Yarm Preparatory School - Yarm School

Page 2PARTY POLITICS AT THE PREP SCHOOLI think it is a very good idea to get young and old generationsinvolved in politics. There were five candidates all competingagainst each other. There were Labour parties, Respect parties,Conservative parties, Lib Dems and UKIP. They had extremelygood questions thrown at them about war, recession debt and taxes.The first vote was on war and the Respect party won with about 16votes. Trailing at the bottom with 0 votes were the Lib Dems. Thenext round was on debt and the recession and there was a littlemiracle for Lib Dems who won with 14 votes and second place wasRespect with 11 votes. So, after all that, the Respect party are theones shining so far. But there was still one more vote...overallperformance. First place went to Lib Dems with 20 votes andclosely behind was the Respect party with a respectable 17 votes.Third place was the Labour party (which is currently in power) withquite a good number of votes, 11. Fourth place was theConservative party and not far behind the UKIP party whomade a very good effort and is a great party. By Rory Mather 6COn Monday 8 th March Sixth Formers came to the Prep Schoolbecause they were doing a mini election. First, Mr Edwardsexplained about politics. Each Sixth Former was representing adifferent party. The first questions we asked were about thewar. Each party had something to say on the war then we tooka vote on whose ideas we liked the best. The Respect party wonthis vote. We continued to ask questions and vote on theiroverall performance. We all enjoyed it very much.By Mitchell Corney 6PYEAR 6 VISITDURHAMCATHEDRALLast week Year 6 visitedDurham Cathedral inorder to see for themselvesfeatures relating to theirstudy of churcharchitecture and furniture.We were very wellinformed and entertainedby our guides who wereimpressed by the children’s knowledge.Undoubtedly we all came away from sucha magnificent building with our ownspecial memories. Mr DavisAs we entered the Cathedral the firstamazing thing we saw was the doorknocker... it was huge! When we wentinside there were pillars that had patternson them, but one had a mistake in thepattern. By Rosie Eldabe 6PGreat fun and very interesting – one ofthe best trips ever! By Ciaran Hill 6PHELP!Eco School, along with the help of MrsHynes, are designing their ownclothes. We need as many ringpulls aspossible. So next time you go to throwaway your empty cans, please try andremember to remove the ringpulls!We could really use them. Pleasehand anycontributions in toMiss Frost or MrsHewitt in the SchoolOffice. Thank you.SOCIALCOMMITTEE –RACE NIGHTIf anybody would still like ticketsfor the Race Night next Friday,please contact Mrs Hewitt orMrs Thompson assoon as possible,and certainly beforeTuesday. We arelooking forward to afun-filled evening!

Page 3HMC MUSICEvery year, 15 Year 6 pupils are selected to represent Yarm Preparatory School at the HMCmusic event. The best musicians from each school meet to form three advanced, large ensembles:a choir (led by Mr Brown, Director of Music at Yarm School), a wind band, and a stringorchestra. The pupils leave before school and travel to Ashville College in Harrogate, theyrehearse all morning and early afternoon, perform to parents and Ashville College Junior Schooland then return by bus. As always, our pupils worked extremely hard, were very well behaved andDr Harrison was very proud of them. There is no doubt that the ensembles achieved a higherstandard than previous years despite the fact that some of the groups were smaller thanusual. This year, Dr Harrison drove the minibus and was amazed to see 360 degrees of whitevision on arrival in Harrogate: the snow was deep on the ground and the visibility was poor dueto thick fog. Harriet Scott was in the string group and she wrote: "On Wednesday 24thFebruary, we went to the HMC music event at Ashville College. Firstly, we split up intogroups. There was a strings section, a wind band and a choir. I was in the strings section withCiaran Hill and Alicia McInnes. We started by playing Haunted House and then Postman Patand Yellow Submarine. We had a brilliant concert. Thank you to Mr Brown and Dr Harrisonfor taking us." Francesca Caswell was in the choir and she continues: "Once we got there wewere split into three groups: choir, wind band and strings. I was in the choir with Sorrel, Rani,Jake, Toby and Philip. We sang three songs all together: “Heat