Chitts Hill, Lexden, Colchester, Essex, CO3 9ST

FROM THE HEADMASTER . . .

Spring Term, Week 1

www.holmwood.essex.sch.uk

Happiness is the key to progress

Tel: 01206 574305

Friday 12 January 2018

HOLMWOOD HOUSE

NEWSLETTER Chitts Hill, Lexden, Colchester, Essex, CO3 9ST

FROM THE HEADMASTER.. .

Tel: 01206 574305

beginning to settle in

brilliantly. Meg and

Phoebe are from New

Zealand and Josh,

Emma and Anthony are

from Australia. Once

they have found their

feet I am sure they will

be offering themselves

for babysitting duties in

due course.

I am pleased to

introduce Mrs Seymour

to you. As you will

know, Mrs Deacon is

on maternity leave and

Mrs Seymour will be

teaching PRE during

2018. Teaching every

child in the Prep school,

she is looking forward

to getting to know the

children.

This term is very short;

5 weeks before half

term and 5 weeks after

it. There is a huge

amount to cram in and I

Dear Parents

Happy New Year!

It was great to see every-

one back happy and

smiling on Tuesday and

the term has got off to a

very positive start. Re-

hearsals are underway

for the Years 4/5

production of Alice! The

Musical. The 6s and 7s

will be hot on their heels

with Beauty and the

Beast a few weeks

later.

There are lots of events

in boarding this term,

not least the annual

Burns Supper for the

Year 8s! Other events

for the younger years

look exciting and I look

forward to seeing lots

taking part.

Our 5 new Shadows

have landed and are

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

Monday 15 January Times Table Challenge Round 1

Tuesday 16 January Tutor/Tutee Interviews

Wednesday 17 January Library Event Day & Scholastic

half price book sale

Thursday 18 January Tutor/Tutee Interviews

3.15pm U9 A, B & C Rugby

v St Cedd's (H)

4.30pm U11 & U10 Swimming

Fixture v St Mary's (H)

Following the success of previous Family Film Nights, the Friends of

Holmwood House are planning another cinema evening on Friday 2 February.

This will take place in the Jubilee Hall and is open to both Prep and Pre-Prep

families. We are planning to show 'The Jungle Book (2016)'.

Tickets for this evening will be £5 per person and include a hotdog, popcorn

and bottle of water and a bar will be available during the evening. You will be

receiving an email from the office for booking.

FOHH CINEMA NIGHT . . .

look forward to seeing

you at various points

throughout.

Best wishes

Alexander Mitchell

Headmaster

In recognition of their demonstration

of one or all of the Golden Rules, the

following children have received

Golden Awards this week:

GOLDEN AWARDS

Reception:

Phoebe R

Jayden O

Stanley J

Annie B

Year 1:

Arran M

Leo P

Year 2:

Herbert BP

Daisy M

Daisy B

Year 3:

Leonardo U

Cassie G

William E

Theo C

Harriers

Harriers will be taking place tomorrow

(Saturday) as usual on Colts field

8.45am to 10.15am.

Please remember to bring hats and

gloves!

Scholarship

Congratulations to Hollie DR for

being awarded a Sports Scholarship to

Millfield.

Page 2 Friday 12 January 2018, Spring Term, Week 1

ELEMENT NEWS . . .

AIR

LAND

LA

ND

WATER

WA

TE

R

We started our Element meeting by introducing our new Shadow, Emma.

It was Oliver J’s birthday on 6 January so we wished him a belated happy birthday.

Our activity this week was a doughnut eating competition. Henry D was the overall winner.

Quote of the week:

“In school you learn the lessons and take the tests and in life you take the tests and

learn the lessons.”

Song of the week was by Portugal the Man:

“Feel it still.”

Happy New Year to everyone.

Misha B

Happy New Year from Land.

This week we introduced our new Shadows, Meg and Josh, to Land.

Happy birthday to Zara M and Hector BP who both had their birthdays in the holidays.

Well done to Tom B for winning the junior stars. He also helped Mr Jeffries’ tutor group to win Donkey.

Jesse D won the senior stars of the week and Mrs Mookherjee’s tutor group was this weeks victor.

This week’s entertainment was a skipping competition. The pupils had to skip for 30 seconds and if they

finished they were awarded 5 points and if they added any tricks in to their skip, they were awarded an

extra point. The winner was Theo K.

Quote of the week by Ann Landers:

“Opportunities come when you work hard, but you just don’t know it.”

Lucy B

Welcome back everyone and Happy New Year.

We welcomed our new Shadows to the Element (Phoebe and Anthony) and Mrs Seymour who is covering

Mrs Deacon’s maternity leave.

Arabella D gave a fantastic news report including a snow report from around the world.

This week we started with the stars and winning the Star Cup at the end of last term. The junior stars

winner this week was Benedict V and the winning tutor group was a tie between Mrs Apperley and Mr

Calow. The senior stars winner was Jude S and the winning tutor group was Mr Kershaw’s.

Delilah C gave a presentation about her travels with Peter the Penguin over the holidays. She took him

to Switzerland where Peter learned to ski and had to go through passport control! Thanks to her

amazing presentation, Delilah was awarded Coral.

Kaela Swaine

AIR

Page 3 Friday 12 January 2018, Spring Term, Week 1

Remember ....... Keep Reading Mrs Apperley, Librarian

SHADOWS . . .

