Newsletter

It has been so lovely to have the children back this week and to hear of all the wonderful things they got up to over half term. Hopefully they are refreshed and ready for a busy last few weeks.

Year 8s have been amazing and worked so hard this week for their exams. They are looking forward to ‘freedom’ this weekend - no revision in sight!

Noah and Tamzin both celebrated their birthdays on Thursday. Present opening in the morning and then parties in the evening. Pizza and cake galore!

Hope you all have a lovely weekend.
Eliza

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Hi everyone,

I hope you all had a great half-term holiday, and that even those who were revising for exams had a chance to relax.

A half-term highlight for me was swimming as part of a team of seven girls at the IAPS national swimming finals, held at the Aquatics Centre in the Olympic Park, London. We had a very memorable time, competing in the pool that has hosted so many amazing international swimmers, and also exploring London, where I grew up.

The trip made me think about how different King’s Hall is from my school in London. I have really enjoyed the fact that there is so much more green space, so that we have the room to do lots of different sports and activities. I have also made so many good friends since I joined at the beginning of Year 5, and I am really pleased that most of them will be moving with me to the College.

I would also like to say ‘Well done’ to the Year 8s who have completed their Common Entrance exams this week.  Your efforts will be well rewarded next week, when we go to Devon for our last residential at King’s Hall. I am really looking forward to it. There are even more trips planned for other year groups, such as the Year 7 trip to France, which they will most certainly enjoy as much as I did last year.

I hope that you enjoy all the fun and activities of the last few weeks of term.

Natasha

Last Tuesday Year 6 went on a fantastic trip to a medieval village in Cardiff.

Whilst we toured around the village, our understanding of how people lived grew and grew as the time period was brought back to life. On our tour we visited places such as a medieval hut, a bakery, a butchery, and many more mind-blowing places! Our tour guide, Henry Hogg, asked for volunteers to role play everything from medieval pigs to baker apprentices! Before lunch we had an epic boys vs girls competition on who could make the best bread. The girls' expert plaiting crowned them winners, despite some bird poo finding its way into their dough!

After lunch Henry Hogg taught us about medieval war. He showed us what weapons peasants would use in battle and the armouring of a hired fighter. After that, he showed us a selection of arrows that archers would have used and what the lead knight would wear. Woody, the volunteer for the lead knight, even got to wear chainmail armour.

We finished with an awesome crime scene investigation on who should be punished for the dead rat found inside the peasant’s bread!

As you can see Year 6 had lots of fun and we were all sad when it was time to leave.

Henry

It was a fantastic experience for everyone in Year 7. In the beginning we started with the big cat enclosures. We had the opportunity to listen to an informative talk about tigers from a keeper. We found out lots of facts about the tigers such as their hunting strategies and how they are known as ambush predators. It was interesting to be shown a tiger skull and learn about their teeth and the position of their eyes.  

The highlight for most of the pupils was the baboon rock. The young baboon was adored by all. Some of the younger baboons were very funny and we watched them playing. 

We enjoyed our lunch whilst watching the gibbons swing from tree to tree. 

We all had to do a fact file on an animal of choice as part of our ecology work. The cute and cuddly ring-tailed lemurs were an extremely popular choice. 

It was interesting to learn about what Paignton Zoo is doing to help conserve endangered species. We were sad to hear that the Socorro Dove is actually extinct in the wild. Mrs Cole was very happy that she was able to see a rhinoceros and she bought a cuddly rhino back to school which now sits on her desk.

Thank you to all of the teachers for looking after us and making the day such fun!  

Thomas, Helen, Muriel and Mrs Cole 

We are looking forward to being outside for long periods in (we hope) great weather. As well as being an excellent way to celebrate the end of exams for this year, there are many benefits to this trip for the children and lots of new experiences to be had. It is always good to observe them working in teams to solve problems on some of the activities and also interesting to see them as individuals overcoming their fears on things like high ropes.  

Upon our return the focus will turn to the Year 8 charity fete that takes place in the final week of term. We have already had some meetings about this as a year group and the children have begun to consider and organise the finer details of their stalls and games. It is very pleasing to see them prepare something that will benefit an excellent charitable cause and also provide much enjoyment for their fellow pupils. 

I hope that the group enjoy their last three weeks at King’s Hall and all that is on offer for them, before enjoying a brilliant summer and then on to a fresh challenge at senior school. 

Mr R Morgan