Wave”, “Small Part of theWorld”, and “Peanut Vendor”. In the song "Small Part of the World", there is a solo at thebeginning, so after we had all had our lunch, we met up for our version of the X-Factor. Once everyone had auditioned (who wanted to), we allvoted and the winner was a boy called Michael. He was the only boy from his school in the choir. At the end of the day we performed in theconcert and received a huge round of applause from the parents. I would like to thank Dr Harrison and Mr Brown for organising the event."James Harrison was playing the drums and he wrote: “I went to HMC Music. When we got there I was playing the drums in the wind band. Weplayed “Mambo Number 5”, “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” and “Yellow Submarine”. In the end weplayed a big concert to their Senior School and the parents. Thank you Dr Harrison for taking us.”RIPON CATHEDRALOn Wednesday 3rd March, Dr Harrison took Choristers to lead the Evensong service in RiponCathedral. This was a huge event for Choristers, their most demanding since Dr Harrison arrived at theschool. The pupils worked for five hours with little respite, yet not one of them lost concentration. Severalother adults accompanied the trip in a musical capacity: Mr Brown (Yarm School Director of Music whoplayed the organ for parts of the service), Mr Colin Edmundson (a former director of music, former Presidentof the Music Masters’ and Mistresses’ Association. an experienced organist and choirmaster as well as governorof the school, who played the organ for parts of the service), Father Grieves (who intoned the responses for usand is vicar at St James's the Great Church in Darlington) and Mr Philip Hall (a member of the Senior SchoolMusic department who also played the organ for us). With all this experience and the young talent of thepupils, we knew we were in good hands as we prepared for this high profile event.DOUBLE BASSNot only is our music department expanding in terms of numbers of pupils learning instruments and thenumber of events that we participate in, but also in the size of instruments that we use! This year, several ofYear 5 have started learning the trombone and our cello department is continuing to thrive, but now we’vesurpassed ourselves because Finlay Mullen has started learning to play the double bass! His grandad met DrHarrison at Parents’ Evening and joked about how difficult it is to fit a double bass into a car. Dr Harrisonrecalls an article in the Daily Telegraph in which one mum bought a second hand milk float to transport herdaughter’s double bass to school!FIFE GROUPAt the opposite extreme, one of the smallest instruments in school has now taken off: the fife. The fife issimilar to a recorder, except that it has a flute mouthpiece. Mrs Burniston has begun a ‘fife starters’ club andhas commented on how able her pupils are. She hopes to inspire a fabulous and fruitful flute and fife fever at school!WOODWIND ASSEMBLYMr Smith presented a brilliant woodwind assembly to Year 5 last week. He brought in a variety of saxophones and clarinets of different sizes. Heplayed many pieces, such as The Simpsons theme tune. He demonstrated how smallerinstruments play higher pitch and even experimented with different mouthpieces. MrSmith has inspired many pupils to meet him for a short try of the clarinet andsaxophone.DARLINGTON MUSIC FESTIVALSeveral pianists competed in the Darlington Music Festival on Saturday. They all didvery well and we would like to congratulate them on their achievements:12 and Under ClassRani Davis – Second PrizeIsobel Sizer – Commended10 and Under ClassSunil Davis – MeritArjun Tapasvi – CommendedNatasha Grylls – CommendedHarry Shaw - CommendedDATE FOR YOUR DIARIES: Informal ConcertOn Wednesday 17 th March (next Wednesday) there will be an informal concert in themusic room, beginning at 4pm, for all those participating in music examinations thisterm. All parents are welcome to attend.ClevelandPhilharmonicOrchestraConductor & Soloist: Chris GriffithsSunday Afternoon Family Concert:“Mother’s Day Matinee”Strauss: Horn Concerto no. 1Tchaikovsky: Romeo & Juliet Fantasy OvertureDvorak: Slavonic Dances op. 72Britten: Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra(Narrated by Barry Keane)Sunday 14th March 2010, 3.00pmMiddlesbrough Town HallTickets: £8 / concessions £6 / under 16’s only £2,available from orchestra members,the Town Hall box office (01642 729 729), or at thedoor.

