Hallfield Focus Autumn Term 2014

Hallfield Focus
... on the Autumn Term 2014
From the Headmaster
Inside this issue
From the Chairman
2
PTA news
2
Hallfieldfirst
3
Pre-Prep
4
Upper School
6
Hallfield Vision
8
Hallfield School
Church Road
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 3SJ
0121 4541496
[email protected]
www.hallfieldschool.co.uk
This has been a very productive and busy term at Hallfield. All of the new pupils
and 11 new staff have made a very good start to “Life at Hallfield”.
Once again, on 11th
November at 11.00 a.m. the
School (Nursery, Pre-Prep
and Upper school) came
together to remember those
who had fallen and given
their lives in the First and
Second World Wars and
more recent conflicts. This
year was very pertinent
as we commemorate the
commencement of the Great
War in 1914. Alex Pett,
a pupil from KES, played
the Last Post at our short,
but poignant Service. At the end of the Service, the
School filed out in silence to Elgar’s ‘Nimrod’.
Miss Watton and Year 5 produced some wonderful
artwork about the First World War – thoughts and
reflections about the terrible conflict which changed
the world forever at the start of the twentieth century.
The artwork was displayed in the Upper School
Hall, together with a selection of handmade poppies
hanging from a camouflaged net, for parents,
grandparents and guests to see whilst they enjoyed
refreshments before the Service.
In our Remembrance Assembly, Mrs Anthony, Miss
Thompson, Mr Thackway and Mr Batchelor shared
some family memories about ‘what the First World
War meant to their families’.
This year the School has also supported the
NSPCC Festival of Trees at the ICC
in Birmingham. The Hallfield tree has
been beautifully decorated with baubles
created by children, parents and staff
who took part in an art workshop at the
School. Thank you to Miss Watton,
Head of Art and Miss Wagstaffe (both
pictured) and to Miss Kent, Miss
Smith and everyone who helped with
the project. The event runs until 4th
January and the Hallfield tree, which
looks resplendent with baubles of
varying sizes, proudly displaying the ‘red’ and ‘green’ of Hallfield, can be found at
the Brindley Place entrance to the ICC – do visit if you have time!
On behalf of the School, Tania and I wish you and your families the compliments of
the season and a happy, healthy and peaceful New Year!
Page 1
From the Chairman
It is with sadness that I report the retirement of Linda Pain, our Head of Pre-Prep. Linda has been a
dedicated servant of the School for 26 years and leaves us at Christmas. Such long term dedicated
service is rare in modern times and Linda will be greatly missed. Linda has worked incredibly hard for
the School over her time here, she has made it her focus to leave the Pre-Prep department of Hallfield in
better shape than when she took over as Head, and she has achieved that goal. She has fought tirelessly
for her share of capital expenditure and has, in recent years, overseen the installation of a new adventure
playground, the extension and refurbishment of the Foundation and Reception classrooms. We wish her
and her husband, Roger, a long and happy retirement.
Keith Uff, Chairman of Governors
PTA
I am delighted to have been nominated as the new Chair of your PTA. The committee
also has eight new members, and the whole team has been very busy this term.
The Halloween Disco was a fantastic event to start our social calendar and it was great
to so many children (and parents!) in fancy dress.
Many came to see Santa in his Grotto, and the festive games and activities provided
hours of fun for the Hallfield community at the Christmas Fayre.
We are delighted to announce, for the first time ever, Hallfield PTA
and Edgbaston High School PA will be hosting a joint event - the
Snowball, on 31st January 2015. This event is for parents and
friends of Hallfield and tickets can be obtained from school priced at
£45. We hope to see you there!
Another family event we have planned is our Easter Egg Hunt in
March – more details next term.
The PTA works very hard to organise events to bring the School
community together. As a current parent, I know the extra benefits
provided by the PTA to enhance facilities are very worthwhile, and I
would like to thank everyone for their continued support.
Seasonal Greetings!
