From the HeadmasterAs Headmaster, it is refreshing to see so

many new initiatives being introduced to the

school and proving to be so successful. The

Forest School, which started last September

(led by Mrs Lowe, our Forest School Leader)

has proved to be incredibly popular with the

children and this dedicated space, beyond our

lower playing fields, has become a rich area

of learning for creative and investigative work

which has enabled the children to develop their

practical skills.

Similarly, the introduction of the

Celebration of the Arts Evening

(which now incorporates the

former Elocution Competition)

took place at the end of term to

celebrate the diverse talents of

the multi-talented Hallfieldians

with spoken word, drama, music

and the creative arts on display;

it was a joy to watch. This event

will become a regular highlight of

the Spring Term.

This year’s capable Year 6 children have again delivered some outstanding academic

results in their recent 11+ examinations. 83% of the children (77% last year) have been

offered a place to a selective LA grammar school and this figure may further improve

with offers from the ‘waiting list’. Already, a record 36 scholarships have been awarded

to the children (30 last year), to the top

independent schools in the Midlands

with a record number of scholarships to

KES and KEHS – 7 and 3 respectively.

Consistently, Hallfield has produced the

best 11+ results in the Midlands for a

number of years. Congratulations to

the Year 6 children and the inspirational

teaching from the staff throughout the

school.

As the clocks move forward into British

Summertime, Tania and I would like to

wish you a very restful and enjoyable

Easter holidays.

Hallfield SchoolChurch Road Edgbaston Birmingham B15 3SJ

0121 454 1496

office@hallfieldschool.co.uk

www.hallfieldschool.co.uk

@HallfieldSchool

Hallfield Focus

Page 1

Inside this Issue

From the Chairman 2

PTA News 2

Hallfieldfirst 3

Pre-Prep 4

Upper School 6

Hallfield Vision 8

… on the Spring Term 2017

From the Chairman I would like to congratulate Roger Outwin-Flinders on his appointment as the new Headmaster of Brooke Priory School in Oakham. Roger and Tania are very much looking forward to their ‘escape to the country’ this summer where they have many friends and family.

Such is the strength and quality of the SLT at Hallfield that the governors were able to appoint Richard Batchelor, currently Director of Studies, as the Headmaster (2017-18) and Anne Oliver as the new Deputy Head and DSL for the year; Anne is currently Head of Pre-Prep and she will also continue in this role.

Roger and Tania have ensured that Hallfield now has national recognition and therefore the governors are confident that the Headship (for September 2018) which is currently advertised nationally and on the school website, will attract a good field of the highest calibre. Thank you to Tania who has supported Roger with the marketing of the school and, thanks to her endeavours, admissions enquiries to the school have increased by over 40% and website enquiries by over 300%.

Investment will continue on campus this year with additional girls’ changing rooms (Easter 2017) and a new safer drop off and dismissal area at the front of the school, new Pre-Prep toilets and a new Sports Hall floor, which are all scheduled for the summer holidays.

May I wish you all a very happy Easter.

Keith UffChairman of Governors

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CharitiesThe whole school held a charity day on 24 March. We supported two charities - Comic Relief, by selling red noses around school and dressing in Red and donating £1 to support The British Heart Foundation.

On behalf of the school council we would like to say thank you to all

of the children and parents for their continued support. It is important for our children to realise there are others less fortunate than ourselves.

Mrs Woodward & Mrs Checketts Charity Coordinators

Thank YouThank you to Mr and Mrs Bryan (pictured here with Mrs Florance – Lead First Aider) who have purchased and donated a defibrillator for the school which is located in the First Aid room in Pre-Prep. The school has matched this donation by providing a second device which is located at the office at the front of school.

PTA The Valentine Ball was a wonderful evening selling a record number of 251 tickets! The spectacular opening dance performances by British National Dance Champions Amy Dowden & Benjamin Jones got the evening off to a fantastic start, and guests danced the night away into the early hours.

Our annual Easter Egg Hunt, held on Saturday 25 March, was very popular

with our younger guests who enjoyed lots of fun and games and a visit from the Easter Bunny!

Part of the PTA mission is to fund holistic school projects and we have recently committed to supporting a range of new outdoor playground toys from EYFS to KS2 and various Forest School initiatives. These projects total in excess of £11,000; this is the fruition of your continued support to PTA events. Thank you very, very much!

Urvi KaraPTA Chairman

From HallfieldfirstWow, what a busy term it has been in Hallfieldfirst! We welcomed a number of new families to the nursery and all children are settling in well. We can’t believe how quickly the Spring Term has flown!

