THIS WEEK AT FRENSHAM
Friday 10th December, 2021
A MESSAGE FROM KATHERINE
Dear Frensham community,
With only four more days before we break up, we intend to put in as much festive fun as possible in the run up to the holiday! It has been a real treat to welcome the children into school today in their PJs. Frensham is such a friendly special place, but even more so when everyone is in their snuggly outfits.
I am sorry that we are having to make last minute changes to our plans for next week, but I really do hope you understand we do not want the events to influence anyone's Christmas plans as we are so close to the big day. With isolation periods of 10 days we want to ensure everyone can have an enjoyable time. Our Years 4-6 showcase and Years N-3 play started to take form today with some technical rehearsals. All the children will have the opportunity to watch each other on Monday for their Dress rehearsals.
Years 4 to 6 Christmas Showcase
On Tuesday, we start with our Years 4 to 6 Christmas showcase, and we do ask that parents bring along their singing voices because we will be asking you to join in a few numbers! As we will be outside, please wrap up warm and seating will be available for those who are unable to stand. This will take place in the front courtyard outside of Main House after drop off at 8.45am. The event is expected to last no longer than 45 minutes.
Years N to 3 Lights Camel Action: The Sequin
Followed hot on its heels is Lights Camel Action: The Sequin with Nursery to Year 3. As this event could not be moved outside, we have made the decision to continue this event in the Theatre but move to two performances to further reduce the amount of people watching.
Performance one - 9.30am you are welcome to pop home and arrive at 9.15am or you can make your way over to the front of Main House for hot chocolate and mince pies, after Drop off, before being taken to the Theatre for 9.15am to be shown to your seats. Performance two - 2.30pm as planned and will be without refreshments. Please do arrive at 2.15pm to be shown to your seats.
We still ask that only two people per child come and watch across the two performances to limit numbers. Please fill in the form below to confirm you can attend and which performance as we are ideally trying to split the adults in attendance across the two productions. Thank you so much for your flexibility.
Just a reminder that Late Stay on Thursday will only run until 4.10pm to support parents with children in Year 7 and above.
I do hope you all have a restful weekend in preparation for the busy last few days of term because we already have some tired children and staff.
Take care all,
Katherine
SCHOOL MESSAGES
Christmas Dates to Remember!
We're planning lots of festive things, big and little, things for the students in the run up to the Christmas break. Many will be a surprise, but here are a few dates to remember:
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Tuesday 14th - Yrs 4-6 Christmas Showcase
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Wednesday 15th - Christmas Sparkle (clothing / outfits) + Yrs N-3 Christmas Play
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Thursday 16th - Junior School Christmas Lunch + Rock and Pop Concert at 3.15pm under the Art Canopy
FoF and Music Department Event
At 3.15pm on Thursday under the Art Canopy, musicians from Year 7-13 will be showcasing some of their work this term (performances which were originally planned for Fireworks Evening) and FoF will be selling mulled wine and mince pies from the Aldridge Theatre Foyer. Parents are welcome to come and watch but please do wear a face covering and maintain social distancing.
Christmas Trees
Thank you for buying your Christmas Trees from us this year. We have 6 more to deliver this weekend and a few to be collected from school. If collecting please park in Main House Quad and got to reception. They are stored outside in Main House Quad and labelled with names.
Merry Christmas
Lynn
Farnham Christmas Farmers' Market Performance
Molly Hunter and Bailey Britt are performing at the Farnham Christmas Farmers’ Market on Sunday 12th December at 12:15 – 12:45. They have both been working hard, and it is their first ever professional booking.
Can you help? Collection for Farnham Help for Refugees
I would like to be able to deliver 180 pens, 180 pencils, 180 notebooks and 180 bars of chocolate to a group of refugees who have recently been located in our area with nothing, nothing to their name. These will be given to them as part of a Christmas present for each refugee from our friends … PLEASE DROP YOUR DONATIONS TO JUNIOR SCHOOL OFFICE or RECEPTION. Thank you!
Year 10/11 GCSE History trip 11-12 March 2022
Sadly, the increasing Covid regulations have meant two significant changes to the History GCSE trip this year. Firstly the dates have changed from 17-19 March to 11-12 March 2022. Secondly it has become a UK-based trip rather than to France and Belgium.
GCSE Drama students & BTEC Performing Arts student
PLEASE GET YOUR PERMISSIONS AND MONEY IN FOR THE TRIP ASAP!!
The trip is on 17th March 2022.
Christmas Raffle
It is nearly time for us to complete the draw for our Christmas raffle. Our raffle concludes on Monday 13th at 17.00. There are some amazing events and gifts donated to us from some of our parents, from festival tickets for a family of 4 to Shynefest, a case of wine, to gifts from the Universal Soul company, who sell a stunning range of non-toxic vegan fragrance products of candles and room fragrances and we also have a Christmas hamper, wine gifts and much more.
