Weekly Newsletter Friday 1st December 2023

A year at St Michael's banner

From the Head

Dear Parents,

Christmas has arrived at St Michael’s as our glorious Christmas trees have been decorated and rehearsals for our festive performances have entered their final stages this week. Thank you to the P & F and Estates Team for generously purchasing, and putting up, our three wonderful trees and wreath which have caused many squeals of excitement from both pupils and staff. The Christmas magic is set to continue this weekend at the P & F Christmas Fayre which promises to be a real treat. I look forward to seeing many of you at this fantastic event which may just give Winter Wonderland a run for its money!

On Tuesday, Year 7 experienced the story of Ebenezer Scrooge during an immersive retelling of A Christmas Carol at The Old Vic Theatre. Thank you to the English Department for organising this trip which brought the pupils’ classroom learning to life.

Other highlights this week have included a Swimming Gala, Parents’ Evenings and a trip to the KMFM studios for Year 7 pupils Jack and Mikayla which you can read more about in today’s newsletter.

We have ended the week with a heartfelt Christingle service by Years 2 and 3. Beautifully rehearsed and organised by Mrs Crane, Miss Balcombe and our Years 2 and 3 Teams, the event was a magical start to the Christmas calendar at St Michael’s.

Wishing you a brilliant weekend and I look forward to seeing you on the ice rink on Saturday!

Nik Pears

From the Head of Pre-Prep

ZERRIN PIC

Dear Parents,

We have started our Christmas in the perfect way this morning with Years 2 and 3 performing their Christingle service. It was a squash getting so many parents into the Hall to see the children, but we managed it and the children performed beautifully. Thank you for all the donations which will go to The Children’s Society.

Next week we embrace Christmas with The Wizard of Oz pantomime coming to entertain the children on Monday afternoon.

With all our nativities, refreshments will be served in the Pre-Prep Dining Room 15 minutes before the performance. Please try not to arrive too early as we will still be setting up.

 

Dates not to miss:

Tuesday 5th December - 11am Nursery 1 Nativity

Wednesday 6th December - 11am Nursery 2 Nativity

Thursday 7th December - 9am Reception Nativity

Thursday 7th December - 11am Kindergarten Nativity

Friday 8th December - 2.15pm Year 1 Nativity

Tuesday 12th December – 2.15pm Year 2 Nativity

Wednesday 13th December - Christmas Party Day – children to bring in a small plate of party food (they will have eaten their normal lunch). School uniform can be adorned with sparkles.

Thursday 14th December - Wear your Christmas jumper to school (over your uniform). This is also Christmas lunch day where Early Years will eat together in the Hall followed by Key Stage 1.

Friday 15th December - Break up for Christmas at 12.00. Prep school siblings will join Pre-Prep so you can collect brothers and sisters from one place.

 

Overheard in Pre-Prep:

Teacher: “This is called a triangular prism.”

Child: “Is that where you go if you are naughty?”

 

As I am writing this, there are so many excited voices as the snow falls right at the end of playtime. It looks like the sun will be out for tomorrow’s Christmas Fayre. Thank you to the P & F committee who have worked so hard to make what promises to be a spectacular event. See you all there!

 

Zerrin Leech

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Christmas arrives at St Michael's

Xmas collage

Christmas has arrived at St Michael's this week with the unveiling of our three beautifully decorated trees and a wreath locally crafted by Lilac and Lace Floral Design.

Thank you to the Parents & Friends for their generosity in donating the trees and wreath which will bring lots of Christmas magic to our last weeks of term.

Design Technology House Competition winners!

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This year pupils entered the first St Michael's Design Technology House Competition. The competition set pupils to make cupcake toppers that represented either Bonfire Night, Halloween or Christmas. There were two competitions: one for Years 3 to 5 and one for Years 6 to 8.

We were blown away by the number of entries and the sheer talent on show. 44 pupils entered to showcase their impressive sculpting skills. Both competitions were whittled down to a shortlist of 10 entries and were then voted on by the Prep school staff. We are delighted to announce that the winners are: For Years 3-5: Ella C - Leeds For Years 6-8: Louisa W - Dover

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Ella C, Year 5: bonfire and skeleton toppers

  Louisa Cupcake toppers

Louisa W, Year 8: Christmas tree, Santa, gingerbread man and snowman toppers

Everyone who entered will receive a house point and everyone who made the shortlist will receive a Silver Star. Our two winners will receive a Head's Star and a trophy that will be displayed on their school house shelf. Congratulations to our winners and well done to everyone who took part!

Ms Gilbrook, DT and Art Teacher

Years 2 and 3 Christingle 

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Christmas officially began at St Michael's this week, beginning with our annual Years 2 and 3 Christingle. On Thursday, Year 2 joined with Year 3 to rehearse their service and make their Christingle oranges together

Christingle maing collage

On Friday morning, Pre-Prep welcomed Years 2 and 3 parents to watch the Christingle performance. The children sang Shine Jesus Shine and Love Shone Down beautifully as well as using their acting skills to portray the meaning of Christingle. Thank you to those who generously donated to the collection. In total £519.03 was raised for The Children's Society who work towards transforming the lives of young people.

Live from KMFM studios!

KMTV collage

Year 7 pupils Jack and Mikayla were stars of KMFM radio on Wednesday afternoon as they travelled with Mrs Thornton, Mrs Caswall and Miss Usher to the recording studios in Rochester.

The exciting outing saw Jack and Mikayla record an advert about St Michael’s bursaries in a professional studio followed by speaking to and watching daytime presenter Andy Walker live on the radio.

