A BIG thank you to everyone involved with the FOP Clothes Sale last Friday.  We are enormously grateful to the Cripwell family for lending us their house for the day, to all those who donated and bought clothes and especially to Jane Hawkes, who masterminded the day.

The majority of clothes have now been sold, but any remaining clothes will be donated to the MS Society and the Halo Trust.

We are thrilled to announce that we have raised over £1,700, which is a really fantastic sum.  We hope to donate a large proportion of this to a local charity (more details to follow shortly) and the remainder will go towards Friends of Pinewood projects at school.

Thank you!

Friends of Pinewood

Photos from the recent Year 4-7 Pinewood Adventure Trips can be viewed in the Events Gallery. Thank you to all those staff who took the lovely photos.

Swindon Foodbank needs Pinewood!  We will be holding our annual collection for Swindon Foodbank during the week of 21st to 25th May and want to make this year's collection a record breaker - last year we collected over a tonne of food! Lee Thompson from the Foodbank spoke to the children in Assembly this week, so they are all aware of the good work they do and how important the charity is.

Swindon Foodbank is a charity providing support to people in the local area, who have suddenly fallen on hard times.  They provide packages of non-perishable food to support individuals or families until they can get back on their feet again. For more information on Swindon Foodbank, please go to their website: www.swindonfoodbank.co.uk

Please bring your items of food into school during the week beginning Monday 21st May and put them in the collection boxes provided around the school.

This year the Swindon Foodbank are particularly in need of the following items:

Tinned Tomatoes

Long Life Milk

Long Life Fruit Juice

but the following are also always useful:

Sugar (small - 500g)

Cereal

Tinned Rice/Sponge Pudding

Tinned Spaghetti

Tinned Meat

Tinned Fruit

Tinned Vegetables

Mashed Potato or Tinned Potatoes

Pasta Sauce

Biscuits

Snacks & Nibbles

Remember, quantity is more important than quality - Basics or Value brands are perfectly fine.

Year 8 will be visiting the Swindon Foodbank warehouse later in the term to find out at first hand how the Foodbank works.

Congratulations to Pinewood's 1st Pair of Milo and Harry Brooks who won the Severnside Tennis Tournament at Beaudesert yesterday.

The boys played consistently in their group and managed to come out unbeaten, setting up a final against Beaudesert (whom we played and lost heavily to just last week). They started strongly and with real desire, looking hungry and as if they had a point to prove; Beaudesert were not expecting this and started to look a little wobbly. Milo and Harry sensed this and started to really push home their early advantage, coming out 6 – 3 winners in the end.

This was a fantastic achievement as there were some very good players present.

This year sees the launch of Cancer Research UK's "Set Up Your Own Race" programme for schools and Pinewood will be having their own 3km and 5km race on Saturday 23rd June at 9.30am.

Years 5-7 will be doing the Race For Life as part of their Saturday morning programme (Year 8 are on exeat that weekend), but anyone within the Pinewood community is welcome to join in too. This will be a wonderful opportunity for the whole community to come together to raise money for Cancer Research UK.

If you would like to enter, please email James Siebert on jamessiebert@pinewoodschool.co.uk, so that we can gauge numbers. There is no entry fee, but we hope to raise as much money as possible through sponsorship or donations. We have set up one donation route under the banner of Pinewood School; to pay in your donations or sponsorship, please go to: www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/pinewoodschool and follow the basic instructions (the page is in James Siebert's name).

You can also buy Race For Life/Cancer Research UK kit by going to www.raceforlife.cancerresearchuk.org and then click on "Shop".

We would also be very grateful to anyone who would like to volunteer their services as a course marshall or at the drinks station.  Please email James Siebert if you are able to help in this way.

The George Bailey Trust Bike Ride & Rubber Legs Challenge will take place this year on Sunday 1st July from 10am.

The event is held in support of the George Bailey Trust, which helps to offer holistic therapy and support to children and their parents affected by childhood cancer. The event is now in its third year and has something to offer everyone regardless of their age or fitness level.

The Rubber Legs Challenge is a 5 1/2 mile walk, jog or cycle ride or you can take part in the 20 Ridgeway cycle ride.

Both events start and finish at school at 10am.  Hot dogs and other refreshments will be for sale on your return to school.

To raise money for the George Bailey Trust we charge an entrance fee of £5 per individual or £12 per family.

Give it a go and have some good fun together as a family!

For more information, please contact James Siebert on jamessiebert@pinewoodschool.co.uk

Congratulations to the following on completing their Reading Awards:

Bronze

Thomas Cole

Charlotte Crawley

Gold

Ella Hall 

For more information on the Reading Awards Scheme, please speak to your child's English teacher or Mrs Matthews in the Library.

Pinewood pupils recently entered the Chalke Valley History Story Writing Competition. The competition asked children to write an exciting historical adventure story and will be judged by Michael Morpurgo.

The judging has not yet taken place, but in the meantime, Bea Calvert has been awarded the Senior Pinewood Prize for her very moving story of her Great, Great Grandparents during World War I, and Cosmo del Mar has been awarded the Junior Pinewood prize, for his story about the Titanic.

To read both stories, please click on the links below:

Long Lost Love by Bea Calvert

The Ship of Dreams by Cosmo del Mar

The poets, John Foster and Paul Cookson are visiting Pinewood on Tuesday May 22nd to perform their poems to children from Year 1 to Year 5.

John Foster has performed his poems in schools and libraries throughout the UK and is well-known for his performances as a dancing dinosaur and a rapping granny! He has been a popular visitor to Pinewood in the past.

Paul Cookson's poems and stories appear in more than 100 books for children. Always a poet in demand, he has visited schools across the UK, performing his poems, many of which reflect his passion for football!

A signed copy of a book is always a welcome souvenir of a visit. If you would like your child to choose a poetry book by John or Paul, please click here to download the letter sent out by Sally Matthews, complete the slip and return it to your form teacher. Alternatively you can e-mail Sally on: library@pinewoodschool.co.uk

The books range in price from £4.99 to £9.99 and all monies will be added to the school bill.

2 members of staff (Anna Greene and Claire Kay) and 5 parents are doing the Pink Ribbon Walk, a 20 mile walk on Saturday 19th May, which raises money for Breast Cancer Care.

We are trying to raise as much money as possible for this very worthwhile cause.  If anyone would like to sponsor us, it would really be appreciated. The link to the website is below:

http://www.justgiving.com/PinewoodPosse

Thank you very much

The Pinewood Posse

Following the huge success of this lecture on rowing the Atlantic Ocean in aid of ‘Facing the World’ on Saturday morning, parents and pupils might be interested in more information by clickin on the following website links:

Please click here to read James Siebert's report on the past week.

The Year 5 Pinewood Adventure weekend was at CYE, which stands for Christian Youth Enterprise.

After a long bus ride we got to CYE; when we got there everybody was excited. We put our bags on the trailer and walked about 150 yards to the barge, it was amazing. Then we went on board and went to lunch. Whilst we ate we got split into our cabins and activity groups. After lunch was over it was time for our activities; there was long boat sailing, paddling, rescue boat study and the obstacle course called Treasure Seeker’s Challenge.

After that it was supper, it was super.  Then we had night activities: they were golf ball run, hook the duck, draw it and hexagon puzzle. First my group did draw it, where we had to do a drawing while our partner described what shape we had to draw. After this we went to our bunks and eventually went to sleep.

In the morning, after a fabulous breakfast we all got ready for our next activity.  My group went paddling, which was exhausting. When we got back Mr Caird sprayed us with the hosepipe and my socks, which were the only part of me that wasn’t wet, got wet.  When we had finished lunch we went to our second activity.  My group did long boat sailing and we learnt some CYE songs.  After this we went back to the barge for assembly where we were told what we were doing next and asked if we were having fun. We all shouted that we were having a wet, soggy day, but it was fun.  That night we had no night activities and went to sleep earlier (didn’t we Mr Caird?), to get lots of energy for the next day’s bus ride.

The following morning it was time for our last activity.  My team had rescue boat study and we got wet.  For this activity we got to drive a RIB, which are rigid inflatable boats. Everybody got excited because when our instructor drove the boat we went really fast. Then we went back and got changed into some dry clothes (of which we had hardly any left). It was then time to get on the bus and the long journey back to school.

Although the weekend was wet, cold and freezing it was amazing and lots of fun.  The bit I found the best was the long boat because that is where we learnt most of the CYE songs.

Thank you to Mrs Robinson, Mrs Downe, Nurse Ruth and Alice for making the trip possible.

By Dominic Kelly

For more photos from the trip, please go to the Events Gallery

On Friday 27th April we set off in the coach at about 7:45 from Pinewood and made our way to the white cliffs of Dover. When we got to Dover we had to wait to be boarded onto the ferry, so we had our packed lunches until it was finally time to get back onto the coach and drive into the ferry.

When we got to the French docks we got into the coach and drove out of the ferry and started to make our way to the Château du Broutel. On arrival we had dinner and were put into our groups and dorms and then we were taken outside and played a game of Rounders, dodge ball and capture the flag.  At 8:30 we went to the dining hall, where we celebrated Alex King’s birthday and then we went to bed because we were all so tired from the journey.

