tockington tracker 08-02-13

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The Weekly Newsletter of Tockington Manor School 8th February 2013

2012 Tockington Manor School, Washingpool Hill Road, Tockington, Bristol, BS32 4NY.

Costumes Needed!

Miss Chard and Mrs Warn would like to ask if anyone

has the following items that they would be willing to

lend us for the school production of 'Alice in

Wonderland' in March:

Any animal costumes (or all-in-ones) that would fit 8-9

year olds

x 2 plain pink all-in-ones

x 2 plain brown all-in-ones

A kings crown

A judges wig

Any plastic tea sets (preferably over sized)

A chefs hat

Please contact Miss Chard or Mrs Warn via email if you

think that you have anything appropriate. If possible, aphoto would be very useful. Thank you for your help

and support.

Good Intention & Politeness Award

Congratulations to the following children for being

nominated for the Good Intention and Politeness

Award this quarter: Ana Sanchez, Olivia Dengel,

Leonidas Lazarides, Lou Saelens, Javier Pena. The

worthy winner was Ana Sanchez for 'being hard

working, helpful and polite'

Ski Trip Reminder

After the great success of our fantastic trip to AlpeD'Heuz over the New Year, we would like to offer a

similar Ski Trip for 2013/14. To secure your place,

deposits need to be paid before 22nd March. The trip is

subject to the new Headmasters approval and

dependent on a minimum number signing up. We are

encouraging students, siblings and families from

Tockington Manor to join us on a truly worthwhile

experience. If you have any questions please contact

Liz Wakeling (Ski Party Leader).

[email protected]

Year 3 Trip to Caerleon

On Monday 4th February Year 3 visited Caerleon in

Wales. First, we entered the museum where we were

able to see real Roman Artefacts that had been found

in Caerleon. The most recent addition to their

collection was a real Roman skeleton! Next wevisited the Capricorn Centre, which was our favourite

part of the day because we were able to dress up as

Roman soldiers. We were able to experience what life

was like in the Barracks, where eight grown men had

to share a small room and sleep in bunk beds. We also

saw what school life would have been like. After

lunch we visited the Roman Baths and learned about

how the Romans used to relax, socialise and keep

clean. This was where the Caerleon staff

complimented us on our fantastic behaviour. Finally,

our day ended with a trip to the remains of the

Barracks and Amphitheatre, where we pretended to

be legionnaires and gladiators. We had a fantastic day

and decided that we would have liked to have lived in

the Roman times but only if we were rich!

Mr & Mrs Symonds Visit

Our new Headmaster, Mr Stephen Symonds, will be in

school on Monday 18th February together with his wife

Amanda. Please come and meet them between 3.00 and

6.00 pm in the Common Room/Library.


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Boarders Weekend

The boarders had an exciting time last weekend. After

an exhilarating cross country run at Plock Court in

Gloucester they returned home to enjoy a deliciousChinese banquet to celebrate Chinese New Year which

starts this weekend. On Sunday they went climbing

with Mr Cann.

Mr Science

A big thank you to 'Mr Science' for giving up his free

time to come and help Year 2 learn about circuits. I am

sure he was very impressed with their prior knowledgeof electricity.

Miss Sheppard

FOTM Race Night 2nd March

Thank you to those who have purchased a race horse

for the night; they are selling like horse cakes! We dohave a handful left if anyone is interested at 5.00

each. Please ask your year rep for more details. Ticket

requests have been emailed out to all parents and there

are copies by the signing in desk too. Please do come

along for what is going to be a

really fun evening! Tickets are

15.00 each which includes food,

there will be a fully licensed bar

and a professional Race Night

Company will be staging the

event so it really will be a Night

at the Races

Head Lice

We have had a reported case of head lice at school.Please check your childs head regularly and treat as

appropriate.

Open Days

We shall be holding an Open Afternoon on Friday

22nd February from 1.30-3.30 pm and an Open

Morning on Saturday 23rd February from 9.30 am to

12 noon. If you anyone who might be interested in

visiting the school we would be very happy to see

them.


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Lower School Golden Time

Please note there will be no Golden Time in the Lower

School on Friday 22nd February as there is an Open

Afternoon at school. Please tell friends or colleagueswho may be interested in having a look around to see

what we do.

Year 5 Trip to The Matthew

Year 5 along with Mr and Mrs Tovey visited The Matthew on Monday morning. We spent an interesting morning

finding out about life aboard The Matthew in the 15th century. We also went on a harbour ferry cruise discovering

the sites of Bristol harbour. It was a fascinating trip and Year 5 were a real credit to the school.

E Safety

Tuesday 5th February was the 10th anniversary of Safer Internet Day, an initiative co-funded by the European

Union and run by the UK Safer Internet Centre, in conjunction with Childnet International, the South West Grid

for Learning and the Internet Watch Foundation. The children in Years 3 to 8 joined in with an assembly focusing

on this years theme: Rights and Responsibilities.

The aim of the Safer Internet initiative is to give all children across Europe the power to make positive change to

the way they use the internet and how it is run, managed and improved for future generations.

During our assembly a few key points were raised which we felt would be beneficial for parents as a reminder.The social networking site Facebook has a minimum age of 13 for anyone wishing to have an

account. There are, of course, serious safety concerns and ramifications for any child younger than this who uses

the site. There are many recommended security settings which need to be applied to any accounts of 13 year-olds

and if parents have any questions about how to ensure the settings are applied correctly they can contact Mrs

Dengel or Mr Mildon. Several of the children in Years 6 and 7 owned up to having a Facebook account and it is

strongly suggested that these are suspended until the children reach the required age.

Informal Concert

There will be an informal concert in the school hall at

1.30 pm on Monday 25th February. You are all

welcome to attend.


