This week the U7 boys embarked on their first ever competitive/friendly fixture when they took on their equally exuberant counterparts from nearby Chinthurst School. I was quietly amused to hear that some of the Hazelwood boys were so excited and so focussed on the game that they struggled to do any work in the morning. Staff were counting their lucky stars that the match was scheduled for a Monday and not a Friday. It could have been a very long week!

The boys’ afternoon started with a nutritious lunch organised by Sally and her team. Loaded with plenty of carbs and protein to provide energy for the main event, the boys sat as a united team and discussed their plan of attack. The stands fell silent. The flags of Wembley flapped in the breeze. Hearts were in the spectators’ mouths. After a quick warm up (and "Disco Bean" with Mr Kemp) it was time for the matches to begin. The boys were split into three teams and Mr Reay, Mr Kemp and Mr Walton were delighted to see some solid passing, quick dribbling and ferocious tackling on display. Everyone performed brilliantly and the staff and gathered parents were particularly proud of their behaviour, sportsmanship and commitment on display. Really well done to all the boys and I look forward to awarding many of you with sports honours at future end of term assemblies!

“I just wanted to say a big thank you to you and all the other members of staff who prepared and took the boys to the football match at Chinthurst today. They all had

smiles on their faces much of the time and got really stuck in.

It was one of the best days of my son’s life so far (or so he told me).”

Many of the boys who were playing on Monday afternoon will have started honing their football skills in Oak Reception, watched out of her window by our very own, and very special Mrs Weeks. She will have taken delight in watching their early hesitancy with a ball at their feet turn confidently into an ability to receive, gather and pass to a team mate on the wing or in the box. Sadly for us Mrs Weeks has watched her last group of wannabe Premiership footballers as she is to retire at the end of the summer term having given twelve years of dedicated and loving service. It has been a hugely difficult decision for her to make and I, amongst many, admire her courage for having taken it. Mrs Weeks has no intention of stopping ‘working’ completely yet! I know she is keen to continue to inspect and perhaps offer the benefit of her vast experience as a consultant.

Mrs Weeks is an immensely talented teacher and leader who loves the children and is loved unequivocally by them. In her time with us, she has made an impact on hundreds of children who have responded to her positivity, her gentle manner and her quiet resilience. She has, alongside a talented team, built up the Nursery and Early Years from a handful of children to over 160 children on roll today. Each has been personally known by her and I know she looks on many of them and their families as friends. Her interest in their development as they progress through the school is as keen on their final day in Year 8 as it was on their first day in the nursery.

Mrs Weeks’ shoes will be incredibly difficult to fill. This is why we have already started the recruitment process in which she will be fully involved. We will bring you news as and when we have any. In the meantime Mrs Weeks will continue to be omnipresent on the Nursery and Early Years’ site, giving of her all to ensure that 2015 is a vintage year. Thankfully she has given us plenty of time to think about a fitting send-off for her during the course of which there will be a wealth of opportunity for everyone to say their very personal goodbyes to a truly wonderful lady.

Netball Success

The U9 A team took part in the inaugural U9 Netball Tournament at Sevenoaks School. The girls played fantastically well against Holmewood House, Russell House, Sevenoaks Prep and Walthamstow Hall winning every match and thus becoming the ultimate winners of the tournament. The team, Jas, Lucy. Freya. Emilia, Camilla, Harriet and Hannah are shown here holding their prize winning netballs. Mrs Lowe is chasing the trophy for the cabinet!

Many congratulations to Michaela Higham who left Hazelwood to go to King’s Canterbury.

We have just heard that Michaela has been offered a place at Cambridge University to

read music. Mrs Louw is keen to invite Michaela back to play in the 125th Anniversary Gala

Concert.

For a list of emails/letters/texts sent home each week please see the ‘Notice Board’ further down the Nutshell.

