The school is on a roll. We now have not one but three regional gymnastics champions in our midst and a second placed national ballroom champion. The resilience, concentration banks and energy reserves of our pupils never cease to amaze me. On top of working hard during the week, these children, and more, spent last weekend pulling out all the stops, putting into practice all their focussed training and accepting with grace and delight the applause which accompanied their wonderful achievements. Our congratulations go to Camilla Eerdmans (Regional Year 5 Novice Champion), Edward Modra (Regional Year 5 Intermediate Champion) and Molly Cooper (Regional Year 6 Advanced Champion) who, along with the rest of the very talented Hazelwood gymnastics squad, hosted the regional gymnastics final at Hazelwood last weekend. All the children performed brilliantly (a full report appears later on in the Nutshell) with no gymnast placed any lower than sixth in any category. The younger children also took the pressure of the event squarely on the chin, turning in poised and steady routines. All of which bodes incredibly well for the future. Gymnastics at Hazelwood is on the forward roll and thanks are due to Mrs Bradshaw and Ms Riches for their fabulous coaching and encouragement of the squad. Ms Riches’ Velocity Gymnastics will be taking over the after school gymnastics club at the school from January so that she can identify and nurture talent from an early stage in their development.

I would like to say thank you to all the parents who joined us for our Service of Remembrance on Wednesday. This is always a special moment in the school calendar for many as it gives a chance to pause, to reflect and say thank you to those students of Hazelwood who fought so bravely in both World Wars. The school marks the occasion in a very simple yet relevant way with all pupils and staff gathered in the Chapel Courtyard in front of the WW1 memorial stone. Sophia Midmore, our youngest Year 3 pupil delivered the reading with confidence and clarity and Ethan Syrett from Year 5 played The Last Post with assuredness and great musicality. The reading and notes echoed around the courtyard, blown along on the early gusts of Hurricane Abigail, cutting through the eerie silence as if on a recently deserted battlefield. Very moving and poignant. We are in the process of

Whilst these children were tumbling and spinning their way to glory, Georgia Phillpott too was turning heads and heels in Blackpool at the National Ballroom and Latin Dancing Championships. Having fought her way through five tough rounds of dancing, Georgia kept her composure and elegance and made it through to the final six dancers. Her heel leads and armography caught the eyes of the judges and secured her second place and a weekend she will never forget. Georgia trains with the Caterham School of Dance who, along with the school and Georgia’s family, are justly proud of her fabulous achievement.

The deadline for Spring Term club applications is today – Friday 13th. Club lists will be issued at the end of next week after which Late Room and Breakfast Club Booking Forms will be distributed for completion.

commissioning our WW2 Memorial Stone made, in part, possible by the donations given both at the Alumni Open Morning and last year’s Prize Giving which will allow us to mark and commemorate all our fallen heroes throughout the year

The school was awash today with stars, stripes and spots as we helped raise money for Children in Need. I am delighted to announce that as The Nutshell went to press, the total amount raised by the Prep School only (the Nursery are still busy counting their coffers) is a staggering and record breaking £850. Well done to everyone who took part and a big Pudsey bear hug to Madame Jones for spearheading our efforts. For a list of emails/letters/texts sent home each week please see the ‘Notice Board’ further down the Nutshell.

News from The Nursery

I would like to start this week by saying a big thank you to everyone for your understanding and cooperation during our recent mains power problems. The electricity board have now repaired the problem and have also filled and made good the large trench that had to be dug. The children found the whole thing a great adventure and I know some were sad that the trench and diggers are now gone. Staff did a fantastic job in ensuring that the care of the children continued despite the disruption and inevitable changes to rooms. This week there has been a site wide focus on ‘Festivals of Light’ and it was lovely to welcome Mara’s mummy in to school to speak to the children about Diwali. Mara very much enjoyed modeling her special clothes for all the different rooms. Since her visit, there has been a wealth of different activities from making diva pots to creating fantastic rangoli patterns. The children have enjoyed exploring ideas related to light in a whole wealth of mediums.

There have also been some interesting sights and smells in the Robins room this week with a special sensory tray having been set up to engage the children’s senses. It is amazing how exciting noodles, spices, and dried fruit can be!

