9th July 2010

Dear Parents,

Each year in this newsletter, I highlight some areas of my speech which I delivered at Prize Giving as a form of report on the academic year. This year my main focus was the diversity of opportunity at Prince’s Mead; the high expectations within the classrooms, the extra curricular life of the school, sport, the performing arts and the establishment of our Forest School in Worthy Wood.

This year at Prize Giving we formally said goodbye and thank you to our Chairman of Governors Dr Neil Thomas. Dr Thomas has been a member of the Board since 1999 and became Chairman in 2001. All four of his daughters have been to Prince’s Mead; Camilla joined in 1994 and Ella is about to leave to attend St Swithun’s. Dr Thomas also presented the prizes this year and addressed the parents, staff and pupils. Mrs Hilary Harrison then thanked Dr Thomas for his significant input and commitment to the School and gifts were presented to Dr and Mrs Thomas by the Head Girl, Anna Baring and Head Boy, Zach Housden.

Our new Chairman of Governors will be Mr Brian Welch, who will take up his new position in September.

Key Points taken from the Prize Giving Speech – July 2010

Academic Matters

• All the pupils in Year 6 gained places in their first choice senior schools
• 5 scholarships were awarded this year to:
  Natalya Evans – Academic Scholarship – St Swithun’s
  Lucy Harley – Music Scholarship – Downe House
  Molly McKenna – Academic Scholarship – St Gabriel’s
  Poppy Saraby – Music Scholarship – St Swithun’s
  Kyle Monkcom – Sports Scholarship – Hampshire Collegiate School
• Pupils in Year 6 are transferring to 9 different schools with 13 girls going to St Swithun’s, the highest number in recent years.

School Matters and Initiatives

• In September the grass seed was sown on our new six and a half acres of playing fields. This will be ready for use in September 2010
• In February and March, a team of Inspectors from ISI (Independent Schools Inspectorate) inspected our School. The provision for the Early Years Foundation Stage was found to be outstanding and the report for the rest of the school was exemplary. The Report is available for all to see on our website
• The ‘Big Plot’ has continued to be well used by many year groups and the Gardening Club harvested their very first new potatoes!
• The new School Prospectus was launched
• Chelsea Football Club in the Community and Planet Sport continue to run football and ball skills’ workshops
• ‘Bring Your Parent To School’ – Foundation Stage Parent Workshops continue as do other workshops for parents, including ‘Mathematics’ led by Mrs Addey
• Educational trips to places in the area increased and 44 Year 5 and 6 pupils went to the Netherlands in April
• Our very own ‘Forest School’ was opened in Worthy Woods
• Mr Steve Davis and Mr Alun Jones retired from the Board of Governors. Mrs Marion Foster and Mrs Geraldine Lewis will be joining the Board in September

Sport

• There has been a full fixtures list for football, netball, cricket and rounders at U9, U10 and U11 age groups. Many matches for B teams and sometimes C teams were played
• The U11 Boys were the winners in the WADIS Football League
• The U11 Cricket Team won the final of the Wessex Cricket League, for the third year in a row
• The Year 2 boys represented the School at the Elstree School Football Tournament and reached the semi finals
• Jimmy Anderson, the England Fast Bowler ran a Masterclass in the sports hall
• The children performed well in the National Schools Biathlon Championships
• The Cross Country Team won silver at the St Francis and Thorngrove meetings
• The U9 Cross Country Girls Team won bronze at Thorngrove; their first outing
• The U11 Medley Relay Teams won silver in the Winchester Primary Schools Gala
• The U11 Girls Freestyle Team won bronze in the Winchester Primary Schools Gala
  Rachel Allison represented the Southampton Gymnastic Club in the British Championships
• Tag Rugby was introduced into the curriculum for Years 5 and 6
• Tag Rugby is to be introduced into the curriculum in September 2010 for Years 3 and 4
• Sports Day was a great success and it only rained briefly!

Music

• Miss Williams completed her first year as our new Head of Music and the Department has gone from strength to strength
• A Year 6 Singing Group has been established
• A Wind Group under the direction of Clive French has started up
• Year 2 sang in the Cathedral Carol Service for the first time
• The Chamber Choir participated in the Southampton Music Festival for the first time and the Choir sang at the Queen Alexandra Hospital in Cosham
• This year we have held a whole range of musical events; informal Tea Time concerts, 2 Nativity plays, a Music Festival, Brass Concert, and Carol service performed in the Cathedral
• At the end of term we watched an amazing performance of ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ performed by Years 5 and 6.

Speech and Drama

The main aim of Speech and Drama is to instil confidence and develop important life skills. It isn’t all about winning, however In the Southampton and Godalming Festivals we won or were placed in every class!

PMA – Prince’s Mead Association

The PMA Committee members and class representatives were all thanked for their contribution to school life. In particular, Mrs Deborah Yoxon was thanked for her work as co-ordinator for the PMA Representatives and Mrs Mel Renwick and Mrs Vanessa Weiglhofer were commended for their outstanding work as Chairmen.

The last event of the PMA season was the ‘Picnic in the Park’. This was the most stunning event and I thank Claire Rutter and Stephen Gadd for their outstanding contribution; we all felt hugely privileged to hear such entertainment in our own School grounds.

Charities and Partnerships

• Our minibuses continue to be used, free of charge, to take parishioners to churches in the area, they are also used by a number of children’s charities and Brownies
• The PMA raised £12,830 for the benefit of the School and the range of charities we support. This included £5,175 raised at the PMA Ceilidh for our sister school in Inungur, Tamil Nadu
• As a school we continue to send £1000.00 per year to help pay the salaries of the teachers in the school in India

It has been yet another truly amazing year at Prince’s Mead. Thank you all for your enthusiasm and continued support, it is much appreciated.

I wish you all a very happy summer holiday and look forward to seeing all those returning to Prince’s Mead on Tuesday 7th September.

Yours sincerely,

Miss P S Kirk
Headmistress