From the Head

From the Head of Pre-Prep

Dear Parents,

There has been lots of fabulous learning going on this week, as you would expect.

Year 2 have been walking on the moon with the aid of their iPads. They have packed for the journey to the moon and have found out all about Neil Armstrong. Year 1 have written pirate letters which have been put in a bottle ready for Mrs Grove to throw in the sea this weekend. We hope they are discovered by a pirate who can read and reply! Reception have been painting some wonderful underwater pictures while Kindergarten made playdough ducks. Nursery have loved their hospital role play with patients being seen immediately and subjecting themselves to a range of operations.

Next week the Year 2 children will be demonstrating their throwing and catching skills by taking part in their Matball Tournament. Year 2 parents are welcome to join us on Friday 2^nd February at 1.40pm. This is held at Prep school and you can view the children from the balcony above the Sports Hall, next to the Swimming Pool. Please ensure you have signed in with the Year 8 children. Coffee and Tea will be available after the tournament back at the Pre-Prep Dining Room whilst the children have a match tea.

Thursday 8^th February is our school charity day where children are invited to wear their own clothes to school in exchange for a donation. This term the school council have chosen Médecins Sans Frontières MSF to help with lifesaving medical care around the world. The Prep children felt this was particularly important considering recent wars. Year 1 parents please note that this is the same day as Year 1 children are dressing up as pirates.

Overheard in Pre-Prep:

Child: "I’ll just measure your bottom Mrs X."

Teacher: "You may need more than a 30cm ruler!"

Have a lovely weekend,

Zerrin Leech

This term we have welcomed the following individual:

Victoria Rodwell - Sports and Swim Coach

Victoria has been a Secondary PE Teacher for six years around London and Kent. 

She enjoys hiking, playing hockey, swimming and travelling. She recently explored South, central and North America. One of her favourite places was the Galapagos Islands and Mexico where she did some scuba diving and saw turtles, sea lions and hammerhead sharks. In the Summer of 2022 she swum the Channel as a part of a relay. It was extremely challenging but very rewarding. 

She is very keen to meet all the St Michael's team and is looking forward to inspiring the pupils and sharing her love of Physical Education and Swimming.

Presenting...St Michael's Prep's new website!

Our brand new website launched this week; we hope you love it as much as we do!

Click here to explore St Michael's new website

A Monster Calls - last few tickets remaining!

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.

Only a few tickets remain for A Monster Calls so please book now to avoid disappointment. There are six left for Wednesday 13^th, six left for Thursday 14^th and only one left for Friday 15^th March.

Also, a final request for school-age backpack donations before we purchase some for use in the production. If you do have one that your children no longer require, please send it into the front office by Tuesday 30^th January and they will arrange for Miss Lambert our Stage Manager to collect it. Many thanks for your help.

Please click here to buy your tickets.

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.

Whole School Charity Day – Thursday 8^th February

Our next scheduled Charity Day on the last day before half term will be in support of MSF (Medecin sans Frontiere/ Doctors without Borders). 

This organisation continues to support the civilian population at the centre of the conflict in Gaza. They remain impartial, having offered assistance to hospitals in Israel to treat mass casualties (the offer was declined) and continuing to operate in hospitals and health centres located in and around Gaza itself, treating Palestinian civilians. 

The work carried out is dangerous and three doctors have lost their lives working for MSF in Gaza since the start of the conflict. 

A link to the MSF charity website page regarding the conflict can be found here.

For all the children at St Michael’s, the charity day will consist of a ‘home clothes’ day (not for Year 1 as they will already be in costume for the day), with the children bringing in a donation. A guide for any donations is £2. This should be given to the Form Teacher in morning registration. 

A reminder to label school uniform

A gentle reminder that all uniform and belongings should be properly named, preferably with printed name tags or if not, permanent marker.

Full names or first name and surname initial (E.g. Tom S) are favoured over just initials please so that possessions can be easily reunited with their owners. 

