BULLETIN
Queen ’ s College Whole School Newsletter
03 February 2023
Speeding Towards Half Term
Wednesday Fixture Warm Up
Mr Julian Noad - Head of College
With just one week until half term, we are pushing the pedal to the metal in all areas of school life. This is in stark
review things and look ahead. Senior teaching staff have been completing a thorough review of teaching and learning with observation visits to classes across the College - I have really enjoyed this opportunity to spend more time with pupils in their classes, including unexpectedly teaching science to a Year 3 class. Mrs N and I have also continued our lunch dates with Year 6, getting to know each one better and offering, I hope, reassurance for the transition to senior school. Parent coffee today (first Friday of each month) was busy and fun. I share that I will be hosting Parent Forums on Wednesday 8 March (8.15am), 3 May and 14 June. These forums are currently without agenda, so if you would like to raise a particular issue, please let me know and I will happily make that a
focus. We have gone for a morning drop off time for the next; if you ’ d prefer another time for the future, please let me know. Last year, when I arrived, we surveyed parents regarding communications. You spoke, and we listened. I hope that you find this Bulletin and My School Portal (MSP) useful additions. We will be soon sharing an updated survey to see if we can make things even smoother in this area. There will be details later in this Bulletin but it was a long day on Tuesday for the Art Department, travelling to London with all of our examination artists to take in the Tate Modern gallery. Exhausting but brilliant, was how it was described to me by one pupil. I take the opportunity to remind parents of Festival of Creative Arts 2023, led by the Faculty of Art, Design and
contrast to some local maintained schools - I understand that more than half of schools totally or partially closed on Wednesday. This trade dispute, with its current strike action and likely future action, is between teachers and the government so, owing to being an independent school, does not affect our staff. We did not make clear that we were open because, at Queen ’ s, the show goes on and always will - come snow, storm, or strike. Mock results are now in and our Year 11 and 13 pupils are discussing strategies with their teachers. Mr Green and I will be meeting with each Year 11 after half term to
Speeding Towards Half Term
Boarders continue to celebrate the lunar new year with an Open Mic night; they will also be go - karting at Haynes Motor Museum or visiting Minehead Eye. Julian Noad - Head of College In the theatre, all weekend, we will find Mother Courage final rehearsals - I remind that there are two shows (Wednesday evening and Friday afternoon) and tickets are available here. Please do join us. And there is a music trip on Sunday evening to see Jess Gillam in concert at Wiveliscombe. The Taunton music festival has been going on this week and continues in the week ahead with a number of our pupils involved.
We are looking forward to drinks with Year 12 and 13 parents next Thursday at Wyvern House, 7pm onwards. I close with a commercial. Mrs Hickey, my PA, also looks after our alumni activities, in particular the Queen ’ s Connected website. She is delighted to share that the shop in here is now open. Any OQs in your family might welcome a gift from here?
Food, with entries due by Tuesday. And, to the weekend. The first weekend of the Six Nations competition might be high on your agenda but there is also much ongoing here at Queen ’ s, as ever. This evening is Friday night floodlit hockey for the 1st XI boys versus Wells Cathedral. The remaining fixtures take place on Saturday: Hockey vs Wells, and Netball vs West Buckland. I will be in Bristol with two cross - country runners, Franky Gediking and Jayden Graves, who are representing Somerset. The OE team will have Ten Tors training, Gold and Silver DofE practice expeditions and training.
Enjoy a fabulous weekend.
Julian
You Are Invited
You are cordially invited to our 'Festival of Creative Arts 2023' VIP awards evening on Wednesday 8 February 2023, from 6pm until 7 pm with some very special guests. The star - studded evening exhibition will be celebrating the talent of all the pupils at Queen's College that have entered this year's very first 'Festival of Creative Arts 2023' from the Faculty of Art, Design, and
Food. This is a very special awards evening where we will be joined by the Mayor of Taunton, the Taunton Chamber of Commerce, a number of national and international artists and designers, national premier performance racing engineers, award - winning chefs from across the South West, a national TV food critics, and even national press! Plus as guests, you can enjoy a complimentary glass of fizz and a selection of different canapés. Please note due to multiple events happening on campus on Wednesday 8 February there will be limited parking available.
