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School Office: 01737 649000

Weekly Newsletter Issue No.31– 2014/2015 5th June 2015

The following items can be found within this week’s Newsletter:

Whole School Wanted – Plates, Clocks & Crockery (p.2)

School Food Goes ‘Foodie’ (pp.2-3) Junior School

Dates for your Diary (p.4) Trip to the Kia Oval (p.5)

Senior School Mufti Day (p.5)

Y8 Netherlands Trip (p.6) Drama Department News (p.6)

Menu w.c 08.06.2015

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose!”

Dr Seuss

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WHOLE SCHOOL

Wanted – Unwanted Plates

If you have any unwanted plates at home we would be grateful for donations! We would like to make our own cake stands and have all that we need except for plates – any sizes or colours will do! Unfortunately we will not be able return the plates to you. We are also still trying to gather together as many clocks (broken preferred) and unbroken – teapots, cups and saucers. The latter can be returned to you. But please don’t lend us your best Sevres service! We need them by the end of term (Tuesday if possible) but the sooner the better! If anyone has any connections with WI or a Church Group please could they ask there or pass me the contact details? We need about 100 teapots of different sizes and ideally about 1000 cups and saucers. Please pass contributions to the school kitchen or me clearly labelled with your name and whether or not you would like them returned.

Miss Vaughan

School Food Goes ‘Foodie’

Providing pupils with tasty and healthy lunches is no easy task for most schools. As a boarding school, the Royal Alexandra and Albert School has an even greater challenge, providing three meals a day for up to 1000 hungry children and teenagers. This week, Barny Cross, the School’s Executive Chef Manager, has unveiled a brand new set of menus that is hoped will prove a success with pupils. The menus have been designed to not only be healthy but to also be delicious and exciting. For example, on one Tuesday, pupils will be treated to a French inspired lunch with a choice of Coq au Vin with shallots and garlic or Beef Bourguignon with roasted celeriac. For vegetarians, there is the option of root vegetable Cassolet with roasted garlic. Dessert is a plum Clafoutis. Other lunches will focus on familiar English fare like cottage pie, exotic Indian food including a chickpea Chana Masala, a taste of Caribbean cuisine with Jamaican beef curry, and a venture into traditional Scottish food with a vegetarian haggis. In the evenings, boarders will have an even greater choice of meals to pick from. Each night has been given a theme, including Cockney East End Night, Chinese Banquet, and It’s All Greek To Me Night. Meals will range from Beef Stiffado and traditional meat pies to Cantonese style chicken and Moroccan spiced white fish stew. Barny, who works for the School’s caterers, Harrisons Catering Services Ltd, explains the idea behind the new menus, “The new menus are definitely more “foodie” than before. We hope they strike a good balance between stretching pupils’ pallets and offering them the option of eating meals they will enjoy and feel comfortable with.”

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Although the new menus have been made to wow pupils and staff, their nutritional value is paramount. The new menus have been vetted by a nutritionist who was involved with the National Legislation for School Food Standards, which the School meets. Barny said, “The old menus were good but these new menus will ensure that pupils eat more vegetables. For example, our Chili Con Carne now has more carrots than before. We want pupils to make smart food choices independently; however, we need to remember that some won’t and that we need to give them a little nudge.” So far the new meals have been given the thumbs up. The School’s Food Committee, which is made up of representatives from all of the School’s boarding houses, were impressed with all the options available. Adam Woolcock, Food Committee member and Year 10 boarder, said, “The menus look fantastic, lots of different and exciting foods to try!” The new menus are also a way to create a higher level of interaction and engagement between pupils and the catering department. This will ensure that pupils not only have access to healthy food but have the opportunity to learn about nutrition and gain important food skills. Barny is planning a range of activities for the future which will encourage pupils to get stuck in with food preparation. Plans are being put together for the School’s chefs to go into the boarding houses to provide cooking demonstrations and prepare meals with pupils. Other ideas for events include blind tasting sessions and a whole school Master Chef style event. Headmaster Paul Spencer Ellis is delighted with the innovative lunches and dinners. “The School has a duty to provide pupils with healthy meals but that certainly doesn’t mean that they have to be boring! The new menus created by Harrisons are fantastic, and I’m certain they will widen our pupils’ food horizons.”

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JUNIOR SCHOOL

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SENIOR SCHOOL

RAAS Trip to the Kia Oval

On Tuesday we went to the Kia Oval to watch Surrey vs. Lancashire. As we arrived at the Oval, Surrey were on 448-8. There were loads of activities – there was bowling practice, fielding practice and just playing cricket. We got signatures from Kevin Pietersen and loads more players. As the game started we saw Lancashire take their first bowl and they got Meaker out. A couple of overs later and Surrey were all out 456. When we went off to play cricket we saw the Surrey mascot, Caesar the Lion. He played cricket with us and Max got him out by leg before wicket. We were allowed to get our faces painted, as some people did, and they had green hearts painted on their face and chin. There were some girls who played for Surrey and they gave us their signatures. Mr Leoffeler was very proud of us as no one messed around during the trip and he also said we were the best class at the Oval! As we left the Oval, Lancashire were 101-3.

By Tommy, Matt & Alex M

Mufti Day The Senior School Mufti Day held on Thursday 4th June for Years 7-10 raised a grand total of

£580.00 which will be sent to the crisis in Nepal.

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Netherlands 2016 – Year 8 – 24.02.2016 – 27.02.2016

*PLACES STILL AVAILABLE*

Following another successful visit to the Netherlands, the Geography and English Departments have arranged for Year 8 students to be given the opportunity of a study visit to the Netherlands. This will be our ninth visit because as well as being very popular it is also educationally and socially beneficial. We will depart on 24th February 2016, returning on 27th February 2016. It is planned that we will leave early and return late, so in addition to the two full days we also have the opportunity of two half days’ worth of study. The cost of this trip will be £350 based on 45 pupils – all information is available on Wisepay.

Drama Department News

Booking is now open for the long-anticipated: Y8 horror show Friday 19th June 7pm RAAS PAC Suitable for pupils Y7 upwards Free entry with retiring collection Email emmalove@gatton-park.org.uk to book Boarders book through houses.