MAY6th newsletter001.indd - Battle Abbey Independent School

Artwork of the week - Roo Holdbrook - Year 12
Battle Abbey School Bulletin
All the latest from the School
6th May 2011
Dear Parents
I am pleased to announce that Mrs. Maria Maslin
has been appointed the new Head of the Preparatory
School.
After more than 13 years of dedicated service to the
School, Judy Clark will leave at the end of the summer
term, when Maria will take over in preparation for the
start of the 2011-2012 year.
I am absolutely delighted to welcome someone of
Maria’s quality onto the team. I am looking forward to
working closely with Maria in moving the Prep School
forward, as we reach the School’s Centenary Year, and
building on the excellent foundations Judy has laid.
Maria has over 22 years of experience in teaching
and currently heads the Woodlands Federation, which
incorporates both Punnetts Town and Broad Oak Community
Primary Schools. Maria is a current School
Governor and holds a Masters Degree in Primary
Education.
We had a very strong response to the advertised position and a number of very high quality applicants. In Maria we feel we have appointed someone
with not only the knowledge and experience this important role requires, but the drive to push the Prep School forward in a number of key areas,
whilst maintaining the core values that have made the Prep School such a popular choice under Judy’s tenure.
Ofsted have stated that Maria is ‘outstanding and inspirational’ in the classroom and we feel extremely fortunate to have someone of this calibre on
the team. Many of you may already know Maria as the mother of Freya in Year 4.
I hope you will join me in welcoming her to the School
Roger Clark Headmaster
School Snapshot!
Lower Sixth Geography Trip to Darwell!

Even more Swimming Success than we thought!
Following Ms Duncan-Broad’s report on our swimming success at the K2 in
Crawley on the 16th March, the squad had further good news last week when
they were awarded their medals and discovered that Henry Curties, Mathilda
Crane, Georgia Stork and Lauren Turton had in fact taken 2nd place with
Silver for the medley relay with a time of 1.16.19 and not the 3rd place we had
previously thought.
This means that both teams will now compete in the 2nd round of the ESSA
Division 12 Primary Relays at the Quays swimming complex in Southampton
on 8th May 2011 against Sussex, Hampshire and Dorset.
If the support and noise we had from our parents in the fi rst round is anything
to go by it will be an even more noisy and exciting event this time.
Once again congratulations to the whole swimming squad and especially to
our coach Miss Govan for her total dedication and time that she has given us.
D of E Update
Did you see us?
6th May 2011
David Cheng, Marcela Ostap and Icy Ho all had their artwork
featured in the Spring edition of the
Kent Sussex and Surrey Lifes A+
Education Supplement!
The School’s second 2nd Duke of Edinburgh group took part in a practice expedition on Dartmoor over the Easter holiday to prepare pupils for
their assessed expedition in the Brecon Beacons in July.
Fortunately lovely weather prevailed, so there were more problems with dehydration and sunstroke than damp clothes and wet feet!
Dorinda Dodd, Duke of Edinburgh coordinator, said: ‘The group worked exceptionally well as a team and showed excellent navigation skills.
A big thanks must go to FOBAS for essential funds that we invested in new tents and stoves used extensively on this expedition and for many
more to come.’
PE Stock Sale
Wednesday 11th May 2011 in the Abbots Hall 16.00 – 17.30 hours. Please
note that stock is limited and that we can only accept cash or cheques.
Item Size Price
Cricket Shirts Medium
Large
Extra Large
£10.00
Cricket trousers 24”/26”
28”/30”
32”/34”
34”/36”
36”/38”
40”/42”
£10.00
Rugby tops 30/32” £10.00
Maroon shorts 28”/30” XS
32”/34” M
36”/38” L
40” XL
£5.00
Mountain Bikes in the Forest
Over the Easter break Ms Sarah Duncan-Broad arranged an
exciting visit to Bedgebury Forest, near, Goudhurst, for a fi ve
sessions off-road mountain bike course. The course covered
a variety of off-road elements including the six main skills
needed to ride off-road safely. The fully qualifi ed guide put
our pupils through their paces and all the participants were
excited and exhausted by the end. They soon picked up for
the certifi cate presentation that offi cially qualifi ed them as
mountain bike certifi ed!

India’s Horse Show Report
On the day of the Riding Show, Olivia and I
got our ribbons and started plaiting at 7.45 in
the morning! I was on BJ, short for Big Jaspar.
