MOOR HOUSE SCHOOL NEWSLETTER JUNE/JULY 2009

Duke of Edinbur ! " #ron$e Le%e& 'u(&if)in E*+edi,ion- June 2009

Exams? Finally finished. Surely all that remained was a relaxing week of fun in the sun before departing Moor House for the final time?
The Year 11s must have been relieved to get to the end of June. Revision? All done.

Well, not uite!

Saturday "#th $une saw nine students from %ear && take on their toughest 'uke of Edinburgh (hallenge yet ) the *ualifying Expedition+ ,kay, so there was fun in the sun, but - doubt anyone would (all the weekend relaxing, exa(tly. .he students had to na/igate themsel/es 0and their ru(ksa(ks, whi(h weighed a tonne1 up and down the mini)mountains in the 2ox Hill area ) all this on the hottest weekend of the year.

While the happy memories of being with friends under blue (loudless skies will hopefully endure, - also hope that the horrors of sweat dren(hed .)shirts and the fetid sten(h of well walked in shoes will fade gi/en enough time+

2oth 3lpha .eam and 2ra/o .eam did in(redibly well, and this is no exaggeration. .his being the *ualifying Expedition the students were not allowed any adult support at all ) they had to

plan their route, work as a team to follow their route, get lost, get un)lost, set up their tents, (ook their e/ening meal and breakfast the following morning, organise their own entertainment, get through a night in the woods, pa(k up (amp and then get to the departure point ) without any adult inter/ention at all.

3nd they did it. 4ot only did they su((essfully (omplete all of the abo/e, in(luding the 5ourney whi(h was &" miles o/er hilly terrain, they did it all with good humour and teamwork, showing a maturity and independen(e that was heartening to see. .hey ha/e set the bar high for the students that follow the 'uke of Edinburgh in years to (ome.

Well done to all of the students who took part and who made it a weekend to remember. Staff members on the trip were 6aki 6ee 07nit 6eader1, $ane 'a/ies 03ssessor1 and 4i(k Hart 0Super/isor1. .hanks also to 8at 9rowhurst, :im Hodge, 6eanne 2oyhan and -/ana Hooper for helping at (he(kpoints.

8lease note, the abo/e photos may gi/e the impression that the students went into tribal mode in preparation to sa(rifi(e a staff member for the abomination that is powdered milk. - am

pleased to report that this is not the (ase, as in fa(t the students were performing a (ampfire Haka. Mr. Ma(kwood, see what you ha/e started+ Many thanks are due on(e again to the parents, staff, families and friends who support 8S3 fundraising e/ents, and also to the 8S3 for organising the e/ents and meetings. 3 funding (ontribution from the 8S3 enabled the s(hool to pur(hase six new tents for use on the 'uke of Edinburgh expeditions, whi(h were /ery mu(h appre(iated by the students. .he funding also helped to pay for the satellite tra(king systems whi(h enabled staff to monitor the students progress and maintain safety.

%our kindness really does make a positi/e differen(e to the students and these are 5ust a few examples of the way in whi(h your generous donations are used. 8lease do (ontinue to support the 8S3+ ,ur thanks also go to the 9atering department who pro/ided an ex(ellent sele(tion of sna(ks and drinks for the students to take with them on the expedition. ;eport by Mr. Hart. S.ORTS D/Y RE.ORT .his year<s sports day started ner/ously as the weather threatened to spoil the day for our students. Howe/er the rain stayed away and the weather was instead humid and warm. .he programme was /ery similar to last year but with some slight alterations. We held the athleti( e/ents next door at Holland tra(k. .hese ran until morning tea. 2y this time, the house (ompetition had started to hot up. :en Su=uki)6ayhe was dominant in the sprint e/ents again, as was 9harlotte 8arkin in the senior girls e/ents. For the 5uniors, it was slightly more (ompetiti/e with Sebastian Smith, Shaid 9o/enton)Webb and Will >ell all performing with distin(tion. .he s(ores as we entered the football mat(hes showed red house leading blue and green whilst yellow (hased the pa(k. .he football e/ents are always popular with the students and it pro/ed so again. .he 5uniors play in the sports hall while the seniors with age priority are gi/en the field to play on. 8arents (an wat(h all e/ents from either the me==anine of the sports hall or in the now sun)baked sports field. .he final points showed that blue and green were superior in both 5unior and

