Dear children and young people,
Happy Thursday! As it’s a special day tomorrow and there’s no school (‘yippee!!’ I hear you all cry), the weekend officially starts today.
I hope you are all enjoying this gorgeous weather and looking forward to taking part in the ‘Highclare Hike’ over the next few days. I am geared up and ready to go – I have my Parisian beret ready and will be doing my best to walk to Paris with Monsieur Moore. Paris is one of our favourite places to visit and we do our best to go at least once every two years. I love the city, as it’s so full of wonderful sights and fabulous restaurants. I also enjoy practising my French – which isn’t as ‘tres bien’ as it could be! When we go, we love to travel on Eurostar as I don’t really (if I’m honest) like flying very much. It’s not the actual flying that I dislike, it’s all the palaver of packing and putting all my cosmetics etc into tiny little plastic bags, weighing my cabin bag and, usually, being caught out for it being too heavy! This happens to me a lot – when we went to Costa Rica for example, the pupils will tell you that my bag was the heaviest! I got off with it though – phew!
Anyway, back to Paris. One of the reasons we went last year was to see what Notre Dame looked like after the fire – or as the French say ‘après l’incendie’ – Mrs Lightfoot will be proud of me! I was really dreading seeing the Cathedral as it’s always been one of my favourite places to visit. However, I was delighted to note that it was still looking as grand as ever – despite losing its tower – here are some pics – me in ma béret with Monsieur Moore doing his best to ignore me in the background (he’s wearing the white hat or his ‘chapeau blanc) and one of Notre Dame.
I will be wearing ma béret during my walks over the weekend – so, if you happen to see me in the park, I won’t be upset if you choose to run away and hide from embarrassment!
Talking about the French language – I absolutely loved, loved, loved studying and teaching the History of Language (back in the day). I’ve always been really interested in where words come from and a lovely story I used to tell the children I taught was one about how marmalade got its name – Here it is:
The young Mary Queen of Scots came over to the Scottish Court during a particularly bad winter. Scotland in winter is bad at the best of times, but imagine having to live in a very drafty old castle with snow coming through the turrets windows? Anyway, Mary contracted a very bad bout of flu and found it very difficult to eat anything. They tried everything they could to entice her to eat, but to no avail. Her French chef then remembered that he had a brought, what was then, some very rare and exotic fruits from the French court – a basket of oranges. He boiled these up, adding sugar and some spices, which he subsequently turned into a kind of jam or – if you want the French word – ‘confiture’ or ‘compote’. He called this dish ‘Marie est malade (Mary’s is sick) which, over time, came to be known as marmalade. This may or may not be true, but I like to think it is.
Anyway, I hope you and all your family enjoy taking part in the Highclare Hike over the weekend, as it will not only be great fun, but an excellent way of keeping fit and healthy. Obviously, I will be in training for my usual fish and chips tomorrow night in any event! Details will be sent to you via the VLE – so good luck (Bonne Chance) to you all!
Thank you again for completing the wellbeing survey that we sent out last week and it’s good to see that so many of you are feeling happy and cheerful. However, I have noted that a few of you are struggling a little (as we all are at times). Please, therefore, do NOT hesitate to contact us if you need to talk or just need some advice – we are always here to listen and we really do care about your welfare – even when you are not physically in school.
Moving on now to a message for the U5 pupils. You have been given the task of choosing a selection of subjects that you are interested in studying at A level and I am happy to note that most of you have already done this. Once we have all your responses in, we will be putting a timetable together for each of you so that you can get ready to attend your chosen lessons. I’m sure you will find these A level ‘bridging’ lessons and tasks very helpful. They will give you an overview of what to expect from those subjects at A level and help you to decide which ones to choose. I will be involved as well as I will be delivering some sessions on study skills, so I am really looking forward to seeing you via Zoom shortly! I am also attaching a Study Skills Booklet I’ve prepared which contains some useful advice on how to prepare for and survive life in the Sixth Form! If you have any further questions regarding this, please do not hesitate to contact Mr Parkinson, Mrs Healey or me.
Study Skills guide – Highclare
Going back now to the celebrations this weekend to mark the 75th anniversary of VE day (Victory in Europe day), I hope you all enjoy the day itself, tomorrow. I know that some streets will be holding, socially distanced, tea parties and get-togethers and if you are involved in one of these – have a great time! I will be out with my penny whistle this evening when we all clap for the NHS and I am practising singing ‘We’ll meet again’ a song by Vera Lynn (who was the Lady Gaga of her day) which was very popular during the war to sing tomorrow with my neighbours. I thought it might be helpful if I attached the words of this song in case you and your family will be taking part in the big sing-along of this song, which will be taking place across the country tomorrow evening. The words to the song ring true to us today as we too have suffered the pains of being separated from our nearest and dearest. It’s also a good song for us a school because, hopefully, we will all be meeting again soon when we return to the dear old Abbey! Here are the words for you to print and share:
We’ll Meet Again
We’ll meet again
Don’t know where
Don’t know when
But I know we’ll meet again some sunny day
Keep smiling through
Just like you always do
‘Till the blue skies drive the dark clouds far away
So will you please say hello
To the folks that I know
Tell them I won’t be long
They’ll be happy to know
That as you saw me go
I was singing this song
We’ll meet again
Don’t know where
Don’t know when
But I know we’ll meet again some sunny day
We’ll meet again
Don’t know where
Don’t know when
But I know we’ll meet again some sunny day
Keep smiling through
Just like you always do
‘Til the blue skies
Drive the dark…
https://youtu.be/T5C4meGkNyc?t=4
The above link should take you to Vera singing the song to give you an idea of the tune!
Before I forget, ‘Happy Birthday’ greetings go to Ethan, Ayisha and Ruby N who I’ve heard had birthdays recently – I will do my best to check other birthdays that occur later this month – sorry if I’ve missed yours.
Finally, until we ‘meet again’, I hope you all have a lovely, happy and relaxed weekend. Remember, as always, to be kind (to yourself and others), continue to help out at home and enjoy hiking for Highclare!
Love and best wishes
Mrs M
