Dear Parents

It is with great pleasure that I reflect on this past term. It has been especially happy and as you will read we have enjoyed an enormous breadth and richness of experiences as well as success at all levels, personal, school and national. Mead children are very special and we are very proud of each and every one of them as they continue to grow and blossom. Time and again their manners are complimented and it is a pleasure to be with them and to know we can take them out into the community.

September saw a large intake of new pupils at every level and we are delighted with how well they have settled. Within the staff room our warmest congratulations go to Mr Agnew upon the birth of Michael last weekend and to Mrs Pincott in becoming a granny! The Mead family continues to grow!

Exam Successes

Many of you will be aware that the timing of the Kent Selection Tests to grammar schools has changed this year to September. Our warmest congratulations go to the following children on their success:-

Congratulations also go to:-

Lauren Barnes, Lottie Collins (Top Music Scholarship), Cayleigh Lisher and Jessica Rhodes

who have passed into Kent College Pembury for September. Other entrance exams take place next term but what a start!

Well done J4.

Charity

Charity awareness remains a very important part of school life as the list below shows:-

Sponsored Cycle Ride In Aid Of Jet

The last Sunday in September saw some 40 Mead families dust down their bicycles and take to the Forest Way for a family sponsored cycle ride. The weather was glorious, the route breathtakingly beautiful and safe and a wonderful time was enjoyed by all. Upon arriving at Forest Row where the minibus had safely delivered the picnics we were welcomed by an ‘Apple Fair’ including a cider tent and hot doughnuts – a real bonus! It was very special seeing so many children of all ages take to the trail, any of them covering the full 15 miles. So successful was this event that we have decided to make it an annual outing so please mark it in your 2009 diary – last Sunday in September – family cycle ride.

A marvellous £2457.86 has been forwarded to the charity JET which does such a wonderful job in helping traumatised and at risk children. Thank you all so much. Let us try and exceed £2500 next year.

Poppy Appeal

This took on an extra dimension this year with Mr Moor having served in war zones. We raised £129.90 for this very worthy cause.

Operation Christmas Child

Approximately 90 shoe boxes are on their way to the Central & Eastern Europe and Africa to brighten those children’s Christmas who otherwise would have nothing.

Children in Need

So much of the above is planned, organised and managed by the children which is wonderful. Congratulations to them and thank you for supporting their efforts.

Jeans for Genes Day

I am going to tell you about our Mead Jeans for Genes Day!

We began the day with our Genes Assembly. We talked about cells, genetics, genetic diseases, Xander Island (when demonstrating how genes can effect evolution) and DNA. Mrs Culley felt that we had taught the staff and the children many new facts and information!

Next we came back to the classroom. I felt very pleased with how well the assembly had gone, although many of us had been quite nervous. Our next job was to make labels for the huge numbers of cakes that the school had brought in! We wanted to make sure that our sale was well organised and well attended.

Once the labels were finished, we began setting up our cake stalls. We were soon running backwards and forwards setting everything up and arranging the cakes on our tables ready for our customers. The sun was shining and the weather was perfect.

We served Kindergarten, Infants and Juniors. My role during the cake sales was to restock all the tables. I was very busy!!

Mrs Feaver allowed us a little longer for break, as we had spent our entire break looking after the rest of the school! Once we had cleared away we went back in to start our next lesson - which was Science. Unfortunately I didn’t feel very well as was on antibiotics!

Later, when I was being driven home in my car, I felt proud that we had raised money to help those people who have genetic disorders and for their families who help look after them.

Stephanie Scott - J3

Harvest Festival

As usual we supported the ‘Soup Kitchen’ linked to St Augustine’s church who are always so grateful for our tins and packets.

The Harvest Of The Sea by J1 2008

Golden, glittering, glamorous fish.
Glorious, great and gleaming fish.
Silver, skinny, slippery fish.
Shining, shimmering, sharky fish.
Squabbling, squirty, squidy fish.
Sparkling, slimy, sword like fish.