senior mat(hes. ;ed struggled to field enough players in the senior (ompetition, as did yellow in the 5uniors. .his was to pro/e signifi(ant in the final pla(ing later in the day. Musi( pro/ided by 9harles Morton pro/ided the ba(kdrop to a la=y lun(h, en5oyed by all in the beautiful 2ritish sunshine. 2ut all good sports days must (ontinue, as the fun e/ents began. .hese e/ents are primarily for the 5unior students, but seniors are allowed to parti(ipate. 2lue house (ertainly took ad/antage of this opportunity when sele(ting their teams. .he students tried their best to win points for their house before the final e/ent of the day, the notorious tug of war. -t was here that 2lue house showed their might with a (lean sweep of >reen house in the final to retain reinfor(e their dominan(e of the tug of war (ompetition. .he final points were then added up. Whilst the points were being tallied, ea(h house performed their haka against one another. .his is a nati/e war dan(e from 4ew ?ealand that all students learnt as a part of dan(e in the 8E (urri(ulum. .he words were modified to refle(t Moor House S(hool, and most students relished the opportunity to perform it. 2lue house with their /o(iferous staff were fero(ious. %ellow were united in their line of atta(k. >reen were house were bra/e despite their small numbers and ;ed house were defiant. .he final s(ores were re(ei/ed and the pla(es were as follows@ &st A 2lue "nd A >reen Brd A ;ed Cth A %ellow -t was another su((essful and en5oyable sports day. My thanks go to the staff who helped out all day, and also the parents for their support. .he highest praise howe/er must go to the Moor House students who were on(e again the stars of sports day. 4ot e/en the weather (ould affe(t their day. 3nd it was (lear to all, that with or without the sun, the students from the C house teams of Moor House S(hool did all the shining. Mr ' Ma(kwood

LE/0ERS D/Y

,n Friday Brd $uly students and staff of Moor House S(hool bade a final farewell to our %ear && students. E/eryone assembled in the sports hall for a (elebration of the a(hie/ements of these students who ha/e grown into (onfident and su((essful young adults who should feel /ery proud of the ex(ellent progress they ha/e made whilst at Moor House S(hool. Many (ompliments were paid about the work of the S(hool by the parents and e/eryone was able to share in the wonderful atmosphere of the day. Many of the students made a personal and often mo/ing address and the self (onfiden(e they all showed in speaking to su(h a large audien(e was a wonderful to see.

3t the end of the assembly the traditional D(ir(le of friendship< allowed ea(h member of the s(hool (ommunity to say a personal goodbye to the lea/ers, shake their hands and, in some (ases, let the younger (hildren gi/e them a hug. 3fter a lo/ely lun(h in 4orthanger, the students and their families left in a (a/al(ade of (ars flanked on either side of the dri/e by student and staff wa/ing and (heering them off. 3ll the departing students are in/ited to the fete in "E&E and we wish them all the /ery best of lu(k and su((ess in their new /entures.

01S1T 2ROM COMMUN1TY .OL1CE O221CER Helen .ownsend, the lo(al youth poli(e (ommunity support offi(er, /isited MHS to tell students about her 5ob. She then talked to the :ey Stage B students about keeping safe. She will be ba(k to talk to the %ear &&s in September.
EDUC/T1ON/L 01S1TS

BF, BE and BH /isited the 6ondon 'o(klands Museum on the "Fth $une. -t was a sweltering day whi(h started by getting the train to 6ondon 2ridge and then on a tube to 9anary Wharf. >etting off the tube into 9anary Wharf was like arri/ing at an imaginary world of huge glass

buildings alongside smaller old stone ones. We walked to the museum whi(h wasn<t far and on the way stopped to see an ama=ing pie(e of art that was drawn on the pa/ement and when /iewed through a spe(ial lens looked B'. -t was of a waterfall and looked /ery realisti(. .he museum itself was /ery small. .he staff were /ery friendly and showed us around. .here were a lot of other s(hools there. .he Moor House (hildren were /ery well beha/ed in amongst them. We looked around the Sugar and Sla/ery exhibition and learnt how bla(k 3fri(an sla/es were traded for sugar or other produ(e su(h as (otton or toba((o. We saw some ama=ing pi(tures of some /ery old bla(k 3fri(an female sla/es who were all o/er &EE years. .here were lots of paintings of bla(k sla/es whi(h showed how poorly they were treated. -t was an interesting but short exhibition. We spent the rest of the time looking round at other exhibits there and eating our lun(h in the sun. Mrs. 9larke e/en bought us all an i(e (ream by the ;i/er .hames+ ;eport by Mrs. 6ee

