Yarm Preparatory School Issue 499

Friday 22nd April 2016

Head’s Message . . . It has been a lovey week across the school with much activity and enterprise taking shape. The glorious weather has allowed for much outdoor learning, the traditional summer term sports to take hold and all of the adventure trail to be opened for break times giving both work and play at school a summer feel. Let's hope the weather holds and allows us to continue in this fashion and enjoy our forthcoming Woodland Week and the start of our fixtures and trips in the near future. Excitement is building for the 'Cook Off' next week on Thursday at the Senior School. Tickets have been snapped up at the Prep School so I am hoping for a supportive contingent as I take on Mr Dunn in this fun battle of the brill. In assembly on Thursday Mr Dunn went to great lengths to drum up support from the pupils with his pre match 'trash talk'. Needless to say I wasn't keen to engage in this, however, I hope to be able to put him in his plaice next week and watch him flounder. Now that the term is in full swing, please ensure that the children are dropped off in the playground or at the gate in good time in the mornings to enjoy the early activities or get some fresh air before the days begins (when weather allows). Should you need to speak to your child's form teacher at this time they are available in their classrooms or in the staffroom. All parents collecting children early from school are asked to report to the School Office where Miss O'Hara will allow you to wait while she collects your child before signing them out.

Head’s Challenge: The more you take of me, the more you leave behind. What am I?

Visit the Prep School Pages:-

www.yarmschool.org

Bill Sawyer

Follow me on Twitter: @HeadPrepYarm

My Great-Nan, who was born in 1917, lived through the Blitz in the East End of London. I went to visit her in the Easter holidays and she told me about Anderson Shelters and living through World War 2.

My Great-Nan said that Anderson Shelters were damp and smelly and she preferred to go down into the underground station when air raid siren sounded, but they were very popular and lots of people used them.

During the war, my Great-Nan worked at the timber control in Berkeley Square, Mayfair, which she needed to walk to from the East End!

My Great-Grandad severed in the Home Guard in World War 2, he was not fit enough from illness to fight for his country. He was on fire watch at night in London.

One night, their house was bombed, they were hiding under a table. The front of the house collapsed into a hole and they crawled out covered in soot.

The bomb blast caused my Great-Nan’s deafness in one ear. At the time they were looking after a yellow canary of my Great-Grandad’s sister, my Great-Nan insisted she went back in to find the bird. Amazingly it was still alive and just cov-ered in soot, too.

She also told me about how people lifted each other’s spirits to help each other through this frightening time. There was a great camaraderie between everyone that was at home, they all pulled together. People shared rations, especially for a special occasion like a wedding or a birthday to make a cake. During the air raids, people would gather together in the underground stations, often singing together to get through a terrifying time or striking up impromptu concerts.

The day of my Great-Nan and Great-Grandad’s wedding, the vicar knocked at their house to say the church had been bombed and now had no roof, the wedding still went ahead with a roofless church.

My Great-Nan has seen so much change through her long life, I think living through the war in London has made her such a strong, kind and caring lady, I am very proud to be her great Grandson. She has some amazing stories.

Lucas M, 6L

In the Easter Holidays, I went to Yorchestra. It was really fun! Yorchestra is a 2 day course where you play in an orchestra with lots of other people from around England. On the first day, we started to learn the pieces and got to know each other. By the end of the day everybody knew everybody. It was great! On the second day we polished up the pieces and performed them to our parents at the end of the day. I really enjoyed Yorchestra and hope to do it again.

James McP, 6M

Over the Easter holidays I went to Port Regis School in Dorset to do National Children’s Orches-

tra (NCC). I played 1st violin desk 6, the pieces were quite hard to begin with but as the week

went on they got easier. I think the hardest piece was Fiesta by Matthew Curtis but my favour-

ite piece was Palladio for String Orchestra by Karl Jenkins.

Overall we did 33 hours of rehearsing for the concert. I really enjoyed NCO and cant wait to see

all of my friends at the summer course.

Ava BW, 6M

The children in 6L were asked to build a model of an Anderson Air Raid Shelter during the Easter Holidays. The construction brief specified that each shelter needed to be able to fit six Lego people inside, be waterproof and had to withstand a 1kg weight placed upon it. The resulting models were exceptional and showed meticulous planning and detail. Tremendous effort had gone into not only designing and constructing the shelters but also the surrounding garden areas. Great fun was had when testing them to check they were waterproof and every shelter was able to withstand the agreed weight. Well done to all of 6L! Mrs Lofthouse-Hill

(The shelters are available to view in 6L if anyone is interested)

The Anderson shelter (used during WW2) was built in the garden. It was designed in 1938 and named after Sir John Anderson. The shelters measured 1.4m wide, 2m long and 1.8m high. They were made from corrugated iron and buried over one metre underground, covered with a thick layer of soil and turf. People who had an annual income of under £250 were given them free but for those who didn’t fall into that category, the price was £7. Many Anderson shelters have survived to this day.