Funny, fancy, flappy fish.
Frightening, furious, flipperty fish.
Bubbly, bumpy, blowing fish.
Wibbly, wobbly, wondrous fish.
All these fishes great and small
They are there to delight us all!

Thank you God that we can see
This amazing harvest of the sea!

Class Assemblies

Each class takes an assembly once during the Autumn and Spring terms. This term we have enjoyed Vikings, Greeks, Divali, The Three Bears and Christmas. I am delighted so many of you have been able to attend the repeat performance. We look forward to more next term.

The Mead School Year of Reading

This got off to a flying start with a visit from children’s author, Eammon Reilly, who entertained and caught all the children’s imagination with his amazing, pacy and expressive talk. The children were desperate to discover what happened next in his stories and we are delighted that so many wished to buy his books and that the copies we placed in the library have been so popular.

Interest in reading was further enhanced by the wonderful gift of a new illustrated edition of Geraldine McCoughlin’s ‘Peter Pan in Scarlet’ which has been published for younger children. This copy has been signed by both the authoress and the illustrator and has fired the children’s imagination and enjoyment in both the writing and spoken word as it has passed through the different classrooms. Later on in the term a wonderful copy of ‘The Birthday Book’, an illustrated treasury of stories and poems written to celebrate Prince Charles 60th Birthday was presented to the school – a real treat.

A Synthetic Phonics Update!

It was with great enthusiasm that our Foundation and Infant staff here at The Mead School, embarked on a comprehensive Synthetic Phonics teaching programme. A whole host of new resources were purchased to complement this initiative that began in September 2008.

The name 'Synthetic Phonics' came from the concept of 'synthesising', which meant 'putting together' or 'blending'. Therefore what is synthesized / put together / blended in reading are the sounds that have been prompted by the letters on the page.

When we began this initiative, we were positive that this exciting and highly effective approach to teaching reading, writing and spelling would be embraced by the children. We were RIGHT!

From Kindy through to Top Infants our children have embraced the synthetic phonics teaching methods and strategies that their class teachers have employed daily within their literacy lessons.

The superb synthetic phonics resources that we have available within school for both the teaching staff and the children to use, have been a great success! By utilising these resources effectively, our wonderful Foundation and Key Stage 1 staff, have comprehensively covered a fantastic range of sound, letter and spelling work!

I am thrilled by the effective communication that has been put in place by the teaching staff. This has ensured that there has been complete transparency between home and school in terms of providing information, support and guidance for completion of individual phonic based prep!

Thank you for supporting our Foundation and Key Stage 1 staff as they have been implementing this phonic based initiative! I look forward to seeing the benefits of this excellent teaching practice permeate through the entire Infant Department and indeed seep into the Junior School in the terms and years to come!

Isobel Feaver, Director of Studies

Maths Whizz Autumn Update!

If you and your children haven’t yet checked out the new updated Maths Whizz, then you are really in for a treat!! The facilities and options available for your children now have really expanded!

Our Infant and Junior subscriptions to Whizz Education, the leading provider of online Maths tuition for 5 to 13 year olds, is moving ever forward and really reinforcing and cementing the excellent Mathematics teaching that your children receive in school! The wonderful interactive Maths animations and unique tutoring methodology really does help deliver measurable results in Maths.

Within the Whizz.com website (where your child’s tutoring programme is based), you can find a whole range of award winning Maths resources, activities and fun Maths games, available for use in the home. These cover primary Maths, including Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 Maths, as well as early secondary Maths and are developed by leading Maths educationalists and aligned to the National Numeracy Strategy.

I would like to take this opportunity to remind you of the benefits for your child in using Maths Whizz and what it offers every individual Mead child and their parents.

• Personalised online tutoring geared to your child's ability, as opposed to their age, allowing your child to progress in Maths at their own pace
• Interactive Maths animations build your child’s confidence and enjoyment in Maths ensuring lasting self belief and helping them to reach their potential
• Having been developed by leading educationalists and aligned to the UK National Curriculum for Maths, Maths-Whizz Tutoring Plus prepares your child for success in school
• Unlimited online tutoring means you can create your child’s learning routine around the family's schedule and from the comfort of your home
• Live parent reporting permits you to be fully involved in your child's Maths development
• Incentives to replay exercises and to compete with other Maths-Whizzers encourage reinforcement of concepts and understanding
• Fun Maths adventures and activities for the holiday season are designed to encourage motivation and usage of Maths-Whizz
• Guaranteed to deliver measurable results

With this in mind, I would like to wish you a very mathematical Christmas and numeric New Year!!

