From the Head

Dear Parents,

Thank you for joining us for various Parents' Evening and Open Classroom events this week. It is always a proud moment for the children as they show their parents around their classrooms and showcase the work they have committed effort and focus to throughout the term. Parents' Evenings offer an important opportunity for our teachers to speak to you about your children's progress and areas that they can challenge themselves even further in. Thank you for your engagement in these discussions which are an invaluable part of your child's learning journey at St Michael's.

Our scientists have made us proud this week as a team of Year 8 pupils competed in the STEM Faraday Challenge at Cobham Hall. The St Michael's team were victorious in taking home the trophy, impressing the judges with their gadget which could be worn on the arm of people with sight impairments to locate objects. 

I would like to congratulate the U11 girls' team for their participation in the National IAPS Hockey Championships last Friday where they were awarded bronze medals (third place in the whole country!). This incredible team has had an action-packed season of both football and hockey, taking part in regional, county and national championships in both sports over the past few months and impressing us with their progress and dedication. Not only did the girls excel in both the IAPS Regional Football and Hockey Finals, but they made it to the National Championships for both, won the Sutton Valence Hockey Tournament and became Kent Hockey Champions; some of the tournaments taking place in just a few days of each other. Thank you to their coaches Mr Thomas, Mrs Bingham and Mr Brightman for their encouragement of the team and to the girls' parents for their unwavering support and many hours of driving! 

Thank you to everyone who contributed to our Community Christmas Jumper Collection for local primary schools. We were delighted to receive a generous amount of jumper donations from St Michael's families which the organisation Sevenoaks Impact, in collaboration with Sevenoaks School, collected on Monday for distribution. 

I'd like to end by encouraging you to look at the food, fun and entertainment on offer at the P & F Christmas Fair taking place on Saturday 30th November. Please see details in this week's newsletter and I look forward to seeing many of you at this special event. 

Wishing you a wonderful weekend. 

Nik Pears

From the Head of Pre-Prep

Dear Parents,

It was lovely to see so many of you in Pre-Prep for Parents' Evenings this week. If you do need a follow-up appointment, please get in touch with your child’s Class Teacher.

The children were very good on Thursday having their flu immunisations with a team of nurses in our Dining Room. Many thanks to all of them. If any of you missed the sign-up with the NHS you can take your child to your own surgery to have them immunised.

At the time of writing, Year 2 children are excitedly getting ready for their matches with Somerhill School. Year 2 girls are going to Tonbridge to play with the Somerhill girls and the boys are coming to St Michael's for a football match on our Astro. It is great to be able to give our children this opportunity in Year 2.

Next week we have a week of musical assemblies. Ukulele Group on Monday, accordions, recorders and pianos on Tuesday, Fiddlesticks on Wednesday with percussion and piano on Friday. If you are the parent of a child in any of these groups, Mrs Crane will have sent you an invitation to attend the relevant assembly. These will all start at 9.10am and will finish somewhere between 9.30 and 9.45am. Assemblies are held in our Pre-Prep Hall, however, the space is used beforehand so you are welcome to wait in the Pre-Prep Dining Room.

Next Saturday 30^th November is the P& F Christmas Fair. Please make sure this date is in your dairy and come to support. I know the P&F committee and so many of you are working hard to get stalls ready. Thank you.

Overheard at lunch time: 

Child 1: "The chicken’s looking a bit dirty today."

Child 2: "No, that’s just the sauce!"

Have a lovely weekend,

Zerrin Leech

St Michael's Hygiene Bank Collection

We are welcoming St Michael's families to donate to our Hygiene Bank Collection again this year. 

Last Friday the Prep children had an assembly about hygiene poverty in England and learnt about the work being done by the Hygiene Bank. We spoke about things that we take for granted and how a small thing that we give can make a huge difference to someone else. For the past two years we have collected hygiene products during the Michaelmas Term and would like to do so again.

Tubs have been placed on the various landings in Prep for children to place any items brought in. The Hygiene Bank website is requesting ‘new, unused, personal care and household cleaning essentials - including deodorant, shower gel, shampoo, make-up, nappies, toilet roll, laundry detergent and surface cleaner. If you need them and use them, then it is likely someone else needs and uses them too.’

We are already off to a good start and it would be wonderful if we can have another bumper collection this year to donate to a worthy cause.

Both Prep and Pre-Prep families are welcome to contribute. Pre-Prep families should take any donations to the Pre-Prep Office and Prep children should bring their donations to one of the tubs in the Prep building. 

Mrs Baisch, Head of Years 5 and 6

Years 2 and 3 Christingle Service booking

A reminder to Years 2 and 3 parents that entry to the Christingle Service in the Pre-Prep Hall at 8.45am on Tuesday 3^rd December will be by pre-booked ticket only for one adult per family. Tickets are free of charge but must be obtained in advance through this Ticketsource link by midday on Friday 29th November. For further details please see the letter sent on Friday 8^th November. 

St Michael's scientists triumph in STEM Challenge

Congratulations to Jamie D, Hugo H, Toluwa O, Xander S, Theo S and Demi W who won the Institute of Engineering & Technology Faraday® Challenge Day held at Cobham Hall school this week. 

Competing against Year 8 teams from five other schools, St Michael’s team worked superbly, putting their creative and collaborative skills to excellent use and engaging wholeheartedly in the task. Their build was a gadget which could be worn on the arm to enable people with sight-impairments to locate objects.