News from the Nursery and Early Years

Early next week all Nursery parents will receive one of our new branded contact notebooks and guidance on how we will use them. These will replace the daily diaries for our younger children and an additional form of communication for parents of children in Skylarks. We do you hope you are happy with them! Thank you very much for the offers of help, resources and ideas for our Multi-cultural Week beginning February 2nd. We still need some more help for the days focusing on Scotland, Italy and India. If you are able to help or advise in any way please contact Jane O’Keefe. We are sad to report that Peter Greeves will be leaving will be leaving us at the end of this month to pursue a different career. He has been a popular member of our team and will be missed by adults and children alike. Recruitment for his replacement is currently underway.

News from Hazelwood

Lupercus Apology Our apologies to Thomas Rooney, William Satterly, Oscar Stuart-Lee, Samuel Ward and their families for missing the fact that their names had been dropped off the class listings for 2013-14. We hope the gift of a Hazelwood teddy will be gratefully accepted for the disappointment. Help with future proof reading equally well accepted. Pastoral Evening Tuesday 20th January This evening is targeted at parents of children in Years 3-8. Mrs Louw and Mrs Young will be talking about the school’s pastoral structure, child protection, e-safety, the school’s refreshed approach to sex education and the Jane Simister initiative. We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible. Health and Safety Week Next week we will be staging our second Health & Safety Week. As well as cracking down on all aspects of H&S across the site, we will be holding lunch time first aid surgeries, running a design competition for Safety Snakes and seeing which House can demonstrate they are the safest and walk off (in an orderly and controlled manner) with the H&S Prize. In H&S Week, we would remind parents of the Car Park etiquette and the need for considered and safe driving at all times.

Year 2 get Hooked on Pan

Year 2 enjoyed a fantastic performance of Peter Pan at the Polka Theatre in Wimbledon on Thursday 15th January. The children were extremely well behaved and sported the latest high vis technology! They swashed and they buckled and saved Tinkerbell with the loudest of clapping. We were spoilt with a lovely lunch afterwards and a chance to discuss tips for our own production next term.

Year 5 were delighted when the Year 7 pupils visited the classroom for some ipad

collaboration. Using an historical app., the children were able to translate their work

on Henry II into a multi-media experience.

Health and Safety in the car park Poor Mr Kemp was being his normal self, opening doors at morning drop off with a spring in his step and a smile on his face when he opened the door with too much gusto right on the bridge of his nose. Ouch! A few steri-strips later Mr Kemp was the proud owner of a mono-brow!

1,2,3 Where are we??? 1,2,3, We’re here!!! Year 1 start their Forest School adventures It was a cold, but sunny day in January when their adventure began! Year 1 turned up to school dressed in warm, old clothes. There were more layers of clothing in Year 1 than layers on the world’s biggest onion! The aim of the session was to get the children trained and ready for the weeks ahead. They had to learn the rules, the safety procedures and be checked that they were ready for the challenges ahead.

We started by practising the ‘Hazelwooders’ essential key skill: Numbering off. Each class had to number off as quickly as they could before we could head down to the woods. Fortunately everyone was successful and it meant that we could easily count the children and make sure none had got stuck in the mud! We went down to the woods and practised our crawling, shuffling and jumping skills by creeping up on Mr. Garlick and then exploding like fireworks to celebrate the start of the Forest Schools sessions. When we entered the wood we looked around at what we could see and the children had time to explore. It wasn’t long before they discovered the infamous Hazelwood mud and a familiar creature made an appearance – although no one saw it! The Hazelwood ‘Welly Worm’ was lurking under the ground in the thick, squelchy mud. It almost had a feast, with lots of feet coming out of various sized and themed wellington boots. The children thoroughly enjoyed their time in the woods and are looking forward to next week when we concentrate on our sense of ‘hearing’ and listen for all the interesting things we can hear in and around the Hazelwood grounds.

The children were all wrapped up warm, but a reminder of no jeans please, and waterproof coats and trousers are advisable as the days get colder and wetter. Also, a large bag to put muddy clothes in is essential... the muddiness has only just begun!