Isobel Feaver - Director of Studies

Thackeray

This term Thackeray celebrated ‘Children in Need’ day by holding our usual much-loved cake sale.

The Thackeray J4’s also organised a series of activities including ‘Guess the Name of the Bear’, ‘How many gummy bears in the jar’, a skipping competition and apple bobbing.

It was fantastic to see infants and juniors alike having a go at all the activities and in particular apple bobbing as all the participants got very wet on an extremely cold day!

Thank you to all Thackeray J4’s who made the day run so smoothly. Altogether we raised over £130, a fantastic amount!!

Also thank you to all the Thackeray family and friends who provided the cakes for our stall. Your continued support is so welcome.

Thackeray staff would like to wish everyone a very merry Christmas and the happiest New Year.

Debbie Latty

Wellington

We have had a very busy term with lots of brilliant house meetings and we are hoping to do a talent show next term.

Chalybeate

Although not doing so well with house points this term, Chalybeate have had various notable successes! We won the fun swimming gala beating Wellington by two points – it was great fun and as always Chalybeate had terrific team spirit. Thanks to J4 Chalybeates for always looking after our youngest house members so well.

Drama & Ballet

All the children have settled well into their new classes and drama groups, making many friends amongst the children who have recently joined the school.

Both J1 and the two J2 classes spent a very interesting and lively day in London visiting the V & A Museum and The Polka Children’s Theatre to see their new production of “Ghosts in the Gallery”. This play, using only five actors, portrayed numerous historical characters in an involving and imaginative story. The children were spellbound!

The excellent “Young Shakespeare Company” brought their interactive workshop production of Twelfth Night to entertain and inform both J4 classes and J3. They surpassed even their high standards by performing this lively comedy in such an accessible and child-friendly manner whilst not compromising the play’s complexity and challenging language. The children’s grasp of the intricate plot was testament to their talent.

During the summer holidays my colleague, Mrs Stuart-Pennink, and I attended a week long course run by the Royal Opera House to assist us in producing our own “home grown” school performance. As a result of this we are being invited to take J4 to a special performance of the opera “Hansel and Gretel”. This will, we are sure, prove a really memorable experience for the children and inspire their future work.

Next term we have much to look forward to as the Infant Department will enjoy two performances to be brought into school especially for them. The Kindergarten and both Reception classes will see “The Gingerbread Man” and the Middle and Top Infant classes will have “The Story of Aesop’s Fables”. Both of these productions have been tailored to these age groups and should provide a lovely introduction to Fairy Tales and Fables.

It has been possible to obtain tickets for the new and visually spectacular musical “Zorro”, to brighten up January for the Juniors with a feast of exciting music and dance.

Starting in January the LAMDA graded drama examinations may be studied for in school. The full details concerning these private classes may be found in a separate letter that you should have received on 20 November. If you should need a copy, or wish to discuss this option do please come and see me.

Toni Hassan

Music

The term commenced with many new children starting instruments and the choir had many inexperienced new members from J1. However there are also a fantastic number of J4 singers this year, making it extremely difficult to choose the soloists for the Christmas Carol Service.

The more advanced string group has gone from strength to strength and played a Mozart quartet movement at Harvest. The beginner strings now meet on Mondays (when they remember to bring their instruments!) This is a lovely group – very enthusiastic.

In wind band, the repertoire has included Beatles numbers, Cauliflowers Fluffy, Karma Chameleon and carols. It’s been super to have some really good percussion players and three brave brass players too.

There were fewer exams taken this term ranging from beginner prep tests to more advanced clarinets and brass.

The recorder groups are thriving with new groups for new children and most of the Top Infants. The J3 group are all learning treble now and playing more music in parts. Silent Night has been a favourite, using tenor recorder on the bottom.