The Nursery staff now all have their uniforms and look very smart and professional as a result. The room leaders all have a navy blue polo shirt with the rest of the staff in the bright pink polos. All staff also have (or will shortly have) logoed navy fleeces. We trust this new uniform will create a professional atmosphere across the site and also assist parents in identifying key members of staff. The staff have also been busy learning new techniques for developing motor skills and teaching handwriting during our recent training evening. We have explored some of the strategies from the ‘Think Write’ handwriting scheme and the staff engaged whole heartedly in all the games and activities. So when the children come home talking about cows, sheep, pigs and rabbits rest assured the school hasn’t been overrun by animals we are merely teaching writing!

Remembrance Day was marked across the site with a silence in each of the rooms. The children encouraged by staff made an excellent job of observing the silence. Skylarks and Oak also learned about the meaning of the day and why we stop to remember. One of the children commented that ‘we stopped so we can think of all the soldiers’. There are no dates for your diary this coming week.

Having fun making a Diwali clay lamp

Remembering our heroes

News from Hazelwood

Uniform update for Years 6-8 Please can all children in Years 6-8 continue to wear their blazer to school throughout the year. An overcoat can be worn over the blazer in inclement weather. Seeing the Upper School children in their blazers gives a real sense of pride and projects a very smart and collaborative image for the school. Thank you for your cooperation with this change of uniform protocol. Double Parking along the hedge Please remember that double parking is only intended if you are leaving your car for a matter of minutes to pick up your child or children from Late Room or a nearby activity. If you have to leave your car for any period of time, please leave your mobile number written clearly on a note in your windscreen. If we need to ask you to move your car to let a blocked vehicle out, we can more easily track you down. Thank you.

Small fingers explore the keyboard and create firework collage

Concentration and focus as the children in Wrens explore colour, materials and texture

Most definitely the coolest, hottest tickets in town! Get your skates on if you do not want to be disappointed!

Year One’s Pyjama Party goes on all day! On Monday Year One pupils enjoyed their 'All Day Pyjama Party' as one of their creative curriculum days to introduce their new topic, 'Light and Dark'. We all came dressed in our pyjamas and brought in our of our favourite bedtime story books and shared it with our friends, explaining who the characters were and why we liked it so much.

Mrs Shaw came over to read us one of her favourite bedtime stories – 'Can't you sleep Little Bear?' The children thought it was hilarious when Little Bear just didn't want to go to sleep. They also enjoyed some party game challenges, acting out various creatures and things which come out at night, before perfecting the art of being a sleeping lion. In the afternoon we took our torches to the theatre for some science investigations, as it is probably the darkest place in the whole school! We thought about how bright the different torches were and what it is like when there is no light. Some of us were brave enough to sit in complete darkness – three long seconds without any light can seem like an eternity!

We also worked in small teams to overcome all the challenges we had to overcome to build a den. Using sheets, chairs and a pile of pegs we had to work creatively and collaboratively to construct a range of interesting shaped dens. The teamwork involved and the smiles of satisfaction as the constructions took shape was a joy to behold. We then crawled into our dens with our torches and story books for a well earned rest and a relaxing read!

We welcome Mrs Cara Roberts on Monday who arrives to take on the role of School Secretary. Cara is very much looking forward to becoming part of the Hazelwood School community and to meeting everyone in time.

We are the Champions! On Sunday 8th November, Hazelwood hosted the British School Gymnastics Association South East region U11 floor and vault competition. Schools came from all over including Holmewood House, Aberdour, and Bromley High as well as further afield like Canterbury Primary and Charters Ancaster. Hazelwood were very well represented by squad captain, Molly Cooper Yr6, Georgie Lewis Yr6, Hannah Rogers Yr6, Edward Modra Yr5, Camilla Eerdmans Yr5, Karlijn Ras Yr4, Lola Bennett Yr3, Esme Willetts Yr3 and Eliza Yewman Yr3.

They all did exceptionally well and were all placed in the top 6 for their age group. A special mention must go to Camilla, Edward and Molly who were all placed 1st in their categories of Year 5 novice girls, Year 5 intermediate boys and Year 6 advanced girls respectively, making them regional champions. It was a great competition and Hazelwood did a fantastic job hosting it thanks to Mrs Bradshaw. A BIG thank you must go to Dr Orr for giving up her Sunday to do the scoring and also to all the squad parents who helped to run the cafe raising funds to help the squad train at specialist facilities in preparation for their 2016 bid to get to nationals again. By Annabelle and Camelia Quessy Congratulations to our wonderful gymnasts Year 3 Novice - Elisa Yewman 3rd, Lola Bennett 5th and Esme Willetts 6th

Year 4 Novice - Karlijn Ras 4th

Year 5 Novice - Camilla Eerdmans 1st

Year 5 Intermediate - Edward 1st, Georgie Lewis 4th and Hannah Rogers 5th

Year 6 Advanced - Molly Cooper 1st

Year 6 have been working on acids and alkali this week. Charlie was the first in his class to manage to produce a neutral solution by mixing an acid and an alkali captured on film for the Nutshell

After reading the story "Aliens love Underpants" the children from Oak Reception created their own underpants! The Nutshell is at a loss to understand Y the write up accompanying the photo is so brief!

