Headmistress’s Newsletter

Issue 62 – 18 January 2019

Athletics – Report from Mr Johnson

On Thursday 12 of our athletes went to the
annual Sportshall Athletics competition at
Cobham Hall. This competition is one of the
biggest of the year for Gravesham Schools
and tests the children’s track and field
prowess.

With 16 schools in attendance, the children

competed in heats of 4 teams in 6 different
track events, culminating in the 4x100 relay.
Meanwhile teams also took part in 6 field
events, including triple jump and speed
bounce. Points were accumulated as a
team throughout the day.

Bronte achieved outstandingly well to finish

2nd out of 16 schools, the eventual winners
being a very strong St. John’s team (the
third time we have finished runners up to St
John’s in competitions this school year!!)

To have finished 2nd when competing

against such very large schools is an
incredible testament to the effort that not
just the children selected have put in, but all
children at the school during their PE
lessons this year!
Well done to Hannah, Indie, Anjola,
Temilola (the only Y3 at the whole
tournament), Demi, Haadiya, Ryan,
David, Owen, Jovan, Jugaad & Jayden.
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Celebration Assembly
There was so much to celebrate in this morning's assembly! Nasos (Year 2) and Elina (Year 1) wer e awarded
Headmistress's Commendations, one of the most special of Bronte certificates, for their attitude and hard work
in school. Their friends were so pleased and applauded with lots of encouragement.

Nasos had a busy morning today, also being invited to the stage as one of our leading Mathletes. Here he is
joined by Aarush (Year 2) and Luke (Year 1). Aarush also earned a gold certificate for his excellent achievements
in Mathletics this week. It is wonderful to see the enthusiasm our children have for challenging themselves in
maths outside of normal school hours.

Jaya (Year 4) was very proud to be awarded her Pen License today. She told Mrs Wood that her book is much
neater than it used to be, so was invited to the office for Mrs Wood to take a look.

If you think that Qirat looks pleased with herself, she has every reason to be. Her belt and certificate are proof
that she has passed an exam in Taekwondo, and nobody is going to argue with her about it!
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Safer Internet Day – Mrs Singh

The children of Bronte school are looking forward to
Safer Internet Day on Tuesday 5th February. During
the morning children will take part in a number of
activities to enhance their understanding and practical
knowledge in this area.

As part of our preparations for this event, during

Monday’s Assembly, children (and adults) will be
introduced to a chart on which they will record the
amount of screen time they have over a week. This
includes watching TV, using computers for homework
and playing games or using apps on other devices.
These logs will be completely anonymous, as the aim is
to accurately find out how many hours Bronte school,
as a whole, spend on devices and screens. The forms
should be returned by Monday 4th February so the
data can be collected.

Any guesses to the average time a child spends on

devices and screens? Well, watch this space...

Outdoor Learning
This week Year 1 learnt how to represent a position of a person
or object using ordinal numbers in their Maths lesson. Outside in
the playground Year 1 all took part in some running races and had
to order themselves into their finishing positions. Well done Year
1 for great enthusiasm, excellent problem solving and reasoning
skills!

Year 4 talent…
Wednesday morning's Upper School
choir were treated to a performance by
Ore (Year 4) who is working hard towards
his piano Grade 1. Ore played as children
entered and left the hall, giving us all a
chance to work out time signatures and
conduct along with him playing. A very
good start to our day, thank you Ore!
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Dodgeball
Year 5 said a big ‘Thank You’ to
Mr J for organising a specialist
dodgeball lesson on Tuesday –
they loved it!

Author Visit
Joseph Hopkins author/illustrator of children's books visited Bronte
school on Tuesday. He inspired us with his heartfelt story ‘Lydia
Greenfingers’.

