Maya Angelou once said that 'A friend may be waiting behind a stranger’s face.'
No-one can deny that the last two weeks have been unprecedented in the history of Vinehall, but I have been in awe of the way our staff, parents and children have embraced the transition that lies ahead with compassion, resilience and infectious positivity.
I am heartened and hugely grateful that the Vinehall parent body has been reaching out to Marlborough House families with the hand of friendship. Their families have visited in large numbers this week and embraced all that our site, and current provision and traditions have to offer. Staff welcomed them with grace and warmth and have supported each other with love and kindness. Pupils have welcomed Marlborough House teams to fixtures this week with the charm we expect from our children who are at the centre of all we do. Many Marlborough House families have felt an instant fit.
'New friends are like new adventures. You never know what lessons they will teach you.' I am convinced that both schools have much to give to each other in what will be a very beneficial partnership.
Joff
Nursery - A focus on woodwork in the Nursery
Amanda Greenhalgh
The children at Little Vines Nursery have been having fun exploring their woodwork activities. We have been learning about trees and how important they are to our world, the environment and our very being.
The children’s confidence when using the hammers has grown so much since the beginning of term. The strength and focus needed to position and hammer nails into Balsa wood supports the children’s fine motor skills and repeated proprioception helps to strengthen connections between tasks and doing skills.
Just like Billy Bee the children have been working together, sharing and caring for one another. They have picked up the safety aspect of reminding each other to keep safe when using the hammer as well as wearing glasses, ‘because eyes are precious.’
The children have used their creative minds and determination to produce varied and skilled 2D and 3D works of art. Last week they up-cycled an old table by decorating the top with a variety of recycled materials.
This week the children have shown precision with their new hammer skills to create beautiful bookmarks. Please do come and take a look at their creations on the woodwork notice board in the cloakroom.
We cannot wait to teach the children new woodwork skills as the year progresses.
Kindergarten - Supertato
Catherine Garlick - Kindergarten Teacher
It has been another exciting week in Kindergarten as we have explored the book 'Supertato'. After listening to the story, everyone was very keen to discuss what superpower they would choose and make their own Supertato. We also enjoyed using the tweezers to capture one of the characters, ‘The Evil Pea’. This activity enabled the children to practise their fine motor and mathematical skills. All the children were just like Ollie Owl, showing great concentration throughout.
Reception
Claire Sparks - Deputy Head of Pre-Prep
This week Reception have been super-mathematicians, exploring and investigating size, length and mass. We have had lots of fun being human balance scales to predict and compare the weight of different classroom objects and taking on the challenge of who could build the tallest tower. We made Playdough caterpillars and measured their length using cubes - the longest was 48 cubes! We carried on our maths learning in our Forest School session too, helping to measure the ingredients for pancakes and hunting for the biggest leaves and longest sticks in the autumn sunshine.
Year 1
Jacklyn Garwood - Year 1 Teacher
The autumnal weather did not stop the children in Year 1 from having fun at playtime this week and many excited squeals could be heard as they danced with the wind. Children were introduced to ‘parts and wholes’ in Maths and did some amazing investigating to develop their learning further. The children received some lovely ‘grandparent letters’ and were as curious as Cassie Cat to find out more about the past and present. Well done to all the children for your many focused questions!
Year 2
Louise Hawtin - Year 2 Teacher
Year 2 have been curious scientists this week, deciding how to find out which material is the stretchiest. The children had to measure how far each sock could stretch and they worked together like Billy Bee to test this. Once they had recorded their results everyone carefully completed graphs to show their results.
Year 4 - Science
Louise Barrett - Head of Juniors
The children have been learning about pitch and volume. We used straws and elastic bands to investigate.
Year 5 - Herstmonceux Science Centre
Louise Barrett - Head of Juniors
As part of their Science Curriculum Year 5 headed out to Herstmonceux Science Centre for a twilight star gazing session. Unfortunately we were unable to look through the telescopes as it wasn't clear enough. However, back at the local Tipi Campsite the clouds disappeared and we spotted many constellations, whilst enjoying smores around the campfire! I have given all the children a resilient sticker as it was a very cold night.
Year 8 Product Design
Tracey Konyu - Head of Art
The Year 8 pupils have started creating maquettes for their final products. The idea is to realise their idea and to encounter any issues earlier on the process. The questions to be asked: Have I chosen the most suitable material? And does my design fulfil its function? The pupils will get the answer to these questions as they move through the process.
English - Poetry by Heart
Emily Platt, Head of English
On Thursday 3rd October (National Poetry Day), we gathered in the Theatre to hear our finalists from Year 2 up to Year 8 recite their poems in this year’s “Poetry by Heart” competition. This year, the theme was ‘Counting’, prompting a thought-provoking selection of poems. During this competition, we have heard poems about how torturous Maths can be, poems about counting sheep, lots of list poems and several metaphorical poems from our Seniors, musing on the passage of time.
We were delighted that Susan Bowie, local actor and director, accepted our invitation to judge the Finals this year, along with our Director of Drama (Mary Alderson) and our Head of Pre-Prep (Nicky Whittaker). Susan’s positive and enthusiastic feedback for our finalists (which she gave before announcing the winners) was helpful and encouraging.
