Clifton College Website
Prep School Headmaster's Bulletin
Mr John Milne, the Headmaster of Clifton College Preparatory School, writes a regular newsletter about the "the Pre"...
Issue 3
Dear Parents,
Remembrance Service
It was a pleasure to see so many of you at the Pre's Remembrance Service last Saturday. It is always a very poignant service and I thought Dr Waller's sermon and the musical accompaniments were extremely moving. It is always heartening to observe the pupils' impeccable behaviour during the Remembrance Service and this year's proved to be no exception. It was good to see so many parents and family members in attendance; thank you for your support.
Home Clothes Day
Last week's Home Clothes Day was held in aid of two charities: Motivation and The Grateful Society. I can confirm the collection for the Home clothes day totalled £586.56. Thank you, again, for your support.
Anti-Bullying Week (14-18th Nov 2011)
This week is Anti-Bullying Week, led by the Anti-Bullying Alliance, and it has been the focal point of our assemblies. The theme of this year's Anti-Bullying Week is Stop and Think – Words Can Hurt. As previously mentioned, we take the issue of anti-bullying very seriously and we aim to support our pupils – as appropriate – with both the necessary support and the 'tools' to help themselves. To complement our focus, Mrs Byas (Senior Tutor) has also been discussing cyber-bullying in assemblies this week.
Year 8 Sports Awards
Well done to all those who took part in the recent 13+ Sports Awards to the Upper School; further congratulations go to the following pupils who received awards for their sporting excellence:
Girls
Romilly Leech
Emma Portno
Sophie Scrase
India Winter
Boys
Henry Lidington
Louie Shaw
Finlay Trenouth
Matthew Welsh
These awards are testament to the strong coaching that the pupils receive at the school, to the opportunities on offer throughout the year and, of course, to the talents of the pupils; well done!
Visiting Speaker
We were very fortunate to have had Mr David Constantine in to speak to our pupils in assembly last week. Mr Constantine, a wheelchair-user as a result of a diving/surfing accident and CEO of the charity Motivation, captivated our pupils with a very stimulating, informative talk.
Informal Concert
Well done to all those pupils who performed in the recent Informal Concert. The concert was excellent: all of the pupils performed with great poise, enthusiasm and promise and the event was very well supported. Very well done to all those involved.
Sport
Our U12 and U13 Girls' Hockey teams enjoyed successes at Cheltenham Ladies' College last week, both winning tournaments in their respective age groups; extremely well done to all concerned. Congratulations also go to the Under 10 girls who recently won their hockey tournament at Millfield and to all the Rugby teams who continue to excel as the season progresses.
Fencing: Congratulations to Luke Webster-Khan who managed to win the Boys Under 14 Bristol Competition, where he competed against more than twenty four competitors. Luke has recently competed in the Welsh open; results to follow.
Third Form Information evening
Year 8 families will enjoy an insight into the workings of the Upper School Houses and Upper School on November 30th at 5:45pm. Please direct any questions or queries about your daughter or son's transfer to Phil Hallworth (Director of Admissions) phallworth@clifton-college.avon.sch.uk in the Upper School.
Skiing
Congratulations to those who have made it onto the Clifton College Prep School Ski Team which will compete in the IAPS Championships in Italy in March.
Thomas Buckley
Darcie Coates
Sebastian Comelio
Alice Cook
Jorge Cordoba
Eamon Devlin
Oliver Eldridge
Edward Hamilton-Davies
Reuben MacMurchy
Frederick Middleton
Barnaby O'Callaghan
Max Phillips
Louis Powell
Jack Powell
Jonathan Sayers
Alexander Sayers
Blair Tyre
Lewis Williams
Year 8 Africa Trip – February 2012
Sadly, I wrote to Year 8 Parents recently to inform them that this year's overseas trip to Africa has been cancelled for reasons beyond our control, primarily relating to safety and security. The pupils, like the staff at school, were naturally very disappointed.
As you can imagine, any trip to a developing country is fraught with potential risk; despite looking very closely at a number of excellent alternative sites in Tanzania, The Philippines and Cambodia, Mr Pafford and I simply couldn't guarantee, in the short time available, that we would have had enough time to properly mitigate against the risks associated with the nature of this type of trip. It is very sad that Kenya isn't stable enough for us to travel to this year as it was an outstanding trip last academic year.
I am extremely grateful to Mr Pafford and Miss Pike for all their hard work to date; it is greatly appreciated.
Pre Carol Service
I look forward to seeing many of you at the Pre's Carol Service on Friday December 9th at 4pm. The doors will be opened to parents as soon as the Upper School's end of term assembly has finished; I would urge you to get to the Chapel as early as possible – remembering that parking can often be an issue, as the Upper School pupils will be departing from their Houses from 3:15 onwards. Our Carol Service is always very well attended and I would be grateful if you could be at the Chapel at your earliest convenience so that we can arrange appropriate seating for all. Please can I also ask that if younger, Butcombe-aged siblings are attending that they be accommodated on laps – where appropriate – to free up as much space as possible? Thank you for your support.
Traffic and Parking
One-way system: to facilitate free-flow of traffic and maximise our children's safety, please can cars travel down the Avenue and up Northcote Road? There are still a number of parents who continue to travel up The Avenue, thus creating a log-jam in the mornings as well as making it difficult for the pupils to cross in relative safety.
Text Messaging
With the onset of bad weather, please can you ensure that we have your correct mobile phone number(s) in the coming weeks, particularly if you have changed your mobile phone number within the past 4-6 months?
Send to Liz Pafford at Lpafford@clifton-college.avon.sch.uk.
Whilst there is still much left to achieve this term, Helen and I hope that you have a very peaceful Exeat. My very best wishes to Mrs Beavis, Mrs Joyce and the entire cast of Ebenezer which debuts next Thursday evening.
With kind regards,
John Milne
Headmaster
17 November 2011
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