10th January - 14th January

Weekly Newsletter

Weekly Newsletter 14th January 2022

Dear Parents

As the first full week of the term draws to its close it has made me realise how much is on offer to the children at Barrow Hills throughout the school day and after normal school hours.

In no particular order, children have attended art club, art enrichment, scholars sessions, drama club and drama enrichment, science club, magic club, adventure club, DT club, Spanish club and Little Kickers football. They have also been to various choirs and musical band sessions and ensembles plus the usual array of house matches and fixtures against other schools; this week against St Andrew’s as well as the Cranleigh hockey tournament.

The week began with a special assembly for the Prep children. There were two separate assemblies, split by age, in which Mr Kwan helped the children to have a greater understanding of diversity within our school and society and how we should embrace and celebrate this. He gave a very interesting and moving account of his and his family’s experiences as they moved around the world from country to country; China to Malaysia to Australia and here to the UK. I am sure that his children were very proud of their father as he shared many thought provoking moments. Hopefully, he opened all the children’s minds to appreciating one another for being different. Year 4 rounded off the week with their assembly on welcoming in the new year in different countries and cultures around the world. Presenting to an audience is a wonderful life skill to learn and our children do this with aplomb.

Since the beginning of term, I have continued my meetings with Year 5 and 6 parents to plan their children’s journeys to their next schools. It is so heartening to realise that we really are preparing our children to explore their interests, increase their strengths and work hard to develop their skills in those areas which require greater effort and focus for them. Therefore, there is a diverse selection of schools discussed. King Edward’s is a very popular destination, but we are careful to continue to ensure that our children are aiming for schools that will suit their interests and talents. Having spoken to the admissions teams at King Edward’s and other local schools our children are very impressive at interviews and are definitely in demand from these destination schools. I am also very happy that there are an increasing number of boys and girls looking to stay on to reap the benefits of Years 7 and 8 at Barrow Hills.

Mrs McBrown has also been extremely busy; showing prospective families around our fabulous school and arranging taster days for children so that they can enjoy a day in the life of Barrow Hills. So many of our prospective and new families have been recommended either directly or indirectly by our current and former parents, so thank you very much for spreading the word as we are seeing increasing numbers signing up for September.

Next week sees the rearranged Year 8 drama production on Thursday and I am looking forward to seeing the children perform to their parents with the full cast now being at school. It was so disappointing that our ‘Covid crisis’ before Christmas saw its postponement.

Best wishes for the weekend.

Philip Oldroyd

Head

Weekly News

Mad Hatters’ Tea Party

Year 5 celebrated the end of their Mad Hatter’s art project by having a tea party. The children designed and...

Year 2 Weekly Roundup

Last week, Year 2 began a new topic of ‘London’. The children began by looking at the maps in an...

Busy Library

Our Year 6 children made the most of the library this week, enjoying some quiet reading time, board games and...

Silhouettes

Year 1 is loving learning about Queen Victoria and Victorians. They have been fascinated to learn facts about Victorian times....

House Rugby

It was a competitive start to the term as the boys prepared to represent their House in the annual House...

Polar regions in Reception

Reception has been invaded by colonies of penguins this week, as the children explored the world of ‘Lost and Found’...

Peer Mentoring

This week saw the first Peer Mentor training sessions for the children in Years 7 and 8 who have volunteered...

Classics boost brain power!

Interesting new research suggests that reading more complex works of classic literature, instead of self-help or lighter texts, can boost...

Farnham RUFC ‘Lions’ Player of the Week

Well done to Hugo (3R) who was awarded Farnham RUFC U8 2021/22 ‘Lions’ Player of the Week. Excellent, congratulations!

Land Art

Year 4 enjoyed creating some impromptu land art!

Scan, Swipe, Swap

I wanted to bring your attention to the NHS Food Scanner app. This free app previously gave nutritional information on...

Cranleigh U9 Girls Hockey Tournament

On Thursday 13th January, our Junior Colts A team took part in the Cranleigh U9 Hockey Tournament. The team were...

Awards

Bronze

Bo (5R), Louis (5R), Toby (5G), Luke (5R), James (5R)

Toby (7G), Joel (7G), Gabriel (7G), Harry (7G), Josh (7G), Charlie (7G), Bertie (7G), Huw (7G), Edward (7G)

Theodore (8G), Tom (8G), Jonah (8G), Erin (8G), Emilia (8G), Seb (8G), Conrad (8G)

Can you help?

The BHCC relies on parent participation to ensure successful events. Every parent at Barrow Hills is automatically a member of the Committee and very welcome to come to meetings or pop an idea over. We hope that you continue to support us, beginning with the events planned for the rest of this term. If you feel you can help please contact your rep (see details below), David Brydon or if volunteers are needed you can sign up on Classlist when the event is published.

If you have any questions please contact David Brydon on davidbrydon1992@googlemail.com

Bacon Butties

On this beautiful January morning you were out in force, raising £211.56. Thank you.

What is next?

Cake Sales

Friday 11th February – Bakers: Years 2 & 4

Friday 18th March – Bakers: Reception & Year 5

Bacon Butties

Bacon Buttie stall – every Friday at drop off.

Tickets/bookings for our events can be made via links or on Classlist.

Class Reps

Nursery: David Cuthbert
Kindy: Katie Boulter and Alex Jenkin
Reception: Rebecca Foord and Kerry Poole
Year 1: Danielle Atkinson and Mark Todd
Year 2: Sara Pickard and Sandra Weeks
Year 3: Madelon Burnett and Michelle Sophocleous
Year 4: Emmah Klein and Marie-Claire Parker
Year 5: Rosemary Cresswell and Natalie Preston
Year 6: Rosie Aneja and Anthony & Lisa Tugwell
Year 7: Lucy Oldham and Liz Hughes
Year 7: Marja van Ravenstein
Year 8: Jane Hubble

If you shop online, please sign up to easyfundraising to support Barrow Hills School. Easyfundraising turns your everyday online shopping into free donations for your favourite cause.

It’s a really easy way to raise money for us – you just use the easyfundraising site to shop online with more than 3,500 well known online stores. Please visit our easyfundraising page here and click ‘support us’.

School Notices

The Flower Team are seeking volunteers
The flower team create beautiful arrangements for the school every week during the term and also at key times during the year; for example Open Mornings, Christmas and Prize Giving.

If you would like more information or to be part of this team, please contact Clare Edworthy (Year 3 & 5 parent) on 07970 716767 or c.e.edworthy@gmail.com

Barracudas Activity Day Camps, the UK’s favourite school holiday provider for children aged 4½ to 14 years will be open at our school this year. 80+ exciting activities including fencing, archery, water activities, motorsports, sports, arts and crafts and much more! Ofsted registered, confidence building camps with high staff to child ratios, plus parents receive an extra £10 off per child per week if they quote code HSCH22 at the time of booking.

Book now at www.barracudas.co.uk or call 01480 467 567.

Engines Running

When waiting in the car park please turn off your car engine.

Families Surrey West – January/February edition found here.

Whizz Pop Bang Magazine – enjoy the latest issue Out of this World

Absences on match afternoons

Please notify games staff of any absences on a match afternoon in advance when possible.

Absence Request Form

An Absence Request Form must be completed for any reason that a child is not in school, other than illness. These are found on the Parent Portal. Thank you.

Portal

Please can we remind you that the majority of the communications are sent via the parent portal on a Tuesday. Communications will vary for each child dependent on a variety of factors e.g. class, gender, sets. The Prep team sheet can be changed at any time therefore we encourage you to check the portal on a regular basis.

Posters Below

Don’t forget to scroll!

Newsletter

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