Saturday 28th April – Day 2

On Saturday morning we set off to visit the Somme battlefields and we went to an underground museum, where we had to fill out a questionnaire - all of the answers were in the museum, so we had to go around searching for them.

After getting back from the amazing sights of the Somme and various other places we went to our dorms and got changed for our activities. My activities were abseiling and raft building: abseiling was really scary, but raft building was so exciting! We all had our life jackets on and when we had built the raft we were off into the water. Whilst in the water I could feel the cold water slowly trickle into my trainers and it was then that I decided that I wasn’t going to jump in, but I was going to try and stay warm and dry on the surface! Unfortunately Hannah had fallen off and when she tried to get back on the raft capsized and I fell into the water backwards; I was freezing and quickly made my way to the side so I could get out and be nice and warm again.

Sunday 29th April – Day 3

When we got up we were so excited about going to the market, but beforehand we were taught how to make mayonnaise; we had to make it in groups and there was a competition to see who made the best. After making the mayonnaise we went to the market and I brought presents for my family and went looking at all of the shops with Maddie, Hannah and Jess. We spent most of the day at the market and when we got back to the Château we had dinner and rushed back upstairs to get changed for the Disco.

Monday 30th April – Day 4

We got up a bit earlier than usual because we had to finish packing, after which we had our breakfast and then we went to our final activity at the Château. My last activity was climbing and my fear of heights had come back to haunt me.  In the end I managed to climb up the climbing wall, but I came straight back down after reaching the top because I was terrified. After the activity we made our way back to the coach and we set off back to England.  Soon enough we were back in England and I was looking at the white cliffs again, so excited to be home. It was a long journey, but we finally arrived back at the school at 4:00. I was sad to have left but so happy to see my family again.

By Sarah James    

When Year 4 went to PGL and we had a great time. In my dorm there was Rose, Imo and Claudia. The zip wire was amazing although it was a bit slow. Tunnel Trail was fun, dark and wet. Vertical challenge was cool, I got to the top of the tyres. Survivor was cold and wet: you have to build a shelter with string and a waterproof sheet. Abseiling was wicked! You had to walk down a wooden wall and you can jump off it and I bumped into the wall. Wacky Races was fun: there were loads of different races like an elephant race. Jacob’s Ladder was the best because I got to the 6th pole and the gap between the poles got bigger. Sensory trail was cool, you had to walk around with a blindfold on. The disco was EPIC!

By Hannah Weeden

Year 4 went to PGL for the weekend and it was lots of fun! Our first activity was the zip wire, it was about 100m long; from the shelter it looked low down, but when you got up there it was so scary. I had 3 goes and our instructors were Flash and Jay. My second activity was Tunnel Trail, when you got in, it was pitch black, but we had a torch because we were all a bit scared and we got to the end eventually. Then we did abseiling! I made it down in 5 jumps, but Finn beat me. Our instructors were called Nick and Bob. They were really nice. Then we finished off with Jacob’s ladder. I got to the 5th pole, but Hannah beat me. The instructor was called Vicki. She was the nicest. I was in a dorm with Charlie, Henry and Alex and then we went to bed!

By William Taylor 

Pinewood Adventure Acrostic Poem

Yummy fish and chips and doughnuts

Epic activities

Amazing zip wire

Rocking disco

4 – Four – fantastic tunnel trail

Amazingly helpful staff

Dangling from ropes

Very wet

Extra fun rooms with friends

Nice food

Tricky puzzles in the woods

Untidy rooms

Really funny races

Exciting abseiling

Wicked weekend

Extreme weather

Expert instructors

Ketchup King Henry

Eat lots of food

Never-ending ropes

Done for the day

By Josh Basham

For more photos from the trip, please go to the Events Gallery

It was 30th April and we were all really excited about going to see the Olympic Park. We were taken by mini bus, which was driven by Mr Bischoff and directed by Ali (the Gapper).

Once we had entered London we started to look out for all of the famous landmarks. As we were pulling up to the car park we noticed an Olympic torch shaped statue, which was later explained on the tour as advertising for the mega Ikea being built there.

We met the tour guide at a tube station. Once we had congregated, we started the tour. First walking along side one of the Thames’ many tributaries on a famous walk called the fat walk. When we were walking along the fat walk, we would occasionally stop and listen to the tour guide talk about the regeneration of the river, and all the companies which have invested in the Olympics.

As we came towards the end of the tour, we finally reached the Olympic Park. The Stadium, aquatic centre and Kapoor Olympic statue looked stunning and I’m really looking forward to seeing them once it is all complete. The security centre was just mainly lots of tents with scanners, but I mean lots! The accommodation areas and media centres were already built and ready to go.

The 2012 Olympics are really starting to come alive.

by Annie O'Grady

The Pinewood squad of 15 travelled to Brockhurst with trepidation, possibly remembering their last visit there when we didn’t win a bout. Brockhurst has a great reputation for the strength and depth of their judo and they had about thirty fighters waiting for us, including a couple of giants, one with a blue belt – luckily he sat out the competition as we had nobody who matched his size!

The Pinewood squad all had one bout (it was a shame that a number of Brockhurst children fought against children from their own school instead of giving their visitors a second bout) and we did really well to win five bouts as well and having one or two that went to the wire including Reuben Arkwright’s fight that went to a draw. Our five winners were: George Tregoning (Captain), Sam Basham, Max Tite, Ned Corfield and Lucas Arkwright. The rest of the team: Howard Hawkes, Max Fraser, Jacob Robinson, Ollie Beckett, Tom May, Harry Piggott, Dominic Kelly, Joshua Basham and Derry Carter Brennan fought gamely and learnt a lot from the experience.

JB

We set off on Friday morning not knowing what to expect. We were heading off to Wales and the weather there is famously unpredictable. We were lucky the weather seemed to hold for most of the weekend.

The activities were widely varied, you didn’t know what you were going to do, it ranged from a nice evening walk to rifle shooting. Everybody had favourites: I enjoyed the obstacle course the most. With favourites also come least favourites and falling into a lake wasn’t much fun, but I have never tasted anything better than the hot ribena I had after the fall.

The hotel itself was also very nice, the food was amazing as was the disco. The instructors were very good and made the activities fun to do. I can honestly say that even if it was raining I would have enjoyed it. The weekend was incredibly fun and I would definitely do it again.

By Howard Hawkes

The days we were there was so much fun. Saturday was the full on day of activities including Rifle shooting, Canoeing and kayaking, Zip wire and High ropes and, to end the day, an amazing disco. My favourite part of the weekend was abseiling down a 20ft climbing wall. On Sunday, we did our two activities then thanked the instructors for a fabulous weekend. Pinewood Adventure for Year 6 this year was really exiting, so a humungous thank you to all the teachers, we all had a great amount of fun.

By Bella Barber

My favourite activity was the zip wire where you had to climb a challenging rope ladder and go down a fast wire. I think I really challenged myself as did everyone else. I thoroughly enjoyed the trip and I would like to thank all the teachers who gave there weekends to make the trip so enjoyable.

By Jamie Lawson 

For more photos from the trip, please go to the Events Gallery

Journalists from the Swindon Advertiser visited us recently to find out more about our Community Woodland Project, following our shortlisting for the Royal Forestry Society's Gold Award. The journalists were extremely impressed with the work we are doing here and the following is an extract from their report on their visit:

"The school’s community woodland has caught the eye of judges from the Royal Forestry Society who have shortlisted the 10.3 hectare area for the Excellence in Forestry Schools Award.

Last year pupils planted more than 3,000 trees with the help of nearby residents. The planting stage included every Pinewood pupil, from three to 13, who will see the woodland grow as they progress through school.

Now the woodland acts as an outdoor classroom, giving youngsters the chance to investigate local wildlife and inspiring their lessons. Ruth Hall, director of education at Pinewood, said the woodland provided a unique learning opportunity. She said: “The woodland is already providing a habitat for an amazing diversity of wildlife. With that comes a deepening understanding of how we all have a responsibility to care for our global world, it’s all very exciting.”

Pinewood is only one of two schools in Wiltshire to have been shortlisted, alongside The John of Gaunt School, Trowbridge. Both schools will receive a visit from judges in May.

Debbie Cotton, RFS Education Officer, said she was impressed by the quality of teaching at the shortlisted schools.

“What was most impressive this year was the depth of knowledge being covered,” she said. “Many of the schools were also liaising widely and regularly with their community, which added real strength to their projects.”

The school is now looking at ways to develop the woodland in the future, including the use of a bio mass fuel system using wood pellets and introducing educational markers to provide information on woodland wildlife."

On 26th April eight pupils from Year 6 (Harrison Biggs, Abigail Kelly, Howard Hawkes, Lucas Arkwright, Esme Foster, Jamie Lawson, Toby A-G and Ben Shamash) went to Monkton Combe Maths and Science Day, which had a theme of Speed. We were taken by Mr Downe and were there for the day. We left after lesson one and got on the minibus for the long journey to Monkton.

