Back to school for Becky

Rebecca Kirby (22) went back to school last week ….. but this time she was in charge of the Reception Class at the school she had attended from the age of five to 18!

Former St Teresa’s pupil, Becky has just completed a degree in American Studies at Nottingham University and is planning a career in teaching. “I can honestly say that I went to school happy every day of my school life at St T’s”, she says, “and so I can think of no better career than one where I get to have a positive influence on the way other children feel about their school days. If you are happy at school then you learn. What could be clearer than that? I am looking forward to the future as a Class Teacher – preferably Year 3 – and this taster has been real fun! The little girls have been delightful!”

And will she be returning to teach at St Teresa’s when fully qualified? “Who knows?” she smiles.

Big School Starts here!

St. Teresa’s Nursery girls could hardly contain their excitement on the way to school last Friday. They were looking forward to spending the day as Reception girls and meeting their new teacher, Caroline Abbott, and the other girls joining them in the Reception class in September.

The girls came to the school on Guildford Rd for an Induction morning and enjoyed a whole range of taster sessions including music and dance. They also enjoyed some fun literacy and numeracy skills in a whole set of structured activities.

Caroline Abbott, said, “The girls can hardly wait for September and really enjoyed their morning with us. We all had lunch together before the Mummies came back to collect them and a couple of them even asked if they could stay for the afternoon too!”

St Teresa’s Prep School Choir march into song!

Thirty little girls from St Teresa’s Prep School in Effingham have been given the opportunity of a lifetime - and one which has made many a Mum jealous! They have been invited by The Band of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines Portsmouth to sing alongside them at a concert to be held on Thursday May 15th at 3.30 in the Dorking Halls.

Having already travelled to Portsmouth to rehearse with the Band on their home territory, the girls can hardly wait for the real thing and are continuing to practice regularly in school too to be tone and word perfect at the concert!

The Head of Music at the Prep School is Caroline Yalden. Caroline has a history of aiming high with the choir and they are no strangers to high profile appearances having appeared with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Cadogan Hall in a premier of “The Zambezi Tales” as well as with local choral societies and church choirs and alongside professional musicians in the school’s Mairlot Hall theatre. “If our girls are presented with a challenge then I have always found that they rise to the occasion and make us all very proud”, said Caroline. “They are looking forward very much to their stage debut with the Marines in support of the Seafarers UK charity which is such a worthy cause!”

Flour Baby Week

What a wonderful week - 41 four babies and their proud mums at school!
Year 6 also enjoyed a visit from a real live baby - Daniel Denny. Many thanks to Mrs Denny and Ciara for bringing him in and telling us all about him.

Bouncy Baby Winners

• Alicia Prior for a sweet-faced Louisa Lola Indigo (Alicia made a blanket)
• Natasha Rutherford for Annabel with the nice face and hair
• Amy Kearton for Polly (Amy made her dress)
• Ellen Jenne for the cute twins
• Olivia Harris for happy Emma Joanne
• Annabel Hales for sweet Violet Rose (lovely flower (flour?) name!

Diary Winners

• Hannah Collins - Rosie (I slept wonderfully last night. I had my full beauty sleep. Ok, ok Rosie was at her Grandma's house, but still..)
• Lucy Gavan - Oliver Matthew (Today was very stressful. Oliver kept crying and annoying all the teachers.)
• Amy Bates - Gemma Mariette Zoey (We had athletics club after orchestra, so I gave Gemma her bottle before I went out. She obviously had fun messing about, because when I got back she had a great big smile on her face, and all my clothes were jumbled up!)
• Harriet Harman - Tilly (Today Tilly (my cat) used Tilly (my daughter) as a scratching post, so Tilly has lots and lots of cuts that will mend in time I hope!)
• Lottie Smetham -Milly (Today I felt as if I wanted to chuck Milly out of the house! I have had enough of her crying and waking me up all night.)
• Fran McMullen - Olivia Katie (When she woke up we went to Costa with some friends who had babies the same age! We filled the whole shop up with our pushchairs!)
• Ciara Denny - Shauna Michaela (Shauna is World's Champion screamer (worse than my brother). She hasn't stopped all day!

