Letter from the Headmistress – 31st January 2011

Whilst I write this I hope you are all enjoying a well earned exeat break. We have had three very full weeks and with the rising temperatures and hot winds the children need a rest and a break from their school routine.

An update

Awards: Last year we were fortunate to gain 16 awards to our pupils’ next school and once again the time of assessments and scholarship trials are upon us. We wish all our candidates the very best of luck. With this in mind I am thrilled to announce that Winnie Nakazzi has been awarded a Drama Scholarship to Peponi School.

Prefects: Jack Bonham was appointed a School Prefect as the term began and last week we also had the pleasure of appointing one more new School Prefect – Joshua Kwaramba – well done to both boys! This brings the total number of prefects to fourteen. There are still some children waiting to be made School Prefects and certainly the aim is that all children who can become prefects should indeed do so. There is no limit to the number – the stipulation is merely that the children must be of the right caliber to be made a prefect and they must then remain of that caliber to avoid being depre’d!.

Manners: There are certainly more children who have been awarded their Percy Pig for table manners than who have not. However the drive continues and those who have enjoyed their Percy Pig should be able to show you how to use and hold their knife and fork, how to sit nicely and how to indicate that they have finished their meal. This certainly does not mean they will eat nicely all the time and they will need help and encouragement from yourselves as well as from the staff at school.

Middle School parents Lunch – Yrs 7, 6 & 5: Our Middle School lunch which included the Year 7s went very well and I am most grateful to you all for coming. A wonderful, happy noise emanated from the marquee and I was only sorry that MJ and I could not stay until the end.

Sport

The matches against St Andrew’s Turi on Wednesday were hard fought and we were pleased with the results. The Swimming Team were thrilled with their performance in their mini gala at the coast last weekend. We are most grateful to Bill Sawyer and Braeburn Mombasa for their hospitality over the tour. We would also like to thank Bruce and Jan Phillips for hosting the Girls and to Dany and Suzie Haller for hosting the Boys and putting so much thought into the whole trip. I must say I breathed a sigh of relief when I heard the bus drive back through the school gates last Monday!

Coming Up

Matches and Trips: Next week the Under 9s have their first triangular set of matches at St Andrews and the Form Rs / Year 2s are off to the Green’s farm in Limuru. On Saturday we have our first matches of the term against The Banda so I dare say early morning activity will step up a level as teams prepare for some of the toughest matches of the season.

We have an Adult Invitational Cricket Tournament over the weekend with matches beginning on the Saturday afternoon. There will be tea in the Old pavilion for all present and of course supporters and spectators are most welcome. The cricketers will be hosted in the evening by the Club and play will resume on Sunday morning with lunch and tea by the Old Pavilion. Please come and join us. The children love having ‘ grown ups’ with us and it gives the weekend a little bit more of a buzz for all the children at school, even those whose parents cannot make it.

I must add here that another thing the children really enjoy is going over to the Gilgil Club for their film night on a Saturday. Equipped with sodas and crisps they settle down for the film on a big screen. Somehow it gives the children the same feeling that all the Pembroke staff get as they drive out of the gates and the weekend definitely takes on a different and much improved complexion.

Exams: The main business of the term of course is building on the academic progress of each individual child. Exams begin on Friday 25th February so it may be an idea to help your children with a spot of revision over half term. In most cases the focus will be on this term’s work but there are bound to be questions on aspects of the syllabus covered last term. For the Year 8s of course the material to be revised will be the work covered in Year 7 and Year 8.

Visitors: We are very lucky that David Fletcher from Stowe can be with us on the Sunday afternoon as you bring your children back after half term. He will join us for tea in the reception room and I hope he may stay for Chapel and a drink afterwards. Should Stowe be one of the schools you are considering please make sure you take advantage of this opportunity and join us.

On Sunday 27th February Caro Strover will be with us. Caro is an Educational Psychologist from the UK and she is very kindly assessing a number of children during her stay. Assessments of this kind not only pinpoint specific areas where we can focus our attention to accelerate progress but they also mean that those children may have extra time in the exams. The additional time relieves the inevitable pressure present in an exam and this helps the children to stop panicking, focus on what’s important and remember all the extra skills they have learnt to get them through the things they find so difficult.

Swimming Training: Please remember that Vitalis our additional swimming coach from Nairobi will be with us for two weekends this term. His coaching will take place over the whole weekend with children fitting in two to three sessions with him. The weekends are Saturday and Sunday 5th / 6th of February and Saturday and Sunday 26th / 27th February. We hope that this will be a more satisfactory way of making use of the expertise Vitalis can offer us.

Enjoy the second quarter of the term. Please savour these years and enjoy watching your children develop and grow in confidence guided by our very special group of staff. We started the year with 138 children and as this term began we welcomed 145 children. Next term sees our numbers climb to 154 so they are exciting and stimulating times for us all at Pembroke House.

The focus for us all is in the detail so please do not hesitate to get in touch over any matter however small. Most problems are due to miscommunication and most matters can be sorted out very quickly as long as we know.

With warmest wishes,

Debs