Prep School Mr Henry Matthews - Head of Prep
Creative Discovery Day
This is an exciting opportunity for them to develop leadership skills, and to make a positive contribution to the school community. We are confident that they will embrace this challenge and rise to the occasion. Yesterday the children took part in our Creative Discovery Day. They had a unique opportunity to explore their creative sides and the day was filled with fun, hands - on activities, and opportunities for everyone to express themselves through various mediums. Highlights for me included story birds, smoothie making and a collaborative puzzle art piece which we hope to display in the library very soon. I was very impressed with the amazing creations that were produced on the day. The day was not just limited to our students, as we were joined by many families who are interested in joining the school. This provided an excellent opportunity for families to see our school in action, and to get a feel for the unique creative atmosphere at Queen ’ s. As ever, the visitors all commented on the friendly and welcoming feel of the school and I am sure we will see many returning in the near future.
I write today on the penultimate Friday of this half term. With evenings drawing out and some slightly warmer weather, it
A final note to congratulate all the children across the Prep School, both Pre - Prep and Upper Prep, who have been taking part in assessment week over the past few days. We know that the assessments can sometimes be challenging, but each pupil has approached them with positivity and perseverance. The hard work in class is certainly paying off with many pupils making excellent progress since the start of the school year. Well done to you all. As we look ahead to next week, we look forward to seeing you at parents' evenings either on Tuesday or Thursday, a chance to follow up on the assessments and discuss your child ’ s progress with form leads. Also a reminder that we end next week with an own clothes day in aid of Edukid where we continue to support children attending schools in Cambodia. Have a great weekend and I look forward to watching our U10 and U11 boys in their hockey fixtures tomorrow morning.
certainly feels as if spring is around the corner. It has been a busy and successful week here in the Prep School, and I hope you enjoy reading about this in the pages that follow. Our Upper Prep hockey and netball teams had a fantastic week, with all age groups displaying great teamwork and enthusiasm on the pitches both at home and away. It certainly has been a jam - packed week with games being played on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. There may be some tired children coming home. I am pleased to announce that our Year 6 pupils will be taking on new responsibilities this term. In assembly on Tuesday, we announced additions to the Prefect team and also a range of new roles including House Captains, Head Librarians, Playground Leaders, Boarding Reps and Year Group Reps. The Year 6’ s were delighted with their new positions and have hit the ground running, supporting the younger children in the school and having a direct impact on improvements we can make at Queen ’ s.
Best Wishes, Henry
Nursery Round - up Nursery News From Mrs Donna Kershaw - Highgrove Nursery Manager Highgrove Nursery have been celebrating National Storytelling week. We have had a range of stories being shared over the past few days as well as some special visits from family members who have come in to share their favourite stories with the children. Puddleducks enjoyed a trip over to the Pre - Prep library to explore some different literature. The children have also thoroughly enjoyed their library role play, which has been popular this week, checking in and out books with their individual library cards. A magical creatures yoga session was also enjoyed by all. The session involved mermaids and pirates positions to pull characters from a couple of popular books. Puddleducks have focused on the story ‘ The Tiger who Came to Tea ’. The children enjoyed dunking the tea bags in water tray, pouring and filling cups to make tea, as well as having a cooking session to make some ginger biscuits like in the story, which we thoroughly enjoyed when they ate them for tea on Thursday! Cottontails have had lots of fun in the role play this week too. The kitchen area with lots of play food and utensils have been thoroughly explored with the addition of the dolls and some potties to explore towards the end of the week. Cottontails also had some teeth brushing practice using the tooth brushes on our large set of teeth with some shaving foam. Lots of messy fun was had as well as some good teeth cleaning!
