
THIS WEEK AT FRENSHAM
Friday 16th December, 2022
A MESSAGE FROM RICK
Dear Parents
Despite a high number of illnesses, both staff and students, we have reached the end of term on a real high with lots of Christmas cheer. The caterers did their usual amazing job of producing a fantastic Christmas lunch for the whole school today, and there was much delight as I walked around dressed as Santa to deliver candy canes to all – don't be fooled into thinking it is only the Junior School children who enjoyed this. There was just as much enthusiasm from the older students too!
I want to pay tribute to the Junior School children who have all performed this week, with the Year 4-6 play on Tuesday evening and the N-Y3 play on Wednesday afternoon. Both were joyous events, with every child having an opportunity to be on stage. The staff worked incredibly hard to pull the two shows together and I want to thank them for their amazing efforts. This came on the back of the fantastic music and dance extravaganza last week involving the whole school, so it has been a busy week in the theatre for our new Theatre Manager Justin...
Parent survey
I want to thank all parents who managed to provide some feedback for the parent survey earlier this term. The leadership team has been hard at work looking at the results to identify the key areas that are going well and the areas that most need our attention. I want to comment on two particular areas that we are focusing on:
Communication
We know that our communication with you needs to be better, and we are working on this. A number of parents commented that this is their number one grumble, so we know how important it is to get this right. We are in discussions with a software provider that works in a number of schools to harmonise school communication with home, bringing together the various platforms we currently use (Schoolbase, MS Teams, SOCS etc), and we have discussed as staff the importance of timely responses to parental emails. Our next step on this is to develop a communications charter, working with the Parent Voice on a document that can help to guide the school-to-parent and parent-to-school communication channels. I will provide more information on this next term.
Behaviour
A number of parents commented on what they believe to be disruptive and negative behaviour from some students detracting from their own child’s experience of school. I share this concern and I want to ensure parents that we are working hard on the minority of students who do this. We have tightened up a number of our expectations of students across the whole school, from Junior to Senior School, and we are actively tracking and monitoring trends. Our approach with all behavioural challenges, summarised in our Approaches to Learning (ATL) process, is to look to understand and then change behaviour. This takes time and commitment from staff and is not a quick fix, but changing behaviour is much more lasting than simply punishing for transgressions. Importantly, we can only act on what we know, and the closer to the event the better, so I would strongly encourage parents to share information you may glean from your children as soon as possible so that we can act on it. We know this is an ongoing process, and we want to thank you for your support.
Aldridge Theatre café
I want to thank parents Jamie and Claire for stepping in to help us with the provision of coffee and tea in the Aldridge Theatre café this term. I know how many parents have enjoyed their daily caffeine fix from Stable and Ground! As you are aware, this was never going to be a permanent solution as Jamie and Claire have a busy business to run, so we are looking to reinstall the normal café operation next term, but with some important changes. We have purchased a better coffee machine, and we would like to run a coffee tasting for parents on the morning of Monday the 9th and Tuesday the 10th of January next term from 8.30am. Any coffee lovers do please come along to help us select the best option.
And finally, thank you so much for your support over a busy term. It has been wonderful to see so many parents at the various events we have held, and we look forward to seeing you next term.
Have a wonderful festive break.
Best wishes
Rick
SCHOOL NOTICES
RESIDENTIAL TRIPS 2023/24
There are a lot of really exciting trips planned for the next academic year. We have shared details of some trips with parents already, but please have a look through the list to see what's coming up. Click for 2023/24 residential trips.
RECEPTIONIST VACANCY
We are looking to appoint an enthusiastic and cheerful person to join our small Reception team - this is a part-time, term time only role. Please click here for more information and to apply.
POSITIVE FEEDBACK
Thank you to everyone who took the time to send in some positive feedback via Parent Voice. It really means a lot. Please click here to read all the wonderful comments.
RECRUITMENT DRIVE
Lyall is trying to launch an ambitious work experience and internship opportunity for our Year 10 and Year 12 students. Could you, your company, or your friends and family offer a placement for our students? If yes, what roles might be available?
We could run a Recruiters’ Fair where companies could come along and discuss the roles and what their company does and is able to offer in terms of placement and meet potential candidates. Students can then put their names down for consideration before a more formal application process. We can also advertise roles that companies have but aren’t able to promote in person. (You can even let me know if it’s something you can offer, but you’d only likely have space for your own child). Year 12s may benefit from a longer internship, whilst Year 10 students could gain experience from just a few days. We’re not expecting to place every single student, but it would be great for those looking to gain valuable experience ahead of university/apprenticeship applications.
It’s a speculative suggestion at the moment to see if it’s a go-er. Lyall would love to hear from you if this is something you might be able to support. Click to email him and start the conversation.
TIMETABLES FOR INDIVIDUAL MUSIC LESSONS
Timetables for the first half of the Spring Term will be prepared during the Christmas Holidays, and will be available on your child’s Real Time Timetable (via the Parent Portal). Timetables for the Junior School should be accessed using the aforementioned please. Timetables for students in Years 7 and above will be available to them on Teams – where I will pop a note to let them know when they are available!
Wishing you a wonderful Christmas, and please do check timetables before we return in January 😊 Thank you so much. - Sally
SPRINGBOX GYMNASTICS WORKSHOP
Springbox Gymnastics are running a camp on 5th January 2023 at Frensham Heights. Please click here for more information.
SURREY MUSIC ACADEMY ORCHESTRA WORKSHOP
Surrey Music Academy will be running an orchestra workshop at Frensham Heights over on 13-14th February 2023. Please click here for more information.
SCHOOL EVENTS
SELF-EXPRESSION SAFARI
Workshop Day Saturday 7th January
11am - 4pm | Nevill Hall
Ready for action ?
Are you between the age of 8 and 80?
Keen to participate in Making things, Problem Solving or Creativity? YES – great
Come and join us for a fun day(family or individuals) as we begin our journey together creating different items such as t-shirts, friendship bracelets, bucket hats and wonderful designs for clothes and accessories!
A full day of activities have been planned and you can join in for the whole day or just part of it …
As we all have to choose what we wear each day, yet for some this choice becomes a chore as it remains limited by design and function due to personal needs such as sensory issues, feeding tubes, wheelchairs, Stoma bags …. We start our long term project teaching people how to make things, change things and be more on control of what we choose to wear each day. Click for more information.
Small changes make an item personal to you and allow you to express how you feel through your clothes and accessories. We will make from items that exist and those that are donated as far as we can to help with becoming a sustainable project too.
Please book your place for yourself or your family using the QR code.

