2022 Autumn Term 2

Dear Parents and Carers,

It is my pleasure to welcome you all to the Christmas edition of the Muntham House newsletter. As always this term has been busy with all pupils accessing great opportunities and experiences in both education and residential care.  Pupils in all year groups have been provided with trips and activities to extend their curriculum learning and engagement and enjoy Christmas activities together.

The pupils involved in the Christmas performance have worked exceptionally hard in rehearsals to make the Christmas Performance magical.  It is a truly wonderful experience to come and see your child performing live on stage.  I hope that you were able to join us to be part of this wonderful Christmas event.  These live performances happen at the end of every term.    

I would like to thank you all for your ongoing support of the school and give you my very best wishes for Christmas and the New Year.  We look forward to seeing all pupils back to school on Wednesday 4^th January.

Merry Christmas!

Best wishes,

Mr Anderson
 

I am delighted to announce that Muntham House School has successfully achieved the Artsmark at Gold level, in recognition of the excellent Arts taking place at the school.  This is a fantastic achievement and proves just what a wonderful job Miss Coutts, our school Art teacher, has achieved.  High-quality art is delivered across the school and pupils enjoy participating in many extracurricular art clubs.  The school was praised for its art-rich curriculum, which pupils participate in and thoroughly enjoy. 

The number of whole-school art projects and extracurricular activities that the school facilitates was mentioned and highly thought of by the Arts Council.  This is also in recognition of the excellent work in drama and music and their growth across these subjects in the school curriculum.  

It has been a studiously superb last few weeks in the Science lab.

The year 7s have got to grips with using the Bunsen burners and other equipment to conduct scientific investigations involving solubility and chemical reactions.

The year 8s have been making compounds that generated some interesting sights and smells, and the year 9s have started their GCSE topics a little bit earlier than normal due to their academic prowess and diligence. In the photos here they are proudly showing some organic molecules and simple compounds.

Year 10s and 11s have been working hard on their GCSE courses, covering cell biology, the endocrine and nervous systems, and making salts from insoluble bases as one example of many neutralisation reactions. They have been working particularly well, standing them in good stead for their mocks next term. 

It has been an exciting term in the English department. Pupils in Year 10 and 11 had the opportunity to watch live theatre at Theatre Royal, Brighton. In November, pupils enjoyed a full performance of all three acts of An Inspector Calls, by J.B. Priestley. Our English staff were astonished by two of our pupils who found several metaphors in the layout of the stage even before the performance had begun. Others could be seen mouthing key quotes along with the characters. On the way back in the minibus, Stan and Joe engaged in a full-scale analysis of the play with Miss Bothamley, and by the time we met for a lesson the next day, all pupils who had attended were full of critiques of characters and their actions. One of the pupils enjoyed the play so much that he is trying to arrange to take his parent with him to see it in April - most term-time performances are fully booked.

At the beginning of this term, Year 7 pupils accessed a wordless book called 'Sector 7' by American author David Wiesner. This book required them to tell a story in their own words, and to understand a story by analysing pictures and images. The English team was delighted to hear the complaints from pupils that the book did not contain any words, so during the latter part of the half term, pupils have been reading 'Cool' by Michael Morpurgo, looking at time-linked words, newspaper articles and 1st person story-telling. In a similar vein to Year 7, Year 8 pupils began the year with 'The Arrival' by Shaun Tan which told the story of a father who became an immigrant, working to raise money for his family. Metaphors, tone and imagery were hidden in every picture, with elements of the action linking with the voyage of the Titanic (a brilliant segue into the year 1912 which links with the context of An Inspector Calls. Sneaky, huh?!). Latterly, 'The Christmas Match' by Pehr Thermaenius has allowed pupils to explore non-fiction texts, with the aim of extracting factual information which they then wrote into their own Wikipedia  pages (encyclopedia as we know it!).

Through studying 'Terror Kid' by Benjamin Zephaniah, and 'The Boy in the Striped Pajamas' by John Boyne (which we have yet to finish), Year 9 have become more skilled at analysing language use and backing up the points they make with evidence from the text. This will lead perfectly into the use of the  'Point, Evidence, Explain' structure which is integral to answering GCSE exam-style questions. Both texts have enabled high-level discussions and have developed turn-taking and speaking and listening skills (yet another part of the GCSE exam process).