When we arrived we were greeted by water and cookies that were delicious. We were split into two groups: group one was Toby, Harrison, Ben and Jamie; group two had Abigail, Esme, Howard and Lucas. We then split up to do different activities. Group two started with NASCAR Racing (not literally) where we worked out different formulae and at the end we had a race to see who was the fastest and safest getting around a corner. Then we had a short break and we were straight back into Maths and Science. We had a memory test where we were told to look at eight cars and to remember as many facts about them as we could. We then had a test to see what we could remember about the cars.

Next we had the Chemistry part of the day, where we had to see how fast or slow we could make a liquid change colour by adding different amounts of each chemical (we got the closest to the one minute time 1:00:22). We had another break and discussed team tactics before we finished the day with the crumple zones where we had to make a barrier so that when the car crashed it created the least amount of Newton force.

By Abigail Kelly

We were delighted with our report in this year's Good Schools Guide.  The report is now available to be viewed in full, by clicking on the link below:

Good Schools Guide 2012

Congratulations to Mark Forsyth, who successfully completed the London Marathon last weekend.

A big thank you to everyone who has sponsored Mark, he has so far raised the fantastic sum of £2,100 for the charity IT4CH, which provides IT facilities for children in hospital.  You can still sponsor Mark until the end of May, but if you completed a sponsorship form and have not yet given Mark your sponsorship money, please could you do so as soon as possible.

Pinewood is in the process of forming a link with the Shonda Project (based in Mombasa, Kenya) and it is hoped that this relationship will evolve over time and bring much to both communities.

Pinewood’s initial target in December 2011 was:

1. To raise enough money to buy a pump, water tank and pipes to enable the most basic sanitation at the school.

2. To raise enough money to pay the salary of one of the teachers at the school and to sustain this over years.

3. To investigate ways that children at both schools could learn from each other about each country and their ways of life.

The progress on these targets (May 2012) is as follows:

1. Water pump, water tank and pipes:

The quality of the water in the well has been found to be good enough to drink.

The amount of water in the well has been found to be enough to supply 5,000 litres per day without drying up. This is more than the community needs.

Work to install pump, tank and pipes will start May 2012.

The cost of this project breaks down as follows:

Pump: 132,000 Kenyan Shillings (KS)

Tank: 10,500 KS

Piping and electric installation: 20,800 KS

This total of 143,000 KS is equivalent to £1062.65. We need to allow a little bit more in case installation is more complicated than we think, so the cost of this section is £1300.

2. Teacher’s salary

The cost of a teacher for one year at St John’s School, Shonda, is £1500. Pinewood wants to be able to support one teacher for many years.

3. Developing links between children at both schools.

The good thing about this is that it is FREE!!

We hope to bring Year 5 pupils together next September through email questionnaires about how children’s lives in both communities work. We hope to take the results of the questionnaires further through Skype links.

SUMMARY OF FUNDRAISING

Estimated cost of funds needed:

£1300 + £1500 = £2800 

Huge thanks to all children, parents and staff who have enabled us to raise over £2500 so far. We have one more fundraising event this year – the Motcombe Charity Day on 30^th May. We are very hopeful this will raise enough money to reach our target.

THANK YOU!

Testing the quality of the water in the well.

If any Pinewood pupils in Years 4-8 would like to compete at the Wiltshire County Athletics AA Championships on Sunday 13th May at Tidworth Oval, entries may be taken on the day.

Competitors must either have been born in Wiltshire, or have been a resident of the county for not less than 9 months.  

For more details, please click here to go to their website.

Pinewood pupils, James and Harriet Eyles and Lucas Arkwright achieved great success for Marlborough and District Junior Athletics Club (MADJA), competing in the first Wessex League event of the season.

The MADJA boys won the U13, U15 (equal) and the U17 categories and the girls QuadKids Team came second, with 1225 points, just behind Andover.

James Eyles starred for the U13 boys A team, claiming first place in both the shot (6.12m) and the discus (16.57m), having only stepped into the shot at the last minute.

Harriet Eyles won the U11 girls QuadKids individual event coming first in a field of 20.  She ran her 75m sprint in 12.3 secs, recorded a long-jump of 2.84m, ran her 600m in 2.18m and threw the vortex 22.18m.

Lucas Arkwright competed in the U13 boys A team in the 800m, coming second, despite being a year young.  He also jumped well in the long-jump finishing first for the B team.

If any Pinewood pupils (in Years 4-8) would like to compete at the Wiltshire County Athletics AA Championships on Sunday 13th May at Tidworth Oval, entries may be taken on the day.  Competitors must either have been born in Wiltshire, or have been a resident of the county for not less than 9 months.  For more details, please click here to go to their website.

Congratulations to the following on completing their Reading Awards:

Silver - Hannah Weeden

If you would like your child to take part in the Reading Awards scheme, please speak to your child's English teacher or Mrs Matthews in the Library.

Please click here to read James Siebert's report for this week.

With immediate effect the new School Shop opening hours are as follows:

Monday: 8am - 2pm

Tuesday: 8am - 10am

Wednesday: 8am - 2pm

Thursday: 8am - 10am

Friday: 8am - 12pm

We are sad to announce the death of Bruce Tombs, former caretaker and groundsman at Pinewood until March this year.  Bruce worked for Pinewood for 29 years and will be greatly missed by the entire Pinewood community.

The funeral will be held on Wednesday 2nd May at 10.30am at Kingsdown Crematorium in Swindon.

Our thoughts and prayers are with Bruce’s family and friends.

Following our recent success in winning the South West Regional Learning Outside the Classroom Award, we are thrilled that we have now been invited to be one of a handful of schools to apply for a Learning Outside the Classroom Gold Mark.

For more information about Learning Outside the Classroom at Pinewood, please click here.

From Thursday 26th April Mrs Ally Houston will be taking over the running of the School Shop from Carol. 

Ally has 3 children at Pinewood (Graham in Nursery, Ely in Reception, Marek in Year 3 and Katelyn in Year 6).

New shop opening hours will be published shortly and Ally can be emailed on the usual address: shop@pinewoodschool.co.uk.

Pinewood prints are available to buy from the shop for £17.50

Congratulations to School Nurse, Ruth Fleming, on her appointment as a Volunteer Nurse during the Olympics.  Ruth will be on the transport team, escorting the athletes to and from the venues.

We wish her all the very best for this exciting role in the holidays and look forward to hearing all about it in the Autumn Term.

After registration we climbed into the minibus with a positive attitude but with no real hopes of getting anywhere near the top as last year we came a disappointing 19/20!!! (At least we didn’t come last!)

After driving an hour we came to Bath where Mr Downe finally admitted he was lost. As a result of this admittance we decided to ask a pleasant old man which way the Royal High School of Bath was - it happened to be back the way we had come. After turning round, driving 100 metres up the steep hill and parking, we approached the school and knocked at the door…no reply; the sheet of instructions said that we were meant to be greeted by a Royal High pupil... "Oh, we are quite early,” said Mr Downe…

After the morning’s occurrences we got into the hall where refreshments and practice questions were on offer.  The first round was a “group challenge” where we had 10 questions with 45 minutes to answer them and the whole team could participate. After 40 minutes we thought we had completed (correctly) the questions: we had got 8/10 questions right which gave us a score of 48/60 (6 marks for each question).

Next round: the “Crossnumber”…the team was split into 2 (Milo and me, Dom and Justine). Each team had to either complete the down or the across of the crossnumber and having the down/across of some numbers could give you a clue to some other questions (e.g. the mean of 3 down, 10 across and 10 down). We gained 42 points from this round (again out of 60).

After lunch and more refreshments we got on with the next round…Head-to-head. In this round we were split again into sub-teams of 2 (Milo and Dom, Justine and me). We had 8 minutes to complete 4 questions of which sub-team A would do 1 and 3 or 2 and 4 and sub-team B would do the opposite. Once one of the teams had figured the answer for question 1 out, sub-team B would then have to use that number as part of their question and then their answer would then be used for the first sub-teams next question and so on. For example…Q1. Pass on the answer… Q2. T is the answer you will be give; T+4/5T=___ Pass the answer on and so on.

The next round was dangerous, fast and exhausting (depending on what your job was). Again you were split into 2 teams - this time Dom and me, Milo and Justine -with one person running and one person waiting for the answer on each team. The runner from team A had to run to a certain teacher and collect question one, after delivering this to their table you would work it out together (as sub-team A) and then return to the teacher to get the next question. This new question would not be for your sub-team however, because you would have to deliver it to sub-team B and so on.

After all 4 rounds were completed we were waiting to here the results and when announcing the top 5 we were pretending to hope; holding our breath, tensing when they said “and 1st place is…”, this pretence didn’t work, however, but when Mr Downe went to collect our place card we were curious and excited to see how well (or not!)  we had done. “You came nine-…” A sigh and a glance at the other members of the team all thinking the same thing…19th: how could we have been losers… “…-th, you came 9th!” “Lets see that card!” was the first response; amazed and unfaithful to Mr Downe’s words. Happiness all round, we came in the top ten (and we beat the cocky boy who got 97% in his GCSE in year 8 - although of course that was not the reason for our happiness).

Amelia Rupp

You are invited to play in the first ever Pinewood Parent & Child Golf Competition to be held on the newly renovated Pinewood course.

