From the Head

From the Head of Pre-Prep

Dear Parents,

The end of the Michaelmas Term brings such excitement; cards have been made, decorations glittered, gingerbread men iced, Nativities performed. Now we pass the children back to you for a week of fun at home before the main event. The staff will be wending their way back to their homes to enjoy chocolates, mulled wine and beautifully scented candles. Thank you, parents for your gifts to us. You are very kind and we really do appreciate your generosity and lovely words in so many cards.

Our Christmas Nativities have gone well with the children really challenging themselves in each year group. I know many of you have been surprised at the confidence your children have shown in front of a large audience of adults. It all starts at such a young age!

We return for the start of Lent Term on Tuesday 7^th January 2025. We will continue with the counters for Reception, Years 1 and 2 children who walk down the bridge without an adult. These have proved popular this term especially as they result in a class treat when a specific total has been reached.

We seem to have several spare school coats in the building at the moment. Please could I urge you to check that your children still have a visible label in an obvious place over the holidays? If your child has lost a coat please ask to take a look at our growing coat pile to see if you can identify one.

Overheard in Pre-Prep:

Teacher: "You have really got to learn your cues. Who can tell me what a cue is?"

Child: "A letter of the alphabet!"

Happy Christmas and best wishes for a great 2025,

Zerrin Leech

Lent Term Activities 

Some of our externally run clubs have spaces remaining for the Lent Term. If you are interested in this for your child, please contact the organisers directly using the details contained in the activities letter. If you have any queries regarding activities please contact our Activities Administrator Clare Reeves at clubs@stmichaels.kent.sch.uk.

Year 5 Christmas Candy Cane Experiment

Year 5 will be bringing home some candy canes for an experiment they might like to carry out over the Christmas holiday. This is an optional activity, but we'd love to see some photos of our festive scientists in action, if they decide to give it a go. All instructions are included in the gift bag.

Merry Christmas!

Mrs Clarke, Mrs Medd and Mrs Neylan

Years 1 and 2 sparkle in Nativities

Years 1 and 2 impressed us with their dazzling performances of Lights, Camel, Action this week!

A magical Christmas Concert

Prep musicians gave wonderful performances in our Christmas Concert last Friday.

Featuring a range of instrumental groups and Show Choir, the event was a joyful celebration of the children’s hard work in their Music lessons this term and the Christmas spirit felt at St Michael’s.

Year 7 ice skating trip

Year 7 took to Bluewater on Friday afternoon for an ice skating session. For many of them, this was their first time on the ice. Once the children swapped their shoes for ice skates, they were ready to go. Through the falls and tightly gripping the sidewall, the children built up their confidence. By the end of the session, they all made it around the rink without holding on; such wonderful progress. They were all smiles at the end.The bus ride back was filled with chatter about all the fun they had. 

Mrs de Belder, Maths Teacher

Times Tables Rock Stars Competition​

National Youth Choir success

We are delighted to congratulate Theia H, Xander S and Elizabeth W who have all been successful in their recent auditions to join the National Youth Choir.  For their auditions, they were tested on their sight-singing and musicianship skills, as well as performing one of their pieces. They join some of our other Chamber Choir members Clara H and Oliver S, who are already part of NYC, and hundreds of other talented young singers from across the UK.  

The NYC gives the opportunity to attend residential choral training courses to develop skills in music, performance, recording, leadership and teamwork, and to grow in confidence and aspiration. Clara and Oliver have sung with the NYC at several iconic venues including the Royal Albert Hall and Ely Cathedral and have been involved in some of the NYC’s recordings. We’re sure that Theia, Xander and Elizabeth will love being part of the NYC and all that it will offer them.

12 Days of Christmas Reading Challenge

Children in the Prep school are invited to take part in the '12 Days of Christmas Reading Challenge' over the Christmas break. The aim of the challenge is to encourage the children to carve out opportunities to read, talk about books and other texts, and generally foster a love of reading for pleasure.

Children can complete as many or as few of the twelve challenges as they wish; they do not have to tick off every box. House points will be awarded to everyone who returns their challenge sheet to the Library by the end of the first week of next term.

Challenge sheets are available in the Library now or can be printed off from the link below.

Please click here to view the Reading Challenge sheet.

Happy reading!

Mrs Citron and Mrs Andrade

In the Hive this week the children showcased their creativity by making hand-printed mittens and playing exciting card games like Top Trumps. Over at the Breakfast Club, the atmosphere was buzzing with competitive foosball matches and outdoor ball games on the patio.

All of RB, RHM and RJ for their spectacular Nativity performance; they spoke clearly and sang beautifully

All of 1FG, 1G and 1RP for their focused, charismatic and charming Nativity performance; well done!

All of 2B, 2P and 2SW for their beautifully sung, brilliantly spoken and delightful Nativity performance

Daniel A for good listening and carefully following instructions when sewing his puppet and being proud of what he achieved

Leo V for your fantastic assembly performance with Fiddlesticks. A big well done for all your hard work and commitment this term!

Finlay S for trying hard to do the right thing

Aarush N for being brave and beginning to write on his own 

Raphael S for his fantastic effort when writing sentences

Ava D for trying hard to use her sounds to write words independently

Molly F for always being a good friend and trying her best in everything she does

Ariah G for being very helpful in the classroom and thinking of ways to help others

Savannah S for always being helpful in the classroom

Poppy F for great Maths work on 2D and 3D shapes

Swim England Awards - Learn to Swim

Level 1 – Phoebe D / Rusen E / Neve H / Angelica H / Reuben S / Harry W / Sasha Z

Level 2 – Helena H / Leo V / Hugo W / Millie W

Level 3 – Gabriella A / Jessica C / Erin S 

Level 4 – Hugo A / Margaux B / Edwin L / Aria L / Rowan T

Judo Medals

Judo Medals– Alexander K and Isabella S for their consistent effort and growing knowledge of judo. Rowan T for his consistent effort and growing knowledge of judo and the Japanese words.

Judo Trophies - Luca A and Archie F for their incredible progress in judo recently.

Judo Trophy - Aisha Y for her consistent effort and great listening.

Arthur wins judo silver!

Congratulations to Arthur who took part in his first judo competition on Saturday 30th November and came 2nd! Arthur has been working extremely hard in his judo lessons and has recently levelled up to a yellow belt as well.

Gwyneth is Regional Silver Champion!

Congratulations to Gwyneth who recently won silver in the Regional Championships (Grade 1 - Women's Pair) in Guildford with her partner. Gwyneth fought hard to qualify for the squad team and she has been training diligently four times a week!

Marney's gymnastics is on another level!

Congratulations to Marney who recently achieved her Level 3 in gymnastics.

Cían and Lana's judo success

Congratulations to Cían and Lana who recently took part in a judo competition at Tonbridge Judo Club.

Not only did Cían win gold in his age/belt category, but he also won the Spirit of Judo Cup, awarded to a child who displays outstanding values of judo beyond the cultivation of physical abilities.

Lana also won silver in the same tournament.

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