Nursery School News From Miss Lizzie Hayes - Head of Nursery School This week's National Storytelling week has continued to support and extend the Nursery School children ’ s storytelling skills, as they developed their play themes in the Three Little Pigs role play area. This week they have been acting out the story using props and fur clothing with tuff trays filled with straw, sticks and lego bricks.
The children have begun to create their own individual books to re - tell the Three Little pigs story in their own words and they even made pig shaped biscuits in Kitchen garden club.
The highlight of the week was the opportunity for the children to take part in a Reading Fairy workshop which was led by one of our parents. They enjoyed a wide variety of activities that included using instruments and props to play along to some popular nursery rhymes.
Prep School Prep Sports Round - Up
A busy week for the Prep School children starting with the U11 girls travelling to Millfield last Saturday for their first tournament of the term. The girls worked really hard and gained confidence throughout the afternoon. Netball is a tough sport when there are players a lot taller than you! But the girls represented the school brilliantly.
Monday saw all the Year 3 and 4 children out playing matches against Wells Cathedral. Some great play ensued and all the children learnt a lot from their first competitive games. On Wednesday St John ’ s Sidmouth were onsite for Netball and we had some lovely matches where the girls were well focused but also very sporting and supportive of the visiting teams. The U11A netball team were at their second tournament of the week, the IAPS at Kings Bruton. The girls worked really hard in some tricky conditions and showed improved passages of play and team work. Well done! The U11 and 10 boys played some great matches against Wellington and showed how much they had learnt in the last few weeks. They were eager to score and played some expansive hockey. Special mention to Harry in goal for the U10A who made some brilliant saves.
General Knowledge Quiz (Years 3 - 6) Area Heat
On Friday 27th January, two Prep School teams competed in the online area heats of the Quiz Club General Knowledge Quiz. Each team consisted of one player from Year 3, 4, 5 and 6 respectively. Ege, Seb, Ibrahim, and Shanvi represented Team 1. William, Rocco, Juno, and Ben were the members of Team 2. Everyone competed exceptionally well in what was an incredibly challenging quiz. Both teams ended out of the qualifying positions but both produced very respectable scores...with only 22 points separating the two teams. Well done to all involved!
Pre - Prep Second Hand Uniform Sale On Monday 6th to Thursday 9th February there will be a second hand uniform sale in Pre - Prep foyer.
Year 2 Year 2 has been practically measuring mass this week. They ’ ve worked hard to read a dial scale to the nearest 10g when pouring out amounts of pasta and rice. Prep School
Year 1 Had Some Visitors Year 1 have had a very busy week. On Tuesday, they had some special visitors - Clemmie ’ s guinea pigs! Over this half term, Year 1 have been looking at what qualities in animals make them a good pet. They have created their ideal pet and designed homes for a range of pets. Year 1 were fantastic with them and made sure they listened carefully to Clemmie when she told them how to hold them safely. They fed them lots of vegetables such as carrots, broccoli and sweetcorn.
Year 1 Reuse and Recycle
On Wednesday, Year 1 came back in after break to find the classroom covered in rubbish! They found a letter from Pete, the main character from the book ‘ Tidy ’ by Emily Gravett, who explained that he had collected the rubbish from the forest where he lives. Unfortunately, the forest had become very UNTIDY! They then learnt all about recycling and sorted the rubbish into what can be recycled or reused.
Prep School Environmental Theme Year 2
Year 2 began Thursday by writing a collaborative poem entitled 'Pollution' and collected data on a litter pick during Maths. They were shocked to find small bits of plastic litter around the school grounds and named themselves 'The Clean - Up Crew'. In the afternoon they have created fish using clay and look forward to decorating them next week.
Year 4 Year 4 had a busy day on Thursday with Mr Baker and Mr Clark they made Super Smoothies, learnt about critical thinking and also did a maths challenge.