Congratulations to Gus and Luke who were named men of the match at Warlingham Rugby Club at the weekend.

The Y3 girls’ team hones their hockey skills in a closely fought and exciting match this

week.

Un message du Département de Français.

I am delighted to announce that Onatti, our favourite theatre company, are coming to Hazelwood on Monday 16th November for their new French play:

The play is performed by one French actress and one English actor. It will start at 2.15pm in the theatre and has been specially booked for our Years 5, 6 and 7.

A quick glance at the storyline:

This is Ben’s first ever school trip, his first ever trip to France and his first time skiing.

He is known at school as the “class clown” so it comes as no surprise to learn that on his first day on the slopes his over-enthusiasm ends in an accident, hurting himself so badly that a trip to hospital is needed.

His French teacher accompanies him but as soon as they arrive she is called away to deal with another emergency on the slopes. Ben is left to struggle on his own and soon realises nobody in the hospital speaks English.

The afternoon goes from awkward to embarrassing as Ben struggles to communicate with the nurse...

A huge thank you to everyone today for all your donations to Children in Need. The children have really enjoyed having a home clothes day and there have been some magnificent stripy socks and trousers as well as onesies, spotty dresses, ties and tops all over the school.

Thank you to Chestnut parents for baking and bringing in so many cakes and cookies for the children. A big thank you also to the catering team for their generous donation of 200 cupcakes, and to Georgina, Catherine, Lottie, Zac and Henry for their cupcakes as well. Finally, thank you to all the children in Years 7 and 8 who have in many ways helped me make today a success.

Congratulations to our 2 winners today: Henry McCall in 2P won the jar of sweeties, with his guess of 150...there are 144 in there for him to enjoy!

Thomas Higgins in 5K won the giant teddy, correctly guessing that his name is Cookie.

Some very happy faces of unbeaten football teams including the Colts F (right) who have not conceded a goal all season. Well done boys and Mrs Walton.

Spots and Stripes go down into the woods

Dressed in an array of spots, stripes and stars 2B headed down to the forest this week fortunately kitted out with waterproof trousers and wellingtons. We were amazed by the amount of mud by the gate to forest school but were extremely happy squelching through it to start our session off. The children recapped the 'Who am I?' game we played last session as well as thinking about the forest has changed over the weeks. Animal fact cards were then given out and using tape measures, rulers and metre sticks children had to find items in the forest that measure the same length as the animal. 2B proved how inventive they are and created the animals using all natural materials. They then enjoyed making 'snakes houses', exploring and using compasses to navigate their way around the site.

A great session 2B, well done!

Miss Parr

HPA

Get your skates on for the Christmas Fair - Saturday 28th November - 1pm - 4pm The Christmas Fair this year is very much about fun for the children with pocket money stalls, games, craft activities and cake decorating. As ever, we will also have our amazing magical grotto where you can visit Father Christmas. There will also be stallholders selling fabulous Christmas gifts and other items and the cafe will be open throughout the fair. This year, we also have the very special addition of an ice rink which is open to everyone. Santa's Grotto: Santa is coming! If you would like to visit Santa's Grotto, please return the form below to the school office marked "HPA - Santa" by no later than Wednesday 18th November. Ice Skating: We are very excited about Hazelwood's own ice rink and we will be taking bookings for the ice rink which is open to children and adults (£5 per person per 20 minute session). Please see attached flyer. A booking form will follow via form reps. The ice rink will be available for private hire on the day outside the times it is being used for the Christmas Fair so if you are interested in having it as your venue for a birthday party etc, please email Lizzie Stephenson at HazelwoodSkatingRink@gmail.com . Grotto decorations: If you have any Victorian-type toys or animals you could lend to help decorate the Grotto, the Grotto team would love to borrow them. Please contact Angela Oxley angox@hotmail.com or Susie Asli susie_asli@yahoo.dk . Raffle: Some wonderful prizes have been kindly donated for the raffle and raffle tickets should have come home in your child's bag. Please return payment and ticket stubs to the office marked "HPA - raffle". If you would like any more tickets, please contact Marese Gildersleve maresegildersleeve@mac.com who is running the raffle.

