The Fortnight That Was…. 13 May—23 May 2014 T

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T 25th Anniversary

Robinson House Assembly Last Friday, Rob Haylock from Rainbows – hospice for children and young people, visited the Junior School. Mr Haylock explained that families visit Rainbows for care, rest and to feel better about themselves. He talked about the good and varied work that takes place and showed the children photographs of some of the equipment and facilities they have on offer. In order to maintain their current level of care, Rainbows needs £4 million per year. The whole Junior School wore mufti to help raise funds for this great cause and the pupils from Robinson sold cakes at break time. There was also a competition to guess the name of the teddy bear. The day was very successful and raised £250 for this very worthy cause.

J3 Climb New Heights J3 had great fun this week when they visited The Pinnacle Climbing Centre in Northampton. Many of the children tried climbing each of the different walls and no doubt arrived home that evening completely exhausted!

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Camp-Forest School Mike Collins, a ranger from the Everdon Centre, ran a fabulous Forest School in the School’s grounds this week, as part of Kits, Squirrels, J1 and J2’s Activity Week. The children enjoyed it so much, they even had fun in the rain!

Gold Award Certificates Over the course of their time in the Sixth Form, Prefects earn credits through academic endeavour, service to the School and the wider community, and through the fulfilment of their duties as a Prefect. Gold Award Certificates were presented in assembly by Mr Toone to: Siân Eaves, Megan Heaton-Harris, Aiden Lawrence, Flora Louden, Jon Mundy and Serafina Pang. Many congratulations to you all!

‘I love coming to ‘I love coming to ‘I love coming to ‘I love coming to Pitsford, it is one of Pitsford, it is one of Pitsford, it is one of Pitsford, it is one of the happiest schools I the happiest schools I the happiest schools I the happiest schools I have ever worked have ever worked have ever worked have ever worked with.’ with.’ with.’ with.’ Mike Lewis, Everdon Ranger

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Sporting Progress on Twitter:

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School Skiing Trip—Easter 2015 Who: All senior pupils welcome What: School Skiing Trip When: Saturday 28 March—Saturday 5 April 2015 Where: Salzburg Sportweit Austria Why: Have a great time learning to ski or improving your skills with your friends from School. Why not?! For full details go to: www.pitsfordschool.com, choose the ‘About Us’ tab, then select ‘Recent Letters’. Scroll down to: Salzburg Sportweit Austria

A group of skiers from our last trip in Alpe D'huez , France. Can you spot the ‘Moose of the Day?’

Year 9 Geography Trip Year 9 Geographers recently spent the day studying the North Norfolk coastline, or what was left of it following last winter's ferocious storms. The day began with a study of coastal erosion and coastal management strategies at Hunstanton. Viewers of the BBC's Countryfile programme may recollect an interview with one local resident who, having spent the last 20 years piling stones up at the base of Hunstanton's famous striped cliff to slow down erosion, has been forced to start again from scratch as the sea literally changed the shape of the coastline overnight. Later in the day we moved along to Brancaster Golf Course to view different strategies to cope with the sea's insatiable appetite. Here £1.7million is currently being spent to repair last winter's storm damage. Famous for being the only links golf course in the area, the club-house is now surrounded by sand on 3 sides and is cut off completely at high tide. A controversial managed retreat site was created next to the golf course in 2002, one of the first experimental sites in the country. Our final stop was at Burnham-Overy-Staithe where we were able to stretch our legs on a long walk along the sea wall past saltmarshes, reclaimed fields, wildlife reserves to some fine sand dunes. Although the students were more interested in the opportunities for sliding and rolling rather than studying coastal habitats, the cross-curricular value of Geography fieldtrips was appreciated by all concerned.