Olivia was on Chance. She was up fi rst in the
Condition Class and I was up third. I won a
3rd rosette and stuck it on BJ’s bridle. The favourite
part for me was the jumping. I did the
1ft 6” and 2ft classes on Magic, my favourite
pony. I won 2 more 3rds. I was very proud of
my pony, Magic!
After this we did ‘Chase me Charlie’, where
the jumps get higher and higher, we ended
up jumping 3ft 2”! I came second because
Magic refused the second jump and Olivia, on
Chance, didn’t.
I had a really great time and gave the ponies
loads of apples and carrots. I had a big roll and
shared half of it with Magic.
India Year 5
Prep School Snapshot!
Easter Holiday Activity Club
St. Martin’s Easter Charity
efforts reap reward
St Martin’s held an Easter Extravaganza on the
last Wednesday of term organized by senior
pupils in the House.
The pupils held a break time cake sale, ran a
competition to guess how many mini eggs there
were in a jar, and a ‘guess the name of the duck’
challenge.
Later, during the last 3 lessons of the day, Year
7 pupils took part in an Easter egg hunt in and
around the 6th Form area.
In total £93 was raised for St. Martin’s House
charity, Carers First.
Top notch Drama
6th May 2011
Keith’s Charity Walk
On 7th May I will be walking 26 miles on
and around the South Downs in order to
raise funds for St Michael’s Hospice which
will be known to most of you. Even if you
are not aware of St Michael’s itself, I’m
sure that you are aware of the fantastic
work that hospices do and also the fact that
they are greatly underfunded.
I am hoping that you will agree that this
is a worthwhile cause and therefore that
you feel happy to sponsor me for my small
effort. It is nice to be able to do something
that I enjoy, and at the same time raise a bit
of money for charity.
Please therefore make a donation by going
to www.justgiving.com/Keith-Sellens and
following the instructions.
If you would like to fi nd out more about St
Michael’s Hospice you can either follow
this link: www.stmichaelshospice.org/ or
you can follow the link on my justgiving
page.
Thank you for taking the time to read this
and, hopefully, thank you also for your
generous donation.
Keith Sellens - FOBAS Chairman
Several students excelled in the Drama GCSE practical moderation at the end of last term,
gaining full marks for their work. Dani Edmunds, Bethany James and Betty Edwards supported
by Rocky Bullin, and Issy Watts and Bethany Hill all achieved top marks. This is not easy to
achieve and requires hard work and perseverance as well as talent. Well done!

Ski Trip
A group of 16 students and 3 teachers set off to Aosta Valley in Italy on the 2nd
April for a week of fun in the snow. We were in groups ranging from beginners to
experts. The majority of us were skiers; however, we had a group of keen
snowboarders. We all progressed well individually and in our groups, gaining
good scores from our instructors who were also impressed with our behaviour and
enthusiasm.
Along with the good skiing we also had many falls! The advanced group set a task
to complete a 360 degree jump by the end of the trip. This ended with Mr Eckhoff
on crutches and several ‘face plants’ from Pyotr Kurzin.
There were also some impressive falls from others; Jasmine Munns took a tumble
down an almost vertical slope called “The Wall”, feared by many! We had a former
pupil as our rep, Fergus Bruce, who organised our evening entertainment. Our
après-ski included bowling, arcades, disco, the traditional pizza night and a gig in
the local town. Overall the trip was enjoyed by all who attended and our deepest
gratitude is owed to Mrs Dodd, Mr Flutter and Mr Eckhoff who organised the trip.
Adelle Connelly - Year 13
Headmaster’s Commendations
6th May 2011
A long list this week but we simply couldn’t overlook the fantastic work on the recent ‘Arabian Nights’ production...
Well done to Dani Edmunds, Betty Edwards, John Collier-Keywood, Rupert Holdbrook and Alice King for fantastic headline
performances.
Ben Jones, James Slacke, Isobel Turton, Isobell Haskell, Sophie Adams, Jemima Bishop, Henry Clark and Leah Cave for their
performance in ‘The story of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves’.
Harriet Nurse, Alice Stevenson, Henry Clark, Sophie Cole, Phoebe Crane, Poppy Rampling, Ben Jones, Will Holland, Isobel Turton,
Isobel Haskell and Christie Samms for their talented performances in ‘The Story of the Little Beggar’.