The raffle tickets can be bought on the link here: Christmas Raffle Tickets
Christmas Puddings
Well the Friends of Frensham Christmas puddings have arrived, and we are busy putting on the labels and getting them bagged up ready for collection. The junior school supply will be taken to the junior school office, where they can be distributed to the class teachers from Tuesday. Middle and senior school puddings will be available in the Aldridge theatre on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at morning drop off and afternoon pick up times.
If you missed making your order, we have a small stock that you can purchase on these days too at the Aldridge theatre.
If you have any further queries to this please drop me an email at louisewheeler15@hotmail.com
Thank you and we wish you and your families a great seasonal break
Louise Wheeler
Friends of Frensham
Year 11/13 Exam Prep Resources
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THIS WEEK AT FRENSHAM
YEAR 5 TUDOR BANQUET
Our Year 5 children were treated to a Tudor banquet to continue bringing their topic to life (after flying a kestrel last week). Complete with roast fowl, mead (ginger beer) and a court jester - their lunch was the envy of the rest of the dining room!
PETER PAN
It was exciting and delightful to be back in our wonderful Aldridge Theatre performing Peter Pan last week.
The children worked hard to create and find costumes from recycled and re-used clothing and the set was mainly created from reclaimed wood and items that live in the school, in an attempt to make everyone think more about our common learnt expectations versus current possible actions in a wish to protect our planet.
YEAR 8 SHAKESPEARE IN A BOX COMPETITION
The culmination of the study of a Shakespeare play in Year 8 this term is a memory box presentation. These have been happening across each of the classes ready for the grand final to be judged next week! The competition is really hotting up as these pictures from Zoe’s group prove!
SATURDAY CERAMICS WORKSHOP
Michele and Ashley led a really successful ceramics workshop on Saturday.
YEAR 8 ART BOOKS
Great work over the term is all held inside a collaged book cover. Watch out Year 8 parents as these should all be coming home sometime soon. Thank you for all your creative energies!
YEAR 9 MASTER COPIERS
Our Year 9 students have been making copies of Van Gogh drawings. Really lively responses which will be presented in a sketchbook page.
ELECTRICAL CIRCUITS IN YEAR 6
Over the last 6 weeks, Year 6 have been testing different electrical circuits and completing different challenges. They have been working towards building a working prototype of a festive light design of their choice. These were presented in a Dragon’s Den-esque style! The children were able to show these as a scientific illustration, drawing and physical prototype with lights, motors, and buzzers. They worked incredibly hard and were able to answer the Dragon’s tricky questions!
CYBERFIRST GIRLS COMPETITION
Our two teams have been taking part in the CyberFirst Girls competition over the past week. The competition closes this week and both teams working hard during every break, lunch and after school to become Super Cyber Sleuths.
Both teams managed to achieve very respectable scores of around 1100 points which is incredible and they have all learnt some great skills.
Lily said she has most enjoyed getting the opportunity to do something different with friends whilst building her teamwork and cyber skills.
YEAR 4 - 3D CHRISTMAS CARDS
Year 4 have worked hard to create beautiful Christmas cards to send out to local residential homes. The 3D Christmas tree inside the card was pretty tricky for them, but the children persisted and achieved these lovely cards. Some local residents will be pleased!
ECOHEIGHTS BIRD BOXES
On Wednesday Year 6 were invited to make birdboxes. The Eco Heights team, specifically Maxi and Sebastien, had been hard at work creating packs including detailed instructions and labelled wood. Year 6 were split into small groups and worked alongside Year 8 students to create a bird box, overseen by Neil and a few sixth formers. They were able to use an electric drill to secure the parts and then sanded the outside. After they completed the bird box, the groups went out onto the school grounds to find a suitable tree. They had to ensure that the tree was wide and tall enough whilst looking for a location that was easily accessible by the birds. Look out for these popping up, we are hoping to see birds using them in the new year! Thank you for all the hard work that was put into this project!
A LEVEL PSYCHOLOGY IN ACTION EVENT
Today, our A Level Psychology students have had the amazing opportuntiy, thanks to Andrew Moore, to get involved in the online event "Psychology in Action". This event had a wide-ranging programme examining the theories and applications of psychology in the modern world. Five incredibly engaging sessions with speakers from academia and industry helped the students realise their potential and discover the impact they can have on the world - also complemented by a special session on examination success. Sessions included:
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How to Engineer an Extreme Emotion with Brendan Walker, Professor of Creative Industries at Middlesex University
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The Gendered Brain with Gina Rippon, Emeritus Professor of Cognitive Neuroimaging at the Aston Brain Centre
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The Psychology of a Magician with Dr Matt Pritchard, award-winning magician
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The Perils of Perception: Why We're Wrong About Nearly Everything with Bobby Duffy, Professor of Public Policy and Director of the Policy Institute at King’s College London
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Mastering Memory with Alina Ivan, part of the Braintastic! Science team
EARLY YEARS CHRISTMAS CRAFT AND SONG SESSION
On Tuesday parents in Nursery and Reception joined us in an outdoor, socially distanced Christmas Craft and Song session. Everyone made a Christmas tree with their parent using sticks and twine. We then battled storm Barra as Judith accompanied us to 'Jingle Bells' and some other songs. We value process, content and relationships in Early Years and this event enabled our families to enjoy that. Seeing the expressions on everyone's faces demonstrated how much just spending time together in this way is critical for our youngest children's development and happiness. Thank you for coming in such weather!