Let's salsa! Year 5 Food Technology

An exciting twist has been added to Prep Design Technology lessons this term as Year 5 are exploring Food Technology.

Topics to be explored throughout the term will include healthy eating, personal and food hygiene, kitchen utensil skills, taste testing, designing a recipe and making their own focaccia bread. This week we have been practising knife skills and have been making an easy peasy salsa which the children have been taking home to eat with their dinner.

Food Technology is a new addition this year to the broad Design Technology curriculum we offer and is proving to be a hit with the children! We look forward to seeing what recipes they design for their focaccias!

Ms Gilbrook, Art and Design Technology Teacher

U13As crowned Netball Tournament Champions!

The U13A team took part in the annual St Michael’s Tournament on Wednesday afternoon. They made an impressive start, winning against Holmewood House 4-0. From here, they continued their winning streak, beating Sevenoaks Prep, Kent College Pembury and Hawthorns along the way; their match against Hazelwood ended 3-3.

It was a brilliant afternoon of netball with great camaraderie, sportsmanship and some fantastic netball being played by all the teams. Congratulations to the U13A team, led by Evie S, our Kent Academy netball player, who captained the team to a fantastic victory - what a great afternoon!

Mrs Denton, Head of Girls' Games

Golden U9As triumph in St Michael's Netball Tournament

U9Bs take St Michael's silver!

The U9B netball team took part in the annual St Michael’s U9 Netball Tournament on Thursday. They got off to a great start, showing fantastic attacking play. They won all the matches in their pool with some great shooting and team spirit. The girls faced Holmewood House in the Final. It was a brilliant match with Holmewood House just beating us at the final whistle. A well-deserved silver medal girls;  you should all be very proud of yourselves. Another great afternoon of netball.

Mrs Rodwell, Sports Coach

Bronze win for U11s in Sevenoaks School Netball Tournament

The Sevenoaks School U11 Netball Tournament is an annual event which St Michael's has competed in for many years. This year there were 10 teams participating, split into 2 groups. Our St Michael's team played very well in their group games against some strong opposition.

Our first game was against Bromley High School and we had a 15-0 win. Following this we had a 6-1 against Sevenoaks Prep, a 4-2 against Granville and a 3-6 loss to the tournaments eventual winner, Croydon High School.

As runner-up in our group, we played against Walthamstow Hall in the Semi-Final. This was a very well contested match with the opposition just pipping our girls - winning 3-2. This took us into the 3rd/4th place play-off against Derwent Lodge. Again, this was an extremely close game with the score being 3-3 at the end of full time. It was then to be decided on a "Golden Goal" and our girls had all of the possession until we scored - winning 4-3 and coming 3rd in the tournament!

Very well done to all of the girls for giving maximum effort all afternoon and thanks to those parents who were able to come along to watch. A very enjoyable afternoon!

Mrs Wade, Sports Coach

U8 Netball Victory

The U8A and U8B netball teams were also victorious in their matches this week against Kent College Pembury. The girls played so well and it was a great afternoon of netball. 

Year 2 discover their inner astronauts 

Year 2 became space explorers on Thursday as they took part in a workshop exploring the life and achievements of Neil Armstrong.

During the session, led by One Day Creative, the children used freeze-frames and drama to re-enact moments of Armstrong's career, considering how he would have felt and what he might have said.

The children took on roles as astronauts, mission control and navy soldiers, immersing themselves and showing empathy and creativity along the way.

Mrs Powell, Year 2 Teacher

Exploring rocks and fossils!

It was 3KD's turn to enjoy an immersive day of rock discovery on Wednesday as the children took part in a range of hands on activities to broaden their understanding of petrology.

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

Dr Davenport shares medical wisdom with Nursery 

Doctor Davenport, one of our Pre-School mums, visited St Michael's today to teach Nursery all about her job. 