Senior School Sports Round - up
It ’ s been another busy week of sport for our students with our regular Saturday and Wednesday blocks plus county tournaments, a swimming gala and indoor cricket competitions. U13, U15, and U18 Swim Team performed well at the gala on Monday. A special mention to Tabitha and Zach who achieved 2nd place in their races. Well done to all swimmers who took part. The U13A netball team played very well in a match against the Castle U13A team on Wednesday. Queen ’ s made a fast start with accurate passing and shooting making for an excellent first two quarters. Castle came back strongly in the final two periods and the speed with which they
played was admirable. Queen ’ s worked extremely hard to defend their lead however the speed of the opposition proved the difference in the end. A gritty and spirited performance from the u13As which made for an entertaining match.
The boys had a great morning of hockey at the U14 county tournament. They played great hockey in the first game to come out winners but made a few mistakes which meant we lost in the last moments. The boys shoes huge resilience to come back knowing they needed to win their final 2 matches to qualify. They were up for the challenge and played great hockey in both games which allowed the boys to finish second and qualify for the regional round. Read more on our sports report.
Casper Year 10
Congratulations to Caspar in Year 10 who has recently been selected for the Bristol Bears Rugby Excel Programme.
The programme is designed to further prepare young players for a high - performance rugby environment. Players are selected through the demonstration of consistently good work ethic, attitude (on and off the field), tactical awareness and technical ability.
Football
Our U15 boys attended their football fixtures on Thursday, taking part in a round robin tournament against two Castle School teams, as well as teams from Courtfields School and Bishops Foxes School. The Queen ’ s students put in a fantastic showing earning 3 draws and a vital 1 - 0 win in our final game (against arguably the toughest team).
Not conceding in any of our matches was a huge positive and showed the togetherness of our 7 a - side team. They did themselves proud, Captained by Reece, who led brilliantly and scored the winning goal!
Senior School Musicians at Holocaust Memorial Service
Musicians of Queen's were pleased and honoured to perform at the annual Holocaust Memorial event at St John's church in Taunton. This moving event comprised of readings and reflection, together with musical performance. Two of our leading musicians provided two beautiful performances; You You performed the sublime Elegie Op 24 by Faure with great skill whilst later in the event, she supported Shao Shen in a beautiful rendition of Dido's Lament by Purcell. Their mature and polished performances were very much appreciated by the attendees and both were pleased that they were able to contribute to this important local contribution to an international event.
Art Trip to London The Years 11 - 13 has a fantastic Art trip to London, including the Tate Modern and exploring the area around St Paul's Cathedral. The aim of the trip was to provide inspiration for their GCSE and A Level Exam preparation.
The Art Department would like to say a big thank you to all the pupils for making the day such fun. They were extremely lucky to catch up with an OQ Zackary Yuen, who is coming to the end of his MA. Zachary shared his current creative exhibition, which was very exciting and impressive to see. The pupils had a great day and were fantastic ambassadors for the School.
TV Celebrity Chefs Praise Queen's College in Cookery Competition
We are celebrating the culinary success of last Friday at the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts at Bournemouth and Poole College. Natasha in Year 11 managed to make it through to the national finals where she scored exceptionally high marks in her category. Mentored by our very own ‘ South West Chef of the Year ’ winner Munopa in Year 13 Natasha prepared a traditional ‘ Spiced Nigerian Jollof Rice, Chicken, Sweet Fried Plantain together with a spiced Mango and Lime Salsa and local micro greens and flowers ’. Read more about this story on our website.
Senior School Instrumental Education
For centuries the skill of being able to play a musical instrument or sing has been a highly valued ability. However it is only recently that research has proved the enormous positive impact that playing an instrument has on academic development; only yesterday I was forward an article from the American Journal of Neuroscience demonstrating that playing an instrument is more effective at brain training than coding! At Queen's we are very fortunate to have a large purpose built music department with 20 visiting music teachers proving expert tuition. Each week for the next few weeks we will have a different video with one of our team demonstrating their instrument; as part of music curriculum our teachers visit academic music lessons
to demonstrate but parents unfortunately don't have that luxury! Hopefully this series will show you what we can offer your child in the way of musical tuition; free trial lessons are available on every discipline so students can certainly try out an instrument before signing up for regular lessons. This week, the trumpet - a very versatile brass instrument used in just about every musical style you can think of! And I will hand over to our trumpet specialist, Mr Paul to tell you all about it. Click here to find out more. Homemade Sausages
The kitchen classrooms have been buzzing with the sounds of sausages sizzling in the frying pans after pupils from across the school made the very first Queen ’ s College, local, free - range, organic, pork and apple herby sausages from the meat from our own school pigs. Pupils learnt about preparing the free - range local pork for the mincer, then experimented with different ingredient combinations, before getting to grips with the new sausage machines and being taught how to handle the new sausage fillers. Read more about the story on our website. Year 8 Art
Miss Cade is extremely proud of her Year 8 pupils. During a 1 hour lesson, they managed to create a flock of birds using a wide range of media. The pupils were encouraged to experiment and learn how different materials react with each other.
