Letter from the Headmistress – 9th September 2011

It is with great pleasure that I write to you today. I will try and capture all that there is to report to bring you up to date and I will try to give you as much information as possible as to our plans for the term and year ahead.

As I type the children are in ‘letter writing’ and hopefully you will receive their first letter very soon , complete with sentences, capital letters and if you are lucky some interesting information on their first week at school.

It has been a very happy week. All the children have settled in well. Of course there have been some tears and wobbly moments but all the children have had some great days and they are finding their feet and beginning to understand just how things work at Pembroke House.

We are very proud of our old hands who have been kind and helpful to all the new children and without exception everyone is trying their best.

Chapel

Click to see a larger image

Chapel Services this week have focused upon the start of a new academic year or indeed a new school and I have been at pains to explain that this is an opportunity to open a new chapter or even start a new book in each of our lives. I have urged the children to make the most of their natural talents and to make the most of themselves as human beings. It is their duty to be the best human, the best type of person that they possibly can be.
On this subject, whilst in County Durham over the holidays Miss Davidson visited the Beamish Museum. Whilst there, she discovered the most lovely rendition of ‘Good Manners’ which will have been written to guide children around 1915. Pembroke House does not have a list of school rules as such. The ten commandments are always there to guide us and common sense and courtesy guide us in all we do and teach.

Much of what is written for the Children’s National Guild of Courtesy encapsulates very much what we teach children at Pembroke House even though we perhaps couch it in slightly different terms. I thought you may wish to have a copy of this and to perhaps discuss it a little at home. The golden rule is ‘to do as you would be done by’.

Numbers
We have started this term with 168 children. The school fees have increased by 5%, one of the lowest increases in the last ten years, and thanks to a great deal of hard work and sensible financial planning by Mr. Breare a great deal of work has gone on over the holidays:

The start of term saw the completion of our two new classrooms principally for Year 8.
The pre prep now has its own little washroom area and it has been relocated to a more suitable site.
The girls’ house – Scholes House, has been refurbished with four poster beds and nets.
The Scholes House bathrooms have been refurbished and once we actually arranged for the water to flow and the drains to run we were all very pleased with our efforts!
In addition the sports hall and the squash courts have been painted and refurbished outside and in and I have to say there has been a great improvement in this area.

Staff
All the staff returned to school very early and the school was very busy with everyone trying to get ready for the new academic year.

The Sports Camp
The sports camp was well supported and our two visiting coaches were very impressed with the drive and commitment of our children. Coco Bartlett ( The Dragon School and St Edward’s Oxford ) has left with many children up her sleeve for the future and a very positive impression of the sort of children we are lucky enough to teach. Mark Briers, the Cheltenham Cricket Coach is always keen to spot new talent and help any child who shows enthusiasm.

Next holidays we are lucky enough to be joined by two hockey coaches from the Royal Hospital School. Whilst we all have busy holidays we must remember how lucky we are to have access to this sort of tuition and coaching and I would advise you all to think seriously about encouraging your children to join us for these sports camps.

The Sports Tour
Whilst on the subject of Sport – our Sports Tour got off successfully and they should be looking around Twickenham today before heading off for the London Eye. We have sent you the facebook details to access up to date information and photos and Chiru will kindly send out regular e mails to try and keep you up to date with the children’s progress.

Academics
I believe Miss D has been in touch with academic details for the start of term and do remember to contact us if we can help you with any further information on this front.

New Staff

Teachers	Mr. Mike Aung	Deputy Headmaster
	Mrs. Katie Aung	Head of the Junior School & Year4
	Mrs. Jules Tatton	Catering Manager
	Mrs. Liz Boakes	Head of Science
	Mrs. Sarah Johnstone	Asst House Mistress Mackie House & Pre Prep
	Mr. Greg Quee	Year 5 Teacher
	Ms. Philippa Parry	Science Teacher & Year 5
	Ms. Molly Arbuthnott	Year 4 & Year 6 English
	Ms. Lauren Mostert	Learning Support
	Mr. Michael Raikes	1^st Team Cricket & Geography
	Ms. Emma Laing	Year 4
Nurses	Ms. Josephine Muriira	Nursing Sister
	Ms. Millie Chabwanga	San Assistant
Gaps	Mr. Guy Webb	Super Gap
	Ms. Emily Barham	Gap
	Ms. Alice Stevenson	Gap
	Mr. Toby Snape	Gap
	Mr. Will Oakly	Gap
	Mr. Ben Taylor	Gap

Scholarship Preparation
At exeat we will be joined by Miss Laura Burden from Oundle School. Miss Burden is our Scholaship Tutor for the term. As I have explained Miss Burden will help relieve other specialist staff so that they can teach their own subject to Scholarship level. At the same time she will teach English – her own subject and generally coach the children in all they should cover before such exams are taken.

I must point out that such coaching and tutoring will not necessarily do the trick and we cannot of course guarantee success but I feel that such attention to detail can only help our potential scholars in their bid for excellence and recognition.

Sports Scholarships: We will also address the children hoping to take sports scholarships in the same way and the sports tour will certainly help to give this programme a boost and get it firmly under way.

Closed weekends
In an effort to make things the same for all we removed the obligation of the closed weekend at the start of this term. Thus if you wished to take your child ‘out’ you could indeed do so without in theory going against the general rule. Of course we understand that our long distance parents find a certain solace in a closed weekend. However we hope to assist our long distance parents in a somewhat more special way and perhaps be ultimately very helpful here. In the second and third terms – Lent and Trinity we would like to drop the first exeat. This would mean the weekend would be, as all weekends are during the term, a fully operational school weekend, all part and parcel of the normal routine. Thus should you wish to take your child out or visit your child you may. If you live far away and you wish to concentrate your energies on half term and the second exeat then that too will suit us and your children.

Please give the matter some thought. We are not trying to be difficult or cantankerous – merely trying to make boarding school life more transparent and straightforward for you all.

Coming up

Go Carting Trip	Sunday 11^th September
Trip to Olorgesailie	Yrs 7 & 8 Wed/Thu 15^th/16^th September
Sports Tour Returns	Sunday 18^th September
First Exeat begins	Thursday 4pm 2^nd September
Year 3 Chapel	Sunday 25^th September
IAPS Inspection	Saturday 8^th October
IAPS Cross Country Event	Saturday 8^th October
Half Term	Saturday 15^th October
Bonfire Night	Saturday 5^th November
Remembrance Sunday	11am Sunday 13^th November
Open Day & Yr8 Dinner	Friday 18^th November
Inter House Athletics	Saturday 19^th November
School Exams	Week beginning 21^st November
IAPS Athletics	Saturday 3^rd December
School Disco	Saturday 3^rd December
Nativity Play	Thursday 8^th December
Craft & Schools Fair & Carol Service	Friday 9^th December
End of Term	Saturday 10^th December

Whilst the first week of term has been full of excitement and expectation we have all felt extremely sad knowing that Terry Coulson is no longer amongst us. The Coulson family is at the heart of so much that is Pembroke House and indeed Gilgil as a whole. Throughout the years Terry and Mary and their children – Billy, Philip, MJ and Jamie have helped and supported Pembroke House in so very many ways. Robin and I have been lucky enough to be the recipient of this support and love and we will miss Terry badly. I know you will join me in sending the Coulson family our deepest sympathy and our hearts go out to them all during this very difficult time.

As always remember that as a School we wish to help you in whatever way we can. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any query or concern however small. Everything is in the detail and we certainly cannot sort anything out if we do not know.

May I wish you all a very happy term and we look forward to welcoming you to school whenever you can join us.

With warmest wishes,

Debs