Will Cousins, John White, Alice King, Sophie Adams, Jemima Bishop, Leah Cave and once again Isobel Turton for their performances in
‘The Story of the Wife Who Wouldn’t Eat’.
Harriet Nurse, Phoebe Crane, Alice Stevenson, Rupert Holdbrook, Henry Clark, Ben Jones, Will Holland, Sophie Cole, Betty
Edwards, Poppy Rampling, John White, Dani Edmunds and James Slacke for their performances in ‘The Story of the Envious Sisters’.
Additionally James Slacke once more for his solo work in ‘How Abu Hassan Broke
Wind’!
Let us not forget the behind the scenes crew who worked so hard to make sure the
performances went off smoothly. Credit must go to Tina Torab and Tea Picard for their
costume work, Oscar Rogers for lighting, Sam Bunday for sound and David Roberts
for his sterling work on the Tech Team. Well done to you all!
FOBAS Cheese and Wine
All are welcome at the social evening FOBAS is holding
on Friday 20th May. Come and enjoy some wine,
cheese and musical entertainment from 6.30 til 8.00pm.
There will be a crèche facility available. Please see the
letter on www.battleabbeyschool.com/fobas.aspx for
further information.
Prep School Snapshot!
Royal Wedding Celebratory Lunch!

Is anybody out there?
What’s on at the School in the coming week
6th May 2011
Dear Parents
We hope that you enjoy the newsletter. It arrived with some fanfare in January and now that we have hit our 5 month anniversary we are trying
to gauge whether the initial high level of interest levels have dropped off. Depending on how many responses we get we may look at how often
we release the newsletter.
If you read the newsletter and would like it to continue on a weekly basis please email ‘Yes to the newsletter!’ to info@battleabbeyschool.com.
We are hoping to collect responses over the next week for review so if you can get them in as soon as possible that would be fantastic.
Thanks for your time
James Dennett - Editor
Prep School Senior School
Saturday 7th May GCSE Textiles exam - All day
Boarders - Mountain Boarding - Hailsham
Sunday 8th May 12 noon - Southampton Regional Swimming
Competition. (The Quays).
Monday 9th May No early morning Swim
SATS WEEK
English SATS - morning - Reading Group
Tuesday 10th May English Writing SATS and spelling - morning
Dance Show at Abbey 7pm - no ballet or tap
Wednesday 11th May No early morning Swim
Mental maths and Maths Paper A SATS - morning
4.40pm - Waterpolo vs Little common (TBC)
Dance Show at Abbey 7pm
Boarders - Golf (am)
GCSE Textiles exam - All day
Year 7 & 8 Drama Club (13:15)
Drama Tech Club (16:30)
American Football (16:45)
Kickboxing Club (18:00)
A2 Textiles exam - All day
German AS Oral Exams (9:00)
French GCSE Oral Exams (AM)
U14 Boys Cricket v Buckswood (A)
U15 Girls Rounders v Buckswood (H)
Drama GCSE Revision (16:40)
Karate Club (16:45)
Social Tennis (16:45)
Dance Show - Performers from Years 3 to 13 (19:00)
GCSE PE Moderation - All day
GCSE Textiles exam - All day
German A2 Oral Exams (9.00am)
Year 9 & 10 Drama Club (13:15)
German GCSE oral exams (PM)
Russian AS Oral Exams (PM)
U13 Boys Cricket v Newlands (H)
U16 Boys Cricket v Buckswood (A)
Karate Club (16:45)
Kickboxing Club (16:45)
Trampoline Club (16:45)
Whole School Rounders (16:45)
Dance Show - Performers from Years 3 to 13 (19:00)
AS/A2 PE Moderation
Thursday 12th May Maths Paper B SATS - morning A2 Textiles exam
Spanish GCSE Oral Exams (9.00)
Year 7 - 9 Dance Club (12:50)
French AS & A2 Oral Exams(14:00)
U12 Rounders A & B fi xture Vs Vinehall (A)
U13 Tennis fi xture Vs Vinehall (A)
Whole School Cricket(16:45)
Whole School Rounders(16:45)
Year 9 Parents Consultations (Time TBC)
Friday 13th May Year 10-13 Dance Club (16:45)

6th May 2011
PE News
The PE clubs are now up and running again! There have already been two sessions this term with attendance reaching 17+ pupils, which is a slow but
steady start to the numbers I am expecting to attend our Summer Sports Clubs. Clubs that are labelled ‘Whole School Clubs’ in the diary and on the
Clubs List Board are exactly that: open to all pupils regardless of their age or ability. The purpose is to bring together a mix of youth and enthusiasm
as well as the senior pupils ‘seasoned pros’ in order to work together to improve everyone’s sport and to help promote a healthy and active lifestyle.