The outcome is so impressive and they deserve to feel very proud of themselves!
Senior School
Outdoor Education Update
The Adventure Club were surprised to find so much snow on the ground last week for their off - road night riding trip to Haldon Forest. Although speeds were limited, riding in the snow was a new experience for all. Everybody had a fantastic time and a very memorable ride. The newly formed Prep and Senior Climbing Squads enjoyed their first taste of competition bouldering last Friday. The competition was the first in the winter bouldering league organised at The Hangar' in Exeter. It was great to see so many of our climbers having a go at some really difficult boulders with confidence. Well done to all. Last Sunday saw the first of this Year's Gold DofE whitewater training trips. The Year 12 pupils coped very well with the whitewater and all of them managed to stay in the boats, despite some very testing rapids and a few 'hairy' moments. Well done to all!
Sixth Form Kindness at Queen ’ s By Fallon Year 13
When visiting 4 local residential homes last term to do carol singing with the Chamber Choir, I was incredibly moved by the emotional responses from many of the residents. After 2 years of isolation due to COVID 19, it was obvious how much it meant to them to have visitors. One of the residents even gave a speech after our final set saying “ please come and see us again, please, please ”. This really resonated with me and has been on replay in my head ever since then. So when Mr Noad mentioned that
she thought it might be nice to do something for Valentine's day, I thought it was a perfect time to go back and support these residential homes once again as many of the residents may be on their own or without loved ones on Valentine ’ s day. After speaking with Tashi who helped run the one - kind word initiative in Sixth Form last year, we thought we would work together to run Valentine's events through the whole College and wider community. With the help of Mrs Noad, we came up with the idea of ‘ Kindness at Queen ’ s ’.
What is Kindness at Queen ’ s?
We have decided to celebrate Valentine's day and use it as an opportunity to spread kindness throughout the College and wider community. The official day of kindness at Queens will be Friday 10 February, however, we believe here at Queen ’ s every day we should be striving to be kind to everyone, 365 days a year.
What are we doing in school?
Within year groups we are planning to launch a one - kind word innovative. The Year Leads will be given post - it notes and a heart poster. Each student will then be assigned another student in their year group and asked to write on their post - it note a kind message, which will then be displayed in their year bases on the given heart poster on 10 February. Our catering team are also creating some love - inspired treats for lunchtime!
What are we doing for the wider community?
We have decided to support 4 local residential homes; Firs Nursing home, Lavender Court, Calway House and St Georges. Our idea is for each House to create a gift basket for each home. As tutor groups are assigned in Houses, we are asking for each tutor group from Years 7 - 13 to donate something to go into their corresponding Houses gift basket. This could be a box of chocolates, flowers, bath and shower sets or something more creative e.g baking some cookies, writing a poem or something you make e.g knitting, painting or drawing something. The Prep School are also getting involved by colouring in cards and writing messages for the residents.
Boarders ’ Corner Cotlake House Cotlake house had a wonderful Sunday at Hollywood bowl. They even got to experience the glow in the dark lanes!