Commended for knitting/sewing for baby

• Jessica Jones - Isabelle
• Jemima Hayes - Chloe Lottie Summer
• Katie Tait - Polgara
• Hannah Burden - Zoey
• Rafaella Ricci - Freya
• Kate Rand - Ella
• Georgina Hayes - Charlotte
• Carolina Makowska - Sophie
• Hadiza Ismail - Vanessa

Congratulations to all the winners and well done all Y6 mothers and babies!

St Teresa's Nursery is the best - it's official!

There were smiles all round at St Teresa's Nursery at the end of the Summer Term last week [10 July 2008] when the school's wonderful Ofsted report landed on Headmistress, Ann Marie Stewart's desk.
Mrs Stewart said, "I have never seen so many "outstandings" in one report! We are thrilled that our hard work has been recognised so publicly!"
The Inspectors' deemed that every angle of the work at St Teresa's Nursery:-

• the quality of teaching and learning
• the partnership with parents and carers
• the way the Nursery staff help children to learn and to make a positive contribution
• the organisation, leadership and management of Head of Nursery, Judith Irvine

- deserved this accolade - and there were absolutely no recommendations for improvement.
This time last year the staff at St Teresa's Prep School were celebrating a similar glowing report and with the Nursery and Prep school moving into brand new buildings on the extensive Senior School site in January 2009, the future is looking very bright indeed!

St Teresa's Prep School receives a glowing inspection report

Even the memory of a cold and wet Summer break could not dampen the high spirits of staff at St Teresa's Prep School in Effingham this week!

Hot on the heels of news that the long-awaited approval for building a state-of-the-art new Nursery and Prep School had been granted, staff also received the finalised hard copy report of a glowing ISI inspection which took place in the Prep School at the end of the Summer Term.

Inspectors stated that the girls received "a broad and balanced education" with "high quality teaching and learning" and highlighted that Key Stage 1 and 2 results were both "well above the national average". The vast majority of lessons observed were "outstanding", the remainder being deemed "good" and inspectors judged that the subject specialist teachers ensured girls were extended. Inspectors found the whole environment "conducive to high quality learning" and pupils were noted to be "articulate", to "write fluently" and be "good listeners". The report found that they "achieve(d) outstandingly well" and made an "outstanding contribution to lessons."

Said Headmistress, Ann Marie Stewart, "This is a wonderful, but well-deserved result for my staff. We were thrilled to hear that the Inspection Team judged our performance so strong in so many areas. We are far from being complacent however and are already addressing the Inspectors' comments that we have work to do on ensuring that our newly installed ICT system is used to its full extent for research and also by stretching the girls on our Gifted and Talented Programme even further! Well done to all concerned! We are delighted!" (Sept 2007)

To read the report please click here

It’s a Party at St Teresa’s Nursery and Prep School!

The tiniest pupils at St Teresa’s Nursery and Prep School in Effingham took part in their very own version of the Nativity play entitled “It’s a Party!”. With stars from the Reception Class, angels from the Nursery and a whole host of animals alongside Mary, Joseph, the Kings and shepherds, the play packed to a packed hall full of parents, grandparents, friends and staff.

From tie-dye to catwalk

Creativity starts young at St Teresa’s in Effingham! Even two and three year olds are producing carefully crafted fashion items in the Nursery and were proud to be photographed with their latest projects – tie-dye T shirts!

Current A level Textiles student, 18 year old Isabelle Edwards and Nneka Uzoigwe remembers well those early years 

St Teresa’s Nursery is the best – it’s official!

There were smiles all round at St Teresa’s Nursery at the end of the Summer Term last week when the school’s wonderful Ofsted report landed on Headmistress, Ann Marie Stewart’s desk.

Mrs Stewart said, “I am delighted with the report. We have always known that our Nursery provision is excellent and it is so very pleasing to have the Ofsted seal of approval. We are thrilled that our hard work has been recognised so publicly!”

The Inspectors’ deemed that every angle of the work at St Teresa’s Nursery - the quality of teaching and learning; the partnership with parents and carers; the way the Nursery staff help children to learn and to make a positive contribution; the organisation, leadership and management of Head of Nursery, Judith Irvine“- deserved this accolade - and there were absolutely no recommendations for improvement.

This time last year the staff at St Teresa’s Prep School were celebrating a similar glowing report and with the Nursery and Prep school moving into brand new buildings on the extensive Senior School site in January 2009, the future is looking very bright indeed!

St Teresa’s Talks to the Animals!

A national Ofsted report published last week claimed that much of the Science teaching across the UK was leaving pupils bored and demotivated – especially at primary level. This is certainly not the case at St Teresa’s Prep School in Effingham!

Head of Science at the school, Elaine Larque, a microbiologist and, formerly, Principal Scientific Officer for Smith Klein Beecham until she trained as a teacher 15 years ago, has the girls in the palm of her hand! “Science is real”, she says. “There is science in everything we do every day and it should be fun!” Elaine uses a heady mix of science-based music, poetry, drama and role-play alongside plenty of “real” experiments (her words!), to enthuse her pupils and make science fun, challenging and stimulating. “The girls here love science”, says Elaine. “They enjoy their trips to sites as diverse as Wisley and the LightBox Museum as well as making and looking after Flour Babies, researching and producing waterproof fashion and receiving visits from eminent scientists like Prof. Monica Grady of the Open University’s Planetary and Space Science Research Institute to talk on “Space Travel since Sputnik”!

One of the scientific highspots of the year so far, however, occurred last week when Year 6 girls hosted a Pet Afternoon as part of their continuing challenge for Science Week.

Arranged by Mrs Larque, guinea pigs, rabbits, hamsters, and even a grass snake called Cornflake took over the Science lab and larger animals – dogs, cats, kittens and a pony – populated the playground!  

There was also a whole host of animal – linked activities and competitions for the girls to take part in as well as an animal - themed lunch with all profits being donated to an animal charity.

Headmistress, Ann Marie Stewart said,” The fact that we have specialists teaching their subjects means that staff inspire and enthuse the girls – and that means high quality learning”.

Not surprising then that, when St Teresa’s was inspected recently, “outstanding”, not “boring” was the word used!

Prep Dedication

More than 800 guests, staff and pupils were welcomed by the Right Reverend Kieran Conry, Bishop of Arundel and Brighton on Wednesday at a special service to celebrate the dedication of St Teresa’s brand new Nursery and Prep School which opens on the Senior School site in Beech Avenue, Effingham in January 2009.

Heads representing many local schools joined past Heads and Governors of St Teresa’s and local Councillors at a celebratory Mass followed by the dedication ceremony in the new buildings.

Ann Marie Stewart, Headmistress of St Teresa’s Nursery and Prep, said, “The blessing of our wonderful, new school by Bishop Kieran has underlined just how close we are to moving into our dream premises! January is not far away now and the staff, girls and parents can hardly wait. And the fact that the move is taking place in the year of the Senior School’s 80th anniversary makes the celebrations even more special!”

Summers runs on!

Power-packed pentathlete, Francesca Summers, 12, from St Teresa’s School in Effingham has just scooped another first!

For the second year running she has been voted Mole Valley Junior Sports Personality of the Year – the first time this has happened in the history of the competition – and received the coveted award from Hockey Olympian, Brett Garrard.

Francesca will need to be watching her back though! Ten year old sister, Georgina, also at St Teresa’s, is hot on her heels and was runner-up in her age category!

And, not to be outdone, eight year old Charlotte Summers, recently made her first appearance at an Epee Tournament! The Summers’ determination and talent shone forth however and, although competing in the Under 11s category, little Charlotte finished runner-up despite competing against much older opponents!

Prep School Headmistress, Ann Marie Stewart, said, “ We are always so impressed by the performances which the Summers girls regularly give and by the determination and effort that they all dedicate to their sports. Well done to all of them. We are all very proud of you!”

Strictly Come Designing!

Girls in Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 at St Teresa’s Prep School in Effingham have been experiencing at first hand what it is like to work in the fashion design industry.

The school has run its first Textiles Challenge over a two week period during which the girls have researched, designed, developed and produced a garment for a dancer.