All children attending the clubs will acquire and develop the new skills and drills that are being taught in lessons as well as adding extension tasks
and differentiated practices together in order to promote good practice and leadership between the different ages (so KS3 and KS4 pupils may each
work in groups relevant to their own age and skill in order to practise drills) and to build and strengthen bonds amongst the children, which we do
very well as a whole school. The games are usually split between Senior and Junior pupils unless teaching staff put a controlled condition on the
game, which will allow all pupils to participate safely and successfully together alongside one another.
If you are interested in joining a school club or would like any additional information on what is happening when, please do not hesitate to ask a
member of the PE staff or, alternatively, parents or pupils may wish to e-mail me on mercerr@battleabbeyschool.com
This Week’s Results:
Under 14 Rounders Vs Benenden
On Tuesday afternoon the U14 girls hosted Benenden in what was really a practice game that would allow us to choose squads for the future. This
was refl ected in the score line with Benenden running away with the game and a 17-3 victory.
GOTG: Lucinda Beswick for her leadership and motivation in what was a hard game to play due to the extent of their win.
Under 15 Rounders Vs Benenden
On Tuesday afternoon the U15 girls hosted Benenden in what was a closely contested match from start to fi nish. Both schools traded blows as the
game went from innings to innings and neither team really ceased the initiative to take the game and run with it. The game fi nished 20-17 to Benenden
and we have got to feel a little unlucky with the outcome of the result.
GOTG: Josephine Milne for her leadership skills and enthusiasm to keep the girls focused on the task at hand.
Rounders Batter of the week: Georgina Veale
Rounders MVP of the week: Lucinda Beswick
Under 13 Cricket Vs Skippers Hill
On Wednesday afternoon the U13 boys travelled to Skippers Hill to play some 20/20 cricket against a good Skippers Hill side. We opened the batting
and made a fantastic 103 runs and were not bowled out. James Young started the season with a fantastic 43 runs off the bat, hitting a large proportion
of 4’s. Sebastian Wright was the pick of the bowlers, taking several key wickets. The boys were unfortunate to lose due to a reduced overs total set by
Skippers as we had to return for the school bus run.
MOTM: James Young for a fantastic performance with both bat and ball; his leadership qualities continue to encourage and enthuse what appears to
be a very talented young side.
Under 14 Cricket Vs Bexhill Buckswood
On Tuesday afternoon the U15 side travelled to Buckswood to play a 16-over game. Buckswood opened the batting and, due to some poor fi elding
and favourable bowling on our part, managed to score 125 runs, which is a hard score to chase in a 20-over game. James Tomlin playing up a year
group held our efforts, scoring 47 runs, and was helped by Sam Fairclough scoring 32 to post a respectable fi ght back. Unfortunately, we were only
able to achieve 89 runs as their bowlers restricted us achieving the required run rate.
MOTM: James Tomlin, who looked a cut above the rest!
Under 19 Cricket Vs Bexhill Buckswood
On Tuesday afternoon the U19 side hosted Buckswood at Crowhurst Park Cricket Club and demonstrated what regular attendance and practise at
school clubs can achieve as the Senior Squad systematically picked apart an equally good Buckswood side. Captain Nick Taylor led by example and,
with the talented side around him, bowled out Buckswood for 91 runs. KD Cheema helped keep the score down with bowling stats of 4-20 and this
was supported by a handful of other bowlers. Nick Taylor top scored with 43 runs and was well supported by Dom Martin who added 20 plus of his
own.
MOTM: Nick Taylor for a fantastic all round display, which was supported by his excellent leadership skills.
