This week I have been lucky enough to go on the Form 4 Residential to Brenscombe Outdoor Centre. Despite the torrential rain we had forecast, we actually managed to avoid a lot of the showers and had a fantastic few days away. The children went raft building, hiking, climbing and night walking – to name just a few of their activities. They challenged themselves and showed courage, commitment and compassion – and even some creativity as their designed their own rafts before taking them to water! Mrs Gough, Mrs Brown and I have been extremely proud of their resilience and positive attitudes. A superb residential!
Today in assembly we had a particularly special assembly as we celebrated our fabulous TA’s for National Teaching Assistant Day. Mrs Moss led the assembly which involved a game which gave each TA (and pupil reps in the absence of some of our TAs!) a mystery present which they got to choose and swap as the game progressed. Each bag was full of special treats. Mrs Shead, Miss Brown, Mrs Culshaw, Mr Holland, Mrs Stein and Mrs Baker – you are all so appreciated for all that you do for the children and staff at Sunninghill. Thank you.
As usual, we celebrated the children’s achievements with Elodie, Remi, Elsie, Elizabeth, Fin, Coco, Sasha and all of Form 8 achieving a Well Done certificate. Penelope, AJ, Olivia, Heidi, Nathaniel and Louis N each achieved the cup this week for Academic Excellence and enjoyed hot chocolate and treats with Mrs Moss at break time!
This week George and Felix won the Commitment prize, Elizabeth and Joni the Compassion prize, Ivy and Henry the Courage prize and Oliver and Louis N the Creativity prize. What was especially pleasing to hear from Mr Holland was that our Compassion housepoints have nearly trebled since last week which makes me incredibly proud.
Senior assembly on Monday took on an historic twist with Anya Pearson and Tabitha Scholfield coming in to speak to the children about a local campaign they have launched to nominate our very own ‘Shero’, or local historic female hero. They discussed the types of statues the children may recognise and how very few are representative of women and their contributions to society. The children learned about a variety of local heroines including the Dorset Button Makers and Sarah Eldridge who was part of the Pope family who lived in the house which is now part of Sunninghill Prep School.
The children debated the merits of each nominee, eventually choosing Mary Mullet Moule (1802 – 1877) as their preferred female hero. She was a fierce advocate for the poor. Mary and her husband the Reverend Henry Moule worked hard to improve the lives of the most vulnerable in society opening school houses for them to attend and often financing project themselves. During the cholera outbreaks of 1849 and 1854, Mary bravely visited many affected households in Fordington, organising initiatives such as burning infected clothing and utilising sluices to flush out the disease from impoverished housing. The Moules also ran a self-supporting commune at their vicarage, cultivating vegetables and raising cows.
The final nomination to be decided by the local community is set to be announced in November. The statue will be created and designed by the Stoke-on-Trent-based sculptor Denise Dutton, who developed the statue of Mary Anning which resides in Lyme Regis.
The Form 5 pupils visited Shire Hall Historic Courts to discover about the local judicial system in Victorian times with a focus on smuggling in the Dorset area. They looked at different types of evidence such as artefacts and written records related to this and particularly enjoyed role-playing different characters who would have been involved in smuggling to enhance their understanding further. The tour of the cells was atmospheric and the final part of the afternoon took place in the court room. A mock trial was held and this gave the children an opportunity to show off what they had learnt earlier in the session. Some rather harsh punishments were given out at times! Next Thursday, we will continue our investigations as Shire Hall will be visiting us.
Yesterday we were delighted to host the ATB5 Music conference welcoming heads of music and music teachers from many of our local schools. A wonderful opportunity to share ideas and best practice and take part in various inspiring workshops. The day ended with a samba performance from all the attendees, to the delight of our nursery and reception children who were invited to watch! Thank you to Mrs Nolan-Stone for such a well organised event.
Next week we are delighted to be welcoming lots of our new baby room families who are coming to visit our newly refurbished baby room in Little Robins Nursery. We also have lots of prospective families coming to visit next Saturday 5th October for our Open Morning, and I would like to thank all of those children who are giving up their time on Saturday to help show off our wonderful school.
Have a fantastic weekend!
David
