Headmistress’s Newsletter

Issue 228 2 February 2024 Make sure you follow us

on Instagram for more
photos and videos….
Year 6 Dinner Party
Last Friday our school hall was transformed into an elegant dining room - the setting for our Year
6 Dinner Party. This annual occasion has become a 'rite of passage' for our oldest children as they play
host to their parents for the evening.

Our glamorous guests were greeted with reception drinks, served by our Head Boy and Head Girl, before
going on to enjoy a delicious three course meal prepared by the very talented Mrs Sutherland and Miss
Sutherland.

As you can see all the children looked the part and they carried out their various duties with great
enthusiasm and care.

In the words of one parent "What a very special evening, I don't think I'll ever forget it."

Huge thanks to everyone who helped to make the evening such a success.
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Tangrams
Reasoning in Year 4 doesn’t always mean
answering a page of questions. Very often
we use practical skills to solve puzzles and
problems. Here are Year 4 creating a
square using 7 geometrical shapes - is that
even possible?
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Well done to Aadya, Johnny, Zak and Jude, this year's General Knowledge Quiz
team members. This week they took part in the online area heat and finished in
19th position out of 71 other schools. This means that they are through to the
semi-finals which will take place in March

After the first round the team were in 38th position, but with their hard work
and determination they climbed the score board to secure a place in the semi-
finals. Well done to them all, but particularly Johnny, who ranked 17th position
from a total of 264 students - What an amazing achievement!

I wonder if any of their parents are attending the Quiz Night tonight at
School….?
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Poetry
Throughout last week Year 3 were creative
poets learning how to write cinquains.

They recognised ‘cinq’ from their French

lessons with Madame DaCosta and
realised that cinquains have 5 lines.

These poems follow particular rules:

2 syllables,
4 syllables,
6 syllables
8 syllables
2 syllables

What a wonderful example by William.

Congratulations to all the Year 6 children who undertook

‘Bikeability’ training this week. I am pleased to announce that after
some teaching and practice on the courts, they all successfully
moved out onto the public roads.

Well done to them all for passing both

Level 1 and Level 2 training.
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Assembly
There were a great many awards and certificates to give out during our Celebration Assembly this week. I hope you
enjoy reading about the many and varied achievements of our pupils.

Orla in Year 6 was nominated as our Playleader of the Month. Mrs. Salter noted that she is always proactive,
organised, helpful and eager. Orla brilliantly guides and plays well with all the younger children. Quinn in
Kindergarten was recognised as our Lunchtime Superstar, Mrs. Hine observed her engaging in caring and thoughtful
play with all her peers. She also noted how polite Quinn is to everyone she meets.

Tara and Millen in Year 5 and Lila in Year 3 should be congratulated on receiving their next gradings in gymnastics
(awarded by Meapa). As well as their certificates, they were awarded some very impressive medals – well done girls.

Ideara in Year 2 proudly showed us her ‘Streetviber’ of the month award for her amazing dancing skills and hard
work in class. Congratulations to Jayden in Year 1 for receiving his yellow belt in karate this week, it is clear his
discipline and dedication is paying off. Alex in Year 4 has successfully gained his Grade 1 award by British Fencing.
Alex was very proud of this achievement, and we look forward to sharing his future successes with the foil. To top off
a very successful week, Alex was awarded his Pen Licence by Mrs. Singh for his endeavours in the classroom (today is
also his birthday!).

Juliette in Year 1 showed us a lovely wristband. This was given to her for achieving marathon status in her weekly
Parkrun (an incredible 21 sessions recorded). Chloe in Year 3 was delighted to receive her first grading in ballet.
Impressively, she was awarded a distinction!

In German, the ‘Sehr Gute Arbeit’ award was presented to Vidha in Year 3 for her excellent ideas and hard work.
Tade in Year 1 was given the French ‘Certifica de Merite’ for his excellent focus and determination in class.

Oscar was awarded his bronze writing certificate by Mrs Green for carefully listening to feedback and for following
her advice in class.

