News Content

VH TELEGRAPH incorporating the Bulletin

Monday, 19th March 2012

The children continue to be very busy and it is good to see their enthusiasm for school remaining as strong as ever as we start to get close to the end of what has been a very busy term for us all. As their Head Master it is great to visit the classrooms and see them working so hard and doing so with a smile on their faces. As well as working hard in their academic lessons they continue to commit fully to all aspects of school life and the school appears as busy in the evenings and at weekends as it does during the day.

Saturday saw our U9 netball and soccer tournaments and it was wonderful to see so many children enjoying their sport. I was particularly pleased as all our Yr4 children took part and did their best. The girls played very well before losing in the quarter finals. The boys also played well with the Albion team emerging as victors of the whole competition. United also performed excellently, finishing runners up in the shield competition to the Kings first team and only losing one nil in a close game. I was very proud of all of our children that took part in these tournaments; they have worked very hard in preparation as have their teachers. Whilst on a sporting theme, I wish our U11 boys hockey players every success on Tuesday as they represent Kent in the South of England Championship. I am looking forward to watching them play.

This Thursday evening is our Spring Concert and I know the children have been working hard in preparation for this event which promises to be an enjoyable evening and I encourage you all to attend. The standards our musicians achieve are absolutely outstanding; I am certainly looking forward to my week ahead.

This Friday is our Friends of Vernon Holme Wine and Wisdom evening. As yet there have not been many entries and we will have to make a decision as to whether it goes ahead on Wednesday. To encourage attendance we are offering a bottle of wine to each team that finishes ahead of mine. This might be one of the easiest bottles of wine to win that there has ever been!

Whilst on the theme of quiz questions I thank the parent (who shall remain nameless) who pointed out to me that on certain occasions in history and at sea 1500 metres can be longer than a mile! I am sure he was right but can only feel sorry for Henry Townsend having a father like that!

Quiz Question

Which city is the capital city in France?

Andrew Carter
Head Master

VH TELEGRAPH incorporating the Bulletin

Monday, 12th March 2012

It has again been a very busy time for us all and it has been wonderful to see our children so involved in school life. I was very pleased to hear such positive reports from teachers about parents evening last week and I know they are looking forward to this weeks meetings. Year Two and Junior children received their effort grades on Friday and I hope it meant they all had an enjoyable weekend as parents will have been so pleased to hear how hard they have been working.

It seems that opportunities in the performing arts are becoming more prevalent in school as each week goes by. These are important for a number of reasons and I personally feel that these opportunities lead to an improvement in academic performance. This is not only through improved self esteem leading to increased confidence but also more directly in children's ability to express themselves both orally and on paper. The ability to give presentations with confidence is increasingly important in our rapidly developing modern world. Thursday's Year Six assembly presented how women's roles changed during the Second World War in an interesting and amusing way for us all to enjoy. They are also working hard in preparation for their annual play, which they will be performing in the summer term. This Thursday's assembly will see us being entertained by the children who will be performing their dances from expressive arts lessons and extra curricular dance sessions.

This week has also been full of sporting opportunities and I thank everyone who worked so hard on Saturday to make our cross country running event so successful. It was superb to see the efforts of the children and the enthusiasm of the spectators, I suspect that a few parents ran nearly as far as their children to support and encourage them at different parts of the course! Many of our children won medals but my personal view is that all children who took part were winners. As a reasonably regular, but very slow jogger I was in awe at the speeds all the competitors were able to achieve!

Congratulations to our U 11 boys hockey players who finished runners up in the county championships and have qualified to represent the county in the regional competition. I know they impressed the organisers of the competition with their fast free flowing play. Our U10 girls finished in third place in the Ashford School netball tournament and our U9 boys finished in the same position in the Sutton Valence hockey tournament.

Our musicians are working hard in preparation for our Spring Concert and I am looking forward to the choirs performing at the Marlowe next term and of course to our choir tour! There are however many other exciting opportunities for our children to enjoy before we reach the end of the school year.

Quiz Question

Which race is longer, the 1500 meters or the mile?


Andrew Carter
Head Master

VH TELEGRAPH incorporating the Bulletin

Monday, 27th February 2012

It never ceases to impress me, just how enthusiastic our children are for school and all it entails. It has been highlighted to me even more last week now that I have become a form tutor again! I hope that my Year Four pupils are enjoying the experience as much as I am! From my perspective it is wonderful to be working closely with a group of children but I have ensured that I have enough time to be involved with all the children in the school.