Raj Suthi, PTA Chair
Charities
The Autumn Term is always a busy time at Hallfield for charity fundraising. September
brought the Macmillan Coffee Morning, which was a delightful occasion. Children, staff and
parents enjoyed delicious cakes, which had been kindly donated by the children. The event
raised a fabulous £793.89.
At harvest time we chose to support Birmingham City Mission, by donating packets and tins
to be distributed to the needy in our own city. The collection from the Harvest service at St
George’s Church raised £181.02 for Saint Mary’s Hospice.
The beginning of November was a very thoughtful time in School,
as we reflected on the events of 100 years ago. Hallfield children
are always keen to support others in need and were very pleased
to help The Little Princess Trust, which provides specialist wigs
for children. The charity was set up by Tim Lowe, a Hallfield
Governor, when he was Headmaster of Hereford Cathedral
School, to support children who suffer hair loss through cancer
treatment. Children and staff came to school in bright clothes and
had the craziest hair! A day of fun and activity raised a wonderful
total of £2150.86. A huge thank you to all the children, staff and
parents who have given so generously in so many ways this term;
we think you are fantastic!
Page 2
Hallfieldfirst News
It has been another busy term over at Hallfieldfirst. We
have welcomed many new children and families, who are
all now settled well into nursery life. We look forward to
welcoming many more families in the New Year.
We have been embracing the mixed weather, enjoying
the sunny days as well as splashing in puddles on the
wet days – nothing stops us from getting outside at
Hallfieldfirst. We have been doing lots of leaf collecting
as the leaves fall off the trees, and have been exploring
them in a variety of ways.
In October we had Halloween and Diwali fun, dressing
up as well as having lots of pumpkin play and making
Diva lamps. We also had the ‘Great Hallfieldfirst Bake
Off’ in November, in aid of Children in Need. The
children (and staff) had lots of fun making yummy
cakes which were tried and tested by Mrs Pain and
Miss Adams. Although all the cakes were scrumptious,
there could only be one winner – a big congratulations
to Rabbits Room on their chocolate chip cupcakes. So far we have raised
nearly £90 for Children in Need!
The ‘Christmas Fairies’ visited the nursery on 1st December, and with
a sprinkle of their magic ‘fairy dust’ turned Hallfieldfirst into a festive
wonderland.
We had a fantastic Christmas party week - dressing up in our best party
clothes and having lots of yummy party food. There was some dancing
and party games as well as a chance
to celebrate the festive season.
We would like to wish all our
children, parents and families a very
merry Christmas and a happy 2015.
Dates for your Diary
23rd December Nursery closes at 6 p.m. for Christmas
24th December CLOSED
5th January Nursery re-opens at 8.00 a.m.
Page 3
Pre-Prep News
Transition
Transition have had a very busy
Autumn Term and the children have
all settled well into the daily routine
and have started to make friends.
We had fun making vegetable soup
and then tasting it. Some children
were really keen... others not so
much!
We have enjoyed exploring the
School environment and love going
to the Library and using the Upper
School Hall.
The PTA bought Transition some fantastic willow panels and
they are in the playground; the children love running in and
out of them! Thank you so much to the PTA for their continued
fundraising efforts for the School.
Transition’s Christmas Trip was to Dudley Zoo to see the animals,
watch a Magic Show and meet a very special person .......
dressed in red and white!
Pre-Prep
A new academic year began with lots of new children joining
the Pre-Prep, from Hallfieldfirst to Year 2. They have settled
well and we look forward to watching them progress through
the School.
The first parent workshop of the term began with a
presentation on how we teach phonics and letter formation to
Foundation and parents new to Reception, swiftly followed by
a Parents’ Information Evening to all Year Groups. Members
of staff had the opportunity to talk about the curriculum and
what is expected of the children socially.
The new School Council were elected by the
children in Reception to Year 2 and were soon
discussing fund raising activities for this term’s
charity, The Little Princess.
To enhance the Year 1 curriculum the pupils have
visited Hartlebury Country Museum to study toys
through the ages and Birmingham Art Gallery to
learn about the portraits.