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Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Practice Weekend 10/11 May 2014 The sun was shining when we arrived at School at 8am on Saturday morning but unfortunately by the time we arrived in the Peak District a few hours later, the weather had deteriorated. Sixteen students from Year 10 set off in three teams to walk 15km carrying everything they needed (including tents) in their backpacks. The weather wasn’t very kind but there were at least breaks between the rain showers. Once the teams arrived at the campsite the challenge was then to put tents up and cook under very windy (and wet) conditions. It was raining more and more so they soon retired to their tents. Sleep proved somewhat elusive however as the rain continued heavily all night, making a very loud noise on the tent canvas! Sunday morning saw the teams having to take down wet tents in the continuing rain, and putting them back into their bags. They then set off on day two of walking, head-on into driving rain for most of the day. It was pretty unpleasant to say the least! One team even had the misfortune to arrive at a footbridge about 10 minutes away from their finish point only to find the fields either side flooded, which meant they had to turn round and head back up the hill for an extra couple of kilometres! The pupils were all fantastic however and simply got on with it and put up with the atrocious conditions – even Mr Dean’s phone gave up half way through Sunday due to the rain! Hopefully the weather will be a little kinder to us for the assessed weekend in June…

Year 7 Barbican Trip On the 9th May, Year 7 went to St Luke's, The Barbican in London. We attended a workshop on Gamelan music. Gamelan are Indonesian percussion instruments played using beaters. At first we had to take our shoes off as a sign of respect to Indonesia culture. Our workshop leader was called Andy and we introduced ourselves by clapping our names to a beat. We experimented on different gamelan instruments to understand how they sounded. We then played different cylces of 8 beats using different rhythms and changing gamelan instruments. We practised this several times. After a break we learnt a warrior cycle called 'Baris'. This was much more complicated and everyone had to concentrate and listen to each other. It was amazing the sound we all made together. I especially liked the gongs which helped maintain the beat. We watched a film clip which showed us warrior dancers accompanied by gamelan music. It all came together and we could see how the music and dance complimented each other. It was very theatrical with the dancers and drummers wearing red and gold costumes. I found out so much about Gamelan and Indonesian culture. It was a really enjoyable and memorable experience.

Dilon Hamlyn

Bridge?!!

The Upper Sixth’s Final Days…. What a fantastic final week the Upper Sixth have had! There have been quizzes, pranks, a Leavers’ Service at Pitsford Church, a Leavers’ Dinner in Pitsford Hall, tears and laughter. Here are some of the pictures from the week…….

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Past Pupil Success The Pitsford Post is always delighted to hear news from our past pupils and we were delighted to hear about Emily Mabbutt’s recent success. Emily has fought off National and International competition and won the second overall prize in the prestigious Worshipful Company Of Feltmakers London, Millinery Competition 2014. Her winning entry is shown here. The competition is run and judged by Rachel Trevor Morgan (HM the Queen’s Milliner) and was also judged by other industry professionals, like acclaimed Hilary Alexander. Emily was ‘totally over whelmed’ with her result and excited that her work had been seen and judged by industry professionals! Emily is currently studying both ‘Level 3 Fashion and Clothing’ and also ‘Millinery’ at Northampton College. We wish Emily every success in the future and we will be following her career with interest.

We wish you all the best of luck in your exams. School will be open on Results Day: Thursday 14 August, from 10.30am. See you then!

Rounders, cricket and outdoor fun

BBQ

Marshmallow toasting round the campfire!

Ticket price: £6, concessions £4. Children under 5 free

Camping available: £10 per tent

Tickets available from the School Office

Saturday 21 June, from 2pm

www.pitsfordschool.com

Family Fun and Sports Afternoon

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Menus As all our produce is sourced locally, menus are subject to change and older pupils will be offered additional options which are not shown here.

Monday 28 April Chicken breast cooked in a light cream sauce with a cheese and herb crust, served with Pilau rice, peas and sweetcorn. (V) Chunky vegetable paella Selection of fresh fruit or selection of cheesecake Tuesday 29 April Homemade Cornish pasty, served with creamed potato and fresh broccoli (V) Quorn and vegetable pasty, served with creamed potato and fresh broccoli Selection of fresh fruit or strawberry jelly and ice cream Wednesday 30 April Roast loin of pork, roast potatoes, sage and onion stuffing, Yorkshire pudding, roast gravy and fresh vegetables (V) Stuffed peppers, gravy Selection of fresh fruit or yoghurt Thursday 1 May Individual homemade pizza: ham, ham and pineapple, pepper and mozzarella, served with chips and salad (V) Pizza with fresh vegetables Selection of fresh fruit or peaches and ice cream Friday 2 May Jacket potato, served with a choice of fillings: tuna and sweetcorn, cheese or chicken and bacon, served with mixed salad and homemade coleslaw Selection of fresh fruit or homemade cake

