From the Head

From the Head of Pre-Prep

Dear Parents,

What an egg-citing week we have had with a giant egg arriving on our school grounds. Where did it come from? Who laid it? Why did it choose St Michael's? What hatched out? The clues have been increasing all week. Imaginations fired we have all been detectives and story writers. Thank you parents for joining in the mystery!

Reception would like to request if any parents have any baby doll clothes that your children have now stopped playing with, could we please have them? We have plenty of dolls, but they are all rather cold at the moment.

Pre-Prep will be celebrating World Book Day on Tuesday 5^th March this year. This is 2 days earlier than the national World Book Day. The author Sophy Henn will be back with us to spend the day with the children. Dressing up as a book character is a must, so get thinking about those costumes.

It has been good to catch up with the Parent Reps of Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 this week. Next week I shall be able to catch up with Kindergarten Class Reps on Monday 22^nd January at 8.45am and Nursery Reps on Tuesday 23^rd January at 8.45am. Please send any questions or comments to your Reps who will pass them on to me.  

Overheard in Pre-Prep:

Teacher: "Why do squirrels have tails?"

Child: "To swing their predators around."

Have a lovely weekend,

Zerrin Leech

This term we have welcomed the following individuals:

Anna Windover - Key Stage 1 Teacher

Anna is an enthusiastic, creative teacher with 24 years of experience working across Key Stage 1 and 2. She has a passion for music and has run a choir and several music ensembles for many years. She has had the additional responsibilities of Maths, Music, PE and MFL.

She is married with two children and has a dog who she enjoys taking on walks around Kent. In her spare time she enjoys playing the piano, reading and baking. Anna is excited to be joining the St Michael's team and getting to know the children, staff and parents.

St Michael's Prep new website coming soon

Our brand new website is launching next week. Please see the below guide for which heading to find information under on the new website.

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.

Approximately 30 tickets remaining; book now to avoid disappointment!

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.

Inter-House Senior and Junior Drama Duologue Competition

Contest dates

Heats: Monday 29th/Tuesday 30th/Wednesday 31st January (All day- pupils allocated audition times in advance) Finals: Monday 5th February- Juniors and Seniors from 6pm (drinks from 5.30pm) in the Drama Room Junior Division: Years 3 and 4 Senior Division: Years 5, 6, 7 and 8   Using a published (can be online), play script (no film or TV scripts or self-written), pupils form into pairs (both from the same house) to perform a chosen section of between 2 and 5 minutes in length. There should be a spotlight on character development and conveying emotion through the use of a dramatic text. Props or costumes may be used. Performances can also include an introduction written by the pupil to contextualize the performance and state the title and the author if they wish, but this is not compulsory. Contestants must supply an original, unmarked copy of the script upon entering the room. Marks will be lowered if the script is not supplied. All sections must be presented from memory- no scripts will be allowed for performance.  

Marking

Each section will be marked out of 25 TOTAL /100  

SECTION 1 - USE OF VOICE

Candidates will be expected to show appropriate use of pitch, pace and tone to convey meaning and interpretation of the text. Diction and clarity will be an important part of this.

SECTION 2-CHARACTERISATION

Candidates will be marked on creation of believable characters in both appropriate vocal choice and physicality, including movement choices. The use of additional mediums including props and costume will be considered.

SECTION 3- FOCUS AND COMMITMENT

Candidates will be marked on their ability to sustain their characterisations, know their text and demonstrate their relationship to the audience.

SECTION 4-INTERPRETATION OF TEXT

Candidates will be marked on all their choices in respect of the actual text, including observing period, style and context. House points avail for all entering

Highlights from last year's event can be viewed here:

Seniors win bronze at Hawthorns Netball Tournament

Last Saturday a group of Years 7 and 8 girls took part in the Hawthorns U12/U13 Netball Tournament. Despite the freezing conditions, the girls played brilliantly, winning 5 of their 7 matches.

Overall, the girls finished in 3rd place and came home with the bronze medal. It was a fantastic morning of netball and the girls should be proud of themselves. Thank you also to all the parents who came along and braved the elements to support the team.

Mrs Denton, Head of Girls' Games

Egg mystery inspires the Big Write

Appearing on Monday, a large, mysterious egg has been the talk of Pre-Prep as the children have used both their imagination and detective skills to decipher where it came from and what hatched from it!

Exploring rocks and fossils!

The first of our Year 3 classes enjoyed an immersive day of rock discovery on Monday as the children took part in a range of hands on activities to broaden their understanding of petrology.