We will meet on the terrace in front of the school from 1.45 pm and there will be a shotgun start just after 2 pm.

There is room for 18 pairs (2 per hole) and therefore I will accept entries on a first-come-first-served basis.  The format will be a foursomes stableford competition over nine holes finishing with tea and prize giving by the cricket pavilion at approximately 4 pm.

All standards are welcome so do please come and support this inaugural event.  The deadline for entries is Friday, 18th May.

Please email Colin Acheson-Gray as soon as possible on colinacheson-gray@pinewoodschool.co.uk to secure your place.

Congratulations to the following on completing their Reading Awards:

Silver: Bea Calvert

Bronze: Oliver Gasson-Hargreaves

For more information on the Reading Awards Scheme please speak to your child's English teacher or Mrs Matthews in the Library. 

Time to Clear Out Your Wardrobe for a Good Cause!

After the roaring success of last year's event, you are cordially invited to:

The 2nd Annual Friends Of Pinewood Designer Bring and Buy Clothes Sale

Date: Friday 11th May 2012 from 8.30 am onwards. 

Entrance: £5, to include good coffee and yummy homemade cakes

Venue: Hill Manor House, Hinton Parva, Wiltshire SN4 0DP.

Directions: head out of the Pinewood gates and go straight along the road out of Bourton.  Stay on this road for approx. 2 miles until you come to a fork in the road. Take the right hand turning towards Hinton Parva and then the first left heading up the hill to Foxhill.  Hill Manor House is about 600 yards on the right hand side. It's a cream Edwardian house with green doors on the outbuilding. There is a grey slate sign on the tree saying Hill Manor House. Phone 01793 791148 if you get lost.   

Pre-school children welcome.

The Idea : 

We are pretty sure that most of you have good quality items of clothing and accessories (hats, scarves, jewellery, bags, shoes etc.) in your wardrobe that you have either NEVER worn (probably over-optimistic sale purchases, sometimes with the tags still on!) or just don't pick out any longer, but which are still perfectly wearable. If you do, they aren't doing anyone any good by simply hanging there. Someone else would love them and would be willing to pay the princely sum of between £2 - £5 (possibly £10 if they are top notch) for the privilege of purchasing them. So, rather than driving to a charity shop, why not recycle them at school and grab yourself something that you WILL wear, for almost nothing, whilst supporting a cause that is close to your heart. 

Purchase prices are kept low as the idea is to sell as much as possible, we do not want to become a second hand clothes agency, and also so that this time any impulsive purchases won't cost you an arm and a leg! 

All proceeds to FOP with a percentage going to a local charity, and even if nothing takes your fancy you can have coffee, cake and a catch-up.

The success of this event, of course, depends upon a reasonable amount of good quality donations, so get in your wardrobe now and have a good sort out. All clothing donations can be given to any member of the FOP Committee up to and including the 11th May (the earlier the better though) OR: The School Shop has very kindly agreed to take donations which can be dropped during opening times.  For any further information about donating, please email parsonsy@btinternet.com.

Many thanks ..... The FOP Committee

Katharine Hipwell

We will be holding 2 events this term, at which we very much look forward to seeing as many Pinewood families and friends as possible:

The 2nd Annual Bring & Buy Designer Clothes Sale - Friday 11th May, from 8.15am

The Summer Afternoon - Friday 29th June, following the Inter-House Athletics - more details to follow nearer the time.

We always need volunteers at these events, so if you are able to give us a bit of your time please contact any member of Friends of Pinewood or Henrietta Hoyland.

For more information on Friends of Pinewood, please click here or speak to any member of the Committee.

We are delighted that Pinewood has been selected to go through to the finals of the Royal Forestry Society Woodland Awards in the schools section.  This is in recognition of our work on the Pinewood Community Woodland Project.

The Pinewood Community Woodland Project

The aim of the project is to create a School and Community Woodland which will provide a multi-purpose resource for the school, the community, and a wide range of wildlife, and by doing so enhance the local landscape, protecting and promoting the importance of conservation.

Pinewood is in the process of creating and developing 10.3 hectares of broadleaf community woodland within the school grounds.   A total of 10,400 trees will be planted over a 3 year period.  The woodland will be a facility shared by the local community and be made up of a range of trees to include Ash, Oak, Large Leaf Lime, Silver Birch, Common Birch, Common Alder, Wild Cherry, Wayfaring Tree, Hazel, Spindle, Holly, Crab Apple, Field Maple, Hawthorn and Guelder Rose.

The first phase of planting was completed in February 2010 by Abbey Forestry. The second phase took the form of a whole school plantathon on February 15th, 16th and 17th 2011 when all pupils in the school and members of the local community had the opportunity to plant a tree.  The woodland plan accommodated a layout whereby year groups of children planted trees together and are able to identify ‘their’ area of trees as they grow during their time at the school.  Over 9,000 trees are now establishing themselves and the area has been opened to members of the local community for over a year.

The final 3,475 saplings were planted in early 2012 and in March the school held a 'Go Green' curriculum day, linked to World Book Day when Pre-Prep and Early Years pupils had opportunities to explore the woodland and use and create a range of non-fiction texts discovering and promoting the importance of woodlands.  

It is planned that over time we will continue to develop educational investigations within the wood, with an integral part of the project being pupils' understanding of the importance of maintaining and protecting our environment, the woodland is already  providing a habitat for a range of wildlife, drawing in butterflies and birds.  Deer are already coming into the woodland and as the  trees establish themselves pupils are being provided with a real opportunity to explore nature first hand.  The woodland project has been firmly established within the curriculum of the Early Years and Pre-Prep departments of the school by embedding it as an educational resource across the curriculum as well as promoting it through curriculum 'wow' days.

The created woodland should be established within 5 years and it is predicted will have a full canopy within 10 years.  It has now met the ancient woodland ‘Hibberds Piece’ which is sited on school land. 

Please note the following corrections to the School Calendar:

Year 8 HPV vaccinations are on Thursday 26th April at 2pm.

The Weekly Boarders & Staff Barbeque is on Thursday 5th July (not Wednesday 4th).

Form Picnics are on Friday 6th July (not Thursday 5th).

We hope you all had happy and restful holidays and are ready for what is sure to be a very busy term.

We welcome our new Gap student, George Fox-Edwards, who joins Will, Ally, Alice and Parris, and Mrs Caroline Cochrane, who will be teaching Girls Games. Congratulations also to Isabel Thomas and Sam Downe on their recent marriage.

Summer uniform may be worn from the start of term, but will be compulsory from Tuesday 8th May, after the Bank Holiday exeat weekend.

We wish our Common Entrance and remaining scholarship candidates all the very best over the coming weeks.

The first ever inter-schools show jumping competition run by Pinewood on Saturday 31st March was a huge success with bumper entries and fantastic results from the Pinewoodians themselves. With 32 schools taking part competition was very strong, but Pinewood rose to the occasion qualifying  two teams and two individual riders for the National Championships to be held in October.

In the 70cm mini class Jess Tregoning and Honor McFarlane were 1st and 2nd individually and the team of Honor McFarlane, Jess Tregoning and Frank Meehan came 2nd to guarantee themselves a place in the final. The B team of Wanda Criswell, Chloe McGregor and Amelia Heard all rode well and gained valuable experience for the future.

The hotly contested Novice class brought success to Alex Norris, Ben Ryder, Jess Tregoning and Ryan Lockwood with another 2nd place and another qualification for the championships.  However, success went to their heads and the same team could not quite keep their focus in the intermediate class with a couple of errors dropping them to 4th place. In the Novice class the team of Honor McFarlane, Frank Meehan, Jess Tregoning and Wanda Criswell came a creditable 5th with Jess on Joey B and Ryan on Buzz coming 5th and 6th respectively.

There were some new Pinewood faces in the warm up class showing promise for the future; in particular Amelia Heard, who was 6th in her first ever jumping competition.  Congratulations to all our riders!

This competition could not have taken place, however, without all the help and support from a huge band of volunteers.  My biggest thanks must go to Lucinda McFarlane who was our Secretary.  She not only put in immensely long hours beforehand, dealing with huge entries, but was on the showground for over 12 hours keeping the competition running smoothly.  The day ran to time and we had many congratulations from other schools on our efficiency.

My thanks must also go to Jim Bischoff, who was press ganged into commentating and did the most fantastic job, to Mark Smith for his great scoring and to Mr Hoyland who took on the role of car park supervisor like a pro and now knows all there is to know about parking  horse boxes and trailers! Thank you to James Siebert who spent the afternoon learning about a new sport in a very hands-on way and was there to the bitter end taking down the marquee.  Thank you too to all the other helpers, too numerous to mention individually, who gave up their time to steward, the ‘organising committee’ including Natascha Ryder, Arabella Tregoning and Nicki Lockwood and in particular to all the Pinewood children who made up the arena party.

After such a successful day let us hope the Pinewood School show jumping competition now becomes an annual event in the Pinewood calendar.

Mel Norris 

Thanks to the generosity of parents who attended the performances of "Beauty & The Beast" this week, we have raised a further £881 for the Shonda project - this money will go towards their current project of providing fresh water for the community.