Cricket Batter of the week: James Tomlin
Cricket Bowler of the week: KD Cheema
Cricket MVP of the week: Nick Taylor
Next week’s fi xtures:
Tuesday 10th May – U14 Cricket Vs Buckswood (Away) 3pm leave for a 3:30 start returning @ approx 6:30pm
Tuesday 10th May – U15 Rounders Vs Buckswood (Home) 3:30 start fi nishing @ approx 5pm
Wednesday 11th May – U13 Cricket Vs Newlands (Home) 2:20 start fi nishing @ approx 4:45pm
Wednesday 11th May – U16 cricket Vs Buckswood (Away) 2:20 leave for a 3pm start returning @ approx 6:30 pm
Thursday 12th May – U12 Rounders A & B fi xture Vs Vinehall (Away) 2:20 leave for a 2:45 start returning @ approx 4:45pm
Thursday 12th May - U13 Tennis fi xture Vs Vinehall (Away) 2:20 leave for a 2:45 start returning @ approx 4:45pm

School Snapshot!
School trip to Barcelona!
Battle Abbey Prep School achieve success at their
fi rst Kickboxing Grading
13 pupils from Battle Abbey Prep school all achieved their FSK Red
belts in the Prep School’s fi rst grading. The FSK kickboxing students
ranging from age 6 to 11 have been training since January and passed
with excellent results, with a number of the students achieving very high
passes. Martial Arts has grown at Battle Abbey school across both the
Senior and Prep Schools. Both FSK Wado-ryu karate and kickboxing are
taught in the School’s extra curricular programme. 62 members of the
school community have taken up the challenge since September including
pupils, staff and their children, encompassing the wider community
of the school. Karate is taught by Sensei James Thomas, Second Dan
Senior Instructor of FSK, and the Kickboxing is taught by FSK’s Sensei
Zofi a Malewicz, ISKA World Champion and Head of Sixth Form at
Battle Abbey. For more information on starting kickboxing in the local
area please call Chief Instructor Sensei Paul Simmons on 01273 702662.
Nursery News
6th May 2011
Welcome back to the summer term, we hope you have enjoyed
the holidays and the seasonally good weather. A big welcome to
the new children that have joined us this week, we hope you have
enjoyed your fi rst week with us.
On our last day of the Spring Term the nursery enjoyed a fantastic
day out at the Seven Sisters Sheep Centre where the children
enjoyed bottle feeding the lambs and were lucky enough to meet
the newborn lambs that had just been born that morning. A big
thank you to the parents and children that joined us; the trip was
such a success that we hope to organise a new trip in the near
future.
Following the success of our last three holiday clubs the nursery
has moved to a 38 week academic year which brings us in line
with the maintained sector academic year and means that parents
now have access to the full 38 weeks of EYEE funded nursery
education for their children. The additional 5 weeks of nursery are
spread over the school year and parents now have the option of an
additional nursery week during the October half term, at the end of
the Autumn term, Easter and two weeks at the end of the Summer
term. Booking forms for the Summer term holiday club which will
run Monday 11th July – Friday 15th July and Monday 18th July to
Friday 22nd July will be sent out shortly.
Following consultation with some of the parents the decision has
been made to trial a new Nursery Suncream Policy for the Nursery
children this term. Please would all parents ensure that they have
applied suncream to their child’s face, arms and legs prior to arriving
for the morning or afternoon nursery session. Nursery pupils
staying for the whole day will have suncream reapplied after lunch
by the staff using the nursery suncream unless there is a medical
reason why this suncream cannot be used, in which case a labelled
suncream needs to be supplied. To cover the cost of the Nursery
Suncream we are asking for a small donation according to the
number of full days the children attend nursery; a child attending
for 1 full day per week £1, 2 full days per week £2, 3 full days
per week £3, 4 full days per week £4 and 5 full days per week £5
which we hope will cover the expense of the suncream until the
end of the Summer term. We are hoping that this new suncream
policy will give the children wider access to the garden instead of
having to wait for suncream to be applied each session.
Although we have the large umbrella and trees to offer shade
outside to ensure maximum sun protection, please would you
ensure that your child brings a sunhat to nursery for every session.
Battle Abbey legionnaire-style uniform hats are now available at
the nursery for £3.95 each.
Wednesday 11th May 2011.
Nursery individual and group photographs. The photographer will
be here from 9am and will initially take the individual
photographs; parents are also welcome to bring along older or
younger siblings for a joint photograph. If your child is not at
Nursery on Wednesday morning you are very welcome to pop in
with your child for the individual photograph and if possible stay
for the whole Nursery photograph which we hope to take in the
garden again, weather permitting.
The Nursery Team.