We have been consistently proud of our pupils and the engagement they have shown in lessons, with Joe, Stan and Harry P being particularly notable for their focus and effort this term. We are excited for more learning next term with poetry for Year 11, language analysis in Year 10, novels with Year 8 and 9, and mythical creatures in Year 7.

This term has been very busy with the pupils learning mainly about carbohydrates and proteins. We have been focusing on dishes that could be an alternative breakfast or a starter, and now as we approach Christmas we have been making mince pies, candy cane cookies, and Snowman cake pops, to mention but a few.

Alongside all of the fun of Christmas, Year 11 and MHC have been having their assessments. Year 11 had to choose a breakfast dish. They chose Huevas Rancheros, sausage muffins, French toast, and breakfast biscuits. The results were impressive. MHC chose Buttermilk Chicken Wings, Spring rolls, and humous with carrot batons. They proved that they are well on their way to achieving a BTEC Level 2 in the summer.

I wish you a wonderful Christmas and, hope that you have been able to enjoy some of the treats that have come home. 

The very wet weather has not been kind to us and we have not been able to get outside into the garden very much. The soil has become muddy, but this didn’t stop the younger pupils from exploring the mud! We have hunted for worms and other mini beasts. On dry days we did however manage to spend a couple of days tidying up the last of the summer vegetables and saving and drying some runner bean seeds for next year. Some of the older pupils raked up some leaves to add to the compost. 

The polytunnel produced a huge crop of tomatoes which the boys and staff enjoyed eating. When we cleared away the plants, the green tomatoes went to the home economics kitchen and the older boys made green tomato chutney. 

The primary pupils have been learning about Oak trees and the many different creatures that live within each tree. We collected and planted an acorn each so we can watch them grow into saplings ready for planting out in the Spring. 

We made some Apple bird feeders by pressing sunflower seeds into apples. The birds enjoyed a feast as did a friendly squirrel who visits regularly.

As the term comes to an end we have gathered the evergreens - Holly, Laurel, and Yew - from the school grounds and have been busily making beautiful table decorations. The pupils worked hard to make them look fabulous by adding pine cones, orange slices, cinnamon sticks, and ribbon. Please remember not to leave burning candles unattended and if you wish to recycle the plastic parts simply return to school in January!

Happy Christmas.

Donkeys

The donkeys have been taken for plenty of walks around the grounds with the pupils and those that are more confident with the animals have been able to take them on longer walks through the woods, exploring new ways around the school. The pupils help with mucking out, grooming, and caring for the donkeys and have become very relaxed with the donkeys. Each session varies: from spending time sitting calmly with the animals, utilising the opportunity of being outdoors away from the hustle and bustle of the classroom, and clearing out stables and meeting the farriers, vets and other equine professionals.

Chickens

The chickens are unfortunately now having to be kept inside their coop because of the national Avian Influenza (Bird flu) outbreak. This has taken a strain on them as they are now not able to enjoy the green grass and space they were used to. The pupils have come up with ways to entertain the birds - more perches for them to sit on, and new flooring to keep their feet dry through the recent wet weather. Some of the birds are moulting too and do look different from the others. We have been researching what foods are best to feed the chickens during a moult and learning how to care for them during this time.

Goats

The goats are becoming so familiar with the pupils and are being taken out for walks around the grounds without their leads. The sense of freedom for the goats is visible and the pupils enjoy the opportunity to take ownership of how they can persuade the goats to follow them and learn more about where on the grounds the goats can find the tastiest treats! We have seen the goats' confidence grow with each trip out and it's wonderful to see the pupils react so well to the animals that they are responsible for. The pupils become more understanding about our surroundings and possible dangers to look out for whilst out and about on a walk. We take the opportunity to relax after the walk by feeding the goats, and enjoy the calming effect that the animals provide. Gizmo, Spike, Wallace, and Gromit will be looking forward to eating the school Christmas trees in January!

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Pigs

Bangers and Mash seem to know the pupils that bring them food, especially acorns gathered from the school grounds. They are very friendly and enjoy time with the pupils. The pupils, if they want to brave the very muddy pig pen, have been busy feeding the pigs and tempting them around the pen with different treats. They have made enrichment toys for the pigs to keep them entertained and have been learning more about how to look after them, from feeding to mucking out, and grooming. 

