Advance notice that we are planning to take the whole of the Prep Department (Years 3 to 8) to see a matinee performance of The Wizard of Oz at the London Palladium on Wednesday 11 January 2012. This follows on from our highly successful trip to see Wicked in 2010. More details will follow after half term.

On Tuesday, September 20th 2011, Year 3 experienced a day as Romans. Helena came and told us that we were going to be slaves for the day. We worked at various stalls. We made oil from olives and lit lamps with the oil, we made wax tablets to write on, we made ink from charcoal and wrote on papyrus, we made pots and also metal brooches. In the afternoon we celebrated that we had defeated Boudica. We had play, a mime and watched our soldiers marching. While this was happening we had a feast of bread, ‘wine’ and fruit. It was a really lovely day, and one boy was heard to say ‘this has been the best day of my life’.

On Friday 26th September, Mrs Wheeler and Miss Smith organised a ‘Willow Day’ which all of Year 5 and 6 took part in. As I took part in Willow Day myself, I can reveal an insider’s report. After assembly, Year 5 and 6 were asked to stay behind for the ‘briefing’. First we were split into two groups, group one and group two. Then we were split again into sub-groups; squirrels, badgers, foxes, pigeons, crows, hedgehogs and magpies. We took part in knot-tying and willow sculpting. “All the sculptures were very good” said both Mrs Wheeler and Miss Smith. I think I speak on behalf of all Year 5 and 6 when I say that we all thoroughly enjoyed willow day and owe Mrs Wheeler and Miss Smith a huge thanks for the day. We liked it so much, we hope it will become an annual event at Bickley Park School. PS: If you would like to see our willow sculptures, they are on display on the Headmaster’s Lawn. By Max Finch

Unfortunately, the matrons working at the Lodge do not start work until 9.15 am; would parents wishing to drop off any medicine please leave it at the office for collection by the matrons once they come on duty. If you wish to speak to a matron, please email her or telephone later in the day. In addition, could we request that parents ask boys to bring their own musical instruments over to the music suite in the mornings, as the kitchen staff are otherwise engaged and not free to answer the front door. Many thanks for your co-operation.

On Thursday, 22nd September Year 7 travelled to The National Archives at Kew to take part in a workshop called “What is History”. This workshop entailed working in groups to examine different types of documents held in the archives. First, the workshop raised the boys’ awareness of archives. They were shown how The National Archives works; what is stored and the work that goes into looking after the nation’s collections. There are tens of millions of original documents kept at Kew. The boys were presented with five different types of original documents. The oldest document dated back to the early part of the 16th century and the latest from the Second World War. The boys examined the documents without, of course, touching any of them and recorded information about them, such as their age, who made them, why they were made. This workshop helped these newcomers crystallize skills that will be essential to meet the requirements of the Common Entrance Syllabus and beyond. Perhaps this experience will have inspired someone to become the next Schama or Starkey! A copy of one of the documents the boys had the opportunity to look at closely on the day is shown below. RP