Northbrook Fundraising Any orders that have been placed through the HPA for Northbrook Fundraising will be delivered to the school on Tuesday 17th November and available for collection from then. You will be notified at the time. TRAVELLING BOOK FAIR Travelling Book Fair will be returning to Hazelwood School on Tuesday 24th November for the week. The book boxes will be placed in the Chestnut Foyer and the books can be purchased on the dates and times stated below: Tuesday 24th 3.30 till 4.20pm Wednesday 25th 3.30 till 4.20pm Thursday 26th 3.30 till 4.20pm The books will also be available for purchase at the HPA Christmas Fayre on Saturday 28th November from 1 until 4pm. Leaflets will be sent home with the children in years 1, 2, 3 and 4 only. Thank you Nicki Wisniewski

Please note: all applications for Santa’s Grotto need to be in by Wednesday 18th November.

Minions Film Night - Friday 20th November - 4.30 - 6.30pm - Tickets £5 Year 1 upwards are invited to the Film Night when we will be showing Minions. Please see the booking form attached for further details. All forms and payment must be received please by Wednesday 18th November. Fireworks Night - Thank you A huge thank you to Sasha Latter and all the many volunteers on the Fireworks Night - the helpers in the kitchen, sellers of mulled wine, drinks, food (including nearly 200 doughnuts!), glowsticks etc. Out on the field, we could not have managed without the bonfire team, marshalls and, not least, Mike Brundle and his fantastic fireworks team. Thank you also to all the people who helped clear up afterwards. All your support and help in the run up to the night, on the night and clearing up made the event a huge success. These evenings rely on the support of you as parents and the time you give up to support the HPA is very much appreciated as these events cannot run without you. Thank you for pulling it all together! We've had some lovely emails from parents saying how much they and their children enjoyed it. We even had a feed on Facebook of people talking about how amazing the display was.

News from the Kitchen

Please don’t forget that the new menus for both Hazelwood School and the Nursery & Early Years are now on their respective websites under The Parents’ Sections.

Music Timetable

The weekly music timetable can be viewed on the Music Notice Board outside the Dining room in the courtyard. I will endeavour to have the coming week’s music timetable on the notice board by the end of the school day each Friday. Please ensure that your child brings their instrument and music in on the relevant day. It is also important for them to take these books and instruments home when they do not need them in school.

Sports Department

Match Reports should be put in the folder on the wall in the PE office. They are then collected by the captain on Monday morning to be read out in assembly. If your child is nominated as captain, please encourage them to write the report in time for the assembly. The children do like to share their successes with the rest of the school. Thank you.

Notice Board

The following communications have been sent home this week. If you have not received a copy and would like one, please contact the school office. Thank you. Year 6 Parent Information Evening Year 7 Parents’ Evening

Looking for after school help The Cooper-Fogarty family is looking for some after school help for three days each week from the beginning of January. It would involve picking up Annabel (Year 6) and Hugo (Year 4) from school on each of Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and taking them home to Godstone and looking after them until about 7pm. If anyone knows of someone who might be interested we would be most grateful if they could contact Courtenay Cooper-Fogarty on 07712 149 389 or courtenaycf@gmail.com

Key Events for Next Week

Monday 16 Start of Rugby and Netball 1420 French Play to Years 5-7 1510 Tuesday 17 All day Year 8 French speaking exams 0900- Quantum theatre science show at Hazelwood for Years 3 and 4 1015 Wednesday 18 All day Year 8 French speaking exams

1430 Netball U13 A & B v Holmewood House (H) 1430 Netball U11 A & B v Granville (A) 1530 Hockey U10 A, B & C v Reigate St Mary’s (A) 1430 Hockey U10 D v St Michael’s (H) Thursday 19 All day Year 8 French speaking exams 0835 House Meetings 1400 Junior Interhouse Hockey 1600 Swimming Gala U8, U9, U10 & U11 v Royal Russell (A) Friday 20 All day Year 8 Spanish speaking exams PM Cross Country U12-U13 Junior Knole Run (A) 1700 HPA film night Saturday 21 1300- Wicked Theatre outing for Years 6-8 to watch Wicked 1800 Sunday 22 1000 OAC London canal/river walk