Christmas at Hurst Lodge

The run up to Christmas has started.  On Friday we are holding a Christmas fair in the studios, starting at 2:45pm. The fair will consist of various stalls, such as Santa’s Grotto, lucky dip, hit the reindeer and a raffle. Also there will be refreshments and food. All of the money made on the day will be donated to charity.

The parties have been planned and the decorations are up.

The Pre Prep Christmas Play ‘Are We Nearly There Yet?’ and “The Three Kings” which is the Kindergarten production will also be held on Friday 9th December.

The Christmas Carol Service will be held at Sunningdale Church on Wednesday 14th December. 

New York Charity Race

Congratulations to James of Year 2 who travelled to NYC to raise money for charity. He ran a 5km dash/run (3.1 miles) in 41 minutes 23 seconds. This was an event that took place as part of marathon weekend. James-Tobias raised £285.00 for ‘Get Kids Going’, a charity that provides wheelchairs to children and young adults so that they can also take part in sporting events and some have become Paralympian winners.

This charity is also now introducing ‘Get Kidz Dancing’ - a scheme that will offer help to children and young adults who may need wheelchairs to dance.

Pupils attend a Charity Dinner at Pennyhill Park

During November 3 past pupils, Stephanie Powter, Lara Hutt and Melissa Bergquist were invited to attend a ‘thank you’ dinner by the Children with Special Needs Foundation.

As part of their Young Enterprise scheme they had raised £1400 for the charity.  They had held a fashion show, baked and sold cakes, sold chocolate covered strawberries and helped run the Christmas fair. 

The Charity which is based locally in Chobham provides extra support for all children who have special disabilities and their money was very gratefully received.

The dinner was fantastic.  Pennyhill park is an amazing Hotel and Spa and we arrived to a champagne reception.  The host for the evening was Eagle radios morning presenter Peter Gordon and the girls enjoyed a photo with Radio 2’s morning presenter Chris Evans.

During the evening we heard from a parent whose son had benefited from special equipment for her severely Autistic son. We also heard from some very disabled children who were given the trip of a life time to Florida. It made it raising the money real and put our lives into perspective.



All in one week

We have had a natural science theme just before the half term break with our Early Years starting us off on Monday with a fabulous assembly. It was lovely to see so many parents there and the children delivered their lines and performed their poem wonderfully. The Geographers had a very constructive field trip on Tuesday which was followed by the delicious roast dinner with parents on Wednesday to launch our Food for Life programme. With visits from Rasher the pig and Buttercup the cow, children making sausages and learning about milking on Thursday and our Key Stage One children arriving back in school smelling rather smoky after toasting marshmallows in the fire pit.  Another busy few weeks lie ahead with Christmas on the horizon.

The new school year is well under way

After a seemingly long summer break the school is now well into the Autumn Term although the weather is enabling summer activities to be continued at this time.  There has been a number of changes in the management of the school. 

Hurst Lodge School, Ascot, is delighted to announce the arrival of our new Headmistress, Mrs Kate Leiper. Kate brings to Hurst Lodge a wealth of experience at some of the country’s leading independent schools and has a real passion for education. Kate says, “I am very excited about coming to Hurst Lodge, which attracted me from the start with its warm, welcoming atmosphere and I am greatly looking forward to help to build on the school’s recent wonderful inspection reports and superb examination results to take Hurst Lodge into the next phase of development.” Kate will be working alongside Vicky Smit, Principal and a Director of the school.  

There have already been a number of events.  Our first Open Day was a huge success with a very high attendance of prospective students and parents.  During the very first week we had a Maths Day which was designed by the Maths Department to encourage the use of logic and reasoning whilst enhancing and challenging the children’s mathematical ability in a fun way.

“MURDER AT HURST LODGE” was a mathematical murder mystery whodunit based on the game Cluedo where a most gruesome murder had taken place at Hurst Lodge School which left the Police completely baffled until the pupils of Hurst Lodge took control of the murder scene and solved the crime. 

They had to obtain as many clues as possible by answering maths questions. They then had to analyse the clues to find out which staff member had committed the murder. Stainer was the first house to identify the evil perpetrator as none other than Deputy Head, Mr. McCoy.