Reception (RS) visited the Build A Bear store in
the Bull Ring shopping centre and created a bear
for the whole class to share! Each week, the
child who is awarded the Golden Rules Award
will take the class teddy home for the weekend.
RS chose a brown bear who they named Bertie.
Page 4
Dates for your Diary
Tuesday 10th February - 4.30pm – 8.00pm
Transition, Foundation, Reception Parents’ Evening
Wednesday 11th February- 4.30pm – 8.00pm
Year 1, Year 2 Parents’ Evening
Friday 27th February 3.00pm
Whole School Art Exhibition
Friday 6th March
World Book Day – dress as a character from a book
Friday 13th March - 8.45am – 9.15am
Mothering Sunday Assembly – parents welcome
Friday 20th March - 9.30am – 10.15am
Year 1 Play to Parents
Pre-Prep
Monday 23rd March - All week
Hallfieldfirst ‘Stay and Play’
This term Year 2 studied the Victorians and visited
Shugborough Hall where they experienced how children were
taught over 100 years ago. They also attended the Upper
School Harvest Festival at St George’s Church.
Tuesday 24th March - 2.00pm – 3.00pm
Foundation ‘Stay and Play’
Parents were invited to the Pre-Prep Harvest Festival which
was led by the Year 2 children and the French Breakfast
where they were entertained by French songs.
Wednesday 25th March - 2.00pm – 3.00pm
Reception ‘Stay and Play’
Thursday 26th March - 2.00pm – 3.00pm
Year 1 and Year 2 ‘Stay and Play’
Christmas
Performance
The highlight of the term was the Reception performance
of The Nativity – hankies were needed! The children
enjoyed visits to Conkers, Dudley Zoo and the Snow
Dome and Father Christmas made guest appearances
at the Pre-Prep Christmas party and the PTA Christmas
Fayre.
To bring a very successful term to an end the Pre-Prep
came together at St. Georges Church for a Christingle
Service, led by the Year 2 children and supported by the
Pre-Prep and Staff choir.
Merry Christmas and Happy 2015 to you all!
Page 5
Upper School News
It has been a colourful and exciting term in the Upper School! There
has been lots of great work taking place in the classrooms with children
working hard and producing some stunning work and displays on the
walls and corridors. We have all very much enjoyed the new reading
lessons that are now taking place each day after lunch break and
these have provided some peace and tranquillity in amongst all of the
hard work and endeavour. There has been a wide array of fixtures to
savour on the sports field, as well as plenty of drama workshops, school
visits and field trips for the children to enjoy. Some of Year 6 enjoyed a
wonderful 4 day visit to France staying in a grand Chateau in Normandy.
They enjoyed a fantastic programme of events on site and in the local area, including practicing their spoken French at a
local market. It has been a particularly productive term for our charity fund raising with money raised for the Poppy appeal,
MacMillan nursing, and the Little Princess Trust. All of us here, children and staff, would like to say thanks
to all the parents and families of the Hallfield community for their support of these events and for their
enormous generosity, on which the success of these events ultimately depends.
Science
In Science this term we have introduced the Year 3 children to
a range of Scientific ideas including ‘MRS GREN’, the main
functions of a skeleton and the Particle Theory. We followed
this with an exploration of Rocks and Soils around School. Year
4 learnt about the dangers of electricity and how to construct
simple circuits as well as describing the properties of materials
culminating in the superb display and assembly, showing
their skills in developing truly useless objects. We even had
a chocolate teapot! Year 5 discussed how materials change
state and explored the water cycle as well as looking at the Sun
Earth and Moon, including a visit from ThinkTank to take us for
a tour of our solar system in the comfort of the Sports Hall. Miss
Watton took the opportunity to design a moonscape with the Year 5s. In Year 6 we introduced
the children to the dangers of using a Bunsen burner and explored burning and other reversible
reactions as well as reviewing our knowledge of electrical symbols and circuits and looking at
the composition of sounds.