Last week was very busy for us adults as well and I thank all of you that came in for your annual appointment with me. The evenings were very long but also very positive and there are exciting times ahead for us all. I am certain that our children are going to find school even more enjoyable and make even more progress in the years ahead. I am in my twentieth year as a Head Master and never have I felt more enthusiastic or more excited about the future.

Our Year Six children continue to take on their leadership roles with maturity and understanding and spending time with them is an absolute delight. This week sees them taking part in auditions for their annual school play which will be performed towards the end of the summer term. I also sense growing anticipation about their residential trip which this year takes in the sights of Paris; I am really looking forward to accompanying them on the trip as I find French history fascinating (whether the children will see this as a positive, I am not so certain!)

This weekend was relatively quiet but I was able to watch our U11 netballers play in a tournament on Saturday and have to congratulate them on the standard of their play. In fact, I would say that in the final game they played as well as I have ever seen U11 girls play (and in the last twenty years I have watched a lot of netball!). They finished second out of the ten teams there after making a slow start but can feel very proud of their achievement which they have worked hard for.

The next few weeks are going to be very busy for our children and their teachers with concerts, performances and sporting opportunities complementing the work the children are doing in their lessons. I thank everyone for being so supportive and ensuring that we are so successful in all we do.

Quiz Question

What happens this week that only happens every four years?



Andrew Carter
Head Master

VH TELEGRAPH incorporating the Bulletin

Monday, 5th February 2012

Five o clock, Saturday morning! My alarm rings, another exciting day ahead of me, full of challenges, full of fun and full of achievements. My first challenge is how to get up in silence without waking Mrs Carter, (she is never at her best first thing in the morning!). After successfully showering in silence, (time for singing later in the day), it was downstairs to a quiet and relaxing breakfast, well, that is until my phone rang, it was Mrs Spencer. 'What is the weather like? It snowed here and the Mercedes is struggling to get up the hill out of Kingston! Will the Choristers be able to get in? Will we get to Basingstoke? Can you get up to the senior school to be there when people arrive?'. 'It will be fine, don't worry and yes, yes, yes!'

Approximately sixteen hours later I am sitting at home and what a superb day it has been, (apart from the hour I had to spend watching 'Take me out' with Mrs Carter tonight!) I often say that I have the best job in the world and this week has fully reinforced that view in my mind. I am actually sitting at home looking back on the week with the curtains of the room open to see if it will snow so making a decision necessary as to whether we travel to Sunday's cross country running event at Tonbridge School! So what is it that makes me so fortunate and my occupation so special? Very simply it is your children, your support and the superb teachers that give so generously of their time to make each day a special adventure.

My congratulations go to our Choristers who sang so superbly to be named as children's choir of the year in the South East heat of the national Choir of the Year competition. We now have to wait to see if we are one of the four choirs selected to take part in the national final to be held in Manchester next October. Regardless of whether they are successful or not we are very proud of their outstanding achievement and look forward to hearing them sing many times before the completion of this academic year.

It is not only our children that we must congratulate for outstanding achievement, it is also our catering staff as our kitchens have recently been inspected for food hygiene and achieved the highest rating possible. It is not surprising as they produce healthy and delicious food for us on a daily basis and I can assure them that their hard work is appreciated by us all.

Hard work does lead to success in so many different areas and I am very pleased with how much enthusiasm and effort the children put into their full school day. This term I have timetabled myself to take a club from five to six every night and I am very impressed with how the children are still full of energy at the end of the school day. Their hard work is also bringing success on the sports field and I was very impressed with their hockey against St Edmunds School on Wednesday where we enjoyed a clean sweep of victories in teams that included all the boys in Years Five and Six.












As this is my final letter of the half term I would like to wish everyone an enjoyable half term. My particular best wishes go to Mrs Jennings and her family as she starts her maternity leave. I am also looking forward to returning after half term where I will spend a term and a half as form tutor for 4LJ, I hope that the children are looking forward to this as much as I am!




Quiz Question

Who will be 4LJ form tutor after half term?



Andrew Carter
Head Master
.




NOTICES

Suzuki Violin Playtogether
The next Suzuki Play Together is on Tuesday 7th February at 8.30am in the Music Studio.
All are welcome to attend. Refreshments will be served in the Dining Hall afterwards.