Led by the enthusiastic Mr Berry from The Education People, the pupils observed rock particles and learnt challenging vocabulary, as well as making their own volcano and metamorphic rock replicas.

Commenting on the day, Year 3 pupil Elizabeth said: "Rocks Day was really fun! My favourite part was making the sedimentary rocks using sand, stone, pebbles and a pretend river."  

Year 4 shine at London's O2 arena

A masterclass in stage make-up

Year 4 stepped into the gory world of stage make-up this morning with Kate Griffiths, a professional from the industry. The professional theatrical make-up artist, who has worked in TV, film and the West End, showed the children how to create a realistic wound using Play-Doh, baby lotion, glue and fake blood. The pupils responded with excitement and enthusiasm, creating some impressive fake injuries which had our stomachs churning!

Charlie E for excellent listening and working hard to do the right thing

Felix B for wonderful ideas and brilliant enthusiasm over the discovery of the ‘egg’

Ethan G for becoming far more adventurous in our writing activities

Callie L for independently writing interesting sentences about the egg

Aria L for using brilliant imaginative skills to aid her writing

Teddy D for good listening skills and participation in lessons this week

Max Z for wonderful ideas and descriptive vocabulary when talking about the mysterious egg

Thomas D for excellent engagement with our topic of pirates

Grace F for writing some fantastic questions about the mystery egg

Ivy R for creating a beautiful pastel pirate self-portrait

Ivan K for careful descriptive writing about the egg

Florence W for writing an imaginative prediction for what she thought was inside the egg and where it had come from

Beau B for carefully counting and adding different amounts of money

Anika B for her brilliant prediction about the mysterious egg

Fleur S for an enthusiastic response to the mysterious egg

Charlotte P for an amazing piece of descriptive writing about what she thought could be inside the egg

Caspar H for being brave when jumping from heights in gymnastics

Rafferty R for sensible, independent work during gymnastics lessons

Times Tables Certificates

Bronze Times Table Certificate: Rosie C and Freya E

Isabel E for a wonderful effort with your moon diary, showing a full lunar cycle from your own observations, and including lots of additional facts about space

Daniel B for a stunning presentation on the circus that Daniel took the time to create during the Christmas holidays

Players of the match - week commencing 15th January

True to our frosty weather this week, the Breakfast Club have enjoyed making snowmen out of marshmallows, icing sugar, chocolate buttons and wafers. In the Hive we have begun to make hats using a circular knitting machine and the children have loved learning how it works. Both clubs still enjoy using the sewing machine, as we continue to make stuffed animals and create our Elmer inspired patchwork blanket for the sofa.

Junoberry Young Poetry Prize 2024

Please find details above of the Junoberry Young Poetry Prize 2024 including a Themed Writing: Mother’s Day competition and the first of our monthly Genre Shorts challenges. In our Shoot for the Stars section this week, we've featured some recent St Michael's successes linked to these if you need some inspiration.

Anouk and Robert's Christmas short stories!

Well done to Year 7 pupil Anouk and Year 5 pupil Robert for entering JunoBerry's Christmas short story competition.

Anouk's story The Dark Christmas was among the top stories submitted in the 11 and under category. Roberts story The Santa Swap was placed in the 11 and under category's long list.

This is an amazing achievement and both their stories were published in JunoBerry's Seasonal Shorts Anthologies and are available on Amazon in paperback, hardback and as an eBook.

Fantastic work!

St Michael's cookbook competition

A group of St Michael's parents are creating a St Michael's cookbook and as part of that, are launching a recipe and drawing competition.

Recipe competition

We would love for children to submit their favourite food recipe (snack, main, dessert etc.). This should include ingredients list with quantities, a method and a drawing of the finished food (by hand or computer).

Art competition

We would like children to submit pictures of their favourite school meal or food they’ve had at school. This can be by hand or by computer.

This is across the whole school and there will be separate winners for Prep and Pre-Prep. The judges will include Mr Pears and Mrs Leech. The winners will receive copies of the cookbook along with St Michael's aprons.

The closing date for entries is Friday 22nd March 2024.

Please email all entries to stmcookbook24@gmail.com.

Half Term staff sports camps

Mr Thomas' February Half Term Hockey Camp

Mr Thomas will be holding his Half Term Hockey Camp at Hollybush Hockey Pitch on:

Monday 12th February Tuesday 13th February Please click here to book.

Please click the above banner for information about upcoming Senior School open events.

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