Mr Wilkinson and Dr Anderson (pictured) received the Primary Science Quality Mark – Silver Level – on behalf of the School.
Music
Hallfield Music Department has welcomed two new peripatetic teachers
this term, Ms Ayton(Brass) and Ms Starkie(Piano). They join Mrs
German, the new Head of Music. As ever, the department has been busy,
now with two weekly sessions of choir, increased instrumental lessons
and ensembles. The Harvest Festival at St Georges’ s Church was a
great success with the choir singing among others, ‘All Things Bright and
Beautiful’ by John Rutter.
Following our very successful assembly given by visiting music staff,
a letter for children who showed great enthusiasm to start learning an
instrument will be coming out shortly and parents are asked to complete
and return it to the school office as soon as they can. We would like to
extend our provision of lessons and ensembles to more children in the
New Year.
The Christmas Carol Service took place on 9th Dec at St George’s Church and the Choir sang a medieval carol ‘O Come
and Join the Dance’ with traditional drones and a gentle Czech carol Lulla lullay, about rocking the baby Jesus to sleep!
Page 6
Sport
Every boy in year 6 played in a number of competitive matches, 20 boys in
Year 4 and 5 playing at least one match for the school.
The Under 11 A team played in some very close and exciting matches as
well as being runners up to Harborne Junior School in the Villa Qualifying
Competition for the local area and losing in the quarter final of the Shrewsbury
tournament to the eventual winners - Prestfelde.
Every Under 11 team A-D produced at least one win throughout the season.
The Under 10 A and B teams have become much more competitive, and
improved on their results in Year 4. Under 9 A Team, was unbeaten in regular fixtures and only lost in the final of the
Prestfelde A Tournament. The Under 9 B team also played well and were runners up in the Prestfelde Under 9 B Tournament.
The Vixens produced a great performance against a team from
Bromsgrove to secure a 2-0 victory and managed a super draw
against Solihull. The two games against Blue Coat saw the girls
narrowly defeated 3-1 both home and away. The Vixens also
participated along with 23 other teams in the Regional IAPS
Hockey Tournament at Repton. The day was great experience playing 5 games, resulting in 3 draws and 2 narrow defeats.
The Vixens B team had their home and away fixtures against Blue
Coat. The away fixture on grass was a great learning experience.
The return fixture was played against Blue Coat C team on the
all-weather. A great team performance saw a fully deserved 2-0
victory.
The U10 A team have had a good term and remain unbeaten.
An early victory against Solihull was followed up by three
exciting draws against Blue Coat (Home and Away) and
Bromsgrove. The U10 B team lost their opening fixture to
Blue Coat but. since then the season has progressed well
.Victory against Bromsgrove was followed by a narrow defeat
to Blue Coat. Special mention to Anika De for scoring two
hatricks –against Bromsgrove and Blue Coat.
The U9 A team have been the most prolific scoring team with
a total of 11 goals. Special mention should go to Sana Sibal
for her hat trick against Solihull. The team have played 3
matches drawing 2 – against
Blue Coat and Winterfold and
winning 1. – against Solihull.
The U9 B team played a super
match against Blue Coat. It
created much excitement and
finished 1-0 to us!
Dates for your Diary
12th January
Upper School Peripatetic Music Teachers Parents’ Evening
11th February
Year 6 SRE Parents’ Evening
12th February
Year 3 Parents’ Evening - All Subjects
26th February
Year 4 Parents’ Evening - All Subjects
5th March
Year 5 Parents’ Evening - All Subjects
10th March
Year 4 & 5 11+ Destinations Meeting
(Form Teachers and SMT)
Operation Christmas Child
Once again the generosity of the Hallfieldian
families has meant that 73 shoe boxes (a record
total) are making their way to ‘good homes’ around
the world; we hope that for many boys and girls,
they will make this Christmas a memorable one.