For more information on the Shonda project, please go to their website: http://shonda.org.uk/

Photos of Cast A and Cast B of the wonderful recent Year 5 - 7 production of "Beauty & The Beast" can now be viewed in the Events Gallery.

We are enormously grateful to our parent photographers Simon Hipwell and Angela Reid for kindly allowing us to use their fantastic photos alongside our own.

Congratulations to Anika Patel, who has been awarded an All Rounder Scholarship to Cokethorpe in recognition of her Art and Academics.

Anika joins the following, who have already received awards to their senior schools:

Miles Brandi - Major Academic Scholarship to Marlborough College

Amelia Rupp - Major Academic Scholarship to Marlborough College.

Annie O'Grady - Music Award to St Mary's, Calne.

Izzy Barrand - Academic Scholarship to St Edward's, Oxford

Reuben Arkwright - Desmond Morris Science Scholarship to Dauntsey's

Rosie Martin Barton - Academic Award to Dauntsey's 

Amelia Rupp - Major Academic Scholarship to Cheltenham Ladies College

Mimi Watts - All Rounder Scholarship to Kingswood

George Tregoning - Headmaster's Award (Riding & DT) to Dean Close

Alex Norris - Headmaster's Award (Music & Riding) to Dean Close

Gabby Cook - Art Exhibition to Monkton Combe

Izzy Barrand - All Rounder Scholarship to St Edward's, Oxford.

Jamie Eccleston - Music Exhibition to Shrewsbury

Eleanor Tuckey - Major Music Scholarship to Marlborough College

Reuben Arkwright - House Foundation Award to Shrewsbury

Lucas Arkwright - Academic Scholarship to Dauntsey's

Mimi Watts - Sports Scholarship to Dean Close

Imogen Syme-Taylor - Choral Scholarship to Wells Cathedral School

Dominic Hutchinson has also got through to the final round of the Oundle Academic Scholarship, which takes place in May.

This Spring saw the rebirth of the chess competition with an added inter-house contest to spice things up. With over 100 entrants from Lower, Middle and Upper Schools, it was going to be tough to get through to the final and there were many hard fought matches along the way.

Billy Tulloch met Alfred Beadman in a fiercely played Lower School final, with Billy checkmating Alfred with a queen and a rook. Lucas Arkwright eventually got the better of Harry Brooks in the Middle School final after an exciting stalemate in match 1. Dominic Hutchinson never quite recovered from losing his queen early on, but put up a stiff fight against eventual winner Reuben Arkwright in the Upper School final. Well done to everyone who took part, and it is never too soon to start practising for next year!

Overall Results:

Coombe-Tennant Chess Cup:

Upper School: Reuben Arkwright, Runner Up: Dominic Hutchinson

Middle School: Lucas Arkwright, Runner Up: Harry Brooks

Lower School: Billy Tulloch, Runner Up: Alfred Beadman

Inter-House Competition:

1^st Postbridge 51 points

2^nd Melchet 50 points

3^rd Motcombe 40 points

4^th Farnborough 30 points

SD

On Thursday 22nd March Pre-Prep enjoyed a ‘Garden Birds’ Wow Day.

Sally Matthews set up a wonderful informative display in the Pre-Prep Library to help the children with their knowledge of garden birds. Mrs Spinks (Grandmother to Cameron, Finlay and Rory Stevens) gave a very interesting presentation and shared with us her beautiful photographs of birds that regularly visit her garden.

Other activities included making nesting material wreaths, bird boxes and bird masks. All the children thoroughly enjoyed the day and should now be experts in identifying garden birds!

Congratulations to Miles Brandi and Amelia Rupp, who have been awarded Major Academic Scholarships to Marlborough College.

Miles and Amelia join the following, who have already received awards to their senior schools:

Annie O'Grady - Music Award to St Mary's, Calne.

Izzy Barrand - Academic Scholarship to St Edward's, Oxford

Reuben Arkwright - Desmond Morris Science Scholarship to Dauntsey's

Rosie Martin Barton - Academic Award to Dauntsey's 

Amelia Rupp - Major Academic Scholarship to Cheltenham Ladies College

Mimi Watts - All Rounder Scholarship to Kingswood

George Tregoning - Headmaster's Award (Riding & DT) to Dean Close

Alex Norris - Headmaster's Award (Music & Riding) to Dean Close

Gabby Cook - Art Exhibition to Monkton Combe

Izzy Barrand - All Rounder Scholarship to St Edward's, Oxford.

Jamie Eccleston - Music Exhibition to Shrewsbury

Eleanor Tuckey - Major Music Scholarship to Marlborough College

Reuben Arkwright - House Foundation Award to Shrewsbury

Lucas Arkwright - Academic Scholarship to Dauntsey's

Mimi Watts - Sports Scholarship to Dean Close

Imogen Syme-Taylor - Choral Scholarship to Wells Cathedral School

Dominic Hutchinson has also got through to the final round of the Oundle Academic Scholarship, which takes place in May.

The School Shop will be closed during the holidays, but will re-open on Monday 16th April, when it will be open from 10am till 2pm and again on Tuesday 17th April from 10am till 4pm.

Congratulations to Harriet Eyles for completing her Gold Reading Award.

For more information on the Reading Awards Scheme, please speak to Mrs Matthews in the Library or your child's English teacher.

Well done to our Under 9 Cross Country team on a wonderful set of results at the Rendcomb Junior School Cross Country meeting.  The course was over very challenging terrain and it was long (1850m). Competing against 5 other schools (Rendcomb JS, Berkhampstead, St Edward's Cheltenham, Hatherop and Westonbirt), the Pinewood team came 1st overall.

Notable individual results were as follows (each school put forward teams of 8):

Tom Gardener - 2nd overall (and 2nd boy)

Flora Fletcher - 8th overall (and 2nd girl)

George Knee - 10th

Rafferty Simpson - 11th

Ben Skey - 14th

Peyton Lloyd - 17th

Congratulations to Izzy Barrand on being awarded an Academic Scholarship to St Edward's, Oxford, and to Annie O'Grady for her Music Award to St Mary's, Calne.

Izzy and Annie join the following, who have already received awards to their senior schools:

Reuben Arkwright - Desmond Morris Science Scholarship to Dauntsey's

Rosie Martin Barton - Academic Award to Dauntsey's 

Amelia Rupp - Major Academic Scholarship to Cheltenham Ladies College

Mimi Watts - All Rounder Scholarship to Kingswood

George Tregoning - Headmaster's Award (Riding & DT) to Dean Close

Alex Norris - Headmaster's Award (Music & Riding) to Dean Close

Gabby Cook - Art Exhibition to Monkton Combe

Izzy Barrand - All Rounder Scholarship to St Edward's, Oxford.

Jamie Eccleston - Music Exhibition to Shrewsbury

Eleanor Tuckey - Major Music Scholarship to Marlborough College

Reuben Arkwright - House Foundation Award to Shrewsbury

Lucas Arkwright - Academic Scholarship to Dauntsey's

Mimi Watts - Sports Scholarship to Dean Close

Imogen Syme-Taylor - Choral Scholarship to Wells Cathedral School

Dominic Hutchinson has also got through to the second round of the Oundle Academic Scholarship.

The Year 2 children had a fabulous day finding out about the life of Florence Nightingale. A company called ‘Creative History’ arranged the day for us, bringing along many artefacts, resources and of course ‘Florence Nightingale’ (well, a pretend one!) The children, staff and parent helpers all dressed in Victorian costume and thoroughly embraced the day.

Children made lamps, calling cards and completed coin rubbings. They unpacked Florence’s suitcase and looked at the types of objects Florence would have used. In the afternoon the children all had the opportunity to role play life in Scutari Hospital, as well as learning how to put bandages on and make beds. 

A big thank you to everyone who supported us on the night, we are thrilled to announce that the total raised on the night was £2,250 - a fantastic sum!

The money raised will go towards supporting a local charity and other Friends of Pinewood projects within the school.  This year we have already made a significant contribution to the extension of Treetops, as well as donating £2,000 to CALM and £1,000 towards the cost of a new van for the Swindon Foodbank.

Congratulations again to the winners and losers on the night:

1st team - "To Be Decided" (Pre-Prep Parents)

2nd team - "Norfolk & Chance" (Prep School Parents)

Wooden Spoon - Angela Reid & Friends (Prep School Parents)

This year the children in Early Years and Key Stage 1 took on a ‘green’ theme for World Book Day. Every child came to school wearing home clothes with a dash of green.

We spent time looking at non-fiction books which helped us to learn about recycling, environmental issues and woodlands. Nursery children planted some plants and Reception children made paper. All the children had the opportunity to visit Pinewood woodlands and revisit the sapling they planted last year. Year 2 walked down to the new woodland which was planted at half-term, to help learn about trees, why we plant them, and to compare these to the ancient woodland nearby.

Lots of facts, as well as inspired vocabulary helped the children work on year group books and displays. Many children brought in posters they designed at home to promote the ‘green’ theme. All the children had an informative story time with Mrs Matthews, the school librarian.

