ST. CHRISTOPHER’S SCHOOL NEWSLETTER Issue 33 13th July 2016

The last day of term is always a special day for St Christopher’s, saying goodbye children, parents and friends is always hard, but it’s so lovely celebrating their achievements. This year was extra special, with the school reaching the very special milestone of 25 years. Thank you to our special guest and previous

parent, the Duchess of Somerset, who presented our prizes.

From the Headmistress

As we finish our summer term, our end of term service and prize giving gives us the opportunity to reflect on our achievements, especially so as we mark 25 years of the school’s foundation. The last few weeks have been a flurry of activities and events and thank you to all those of you who attended and supported. We wish a fond farewell to our Prep 6 leavers as they move off confidently to the next stage of their education- they go with our best wishes. I hope you all have a wonderful summer holidays- we all deserve a rest after such a busy and purposeful term.

A trip to the aquarium Prep 2 went on a trip to Plymouth Aquarium. We arrived in the mini-bus, there were silver fish on the ground. First we went into a room where we met a boy called Joe, he set us a challenge. We had to look at the starfish and see how many arms they had. I found one with six arms and one with four arms, but normally they have five arms. Next we saw a tank full of jellyfish, they were relaxing to watch. We saw some seahorses, they were yellow and black, with curly tails and long noses and they moved very slowly. Then it was time for lunch, after we went to see an octopus, they had to keep him busy as he kept escaping. Joe’s favourite trick was this; you get a jar and put a crab inside and then put the lid on, then watch the octopus open the jar. After an exciting time, we went back to school in the mini-bus. By Sophia Hannaford Prep 2 are showing the habitat hats they made at the aquarium. Totnes Caring

On Thursday 9th June, Prep 6 children entertained some of the clients from Totnes Caring. They were able to enjoy afternoon tea and musical entertainment. They also watched the children practicing their May Pole dancing. The children really enjoyed the afternoon and were wonderful hosts. The feedback from Totnes Caring was lovely and very complimentary. They thought the children were polite, helpful and interesting to talk to. We look forward to repeating this next year. Margret Wadsely French fashion show – La Mode Francaise A big thank you to Prep 6 for the great French fashion show you presented to the school and parents. After a hectic week performing A Midsummer's Night's Dream, you managed to learn your lines and get your tongue around many tricky French words. We were lucky to have Amandine, related to Joseph and Sacha Edwards to help perfect our accent. Oliver Buzzo kindly welcomed the audience and Rufus Sherville provided a wonderful finale as a magician producing a rabbit out of a hat! I wish you all every happiness and success in your new schools. Bonne Vacance, Mrs Ewings

Stover Country Park with Prep 1 and 2 “First we went in a big room where we did some activities and found things out, I thought it was interesting. Then Rob, the leader, took us to the coniferous woodland and showed us the different types of pine cones. One was green, one was light brown and the other was dark brown. In the habitat were squirrels. Next, we went to the bog. In the bog there was a dragonfly, a hornet and a butterfly. There was a bog side and a pond side with ducks in it. In the bog there was a very, very old plant, it was called a Lego plant. The ducks swim in the pond side and nested in the bog side. There are no reeds in the pond side. We also went to the broad leaved woodland. We looked down from a balcony to see it. I saw a robin, a woodpecker and a squirrel. There was a bird feeder and the birds were feeding from it. Pond dipping was great fun, Rob put some buckets and some nets out for us to fish. We found a back swimmer, an egg, a shrimp and a dragonfly larva. In the pond there were lots of water plants”. By Sarah Barret and Ava Collett, Prep 2

Nursery Sports Day Nursery Sports day was a great success. Thankfully the sun had its hat on! The children really enjoyed it and did so well at remembering all their races. It was lovely to see so many parents joining in the fun! Nursery Staff

The Round Robin with Prep Reception and Prep 1 “We went on a trip on the Round Robin. We looked at the boats and the ferries. The ferries and boats were all on the River Dart. I saw a ferry called the Dart Explorer, it’s a nice ferry. First we went on a ferry, it was very slow but we did get there soon. We got to the train station by the boat. Then, we went on a steam train, it was a very long journey. It was very big and long and we went under a tunnel. We couldn’t see because it was dark and black. We saw Charlie’s Dad and Aunty, then we carried on with our journey. We then went on a double decker bus. We laughed and laughed because our hair was blowing around. We arrived at Steamer Quay. My Mummy came and picked me and Oli and Matthew and Poppy up, it was great fun”. By Beth Brown, Prep Reception

Mid Summers Night Dream

Year 6 performed a version of Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s

Dream on the 5th and 6th of July. It was a funny, touching tale of magic, rivalry and love. The children looked beautiful in their colourful costumes. They were a talented class, did very well indeed and created a magical show. Lucia Fausset

Our last official Sing Song assembly with the amazing Mr Lewis took place on the last Friday of term. A great character and inspiration to the school, he will be very much missed, we wish him a very happy retirement. However, we can announce that he has agreed to continue the ever so popular assemblies and even help out on a few trips! So watch this space for Mr Lewis!!

Sporting News… U9 Rounders and Athletics vs Tower House

“Tower House came over for Athletics and Rounders. First we did sprints, then hurdles, then 150m, 300m and then 600m which was split into a serious race and a fun race. In Rounders there was an A team and a B team. The A team won 9½ - 5½ and the B team won 6½ - 4½. In the A team, our captain was Teddy who was the bowler. Evie was backstop, Sophie was post 1, post 2 was Freddie, post 3 was me, post 4 was Xavier and long fielders were William and Dylan”. By Ben Collett, Prep 4

Swimming Gala

This year’s swimming gala saw the standard of swimming increase yet again-showcasing the children’s hard work over the year. This year we introduced some new races, with a junior freestyle race and a house canon, with one chid from each house from each prep raced, a great way to include the whole school. As always it was a brilliant competition with St Andrews taking the cup.

Sports Day

A beautiful day made sure our sports day went off without a hitch. A jam packed afternoon of races, involving children from across the school. Lower school started off with sprints, then moved to hurdles, in and out, object pick up and finished with a relay. The upper school started with sprints, hurdles, ball through, javelin throw and finished with house relays. The children all tried their hardest, with St Andrews taking the cup. A big thank you must go to Mr George, who put in the hard work to organise both the swimming gala and sports day and all the other sporting events we have had this year.

Finally, we wish our Prep 6 goodbye and lots of luck in their new schools.

Looking Ahead September Tues 6th – 11+ morning with Mr Clark and Mr George, 10am-12noon Thurs 8th - 11+ morning with Mr Clark and Mr George 10am-12noon Mon 12th – Term begins

- Preps 3/4/6 parents to meet Form Tutors, 4.30pm start Tues 13th – First Swim of term

- Preps 1/2/5 parents to meet Form Tutors, 4.30pm start Wed 14th – New Parents Coffee Morning Fri 16th – Prep 4 Science trip to Bigbury Sands. Sat 17th – 11+ CEM Tests