LIBRARY NEWS . . .

We are very much looking forward to our Scholastic half price book sale on Wednesday 17 January 2018 in the Library.

Parents are welcome to come along between 2.00pm - 3.00pm before pick up time at 3.15 pm or please do come and browse

with your children until 4.00 pm. Thank you in advance for all you support.

A very warm welcome to our new Shadows - Josh, Anthony and Emma from Australia and Phoebe and Meg from New Zealand.

They are all settling in really well and getting to know everyone and everything at Holmwood. Please introduce yourselves to

them and if you require any babysitting, they are available on the numbers below:

Phoebe - 07923 911362

Emma - 07923 969736

Meg - 07923 969761

Anthony - 07714 189506

Josh - 07714 189427

Page 3 Friday 12 January 2018, Spring Term, Week 1

BADGES . . .

Congratulations to the following pupils for receiving badges in assembly this week.

Year 8 Academic Pin - Kaela S 3Cs - Henry W and Kaela S

Progress Badge for improved effort, achievement or both over the course of the autumn tern:

Year 8 Year 7 Year 6 Year 5 Year 4

Flora D Harry O Toby F Tom B Noah K

Noah T Theo K Jack T Isobel B Jack M

Will D Davina M Sophie D Jack R Alicia L

Harry P Georgina C Finley O Kaydan H

Hannah L Angus M Alfie F Sam P

Ava G George N Delilah C

Martha M Benedict V Fen J

Louis L Ashton P Sienna Y-A

Hector B-P Jude F Issy A-B

Henry N Ottilie W

Tom F Isabel D

Olivia D

Poppy M

Effort Badge: Year 8 Year 7 Year 6 Year 5 Year 4 Kaela S Hannah L Imogen J Sophie H Rameen A

Arabella D Margot F Dominique G Luca C Eloise C

Dominic T Samuel F Anna P Henry W Charlotte G

Hamish I Ava G Oscar S George H Sophie P

Oscar D Josiah C Lewis T Clara M Fred O

Ocar C Emmanuella I Flora D Rafe C Edward L-D

Jack G Patrick A Jude S Alexandra M Elsie B

Hebe W Ilayda H Sarah E Martha H James S

Lucy B Rufus C Jesse D Thomas C Bea A

Honor D Martha M Georgina C Henry N Ottilie W

Daniel R-P Joshua R Sophie D Holly S Issy A-B

Lucy P Ashton P Charles D

George S Wilf C Emily A

Phoebe R-L Harry S

Hollie D R

Flora D

Achievement Badge: Year 8 Year 7 Year 6 Year 5 Year 4

Daniel R-P Margot F Imogen J Clara M Eloise C

Kaela S Samuel F Anna P Luca C Charlotte G

Oscar C Josiah C Dominique G Sophie H James S

Honor D Harry O Jude S Henry W Sophie P

Arabella D Emmanuella I Lewis T George H

Hamish I Toby P Rafe C

Lucy B Anna B Alexandra M

Lucy P Martha H

Jack G Thomas C

Dominic T

Leo S

Thomas L

Oscar D

Hollie D R

Freya J

AJ P-S

Hebe W

Page 4 Friday 12 January 2018, Spring Term, Week 1

GEOGRAPHY . . .

Year 7 Coastal Management

Towards the end of the autumn term, 2017, all pupils in Year 7 took part in activities aimed to enhance their knowledge and

understanding of coastal protection. Pupils began with a game of ‘Coastal Management Top Trumps’ - this improved their

knowledge of the variety of coastal protection methods in use at the moment. They went on to tackle a DME (Decision Making

Exercise) based on the fictional scenario ‘Can we save the North Naze!’ In groups, pupils considered the suitability of a number

of different coastal protection methods within an overall plan to protect the north part of the coastline at Walton-on-the-Naze

from weathering and erosion. Each group presented their findings to their peers and the

most effective plan was chosen as a winner, with one star given to each member of the

winning group. The pupils learned a huge amount about coastal protection and the need

for coastal protection from taking part in these fun activities.

Page 5 Friday 12 January 2018, Spring Term, Week 1

GEOGRAPHY . . .

Year 8 River Landform Modelling

As part of their learning of river features and processes, all pupils in Year

8 spent lesson time towards the end of last term, building plasticine

models.

Once pupils had completed the construction, they explained the features/

processes by annotating the model. Each group then presented their model

to the rest of the class.

Kinesthetic learning enhances all children’s knowledge and understand-

ing; one of the aims of the Geography Department is to expand this area

of the children’s learning.

. . .

Page 6 Friday 12 January 2018, Spring Term, Week 1

For up-to-date match fixtures

and cancellations, please visit

the Sports Fixtures page of the

school website.

Wednesday afternoons

On Wednesdays, the Prep school finishes

at 3.15pm or after matches finish. If it is

not possible for you to collect your child,

or arrange for them to be collected by

someone else, it is possible to arrange for

them to be looked after at school until

such time as you are able to collect

them. This is a wraparound care facility,

not an activity session, so your child will

simply be asked to read a book while

they wait with a member of staff.

I t is therefore preferred i f

children do not stay at school beyond

3.15pm or matches (other than boarders,

of course) but the facility is there if

essential.

Please make sure this is booked in

advance via the front office so we can

ensure adequate staffing.