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Cross Country

Saturday saw the fourth and final Gloucestershire League meeting at Plock Court, Gloucester. TMS won the gold

medal in the U11 Boys and the bronze medal in the U11 Girls. After previously performing well at Cotswold

Farm Park, Cheltenham and Tewkesbury, they received the medals after an excellent team effort in Gloucester.The leading runners were Alex Grocott (2nd overall individual) and Max Curtis who was 3rd overall. The girls

were led home by Jessie Sanzo who finished 8th in the final race.

Performances of the week in conditions a little less muddy than last time came from Javier Pena, Luke Dutton,

Jaime Dorado, Antonia Hopcraft, Max Curtis and Alex Grocott.

Music Matters

We have had a great term so far musically, beginning to learn songs for 'Alice' and continuing with our other

classes. Well done to all the Year 2s who have now managed to achieve their yellow belts on the recorder. Year

3s have worked well with Iona Campbell, Lou Saelens, Isabelle Preston and Joe Ancell achieving their purplebelts. Annabel Sheppard (Year 4) now has her red belt (only two belts to go!). Keep practising over the half term

and don't forget to take all instruments home for the holiday!

Whilst the Year 4s have continued to enjoy learning the ukulele using school instruments, Year 5 and some of the

older children have been developing skills on our new Yamaha keyboards, even beginning to work on their own

composition ideas.

We look forward to a short, busy but fun half term of music-making after the break with many children taking

exams, performing individually or in choirs in the Thornbury Eisteddfod and of course in our 'Alice' production.

Good luck to all of them!

Mrs Warn and the Music Staff

World Book DayWorld Book Day is on

Thursday March 7th.

This is a day when we

traditionally dress up as

a book character, so you

might like to start

thinking about costumes.

Further information on

World Book Day will be

brought to you in the

new term.


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Clothes for Causes Collection

Please start saving old clothes, pairs of shoes, books

and soft toys! On 28th February there will be a

collection of these at school (dedicated bags will goout the previous week in book bags but any plastic

bag is fine). They will be weighed and a fee paid per

kilo. The money will go towards the Field Study

Centre FOTM are fundraising for. Now is the chance

to have a clear out for spring!

U8 Netball Tournament

Would parents please note that girls taking part in the

U8 Netball Tournament on Saturday 23rd February at

Beaudesert Park need to be in school by 8.10 am. Thetournament runs from 9.00-12.00 and we should be

back in school by 1.00-1.30 pm.

Romeo and Juliet

Years 3 to 8 were treated to a fantastic performance of

Romeo and Juliet on Thursday afternoon when the

Bristol Old Vic Theatre School came to TMS. A

tragic tale of love was given a refreshing new angle

which had the children in stitches for much of the first

half. This was a highly energetic, exciting

performance which delivered the love story perfectly

to a young audience. We hope your children told you

all about it and if they need some prompts, ask them

about the bunk bed, the Nurse, the swordfights, the

blood and the kissing!!

Look @ My Work Assembly

On Thursday, we had the second of our

Look@MyWork assemblies when Squadron Leader

Preston came into school to talk to us about his career

in the Royal Air Force. We discovered what a varied

and exciting job it is to be an Engineer Officer. We

learned about training requirements and about what a

responsible job it is to be a Squadron Leader with over100 men and women to manage. We saw that the job

involved a great deal of technical expertise as well as

a huge amount of challenge, as no sooner have you

settled into one job than you find yourself moving on

to another sometimes in other parts of the world more

commonly inhabited by penguins than Tornadoes and

Typhoons. Squadron Leader Preston very generously

gave the children a wide range of gizzits which they

loved. A huge thank you for a great presentation!500 Words Competition - Help Please!

This week Years 4 to 8 have been writing stories to

enter into the Radio 2 500 words competition run by

Chris Evans. This has been a huge undertaking for thechildren and they have worked so hard to complete

their stories, really stretching their imaginations in a

bid to be original and exciting. They have listened to

advice from professional, published writers and from

the judges of the competition including Richard

Hammond and Dame Jacqueline Wilson. The stories

have been written up by hand and entered into our

own Handwriting Competition also.

Now we need your help to enter the stories into the

competition by typing them up on the online entry

form and filling in the childrens personal details. Todo this, please go to the Radio 2 500 word story

competition website and follow the guidance for

submitting an entry.

The children all have high hopes of winning the

fabulous prizes on offer including a huge pile of

books, a visit to the Hay Literature Festival and their

story read on air to the nation.

Please, please help them to complete what they have

begun. The competition closes on February 22nd.If

you need further assistance with this, email me at

[email protected]. Many thanks.

Ms Case

Handwriting Competition

The stories which the children wrote for the 500words competition were copied in neat during

Wednesdays prep for the Handwriting and

Presentation Competition. Year 3 copied a poem

called I Like Mice. Judging this time proved to be

very difficult indeed as so many of the children have

improved enormously in this area and made it so hard

to select winners.

The School Scribes for next half term will be: Freya

Belcher (Y8), Charlie Sanzo (Y7), Lucy Allan-Jones

(Y6), Ellie Parker (Y5), Ceredig Jones for the second

time (Y4) and Isabelle Preston (Y3).Many congratulations to all of the children for their

very hard work. Certificates and green stars will be

awarded as well as some small prizes.

Eisteddfod

Just a reminder to all of you who are entered for the

Thornbury Eisteddfod Speech and Drama on 2nd

March you need to practise in the holidays and, if

you are doing the Verse Speaking class, you must

learn your poem off by heart for when we return to

school. Please try to find opportunities if you can for

rehearsing duo-poems and group acting too! Enjoy thebreak!

tockington tracker 08-02-13

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