Ye(r 30 C(4+ Ou, on ,!e S5!oo& 2ie&d

,n .hursday Gth $uly students in %ear &E had the option to (amp out on the s(hool field. .he idea originated in the mind of a %ear &E student who saw what the 'uke of Edinburgh students in %ear && had been doing on their 2ron=e 6e/el expeditions, and who wanted to do something similar on a smaller s(ale for the %ear &Es as an end of year treat. 9learly, this is an example of how ha/ing a good idea and putting it forward in the appropriate way (an get results+ Most %ear &Es 0&" out of the &F that were in s(hool1 took part in the a(ti/ity whi(h began at Hpm with setting up the tents. .his was followed by a tasty barbe(ue dinner ser/ed on the lawn outside 4orthanger, (ooked by Mrs. 6ee who /olunteered to help for the e/ening.

3t around Ipm the ma5ority of the s(hool returned into the s(hool building, lea/ing the s(hool field open for the %ear &Es to en5oy themsel/es with impromptu games of JmanhuntJ and J(ops and robbersJ as the sun began to set. 3s the temperature dropped, students were glad to ha/e a warm (ampfire to sit around while (hatting and toasting marshmallows, before one final game of manhunt in near darkness. Students settled into sleeping bags and tents at around &E.BEpm although uite a bit of (hatting and giggling was heard for the following hour, (lear e/iden(e of a fun time being had+

.he following morning dawned with beautiful weather, with most students waking to the glow of sunlight on their fa(es. 3lthough 4i(k and >eorge were the early birds, rising at H.BE)ish, many students slept so well that they a(tually needed to be roused from the (omfort of their sleeping bags at #.&F)ish to ensure that they would be ready for their final day of Work Experien(e. -t seems to be true that teenagers are pretty good at sleeping in almost any set of (onditions+ Many thanks are due to 'arren Heine for agreeing to 5oin in and sleep out on the field, to Mrs. 6ee for the (ooking and for the loan of her megatent for the staff, to the ;esidential 9are 'epartment for their flexibility in allowing the e/ent to take pla(e, to the (atering department for pro/iding the food, to the 8S3 and those who (ontribute to 8S3 fundraisers for the tents that the students used, and to 'a/id 7ren who had the idea for the e/ening. ;eport by Mr. Hart

TR/SH WEE6

.he final week of the Summer term was de/oted to D.rash Week<, a week long series of workshops and fun a(ti/ities based upon the theme of ;e(y(ling. Ea(h tea(her ran a dedi(ated a(ti/ity whi(h all students were able to parti(ipate in. .hese in(luded paper making, Dwater ro(kets<, toy making, a fashion show, Morris dan(ing and a musi(al stomp amongst many others.

For ea(h a(ti/ity re(y(led materials were used, in(luding (lothes from the lo(al ,xfam shop.

We were also fortunate enough to ha/e the ser/i(es of ;ob 6u(k from .andridge 9oun(il and the D;e(y(ling ;obot< who ga/e us all some important messages about re(y(ling and kept the (hildren suitably entertained.

-n addition 9as Holmes, a freelan(e artist, showed the students how to make beautifully patterned prints using ink and twigs. .he (ulmination of all this hard work and (reati/ity was a most fantasti( assembly on the Friday, attended by many of the parents, whi(h showed off the skill and ingenuity of our students. 9ongratulations go to all the students and our thanks to all staff who worked with and supported them. Howe/er, our /ery spe(ial thanks must go to Mrs 2ridgette >reig, who (on(ei/ed the idea and (oordinated it with su(h dri/e, energy and professionalism. Without 2ridgette<s (ommitment to the whole pro5e(t, it would not ha/e been the resounding su((ess that it was.