Francesca D, 6L

Over the last few weeks, we have had some tremendous Music exam results. My congratulations to all who took exams. Particularly worth noting are Shrish Nair - 99% at Grade 1 Theory and Keya Shah - 99% at Grade 3 Theory, Elise Wilcock - Distinction at ABRSM Grade 4 Singing and Edward Adams who joins a select group of musicians who have passed ABRSM Grade 5 practical - an incredible achievement at such a young age. From next week, myself and Miss Haigh will be providing weekly aurals clubs for children who are taking ABRSM exams this term. Results are as follows:

Name Board Instrument Grade Mark

Theo Grylls Rockschool Drums 1 Pass

Nathan Muzawazi Rockschool Drums 2 Merit

Olivia Carrick Rockschool Drums 2 Merit

Benji Wilkinson Rockschool Drums 2 Distinction

Gaurav Kannan Rockschool Drums 2 Distinction

Olivia Fletcher Rockschool Guitar

Callum Sanderson LCM Musical Theatre 1 Merit

Georgia Charnley LCM Musical Theatre 4 Merit

Isra Ali ABRSM Theory 1 Distinction

Edward Adams ABRSM Theory 1 Distinction

Shrish Nair ABRSM Theory 1 Distinction

James Waine ABRSM Theory 2 Distinction

Will Craggs ABRSM Theory 2 Distinction

Kaavya Venkatesh ABRSM Theory 3 Merit

Josh McGeary ABRSM Theory 3 Merit

Keya Shah ABRSM Theory 3 Distinction

Charanya Lingutla ABRSM Piano Prep Test Success

Chloe Porter ABRSM Piano Prep Test Success

Ffion Roberts ABRSM Singing Prep Test Success

Isra Ali ABRSM Singing 1 Pass

Vedhika Janakiraman ABRSM Piano 1 Pass

Toby Simpson ABRSM Piano 1 Pass

Izzie Speight ABRSM Singing 1 Merit

Phoebe Nichol ABRSM Singing 1 Merit

Francesca Denos ABRSM Piano 1 Merit

Grace Harbinson ABRSM Harp 1 Merit

Maddy Malpass ABRSM Piano 1 Distinction

Isabella Bottomley ABRSM Clarinet 1 Distinction

Adam Jones ABRSM Guitar 2 Pass

Oskar Studholme ABRSM Piano 2 Pass

Callum Sanderson ABRSM Singing 2 Pass

Shrish Nair ABRSM Singing 2 Pass

Belle Woodhead ABRSM Piano 2 Pass

Belle Woodhead ABRSM Singing 2 Merit

Shrish Nair ABRSM Guitar 2 Merit

Kitty Brown ABRSM Piano 2 Merit

Siya Putharaya ABRSM Violin 2 Distinction

Lilian Dufton ABRSM Piano 3 Merit

Emily Dunn ABRSM Piano 3 Merit

Summer Benzie ABRSM Flute 3 Distinction

Elise Wilcock ABRSM Singing 4 Distinction

Edward Adams ABRSM Guitar 5 Pass

BAG ORDER - INTERNAL Pupils moving to Early School, Prep School or Senior School in August 2016

Small Rucksacks for Early School ( + existing book bag)

Briefcase & Sports Holdall for Prep School Yr3 –Yr5

Large Rucksack & Sports Holdall for Prep Year 6 & 1st & 2nd year Senior School N.B.

pupils may continue to use the smaller sports holdall.

We offer parents the opportunity to order the above bags in advance; they will be ini-

tialled and returned to pupils as soon as possible. Please complete the slip and enclose

payment.

For the attention of Ms Henderson, Uniform Shop.

Name of Pupil ………………..…… Current Form………..

Your contact telephone number………………….

I would like to place an order for the item(s) below.

My child’s initials are …….. ….. (max 4 letters included in price).

I enclose a cheque payable to YARM SCHOOL TRADING for the re-

quired amount.

Rucksack Small (Early School) = £22.00

……………….

Briefcase (Prep School) = £22.00

……………..

Large Rucksack (Senior School) = £39.00

……………

Sports Holdall (Prep & senior school) = £24.00

……………

CHEQUE TOTAL=

Next week

Mon 25-Apr Telford House Duty

Wed 27-Apr LAMDA examinations

Yarm Schools Football League (Year 5; Astro; 4-5pm)

Year 1 trips to Tesco, Ingleby Barwick

Thu 28-Apr Woodland Week begins in Prep School

Under 11 Cricket Tour departs (12.20pm)

Junior Maths Challenge

U8 Rounders with Teesside High (4-5pm, Green Lane)

U11 Cricket v Hymers (away; 3.30pm start)

Fri 29-Apr 3H Assembly PLEASE NOTE—3H ASSEMBLY NOW ON MONDAY 9TH MAY

U10 Cricket v Pocklington (away; 12. 30pm depart, 2pm start, 5.30pm return)

U11 Cricket v Pocklington (away; 2pm start)

Sat 30-Apr U11 Cricket v Ampleforth (away; 2pm start)

U11 Cricker Tour returns at 6.30pm

Mon 2-May Bank Holiday—School closed

Tue 3-May Sport and Music photographs

Wed 4-May Year 3 trip to Captain Cook Birthplace Museum

Mon 9-May 3H Assembly NEW DATE

Eco Club! In Eco Club this week, we took advantage of the lovely sunny weather to plant some wild flower seeds in the planters in the Quiet Area. Hopefully they will attract some bees and butterflies!