Welcome to this week’s Friday newsletter - what a busy week it has been! On Monday we celebrated the start of Inter Faith Week with a fabulous assembly delivered by Mrs Hurley and Senior School pupils who had prepared presentations on their faith and beliefs. Look out for the Interfaith Week competition in the news section of this newsletter; pupils are encouraged to create a poster on the theme ‘What I Want You to Know About Me.’ We have also celebrated Anti-Bullying Week, Road Safety Week and Maths Week. November is a busy month for national campaigns and teachers have been busy organising several exciting events and competitions. Highlights of this week include Odd Socks Day, The Happy Puzzle Company workshops, L2 trip to Hampton Hill theatre and a Road Safety assembly from Shanaya in U2, our Junior Travel Ambassador. Well done, Shanaya and thank you to all the pupils and teachers involved in all the events this week.

By Mrs Mortimer - Head of LEH Junior School

In the spotlight…

Young Geographer of the Year competition

The Young Geographer of the Year competition is an annual competition run by Royal Geographical Society. This year, girls in U1, L2 and U2 participated in an in-house competition where they were invited to create their own blueprint for the future.  I was delighted to receive such high number of excellent entries from each year group. Girls have put a lot of effort and time into creating their posters and they should all be enormously proud of their work. The top entries were included in the international competition and one of our pupils has been selected as a highly commended entry in the Key Stage Two category. Huge congratulations to Lyra for this fantastic achievement!

By Mrs Kent-Skorsepova 

Anti Bullying Week

Last Wednesday LEH Juniors started thinking about Anti Bullying Week by having an assembly to remind us of what bullying is and what we can do about it. ‘Making a Noise’ is the theme for this year’s Anti-Bullying week, and we talked about how, together, we can be the change we want to see, reflect on our own behaviour, set positive examples, and create kinder communities.

By Mrs Frampton 

Maths Week

Maths week started this week with a Happy Puzzle workshop for the whole school. Each year group took part in the ‘Smart thinker workshop.’ The girls solved a variety of challenges to earn coins for the final challenge and could then exchange their coins for guesses as to where the treasure was buried. The workshop promoted logical thinking, perseverance, and teamwork. It was thoroughly enjoyed by the girls.

L2 and U2 took part in the Primary Maths Challenge on Tuesday. This is a national competition, aimed at pupils aged 9-11 and there are certificates and medals to be won. Top scorers go through to a bonus round.

There have been many activities going on in class, around the school and in the playground this week. The girls have been trying to solve ‘Maths week’ puzzles and singing maths songs at break time.

Next week there will be a Maths assembly when an exciting competition will be announced. More details will follow in next week’s newsletter.

By Mrs Wright

Computing

During Maths week, pupils in U1 worked in House teams to complete some computational thinking challenges. They used the House sections in the collaboration space in OneNote so they could all work on the same problem. There was much chatter and some great problem solving.

By Mrs Allden

Inter Faith Assembly

On Monday, Senior School students joined us for our Interfaith Week assembly to talk about how their religious beliefs impact their daily lives. It was wonderful to see how engaged the juniors were hearing about the religions they follow and learn about in lessons.

By Mrs Hurley  

F1 Art

In F1 Art, the girls have finished their Ancient Egyptian Art project, which involved making papyrus paper and painting an Egyptian god or goddess onto it. This week they have been reflecting on the skills developed as part of this project (making papyrus, sketching to proportion and painting with precision) and on their final artwork, which they are rightly proud of!

By Mrs Connor

L2 Hampton Hill Theatre Visit

On Wednesday morning, L2 had a wonderful trip to our local theatre in Hampton Hill as part of their Drama curriculum. The girls were treated to a rare and highly informative tour of the building, followed by a short workshop using the auditorium and stage. The girls were curious and thoughtful with their questions and all came away having learned something new about the life of a working theatre.

By Mrs Connor

Wednesday was the best! We went on a school trip to Hampton Hill Theatre. We were lucky because we got to see how they made all the sets and even went through the actors' door! We saw a suit worn by Noel Coward. He is a famous actor who lived in Teddington. The thing I found most interesting was how quickly they make a set. The current one took less than a day!

Ada 

Our trip to Hampton Hill Theatre was brilliant! We discovered so many wonderful things and go to go backstage to see what happens in preparation of the shows. We got to see how the sets are made and look at costumes and props.

Francesca

I really liked the trip because I learned a lot about how sets are made, how many costume one actor needs in a play and a lot more. I found the history of the location and building rather interesting. The size of the place surprised me because I have been to a lot of theatres, but this was probably the smallest.  I am glad that Noel Coward funded this place as I think it brings a lot of joy to the locals.

Wenya

On our trip we had a blast! We entered from the stage door where the actors go in.  We got to see backstage including where they make all the sets. We learnt that they always have one set on stage and another one being made. We got to see a model set of the stage because they always make one so the actors can see what they will be performing on. We were able to see their prop and costume cupboards - it surprised us how many they had! They had a Noel Coward suit on show, and they named a whole room after him. They also had a painting of him on show just above the staircase. The most interesting part was when we did a workshop about how to project our voice on the stage.

Anaya, Ada and Tamira 

My experience of Hampton Hill Theatre was fun. We learned about what goes on backstage and performed short poems exploring what different voices we could use on stage. We went to the costume cupboard and learned that for one show with around 20 people there were over 150 costumes!  I could see that everyone at the theatre works very hard behind the scenes.

Zoya

Geography

In Geography, L2 are learning about coasts and how they are formed. This week we looked at specific features of coasts which were created by erosion. Girls enjoyed making caves, arches, stack and stumps out of clay and they were able to explain how these erosional landforms occur.

By Mrs Kent-Skorsepova 

Sports Highlights - OVS Cross Country Relay Race

On Friday 10th November competitors from eight local schools travelled to St George's Field in Ham to compete in the annual OVS Cross Country Relay Race.

LEH Running Club team of sixteen was split into their four year-groups to battle it out against girls of the same age. Each competitor carried the baton for one lap of the common cheered on by their teammates, opposition, teachers and parents alike.

Cross country races are never easy. It can be lonely running by yourself, away from the crowds on the other side of the field. It takes grit and determination to keep going when you are exhausted, but they all did it....and with smiles on their faces. Thank you to all the parents for braving the cold and coming to support your daughters. We are incredibly proud of each and every one of them for stepping up to take the baton and running their hearts out. Well done girls!

OVS Cross Country Relay Results

F1 (Anika, Elena, Madelyn, Una) 5th place.

U1 (Prisha, Vaanika, Ophelia, Anna) 5th place.

L2 (Sabine, Polly, Ekin, Ellen) 3rd place.

U2 (Annabel, Evie, Ailsa, Alice) - 3rd place.

It's a well-known fact that exercising outside in nature is good for one's physical and mental wellbeing. If your daughter is interested in taking part in a similar event there are many free and accessible mass participation events in your local area. Check out www.parkrun.org.uk for details. These timed events are run over an identical course every week. They are a great way to build fitness and monitor your progress and everyone attending is so friendly and supportive. There is such a great community feel that you may even find you become addicted! How about taking part in one event over the Christmas holidays? As an incentive I will give one house point to all those who are able to show me a print-out of their results (and an extra one if they can persuade a parent to do one with them)!

Coming up next week is the Richmond Borough School in Sport Partnership 2.2km cross country race. It's a fast and furious race and very tough but we have high hopes for our girls so wish them luck and keep your fingers crossed for sunshine on the day.

By Mrs Hanreck