CHANGE IS GONNA COME - A CONCERT FOR UKRAINE
Saturday 21st January | 7pm - 8:30pm
Aldridge Theatre
Old Frenshamian Ella Sofiya is bringing together singers, bands and performers for a concert to raise money for Disasters Emergency Committee and their emergency support work in Ukraine. Tickets are free but we will be collecting donations on the night. Please click here to read Ella's story.

MALAWI SCHOOLS TRUST QUIZ NIGHT!
Monday 23th January | 7pm
Rowledge Village Hall
Come along for a fun evening to raise funds for Malawi Schools Trust.

THIS WEEK AT FRENSHAM
JUNIOR SCHOOL CHRISTMAS PRODUCTIONS
This week we were treated to two light-hearted festive productions from the Junior School. The Year 4-6 Christmas Play – No one Wraps Like an Elf - was a massive success on Tuesday night. It had it all… Festive Songs, Pierre Noel, Weather Reporting Reindeer, a great back-stage team, loads of laughs and wrapping Elves! On Wednesday it was Nursery - Year 3 who took to the Aldridge stage with their very Frensham take on a classic Christmas nativity story. The children were confident and dazzling on stage, right down to the smallest nursery child. It was a beautiful, heart-warming event for parents and fellow students alike. The Festive season is certainly in full flow!








SENIOR SCHOOL DINNER DANCES
Despite so many students and teachers dropping to winter bugs, our Senior School students still gathered this week for their festive dinner dances. The teachers and catering staff pulled out all the stops to make these evenings really special and the students donned their favourite formal attire and danced the night away with their friends. All in all a wonderful end to a very busy term.








CYBERCENTURION COMPETITION
On Friday, a team of Year 12 Computer Science students completed round 3 of the National CyberCenturion Competition. Out of 267 teams taking part this year, the team finished in 8th place, which is an incredible achievement considering this is the first time they have taken part and were learning as they were going along. The competition was introduced to Frensham Heights as part of the Careers spotlight in Cybersecurity initiative and students have approached the challenge with enthusiasm and resilience to learn new technical skills.
JUNIOR SCHOOL CHRISTMAS
A team of Christmas Elves have sprinkled some Christmas magic (and some snow!) around Frensham Heights School by setting up a gingerbread man village and a Grinch themed room and by decorating Santa’s Grotto (AKA The Treehouse) with handmade paper stars, tinsel, lights, baubles and a tree.
This week children in the Junior School enjoyed Christmas activities ranging from baking gingerbread men to solving puzzles in a Grinch themed escape room (Years 4-6) to following a gingerbread man trail (Nursery–3). Thursday, they all visited Father Christmas in his merry Gingerbread house grotto, shopped in Elfridges and enjoyed a wonderfully festive Christmas Lunch.
We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who helped add a little more magic to the children’s Christmas week of fun. From the parents who planned and ran the events, crafted Christmas decorations, decorated the grotto and donated various items to the cause, through to the Junior School teachers and staff and Gordon and the Estate's team who supported and made it all happen. Without this awesome community and fabulous effort from all those involved, we wouldn’t have been able to pull it off. A special thank you to Jo Bushill who worked meticulously to bring the ideas to life and to Nick Oram-Tooley for his support.
We are already busy making exciting plans for a Junior School Winter Wonderland Christmas next year. If you would like to be part of it and help shape what it looks like, we would love for you to join us. Please do get in touch so we can include you in our planning meetings in Spring term.