STUDENT TEACHING ASSISTANTS
Each Wednesday a group of our Sixth Formers are visiting Rowledge C of E School and working in an individual classroom to learn about life in another school in a supportive capacity. Next term, we are planning to deliver workshops on well-being, Dance, Drama, Geography and Languages - a true partnership.
SNUGGLY PJ DAY
It was snuggly PJ today and students and staff could be spotted around the site keeping warm in their snuggly pjs and onesies.
CLAY AQUARIUMS
Beautiful clay aquariums fresh out of the kiln in the ceramics workshop.
THIS WEEK'S SPORTS REPORT
U14/15s Football
On Tuesday afternoon the U15/14 football teams entertained Duke of Kent School in the last fixtures of the football season. Despite Storm Barra doing its best to cancel our fixture we managed to get a festival of football on the Astro with 3 small sided games happening simultaneously against Duke of Kent.
U13s Football
The U13 football team finished the season strongly winning their last game of the season against Bedales on the Astro. It's been a successful season for the team, winning all but one of their fixtures and lifting some silverware at the Bedales prep tournament.
U9s Football
The U9 football team played their last game of the football season on Thursday afternoon against Bedales on the Astro. All our previous fixtures have been on the grass pitches, so the team were looking forward to playing a game on the Astro under the floodlights.
U13s Football
On Wednesday we welcomed Bedales to Frensham once again for our last fixture of the season. This game was a 7 a side match and both teams played with great spirit. The boys started strongly and quickly got into their paces, moving and passing with ease for the first 10 mins which made plenty of chances. However, we didn’t manage to convert any strong plays into goals.
ACTIVITIES OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL
Guildford City Qualifier
On 4th Dec, Elijah took part in the Guildford City County Qualifier and achieved silver in the 50m freestyle and bronze in the 200m freestyle, 200m IM and 50m backstroke in his first gala in the 11 year old age category.
Isla achieved gold in the 200m breaststroke (in 3:01.58) and bronze in the 50m and 100m breaststroke.
Grade 1 Piano Exam
Adam in year 3 passed his Grade 1 Piano exam with Merit on Tuesday
NEWS FROM FRENSHAM KITCHEN
Theme day
We were virtually whisked off to Greece for lunch on Thursday. Delicious chicken gyros, meat free mince stuffed eggplant, chicken noodle soup and a Greek custard pie.
Tasting table
We encouraged the children to try some grains this week with a Power of Grains taster table. There were some delicious salads to try.
Street food
Tacos were on offer on the Street food stand this Friday, as well as freshly battered hoki, macaroni cheese with crispy cauliflower, tomato soup, vegan fish fingers and New York cheesecake.
Mince pie making
We had the pleasure of helping Nursery and Reception classes to make mince pies this week, I think we had as much fun as them.
NEXT WEEK'S MENUS
WHAT'S ON NEXT WEEK
Monday, 13 December
12:30 - 14:30 – Year 13 EPQ Presentations (Assessed)
16:30 - 18:00 – Year 13 EPQ Presentations (Assessed)
16:30 - 19:00 – Hamilton House Trip
Tuesday, 14 December
8:45 – Year 4 to 6 Christmas Performance MOVED TO MAIN HOUSE QUAD
18:30 - 21:30 – Year 7 to 9 Christmas Dinner Dance POSTPONED UNTIL JANUARY
Wednesday, 15 December
9:30 - 10:30 – Year N to 3 Christmas Performance (Aldridge Theatre) - performance one
14:30 - 15:30 – Year N to 3 Christmas Performance (Aldridge Theatre) - performance two
18:30 - 22:00 – Year 10 to 13 Christmas Dinner Dance POSTPONED UNTIL JANUARY
19:00 - 21:00 – Hamilton House Party
Thursday, 16 December
12:00 - 13:00 – Junior School Christmas Lunch
14:15 - 16:00 – Year 7 to 13 Tutor Time and End of Term Message (Tutor Bases and Aldridge Theatre)
16:10 – Term Ends
Friday, 10 December
10:00 Boarding Houses close