FOOTBALL U9 ‘A’ TEAM VLEEDS GRAMMAR SCHOOLOn 9 th March Yarm U9 ‘A’ team played Leeds.We started off confidently but Leeds passed theball around very well. We spent most of the firsthalf defending our goal. Henry was great in goalbut Leeds scored. Half time was 1-0 to Leeds.At half time Mr Harandon changed the teamformation with Fraser playing in defence andMax in midfield. Leeds played really well andscored three more goals. Thank you MrHarandon and well played lads. Thefinal score was 4-0 to Leeds.By James Foster 4HFOOTBALL U11 ‘D’TEAM V RGSNEWCASTLEOn Friday 5 th March the U11 ‘D’ teamplayed a home match at Green Laneagainst RGS. The conditions werequite muddy but both teams gave theirbest. Despite some good shots we lost2-0 but we still had a fun day offootball. We are looking forward to ourmatch against Leeds on Tuesday 9 thMarch. Man of the match was AndrewBlacklock. Well tried lads! By ThomasClement, Ciaran Hill and Oliver DixonFOOTBALL U9 ‘B’ TEAM V RGSNEWCASTLELast week we went to RGS Newcastle and I was in the ‘B’ team.The full time score was 4-2 to RGS. I scored one and Will scoredone. We really enjoyed the game and it was a good day out. Thankyou to the parents for supporting us and thank you to Mr Harandonand Mr Taylor for taking us. By Harrison Downs 4HGIRLS HOCKEY U11 ‘A’ TEAM V RGSNEWCASTLEOn Friday 5 th March the Year 6’s travelled to RGS to Newcastle to playthem in hockey. We all knew that RGS were a good team but we hadbeaten them in HMC on the previous Tuesday so we were not tooworried. All the girls played really well and by the end of the first haldwe were 3-0 up. Two of our three goals had been scored by Lily and oneby Isobel. In the second half no goals were scored so by the end of thematch the score was still 3-0 to Yarm. There was some brilliant defenceand saves from Francesca and Harriet. Isobel, Sorrel, Amy andLily all played fantastically in attack. It was a very goodmatch considering Kim (captain) was unable to play due toinjury. Woman of the match goes to Lily. Thank you to MissRedhead and Mrs Catterall. By Freya Gittens 6SFOOTBALL U11 ‘B’ TEAM V RGS NEWCASTLEOn Friday 5 th March the U11 ‘B’ team played RGS Newcastle. It wasa home match at Green Lane and Louie Van Geffen was captain. Aswe kicked off we had an early goal set up by Louie Van Geffen andthen finished by Joseph Harrison. About 5 minutes later RGSequalised and then they brought up their lead to 2-1. It was halftime and after a good team talk by Mr Pearce we were ready to goand score some more goals. Then out of nowhere RGS scoredanother goal to make it 3-1 to RGS. Then James Turnbull did athrough ball to Louie Van Geffen who then dribbled it and passed itto Jacob Ellington who crossed it in to James Turnbull who volleyedit into the goal. 3-2 to RGS. Then RGS scored one moreto make it 4-2 to RGS. Then Harry Annal passed it toJames Turnbull on the wing then James Turnbull tried tomake a through ball to Louie Van Geffen but accidentlyscored to make it 4-3 to RGS. Well done to Harry Annalfor getting man of the match on his first match for Yarm.Thank you Mr Pearce for coaching us and well tried lads!By Louie Van Geffen and James TurnbullFOOTBALL U9 ‘A’ TEAM V RGSNEWCASTLEOn 4 th March Yarm U9 ‘A’ team played RGS. We started offwell. We knew RGS were a strong team. In the first half RGSgot past our defence and scored twice. Near the end of thefirst half the RGS keeper rolled it but it went to me and Iscored. We started the second half better.George and Fraser were tackling and passingwell. RGS managed to get through our defenceand score two more goals. The final score was4-1. Thank you Mr Harandon and MrTaylor. Well done lads!By James Foster 4HGIRLS HOCKEY U10 ‘C’TEAM V RGSNEWCASTLEOn Friday 5 th March our team playedan away match at RGS. Yarm battledthrough the first half with both Taraand Emma scoring. RGS came backwith a goal making the score 2-1 to usat half time. The second half passedreally quickly and although we were allworn out Tara managed to scoreanother goal so at the final whistle thescore was 3-1 to us. We had won!Players of the match were Likita, ourgoalkeeper, who saved a number ofgoals and Tara, our main scorer. Thewhole team tried really hard. Thank toMiss Redhead, Mrs Catterall andMrs Mavin who turned out in thefreezing weather to coach us.Well done girls! A great result!By Tabsy Spivey 5A