Using a teddy bear as her patient, Dr Davenport demonstrated how she uses a stethoscope to check a heartbeat and how doctors check a patient's eyes and ears. 

The children got to become doctors themselves, as they examined and treated baby dolls and teddy bears with plasters.

A Message from Déjà Vu

Don’t forget to donate your children’s outgrown uniform to the school's second-hand uniform shop if you can. This helps other parents keep costs down and be more sustainable. The funds raised also provide the school with facilities and opportunities that they might not otherwise have. 

During the Easter holidays we will be switching the girls' dresses from winter to summer uniform.

Don’t forget we also buy blazers (size 4 and above) for £35. This saves you having to sell yours privately and helps us to provide a full range for other parents. 

We look forward to welcoming you. 

Our opening hours are Monday to Thursday 8.15am to 9.15am

Knight Frank Schools Triathlon 2024 registration now open!

On Monday we were delighted to welcome a representative from the charity Restless Development to speak to the Prep children about this year's Knight Frank Schools Triathlon. 

During the assembly, Jemma spoke to children about the charity and how St Michael's pupils can show their support by taking part in the 2024 event. She also explained how St Michael's Prep were the top fundraisers of all schools in the 2023 event, raising an incredible £13,249.44 for the charity with 112 children entering the race; the most competitors from any school!

Click here for more information about registering your children for this year's event.

Children aged 7 - 13 years old are invited to take part in this unique sporting event designed especially for young people. Children get into teams of four and come up with a fun creative team name. Then they get fundraising. On the day, the three sports are completed in a relay format, allowing each team member to swim, cycle and run before crossing the finish line as a team. All abilities are welcome to take part in this event!

Guide Dogs UK charity newsletter feature

Emma U for a wonderful piece of writing about where she would go and what she would see if she were the 'snail on the whale'

Maia B for careful observation and thought when painting her winter picture

Dilan D for being a good sport in our Jigsaw sessions

Allegra F for working hard on letter formation, especially caterpillar letters

Tiara A for brilliant, independent sentence writing

Jemima G for showing kindness to others 

Bella S for confident use of speech marks and some excellent ideas in our pirate writing

Arthur R for working more independently and with great enthusiasm

Alexandra O for a super understanding of how to use speech marks in her writing 

Sophia P for demonstrating fantastic creativity and detail when writing about pirates 

Mason M for fantastic expression when he is reading

Lottie B for writing a creative ending to her class story about the egg

Zara Autumn H for independently writing an imaginative dragon story

Bertie D for carefully finding different ways to find the same amount

Daphne S for excellent recall and beautifully detailed work in Religious Studies, learning about Judaism

Rafferty R for excellent attitude towards all learning and persevering when writing his dragon story

Benji A for using interesting language and writing a fantastic story about the mysterious egg

Jasmine M for having excellent ideas when writing a story about the mysterious egg

Phoebe D for making amazing progress with her swimming

Helena H for a calm and diligent approach to all areas of school life 

Nikita V for making intercultural links between Chinese and French

Times Tables Certificates 

Bronze Times Tables Certificate: Daphne S; Liza V; Aaliya S; Thora W

Players of the match - week commencing 22nd January

Delicious aromas could be smelt in the Breakfast Club this week as children made yummy homemade bread using a bread mixer.

Meanwhile in The Hive, children made tasty pesto pasta and enjoyed playing the game Jenga. The children also used the circular knitting machine.

Arlo's award-winning running streak!

Congratulations to Arlo in Year 3 who has just been awarded his Ultra Marathon Band by Tonbridge Junior Park Run for completing 50 park runs.

Each park run that Arlo has completed is 2k which he has been running most Sundays. Arlo has even kept up his running streak whilst on holiday around the UK, finding the nearest park runs to do on his travels!

Amazing effort, Arlo!

Please click the above banner for notices including:

P & F Carnival Ball 2024 - book now!

St Michael's Cookbook competitions

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.

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