The judges had a tough task deciding on winners in each category (so much so that they ended up choosing two winners in the Middles category!) Finally, they delivered their verdicts: Shahaan K was judged the winner of the Juniors overall with his confident and joyful performance, while Arya E, Coralie F and Gabby G, and Arthur P and Guillaume B-L were all thrilled to hear that they were joint winners in the Middles category. Lastly, Rosie A, Lucie B, Margot C snapped up the Seniors prize with their brilliant performance of “Sick” by Shel Silverstein, a list poem with a litany of ailments and a twist at the end.
The winners in each of the three categories will, in due course, receive book prizes. All finalists received a Poetry by Heart certificate and a bookmark to congratulate them on their achievements. It was wonderful to see the children reciting their poems with confidence, courage and poise, and their polished performance impressed us all.
Many thanks again to our judges, and many thanks to all our English teachers and TAs – Louise Hawtin, Carina Everist, Louise Barrett, Anna Webb, Karen Walker, Lucy Stone and Jennie Clease for supporting all of their pupils in this competition.
SPORT
Matt McKinnon - Director of Sport
The Sports Hall was full of fun and laughter this week when Reception took it over to practise their ball skills.
Vinehall Concert Series
Tom Rice-Oxley
Tom Rice Oxley is a Vine and last Saturday his opera , 'Measure for Measure', based on Shakespeare's play, was performed for the first time at Vinehall in the Chaplin Theatre. Carina Everist went along, as did David and Sally Chaplin, plus many other friends and family.
Tom went from Vinehall to Tonbridge and, after various career changes, now works at Glyndebourne Opera. He comes from a musical family. His father Patrick, who was a GP in Battle, was a governor of Vinehall for many years and still sings with the Vinehall Singers at our carol services. Tom's brother Tim is well-known as the song-writer and founder member of the group Keane.
Concert this weekend
Geoffrey Whitehead
CRISTIAN DE SA (Violin) & JOHN LENEHAN (Piano) Sunday 6th October at 3.00pm
The Vinehall concert series starts off its 36th season of International Classical Concerts with a performance by the talented young Portuguese/British violinist Cristian de Sa. His accompanist is the highly distinguished British pianist John Lenehan. Their programme starts with Brahms’ passionate Scherzo from the FAE Sonata and then we will hear Brahms’ beautiful and lyrical Sonata No 2 for Violin and Piano. It is a really charming and relaxed work. This is followed by Ravel’s Sonata No 1, an unusual work, in that it was not published until 37 years after the composer’s death. It was probably written for his teacher at the Paris Conservatoire, the great Gabriel Fauré. It is the only movement he composed and, although it has similarities with Fauré and Franck, it is unmistakably the voice of the young Ravel.
After the interval we will hear a short but passionate movement ‘Nigun’ (meaning ‘melody’ or ‘improvisation’) from Baal Shem: Three Pictures of Hassidic Life for Violin and Piano. Highly virtuosic, it evokes all the traditional passion which Ernest Bloch infused all his music. The most distinguished of Swiss composers, Bloch was born in 1880 but died in 1959 in America.
We finish with Richard Strauss and his gloriously late-Romantic sonata for Violin and Piano. The 24 year old composer wrote it as a testimony of his love for his future wife. It has the feel of a concerto, and is a work of brilliance and drama in which both instruments are required to dazzle.
I am hoping we might hear a little Kreisler if we get an encore!
" In my opinion, Christian is one of the most exciting young violinists to emerge on the concert platform. I wholeheartedly recommend him to you. Wherever he goes, promoters and audiences love him. He is a brilliant and thoughtful musician, with a stunning technique and he is also a very engaging person to work with. He will delight your audiences in every way, I have no doubt. I don’t think you will regret inviting him to be a part of your prestigious series. " Tasmin Little CBE
We have a few tickets left for this opening concert and I very much hope we will get close to selling out for what should be an outstanding Vinehall debut, so if you find yourself free then please come along. If you or your family or friends are able to attend, please either open the link:
https://www.trybooking.com/uk/events/landing/61678
For those who don't really know about our concerts, we have a series of seven each year and they attract local audiences from around Kent and Sussex. We have people who drive from as far as north Kent to come. They are highly regarded by both audiences and performers alike. The artists we engage are of international standard and perform at leading venues such as Wigmore Hall and the South Bank.
It comes as something of a shock to Vinehall parents to realise that our theatre hosts such leading international classical musicians! Now in our 36th year we are able to offer top quality music to local people and many performances are sold out months in advance.
Please pass on information about the series to family and friends. The concerts are not designed for children but some are suitable; if you are not certain, please consult Sue Glossop or Carina Everist who can advise.
If you would like to receive the newsletters with updates, then please email geoffreywhitehead@vinehallschool.com
COMING SOON
Learn to Ride at Vinehall
Denise Lomas, an Accredited Bikeability and Balanceability Instructor, will be offering 1:1 lessons on Thursday 31st October and Friday 1st November at Vinehall. Lessons will take place on the tennis courts below Pre-Prep.
Sessions available: 10-11, 11-12, 12.30-13.30, 13.30-14.30
£45 an hour for one child. £65 for two children learning together. Good quality bike hire £6
Denise offers a step by step course to enable children to cycle without stabilisers or progress from a balance bike to a pedal bike. Games and activities to make learning fun and develop children’s confidence. If you would like further details or to book a space, please contact Denise direct at training@cyclesafesoutheast.co.uk or 07508262768.