During their visit, Mikayla and Jack were also lucky to receive a tour of the site, seeing members of the team hard at work as well as the mountain of toys that have been donated by listeners as part of their Give a Gift Christmas campaign. To the pupils’ delight, they were also given KMFM Santa hats which they wore throughout their visit and were even given one to bring back for Mr Pears!

At the end of the trip, Tara from KMFM announced that Gary and Chelsea, their morning hosts, would give Jack, Mikayla and special fan, Mrs Beesley, our Prep Receptionist, a shoutout on their Thursday show; this sound clip can be heard here.

Help St Michael's support local hygiene bank

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This time of year is particularly challenging for many families and the children have been thinking about ways they could make a difference. In form times, Year 5 and 6 pupils have learnt about the work of hygiene banks and have been bringing in various hygiene products to support a local hygiene bank. The collection is going reasonably – thank you, but I would like to encourage as many Prep pupils as possible (even those not in Year 5 or 6) to contribute to this important cause. The hygiene bank requested the following items: body wash, shower gel, hand cream, soap, shampoo and conditioner, tooth paste and toothbrushes. Any items bought in can be dropped into the tub on the Senior Landing.

Thank you for your support.

Mrs Baisch, Head of Year 5 & 6

Year 7 experience A Christmas Carol at The Old Vic!

Christmas Carol collage

“Bah Humbug!” is not an expression I would use to describe A Christmas Carol.  The Year 7s were lucky enough to see this show at The Old Vic on Tuesday. It started off with some mince pies and oranges being handed out. Then the show began and the crowd went silent. Lanterns, spirits and amazement sprung to life. It was brilliant! The band helped create a Victorian atmosphere. In some ways it was very true to the book, but in other ways it was different. The setting had everyone feeling very Christmassy by the end. Thank you to Mrs Andrade for organising this special trip to the theatre.

Florence D, Year 7 

Hot off the press

Please find below KMTV's feature, broadcasted on Friday 24th November, celebrating our girls' U11A and U13 Senior 1st teams' recent hockey success, and an article about our recent charity day for Guide Dogs UK.

 
 

Swimming Gala success

On Monday 27th November, St Michael's pupils went to Somerhill School for a Swimming Gala. The team was made up of four girls and four boys from each year group. Our children did incredibly well and won lots of races. The results were very close, with Somerhill winning by a small margin. The children should be proud of their swimming achievements and also of how maturely they behaved during the unexpected fire drill. The Year 8 girls (Amelia A, Bronwyn T, Matilda M and Tilly L) were a huge help with organising the younger teams and left the gala on a high, as they won the final medley relay against the Year 8 Somerhill boys.

Mrs Fornasier, Swim School Manager


22A candlelit Musical Soirée

Music soiree collage

On Thursday 23rd November we welcomed parents to enjoy a relaxed and intimate candlelit Musical Soirée in the Chapel. The pupils who performed treated us to a delightful programme reflecting their talents across a variety of musical styles and showing some excellent musical progress in their individual instrumental or vocal disciplines. We are most grateful to the entire team of peripatetic teachers who prepared the children ahead of the concert and particular thanks to Mrs Harris who attended, and to Mrs Mumford and Miss Balcombe for their extra hard work in preparing the accompaniments. We look forward to further recitals in 2024. Find below a video showing a snippet of each performance.

Christmas Breakfast Concert - Friday 8th December

Next Friday 8th December, we are looking forward to hosting a short but festive Christmas Breakfast Concert for pupils in the Prep School instrumental groups and Show Choir. An invitation has already been sent out to parents with further details. If you haven't received an invite and your child is in one of the groups below, please email music@stmichaels.kent.sch.uk

Groups performing: Accordion Group, Guitar Group, Orchestra, Recorder Consort, Samba Band, Scholars Septet, Senior Recorder, Consort with vocalists and Show Choir.

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Eva F for a creative display of handmade model fungi and a detailed fact life

Reuben P for an engaging description of his fungus expedition and for identifying the number fungi that he found

Raven S for a beautifully illustrated fungi project

Louisa W for being the most valuable player in Battle of the Bands

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Players of the Match - week commencing 27th November

Team Name Reason

Rugby

   
U11A Cole D Finlay S Scoring five tries For excellent attacking and defending play
U11B Felix H Theo H Evasive running and scoring 4 tries Great support work and scoring 2 tries
U11C Viggo W Voted by the opposition
U10A Nik B Excellent work as scrum half and speedy and accurate delivery of the ball

Netball

   
U13 Senior 1st Team Erica W Accurate long passes
U13 Senior 2nd Team Tilly L Lucy A Voted for by opposition Great spatial awareness on court
U13 Senior 3rd Team Georgie G Hannah J Voted by opposition For good defensive play
U11A Elizabeth A Alex S Voted for by opposition Great attacking/ defending and shooting!
U11C Dariia B Maria C Voted for by opposition Great defending
U10A Iris L Voted by opposition
U10C Isabel E Voted by opposition

   

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1st December hive collage

This week our children have been busy making the finishing touches to a variety of crafts that they have been working on this Half Term in preparation for St Michael's Christmas Fayre on Saturday. In Breakfast Club we have enjoyed numerous games of foosball, whilst in The Hive we have made fun paper plate Santas and painted Christmas themed pictures for festive bunting.

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Half Term staff sports camps

Mr Thomas’ Christmas Hockey Camp

Mr Thomas will be holding his Christmas Hockey Camp at Hollybush Hockey Pitch on:

Monday 18th December

Tuesday 19th December

Please click here to book.

 

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