Ann Marie Stewart, Headmistress, said, “The girls have enjoyed every minute of this project. Far from just being a one - dimensional exercise in drawing, they have been involved in continuous problem-solving as they researched fabrics to suit the needs of a dancer, developed their ideas into workable designs and, finally, produced the garment itself”. 

The girls have had a perfect role model for their studies! Jo Irvine, old girl of St Teresa’s and now one of the design team producing costumes for the stars in the BBC’s “Strictly Come Dancing” and now ITV’s “Dancing On Ice”, judged the competition and chose Jessica Pancham’s design as the overall winner in the Year 6 group, with the runner – up Annabel Clark and, in Year 5, Camilla Mandolfo came in first, closely followed by Ellie Thomas (pictured).

The four main prizewinners are thrilled that they will be taken to Jo’s place of work, haute couture dancewear manufacturers’ “Chrisanne”, to see how the professionals design and produce dancewear for the stars!

Toddlers Run and Bounce to raise funds for Barnardo’s

There was record attendance at St Teresa’s Mother and Toddler group on Tuesday when more than 30 tinies bounced, ran and skipped to raise money for Barnardo’s! Year 10 girls from the Senior School joined the Nursery girls and their toddler friends to help them pick up bean bags along a track, climb through hoops and bounce on a bouncy castle. For those who fancied a quieter time, there were castles to build in the sandpit and a whole table full of playdoh and puzzles!

Said Mother and Toddler Group organiser, Sally Hayes, “We decided to donate the usual fee for the morning session to Barnardo’s “Big Toddle” this year and the girls have all had a fabulous morning playing in the sun!”

Tracy Beaker comes to town!

Actress Dani Harmer who plays popular children’s BBC TV character, Tracy Beaker, made a special guest appearance at St Teresa’s Prep School this week!

Created by renowned children’s fiction author, Jacqueline Wilson, Tracy Beaker is one of the protagonists in a series of novels by this author dealing with the type of problems encountered by youngsters but treating them with the humour and sensitivity which has made the books best-sellers.

Dani spent time with the whole school telling them about her experience as a young actress and answering question from the delighted girls.

Headmistress, Ann-Marie Stewart said, “We are thrilled that Dani has come to St Teresa’s to talk to us all today and very grateful to the generous parents who donated the visit. It was a prize won by them in an auction held at the Royal Berkshire Hotel last May in aid of the “Make a Wish Foundation” – a wonderful charity which raises money to provide the funds to make wishes come true for children with terminal illnesses and their families. The girls have thoroughly enjoyed meeting Dani and finding out about her life as an actress”.

When it comes to the crunch..........!

When the girls at St Teresa’s Prep School in Effingham wanted to raise money during Maths Week for a school in Zambia for children with special needs they decided they wanted a more exciting fundraising event than the usual sponsored silences, swims or walks. So, with the help of Catherine Gray, Head of Maths, they opted for a sponsored number crunch!

120 girls from Years 1 to 6 took part and each was sponsored by family and friends to complete a list of 100 arithmetic questions designed to be appropriate to their age and ability. Mrs Gray said, “The results have been amazing! The girls really enjoyed putting their maths knowledge to such profitable use and we raised a massive £4000 for the “Hidden Voice School” in Zambia”.

As well as the number crunch, other Maths Week activities included using coordinates to find hidden treasure on a pirates’ map, workshops for the youngest girls using Chinese characters and a visit from a mathematical magician.

The cheque was presented to Sister Maura who comes from the same Convent in Ladywell, Surrey as Sister Anne who is currently working with the children in the African school.

Woking Festival 2008

Once again Year 5 Drama Club at St. Teresa’s Prep School have come up trumps. They won the Group Speaking Award performing a selection of ‘poems about poems’ for the second year running, gaining Distinction. The adjudicator, Penny Charteris said she  loved their enthusiasm and the way they spoke and moved together as though they were all thinking exactly the same. Mrs Browne their drama teacher was delighted with them and said ‘I was thrilled that they performed so well on stage at the Rhoda McGaw theatre in Woking to such a large audience .’

Several girls in school have also been taking part in the Off By Heart verse speaking competition which is being organised by the BBC and they are hoping to put forward one girl to represent the school in the regional heats next year.