‘Collaboration’ is the key when trying to explore a new land of adventure... we all need to help each other decide on the best route over the trees, through the mud and through the undergrowth. And we all need our friends to help work together to pull lost boots from the (harmless) jaws of the Welly Worm!!! James Walton

Preparations are going well for the Ball. It’s going to be a magical event. Ticket applications will

be coming out soon. “Ill met by moonlight fair Titania!”

Oak Reception get the cold shoulder!

In Mrs Scott’s class we have been having an arctic explorer home corner and the children have donned hats, gloves, rucksacks and scarves to try and discover the arctic animals dotted around the Nursery. We learnt about the scientists who travel to the Arctic to learn and study the weather, ice and snow and animals.

The children have been as far as the North Pole Office with Mrs McGregor! On their way northwards, they passed through France and had some time to learn a few new french words!

The U11C team recorded a notable 7-1 victory against Holmewood House earlier this week. Played against a magnificent sky, the girls played as a tight-knit team with the ball moving swiftly around the court to end up in the net on seven wonderful occasions.

HALO direct link Is now posted on the Parents’ section of the Hazelwood website (in both School and Nursery sections). If you’re having trouble connecting to the VLE, please follow the link. Mr Dyson is your man (dysonj@hazelwoodschool.com) if you have any trouble. Alumni Contacts In preparation for the 125th Anniversary celebrations, do please let us know if you would like us to contact any past pupils who you are still in touch with. We are very happy to extend the invitation to them to come along and join in the very many events planned. Please let Mrs Greenwood know contact details by emailing her on schoolsec@hazelwoodschool.com Thank you.

Farmer Duck comes to Hazelwood 2B enjoyed putting on a class assembly for their parents and the other classes in Chestnut. We chose to retell the story of Farmer Duck who sadly needs to learn how to collaborate better with others. Poor Duck becomes tired and fed up being left to do all the work on the farm until the other animals come up with a cunning plan to show how working together you can conquer the toughest of challenges. The children were amazing and spoke very well indeed. Well done 2B!

Year 6 pupils took part in a Shakespeare 4 Kids workshop on ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’. They acted out the play, all taking different parts and learned all about the themes and characters. After lunch they all travelled by coach to the Fairfield Halls in Croydon to watch the play which was a wonderful, funny and hugely entertaining adaptation from the original. The combination of workshop and performance made it a day that was both educational and lots of fun!

The miserable weather didn’t bother Hazelwood’s intrepid Year 7’s as they went on

their geography field trip as part of Common Entrance preparation. When you’re

standing in a river all day measuring flow and erosion, who cares if it’s pouring down?!

As part of their Knights and Castles themed half term, 1G have been retelling the story of The Kiss that Missed and creating castle pictures inspired by the work of Paul Klee. The stories have been written in groups – a further example of collaboration at work throughout the school – with each pupil taking responsibility for a page of the story before passing the book on to their friend. The books are on display in the classroom if you would like to enjoy the work of our budding storytellers.

News from the Kitchen

Please don’t forget that next week’s menus for both the Nursery and Hazelwood are now on the website under The Parents’ Section.

Farewell to Mrs Freeman After nine years of dedicated service Mrs Freeman has decided that it is time to move on to a new challenge. We will be very sorry to say goodbye to her. She has fed us all too well for far too long and has been the reason why many of us have joined gyms or signed up for long distance runs or physical challenges. When the time comes, we will wish her well and will bring you news of Sally’s new venture when know more about what that might be. She leaves behind her a legacy of good, healthy food lovingly prepared by a team of wonderful catering staff who always have a smile on their faces. For that we will always be grateful.

Music Timetable

The weekly music timetable can be viewed on the Music Notice Board outside the Dining room in the courtyard. I will endeavour to have the coming week’s music timetable on the notice board by the end of the school day each Friday. Please ensure that your child brings their instrument and music in on the relevant day. It is also important for them to take these books and instruments home when they do not need them in school.