The East India Club in London was the venue for a drinks party on Thursday 8th March which saw around 70 leavers from the 1980s and 90s gather for the first event of this kind since they had left.  A few sported old school ties, amongst them Guests of honour, former Headmaster (and Old Pinewoodian 1952) Henry Boddington, and former Deputy Head, Patrick Mackie who were delighted to see so many of their former charges in good form.  Jim Bischoff and Chris Field (both still on the staff at Pinewood) were also there and as people started to reminisce with them about Athletic records and Music lessons, the memories flowed freely!

Current Head Philip Hoyland talked about recent developments at Pinewood, and was followed by Henry Boddington who after a rousing speech (during which he and Patrick exchanged Latin quips) toasted Pinewood’s good health.  It was wonderful to hear so many recollections about Pinewood, and a cheer went up when it was announced that Boiler Suits are still going strong.  The evening ended with some drifting over to the Red Lion pub to carry on the reunion, and with lots of calls for similar events in the future.

The following attended:

1980-1985

Fiona Hill (1980), Phil Roberts (1981), Sarah Allen (1982), Anna Byworth (née Roberts) (1982), Vanessa Maydon (née Anderson) (1983), James Bull (1983), Nigel Radbourne (1983), Mike Butler (1984), Jason Merron (1984), Sophie Negus (née Boddington) (1984), Charles Thompson (1984),  Pippa Webb-Carter (née Kidson-Trigg) (1984), Andrew Churchill (1985), Morella De Reuver (née Claire Heanley) (1985).

1986 - 1990

Adam Anderson (1986), Matthew Bradley (1986), Matthew Grist (1986), Ed Mawle (1986), Rob Wightman (1986), Ross Wightman (1986), Charles Boddington (1987), Thomas Jenkinson (1987), Seta White (1987), Michael Baker (1988), Oliver Cass (1988), Mark Hastings (1988), James Hewer (1988), Jeremy Iles (1988), Tom Maurice (1988), Tamar White (1988), Mark Evans (1989), Tim Triptree (1989), Will Bolsover (1990), Neil Bromley (1990), Omar Mograby (1990).

1991 - 1995

Fergus Glenapp (1992), Oliver Iliffe (1992), Tiffany Anderson (1993), Mark Anderson (1993), Annabel Fraser (1993), Richard Halford (1993), Roger Mawle (1993), Alex Milner (1993), Holly Shaw (1993), Gemma Hill (1994), Andrew McKinnon (1994), William Scott-Gall (1994), Mark Titcombe (1994).

1996 - 1999

Guy Alcock (1996), Clementine Angus (1996), Thomas Crockett (1996), Anna Fogg (1996), Lucinda Greasely (1996), Michael Harverson (1996),Georgina Angus (1997), Will Stebbing (1997), Richard Wilkins (1997), Tom Bischoff (1998), Alicia Greasely (1998), James Rawdon Mogg (1998), Harriet Taylor (1998).

Pinewood’s first sponsored project for Shonda is the development of the existing well. Initial investigations have been carried out to establish the quality and the quantity of the water in the borehole. The results have been encouraging, and work is about to start on the new pump system. Quotations have been reviewed and it is hoped installation will start very soon.

Thanks to your direct contributions, the water supply to the Shonda community is about to improve!

Shonda is a community based project in Mombasa, Kenya.  As a school we are keen to support them through financial aid and the donation of unwanted sports kit, clothes, toys etc.  For more information about the Shonda Project, please click here.

Our next fundraising event will be the Year 5-7 play, Beauty & The Beast. The money raised from ticket sales will all go to the Shonda Project.

Another early start for the Pinewood Riders on Sunday and this time in the pouring rain too!  The team of Frank Meehan, Sophie Pratt, Wanda Criswell and Honor McFarlane made a fantastic start to the competition in Class 1 of the St Mary’s Calne Inter-Schools Show Jumping, they all produced perfect double clear rounds, which meant they were 2nd as a team and Honor was also 8th as an individual.  We did not have a team for Class 2, but both Frank and Honor were entered as individuals and both knew they had to have really fast rounds to have a chance of being in the places.  They both jumped fantastic clear 1st rounds and in the jump off they both turned up the speed determined for a place, sadly Frank just tipped a pole and Honor put in such a handbrake turn her pony could not quite make the jump, but it was the right thing to do for them both when the competition was so strong. 

Well done to them all for a great win and some really good riding.

Each team was split into two groups of four and each group would take it in turns to shoot 3 arrows at 2 targets to get the most points.

Pinewood 1 was first up on the firing line and finished the round with an impressive 20 points. Then Prior 1 took their first round, eager to hit as much gold as they could. Up next was Pinewood 2, who scored 9 points and so it went on for 2 more nail biting rounds, until we discovered the total score for Pinewood 1: 64 points, compared to Prior 1's total of 39. At this point Pinewood and Prior 2 were shaking so much they could hardly pull the string back!

As the scores were collected and the totals added, everyone held their breath until the Prior coach announced the final scores:

Prior Park: 101

Pinewood: 103

Joe Salter (Year 7)

43 Old Pinewoodians who had left Pinewood in the 1960s and 1970s, together with some of their wives and current Pinewood staff enjoyed a reunion at the school on Saturday 3rd March 2012. Many of those who attended stepped back through the doors of Pinewood for the first time since they had left over 40 years ago.

Memories were shared, the prevailing one being of sitting on the bottom step of the front stairs waiting to see the Headmaster, as well as uninspiring food, “flying” butterflies from the display cabinets in what was then the library, and shinning down the fire escape to fetch lumps of coal and up again without being caught.

Old Pinewoodians enjoyed lunch together, which was voted better than the last Pinewood meal experienced, and current Headmaster Philip Hoyland gave a short speech outlining how the school has developed and changed in recent years.  He read out letters from several Old Boys who were unable to join the event and one from Patrick Mackie, a former Pinewood teacher, who sadly had a prior engagement.

After lunch there was a chance to look at photographs from the archive over coffee and then to tour the school, from the woods where camps were built, to the loft above the current Pre-Prep which previously held Mr Knapp’s woodwork classes and still has the names of lots of boys painted on the ceiling.  It was wonderful to see former pupils back again, and clearly demonstrated the happy times that had been enjoyed at Pinewood by so many.

Those who attended were: Andrew James (1961), Geoffrey Phillips (1962) Anthony Wells, (1963), Richard Butler (1963), Dick Ford (1963), Ian Campbell (1964), Angus Gribbon (1964), Stephen Maynard (1964), Anthony Anson (1965), Adam Naylor (1967), Greville Seddon (1967), Julian Cooper (1968), Willie Manners (1969), Charles Allen (1970), Nicholas Walters (1970), David Bennett (1971), Douglas Shanks (1971), Andrew Le Coyte (1972), Nick Charles (1973), Alex Norman (1973), James Clarke (1974), Alistair Cook (1975), Ayhan Dawood (1975), Huw James (1975) Dominic Charles (1976), John Warburton-Lee (1976), James Johnstone (1977), John Benstead (1978), David Maundrell (1978), Alex Sykes (1979).

To view photos from the day, please click here.

Congratulations to Reuben Arkwright on being awarded the Desmond Morris Science Scholarship at Dauntsey's and to Rosie Martin Barton, who has received an Academic Award at Dauntsey's. 

Reuben and Rosie join the following, who have already received awards to their senior schools:

Amelia Rupp - Major Academic Scholarship to Cheltenham Ladies College

Mimi Watts - All Rounder Scholarship to Kingswood

George Tregoning - Headmaster's Award (Riding & DT) to Dean Close

Alex Norris - Headmaster's Award (Music & Riding) to Dean Close

Gabby Cook - Art Exhibition to Monkton Combe

Izzy Barrand - All Rounder Scholarship to St Edward's, Oxford.

Jamie Eccleston - Music Exhibition to Shrewsbury

Eleanor Tuckey - Major Music Scholarship to Marlborough College

Reuben Arkwright - House Foundation Award to Shrewsbury

Lucas Arkwright - Academic Scholarship to Dauntsey's

Mimi Watts - Sports Scholarship to Dean Close

Imogen Syme-Taylor - Choral Scholarship to Wells Cathedral School

Dominic Hutchinson has also got through to the second round of the Oundle Academic Scholarship.

A very wet, snowy, windy and foul day dawned as we set forth to Malvern under grey clouds.  That said, the teams were in good form and, on arrival, checked in and walked the courses.  The Pinewood supporters’ crowd was large on a day that turned clear, if a bit brisk for spectating. My grateful thanks to James Siebert who supported and acted as finish line liaison!  Special mention to Mimi Watts, Libby Rowe and Reuben Arkwright on their 4-5 years of representing the Pinewood Cross Country teams in all weathers! (for the final time today). 

The four races were spread over the day as follows:

Girls Under 11

Christa Cripwell came a fantastic 5th out of 120 girls.  The support from the rest of the team was excellent, with some Year 4 girls getting a chance to run for the school.

Boys Under 11 

Some good positions for the boys, who all finished in the top 50.  All the boys ran hard on the hilly course including some Year 4s – well done.

Girls Under 13

This saw the girls all getting in the top 60 out of 160 runners, which was our best team effort for some years!  Jess Tregoning came a very creditable 17th.

Boys Under 13 

This was a huge effort for the boys on a long and hard, hilly course.  All four gave of their utmost – well done!