VH TELEGRAPH incorporating the Bulletin

Monday, 30th January 2012


Every week seems to bring new achievements for our children and new accolades for the school. We are delighted to be named in the top one hundred schools for the second consecutive year and for the first time we have been named as the Church School of the Year for the London and South East region. I send my congratulations to all members of our school community on these outstanding achievements. We are working hard at all times to ensure that the educational experience for all our children is a positive and happy one and we are constantly striving to further improve that experience.

Last week was a very busy one for our Year Six children with the senior school entrance exam and all the scholarship opportunities they enjoyed. They seemed very positive about the experience and were even looking forward to their interviews. I hope that they remain as positive about interview situations throughout their lives! I believe that they were able to approach the whole process with confidence as they had worked very hard in preparation for all aspects of the assessment.

I am looking forward very much to accompanying our choristers to Basingstoke next Saturday for their first competitive performance of the year. They can face this challenge with confidence as they have worked very hard in their preparation. It is always very exciting to have the opportunity to perform in such a splendid venue as the theatre in Basingstoke and we all have very happy memories of our last visit there.

The weather forecasters have started to mention that four letter word that brings excitement to all our children and ensures their Head Master is bad tempered and miserable! The word is of course snow! If the snow does come overnight we will endeavour to keep the school open but would not ask any parent to undertake a journey that they may have concerns about. We will put messages on the web site and I will try to be answering the phone personally from seven in the morning to help people with their decisions. If the snow comes during the day we will endeavour to remain open but will be happy for parents to collect their children early if they want to. I hope that by having a clear plan we will ensure that the snow doesn't fall here!

I have been very impressed with the range of foods that our children are eating at lunch time: the different colours that appear on most plates shows their diet is balanced and giving them the energy and nutrients that they need to ensure a healthy lifestyle. I have been equally as impressed by their knowledge of what they are eating and what they should be eating. It is no wonder they have so much energy during the school day!











Finally, can I remind parents that the viewing gallery above the Sports Hall is available for you to use at any time during the school day. We do put tea and coffee in there at the end of the school day and there is usually something to watch in the sports hall. I wish you all an enjoyable week.

Quiz Question

Name five edible vegetables.




Andrew Carter
Head Master
.




NOTICES

Suzuki Violin Playtogether
The next Suzuki Play Together is on Tuesday 7th February at 8.30am in the Music Studio.
All are welcome to attend. Refreshments will be served in the Dining Hall afterwards.

VH TELEGRAPH incorporating the Bulletin

Monday, 23rd January 2012

I very much enjoyed my meetings with Nursery and Year Five parents last week and I hope that everyone who visited for those meetings found them informative and enjoyable. As well as working hard at the present we are always looking forward at developing the education we offer and ensuring that each child is recognised as an individual. School is a very busy place but the children do seem very happy and are certainly working hard and achieving a lot.

My thanks to you all for the many positive comments following Saturday's cross country event which saw nearly 300 children taking part. My thanks also to the staff who came in on Saturday to ensure that the event was such a success. I was very impressed with the way all our children performed and how they conducted themselves throughout the morning. Our U11 girls went straight off to Wellesley House to play netball and I enjoyed watching two thrilling games, one we lost by one goal and one we won by two goals! It certainly was a busy Saturday!

Friday afternoon's assembly saw the Managing Director of Molten Sports visiting to present the trophy for winning the Independent Schools soccer league to our U11 boys. This is the third year in succession that we have won this league and the success shows how hard all the children work at developing their talents.

Our Choristers are busy preparing for their next competitive performance which will be at Basingstoke on Saturday February 4th. I am looking forward to accompanying them on this venture which will see them performing at the main concert venue in the town. Three years ago this was the venue for their first performance on the way to the Radio Three Choir of the Year Final which saw them performing in the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall.

Tuesday sees our Year Six children sitting the Senior School entrance exam with the scholarship assessments taking place later in the week. The children have been working hard in preparation for these very different assessments and can look forward to demonstrating exactly how talented they are. These talents start to develop in the Infant section of the school and I have enjoyed observing our infant children in action on a number of occasions last week.

Once again I thank you all for the support and encouragement that you give to your children and the school.

Quiz Question

What sort of instrument is a trumpet?