With Autumn walks, Christmas decorations, and frosty mornings, winter is in full swing. Here in the Canine Centre, we are lucky to have some essential heating which keeps our dogs and our pupils warm. In between the showers we have been enjoying the changing leaves: a lot of our pupils have developed a trusting relationship with Buzz which means he will follow them.

We teach the pupils the importance of keeping our canines safe, happy, and cared for. By being calm, approachable, and relaxed, we can build strong bonds with our pets and they will mirror our emotions. For us at Muntham, this means our dogs can be the perfect de-escalation tool.

One pupil in Muntham House College has been volunteering at a local rescue centre. Harry is trusted to take a couple of dogs out for a walk from the Holbrook Animal Rescue, which not only gives Harry a chance to gain experience with a range of dogs with different needs, but it also gives the dogs much-needed stimulation.

You can see from the pictures below just how much our dogs are loved, and how much love they project in return.

We wish you all a safe, Merry Christmas and can’t wait to welcome the pupils back in 2023. Happy New Year.

This half term, all pupils have braved the wintry weather and have been focusing on crafts using the natural items found in the woodland. To help them make the crafts, pupils have had to use some basic bushcraft tools, which for some might have been the first time they have used them. 

Primary pupils have been making wooden picture frames and nature mobiles. This allows the pupils to explore nature, especially when finding the items they would like to hang from their mobiles.

The years 7s have been whittling whistles from wood. Making these has been a great introduction to wood carving for the groups and requires very fine motor skills and resilience to complete the task. 

The year 8s have been making mallets using materials from fallen trees. To make these mallets the pupils needed to employ both fine and gross motor skills whilst using tools they have used before but with a different technique. 

The Primary children at Muntham House School have been looking at ‘giving to others’ this Christmas and what it means to help others who are in need.

We started by raising money in a variety of ways in each class: cake sales, Christmas card sales, Christmas decoration sales, and Christmas bottles.

The pupils in Squirrel and Hedgehog classes showed off their best baking skills and worked together to make some tasty treats for our Primary cake sale!  They made a selection of rocky road cornflake cakes, gooey brownies, and delicious cookies. There were lots of happy faces and a few sneaky ‘taste tests’ of chocolate chips. Together we measured, mixed, and baked. Everyone worked hard to follow the recipe and make the tastiest cakes possible.  

Some of the primary pupils then went into Horsham to collect tags that had messages on them, with children writing the name of a present they would like to receive this year. In total, Primary ended up raising an amazing £162.32 which is being used to buy presents for those in need through the Christmas Treehouse Charity.

Our primary pupils had a fantastic treat this week when we all visited The Capitol Theatre to watch the Cinderella pantomime - oh yes, we did! (sorry but I couldn't help myself).

The pupils were all an absolute delight and enjoyed the performance to the full, which also included dancing in the aisles! Not to be outdone, Mr Cusack even managed to make it on stage to show off his slick dance moves!

It was a fantastic way to kick off our Christmas week which has also included a Christmas party, a Christmas dinner feast, and an early visit from the big man himself!

Key Stage 3 / 4 Curriculum 

This term we have been focusing on health and fitness. The pupils have been exploring the different fitness components such as agility, muscular endurance, speed, coordination, and power. Pupils ran an experiment where they have completed fitness tests, undergone some specific training to develop skills, techniques and muscle, and then retested themselves to see if there has been a difference due to the training. Pupils have been exploring how to train and develop coordination, speed, power, and muscular endurance linked to boxing. 

Football Academy  

This term in football, pupils have been excelling well as a team in preparation for the school's football fixtures. The emphasis this term has been on passing and moving, and how to pass through a press from the opposing team. The pupils have been working on how to pass and move the ball quickly so that it is harder for the other team to intercept the ball. The football academy player of the term is Ben E; Ben gives his all each training session and is not afraid to run back and support his teammates when needed. Ben has also been working hard on his technique and has made good improvements with his dribbling and control.  

