I have just come out of a fantastic assembly. First we were treated to a beautiful performance by Iris on the harp. Then Mrs Moss announced some fabulous Spellzone weekly statistics – Sunninghill are now 11th in the world, as a class, Form 4 are 6th in the world and are top in our school for the 3rd week running. Daisy in Form 4 is top in the school for the 3rd week running, but more impressively 6th in the world, with Tina in Form 6, 9th in the world! Well done Sunninghill – let’s see if we can get in the top 10 next week! Form 7 then gave an excellent assembly on the topic of healthy eating. Such an important topic and thought provoking for our school community. Form 7 appealed to all the children to bring in healthy snacks for break times, like fruit or cereal bars, as we are conscious that more and more unhealthy snacks are coming into school. We would really appreciate your support with this healthy eating drive. The assembly ended with a wonderful performance from Olly on the piano and Freddie on his trumpet and healthy treats in the dining room for our Form 7 parents! Kerri and her team were also on hand at break time with fresh watermelon and pineapple slices for all the children.
On the subject of health and fitness, we have had a fabulous week of sport! The seniors played hockey and netball and enjoyed fixtures against Dumpton, Clayesmore and Knighton House. On Tuesday all our U8’s and U9’s played Mixed hockey at Redlands Community Leisure park. It was a fantastic afternoon with 4 matches happening at once and over 50 pupils playing competitive hockey. Sunninghill played brilliantly and tenaciously winning 7 of the 8 matches. Mrs Davies is also running a weekly yoga class for Nursery and Reception every Friday. They are all really enjoying it and benefitting from their relaxing sessions with her!
On Monday, Mrs Evans presented the second of our Academic Series on science at Sunninghill. Data shown in the presentation shows that Forms 4-8, the years where we assess the children for science, perform above the national average in every year group, which we are very proud of. During the presentation, parents were invited to take part in some group work, planning a fair test for dissolving. Form 3 did a fabulous job helping with the presentation with a dance that shows how they remember all the names of the different magnets! Next Monday, 30th January, Mrs Salisbury will be presenting the next of our Academic series on maths. Please remember to book your place and thank you in advance for supporting these events.
It has been a very exciting week for Science generally this week. All children across the school were able to go to the Science Dome in small groups to see a variety of films from Under the Sea in Nursery and Reception to Earth and Space in Form 1 and 2. Forms 3 and 4 had light and sound and looked at how radio waves help us to see into space. Forms 5 and 6 learnt about natural selection and Forms 7 and 8 had a nanocam show looking at the 5 kingdoms of life (but very zoomed in!)
Form 2 are looking at materials in science. Yesterday they conducted a practical assignment to explore and test the stretchiness of materials. The children were encouraged to see how far the material stretched using a ruler, by adding marbles, 2 at a time, and recording their results accurately. Once they had recorded their results they had to identify which material was the most stretchy and why they thought some materials were stretchier than others. A thorough piece of science work and fabulous teamwork skills.
On Wednesday, Mrs Fernley and myself were delighted to attend the ‘Rotary Youth Speaks: A Debate’. Two teams from Form 8 took part in this youth event organised for local middle schools by the Casterbridge Rotary Club. Our students were judged to be “brilliant” by the adjudicators who were also impressed by our speakers’ “authenticity, composure, body language, pace and volume.” The winning team will go through to the regional finals in Cheddar on 11th March.
Winners: Lucy, Mark and Alex
Second Place: Felix, Carolina and Charlie
Best Speaker: Lucy
As part of the PSHE topic on goals, achievements and future careers, Form 7 was very lucky to welcome Mrs Lockwood, Henry’s mum, to their lesson. Mrs Lockwood has had an interesting career in Humanitarian Aid and Development, taking her into many countries including Afghanistan, Kenya and Mali. There she has helped organise projects to train teachers and improve farming and health in many deprived areas. The class were absolutely fascinated by her talk and accompanying presentation, asking many perceptive questions. A few students even said that they would love a similar career! A big thank you from us all to Mrs Lockwood and we look forward to hearing about where you are going next!
Today, Form 8 delivered their moving and emotional poetry at the Holocaust Memorial event at the Corn Exchange in Dorchester. They have been working on this topic in a number of their English, history and religious studies lessons, sharing some very touching and thoughtful contributions. They should be immensely proud of their efforts.
We are delighted to have launched our community ‘buddy’ programme with Form 4. Each Friday, during enrichment, Form 4 are visiting Glencairn Care Home, where they are getting to know residents in order to write their biographies. Last week the children spent time playing games with the residents and this week they will be interviewing them and finding out about their fascinating and varied pasts. We are so proud of Form 4 who are so enthusiastic about this project and I look forward to updating you all over the coming weeks.
Next Friday 3rd February and Saturday 4th February we have our Open Mornings (whole school on the Friday and Reception only on the Saturday). We have had lots of enquiries, many of whom have said they have been recommended by current parents – so thank you to all of you who have been talking to your friends and family about us. We really appreciate your support. Please keep liking and sharing our posts. It really helps!
Next Saturday, 4th February, we are also launching the first of our parent and child tennis sessions, from 10.30am – 12pm. This will be a fun family event and details will be sent to you on Ping!
Finally, I want to leave you with these beautiful puppet theatres that Form 1 have produced this week to depict the story of Little Red Riding Hood. They had such fun creating these and they are absolutely fantastic.
Have a lovely weekend!
David
