Headmaster’s Whitsun Half-Term Round-up
Dear Parents,
While this seems to have been a short half-term, we seem to have packed a great deal into it. This is a brief re-cap of events and also a chance for me to bring you up-to-date with further news.
Everyone at school worked hard during exam week and early signs indicate that the results have been excellent. We await the publication of the results in July with great anticipation.
On Friday 20th May, more pupils than ever treated us to a Soloist Concert in the School Hall. The showcase of talents was tremendous. Thank you to all the performers and to Mrs Petch and the Music Department.
On Saturday 21st May, a number of children took part in the Staffs Chess Megafinals. Everyone did brilliantly and everyone won matches. Five players qualified for the next stage, the Gigafinals, which decides the champions of Northern Britain! One player won their age category and were crowned as Suprema, Amrissa U11 and has been asked to train with the England Team! Congratulations to all the extremely brainy players and thanks go to Mr James for his excellent coaching.
The Swimming Gala was the most well-attended ever. An U9s swimming team had represented Mayfield in the King Edward’s swimming gala with other schools earlier this term and the swimmers have benefited from Mr Davies’ expert coaching on Monday evenings. Records tumbled as Conor set new Boys’ 40m Breast Stroke, 40m Freestyle and 40m Backstroke records. The Girls’ 40m Breast Stroke record was equaled by Amrissa, then broken by Olivia and broken again by Jasmine. Then, Olivia shaved 2 seconds off the 40m Backstroke record, resulting in an unprecedented 7 new school records!. Conor and Olivia emerged as the top swimmers and Livingstone won the House Swimming Cup. Well done to all the competitors and thanks to Mr Davies and all the staff for a wonderful gala.
I finish with news on staffing. Miss Clare and Miss Kinsella are both getting married and re-locating to other parts of the country, Mr Evans has secured a promotion and Mrs Cartwright has confirmed she is leaving teaching to support her family after the Summer. On behalf of the pupils, staff, parents and governors of Mayfield I would like to thank the staff for all their hard work and dedication. They will be missed, although I am sure that everyone will join me in wishing them the very best for the future. They will always have a warm welcome at Mayfield.
As you know, at Mayfield we always seek to bring in staff of the highest quality and I am confident once again we have found the best. It is therefore with great pleasure that I can announce to you the following appointments for September: the new Head of English and LIII Form Teacher will be Mrs Andrews. She is an experienced teacher and currently Head of English in a school in Sutton Coldfield. Her speciality is drama! We will also welcome Mr Johal as the new Head of ICT and UII Form Teacher. For the past 10 years, he has been Head of ICT, Head of Year and led Primary Outreach at the outstanding Arthur Terry school in Sutton Coldfield. The new Form I teacher will be Mrs Inkster, a very experienced Key Stage One teacher, who is currently at Blackwood School, one of the leading primary schools in Walsall, and she will be assisted by Mrs Smith. The new Head of PE will be Mrs Pittaway, a PE specialist currently working at Great Barr Secondary School. Further great news is that Mrs K. Cook will not be leaving us entirely and will continue to come in on several afternoons a week to teach Girls’ Games and run after school sports clubs, just as Mr Cook does with the boys! Miss Mallen will be joining Pre-Nursery to replace Miss Fray in September. To complete the plans, Miss Bray will be Form II’s Form Teacher and Mr Watts will be LII’s form Teacher, both working closely with Mrs S. Cook and Mrs Pittaway, and ably assisted by Mrs Gamble and Mrs Dhesi in LII and FII. Transition, Kindergarten and Nursery are unaffected. I would like to congratulate all the new staff on their appointments and I am sure that all pupils, parents, staff and governors will join me in giving them a very warm welcome to the school and wishing them a long and successful career at Mayfield.
Thus, we come to end of the half-term report. I wish you all a wonderful half-term break and look forward to seeing everyone on Monday 13th June.
Mr M. Draper
Headmaster
Transition visit Twycross Zoo!
Wow! We had so much fun at Twycross Zoo on Tuesday. We started the day with a walk through the butterfly house, followed by a great classroom lesson about how animals adapt to their habitats. The children got to touch some animals and learn lots of new names and facts. Our favourite part was watching the penguin parade.
Mayfield Art and DT Day!