The whole school assembly began with live music as he played his
ukulele and introduced video tutorials explaining how he creates his
fantastic characters. He then shared his wonderful book with us, which
was inspired by his own personal experiences. A Q&A session was then
held, and each year group had the opportunity to ask Joe questions. He
shared the ‘secrets’ of why he used particular illustrations that inspired
thought and meaning behind the message of the story. Finally Year 1
and 2 took part in some creative workshops taught by Joe and they
learnt how to design some cool characters using simple shapes, and how
to use our imaginations to write a fantastic setting for a story. A creative
and inspiring afternoon enjoyed by both adults and children! Thank you
to Miss Dhillon for organising such an inspiring visitor.
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The Apprentice – Skittle Challenge

This morning I took on the pe rsona of Baroness Suga r in Mrs Durkin’s ma ths set, as they presente d the ir findings a fte r
weeks of hard work investigating………….…..skittles.

They have us ed the ir maths skills in ma ny different ways ove r the last few weeks, finding out the mos t popula r
flavour, most economic pa ckage siz e, bes t value for m oney shop/pa cket as well as resea rching how this popular swee t
is manufacture d. Did you know it contains palm oil a nd tha t until quite re cently the re d skittle was flavoured using
cochineal???? Neither did I.

My task this morning was to listen to their prese nta tions and choos e a winne r – someone I feel I could work with if I
were to go into business with them……

This was a very ha rd task as they ma de their prese nta tions so ve ry interesting , showing expert IT skills , excellent
maths knowle dge a nd e ngaging , origina l ideas. I saw e xce rpts from their books, was g iven a display of food colouring ,
had data explained to me and I even got to try some skittles myself. So choosing a winner was VERY hard.

However, I eventually chos e joint winners. Firstly , for an orig ina l pres entation that dealt with the huge environm ental
problems associated with s uch was teful a nd un-recy clable packaging – I told Jack Congra tula tions – y ou’re hired!
Joint winners with Ja ck we re Ha nnah and A njola as they were se lf-assure d a nd confident in their presentation and
they gave a grea t deal of information – not all s im ply rea d from their powe rpoint. They ha d obvious ly practis ed their
pitch a nd use d props and e xamples to help me unde rsta nd wha t they we re e xplaining. So, to Hannah a nd A njola as
well – Congratulations you’re hired!

Well done to Ha ddiya & Anna bella, Dy lan, Jack, Jay & Kisha n, Hanna & Anjola, I ndie & Melisa – you we re a ll
amazing. Lord Sugar would have been proud.
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Looking Ahead:

Late Drop Off January

Please remember that all children
Tue 29th Parents’ Council Meeting
can be dropped off at school (4.00pm, The Study)
between 8.00am and 8.45am each Wed 30th Football Competition, Vigo Village School (pm)
morning. The gate will be locked Thurs 31st School Nurse clinic (9.00am – 10.00am)
at 8.45am, at which time children
February
will need to enter through the
main entrance – they will be Tue 5th Safer Internet Day (activities within school day)*
marked ‘late’. Wed 6th Reception: Open Morning (8.45am – 10.00am)*
Year 1 - Year 6: Tea ‘n’ See (3.45pm, classrooms)*
Please note that all late children Football Competition, Langafel School (pm)
have to be signed in by an adult.
Fri 8th Year 6: Dinner Party for parents
Environmental Poetry (7.00pm School Hall)
During Monday's assembly, we were
• All welcome
able to acknowledge the writing
achievements of Jayden in Year 6 who
has had a poem published within a
collection released this year. Jayden
read the poem to the school, which
was all about how we should be
taking care of our environment. This
was appropriate for the assembly
which was based upon the theme of
looking after ourselves too and
staying safe. We celebrated our four
school rights; to learn, to respect, to
play and to be safe.

Tea ‘n’ See

I am sure you will have noted from the Calendar that
we are holding ‘Tea ‘n’ See’ sessions on Wednesday
6 th February, starting at 3.45pm. This is a wonderful
opportunity for each child to show what they are
learning and how hard they have been working. All
welcome – please sign into school through the front
office once you have collected your child.

Reception parents are invited to an ‘Open Morning’

(8.45am – 10.00am) to be held in the Reception
classroom.