Monday 5 May Bank holiday—no school Tuesday 6 May Homemade sausage roll, sautéed potatoes and beans (V) Homemade vegetarian sausage roll, sautéed potatoes and beans Selection of fresh fruit or home-made biscuit Wednesday 7 May Roast Topside of Beef, roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, roast gravy and served with fresh vegetables (V) Cheese and tomato pastry slice, roast potatoes and fresh vegetables Selection of fresh fruit or yoghurt Thursday 8 May Chilli Con Carne served with Basmati rice (V) Vegetable Chilli Con Carne served with Basmati rice Selection of fresh fruit or chocolate sponge and custard Friday 9 May Jumbo Fish Fingers, creamed potatoes and peas (V) Cheese omelette and mixed salad Selection of fresh fruit or ice cream

PARENTS’ NOTICEBOARD If you have a message for other parents at Pitsford School,

please let me know and I will include it in the next Pitsford Post. Email: jheatonharis@pitsfordschool.com

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What’s On Looking Ahead? Monday 2 June: 8.40am Summer Term resumes Jnr Lunchtime: Football Club Junior After School Clubs: Rounders, American Football, Needle Craft Snr Lunchtime: Choir Practice Tuesday 3 June: Junior After School Clubs: Recorder J3-J6, Sailing, Hotshots Basketball Lunchtime: Speech and Drama 1.45pm U14/15 Rounders (a) Quinton House 2.45pm U15 Cricket (a) Caroline Chisholm Wednesday 4 June: Jnr Lunchtime: Junior School Council 2pm U11 Cricket (a) Lincroft 3pm U10 Rounders (a) Quinton House Junior After Schools Clubs: Athletics, Gardening Snr Lunchtime: Pop & Gospel Choir Thursday 5 June: pm Junior School Swimming Lessons Junior After School Clubs: Tennis, Running Snr Lunchtime: Gardening Club 3.30pm U12/13 Rounders (a) NSG 4pm U13 Cricket (h) Northampton Academy 4pm U15 Cricket (a) Moulton Friday 6 June: Jnr Lunchtime: School Dance Club and Advanced Recorder Junior After School Clubs: Chess 3pm Recorder Club for Beginners pm Junior School Swimming Lessons Snr Lunchtime: Gardening Club 4.20pm Latin Activity 5.20pm GCSE/A-level Art Exhibition in Pitsford Hall Saturday 7 June: 8am: D of E Bronze Assessed Expedition departs

For the complete list

of Senior Activities, see the Activity Booklet on

www.pitsfordschool.com

Monday 9 June: Jnr Lunchtime: Football Club Junior After School Clubs: Rounders, American Football, Needle Craft 1.30pm U11 Cricket (a) Quinton House 8am—7pm Yr 8 Walsingham Snr Lunchtime: Choir Practice 7pm Dof E Bronze Expedition returns Tuesday 10 June: 9.30am Junior School Open Morning Junior After School Clubs: Recorder J3-J6, Sailing Hotshots Basketball Lunchtime: Speech and Drama 4pm U15 Cricket (h) Northampton Academy Wednesday 11 June: Jnr Lunchtime: Junior School Council Junior After Schools Clubs: Athletics, Gardening Snr Lunchtime: Pop & Gospel Choir 4pm Fishing Activity Thursday 12 June: am: J5 visit to Everdon pm Junior School Swimming Lessons Junior After School Clubs: Tennis, Running All day Junior Athletics, Alexander Stadium 3pm Yr 7 Athletics (a) Corby Snr Lunchtime: Gardening Club 4pm U15 Cricket (h) Kingsthorpe Friday 13 June: Jnr Lunchtime: School Dance Club and Advanced Recorder 3pm U8/9 Cricket (a) Quinton House Junior After School Clubs: Chess 3pm Recorder Club for Beginners pm Junior School Swimming Lessons 8am-7pm Yr10 Peak District Snr Lunchtime: Gardening Club 4.20pm Latin Activity