YOU’RE FIRED! – The Hurst Lodge version of the popular TV show The Apprentice.

The pupils had to come up with a unique business model and present their ideas to the Board which decided which houses were fired and which house was hired. Following a unique presentation and good business reasoning, the house

which was hired was Stainer. They presented a business plan to host a Halloween Fete where money raised would be donated to a charitable cause.  The students had to consider where and how to market the event, what activities would be successful and balance this against costs.

Other activities consisted of worksheets which challenged the pupils to use their numeracy skills. They had fifteen minutes to complete each worksheet and gain as many points as possible for their houses. The winner, once again, was Stainer.

The pupils enjoyed the day and all three houses worked extremely hard

to make this event a huge success.

The end of the Summer Term

As usual the end of the Summer Term was a very busy time for everyone.  The School Show, Sports Day, Inter House swimming and rounders competitions, as well as the Art Exhibition and continuing with a normal school timetable ensured that neither staff, pupils nor parents (!!!) had a moment's peace.

The term finished with Prize Giving Day.  This is the highlight of the year when pupils are presented with certificates, prizes and cups to mark their achievements throughout the academic year.

We are now in the middle of the school holidays and no doubt the students of Hurst Lodge are spread around the world.

Next week sees the arrival of the exam results and the waiting for years 11, 12 and 13 will be over. 

We look forward to another successful year in 2011/2012 

Biathlon 2011

Last Saturday Hurst Lodge hosted the annual inter-school biathlon competition.  The weather was very kind if a little too warm for running!  Holme Grange did very well as a team but there were some outstanding individual performances from the Hurst Lodge children.  It was open to years 3,4,5 and 6 and the plan for next year is to involve more boys in the event. 

The event was very well attended with good support for all of the schools involved.  

Party in the Park

What a fantastic day.  We were so lucky with the weather, after a lovely, warm, sunny day the rain started very close to the end of the performances at which time, singers, musicians and audience crammed into the marquee to listen to the final songs by ex students of Hurst Lodge who are now at various universities and colleges.

The standard of singing was really good from the children of the Junior school through to the sixth form and older.  The musical accompaniment was also very professional and it was hard to believe that they had only a couple of hours in the morning to practice together.

There was food available in the shape of a hog roast and a cake stall although many brought along a picnic and basked in the pleasant sunshine.

There were prizes awarded for the different categories although, in my view, the day was a prime example of "it is not just about winning, it is a home for their passion". The evident confidence of the performers, no matter what age, was incredible and the enjoyment on their face wonderful to see.  There are a few more photographs available on the Hurst Lodge Alumni facebook page.  

Visits and things

Hurst Lodge recently staged a Courtesy week which was a very positive experience and there were lots of doors being held open and 'pleases' and 'thank yous' around the school.   

We will find out at Prize Giving on Wednesday, 6^th July who has won the overall prize and the Courtesy Cup.  'Long live good manners!'

Years 1 & 2 had a great day out on Tuesday to RHS Wisley and back at the school the children have all been working furiously on the polytunnel, setting up the irrigation system, potting and getting all our seeds planted.  There will be photographs available on the website next week.

Year 10 Art students and Sixth formers are visiting the Kluckow Gallery  to see the Dali exhibition of prints and sculptures.  They and the Performing Arts students also have the opportunity to visit the 'Degas and the Ballet' and 'Hungarian Photography' exhibitions at the Royal Academy in London.

Rehearsals for Romeo and Juliet and Aesop’s Fables RETOLD are underway in preparation for the Summer Show.

Future Events

The Years 12 and 13 BTEC performing arts group are treating us to some excerpts from the musical Mamma Mia in the studios this Friday.  It forms a part of their coursework which will count towards their final marks.  The 2 year course is equivalent to 2 “A” levels and is very varied in its content.

There are 2 other productions under construction for this Term.  An abridged version of Romeo and Juliet is currently being rehearsed and is due to be performed between the dates of 29^th June and 2^nd July.  The Juniors are presenting Aesop’s Fables Retold written by Drama teacher Bart Lee with Music by Andrew Holdsworth and directed by Nicky Fereday.  This will take place on the same days as Romeo and Juliet with the interval being the break between the two productions.