FASHION SHOWLast Thursday there was a fashion show at the SeniorSchool. Children in Eco School Club made clothes out ofrubbish such as bags, newspaper, sweet wrappers and plasticbottles. They modelled their clothes on a catwalk in frontof parents and children. I wore a mini skirt and a croppedtop with a hat which had a flower on. The winner was Philipwith his mad and imaginative creations.By Flora Leith-Ross 6CHOUSE CHESS - ROUND 2Brunel took a big step towards capturingthe title after their big second-roundbattle with Stephenson. The two teamsshared the lead at the start of play, butBrunel recorded a crushing 10-3victory. Arjun Tapasvi, Michael Hopkinsand Alex Humphrey scored two winseach. Dilan Koye, Thomas Clementsand Jordan McKee scored the points forStephenson. Meanwhile, Arkwright wereon top form and they beat lucklessTelford 11-4. Arkwright were a strongeroutfit than when they lost in the firstround. Jake Gordon won three gamesand Katie and Edward Anderson wontwo each. Telford's top scorer was RohitLawrence, with two wins. LaurenceNichols and Jacob Andrews were ongood form too but it wasn't enough toprevent a heavy defeat. Brunel havewon both of their matches and needonly to avoid defeat against Telford totake the title. Arkwright andStephenson will both need to push for awin in the final round and hope thatTelford will do them a favourby beating the leaders. Wehave seen things turnaround in the final roundseveral times in the past,so Brunel must not relaxtheir efforts justyet. By Sean MarshSAM’S JOKE CORNERWhy did the turkey cross the road?To prove he wasn’t a chickenWhat do you get when you cross a snowman and a vampire?FrostbiteASSEMBLY VISITORWe were joined in assembly on Monday by Stephanie Hoyles,the youth worker from Yarm Methodist Church. She spoke to usabout working together as part of a team and helping oneanother in our day to day lives. It was good to sit watching howenthralled the children were as she spoke to them. We are alllooking forward to welcoming Stephanie back in the not toodistant future. Mr Davis

Monday 12th April to Friday 16th AprilFROMONLYAs usual we are offering childcare opportunities during extended hours. Please select your option carefully and return your application slip together with acheque for the appropriate amount by Monday 15th March. A register will be taken each day and retrospective charges made for children who attend but whohave not been booked into these sessions.FOR THE ATTENTION OF MR P HARDYI would like my son/daughter ……………………………………………………. Form …………..to take part in the Easter School activities .I enclose a cheque for the total amount of £ ………………...made payable to YARM SCHOOL£115 per week 8.30am - 4.30pm£125 per week 8am - 4.30pm£125 per week 8.30am - 5pm£135 per week 8am - 5pmPLEASE RETURN TO MR HARDY BY MONDAY 15th MARCHLOST PRORERTYMiss Wilson has spent some time this week sortingthrough the lost property. Please find below a listof items awaiting collection. If you recognise any ofthem, please see Miss Wilson or Mrs Hewitt in theSchool Office. Thank you.2 school jumpers (one quite new) – both un-named1 pair of boys trousers (approx 9-11) – un-named1 pair of football boots with Liam written inside1 large bag containing greenoveralls and blue wellies withred stars on (size 5) – we havehad this since DecemberFABLES & MORALSA few weeks ago, 3C were looking at fables and discussing theirmorals. Jay decided to write his own story with a moral. Lets hopewe all take note of this advice. Mrs CovellTHE BOY WHO NEVER GAVE UPOnce there was a boy called Jake and his dream was to win a chesstournament. He went to matches but as soon as he moved he gaveup. And he kept giving up which meant everyone that played himgot bored. So they thought of a plan. They encouraged Jake toplay by saying they will let him win. So the next day there was achess tournament and Jake was happy becausehe knew he would win it. But the players forgotabout letting Jake win and they went to thetournament but instead of the players winning,Jake won the tournament, all by himself.Moral: always try! By Jay Singh 3C