Sports Department

Match Reports should be put in the folder on the wall in the PE office. They are then collected by the captain on Monday morning to be read out in assembly. If your child is nominated as captain, please encourage them to write the report in time for the assembly. The children do like to share their successes with the rest of the school. Thank you. Sport Age Team Opposition Result Score

For Score Against

GOG Comment

Netball U11 A Bromley High

Won 8 6 Francesca A very close match

Netball U11 B Bromley High

Lost 0 8 Maddie Really strong opposition

Netball U10 A Old Palace Lost 1 6 Although the girls tried hard the opposition were really strong

Netball

U10 B Old Palace Lost 4 8 Fighting for every ball. Top tip for next week: Be more assertive.

Sports Results – Week 1

Football U13 1st

XV Homefield Won 10 7 Matthew Hardy

A tough game against a much bigger side. A solid start to the season.

Football U13 2nd

XV Homefield Won 22 5 Josh Lendon Great running by Josh and others including Oli Smith but we need to refocus on ball retention and fast!

Football Colts A Homefield Won 49 0 Whole team Cracking start. Great hands and support play.

Football Colts B Homefield Won 60 10 Josh Willoughby

When we started to pass we looked very good.

Swimming Gala Report – Tuesday 13th January vs St Michael’s The full report from this gala will be included in next week’s nutshell, due to some errors in the results announced on the event evening. A full breakdown of the results will be given per age group as well as the overall score, as the U10 team were competing against St Michael’s U11 team due to a calendar clash. Thank you for your patience and well done to all swimmers!

Notice Board

The following letters have been emailed home. If you do not remember receiving a copy, and you think you should have, please contact the school office. They will be only too happy to help. YEAR 1 Leeds Castle Trip FORM 1F Confirmation of spring term assembly date YEAR 2 Houses & Homes Trip YEAR 5 DVD Evening YEAR 5 Bowles Final Information & Consents YEAR 8 (Various) RS Islam Visit MASTER SEAL TEAM Course dates CELLO PUPILS Mrs Madden – Appointment MONDAY ART CLUB 19th/26th January cancellation CHAPEL CHOIR Lunch Concert CHAPEL CHOIR Photographs CHAPEL CHOIR Rehearsal, Sunday, 18th January

Key Events for Next Week

Monday 19 January All week Health and Safety Week 0930 Year 7 Maths Master Class at Ardingly College (small group to attend) 1800-2000 Early Years and Nursery’ staff training

Tuesday 20 January All day Year 5 ESB 1900 The Future - it’s bright! (Pastoral Forum for Years 3-8) Wednesday 21 January 1430 Rugby 1st XV vs Solefield Home 1430 Rugby 2ndt XV vs Solefield Away 1430 Rugby 3rd XV vs Hurst Prep Away 1430 Rugby Colts A vs Solefield Away 1430 Rugby Colts B vs Solefield and Chinthurst Home 1430 Rugby Colts C vs Solefield and Chinthurst Home 1430 Netball U13 A & B Feltonfleet Home 1430 Netball U10 A & B Sevenoaks Prep Home 1445 Netball U11 A B & C Granville Away Thursday 22 January 1300 Chapel Choir and String Quartet visit Woldingham School 1430 Netball U9A B & C Holmewood House Away 1430 Netball U8 A B & C Hawthorns Home

Charlie, Felix and Leo assist Mr Sone with the refresh of the Chapel Courtyard planters. In true gardening tradition, more dirt seems to have ended up on Charlie’s trousers than is in the planter! Sorry mum!!

Mrs Mustafa is also offering Free Wellness Evaluations for a limited

period only. Contact her on the above number.

Dear Hazelwood Families,

My name is Josef Šmíd and my girlfriend is Aneta Muchová. We are young couple from

Czech Republic, who is looking for a job in England. We are both non-smokers, hard

working, respectful, reliable, flexible and responsible people. I have many skills in DIY,

garden maintenance, animal care and work in the woods. My girlfriend has experience in

serving people in a restaurant also including house work (washing, ironing, cleaning,

cooking). She has cared for her grandfather for four years. Her mother is domestic cleaner

for family. She helped with her cleaning job. We like animals, children and nature. Please let

us know if you are interested.

Yours faithfully,

Josef and Aneta

Mrs Edwards is a mum at the Nursery. Do please support her and her local business.