From the Head

Dear Parents,

We have ended the first half of the Michaelmas Term in style this week with joy and opportunity at every corner of the school. 

Trips Week has taken our pupils on a number of learning adventures as Year 5 made scientific discoveries at Herstmonceux Observatory, Year 8 put their Geography skills to the test in London Stratford, Year 2 explored the natural wonders of the Horniman Museum and Year 6 stepped into stories by Roald Dahl. 

Prep musicians treated us to an impressive Breakfast Concert on Tuesday when hours of practise were showcased through polished and confident performances on a range of instruments. The music theme continued into Thursday as pupils from Years 1 to 8 took part in African drumming workshops, learning the art of the instrument and performing together as classes. 

We have celebrated more sporting success following our U11 boys' and U11 girls' participation in the IAPS Regional Football and Hockey Tournaments last week. We are extremely proud of both teams who gave their all and are excited to announce that the girls have qualified for the IAPS National Hockey Finals in November when they will attempt to retain St Michael's national title for the third year running!

Today we have held a Charity Day for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, filling yellow wellington boots with donations for this very important cause; thank you for your generosity. Meanwhile, we have welcomed the talented poet Joshua Seigal to inspire our children with his incredible writing and imagination. We have also witnessed skill, technique and team spirit in the Year 2 Football Tournament which parents came to support this afternoon. 

Wishing you a wonderful half term break. 

Best wishes,

Nik Pears

From the Head of Pre-Prep

Dear Parents,

Half term has arrived. Many of your children are quite tired and a few early nights/late mornings may be in order over the next couple of weeks.

Year 2 went to the Horniman Museum this week and had a fabulous time. They were great ambassadors for our school. Year 1 took the opportunity to pop up to Prep school and take part in an African drumming workshop on Thursday. They too had a fun time all playing drums at the same time. I was very impressed with their control.

At the time of writing, Year 2 children are excitedly awaiting the start of their Football Tournament. The sun is shining and it looks like a lovely autumn afternoon to be out on the pitches. Thank you to Mr Davies for all the organisation and to the Gap Students and Mr Brightman’s Sports Department for all of your help!

After half term we are going to be encouraging your children to be a little more independent and walk down the bridge by themselves. This will help with the playground area becoming too crowded with adults. Any preparation you can do over the half term holidays to give your child that additional confidence boost would be appreciated. Those children who can walk down the bridge by themselves will get a token to add to their class total.

Please do not send your child to the garden in the morning without an adult being at the top of the bridge. The gates opening does not guarantee that there is a member of staff in the playground. Staff at the top of the bridge indicates there is now staffing in the garden. Many thanks.

When we return to school in November, we will be holding a Stubbers Information Evening for Year 2 parents at 7pm on Wednesday 6^th November. I hope you have managed to get some tickets for our Fireworks Display on Friday 8^th November. This is always a spectacular evening.

Overheard in Pre-Prep during a coach trip:

Child: "Why do all the buildings have tattoos?" (Graffiti!)

Have a lovely half term holiday,

Zerrin Leech

A reminder to stop at pedestrian crossings

A reminder to all drivers that you must stop at pedestrian crossings if there is anyone waiting to cross. There are multiple pedestrian crossings across our site at St Michael's and the children are taught that this is how pedestrian crossings work. Children may cross these crossings unaccompanied at times, with some of them being smaller than the size of your cars, so we ask that you are vigilant, drive very slowly and are always prepared to stop at these crossings please. This is essential to ensure the safety of the St Michael's community. 

Naming your children's belongings

A reminder to please name all of your children's uniform and belongings. The amount of lost property without names on is currently very high and making it difficult to return to owners. 

St Michael's Christmas Jumper Collection

As part of our community outreach, we are inviting St Michael's families to donate Christmas jumpers to our collection for local primary schools in collaboration with Sevenoaks School. 

From Monday 4th November to Friday 8th November 2024, the week that we return from the half term break, we will be collecting new or nearly new Christmas jumpers sized 5 to 12 years every day outside the Pre-School, Pre-Prep and Prep entrances. 

We would be very grateful if you could contribute to this collection which will be distributed to local primary schools in time for national Christmas Jumper Day on Thursday 12th December 2024. 

U11s qualify for National IAPS Hockey Final

Last Friday St Michael's Under 11 girls' hockey team travelled to Haileybury School to defend the IAPS regional title that they won last year. The team began in impressive style, beating Colfe's School 9-0 in a 12 minute match! 

