with two daughters who both attend St Michael’s Prep School, her eldest in Year 8 and youngest in Year 5.

During her spare time, Emma loves spending time with her family, enjoys being active on long coastal and country walks with her golden retriever, going to the gym, paddle boarding and relaxing on holiday with a good book.

Emma is thrilled to be joining St Michael’s Prep School, working alongside the wonderful Pre-Prep Team and fulfilling her career ambition of working with children. She is looking forward to nurturing and developing young children and contributing to their learning journey.

A Monster Calls – book now!

The St Michael’s Drama Department is proud to present A Monster Calls

 Wednesday 13th March to Friday 15th March 2024

“Stories are wild creatures”, the monster said. “When you let them loose, who knows what havoc they might wreak?”

Patrick Ness’ piercing novel- brought vividly to life in this Olivier Award-winning play developed by Adam Peck and Sally Cookson.

Conor and his mum have managed just fine since his dad moved away. But now his mum is sick and she’s not going to get any better. His grandmother won’t stop interfering and the kids at school either won’t look him in the eye, or worse! He’s even alienating his best friend. Then, one night, Conor is woken by something at his window. A monster has come walking. It’s come to tell Conor tales from when it walked before and when it’s finished, Conor must tell his own story, and face his deepest fears.

Please bear in mind that some may find elements of this production upsetting, particularly the subject matter including scenes of bullying and bereavement.  We therefore recommend that this production is only suitable for brave Year 4s and above at parents’ discretion. This production will also use strobe effect lighting and loud music. If you have any questions concerning the content of the play, please do contact Mr Powell or Mrs Scott for more information.

Doors open at 18:00 with a paid bar available. The performance will begin at 19:00 and late comers will not be admitted to the auditorium until the interval. 

Please click here to buy your tickets.

Unwanted backpack Appeal

If anyone has an unwanted backpack of the type that a child would take to school, we would be very grateful if you could donate it to school for use in the play. Please send anything suitable in with your child by next Friday and ask them to take it to the front desk (who will make sure it reaches Miss Lambert, Stage Manager). Many thanks.

Advertise your business in our school play programme

Having recently begun rehearsals for our next school play A Monster Calls which pupils will be performing in March 2024, we are reaching out to local businesses who may be interested in advertising in our programme.

Typically, our play is performed to 300 people across three performances and a programme is available to all audience members.

Advert sizes available within our A4 programme are quarter-page ads (£25), half-page ads (£50), full-page ads (£100) and x1 full inside front cover ad (£150).

If you would like to secure an advert in the programme or have any questions, please contact Taz Usher, Marketing and Media Manager, at tusher@stmichaels.kent.sch.uk.

All funds raised from the programme advertising will be put towards school play costs.

St Michael’s Open Library

This term we will be once again running our Open Library activity from 4 to 5pm on Wednesdays. We would like to invite parents to visit the Prep school library with their children (Pre-Prep and Prep children all welcome, although our stock of books suitable for Pre-Prep age is limited) at any point during this time. There is no need to sign up in advance and you are very welcome to drop in briefly or stay for the full hour. Parents are encouraged to browse the bookshelves and choose new books with their children; share a story, picture book, newspaper or magazine; or simply to use the library as a quiet space for their children to complete homework while waiting for an older sibling to return from an away match. Please note that children must be accompanied by a parent or carer at this time. Tea, coffee, squash and biscuits will be available.

Parents should park their cars on site and then enter the Prep building through the front door. There is no need to sign in at Reception as there will be a sign-in sheet in the Library. For those parents who are new to the school, the library is situated just off the main entrance hall.

Open Library is not running on Wednesday 17th January but will recommence on Wednesday 24th January. 

Leo E for wonderful letter formations when writing sounds and words this week

Ava W for your positive attitude towards learning and trying your best with all of our activities

Becca A for fabulous engagement in our number bond activities

Harry W for trying very hard in all areas of school life

Mason S for fantastic number bonds to 10

Jasper D for excellent sentence writing

Lincoln L for rapid recall of number counting forwards and backwards

Phoebe D for beautiful pastel work in her pirate portrait

Alexander S for consistently giving 100% in every single lesson

Oscar R for fantastic descriptive writing about The Pirate Cruncher

Hugo W for writing and illustrating an excellent pirate book

Martha S for a detailed recount of her Christmas day

Sebby B for working hard this week in all of our lessons

Rosie C for working exceptionally hard this week and producing work that she can be very proud of

Charlie C for sharing his excitement of books, reading with lovely expression and fluency

Zaviyar A for excellent learning and homework produced over the holidays

Hattie R for a beautifully presented memory book of her trip to Lapland

Dan L for a brilliant video all about his favourite famous person, Tom Fletcher

Ella M for being a kind and caring friend by helping new children settle in at St Michael’s

Serena G for settling in brilliantly and getting herself involved in all lessons

House Points Certificates

Windsor: Erin S

Times Tables Certificates 

Bronze Times Tables Certificate: Rosanna C and Henry M

Swim England Awards – Learn to Swim

Level 2: Thora W

Players of the Match – week commencing 8th January

Welcome back everyone and a very happy new year to you all.

This week there has been a buzz in the air as children have been chatting and catching up with each other about their festive activities over friendly games of foosball, card games and construction toys.

Both clubs have also had opportunities to use the sewing machine, as some of the children have been keen to make a patchwork soft toy.

Seb’s New Year’s Day charity dip!

Year 5 pupil Seb welcomed in the New Year by going for a swim in the sea. He joined around 300 people in Ramsgate, braving the cold in order to raise money for the Ronald McDonald foundation, who work towards improving the health and well-being of children.

Well done, Seb!

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