Basketball Academy  

This term in basketball, pupils have made brilliant progress - they have been excelling with their ball-handling skills, working on how to use a skill to evade an opponent. They have also been working on 'shooting' from a range of different angles and distances, learning how to use the correct technique. We also had a slam dunk competition where we worked on different layups and slam dunks. The basketball player of the term is Charlie K who has made great progress with his ball-handling skills and shooting; this is down to Charlie's great attitude which he brings to each of the sessions.  

I was really excited when Fantastic Beasts came out, because Harry Potter had come to an end and the pupils had loved the make-believe world of wizards and witches. Before Fantastic Beasts was released, I was curious about what J.K. Rowling was going to do next. I didn’t think she was done writing books altogether. Fantastic Beasts turned out to be a great read and satisfied my imagination with magic.

Fantastic Beasts, a fictional novel by J.K. Rowling, follows a magical young man named Newt on a journey to find his beasts that have escaped. Newt Scamander is a wizard unlike any other. He uses not only his powers but the powers of his magical animals. In Fantastic Beasts, Newt has lost some of his creatures and needs to find them before they wreak havoc on the regular people’s lives and more importantly before the truth about wizards being real is revealed to everyone. Newt meets lots of strange people, almost as fascinating as his beasts, and even befriends a person named Jacob on his journey.

Talking to the pupils the other day, one pupil wondered why J.K Rowling wanted her book to be designed in the format of a screenplay - maybe she thought it would make the characters feel more real and personal. I think that J.K. Rowling really got everything right with Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, even down to the artwork, which creates very detailed imagery and gives you a sense of what she is thinking about when she makes these strange beasts.

The Library will be supporting the English topic in the spring term. I am so excited to tell you that KS3 pupils will have the opportunity to work using the Fantastic Beasts books, which will help awaken their imagination in the world of Myths. Stories such as Myths and Legends link us to our past and explain our relationships with the universe and our environment. They will be able to create their own myth stories and bring them to life through words and art.

We, at Muntham, are so looking forward to reading and seeing what mythical creations they come up with.

It has been another busy but fun term for the Hever floor pupils.

We have been very lucky to have had the wonderful Mr Hellyer come up to Hever floor to do some arts and crafts and even some baking. The pupils - with Mr Hellyer’s expertise - decorated bottles and turned them into lovely night lights. Mr Hellyer also introduced model-making which is something they particularly enjoyed. The Hever pupils have also created some lovely saltdough Christmas decorations which will be going home as presents for families at the end of term.

We also had a very special birthday with Vinnie celebrating his 10^th birthday! For his special day we had a floor trip out to Flip-Out and dinner afterwards. Vinnie had a wonderful day at school and an equally wonderful evening - this was important for us to celebrate since being a boarding pupil he would not be at home on his birthday.

The pupils on Hever floor arranged an inter-floor Football competition, they even bought prizes and made posters advertising the competition, and I am pleased to say that Mikey from Hever floor came second which is quite something for being the youngest pupil in the competition!

Hever floor residents have also been lucky to be able to go to a Christmas Pantomime which is something we have missed out on during the COVID period. The pupils had a wonderful evening watching Beauty and the Beast with awe-filled delight, fully engaging with the show.

Our Christmas party was an evening of fun, dancing, games, and party food chosen by the pupils. We played musical statues, musical chairs, pin the tail on the donkey, and reindeer hoop toss.

We wish all our Hever floor pupils and family a wonderful Christmas and a happy New Year.

Bodiam pupils enjoyed a festive last week of term. On Monday evening the pupils enjoyed a Christmas dinner cooked by the staff on floor. The pupils enjoyed the food and managed to leave room for warm mince pies and cream.

On Tuesday it was Christmas films: Elf, and The Polar Express - with hot chocolate!

On the last night, we took the pupils to Play Zone. They had great fun challenging each other to go down the large drops, some showed no fear and some needed encouragement from their peers. The evening was finished off with McDonald's dinner.  The pupils were very appreciative and thanked the staff for a fun week to end the term.

This second half of the autumn term has been both busy but also relaxing on Arundel floor. We have mostly kept to our usual routine with some pupils attending the local gym. Tuesday evenings included basketball club, maths club, extra PSHE, and  even parkour for one of our pupils. Wednesday evenings consisted of outings such as the driving range or swimming, and Thursday evenings tended to be more relaxed with baking, watching a film, or playing with electronics. Some of the pupils enjoyed a night out to laser quest, where they played against another local school, which made the game more interesting and competitive. 