The informal concerts have been well-attended. There was huge variety of style, complexity and instruments. The J4 and J3 quiz on 6/8 compound and 4/4 time signatures from music heard, was won by Becky Jefferies, 14 correct answers and Stephanie Scott 13. Claudia Beeston played one of her own compositions in 6/8 time called Bedtime Lullaby.

J4 have all been composing in 6/8 compound time and wrote the Herod song for the carol service. They are learning composing skills for their ‘Write an Opera’ and had a wonderful treat going to ‘Hansel and Gretel’ at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden.

Next term, please note in your diaries, members of the choir and strings will be taking part in a Musical Extravaganza at the Fairfield Halls, Croydon on Tuesday 3 March 2009.

Sarah Stuart-Pennink

Stop Press!

We have just heard the wonderful news that Lottie Collins has won a MUSIC SCHOLARSHIP to Kent College. Lottie plays violin, French horn and piano and is singing the solo verse for ‘Once Ii Royal David’s City’ at our carol service.

CONGRATULATIONS Lottie!

French

The Autumn term has been “magnifique”. The children have settled happily, practising their communication skills through various role play situations. More importantly, they are learning and having FUN! They have a good ear and ability to perform, good pronunciation and understanding and no inhibition at all!

The Infants have used their observation and imagination, describing pictures and interacting in games and songs. The Juniors are becoming more aware and effective with phonics, grammar and sentence construction. The J2 children have learnt to use their French dictionary independently.

They have all enjoyed talking about Christmas traditions in France. The Kindergarten and Reception children have already memorised a difficult Christmas song after two sessions. Also, the J4 children are eager to sing 'Douce Nuit' (Silent Night) at the Carol Service.

Well done everyone!

Joyeux Noël et Bonne Année 2009

Christine Sautereau-Chandley

Kindergarten

The children all settled beautifully into Kindergarten life this term and have been fully involved in all activities.

We have covered many topics including ‘All About Me’, ‘Shape’, ‘Autumn’ and ‘Divali’. We have been on many exciting nature walks on the field looking for robins and spiders. The children all took part in an assembly for the school showing what they had learnt about Divali.

The festivities are well underway and the children are getting very excited and enjoying all Christmas activities. We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and look forward to seeing you in the New Year.

Kindergarten Staff

Reception Infants

What a busy first term we have had. The children have all settled beautifully into their new routines and take great pride in wearing their leader badges and sharing their Show ‘n’ Tells.

Divali was celebrated in style and the children really enjoyed dressing up, making Diva lamps, painting their hands and eating poppadoms with chutney.

Wilderness Wood was such a lovely trip. The children learnt all about fungi, tried to catch falling leaves, climbed over little bridges and streams and sang songs all the way back to school about lions and tigers and bears.

The classes have worked so hard this term and this is reflected in their fantastically neat writing, their ability to count and add and their progress through the Jolly Phonics scheme. All of the children are beginning to recognise letter sounds, decode words and everyone knows the songs with all the actions.

We have had such a great start to the school year and we would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

Jane Morgan and Loraine Pincott

Middle Infants

We have had a very happy and productive term in Middle Infants and have settled really well into the routine. We have enjoyed two school trips – one to the Library to learn about old toys and another rather cold but exciting trip to Bentley Wild Fowl Museum to look at Anglo Saxon settlements. Paul ….. showed us different buildings and how Saxon man would have made fire.

Next term we look forward to our topics “Journeys” and “Time”.

Thank you for supporting both us and the children and we wish you a very Merry Christmas.

Top Infants HMS Belfast Outing!

The Top Infants made a trip up to London to visit HMS BELFAST last on Thursday 13 November.

This trip was especially exciting as the children also met a Second World War Veteran - George Gaskell who had served on HMS EXETER. The HMS EXETER was discovered by Australian divers just a year ago and last month George, as one of the few surviving veterans, was taken back to Indonesia by the BBC to help make a programme and take part in a special ceremony marking the site of the find, a war grave.

The children had previously prepared questions for George about the battle he had been involved in and had spent time listening to him on the phone, prior to meeting him on the Belfast.

The children learnt that the Exeter had been involved in a massive battle where they were surrounded by eleven Japanese warships and eventually the crew had to abandon ship.

At the Belfast George was able to give the children an idea were he would have worked in the boiler room and then explained what life was like in the mess room and other areas of a battleship. Some of the children were able to experience what it felt like to sleep in a hammock and a few also dressed themselves in seamen clothes.

Every child coped well with the continuous climbing up and down ladders/steps and the children cheered George who although he is now 87 years was able to move down the ladders at great speed (almost going back into his younger days and definitely showing the teachers up!)

Our trip to the Belfast brought alive for the children all the previous work that had been done by email or phone with George, and reinforced how very important Remembrance Day is.

The Top Infants will certainly not forget their wonderful day out with their own War Veteran on the Belfast.

Christa Gaskell & Helen Morel

Top Infants Autumn Walk

In October the children went on an ‘Autumn Walk’ in the local area.

The children enjoyed using their senses to experience the autumn atmosphere including sights, sounds and smells and including things that we could touch.

We encouraged the use of descriptive words as we walked around and collected autumn leaves, seeds and nuts.

On our return to the classroom the children wrote their own descriptive report of their walk and shared these with each other.

We looked at all the things that we had collected and discussed their colour, size and shape, this linked in with our science - similarities and differences in plant life.

We then enjoyed using leaves for printing in our Art session.

J1

J1 have enjoyed a busy and exciting term! The trip to London was terrific, the children particularly enjoyed ‘Ghosts in the Gallery’ at the Polka Theatre. Our thanks to Mrs Hassan for organising the trip.

We have made shadow boxes and sundials, become authors and poets, tackled multiplication and division (amongst other things!) The highlight of term must be our Viking topic and Viking Day! The children have been so enthusiastic and we have all learnt so much. Viking Day was a terrific success filled with magical stories, songs and dance. The children were totally involved in all we did. Fantastic costumes – thank you to all of you.

Rachel Crouch

J1 Viking Day

It was a lovely day. My favourite bit was when we got to play the Viking harp. It had only six strings. They were made out of goat’s guts. People hung the harps up by a string. The harps are very small. I also liked the stories he told. They were mostly about Thor and Odin, they were very interesting. It was also fun when we played outside. The boys started fighting outside and too soon it was time to go home.

Isle of Wight Study Trip By J4

Day 1

Dear Diary

Today we set off on our journey to the Isle of Wight. We started by going to school like an average day but I was more excited than on a normal day which means I must have been very, very, very, very excited! I found the walk to Tunbridge Wells station quite tiring. The school had booked a carriage to save us from having the trouble of finding seats and being scatter about the train. We stopped at six stations on the way (including Waterloo East). The first train journey took one hour and I felt a little travel sick.

We caught another train from Waterloo East to Portsmouth Harbour. This time it took three quarters of an hour and I felt sick again but we got to eat lunch so I felt better. I got off the train at Portsmouth Harbour and started collecting leaflets. We waited ten minutes before the next fast cat arrived. When I got on and were half-way, the boat started to get thrown about. It was like being in a cradle with a mad mother rocking you. When the boat reached the Isle of Wight it was still rocking. If I thought that was scary, then I would be very, very, very, very scared later on in the trip. The school had also booked the use of a coach which then took us to Osborne House. When we arrived I thought it looked terribly small but the building we saw first wasn’t it. We went for a walk until we found it. I was particularly interested because I like history, A LOT. You weren’t allowed to take photos inside the marvellous house so I took loads of photos outside. I have to say that it was the most spectacular house I had ever seen. I wouldn’t mind living there but just think how long it would take to clean and dust it. Next we wandered through the beautiful grounds to Swiss Cottage which was very small. It had small seats and tables, small everything. Later a man called Timber Wood came and gave us a talk on smuggling. I found it very interesting. All in all it has been a very exciting and busy day.