They then beat Russell House School 3-0, Felsted School 1-0 and Channing School 6-0 to win their group convincingly.

In the Quarter-Final they beat St Cedd's School 4-0 and followed this with a 3-0 victory against Brentwood School in the Semi-Final. Kent College Canterbury were St Michael's opponents in the Final and St Michael’s finished on a high with a 2-0 victory to win the tournament and qualify for the National Finals for the third year running. 

The girls were superb all day, scoring an amazing 28 goals in 7 matches and conceding none! Congratulations to the whole squad for playing fast, skilful and exciting hockey. 

The team will travel to Repton in November for the IAPS National Hockey Finals to attempt to retain St Michael's national title for the third year running!

Mrs Bingham, Games Coach

Animals galore at Godstone Farm

Reception had a brilliant day at Godstone Farm last week. Throughout the trip, the children were delighted to see pigs (including one day old piglets!), goats, alpacas, geese, ducks, chickens, bearded dragons and even a 97 year old tortoise! Reception were lucky to be able to stroke and feed many of these animals too. The picnic lunch was a hit and we even managed to enjoy some time in the play area.

Mrs Jeffery, Reception Teacher and Deputy Head of Pre-Prep

Scientific discovery at Herstmonceux Observatory

Year 5 enjoyed a busy day of scientific discovery at Herstmonceux Observatory on Monday. From hands-on exhibits to a robot arm workshop, telescope tour and ‘Destination Space’ science show, there was plenty to inspire our budding astronauts and future space scientists.

Throughout the day, we were impressed by the children's engagement and interest. The rain certainly didn't dampen their enthusiasm - well done, Year 5!

Mrs Neylan, Head of Science

U11s compete in IAPS Football Tournament

Last Saturday the St Michael’s U11 boys' football team competed in the IAPS Football Qualifier event at Dulwich Prep School. We have been thrilled with the boys’ engagement, dedication to practice and hard work in lessons, making competition for selection fierce.

IAPS Football Tournaments are known for their intense competition and this event was no different. The St Michael’s boys entered their opening game against New Beacon with hope, nerves and determination. They began strong, controlling the game, but both defences were solid, resulting in few chances. The deadlock was broken by a well-taken header from a corner, leading to a 2-0 win for New Beacon.

In their next game against the formidable Thomas’s Fulham School, the boys showed great resilience despite the result going against them. They worked hard for each other, chasing every ball and never giving up.

The final group game against Wetherby Prep saw our boys do everything but score, ending in a 0-0 draw. This led to a three-penalty shoot out against Wetherby Prep. Nik B, Sam S, Adam J and William P all scored perfect penalties and two wonderful saves from Thomas G saw the boys safely through to the Plate Competition Quarter-Final.

The Quarter-Final against Orchard House School was another close and tense game with opportunities at both ends. Despite the game finishing 0-0, another penalty shoot out ensued. The St Michael’s boys huddled together on the halfway line, supporting the penalty takers in unity. Unfortunately, two of our penalties hit the post and, despite a magnificent diving one-handed save by Thomas G, it wasn’t enough and the boys were knocked out of the competition.

The boys have come a long way as individuals and as a team over the last few years and I am extremely proud of them all.

Team; Thomas G, Ruaridh O, Adam J, Nik B, Sam S, William P, Charlie M, Hugo M and Silas C.

Mr Brightman, Director of Sport

Wellingtons full of donations for the RNLI!

We were delighted to support the Royal National Lifeboat Institution as part of our whole school Charity Day today.

Wearing red and yellow accessories to promote the cause, children and staff across St Michael's showed their appreciation for the lifesaving charity who are celebrating their 200th anniversary this year. 

We are extremely grateful to the St Michael's community for helping us to raise an amazing £1023.53 to be given to the charity, allowing them to continue their important work in the form of lifeboat search and rescue, lifeguards, water safety education and flood rescue.

To find out more about the RNLI, please click here.

House Design Technology Competition 2024

National Science Waistcoat Design Competition

In collaboration with the World Snooker Tour and Johnstone's Paint, the organisation Stem Learning is offering young people between the ages of 11 and 14 an exciting opportunity to design a waistcoat that will be worn by a top snooker player during the Johnstone's Paint Masters at Alexandra Palace. The winning design will be showcased live on the BBC in January 2025. 