News and Announcements
Adult Masterclass
Book
Now
News and Announcements
Upcoming Parent Social Events Parents' Coffee Mornings This Term
Friday 3 March, 8.15 - 9.30am
Thursday 23 March 8.15 - 9.30am (Easter Theme)
These are very much relaxed events and a chance to catch up or make new friends. Please come to the main reception office in the Senior School and we will show you through to the Dining Hall where this is hosted
Other Social Events
Quiz Night - Friday 24 February
Summer Family Event - Saturday 13 May
Upcoming Careers Convention
QCC Skittles Night
The skittles night last Friday at the Lamb and Flag was a huge success. There was a lovely atmosphere with some people skittling for the whole evening and
On the morning of Thursday 2 March, we will be hosting the annual Careers Convention for Year 11 pupils attending all four independent schools in the local area. We already have around 40 exhibitors confirmed, if you would like your place of work, business or apprenticeship/training provider represented at the event, please do get in touch with our Events team by contacting Emma Slater (ejs@queenscollege.org.uk).
others just dropping in for a drink. Several parents have passed on that it was a great way to meet some new parents. A big thank you to Emma for organising the evening, it was great fun and much appreciated!
Sweet Tub Collection
If you have polished off those Christmas chocolates, treats and crackers, we are pleading with you not to throw away the plastic tubs they came in. Instead please drop them off to us at Queen ’ s College by 15 February , where our pupils will gather them together to be recycled into something new.
All money raised will go to Life Chance and Dartmoor Zoological Society.
News and Announcements
Upcoming Dates
Middle School Play: 'Mother Courage' Rehearsal
4 February
Cross Country: ESAA South West Champs V Mixed - U18A
4 February
Ten Tors Training - Dartmoor
4 - 5 February
Middle School Play: 'Mother Courage' Dress Rehearsal
5 February
Concert Trip to Wiveliscombe (Jess GIllam)
5 February
Gold DofE Whitewater Training - River Dart
5 February
Cross Country: King's College, Taunton V Mixed - U12A, Mixed - U13A
6 February
Scholars Event: Year 10 in REP
6 February 15:30 - 16:30
Year 12 Drama Trip - Bristol Old Vic
6 February 16:30 - 23:30
Year 12 Supper
6 February 19:00 - 21:00
Closing date for House Festival of Arts entries
7 February
Taunton Music Festival
7 February
Year 12 Psychology and REP Debate
7 February 15:30 - 17:00
Middle School Play: 'Mother Courage' Matinee
7 February
Football: Castle U13 Tournament V Boys - U13A Wyverns
7 February
Scholars Event: Year 12 in Maths
7 February 16:30 - 17:30
Prep School Parents' Evening (in person)
7 February 16:30 - 19:00
House Festival of Arts - Gala evening
8 February
Middle School Play: 'Mother Courage' Evening Performance
8 February 19:00
Parental talk - A slow crash
8 February 18:00
Tea Time Concert
9 February 16:30 - 17:15
Prep School Parents' Evening (in person)
9 February 16:30 - 17:35
Parents' Drinks - Sixth Form
9 February 19:00 - 21:00
Senior School charity own clothes day - Great Ormond Street Hospital
10 February
Prep School own clothes day and Cake sale in aid of Edukid
10 February
Middle School Play: 'Mother Courage' Matinee
10 February
Ten Tors and BTEC Expeditions to Brecon Beacons
10 February 16:00
Dance Festival Dress Rehearsals
10 February 16:30 - 17:30
Half Term
11 February— 20 February
Our online whole school calendar can be found here. Our sports portal can be accessed here.
Minimum suggested donation £5 per person payable on arrival
Please complete this form to tell us who is coming
All proceeds will go towards a Story Telling Chair for the Outdoor Willow Classroom in the Prep School and the Onatti Theatre Company visit (a play in French) for Years 5 - 8, if proceeds allow
There will be a fully stocked bar, please bring your own nibbles
Tea Time Concert
Feb Half Term
Academic Camp will be at Queen's College this February, and offer the perfect solution for students to enjoy their Half Term, and return home happy! Your child can enjoy fun activities together with other local students and also international students who are boarding with us.
For more information, visit our website.
Boarding options are also available!
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