DONATIONS
We would like to extend an enormous thank you to everyone who supported and generously donated toys to the two chosen charities.
We are proud to have been able to deliver over 160 new toys to Barnardo’s Waverley Family Centre for them to distribute to local families in need. Janet Parker from Barnardo’s would like to extend her gratitude to the Frensham Heights School families:
"On behalf of the families we support, our team would like to say a great big THANK YOU for your very kind donations of children’s book and toys. Having this generous donation this time of year, when families are struggling with increased bills, means so much to families."
In addition, we have collected a considerable selection of second hand toys and books for the toy sale due to happen in the New Year (keep an eye out for the date) in aid of the Malawi Schools Trust Charity.
SUPER SPROUTS
Senior School students wrote messages of thanks and appreciation to their teachers and friends this week. It's been a really busy term but we still need to take a moment to thank the people who have supported us along the way.




BOARDERS' BOWLING TRIPS
Main House and Roberts House boarders had some old-school fun at the bowling alley this week.




PHOTOGRAPHY TRIP TO WATTS GALLERY
Year 12 Photography students visited Watts Gallery – at the Artists' Village near Guildford in Surrey. It is dedicated to the work of the Victorian-era painter and sculptor George Frederic Watts. Faces of Fame: G F Watts X Simon Frederick exhibits a selection of photographs from Simon Frederick’s portrait series Black is the New Black alongside paintings from G F Watts’s Hall of Fame. These portraits have been loaned from the National Portrait Gallery’s Collection as part of its National Skills Sharing Partnership Programme.




YEAR 7 CERAMICS
Year 7 made plates this term in ceramics and used a combination of slip and glaze to decorate them around a cross-curriculum 'What Makes Us Who We Are' theme.




OUTDOOR MATHS
Our Year 8 Mathematicians got outside (just before it turned really cold!) to do some outdoor Maths experiments – comparing their sprint times to Usain Bolt’s world record (as part of real-life graphs out of work). Their experiments allowed them to work out speed and acceleration and to compare these on graphs – some of the classes also explored the links to the gradient of a straight line. It was great to see the rich learning going on, all students contributed and worked effectively as a team while having fun. Well done Year 8.




NEWS FROM FRENSHAM KITCHEN
ALDRIDGE CAFÉ
We are pleased to say we have a date for coffee bean tasting.
It will be in the morning on the 9th January. Please do come along and tell us which one you prefer.
SPROUTS
We’ve tried all things sprouts this December, in soups, salads, pickled and even cookies!
CHRISTMAS BAKING
Our pastry Chef Debra has been kept super busy this week. She’s made 140 decorated Christmas tree cookies, 80 smartie cookies, 400 sprout cookies and ginger bread men for special diets as well as the fresh bread for lunch and all the lovely daily desserts for lunch and supper.



WHAT'S ON THE FIRST WEEK OF TERM
Sunday 8 January
from 19:00 - Boarders Return
Monday 9 January
Classes Resume
Year 11 Mocks
Tuesday 10 January
Year 11 Mocks
Wednesday 11 January
Year 11 Mocks
Thursday 12 January
Year 11 Mocks
Friday 13 January
Year 11 Mocks
Year 13 Mocks
9.30 - Year 7 to Year 13 Morning Talk: New Year’s Resolutions in Form Rooms
15.30 - Junior School Toy Sale (4-6 Playground)
19.00 - Boarders Cinema Night
Saturday 14 January
8.45 - 15.30 - Entrance Exams Day
Boarders Farnham Assist Lunch Support
14.00 - Boarders Shopping Trip
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL
You can follow us on Instagram and Facebook. We also have several Twitter accounts around the school where you can find resources and school info:
Main School account - @FrenshamHeights
Rick - @rickclarke72
Becks - @becksscullion
Business/Economics - @getontheeconbus
Careers - @FrenshamCareers
Creative Arts - @ArtsFrensham
Charity, Outreach and Community - @FrenshamCharity
Design & Technology - @FrenshamDT
Junior School - @FrenshamJuniors
Geography - @FrenshamGeog
Maths - @Frensham_Maths
Modern Foreign Languages - @Frensham_MFL
Music - @FHMusicSchool
Outdoor Ed - @Frensham_OE
PE & Sport - @Frensham_PE
PRE - @FrenshamPRE
PSME/PSHE - @FrenshamPSME
Science = @FrenshamScience