New SkillsTiggers, Winnies and Piglets have been learning to take their first steps as well as learning self-help skills, such as drinking from open top cups and feeding themselves - all very important achievements! Owls, Rabbits and Eeyores

Dates for your Diary

• 3 - 7 April Stay and Play week

• 14 & 17 April Nursery closed for Easter Bank Holiday

• 1 May Nursery closed for Spring Bank Holiday

• 15 - 19 May Physical Development Week

• 5 - 9 June Big Toddle Week (this year’s theme will be ‘colours’)

• 21 & 22 June Parents’ Evening

• 3 - 7 July Heuristic Play Week

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Staff NewsAfter 7 years service, Rahana Islam left the nursery at the end of March to spend more time with her family. Rahana was a fantastic member of the team and will be missed by all. This role is temporarily being covered by Nagina Khan.

have also been working on new skills and developing their independence.

Following on from our Parent Workshop in November last year, the nursery continues to work towards the Startwell Level 3 Award, with Maria Khanom and Levi Mason leading the team.

At the beginning of March, the nursery children and staff had lots of fun dressing up as their favourite story book characters for World Book Day. Children brought in some of their favourite stories which we shared with each other.

From the Pre-Prep

Playground FunPre-Prep were pleased to welcome a group of Year 6 children who, supported by Mr Goldman and Mrs Fear, taught Year 1 some new playground games. Popular games have included “Beans” and “Catch the Dragon’s Tail”

This is part of an initiative to support all our children in developing their play.

Year 2 have been introduced to some new playground equipment which is designed to support their physical development and a variety of table top games for those who prefer to spend some quiet time with their friends.

Mrs Rogers has introduced new equipment to the EYFS children and has taught them some group and team games. A friendship stop has been placed on the fence and Mrs Rogers says that this has proved very popular with children gathering there to organise group activities together.

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Stomp, Chomp, Big Roars...Here Come the Dinosaurs!Year one have worked extremely hard this half term on their play. As part of their history topic the children learnt about dinosaurs. So it seemed fitting to pick a play involving dinosaurs! The children enjoyed the story of Dumble the Dinosaur. Gurjeevan perfected his loud roar for Dumble, which resonated around the hall and scared all of us! The children’s beautiful singing filled the Upper School Hall. One of their favourite songs was ‘Chock-Rock’ and the children enjoyed learning to hand jive to the music. Well done Year 1 children!

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Dates for your Diary• 4 May Year 1 Sir Teachalot Workshop

• 4 May Year 2 visit to Harvington Hall

• 12 May Foundation visit to Twycross Zoo

• 15 May Year 2 LAMDA examinations

• 23 May Year 2 Tudor Workshop

• 24 May Pre-Prep Musical Assembly (with Yr 2 musicians) Parents invited

• 25 May Reception visit to Hatton Country Park

• 19 June Foundation Forest School Day - Parents invited

• 23 June Year 2 Play performance to parents

• 23 June Transition visit to Ash House Farm

• 27 June Year 1 visit to Dudley Castle and Zoo

• 30 June Pre-Prep Sports Day

• 6 July Foundation Showcase Assembly

• 7 July Reception visit to Wonderland at Telford

• 12 July Pre-Prep Prize Giving - Parents invited

Tiger in a Storm - Surprise!Last term we studied a landscape painting by Henri Rousseau called “Surprise.” First we sketched leaves using graphite sticks, looking carefully at the shapes. Next, we explored the many shades of green. We used different art mediums to shade and blend colours together. Our challenge was to create as many shades of green. Following this, we were each given part of Henri Rousseau’s painting to recreate. We worked together to make sure our montage would fit together. For our final piece, 2P used oil pastels; 2C used water colour and 2L used paint.

Flourishing Forest School This term we have been lucky enough to have the expertise of Mark Robinson from Forest School Birmingham to support us. Mark has introduced the children to the joys of a campfire where they have toasted marshmallows and made popcorn. They have also learned how to build shelters from tarpaulin as well as make ‘jewellery’ from twigs and other natural items that they have found in the woodland.

Foundation and Reception have also had the opportunity to explore the woodland environment. Playing games and learning the rules of the fire circle. We are looking forward to our forest day next term when we will share the experience with our parents.

Pre-Prep children had lots of fun on Red Nose Day – and they raised £370 for Comic Relief!

Red Nose Day

From the Upper SchoolMarvellous Performance from Year 3!The children in Year 3 spent a whole day learning about the story ‘George’s Marvellous Medicine’ written by the author Roald Dahl.

The children were split into groups and each spent a session working with Sophie from the Big Foot Theatre group. Sophie encouraged the children to work in teams to create a tableau for their scene. By 3pm the children were ready to perform the whole story to their parents. Not only did the children manage to work independently, they also managed to put on a superb performance which had the parents laughing in amazement when they retold the story of how the young boy George concocted a marvellous medicine to stop his terrible Grandma moaning!