An excellent day of STEM competition – we’re all very proud of their achievement.

Mrs Neylan, Head of Science

U11s win bronze in IAPS Hockey Nationals!

On Friday 15th November, St Michael's U11 girls' hockey team competed in the IAPS National Finals at Repton School. 

The first match was a tense encounter against St Ronan’s school which ended in a 1-0 victory thanks to a last-minute penalty corner goal from Anna W. Next, we faced The Elms school, securing a comfortable 3-0 win with goals from Anna W, Elizabeth W, and Mollie H. Our following match was against King's College School, Cambridge, where we triumphed 2-0 with goals from Mollie H and Anna W. These results ensured we topped our group and advanced to the final match against Hoe Bridge school.

In what proved to be a frustrating game, we lost 1-0, but we still finished top of the group on goal difference. In the Quarter-Finals, we met The Oratory School, where the girls played with determination and created numerous chances. Finally, Iris L scored from a penalty corner to break the deadlock, sending us through to the Semi-Finals.

In the Semi-Finals, we took on RGS The Grange. Despite dominating the match, with multiple chances to score and not allowing the opposition into our defensive circle once, the game ended 0-0. Extra time was more of the same, with several missed opportunities leading to a shoot out. After 17 tense penalty strokes, we were narrowly defeated, ending our tournament run.

Though understandably disappointed, the girls showed incredible resilience and came together to produce a strong performance against Hoe Bridge School (the team we had lost to earlier in the group stages), convincingly winning 2-1 to secure the bronze medal.

It was bittersweet to see the team we had dominated in the Semi-Finals go on to win the tournament overall, but the girls should be incredibly proud of their achievement. Finishing third in the country is no small feat and they’ve had a remarkable season. We now look forward to the South East Regional Finals after Christmas.

Mrs Bingham, Games Teacher

Design Technology House Competition 2024

For this year’s Design Technology House Competition, Prep children were challenged to design the Car of the Future. Children had to include the following features:

• Your car must seat at least 5 people
• It must have 4 doors plus a boot
• You must be able to access the engine
• You need to say how your car is powered
• You need to say how your car will move – will it have wheels? Will it fly? Will it float?

The entries we received covered a wide array of vehicles, from ones which could travel across snow and water to onces which could fly and ones powered by such fuels as the McDonald’s McSpicy burger and even mice and glitter!

Once all the entries were in, the staff gathered together to vote for the winners. There was one winner from lower school - Years 3, 4 and 5 - and one from upper school - Years 6, 7 and 8.

The runners-up were:

Lower school:

Charlie C - Windsor

Kseniia P - Windsor

Upper school:

Tara C - Leeds

Emile M and Hugo H - Windsor

The winners were:

Lower school winner: Noah L - Dover 

Upper school winner: Mollie H - Windsor

Well done to everyone who entered and congratulations to our winners!

Ms Gilbrook, Design Technology Teacher

St Michael's Christmas Jumper Collection

Thank you so much to everyone who donated a Christmas jumper to our Community Christmas Jumper Collection for primary schools.

We received a generous amount of jumpers across Pre-Prep and Prep which will be distributed to local primary schools by Sevenoaks Impact over the new couple of weeks. 

A special thank you also to our Hearts and Crafts Club who spent hours adding handmade Christmas gift labels to the jumpers as a special touch. 

A Magical Music Soirée 

Last Thursday evening we were delighted to invite parents to a beautiful candlelit Music Soirée in our Chapel.

We enjoyed some wonderful solo performances from children who have achieved Grade 3 or above in their instrumental or vocal studies and the programme represented an eclectic mix of classical and contemporary styles. Each of the talented performers who took part were nominated for this concert by their teachers and we very much enjoyed hearing them deliver such well-prepared pieces with good communication, control and confidence. This was a useful opportunity for some children ahead of forthcoming examinations.

The gentle glow of candlelight lent an air of serenity and charm to the atmosphere as parents and guests savoured a selection of wines, snacks and cheeses. With thanks as ever to our dedicated team of Peripatetic Music Teachers for their constant support and preparation with the children and we look forward to hosting similar soloists’ concerts soon.

Treble Trouble

Every Friday morning, the school Chapel comes alive with the sound of Treble Trouble, our high-spirited choir for boys in Years 5 to 8. From 8am to 9am they sing songs from classical to folk to pop and sometimes even a song about football! This term, Treble Trouble is hard at work preparing for our school Carol Service on Thursday 12th December at Shoreham Church and trying to memorise their Latin.

Treble Trouble offers boys the chance to sing together and develop their choral technique which is sometimes stunningly beautiful and at other times a bit more raucous! Keep an ear out—these trebles are nothing but trouble (the good kind)! 

Planting trees in St Michael's grounds

Last Friday members of our Eco Committee teamed up to plant trees in our grounds - we look forward to seeing them grow and become a part of St Michael's landscape over the years!

The Breakfast Club and The Hive have been bustling with creativity once again this week, transforming old tyres into festive masterpieces for our group Christmas recycling projects.

In the Hive, we’ve also had fun hand sewing felted tree decorations and creating Hama Bead models.

As frosty mornings and chilly afternoons are beginning to set in, both clubs this week have been enjoying a warming cup of hot chocolate.

Have you seen this Elf?

Please ask your children to keep a look out for him - we need to catch him before he causes mischief at the P & F Christmas Fair! There's been some recent sightings across the school...

Players of the Match - week commencing 18th November

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