Day 2

Dear Diary

Today I went to Dimbola Lodge that had something to do with history too. The person who owned the house had been a photographer. I found that interesting too. After that we went to a hotel that used to be the home of a poet. He couldn’t stand the public so he had a secret passageway which we went down and ended up in his back garden. There was a secret door that led to a path that led to Dimbola Lodge. After we got back we ran down a hill while the teachers took photos like mad. Then we had lunch. Later we were driven to the Needles. I was really scared about the chairlift but it turned out fine. We went for a walk along the beach and I took photos of different coloured rocks. At the end we found a small cave and lots of chalk. Then we walked back to the chairlift. The next thing was going to the sweet factory. That was very exciting. They made banana split sweets. It was very appealing how they made them. Then we went back to the youth hostel. I was tired and went to sleep fairly quickly (for me).

Day 3

Dear Diary

Today is the very last day on the Isle of Wight. I hadn’t had a good night’s sleep as the bed wasn’t very comfortable but I had a good breakfast. We started off with a very, very interesting visit to Carisbrooke Castle. We walked up some stairs so that we walked around the top of the castle. We came up to the last stand where if the castle was invaded they would run to there and if that place invaded they might as well give up. Next we went to Brading Roman Villa. I found it very remarkable and I tried to answer as many questions as I could. My favourite mosaic was one of the eye which meant good luck.

Then it was time to go back to Tunbridge Wells. I spent my time writing my diary on the train. On the train from Waterloo to Tunbridge Wells I had to stand up and my legs got very tired. So comes the end of my journey. I’ve had a great time and hope to go back some day.”

William Ditcham

The time of Men has come again

The time of Men is here again After the Orcs of Isengard, They fight so well so bold and brave And blood is spilt that day.

The time of men comes back from the den And lives another day Their sword will flash in the sun And will blind many near that day.

The time of men comes to an end On the very last day that Salron rules They slash their sword against the steel But splinters the sword in two!

The time of men will come again…

By Andrew Graham

The Charge Of The Light Brigade

October 25 1854

It was a bright morning, a few birds were singing but on the war front it was bad! The Russians had captured some Turkish guns, and then the orders arrived. They read that we were to ride full on into the Russian strong point, the soldiers looked doubtful but could not answer back, as orders are orders! I Sir John Condon, was to lead us, 673 of the British brigade were to follow “FOR DEATH OR GLORY” I yelled and we began to march.

We marched slowly away from the camp, which became smaller and smaller. The soldiers, with grim faces, marched on. I myself was thinking about my family, my wife Mary and our young child Bill. Then my thoughts wondered and I was lost. My mind lost focus “We are all going to die!” I said to myself. Hope was gone.

We reached the top and peered over the edge. It was a terrible sight! Nothing else just Russians and cannons. Suddenly, BANG! My right hand man fell, it had begun. Al the men drew sabres and charged. We were being shot by cannon ball and rifle shell, and still we came. Despite their best efforts we smashed into their front rank, crushing them beneath our proud noble hooves. We felled many with sabre stroke but I knew we could not win; I sounded the retreat, so back we went, still under heavy fire. Our horses were afraid but even their tiredness didn’t stop them and we were soon out of gun shot. Relentlessly they still fired as was their hate. Our numbers were low, a quarter had died and now as I searched the truth hit me, my friend was dead, huge sorrow filled me and I was left alone.

By Robert Price

Autumn Term School Council Update

Busy, busy bees!

We have had a wonderfully productive set of meetings this term. Our School Council representatives really deserve a round of applause for their work and contributions to the life of The Mead this term.

Our wonderful reps are Lottie Collins and William Ditcham J4W, James Gray and Megan Harrison J4A, Oliver Colbran and Daisy Skinner J3, Jamie Skelly and Lulu Sheppard J2F, Hugo Williams and Kay Hall J2B, Tom Parker and Mia Biggs J1, Bella Callaway and Oliver Mills, TIM and last but certainly not least Charlie Green and Chloe Thomas in TIG.

We have had an exciting term. We have discussed new initiatives for both inside and outside games during playtimes. We have an exciting School Council Activity Week in the pipeline for next term! A School Council stall is also planned for The Mead Christmas Fayre!