Mathletics certificates were awarded to:

Platinum:
Bronze: Gold: Daramisi - Yr R
Hukam - Yr 3 Mila - Yr R Joshan - Yr 1
Silver: James - Yr R Ethan - Yr 1
Aditri - Yr 6 Martha - Yr 3 Keira - Yr 2
Vidha - Yr 3
Isabela - Yr 4
Udai - Yr 4

Alongside our individual winners, the class winners were Year 6 with 9 Certificates.
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Assembly
Also during Assembly this morning, I was very pleased to give not one but two Headmistress’s Commendations.
Well done to both girls! Chloe in Year 3 was recognised by Mrs. Durkin for the huge effort she has made in class, for
developing her growth mindset (realising that mistakes lead to improvements) and for her impeccable manners
and the consideration she shows others. Mrs. Sutherland noted that Martha is an exceptionally kind, thoughtful
and caring young person. She always supports her peers and is a listening ear to her friends. Furthermore, she is
without exception on hand to help out in any situation. What lovely accolades.

As a grand finale to a packed Assembly full of wonderful achievements, Mrs Lonergan nominated three students in
Year 6 to receive silver stars for their outstanding contribution this academic year.

Simran
“She has a tremendous work ethic and takes great pride in her work and her wider school responsibilities. Many
members of staff have commented on her kind, encouraging and caring interactions with others. Her behaviour is
exemplary - a truly outstanding role model.”

Aadya
“Aadya is an extremely talented pupil who works at a high level and yet continues to challenge herself and
embrace the learning process. Her work ethic is exemplary. Around the school she is eloquent, courteous and
supportive of her peers and a terrific ambassador for Year 6. She embodies the Bronte School values.”

Rayo
“Rayo is a reliable and helpful member of the class. She somehow manages to be hardworking, respectful and
determined to achieve her best whilst bringing joy and positivity to every interaction. She is an impressive young
lady who sets a great example to others and deserves to be recognised for her attitude and achievements.”

A huge amount of House points were amassed over the course of the week, and Year 6 were awarded more than
any other class. The house with the most house points was Hood, even though it was a very close tussle. Well
done to everyone involved.
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Did you know, neuroscientists have studied the brain for years and discovered an incredible secret
.............your brain is like a muscle. When you try challenging things, synapses fire in your brain giving it
the exercise it needs to become stronger.

This week, Year 3 performed a motivating, brain-stretching, mind boggling assembly to the school and the
parents on the subject of growth mindset.

The children sent a message loud and clear that:

- mistakes help us to learn

- determination will help us to improve our skills
- success will come if we work hard

The children performed a story about a monster who did not know her times tables. But did she give
up? Of course she didn’t! With a little resilience, perseverance and determination, she succeeded.

The children also sang two songs: 'The Climb' by Miley Cyrus and a new and improved growth mindset
version of 'Shake it Off' by Taylor Swift.

When you make a mistake, don't lose faith, just shake it off and move forward.
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Papercraft Club by Mrs DaCosta

We’re well into the swing of Papercraft Club

this term. So far, we have created our own
bag to keep all our makes safe. We’ve also
folded an origami strawberry, swallow and
minnow. In the photo you can see our families
of foxes (and maybe a rogue paper
aeroplane!), the children decided to see who
could make the tiniest fox, there was some
very tricky folding going on!

Double, double toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble!

Year 2 children performed ‘The Wicked Witches’ to Kindergarten and Year 1 this
week. Children used dramatic actions and 'witchy' facial expressions to perform in
character. Children will begin to work on their own spells next week using rhyming
couplets, repetition and poetic phrases.
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During Year 5’s comprehension lesson this week, Mrs Green and Mrs Lippard gifted the
children mystery bags …

They have been reading the text, ‘Who Let the Gods Out?’ by Maz Evans, which is
closely linked to their history topic about Ancient Greece.

In this lesson they were exploring a particularly nasty character called Mrs Porshley-Plum.
It’s safe to say that NO ONE in Year 5 likes this character. She is malicious, fickle,
unloving and cruel (to name but a few negative personality traits!)

Hidden in the mystery bags were jumbled up personality traits (words) and quotes
(evidence) from the text. The children’s task was to match the words to the evidence in the
text.

Year 5 were excellent detectives!

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Evolution and Inheritance in Year 6

Children in Year 6 have learned that some characteristics are inherited; this means that they are passed on to
offspring through genes. Inherited characteristics can be observable such as hair, skin or eye colour or unseen, such
as blood type - they also discovered some less obvious inherited characteristics, for example….

• Can you roll your tongue?

• Is your second toe longer than your big toe?
• Are your earlobes fully attached?

After sticking their tongues out at each other (in the name of Science) and having inspected one another's ears, the
children completed a Personal Inheritance Record. They then went on to sort a wide range of characteristics such
as sporting ability, height and weight - are these inherited from parents, a result of our environment or a
combination of both? They presented their ideas in a venn diagram - do you agree with their decisions?