Chess Competition at KES
The Hallfield Chess Team took part in the recent primary schools competition
held at KES. This was an ‘individual’ event and two of our players, Aarav Duggal
and Rohit Jose were among the overall winners. The rest of the team performed
very well and all players quickly adjusted to the fast pace – with only 5 minutes allowed per game!
Page 7
Dates for your diary
6th Feb at 19.30
OH Quiz Night
Pre-University Challenge
5th March at 18.00
Informal Reunion
London
18th March at 18.00
Informal Reunion
Edgbaston
16th May 16.00 to 18.00
Younger Members’ Bowling
Edgbaston
12th June at 13.00
OHS v WHOBA
Annual Golf Tournament
16th Sept at 18.00
Informal Reunion
Edgbaston
18th Sept at 17.30
Recent Leavers’
Football & Hockey Tournament
12th Nov at 18.45
OHS AGM in the School Library
Followed by drinks and canapés
Congratulations
Well done to the following
Old Hallfieldians on their
recent GCSE achievements
at King Edward’s School:
Edward Cooke, Khalil Raja and
Shiv Sharna who each received
a full set of 10 A* grades –
congratulations and good luck in
your A Levels!
Contact the OHS
Tim Venner
Chairman
Tim.Venner@
Charles-Stanley.co.uk
Celia Hooper
Executive Officer
[email protected]
Tania Outwin-Flinders
Communications Officer
T.Outwin-Flinders@
hallfieldschool.co.uk
Page 8
Hallfield Vision
Looking back to the future: The Old Hallfieldian Society
From the chairman
It is a privilege to have been
elected to continue as Chairman
of the OHS for 2015 and I look
forward to working with the
committee and to meeting many
OH’s, in the coming months. We
have a wide variety of events
planned for 2014/2015 - there is
something suitable for every age
group, more details can be found
on the school website.
It is always a pleasure to hear from Old
Hallfieldians and if you have any news,
personal achievements or announcements
which you would like to share with other
OHs, please do get in touch.
I would like to wish all Old Hallfieldians and
their families a very happy Christmas and a
peaceful 2015.
With best wishes
Tim Venner, OHS Chairman
Christmas Reunion
Over 40 Old Hallfieldians attended the
Christmas reunion at The High Field in
Edgbaston on Wednesday 3rd December.
Our informal reunions are becoming very
popular and it was wonderful to see so many
of you ‘catching up’ and enjoying the festive
atmosphere. Pictured are
OH’s Kathryn Cartwright (OH
Committee member) and
Sadie Chana.
Friends Reunite for Wedding
A proverbial posse of Old
Hallfieldians supported
Will Speer (83-90), on his
wedding day. Will married
Debbie Humble on 20th September 2014 at
Littlehampton, Sussex. The Global Brand
Director for Bob the Builder and Fireman
Sam (HIT Entertainment), Will certainly fixed
the weather when the OH boys assembled
on the beach for a group photo! They
have remained firm friends since they
met as young schoolboys in the Pre-Prep
Department… a long time ago!
Happy Days at Hallfield
Just turned eight, I would
often peer round at the older
children during assemblies,
thinking how OLD they are,
those 12-year-olds about to
take exams for “big” school.
The early challenge looked ominous as
homework became more “serious” with each
term. Yet Hallfield’s pastoral care supported
us on our academic and personal journey as
we began to grow up.
Latin with Mr Button was my highlight, along
with Mr Rossi’s orchestra. Mr Hackett was,
sadly, less impressed with my maths - but Mr
Stevens’ suggestion I might like German led
to a degree and my first “proper” job.
For sport, I LOVED the waterlogged “Game
Eight” rugby pitch where tackles left you
soaked. In cricket, that MacMillan fellow
always bowled me out. My revenge was
to take his wicket! There were also two
wonderful skiing trips to Scotland...
Studying languages opened doors and I write
from Brazil! (Yes, I saw some of the World
Cup...)
But, occasionally contemplating the playing
fields from the Redditch train I feel happy
nostalgia. A good school
is a lifelong blessing.
Enjoy.
Chris Wright, Hallfield
(Ridgway!) 1975-1980