Our School Council reps are also the eyes, ears and mouth pieces for the opinions of their class mates. Our ‘minuted’ meetings always allow time for open discussion on any issues or matters that they need to discuss on behalf of their peers.

Alongside this, the School Council has also begun work on our Green Flag project. So all in all, a smashing terms progress!!

Thank you all!

Isobel Feaver
Director of Studies

Gardening Club

Thanks to all my keen gardeners for their amazing enthusiasm! We have managed to clear the pond area and are bursting with ideas for outdoor classrooms, vegetable patches, flower beds and ideas to entice wildlife. Thanks to Jane O and Nikki B for their help, our bursar for his interest and support and last, but not least, FOM for supplying our basic gardening needs!

R Crouch

Warhammer Club

It is particularly wonderful when children get together and show huge initiative – this term a group of Year 6 boys organised and now run a lunch time club in order to share an interest, here is their account:

This term Andrew Graham, Jonathan Lloyd-Davies and myself started a Warhammer Club. Warhammer are little models you make and paint, you can also play a game with them. We got the idea partly because we collect them and also when we were looking round grammar schools we saw they did it. We started by fixing a date, first it was Tuesday but I couldn’t make it and so we changed to Thursday lunch time. Next our Mums’ supplied more models and we supplied the paints and brushes. We had a taster session and got some people interested and it now runs every week. Games Workshop sells Warhammer and this is advertising for them! After Christmas the children will have to bring their own models so be prepared to buy them for Christmas! The club is run for older children. The club has been very successful and we already have people collecting and attending each week.

Robert Price, Andrew Graham and Jonathan Lloyd-Davies in J4A

Bursarial Report

Firstly, can I thank everyone for the warm welcome and help that I have received in my first term in the little blue office (yes Mrs Culley – I will change the colour when I have the time!) at the end of the corridor. It makes a refreshing change from my previous occupation and it is a warm and friendly environment in which to work.

Gold Awards

I hope that most of you are aware that the school has gained the Healthy Eating Award from the Environmental Services, Tunbridge Wells Borough Council. Congratulations must go to Anita and her team for achieving this however, I am not sure that you will all know that even more praise must go to them all for also gaining The Gold Food Hygiene Award. It is so good to see all their hard work being rewarded, and shows a good return for the investment put into the new dining hall.

Parking in and around the area of the school always remains a hot topic. The Council are looking at increasing the size of the Residents Parking Zone which will include the school. This should help the cause provided that some common sense rules are applied as far as the restrictions go. I have been in consultation with the responsible body, raising our concerns and have had favourable feedback to ensure that drop off and pick up times will have least disruptions. We are also currently in negotiations with the Council over the issue of a Crossing Patrol on the Frant Road. The current situation is we have an agreement on the crossing, we have agreement on the funding, all necessary risk assessments have been completed and we are waiting for news on David gaining a warrant to allow him to don fluorescent attire! I will keep you informed of the timescales as the Council tells me.

Finally, can I remind you all that the playground is at the rear of the school and does not include the front car park or the Frant Road. The safety of the children is paramount, so can we please all ensure that they are supervised at all times when in these areas, so that we can avoid any spills or near misses.

I wish you all a very Happy Christmas.

National Art Winners

Mia Biggs aged 7 and Megan Harrison aged 9, were awarded 1st Prize at the Independent Schools Association National Art Competition this weekend having previously won at regional level.

Mia’s depiction of a Lowry picture was described by the adjudicator as “outdoing Lowry” whilst Megan’s sketch book was seen as “the personification of what a sketch book should be!”

Prayer Meetings

‘More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of’ Alfred Lord Tennyson

We meet twice a term so please see the noticeboard for the dates.

Friends Of The Mead

I took on the role of Chair with some trepidation as I was replacing Janette and Jane, the "Dynamic Duo". However I have found it to be an easy change over particularly as they and the previous Committee left the FOM in such great shape! so thank you to them. So far we have had four tremendous events. Each one has been very well attended and we have raised a staggering £2,700 so far which takes us a long way to raising funds for the Outdoor Classroom and resources which is the FOM target this year.

