HEMDEAN HOUSE HEADTEACHER S LETTER Issue 12 Hemdean House Headteacher s Letter 9 th December 2016 CHRISTMAS TREE DONATED BY CAVERSHAM BRIDGE GARDEN CENTRE IN THIS ISSUE General News The switching-on of the Christmas tree lights in the hall took place last Friday after the headteacher award assembly. Names were pulled from a hat to decide which two children should switch them on. The tree has been donated by the PTA and new baubles bought to make the tree attractive. The baubles that children had decorated in their house colours were added to the tree to complete the festive look. Knighton won the house point challenge in the bauble competition. Thanks also to the PTA for decorating the hall. Years 1,2 and 3 enjoyed a trip to Grey s Court on Monday and saw the house decorated for the festive season. Please do not throw away any stamps you receive on Christmas cards as we will be collecting them to send to RNIB in the new term. This will be the last newsletter for this term so can I take this opportunity to wish you and your families a very happy holiday. I look forward to seeing you all again in the new term. General News Forthcoming Events Ginger Bread Grey s Court Christmas Tree Delicious Learning RNIB Stamp Appeal Baubles Forest School Refurbishment Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Pages 9 & 10 Page 11
HEMDEAN HOUSE HEADTEACHER S LETTER Issue 12 2 Forthcoming Events Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 will be going to the precinct in Caversham on Friday 9th to sing carols. The hand bell group will also be playing seasonal tunes. We leave school at 1.30 so if you would like to join us there and enjoy the children s singing please feel welcome. We will also be collecting for the Macmillan Nurses charity. On Monday 12th December The PTA are holding a festive celebration in the hall starting at 2.30. Stalls will be run by Years 5 and 6 to provide some festive fun for younger age groups. All activities are free. Parents are welcome to join their children in the hall. Children will be taken back to class for dismissal at the end of the day and then parents and children are welcome to return to the hall where there will be mince pies and mulled wine available. Wednesday 14th December The whole school will go to the pantomime at the Hexagon during the morning. Thursday 15th December Carol concert at 11.0 in St. Peter s Church. Children can be collected after the service outside the church. Each class will be dismissed by staff in turn. This will denote the end of term. Monday 9 th January 2017 Spring term starts. Tuesday 13th December The whole school will walk to the church for a rehearsal of the carol concert. Class parties will take place in the afternoon.
HEMDEAN HOUSE HEADTEACHER S LETTER Issue 12 3 Ginger Bread On Wednesday Year 4 had a taste of Swedish Christmas by making pepperkakor biscuits. It is traditional to make these on Santa Lucia day (13th December) and hang them in windows or on the tree with messages of goodwill iced onto them. The children helped mix the dough and rolled it out before cutting them into either a heart shape, a moose, or a horse. After baking they then iced and decorated their biscuits, before attaching a ribbon. I think you will agree the children produced some wonderful biscuits; I hope year 4 parents had a chance to try them! Report by Miss Hicks
HEMDEAN HOUSE HEADTEACHER S LETTER Issue 12 4 Grey s Court The children from Year 1, 2 and 3 spent a busy but enjoyable day at Greys Court. Although cold we were very lucky to have a bright and sunny day. Jamie made a very good donkey when a volunteer was needed to explain how the donkey wheel worked to pull up water from the well. We began with a tour of the house which was beautifully decorated for Christmas. The children learnt about the Brunner family and how they would have celebrated Christmas in the 1940s. After lunch there were craft activities creating items they had seen in the house from natural materials and some investigation of the materials and the house using artefacts. They made some interesting comparisons of how toys and furnishing had changed over the years. Then a tour of the grounds and gardens exploring the Ice House and the Kitchen Garden Report by Mrs Illingworth Finally they visited one of the oldest out buildings which was decorated in the style of a traditional Tudor Christmas as the house would have originally been.
HEMDEAN HOUSE HEADTEACHER S LETTER Issue 12 5 Christmas Tree The children with the Christmas trees very kindly donated by the newly opened Caversham Bridge Garden Centre. They are offering 10% off all Christmas trees when mentioning Hemdean House School.
HEMDEAN HOUSE HEADTEACHER S LETTER Issue 12 6 Delicious Learning Year 2 seem to have been enjoying a lot of food to support their learning over the last few weeks. Joshua' celebrated his birthday by treating the class to some Onigiri, a traditional Japanese snack of rice and salmon. The children thought these were really delicious and enjoyed Joshua's explanation of life in Tokyo. Next we learnt about and celebrated Thanksgiving and Mrs Sabin kindly came in to talk to the class about the history and family traditions for the celebration. The children made a pumpkins pie which was very useful for learning about fractions. How many fractions are left after Year 2 have eaten a Pumpkin Pie??!! Making Christingles in RE of course meant finishing off the spare oranges and sweets and a Georgraphy project on France meant we just had to try cheese and croissants. Next it was time to make our Christmas cakes and we used the experience to learn about measuring in grams and kilos as well as writing instructions and a list using our commas. Next we iced the cakes - some more maths and you will have to wait to see the final product... Finally Year 2 joined Year 3 at Forest School for a Christmas celebration of hot chocolate and marshmallows. Christmas is definitely here. Report by Mrs Illingworth
HEMDEAN HOUSE HEADTEACHER S LETTER Issue 12 7 RNIB Stamp Appeal With the Christmas card season upon us Hemdean House is delighted to be starting a new initiative to collect used postage stamps on an ongoing basis. This will be helping the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) the leading sight loss charity that offers information, support and advice to anyone with a sight problem. Please bring all your used postage stamps into school, leaving approximately 1 cm of envelope around each stamp to keep them undamaged, and we will forward them to the RNIB. Do please spread the word and tell all your family, friends, neighbours and colleagues that we are collecting and that we welcome everyone to drop off their stamps at the school office at any time during school hours. Thank you.
HEMDEAN HOUSE HEADTEACHER S LETTER Issue 12 8 Baubles Lovely assembly on Friday. The Christmas bauble entries all look amazing, well done Knighton for the winning design. The outside tree is also fully lit up now. Manjot Roy
HEMDEAN HOUSE HEADTEACHER S LETTER Issue 12 9 Forest School A Forest School Christmas There has been no lack of Christmas spirit in the Forest. Year 6 and Year 3 made candles from bees wax and decorated clay holders with ivy. Year 5 made ivy wreaths in traditional Victorian style and left these hanging in the Forest for decoration and Year 4 made some glittering pine cone baubles. Year 3 and Year 5 also managed to create decorated Christmas trees using a variety of natural materials which they found around the Forest together with their knotting skills Report by Mrs Illingworth
HEMDEAN HOUSE HEADTEACHER S LETTER Issue 12 10 All the year groups were treated to hot chocolate and marshmallows and Year 4 celebrated with Christmas carols. Great fun for everyone - or in the words of Yassine, "We are having the time of our lives!"
HEMDEAN HOUSE HEADTEACHER S LETTER Issue 12 11 Refurbishment The Head s office before and after the new carpet and the new hallway carpet in the house.
HEMDEAN HOUSE HEADTEACHER S LETTER Issue 12 Hemdean House Headteacher s Letter Hemdean House School Hemdean Road Reading, RG4 7SD Tel 0118 947 2590