Following the success of a previous Party in the Park the PTA are again hosting this event in the school grounds.  Students from the school are invited onto the stage to perform a song of their choice backed by a live band.  Soloists, duets and groups are welcome and, from previous experience, there will be a couple of surprise performances from staff and a visiting group of musicians.

The Great Escape

What's happened this week?  You may have noticed that Sky have been featuring The Great Escape again.  Obviously the pig arc has had a television set installed because one of our pigs is consistently trying to explore territories new.  On the most recent occasion year 8 were quickly called out of their RE lesson to help Miss Smit to return the escapee to its rightful home.  I must say they were quite proficient and he was soon encouraged to go back to his family - until the next time.   

Meysen Academy

We are linking with Meysen Academy in Japan again this year.  Lots of you will know Sendai, where the school is located, was hit badly by the tsunami recently.  Two of the girls will be coming over for a week as exchange students to experience what school life at Hurst Lodge involves through class time and extra activities.  

The student will attend school with the host family’s son/daughter and Meysen staff will travel with the students and stay in contact for the duration of their stay.  There will be a reciprocal opportunity for hosting families. 

The start of the Summer Term

We are back into the routine for the last Term of the current school year.  A short term that always goes very quickly with all of the events which take place.

There were a few exam results came in and we offer our congratulations to Year 10 who between them managed to amass 9 x A*, 2 x A, 6 x B and 12 x C grades in the recent GCSE Science Modules. Particular mention must be made to three girls who scored full marks in their Chemistry module; a fantastic achievement.

As you will be aware we have very strong links with the Eden Project and there has been a visit arranged for people associated with the school next weekend.  Our own sustainability programme is progressing well, the micro pigs produced six micro piglets over the Easter break and the polytunnel is now completed and will soon be producing our own vegetables.

Several students have expressed an interest in forming an after-school Electronics Club which will involve lots and lots of practical tasks, wiring and soldering and creating simple electrical and electronic circuits such as alarms, light flashers and decorations, timers, reaction timers, illuminated badges, games and many others.  The science teacher is promising the students that it is not an extra science lesson in disguise!! 

On Thursday 28th April, Ellie a Year 10 student of Hurst Lodge School, Ascot, and her sister Ruby were lucky enough to be invited by “Dreams Come True” to be guests of honour at the launch of the 2011 Scumrun Charity Rally.  They also had the opportunity to lead the parade of all the participants around the Brands Hatch circuit, complete with sirens

Easter Holidays

Easter is upon us and the students have gone their different ways.  It is always interesting to hear about their adventures on their return.  Meanwhile I attach a clip of a recent performance evening for you to enjoy.

Sporty

It has been quite a sporty couple of weeks at Hurst Lodge.  Firstly, congratulations to Jade Campbell who was part of the Bracknell and Wokingham Swimming Club’s young team who retained the Thames Valley Junior League B title. 
http://www.getbracknell.co.uk/sport/s/2089517_bracknell_and_wokingham_swimming_club_scoop_thames_valley_b_title

The children are looking forward to the school's swimming pool being opened in a few weeks.


Then the Inter House Football Competition was held.  Nearly everyone took part and despite a few bumps and bruises it was great fun and thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Year 10 went to the driving range during their sport lesson and considering only a couple of them had even held a golf club before I was really impressed how some displayed a natural ability to hit the ball.

Every Wednesday a group of students play polo at a local club and last week they played their first match.   

It has been quite a sporty couple of weeks.  Firstly Jade C Congratulations to Jade Campbell who was part of the Bracknell and Wokingham Swimming Club’s young team who retained the Thames Valley Junior League B title.  Jade can be seen in the centre of this photograph holding the cup.  Find out more at:  http://www.getbracknell.co.uk/sport/s/2089517_bracknell_and_wokingham_swimming_club_scoop_thames_valley_b_title

Red Nose Day

Red Nose Day was a real success.  It was organised by a number of 6th form girls and, although the weather was against us, somewhere in the region of £700 was raised for this worthy cause. There were a number of events going on throughout the day ranging from comic relief fingernail painting to virtually the whole school taking part in the Time Warp dance in the studios.  The busy day culminated with a singing/dancing performance evening (still dressed in Red Nose mufti) followed by a certificate evening when some of our "old students" joined current pupils in a celebration of achievement.  There will be a separate blog entry for the performance evening when photographs are available.