The Science Waistcoat Design Competition invites young people to create a waistcoat and share their scientific inspiration behind the design. They could draw or paint the design on the template.

The closing date is 4pm on Thursday 7th November 2024.

The winning design will be made into a waistcoat which will be worn during the Johnstone’s Paint Masters at Alexandra Palace. The winner will also be interviewed by national and local media covering the competition, to discuss the scientific inspiration behind their design.

A child can only be entered into the competition once. All entries should use PPG’s colour of the year, Acai Berry – which can be found on the design template.

To enter the competition please complete the online entry form and submit, with a PDF of the completed design template, to waistcoat@stem.org.uk.

Please click here for all entry information

Listening Library arrives in the Prep Library

The Prep Library has just opened a brand new listening station complete with Yoto Players, a selection of audiobooks and some headphones. 

Prep children are welcome to come down to the Library in break times and lunch times to listen to some of their favourite books and also cast a vote for the audiobooks they'd like to see appearing in the Library next. The Listening Library will also be available for younger siblings to enjoy during the Open Library sessions on Wednesday afternoons. 

We hope this Listening Library will help more children access and enjoy a wider range of texts whilst also providing an opportunity for a moment of relaxation and calm in the busy school day. 

Mrs Citron, Librarian

A delightful Breakfast Concert

This half-term ended with an early morning Breakfast Concert on Tuesday featuring musicians in Years 3 to 6. The performers were well prepared and introduced their pieces with confidence. They gave assured and often moving musical performances across a range of instruments and styles including flute, piano, guitar, violin, cello and voice.

Parents were treated to a light breakfast as they enjoyed the music in what was a lovely start to the day for everyone involved. With thanks to St Michael's team of Music Teachers for their encouragement in preparing the pupils to perform and to Ms Balcombe for accompanying and supporting them during the concert.

Please click here for a full gallery of the photographs from the Concert

Mr Baird, Director of Music

Breakfast Concert highlights video:

African Drumming Workshops

We were thrilled to host a series of interactive African Drumming workshops for children yesterday led by visiting expert djembe drummer, Dan Harrison. Pupils from Years 1 to 8 gained hands-on experience using traditional dejmbes to learn the vibrant rhythms of Africa and to perform as an ensemble through call and response patterns. Pupils not only learnt to play the djembe, but also to gain a sense of unity and cultural appreciation as part of a dynamic drum circle. The Drama Room and surrounding corridors were filled with the sounds of upbeat and complex drum rhythms in what proved a fun and meaningful activity for everyone, staff included!

Mr Baird, Director of Music

Celebrating Black History Month

Pre-Prep have been learning about a range of musicians and music styles in their Music lessons this term as part of Black History Month. Can you spot some of your favourite music artists?

Fiddlesticks

In The Hive and Breakfast Club this week we have had fun decorating lollies to look like ghosts, as well as making spooktacular soaps in the shape of bats, skeletons and pumpkins.

St Michael's Umbrellas

Please view the below poster for details of how to purchase St Michael's umbrellas.

St Michael's Travel Coffee Cups

Wine Tasting

P & F Christmas Fayre - calling all stall holders

Christmas Wreath Workshop

Request for Christmas Fair donations

Players of the Match - week commencing 14th October

Freya's scoring streak

Congratulations to Freya E in Year 3 for winning the Player of the Match award following her football match with Chipstead Club last Sunday. 

Competing against the Tonbridge Halos team, Freya's team won both games 3-2 and 6-0 with Freya scoring a total of 7 goals across the matches!

Congratulations also to the other St Michael's children who were part of the Chipstead team.

Lana conquers the Hever Castle Challenge

Congratulations to Lana C in Year 6 who completed the Hever Castle 6km Commando Challenge last weekend. She ran, swam, crawled and squelched her way around the 6km route, finishing with a smile.

Dylan's swimming success

Congratulations to Dylan H in Year 5 who has had a fabulous start to his competitive swimming season. Dylan came 2nd in the 100 Free at the Bromley Open Meet. Additionally, at the Tonbridge Club Champs, Dylan swam 400m Free for the first time and was the fastest nine year old, coming 2nd overall in the 9-10 category! Keep up the amazing swimming, Dylan!

Follow us on social media!

Make sure you are following St Michael’s social media channels for important updates and content throughout the year.