Andrew Carter
Head Master

VH TELEGRAPH incorporating the Bulletin

Monday, 16th January 2012

It has one again been a very busy week and a very positive week for your school and your children. I am very pleased with the number of children that are opting for the after school clubs for Juniors and am very appreciative of the teachers' efforts to provide such a rich variety of opportunities. This weekend also saw our Spring term sports tours taking place, another area where I am very appreciative of teachers giving their time to enable these to take place and be such a positive experience for the children. I went with the boys and Mrs Carter accompanied the girls and we really enjoyed our weekends and were delighted with the way the children performed and conducted themselves throughout the term. The girls had some excellent games of netball against St Andrew's, St Bede's and Holmewood House prep schools and enjoyed a mixture of results, with the A team games all being decided by one goal; unfortunately two went against us! The boys impressed all who watched them by playing some outstanding hockey and were far too good for Brandeston Hall and Abbey School, two very large Prep schools in Suffolk.

I was delighted with the evening for Year Six parents last week and am looking forward to meeting with Nursery and Year Five parents this week to look at the challenges that lie over the months ahead for their children. I am very appreciative of the support that the school receives from our parents and feel that the home/school partnership helps our children achieve so much in so many areas.

To help families plan their Summer Term, I would like to draw everyone's attention to the following dates where we hope to be able to involve all children in some capacity to enable all members of the school community to enjoy the days to the full.

Parents Day: Saturday 23rd June
Sports Day: Saturday 30th June

Finally in what is a very brief letter this week, we have a cross country event this Saturday and there will be a race for Infant children and all are welcome to attend. The Junior races will be relays so are for the children that attend the after school cross country clubs. I look forward to seeing a lot of you there on Saturday.

Quiz Question

New Zealand mainly comprises two large islands. What are these islands called?


Andrew Carter
Head Master

VH TELEGRAPH incorporating the Bulletin

Newsletter 9th January 2012

Once again I am delighted with the enthusiasm our children have shown for the new term and they have returned to school with an excellent approach to school life in general. I have really enjoyed talking with them about their Christmases and hearing about all the things they are looking forward to this term. We have also welcomed into the school three new gap students, Lucy Edwards and Jonty Smith from New Zealand and Trish Webb from Australia, they are also looking forward to their new challenges and have made a very good impression in their first few days.

Whilst we were relaxing over the Christmas break, Mr Chapple and his team were very busy in school improving further our facilities. We are all delighted with the refurbished art and design technology rooms and the girls are very pleased with their improved changing rooms and I believe they chose the colour themselves!

We have been renowned for our idyllic environment for a long time; I would like to think that we are also known for our excellent education, happy atmosphere and variety of opportunities. It seems we are also being recognised for our excellent food and I congratulate all members of our catering staff for all they do for us on a daily basis. Kevin our chef visited Year Two last term to talk about food, diet and healthy eating; as a result of this they have been devising their own menus and on Wednesday he is going to cook some of their ideas for our lunch.

This evening Dr Lamper is visiting us to talk with Year Six parents about the senior school entrance exams and the scholarships and bursary systems in the senior section of the college. I am looking forward to meeting with Year Five parents the following week to discuss their child's education and start to plan for their child's education after they leave the junior school. I will also be meeting with the parents of children in our nursery next week to start to plan for entry into reception in September and will be offering appointments to parents who have children in Years Two, Three and Four later this academic year.

Next weekend sees our Spring term sports tours with our Year Five and Six boys going to Suffolk to play hockey with our girls going to Eastbourne to play netball. We are very pleased with the way the children have supported the pre-term sessions and then Saturday's internal fixtures. Their hard work means they can look forward to their sporting challenges throughout the term. It is wonderful to see so many children involved and playing to such high standards.

Finally, can I thank everyone for the support that they gave to the school over the very busy end of the last term and I hope that you enjoyed the events as much as I did.

Quiz Question

New Zealand mainly comprises of two large islands. What are these islands called?



Andrew Carter
Head Master

VH TELEGRAPH incorporating the Bulletin

Monday 5th December 2011

Such has been the enthusiasm of the children throughout the term, it is hard to believe that we are entering the last week of the school term. This week promises to be even busier than any that have gone before with all our Christmas events and I congratulate the children on the hard work that they have put in preparing for the events. I hope that families and friends are able to support and enjoy these events and I point you all to the Christmas calendar we distributed which gives details of the arrangements for these performances and thank you for all the positive comments about the calendar.

I am delighted to be able to report that Christmas Capers will be on as published and there are still places available for children who would like to join in.

In what is a very brief final letter of the term, I look forward to seeing all of you at some time this week and wish you all a very enjoyable Christmas Break. The quiz will be back next term!



Andrew Carter
Head Master