Parents seem to have thoroughly enjoyed the Cheese and Wine Evening held at the beginning (sophisticated!) and the Quiz Night (raucous!) and the children really loved Spooky Night. The fitting end of term for me and one which I think everyone enjoyed was the Christmas Fayre with its stalls, Santa and his helpers, dancing girls and music and who could forget the Jolly Jam Jars and Hampers! A MASSIVE THANK YOU to everyone as that event alone raised A MASSIVE £1,100.

You may well ask how do we top that? The answer being with even more events for Spring and Summer including a Valentines Disco and Campout for the children and, due to the 50-50 vote, a Barn Dance in the Spring and a Ball in the Summer - the FOM will need a good rest over Christmas.

Well done to the whole Committee, mums, dads, grannies, grandads, uncle, aunts, carers and last but not least children for making my first term in office such a great start!

It only leaves me to say that I hope you all have a very Happy Christmas and see you in 2009!

Lisa Biggs, Chair

Autumn Term Sports Report

We have played a number of football and netball matches this term, at U9, U10 and U11 with a good mixture of results and some very pleasing performances.

The U11 boys competed well in the South of England/London regional Tag Ruby Festival and finished in a very credible fourth place.

Thank you to all those parents who have supported our teams and provided much needed transport to away fixtures.

We have awarded 168 swimming badges this term, which is extremely good. Well done to everyone!

Next term the junior boys will be playing rugby and will, therefore, require a gum shield. These can be purchased through the school if required.

Once again, may we please request that all PE kit is clearly named, including trainers. Also on this note, if you buy second-hand uniform, please make sure you change the name tape to enable us to return misplaced items easily.

School Holiday - Monday 20 - Friday 24 July 2009

We have made a booking for 40 children at the UKSA/United Kingdom Sailing Academy on the Isle of Wight for July 2009. We have filled 24 places but 16 are still available for any J2, J3 or J4 pupil. The cost of the week is £380 including lunch on arrival. No money will be needed on the trip. If you would like your child to join us on holiday, please ask Elizabeth for a copy of the original letter and return the permission slip to Mr Leroy, together with a non-refundable deposit of £180 for each child by mid January. The balance will be added to your bill for Summer 2009. You can find full information on UKSA website, www.UKSA.org. If by the end of January we haven’t filled all the places we will invite the 2007-08 J4.

Television

With the vast range of television stations available 24 hours a day, I would ask all parents to be vigilant as to what their children are watching. By nature they tend to flick though the channels and we as a staff are aware that they sometimes see and hear inappropriate material.

Darkness And Children

Collecting children from school in winter is always tricky. Please keep a very close eye on your children, particularly younger ‘yet to be Meadites’ who are tending to run about in the dark, both in the drive and behind the tree and chalet and even under the bushes! I cannot over emphasise how dangerous this can be.

Hair Cuts

The haircutting service set up this Autumn by Nikki Bassett and Janette Dodd has proved very popular for which I thank them. These have been at the very competitive price of £5 per cut with them generously donating 10% of the proceeds to F.O.M. To book an appointment please contact them direct on 07979 517328 (Nikki) and 07872 168295 (Janette). Please see the back of this newsletter under key days for when they will be in school.

Carol Singing

Our local British Legion Representative is organising a ‘choir’ of singers in aid of Mission to Seafarers and the Leprosy Mission on 12, 15, 17, 19 & 22 December in various Tunbridge Wells venues. She would be delighted to welcome parents, friends and children to join them. If interested please contact Margaret Brown on 01435 873007.

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Family Christmas celebrations beckon – school has however been bedecked since the start of Advent and by the time you read this letter we will have enjoyed a scrumptious turkey lunch, partied, sung to the elderly and been inspired by the beautiful carol service in a very full church. A perfect ending to our term.

With best wishes to you all for the festive season and thank you for your greatly appreciated support.

Thank you too for the very kind cards, comments and gifts.

Matches Spring Term 2009

KEY DATES FOR SPRING TERM 2009