AC

Please note there have been some changes to the Beauty & The Beast rehearsal schedule, please click here to download the latest version.

Congratulations to Dominic Hutchinson, who has got through to the second round of the Oundle Academic Scholarship.

A big thank you to everyone who supported our enormously successful Quiz Night on Friday. We will publish the amount raised as soon as we can, but in the meantime, well done to team "To Be Decided" on winning and team "Norfolk & Chance" for coming second.

We are extremely grateful to everyone who helped us, in particular Mr Bischoff for the excellent quiz.

We hope to see you all again next year.

Well done to Mackenzie Colsell, Molly Weeden and Jonathan Cowie, who have completed their Silver Reading Awards.

For more information on the Reading Awards Scheme, please speak to your child's English teacher or Mrs Matthews in the Library.

Lucy Coats, author of Atticus the Storyteller’s 200 Greek Myths, will be visiting Pinewood on Tuesday 6th March to talk to Year 3 and 4. Lucy’s books are lively and exciting retellings of these popular stories and her presentation on the Greek Myths will support Year 4’s English course of study.

You can find out more about Lucy’s books by visiting her website: www.lucycoats.com

A signed book is always a welcome souvenir of an author’s visit. All twelve of the Greek Myths series of books will be available on the day, as well as Lucy’s recent novel, Hootcat Hill. If you would like your child to have a signed copy of one of Lucy’s books, please e-mail Mrs Matthews on: library@pinewoodschool.co.uk or click here to download the letter with form sent to parents by Mrs Matthews.

Books cost either £4.99 or £5.99 and all monies will be added to the school bill.

Each child will by now have received a World Book Day token. This £1.00 token can be used against the cost of a book or audio book at any participating bookshop.

The tokens are valid until March 25th. As in previous years, there are six specially produced World Book Day books which can be exchanged for a token alone. Look out for these at your local bookshop or go to the World Book Day website: www.worldbookday.com.

On Tuesday 6th March, at 1350, the Upper School will be addressed in the Theatre by 90 year old Freddie Knoller who is an Auschwitz Holocaust survivor.

Parents and Friends of the School are welcome to attend this fascinating lecture, given by such an inspiring man.

His book, ‘Desperate Journey’, will be available for purchase, please click here to download an order form.

Do you know how to fire a gun on a warship?
 
 
What gruesome things did sailors in the 19th Century have to eat?
 
 
Did the ship’s boys really have to wash everyone’s shirts in wee?

Find out in the Library….

Come and look at the Year 7 work from their recent visit to HMS Victory.

Regrettably, due to illness, History Off The Page had to postpone our Florence Nightingale Day for Year 2, which was due to take place on Wednesday 29th February.  It will now take place on Wednesday 7th March instead.

For more details, please click here.

As seating in the theatre is limited to 132 adults, performances of Beauty & The Beast will be ticket only and parents will only be able to see one performance unless advised nearer the time.  (Children in Years 3, 4 and 8 will have seen it on the previous Friday).

Tickets (and a programme) will be available on a first-come, first served basis from the office (in person only) from 27th February.  Ticket prices are £1 which will be donated to Shonda as our chosen charity.  Please show your named ticket on the door and it will go into an Easter Egg Raffle during the interval.

Performance times are as follows:

Cast A         Monday 19th March         1600

Cast B         Tuesday 20th March        1830

Cast B         Wednesday 21st March   1630

Cast A         Thursday 22nd March       1830

Please click here to view the cast lists.  The majority of children are in all four performances (those with speaking parts in one cast, will generally be in the crowd scenes in the other cast). 

Before Half-Term Lower and Middle School enjoyed a Kaya Drum workshop. It was an action-packed morning with everybody taking part in some very loud rhythmic performances. We all got to play an instrument including South American and African drums, wooden blocks, bells and maracas. The drums were so much fun that even Mr Caird got up to dance! We all had a great morning and left with the sound of beating drums ringing in our ears.

Freddie Siebert

Congratulations to the following, who have all completed their Bronze Reading Awards:

Max Smith

Bea Calvert

Micah Gregory

If you would like more information about the reading awards scheme, please speak to Mrs Matthews in the Library or your child's English teacher.

For those who missed this the first time around, the project is aimed at involving the local communities including the Pinewood community, with the enrichment of the church which so many of us have come to love.

When the project was launched back in October there were no kneelers. Now there are 22 in process and many of you may have become aware of friends taking part etc. Whilst the church is used on a regular basis, the congregation is rarely large so the need for numerous kneelers is not too great. The local Bourton committee has suggested that pew cushions would also be a great benefit. This is a brilliant idea and one that fits in so well with the kneelers being made. The approved design list works for both kneelers and cushions. Pew cushion kits cost £37 each. If you would like to get involved whether by donating (paying for) a kit, donating and sewing a kit or just donating your time to sew, then please contact Louise Slater 783332 or email bob@weez.demon.co.uk.

Thank you.

Several riders made the long journey to Sparsholt College over half-term to compete in the NSEA show jumping competition.  It was lovely to see new team member Frank Meehan doing well with a fast double clear in class 1.  He proved a valuable member of the team in class 2, together with Jess Tregoning, Ben Ryder and Alex Norris.  Despite some children riding new ponies the team came 3rd, just missing out on qualification, and Jess jumped a fast clear on her old pony Joey to take 5th individually.

For the first time Pinewood had a team in the 90cm class and even though we were one team member short we came a creditable 6th.

This was a really solid start to 2012 - well done to all our riders.

Melanie Norris

Well done to the following winners in the Year 5-7 Poetry Competition:

Year 5 - Fin Simpson

Year 6 - Chloe McGregor

Year 7 - Alex King & Jess Tregoning

OVERALL WINNER - Hugh Rayner 

The competition was very adroitly adjudicated by Mr. Keith Boak, a BBC TV director of such programmes as Waterloo Road and the recently resurgent Dr. Who. Keith gave constructive and generous feedback to each of the competitors individually and was most impressed with the clarity and confidence of the performances across the age ranges. The level of the competition was high and reflected the work of the students and of their English teachers in the preparation prior to the day of the finals. With public speaking recognised as the number one phobia in the country it is most encouraging to see our young people rising to the challenge and having the courage and confidence to perform in this way.  

On our trip to Highclere we looked at all sorts of Egyptian things. We saw lots of gold and one room had a death mask and a fake dead body. It was very cool to discover so many things we hadn’t learnt yet and to also look inside a pretend tomb and it was quite scary (for me!) We went from one room to another, first we watched a DVD of the discovery of Tutankhamun, then went to draw our name in hieroglyphics and finally did the exhibition. It was amazing! I loved seeing the real mummy.

We learnt how Lord Carnavon died. He had a mosquito bite and when he was shaving he took the head off the mosquito bite and it got infected, because they didn’t have that type of medicine in the olden days he sadly died of it.

Charlotte Crawley, 3H

I had a really fun time. I learnt a lot about Egypt and Highclere Castle. We learnt about the Weighing of the Heart ceremony. My favourite bit was the three coffins of Tutankhamun. He was a very famous pharaoh who ruled Egypt.

Lord Carnavon’s first discovery was a mummified cat.

Alec McFarlane, 3H

Congratulations to the following on being offered awards to their senior schools:

Amelia Rupp - Major Academic Scholarship to Cheltenham Ladies College

Mimi Watts - All Rounder Scholarship to Kingswood

George Tregoning - Headmaster's Award (Riding & DT) to Dean Close

Alex Norris - Headmaster's Award (Music & Riding) to Dean Close

Gabby Cook - Art Exhibition to Monkton Combe

They join the following Year 8 pupils, who have already received awards:

Izzy Barrand - All Rounder Scholarship to St Edward's, Oxford.

Jamie Eccleston - Music Exhibition to Shrewsbury

Eleanor Tuckey - Major Music Scholarship to Marlborough College

Reuben Arkwright - House Foundation Award to Shrewsbury

Lucas Arkwright - Academic Scholarship to Dauntsey's

Mimi Watts - Sports Scholarship to Dean Close

Imogen Syme-Taylor - Choral Scholarship to Wells Cathedral School

Well done to the following winners in the Lower School Poetry Competition:

Year 3 - Rafferty Simpson & Darci Reeve

Year 4 - Cosmo del Mar

Overall Lower School Winner - Charlotte Hannon

Caring Cancer Trust takes children in remission of cancer on skiing holidays in the winter and on Alpine adventure holidays in the summer. They have got their annual ski trip coming up, but due to the charity growing dramatically in the last year and the fact that they are now taking children from the John Radcliffe in Oxford and Great Western in Swindon, they are in desperate need of some more ski kit.

Please can you have a rummage and dig out any salopets and jackets that you no longer require. It needs to be in good condition and ideally to fit age 12-14 years.

The Trust will be fitting the children with the kit on Sunday 26 February so if you could bring in any offerings to school the week after half-term on Thursday 23rd or Friday 24th Feb and see Ruth Corfield (who is coordinating the collection on behalf of Caring Cancer Trust) in the Hall or leave a bag clearly marked “Caring Cancer” in the office with Janey, we would be most grateful.

