You will learn from the following news that we have had another wonderfully successful week at Vinehall. Despite the seasonal sicknesses and colds creeping in, the children have battled on through their busy school lives to give of their very best in all areas, as always.
'To do our best for the benefit of others' was explored again in assembly, linked to the personal qualities and service given by many of the male role models that we celebrated for International Men's Day.
Among our many charitable activities at Vinehall, we remain loyal in our support for Rwanda Action, created by David Chaplin our former Head. Rwanda Action continue with their incredible work in providing school places for street children. The resilience shown by such children to not only survive unfathomable hardship but to then seize the opportunity to work their way out of poverty through education is very moving indeed. Let's hope the staff team can deliver a win in tonight's Rwanda Action Quiz night in our Dining Hall!
Joff
Pre-Prep welcomes a new Grand Piano!
Nicky Whittaker - Head of Pre-Prep
Sometimes an opportunity comes along which is just too good to miss, and this is how a beautiful new piano has arrived in the Pre-Prep Hall. The piano is a black baby Grand and plays beautifully. The children were very excited by its arrival in a big van, and even more excited by its shiny, lustrous appearance! Year 1 were the first class on the scene -"Mrs Whittaker, is it your new piano? It's so shiny-can we touch it?"
Our new piano has been gifted to Vinehall by the Viveash-Greens, and we would like to thank the family for their incredibly kind and generous donation. It originally belonged to Isobel and George's Great Grandpa, who collected a number of musical instruments which he left to the family. Amongst them was an electric baby Grand piano which the Viveash Green Family thought would be more used and better appreciated by the pupils and staff at Vinehall.
We are truly delighted to be the custodians of such a beautiful instrument and know that it will inspire and benefit children for many years to come.
Nursery - Yoga in the Early Years
Sarah Wolford - Head of Nursery & Kindergarten
Yoga can be so beneficial for our Little Vines children and they have the opportunity of joining in with weekly yoga sessions with Anja Pomeroy.
Yoga promotes and enhances strength, flexibility, balance, coordination, posture, challenges, different muscle movements and so much more!
We have observed the children’s growing concentration, flexibility and core strength through joining in with these sessions as well as understanding how to control their breathing to support them with self regulation.
Thank you Anja for making our Monday sessions so calm and peaceful.
Namaste
Kindergarten Hanukkah fun
Cathy Fuggle - Kindergarten Teacher
We have been learning all about festivals of light from around the world this term . This week we have been learning about the Jewish festival of Hanukkah. After reading the story of Hanukkah, the children had the opportunity to engage in lots of fun Hanukkah activities. We cooked and tasted traditional potato cakes, made beautiful Star of David window art, created Hanukkah cards to invite people to our special celebration meal, and made our own menorahs. In maths we looked at shape patterns and in phonics we studied the letter n.
Reception
Claire Sparks - Deputy Head of Pre-Prep
Reception have been exploring the 'skies above our eyes' this week and took advantage of the blue skies and sunshine on Wednesday to go cloud gazing. We had great fun sharing the shapes and pictures we could see in the clouds, from crocodiles and jellyfish to butterflies and boats.
We then tried creating our own cloud art, using straws to blow the paint, like the wind would blow the clouds. Again, we used our imaginations to say what we could see in our pictures - including flamingos, mountains, fat elephants and coral!
Year 1
Jacklyn Garwood - Year 1 Teacher
Another exciting week in Year 1 exploring our Galaxy Quest topic! The children looked at the different foods that astronauts eat in space and used their senses to describe them. We learned about the different phases of the moon and used Oreo cookies to form the moons’ different shapes. We tested how craters are formed and dropped marbles to discover which made larger and smaller ones. Well done Year 1 for being as curious as Cassie Cat this week!
Year 2
Louise Hawtin - Year 2 Teacher
Year 2 have been reading the story 'The Great Kapok Tree', as part of our work on the Amazon. This week we have focused on using interesting adjectives in expanded noun phrases to write about the Rainforest. The children had to describe objects in the classroom, before working together to label a picture of the Rainforest. Afterwards they all wrote their own wonderful descriptions.
Year 3 – Life Skills: Resolving Conflicts
Carina Everist - Year 3 Teacher & Religious Studies Teacher Years 3-6
In Life Skills this week, as part of our topic 'Celebrating Difference', Year 3 discussed three scenarios. They came up with ideas about how to sort out the fictional issues. Then they learnt about the 'Solve it Together Technique' before practising a variety of strategies to calm themselves down.
Year 3 - Mirror, Mirror!
Carina Everist - Year 3 Teacher & Religious Studies Teacher Years 3-6
Year 3 investigated the properties of mirrors and reflections by undertaking four different tasks. They noted down their observations and loved writing coded messages with mirrors.
Fun and Games in Junior Activities
Carina Everist - Year 3 Teacher & Religious Studies Teacher Years 3-6
In Junior Activities the children have a chance to explore and use their imagination. Percy A and Jesse J had fun building, while Henry P chose to read and Ezra BL and Henry S-C couldn't keep away from TTRS and Nessy.