On Tuesday last week, Mayfield was immersed in a day of sculpture, art and technology! We were lucky enough to have workshops with more…
Lower School enjoyed taking part in an Art Morning on Tuesday 17th June. Kindergarten, Transition and Form l worked in their houses to complete 3 different art activities. The children worked with Miss Roberts and Mrs Atkins to make dream catchers from willow. Miss Greenhalgh and Miss Cummings introduced the work of Jackson Pollok….and lots of splatter painting. Miss Clare and Mrs Smith helped the children look at art in the environment, using natural materials to make a fairy house. A great time was had by all.
Happy Birthday, Your Majesty!
Yesterday Transition learnt about the Queen and celebrated her Royal Highness’ Birthday. They designed a birthday cake, made a Birthday crown and learnt about the her reign. What a fantastic fun-packed day!
Half-Term Round-up
Dear Parents,
Back in January, it seemed as if we faced a short, quiet term ahead of us. However, it has
turned out to be extremely busy with an amazing amount packed into relatively few weeks.
Towards the beginning of the term, Miss Bray led a whole school assembly on healthy eating.
We were all aghast at how much sugar and fat is added to food and, thanks to Miss Bray, I
have not been able to face eating a packet of crisps since! Healthy Eating Week ensued,
followed by a parents’ survey which has shown an overwhelming volume of support for the
initiative. We have seen an improvement in the children’s behaviour and attitude to work in the
afternoons as a result of a better diet and I anticipate more healthy eating initiatives to come.
Earlier this half term, Lower III enjoyed a great day at King Edward’s School, experiencing life at
one of the best boys’ schools in the area. They fired a trebuchet, made erupting volcanoes
and learned how to shoot bows and arrows! The strings ensemble enjoyed a fabulous day of
music and performance at Wolverhampton Grammar School. Upper II and Lower III met and
were inspired by a visit from well-known author, Cathy Cassidy, at the Walsall Studio School. The
orchestra performed in a collaboration with many local schools at St Matthew’s church,
enjoyed by Upper II and Lower III. Our Early Years and Form II enjoyed separate visits from the
local Fire Service. We had a visit from the Dogs’ Trust to teach the children how to behave
safely around dogs. Also, a class of Year 10 students from Aldridge School taught our Upper II a
leeson on Classical Greek History. Last week’s piano concert was also a huge success, allowing
the children to play for the first time on our new Yamaha piano, so kindly donated by the PTA.
A lucky group of Upper II and Lower III pupils also benefited from a Writing Workshop at KES.
On the sporting front, there have been a number of rugby and netball fixtures against St
Bede’s, Hallfield, Heathfield and Chase Grammar at Under 9s, Under 10s and Under 11s, with
mostly successes and only one reverse. This week, the swimming team competed at the Streetly
Area Championships, coming 2nd overall, while two of our swimmers, Olivia and Anandee, won
their events and will be selected to represent Streetly area at the Walsall Swimming Gala finals.
It is also worth mentioning that today’s House Quiz was again won by Livingstone House, who
showed consummate skill in building high towers out of newspaper, which successfully
supported the weight of a banana! And finally, this Tuesday, we enjoyed the inaugural
Mayfield Pancake races, duly won by Scott House.
I will finish there and wish you all a lovely half-term break. See you at the disco tonight!
Best wishes,
Mr M. Draper
Headmaster
World Book Day Quiz at Aldridge School
On Wednesday 2nd March four children from Upper II were invited to a World Book Quiz at Aldridge School: Ryan, Imaan, Karam Sh and Jaiden. They were so excited to be taking part along with seven other schools. When we arrived we were taken to their amazing library where the children were given a picture from famous books and had to find their table with the same picture on. This was a lovely idea as one child from each school sat at a table which meant the children got a chance to mix and work as a team with other pupils their age. The children really enjoyed each round, as there was a good variety. There where six rounds in total. If the children were unsure of a question they got the chance to shout joker, by holding their picture up from their tables and this got them a point. However, the joker could only be used once, so it had to be used wisely!
Transition trip to the Botanical Gardens
Transition Trip to the Botanical Gardens – 23rd Feb 2016
Transition have started their ‘Plant’ Science topic this week with a visit to the Botanical Gardens, Birmingham. We all had such a wonderful learning experience finding special plants and hunting down the answers to lots of questions. After Lunch the children had a workshop all about Plants. They played some fantastic role play activities and got to be plants, bees and tress! We’d all like to thank Mrs Saini and Mrs Thacker for their great support on this trip – could not have done it without you.