Head Master: Robert MacDonald, M.Ed., B.A.
Telephone: (01242) 522086
Email: hm@richardpate.co.uk
January 2012
Dear Parents,
We welcome everyone back from what I hope has been a relaxing and restful holiday. I have been pleased to see the children returning with such enthusiasm and we look forward to what I am certain will be another successful term for all. The Spring Term will feature our annual Year 6 play which this year is entitled Pirates of the Curry Bean. Our Junior girls will be involved with Netball fixtures while the boys will be concentrating on Hockey and Football. There are a wide range of activities centred around Art and Music and our Curriculum Focus this term shines a light on History.
End of Last Term: Our Autumn Term ended as always with a flurry of activity. The Drama Focus was beautifully drawn to a close with the Prep. Nativity Production which was arguably the finest in years. We were also thrilled with the children’s performance in the Carol Service which was held in the Cheltenham College Chapel. The retiring collection will help the Cheltenham Community Project as will the generous donation of chocolates made by many of you for the Hamper Scamper initiative. The final week saw a wide variety of activities that included the Year 6s enjoying the Pate’s climbing wall as well as the Annual K’Nex Challenge, the Nursery attending a performance of the Selfish Giant at the Everyman, the rest of the Prep. going to see Sleeping Beauty at the Roses Theatre, performances of Strictly Come Dancing, end of term flute and violin concerts and two visits from Father Christmas! On the penultimate day we enjoyed our Christmas lunch which was, as always, beautifully prepared and served by members of the PTA and our own catering team. We particularly mention Mr. and Mrs. Bradshaw who helped serve up their last Richard Pate Christmas lunch after 16 years as parents. The brussel sprouts will never be the same again!
Curriculum Focus: This term our Curriculum Focus programme moves to History and we are looking forward to more activities, projects, visits and guest speakers to bring this exciting curriculum area alive. Last term we welcomed two parents and one former pupil to assist us with the Drama Focus and we are aware that this latest topic could be enriched by many of you. If there are any other parents or grandparents who feel they can contribute something please do get in touch with me at rmacdonald@richardpate.co.uk. We will provide a full list of activities for this term’s focus in the coming weeks but the Juniors certainly enjoyed Mr. Lowe’s assembly yesterday morning which condensed the entire history of the world into 25 minutes.
Bachelor of Education Students: This term we welcome four students from the University of Gloucestershire who are in their third and final year of the Bachelor of Education programme. We have Miss Rutter joining 5SP, Miss Rundle joining 5C, Miss Parker coming to 2S and Miss Hewson in with 2L. They will each be working closely with their cooperating teacher and the children will enjoy the additional assistance in the classroom. This is a valuable experience for everyone as it provides benefits in all directions. It gives the students the opportunity to hone their craft with four very experienced teachers. We as a school benefit from the enthusiasm and latest teaching styles employed by these students. Our children of course enjoy the extra attention that comes from two teachers in the room.
Year 6 Leavers: We continue to work through the process of placing our Year 6 children in the best schools possible for next September. The 1st March is National Offer Day and the children will be told which state school they will be offered on that date. Twenty-eight of our children have achieved the entry score for one of the county’s grammar schools, eleven of those achieving the entrance score for Pate’s Grammar. We are also supporting a number of our children through the entrance and scholarship exams for the local independent schools and some further afield. We have already received confirmation of three academic scholarships from King’s Gloucester with a potential for further non-academic awards later this month. A number of our children have performed well on the St Edward’s entrance exam with several being invited back for scholarship interviews. This month we also have a number attending Cheltenham Ladies College, Cheltenham College and Dean Close for their entrance exams as well as academic and non-academic awards. The overall picture will become much clearer after the 1st March and we shall update you at that point. I am extremely proud of how our Year 6s have conducted themselves throughout the process and in the coming week we shall begin the process with our current Year 5s.
Charity Day: Our annual Charity Day will take place on Friday 10th February which is the day before half term. We will be supporting Winston’s Wish this year as one of our charities and will make a donation in the name of Evie Caragher. On that day we will also be officially dedicating the playground in Evie’s memory. As one of Evie’s passions was pirates we have selected “pirates” as the theme for dressing up on the day for the Prep Department. The Juniors will be setting up their own stalls in the afternoon and we do hope we are able to raise a significant amount of money to help Winston’s Wish support families through their bereavement. We shall send you more details on the day closer to the time.
Uniform: We have noticed that there are a number of children particularly in the Prep. Department who are coming to school without a complete set of uniform items. In particular there seem to be a number who do not have their rugby tops in school. It is important for the children to have all items on the list as they are required for a variety of activities. Please check your child’s uniform against the lists issued in the pupil handbook and if you require another copy of that list please ask at the office. We have also noticed a number of the Junior boys wearing shorts which do not conform to the list. I would be grateful if these could be replaced with the correct item.
Chair of the Richard Pate Committee: At the end of last term the Chair of our Richard Pate Committee announced his retirement from his position. David Barnes had been a member of the Pate’s Foundation for many years after retiring as Head of Pate’s Grammar School. He has served on the Richard Pate Committee for a number of years and has chaired the Committee for the last two of those years. Mr. Barnes has been a tremendous supporter of our school and was a key contributor to the success of our recent inspection. We shall miss his guidance and professionalism but wish to take this opportunity to thank him warmly for his many contributions. We are delighted that Mr. Chris Mourton, a member of our Richard Pate Committee, has agreed to assume the role as Chair.
Calendar: A copy of this term’s calendar, activities list and fixtures list as far as they are confirmed will be sent to you in the coming days.
I look forward to this busy term in prospect and once again thank you for the opportunity to work with your children. We are tremendously proud of all the children in our care and look forward to their continued success.
Yours sincerely,
R. MacDonald
Headmaster