For further information about Caring Cancer Trust or for an alternative drop off, please call Ruth on 07889 707007 or email ruth@corfield.us.

Thank you very much.

On Tuesday 7th February six Year 6 Pinewood pupils went to the Cheltenham College Science Day; there were about six other prep schools there as well.

When we got there we went into the Library, where there were four different activities that we could chose from: air hockey, a magnetic ball drop, a model of a human body that you could take the organs out of; and a tube with air coming out of it that made a table tennis ball float in the air. After that, we were divided into three groups and our group went to do Chemistry, where we had to make 2 types of invisible ink, to see which would work the best.  We then watched whilst the teacher showed us lots of exciting experiments and explosions, for example blowing up a Pringles can with hydrogen and making “Elephant Toothpaste” – it was so cool.

We went to the Physics department next, where we had to complete the 9 Physics Challenges; the Pinewood team of Howard and Lucas came first and Jamie and Toby came second.  For the challenges we had to measure and weigh certain things and we scored points for coming the closest to the teacher’s answers.

In the Biology department we dissected an owl pellet; it contained a lot of bones and fur.

It was a really fun afternoon, thank you very much to Mr King for taking us and to Cheltenham College for organising it.

Toby Acheson-Gray, Lucas Arkwright, Esme Foster, Howard Hawkes, Jamie Lawson, Isabel Sanderson

Some year 5 children from Pinewood went to a very interesting Jewish Synagogue in Bristol.

These are some of the things we saw: we saw the Torah, which is the Jews holy book. It is amazing because it is written in Hebrew and instead of being written on paper it is written on some dried animal skin called Parchment. What is so interesting about the Torah is that it is kept in the Ark. The Ark is a very special cupboard at the front of the Synagogue where the Torah is kept, so it is safe.

In a service there has to be ten or more men so they can open the Ark. The men have to be thirteen years old which is the age of being grown up for a man. However, for a woman it is twelve.

The Torah has to be read on a Bimah, which is always facing Jerusalem, which is East. The Torah is always read by a Rabbi, which is like a Vicar but takes a Jewish service on a Friday and a Saturday.

We got to see that in a Synagogue the men sit on the bottom floor, but the women sit up on the top floor.

We knew that the Torah is not allowed to be touched by hands so they use a pointer called a Yad, which also helps to keep their place because there are so many words in Hebrew.

We got to see some of the things that men have to wear in a Jewish service: a Tallit is a shawl that men would wear when the Torah is read. When the Torah is taken out the men either kisses it or touches it with his Tallit. The Kippah is a small round hat which is worn on the top of the head, men would wear the Kippah in the synagogue as a sign of respect.

There is another thing that Jewish men would wear on their head, it is called a Tefillin. A Tefillin is also worn when the Torah is being read, and it sits on your head and it is wrapped around your arms, so it is close to your heart. It also has tiny pieces of parchment in it with some little prayers on it.

By Matilda Nettleton

Congratulations to Izzy Barrand on her All Rounder Scholarship to St Edward's, Oxford.

Izzy joins the following, who have already received awards this year to their senior schools:

Jamie Eccleston - Music Exhibition to Shrewsbury

Eleanor Tuckey - Major Music Scholarship to Marlborough College

Reuben Arkwright - House Foundation Award to Shrewsbury

Lucas Arkwright - Academic Scholarship to Dauntsey's

Mimi Watts - Sports Scholarship to Dean Close

Imogen Syme-Taylor - Choral Scholarship to Wells Cathedral School

Janey would very much welcome your help with make-up for the Year 5-7 play, Beauty & The Beast.  There are four performances and a lot of children to get through, so the more help she can get, the better. You don't need to be especially artistic and it doesn't matter if you can't commit to every performance.

Performance dates and times are:

Monday 19th March - 4pm

Tuesday 20th March - 6.30pm

Wednesday 21st March - 4.30pm

Thursday 22nd March - 6.30pm

If you are able to help for some or all of the time, please let Janey know by email on janeynelson@pinewoodschool.co.uk or via the School Office.

Congratulations to the entire Pinewood community on a fantastic review in the latest edition of the Good Schools Guide.

Congratulations to the following on completing their Bronze Reading Awards:

Amelia Stevens

Madeleine Banfield

For more details on the Reading Awards Scheme, please speak to Mrs Matthews in the Library or your child's English teacher.

Pinewood is hosting our first ever inter-schools team equestrian event at the Summerhouse Equestrian Centre on Saturday 31st March. This will be a NSEA Qualifier for the Schools’ Team Show Jumping Championships.  We are delighted with the huge response we have had and thank everyone who is supporting us in this venture.  Do come along and support your friends who are competing, it should be a fun day.

For full details of the event, please click here.

To download a booking form, please click here.

Volunteers Needed!  We still need volunteers to help out in the afternoon, even if you can only spare an hour or two of your time.  You do not need to be a particularly horsey person, it should just be good fun getting involved with the first ever Pinewood Show Jumping event.  If you are able to help, please contact Melanie Norris on mellors.norris@btinternet.com

Important Event Details for Competitors

All competitors must be ready to ride on time and if the competition is running early announcements will be made and competitors will be expected to warm up and be ready to ride earlier.

Please click on the links below to view your Class Timings:

(NB there are 2 pages of competitors in many classes, so please scroll down after downloading. This information may be updated before the competition, so please keep checking.)

Class 1

Class 2 

Class 3 

Class 4 

Class 5

Class 6

Updated: 29.03.12

This was the first time we had been to this meeting and all the Pinewood pupils really enjoyed the experience, despite it being quite tough and wet!  The common was muddy and a bit squelchy, but most of our runners managed to get round.

All the courses were flat and quite fast.  The pupils in all age groups acquitted themselves well and managed to improve on some individual performances. It was great to see members of Year 3 and 4 in both Junior races doing so well - all good experience for them and the future!

Results:

3^rd placed team in the Junior Boys U12 race

3^rd place team in the Senior Girls  U14 race

1^st individual in the Junior Boys U12 race - Stirling Calvert!

Stirling also broke a course record for U12 boys.

AC

James Siebert will be holding a cricket coaching camp for girls and boys in Years 3-8 on 11th, 12th & 13th April.

For full details and an application form, please click here.

Congratulations to Jamie Eccleston, who has been awarded a Music Exhibition to Shrewsbury.

Well done to all the houses on a wonderful morning of music and many thanks to Mr Simon Dearsley from Stowe for judging the competition and for his kind comments.

The results are as follows:

Soloists

3rd= Jamie Eccleston & Jessica Higgins

2nd  Joe Salter

1st  Eleanor Tuckey

House Results for Soloists (when all points added up)

4th  Motcombe

3rd  Melchet

2nd  Postbridge

1st  Farnborough

House Song

4th  Melchet

3rd  Farnborough

2nd  Motcombe

1st  Postbridge

Overall Music Cup

4th Melchet

3rd Motcombe

2nd Farnborough

1st Postbridge

U12 Boys

1^st Cheam

2^nd St Hugh’s

3^rd Pinewood

U12 Girls

1^st Cheam

2^nd Beaudesert

3^rd St Hugh’s

U14 Girls

1^st  Beaudesert

2^nd Abberley

3^rd Pinewood

U14 Boys

1^st Farleigh

2^nd St Hugh’s

3^rd Cheam

Congratulations to the following, who have been awarded scholarships to their senior schools:

Eleanor Tuckey - Major Music Scholarship to Marlborough College

Reuben Arkwright - House Foundation Award to Shrewsbury

Lucas Arkwright - Academic Scholarship to Dauntsey's

Congratulations to the following on successfully passing the entrance exams into their respective senior schools:

Amelia Rupp - Cheltenham Ladies College

Wanda Criswell - Cheltenham Ladies College; St Helen's & St Katharine's

Libby Rowe - Sherborne School for Girls

Flora Eliot-Cohen - St Mary's, Calne (12+)

Percussion Ensemble will have an extra rehearsal on Monday 6th February (from 4.15 - 5.45pm), in preparation for Tuesday's National Chamber Music Festival. As a result of this there will be NO Brass Band rehearsal on 6th February.

SOLD OUT!

We do hope you will join us for the famous FOP Quiz night at school on Friday 2nd March, 7.00pm for a 7.30pm start, with Mr Bischoff as your friendly quiz master.  It is a relaxed and informal evening (which some choose to take more seriously than others!).

The cost is £15 per head and this includes a lovely three course dinner served during the quiz.  You need to get 8 people together to make a team.

Back by popular demand - Heads & Tails - £5 to take part and you could win a bottle of Champagne.

Please click here to download a booking form - we do suggest that you apply quickly as tables sell fast.  If you have any queries please do give me a call on 07780826011

Lucinda McFarlane - Friends of Pinewood Chairman

There has been a fantastic response to our project to provide Bourton Church with embroidered kneelers - thank you to everyone who has taken up the challenge so far.

Henrietta Hoyland is kindly hosting "Stitch & Sip" sessions in the Drawing Room for all those making kneelers - these are a great opportunity to pick up tips or impart your expert knowledge, as well as sew together over a cup of tea and cake.  The sessions are at 3.30pm on Monday 20th February and Monday 5th March.