Year 4 Science
Louise Barrett - Head of Juniors
Looking further into solids, liquids and gases. We talked about the effect of heat on various things and learnt how to use the thermometers. The children tried to predict what would happen to the yellow and blue ice cubes by the end of the lesson. Some of them were correct!
Year 4 – Life Skills
Louise Barrett - Head of Juniors
Year 4 were looking in the mirrors trying to think of physical features they liked about themselves. We were celebrating that different is good!
Year 4 – Humanities
Louise Barrett - Head of Juniors
Year 4 have been using OS maps to find Vinehall. We all enjoyed looking at the maps and learning about the symbols and the key. We even learnt how to fold the maps properly!
Year 5 – Humanities
Louise Barrett - Head of Juniors
Year 5 have been writing non-chronological reports about Ancient Greece. They used books and tablets to find the information.
Art - Year 4 Matisse Cut-Outs
Tracey Konyu - Head of Art
Year 4 pupils have been studying The Fauvists and one of the leaders of this Art movement was Henri Matisse. As with many creatives, his work changed over the years. We looked at his early work and compared it to his cut-outs. These cut-outs were produced in his later years and were freehand. The children were encouraged to ‘draw’ with their scissors only and to produce the motif used by Matisse to create many of his designs. Easier said than done. Yet another challenge was to keep both the positive and negative shapes to arrange in different angles, colours and sizes. This was an exercise in taking drawing and cutting to a different level.
Year 5 Digital Art
Tracey Konyu - Head of Art
At Vinehall, we embrace digital technology and we are lucky to have the Adobe Creative Cloud in our ICT suite. The Year 5 pupils have been studying symmetrical design and pattern making for textiles through digital methods..
They have now moved onto using the symmetry tool in Photoshop to create beautiful designs including mandalas.
The weather, something we moan about nearly all the time. This week was no different, but it did not stop our pupils from competing so brilliantly on Wednesday and Thursday. With frozen fingers their courage and resilience shone through.
The Senior girls played their last hockey fixtures against Battle Abbey and Beechwood; the Colts against Somerhill; and the Juniors hosted Sacred Heart for a bit of bee netball. I know I say this all the time, but the games staff have been really impressed with the progress all the teams have made over the course of the season.
The U12 & 13 boys played a triangular against Dulwich Cranbrook and Claremont. The MHS boys joined our ranks and together both teams put on a strong display of running rugby. The U11 & U10 teams travelled to Dulwich and put in two fantastic performances and yesterday the U8/9 boys did a great job against Claremont at home.
Next week is just as busy with a swimming gala for the girls on Monday against Bede's, netball fixtures against St Andrew's and Dulwich, hockey against Battle Abbey and rugby against Claremont and The Mead.
Please could your son/daughter have navy base layers in school and, if they want to wear gloves for rugby, they need to have sufficient grip for handling a rugby ball.
Forest School – Reception
Reception had an amazing session in Forest School this week. They made potions and wands, porridge and jam and were busy tucking into their food around the fire when suddenly something magical happened … it started to snow!
Forest School - Year 6
Acorn Clayton - Head of Modern Languages
It was Year 6's turn to enjoy Forest School on Thursday afternoon. The children worked really well in teams to make fires using flints and cotton wool with dry sticks for which they had to hunt following the snow a few hours earlier. Once the fires were built they toasted marshmallows and made S'mores; played a game called Hawkeye and also created Christmassy crafts using natural material which they found in the woods.
Snowy Break Time
It wasn't only the younger children who enjoyed the snow. Let children be children for as long as possible is one of the strong beliefs of our school. So when it started to snow on Thursday morning the astro pitches were opened up for lots of snowy fun at break time!
Boarding
Petra Campbell - Gapper
It was a great weekend in the boarding house! After Saturday activities, half of the boarders went out with Katherine Kirkwood to Battle for a pottery painting session, while the rest stayed at school to enjoy a movie and some tuck. Later in the evening, most of the boarders went to Sainsbury's to purchase some treats.
Sunday mornings are lovely and lazy at Vinehall and we enjoyed a hearty full English breakfast together. After a relaxing couple of hours, the other half of the boarders went to pottery painting while those who went on Saturday stayed back for another movie session with the Gappers. After lunch, we had some fun running around outside and polished our school shoes in preparation for the week ahead. It was a lovely weekend, and now everyone is excited for the exeat.
Bonfire banner
Congratulations and many thanks to Albert P who made such a great banner so that Vinehall was represented at the local Sussex Bonfire Society event.
LAST CALL FOR ENTRIES IN THE CHRISTMAS DECORATION COMPETITION ...
The closing date for entries has been extended to Monday - so there is still time to get your entries in!
FoV SECRETS ROOM
The FOV Secrets Room will be on Wednesday 11th December. Can everyone please start collecting donations!