The run-up to Christmas has been exciting and lively on Arundel floor. Despite the pupils being older, they are just as excitable as their younger peers. We had a Christmas floor trip out to Worthing Christmas Ice Rink, followed by McDonald's for dinner. The pupils behaved fantastically, representing the school very well, and all seemed to enjoy themselves. Some of the pupils were naturals on the ice, skating around with ease, whilst others found it more challenging but persevered for the whole session. One staff member loved showing off his skating skills too!

One of the pupils suggested making pizzas for dinner, so they all created pizzas for tea using many different toppings. They thoroughly enjoyed doing this, especially eating them!

This week we had a Christmas party on floor, with a huge buffet of delicious food. We played the gift exchange dice game, which became very intense but all the pupils loved opening their gifts. We also played cards and shared card tricks - a lovely end to the term before breaking up for Christmas! We hope all the pupils have a wonderful Christmas break and we look forward to seeing them in the New Year! Merry Christmas everyone!

The school was lucky enough to enjoy a visit from Mr Nathan Long, who is one of the production crew of Wicked.

Nathan gave some of our Year 9 pupils an insight into working on one of the West End’s most popular shows. Ryan H, Oliver, Dylan, and Eric had all shown an interest in doing theatre-based jobs such as acting, props, IT / lighting - these pupils all gained a deeper understanding of what these areas would be like as future careers, and what a 'day in the life' of each might entail.

We would like to thank Nathan for his time and for sharing his wonderful knowledge, stories, and amazing facts about working in the theatre industry. The pupils look forward to Nathan’s next visit.

As part of the PSHE curriculum this half term, pupils participated in a range of activities during Anti-Bullying Week - from 14^th to 18^th November. This year’s theme was Reach Out, with Muntham House School pupils joining in with the national campaign of reaching out if you’ve been bullied, if you've witnessed someone being bullied, or if you need support to stop being a bully. Within the PSHE classroom, lessons were designed to educate our pupils on the different roles of bullying, from the 'target' to the 'ringleader' and 'assistants', to the 'defenders' or 'outsiders'. Pupils were encouraged to consider the viewpoints of each role, and the impact on bullying within our community.

During the week, we came off-timetable for an afternoon of whole school activities where groups were mixed and pupils were able to work with younger/older peers. There was an anti-bullying working group that looked closely at the school’s policy and came up with a range of appropriate actions for prevention and consequences for bullying behaviour. This information was shared with senior staff and will inform practices in school to keep all pupils, safe, caring and cared-for, and happy. There were some more arts-based groups during the afternoon: those who created brilliant pieces of artwork that are displayed around the school; those that wrote and performed their own original anti-bullying song; and another group who brought drama and acting to the main stage. These groups displayed great confidence and helped bring to life the anti-bullying slogan 'Reach Out'. Our sporty group participated in several team games, promoting good sportsmanship and encouragement of others, whilst also working hard to compete against staff.

As a school, we are committed to reaching out to stop bullying and to raise awareness of the impact that bullying can have on our young people.

Despite the low temperatures creeping up on us, all the year groups have suited-up and braved the weather to carry out their Duke of Edinburgh sessions. 

Year 9  

At school, the year 9 groups have worked on the John Muir Trust part of their award by looking further at natural habitats and the environmental impact of what we do at school, whilst making plans that help to improve our impact. 

On their termly trip, they were practicing their navigation and field cooking skills on a geocaching trip near St Leonard’s Woods in Horsham. A big shout out to Oliver, Ben, Sky, and Lewis for showing outstanding independence skills in getting themselves 'un-lost'! 

Year 10 

The Year 10s continue to practice their outdoor cooking skills and explored baking, frying, and boiling different recipes using Trangias, skillet pants, and a Dutch oven. The highlight was definitely the pizzas they cooked up. 

Year 11 

After showing great competency in their hiking last term, a trip for some indoor climbing was organised for this half term which counted towards the Year 11’s Physical section of their DofE. Callum and Alfie showed excellent trust and communication whilst billeting each other up the taller walls. Constantine revealed that he is basically like Spiderman!