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Year 6 Discover the Changing Face of BirminghamOn a somewhat damp but mild March morning, all of the Year 6 children and staff set off on a walk of discovery through the canals of Birmingham. We looked at the

contrast between the older parts of the canal and the new sections which have been extensively modernised and redeveloped. It was a combined Geography and History venture designed to open the children’s eyes to the changing face of the city around them. With so many new and exciting developments planned for Birmingham over the next decade or so, it promises to be a very exciting place for children to grow up in.

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The Big SleuthThis term, a new friend joined Hallfield School in the form of a Sun Bear! The bear is part of Birmingham’s Big Sleuth Programme and is ready and waiting to be painted by children in Years 3-6. The children have submitted some fantastic designs and Miss Watton has been very impressed by the imagination and the variety of media they have used! A team of lucky artists will be selected to work on the bear. Next term, you will see how the team are getting on. We hope you will go and visit our new friend when he is placed on the trail around Birmingham this summer!

Cross CountryThis year the successful Under 11 Girls and Boys Teams competed at the Prep Schools National competition coming 32 out of the 66 schools involved – for a first outing, on a demanding course, the children acquitted themselves very well.

Good CitizensWe are saying goodbye and a big THANK YOU to our School Council representatives. They have all worked with enthusiasm and determination to make the Council such a success. They began by helping to choose the winning artwork for the Children’s Charter pocket cards, followed by organizing the Christmas post boxes.

More recently the Council have organised the distribution of toys for play times and started to collect Sainsbury’s vouchers to buy more play equipment. Their latest initiative was to have every class look after a Yukka plant, nurture it and watch it grow. The plants are now positioned in every class room in the Upper School and Pre Prep. Thank you once again to all of the councillors.

Dates for your Diary• W/C 2 May Year 4 residential trips to

Brecon Beacons

• W/C 2 May Year 5 exams

• W/C 8 May Year 6 Community Week

• W/C 15 May Individual Destinations Meetings

for Year 5 families

• 16 May Year 4 and Year 6 LAMDA exams

• W/C 22 May Year 6 Drama Week

• 23 May Year 4 visit to the Butterfly Farm

• W/C 5 June Year 6 Outdoor Pursuits Week in

Ullswater

• 13 to 17 June Year 5 Geography field trip to

the Cranedale centre

• 27 June Upper School Sports Day

• 6 July Speech Day and Prize Giving in

the marquee

• 11 July Year 6 Leavers’ Party

Science WeekYear 4 children visited Conkers in the National Forest as part of our Annual Science Week. The children enjoyed an orienteering task and learnt about minibeasts and their habitats. They were very keen to touch and hold all of the worms, slugs and millipedes they found. The Barefoot Walk was again the highlight of the trip!

Hallfield VisionFrom the Chairman2017 got off to a flying start with the Valentine Ball at Edgbaston Cricket Ground, a well attended reunion in Covent Garden enjoyed by Old Hallfieldians of various ages and, more recently, our popular Edgbaston Reunion at the High Field. May I take this opportunity to remind members of the following forthcoming events, which we hope will be just as popular! Younger Members’ Activity Session (13 May, further details will be sent out soon) and the OHS v WHOBA Annual Golf Tournament (9 June). We look forward to seeing you soon.

Enjoy the Easter break,

Best wishes

Richard HarperOHS Chairman

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Looking back to the future: The Old Hallfieldian Society

Contact the OHSRichard HarperChairmanrichardharper7@icloud.com

Celia HooperExecutive OfficerC.Hooper@ hallfieldschool.co.uk

Tania Outwin-FlindersCommunications OfficerT.Outwin-Flinders@ hallfieldschool.co.uk

Dates for your Diary• 13 May Younger Members’ Activity Session

• 9 June OHS v WHOBA Annual Golf Tournament

• Sept (TBC) Recent Leavers’ Football & Hockey Tournament

London ReunionThere was another great turnout at our London reunion at the Punch & Judy pub in Covent Garden. Paul Amiss and Ben Whitelock enjoyed catching up with other Old Hallfieldians and Stalwart OH supporter Mark Georgevic made the journey to London once again!

We were pleased to see OH’s sporting their Old Hallfieldian ties again and, following your requests, the OH tie will revert to the previous design and the “new” tie will be available to purchase later this year. It was good to see young medics, Ayush Kanungo and Sachin Singal who are now both studying in London and James Cadbury, who met up with his OH friends Chris McNerlin, George Scott and Ryan Kinney.

Valentine BallIn February, the Valentine Ball at Edgbaston Cricket Stadium was a huge success attended by over 250 guests, including many Old Hallfieldians. The event was jointly organised by Hallfield School PTA, Edgbaston High School PA and the Old Hallfieldian Society.

The evening began with a sparkling drinks reception, kindly provided by Accent Catering, followed by an opening performance from British National Dance Champions Amy Dowden and Ben Jones – Amy and Ben are the first all British couple to hold the prestigious title since 1985.

Guests enjoyed a fabulous 3 course dinner and a further dance performance from the professionals ensured that the star-lit dance floor was soon in great demand!