Potters

The Kindergarten were visited today by Melanie - a ceramicist.  During the session each child had the opportunity to paint their own plate, mug or platter.  They then added handprints to the creation making it individual and an ideal keepsake or present.  They had a great time and came up with some excellent designs.  Their work was then taken away to be fired in a kiln and we are expecting the finished results in a week's time.

MP visit, Pancake Day and Farm Visit

Several quite different events have recently taken place at Hurst Lodge School.  The whole school celebrated Shrove Tuesday with an Inter-House Pancake Race.  Teachers and pupils alike used the full length of the dance studios and had great fun in competing for points for their House.  The race was followed by lunch when the catering staff showed off their expertise in the tossing of pancakes before being consumed by the children - the pancakes not the staff!!

The MP for Windsor, Adam Afriyie, visited Hurst Lodge School last Friday.  He spoke to students aged 4 – 19 and the staff about how he had become an MP and what it was like to be a Member of Parliament. 

Mr. Afriyie spent 40 minutes answering questions about a variety of topics from “Do you like being an MP?” to “Do David Cameron and Nick Clegg actually like one another?” and “How involved do you get in international politics particularly when British citizens are stranded abroad?”

He then toured the school accompanied by Sofia Quick, a sixth former who is the School’s Head of Council.  Sofia has developed an interest in politics after putting the case for the Conservatives at the school’s political hustings during the election week. 

Sofia was responsible for organising the visit and liaising with Mr. Afriyie’s personal secretary.  School Principal Victoria Smit said “We were very grateful to Mr. Afriyie for giving up his time.  He has the gift of talking to young people in a manner that they easily understood and even the youngest children felt happy to ask questions.” 

Top this off with a visit to Rushmoor Organic Farm and you can see this has been a very busy couple of weeks for the school.  More details of this visit are available in the events section of the Hurst Lodge website.

Hurst Lodge School hits the slopes in Le Corbier

February 2011
We arrived in the evening to be met by Thierry our chalet manager and our reps from Equity Ski Nick and Doug, all of whom helped to make our stay a pleasant one.  We shared our accommodation with another school, Rivington and Blackrod High School from Bolton in Lancashire. After a rather shy start on both sides, our pupils gradually warmed up and started mingling in true Hurst Lodge style.
The first day of skiing was a sunny one.  The conditions were a little icy after a continuous spell of 28 days of brilliant sunshine in the Alps. However, our ESF instructors were patient and always in good humour. We had snow showers on Tuesday night which made for amazing sights and much better skiing conditions. 
Good natured fun was had by all, both on and off the slopes.  Many a fall off button lifts and the occasional wipe out left us all in stitches. A certain member of staff who will remain nameless, innocently followed the crowd like a lamb before the slaughter and became a piste basher on the red moguls for the afternoon. After a few jetes, and falling graciously with good humour the said member was exhilarated to be alive!  However, other members of staff did elephantine runs down all slopes powered on by the thought of making it to the messieurs. “Eagle” had lots of amusement watching “elephantine” and “graceful” falls, he also had fun on the jumps (we won’t mention a particular landing!!!)  We were appropriately sympathetic when pupils did have the occasional hit.  However, thankfully we all returned in one piece.
Our après ski was varied.  Rivington and Blackrod High School and Hurst Lodge had many a memorable evening. Our mutual introduction was a bingo night in the dining area, the entertainment continued as the week progressed.  On our 2nd night we were treated to a complex display of jumps from professional snow boarders and skiers. Our pupils and staff alike were in awe of the power and brave aerial tricks before our eyes.  Directly after this we had a majestic display of fireworks on the mountains against a clear night sky - what a treat!  We also had an evening of bum boarding with the staff watching on as the pupils whizzed past squealing with joy.  Other activities included a mixed quiz, Natasha Hutt and Maisie Caen-Reilly together with their friends from Rivington came 2nd after a competitive night. Some of our ladies went to the local swimming baths and were “refreshed” with a dip in the outdoor pool.  Needless to say we abandoned the plan to take the whole group the following day.  Our talents shone on the karaoke evening with everyone having a turn, (not least Mr. Eagle) no longer shy in the company of their new friends.  On the last night Miss Cadogan led a brief dance warm up with Mr. Samson leading everyone into the night with an African Social Dance which all of the pupils from both schools enjoyed.  On the whole, we had a brilliant week, with everyone having achieved new goals by pushing their own personal boundaries, whilst making new friends.
Quotes of the week included:
“I don’t want to leave, can we stay another week”
“How long does it take to drive to Bolton”
“Faster Mr. Samson faster”
“Will the fireworks start an avalanche?”
“How is your backside Mr. Eagle?”
“May I disinfect your door handle?”
“Miss Cadogan, when can we have our sweets back?”
“Where are we going next time?”
“Please can we come back again?”

Forest School

After putting our wellington boots and outdoor clothes on (which we are getting very good at now) we remind ourselves of the rules of Forest School, there are only three simple rules and the children can remember them easily now -

1. No going past the purple ribbon (boundary marker)
2. No putting our fingers in our mouths
3. No picking leaves off trees

Once we have run through these we set off singing our song along the way 

 "We're off to Forest School to play our games, oh we're off to Forest School to play our games, oh we're off to Forest School to play safely as we should, oh we're off to Forest School to play our games."

We walk to Forest School crossing the car park carefully followed by a gently run across the field.  After stopping to count the children and adults (to make sure we don't lose anyone!) it is time to explore.

The children help set the boundaries ensuring all their favourite spots are included within the area, including the log steps, crocodile log and the mountain. The children set off exploring - climbing, jumping and hiding.

We had some visitors at Forest School today, Miss Smit, Mrs Normington and Ken came to see what we were doing and the children happily showed them around and introduced them to the magical Beastie that lives the other side of the fence (they should feel honoured!)

The children were very active using the whole forest space with lots of climbing and jumping.  All of this exercise made them hungry and they happily enjoyed a biscuit and some hot chocolate to warm them up.  We listened to different sounds and the children could hear the wind, a very noisy bird and cars.  The bird sparked a conversation about Spring and birds' nests.

After snack we had a game of '123 where are you?' which is a simple version of hide and seek, the children have loved playing this game since the first week we came to Forest School so it is a favourite and regular request.  They enjoyed climbing on the crocodile and mountain until it was time to return to Hurst Lodge for lunch.

The children had all exercised enough today so we strolled back across the grass singing our song;
"We've been to Forest School to play our games, oh we've been to Forest School to play our games, oh we've been to Forest School and played safely as we should, oh we've been to Forest School to play our games."

Once inside we took our outside clothes off and talked about the session, the children said they enjoyed 'the 123 game', 'snack time', 'listening to the birdies sing' and 'climbing on the crocodile.' It was a wonderful session and everyone came back safe, happy and very tired.

See more at http://www.hurstlodge.co.uk/

Young Enterprise organise a Junior School Fashion Show

The Year 11 Young Enterprise group staged a fantastic fashion show in aid of the Children with Special Needs Foundation. A sum of £280 was raised for this locally based charity.

Children from the Junior and Pre-Prep sections of the School were the models for the event.  They were taught how to walk, pose and show off the clothes whilst parading down the catwalk.  One of them was heard to say "This is the best day of my life."

Pupils had the chance to show off two different outfits before taking part in the grand finale.  Parents and other members of the audience were then given the chance to purchase the various items of clothing and the commission from this formed the donation to the nominated charity.

This is the latest of a number of events which have included a Christmas Fair, a cake sale and a strawberries and cream stall.  With more events planned in the future we hope to make further sizeable donations to the CWSPF.

Where we are now

Rather than go over the past with the development of the smallholding I have decided to make our first Blog about where we are now.  Since the conception of the idea, roughly a year ago things have moved on rather quickly.  We now have a number of chickens, a rather loud cockerel called Bernard - which causes some amusement in the science rooms, several running ducks and a pair of micro pigs. All of these additions have a story attached to them like the time one of the pigs escaped into the School Library and no doubt as time passes such stories will be recounted.  More information on the sequence of these events can be found in the sustainability chapter on http://www.hurstlodge.co.uk/ .  Our immediate plans are to grow our own produce in the newly erected polytunnel and several beehives are soon to be erected in the school grounds.