MHC 

The MHC group had a lovely day ascending, enjoying and descending Box Hill which gave way to some stunning views and a really lovely route that we definitely will revisit in the future. 

In school, the group have all been working hard at completing their Physical sections too with some cycling through some very boggy paths. 

One of our pupils here at Muntham House School has done an amazing job repairing his bike over the past six months. He has worked with both Mr Benton and Mr Blewitt on it and has been extremely engaged the majority of the time. It has been an absolute pleasure to see him so interested and committed to the project, and to see his dedication to the work he has been doing.

With any luck, his bike should pass its MOT without any defects, and he will soon be able to use it as a mode of transport to get to and from work, and maybe even school.

Wednesday 9^th November – U16

On Wednesday 9^th November, our U16 footballers made the trip to Long Lane JFC for their second football tournament of the year. After a tough match in previous visits, our sportsmen were keen to impress and turn their luck around. There was a much-improved team performance all around on this occasion, with the highlight of the day being a hat-trick in Game 1 from Dexter. The Man of the Match was Dexter – as voted for by his teammates.

Wednesday 16^th November – U14

A week later it was the turn of the U14 team to make the trip up to London. A fantastic day was had by all in which the U14s came out victorious from what was a strong group of teams. Goals throughout the day were shared amongst the team and a big mention must go out to our footballers for the fantastic teamwork, encouragement, and sportsmanship shown throughout the day. Rio was voted Man of the Match on the day. Rio has shown great improvement and confidence in his football ability, and played a huge part in the team's success.

Wednesday 23^rd November – U12

The Under 12s played their first tournament at Long Lane JFC on Wednesday 23^rd November. With a mixture of years 5, 6 & 7 the team was placed in Group A and had a tough selection of games facing them. The boys didn’t let this faze them and came out victorious on the day, with some fantastic team play and brilliant individual goals also. Charlie M was voted Man of the Match whose free-kick into the top corner of the final game got the U12s the final win they needed to top the group.

Thursday 24^th November – Post-16

Our champion Post-16 team returned to Long Lane after winning their previous tournament back in October. The team carried on their top form bringing home another MHS win, again without conceding a goal along the way. Stan was Man of the Match again on this occasion. Stan always gives 100% but on this day was on another level and played brilliantly in every game, including scoring the winning goal with the last kick of the game in the final match.

Camelia Botnar, a local Garden Centre near Muntham House School, has once again very generously donated two Christmas trees to our school.  We went to collect these trees with a couple of very helpful elves from our primary department. The trees have been fully decorated to help get everybody into the spirit of Christmas and look beautiful in the main pupil entrance area and the reception area.

The donation of a 6ft tree for our Pupil Entrance.

And a 10ft tree for our main reception.

We are extremely grateful for these wonderful donations from Camelia Botnar. 

As we are all aware, the last couple of years have been quite difficult for many families. This year again, staff at Muntham House School decided not to take part in Secret Santa present-giving, but instead donated food to Horsham Matters Food Bank. 

Horsham Matters is a charity that aims to relieve hardship through the provision of essential services (food, fuel, shelter and furniture) in order to make a positive, long-lasting impact on people's lives. With Christmas just around the corner, they have made an appeal for Christmas food items and toiletries.

The food bank were thrilled with the donations and were extremely grateful that we could help others in need. We raised 135kg of food for this worthy cause. 

This term Muntham house school hosted its first Christmas nativity. The show consisted of multiple fantastic music acts and a brilliant nativity performance.

Hosts Mr Shambrook and Lewis opened the show with some Christmas jokes - they were real crackers - and the nativity was sandwiched between two pupil bands that capped off the festive fun.

All the pupils that participated in the show worked incredibly hard to ensure the show was a great success. Thank you to all the staff and pupils involved to make it another superb performance, we’re already looking forward to the next one. 

Please note that day pupils return from the

Christmas holiday on

WEDNESDAY 4TH JANUARY 2023

Term dates are on the school website.

 Term Dates

SPRING HALF TERM

MONDAY 13TH FEBRUARY - FRIDAY 17TH FEBRUARY

LAST DAY OF SPRING TERM

FRIDAY 31ST MARCH - INSET DAY

FOR INFORMATION, THE INSET DAYS UNTIL THE END OF

SPRING TERM ARE: