!!!!ACTION!!!!ACTION!!!!
• Autumn Term 2008 – The classrooms will be open on Wednesday 3rd September, the day before Term starts on the Thursday for kit to be brought in. The Prep School children may take their kit to their classrooms ready for a kit check on the first day of term and the Pre-Prep children may hang their kit on their pegs. Nursery children bring their kit in on their first day of term.

• Uniform Shops – A reminder that the uniform shops will be open before the start of next term as follows:
Simmonds Shop – Monday 1st September and Tuesday 2nd September BY APPOINTMENT ONLY and Wednesday 3rd September between 10 am – 12 Noon. Please leave a message on the Simmonds Shop telephone to make an appointment 01580 754219.
Second-hand Shop - Tuesday 2nd September and Wednesday 3rd September from 10 am – 12 Noon and then from Thursday 4th September as normal.

• Simmonds Shop Next Term – The Simmonds shop from next term will be open from 8.15 – 9.15 am, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday mornings. Closed on Wednesday.

• Macmillan Coffee Morning – Advance notice that once again we will be participating in the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning in aid of the Macmillan Cancer Support. This year it takes place on Friday 26th September and we would be most grateful if parents could start to look for any items suitable for raffle prizes. There will be a box in the Front Hall from September for any donations. Many thanks.

• Multicultural Day – Advance notice again that we are holding a Multicultural Mufti Day during Book Week in the Autumn Term. It is hoped that all children in the school will come to school dressed, either wholly or partly, in items (or an item) of clothing from another country. It doesn’t need to be a whole outfit, one item such as a hat will suffice. If you’re abroad on holiday during the summer you may like to bear this in mind! The money raised will go to Nyeramya, the school we support in Kenya.

• Postcards - Mrs Nash would like to do a display about the children's summer holidays and would be very grateful if the Pre-Prep children could send her a postcard from their holiday destination to: Marlborough House School, High Street, Hawkhurst, Kent TN18 4PY. Many thanks!

GENERAL

IAPS Tennis
Good luck to all the tennis players, both boys and girls, who are competing in the IAPS championships at Queenswood School, Hertfordshire next week. Many thanks to Mrs Amanda Petch for organising the entries and to all the parents who are taking their children all the way to Hertfordshire to compete. We will look forward to hearing how they all get on.
Good news!
Following our item two week’s ago about Mrs White’s cat we are very pleased to report that the missing cat returned home last Wednesday evening looking extremely thin and hungry but fine apart from that. The vet has given her a clean bill of health and now she just needs to double her body weight! Mrs White thinks she got trapped somewhere and only got out when she was thin enough! One of her nine lives used up!


LOST AND FOUND
The following item is available for collection from the Front office: 
A pink child's umbrella with strawberries and cherries on.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO: Eloise Plummer and Rosie Poole (12th July), Oliver Hall (15th July), George Webb (16th July), Kit Lillingston-Paterson (18th July), Tom Santini, George Rusling and Oliver Danbury (19th July), Freddie Horlick (20th July), Epernay Balcomb-Hellier and Archie Niell (21st July), Tess Pritchard (22nd July), Phoebe Hensley (23rd July), Jasmine Jenkinson (24th July), Charlotte Ford, Olivia Jones, Ella Johnson and Oscar Plomer-Roberts (29th July) Philippa van Kan (31st July), Izzy Cloke, Alexander Dunn and Sam Wheatley (1st August), Henry Davies, Archie Marshall, Katherine Reid and Holly Emerson (4th August), Romy Saville, Callum and Laird Shepherd and Tillie Vian (5th August), Patrick Beech (6th August), Olivia Legg (8th August), Hannah Kent (9th August), Elliot Waters (10th August), Alec Gard (11th August), Alex Newton (13th August), Olivia Tomalin (15th August), Casper Petch and Louisa West (16th August), Jack Benton (19th August), Harry Latham-Coyle (20th August), Isobel Spence (22nd August), Thomas McGee (23rd August), Ben Oaten (25th August), Finnbhar Wylie and Edward Houchin (26th August) and Charlie Horlick (29th August).



MERIT AWARDS: Well done to the following who have achieved merit awards: Natasha Machin and Katie van Kan (Maths), Isabel Locke, Kitty Ive, Jack Walker, Toby Houchin, Phoebe Gale, Piers Crowther, Isobel Taylor and Sophie Lunshof (CS) Charlie Hunter Blair and Jessica Fox (English), Kate Winsor, Harriet Dipper, David Bickersteth, James Ross and Matilda Denbow (French), William Michaels, Harry Pendered and Leo Danczak (Maths) and Jessica Fox, Emily Allchin and Roberta Norris (French).


Shooting
The shooting team had a match with a team of adult experts last Thursday 3rd July. There was a handicap of 14 points for the A team and 41 for the B team. Two of the visitors scored 100 (including the shooting master from Sevenoaks School) and their team total was 393.
Our A team made 385 (Tom Matthewson 98) and adding their handicap of 14 points made them the winners with 399. Our B team made 392. Hugo Godwin was the highest scorer with 94 (his best yet) and Emily Bostock was able to complete her First Class Shot qualification with her score of 89. Well done to all the competitors and thank you to Mr Chris Elgood for organising the afternoon.


Well done to the following who achieved 3 or more Good Marks last week:
AWDRY: Phoebe Icke, William Kinchin, Katherine Reid and Emily Allchin
DUNBAR: George Marshall, Thomas Roeder and Connor Boland
EGAN: Rose Down and Annabel Guye-Johnson
HAWKINGS: Ollie Kent, Roberta Norris, Nicole Stewart, Henry Poole and Olivia Jones
The winning House was AWDRY.


Staff v Friends Cricket and Rounders Friday 4th July

As Americans waved flags and celebrated their battle for Independence, different kinds of skirmishes were beginning on the playing fields of Marlborough House School.

The big question was could the mothers beat the staff again? Would seconding Rosie Down and Sophie Waters as ‘runners’ give the mothers the edge? Would the staff be looking for revenge? The mothers had a shaky start as they dug deep into their collective memory to remember how to play (well it had been a very long time for some of them!) There were a few half hearted warming up exercises as the mothers took their places in the field and the staff opened the batting. Fielding was rather loose to begin with, and some of the throwing was misplaced, but it didn’t take long for the mothers to find their form and started tightening the field. Notably, in the first innings, Mrs Karen Stewart took a magnificent catch at 4th base, in her skirt! Other notable catches were taken by Millie Harries and Susie Jones for the mothers and Janette Constable for the staff, most of the staff rounders were scored, unsurprisingly, by Mrs Rachel Fox!

Disaster struck for poor Mrs Daley who tore her Achilles tendon at first post and had to retire hurt, an excruciatingly painful injury which she bore with real bravery. Although the staff went on to be victorious, the mothers were exceptionally gracious in defeat and have chosen not to mention the presence of the two gym mistresses on the staff’s side!!

The mens’ cricket v the staff was another exciting event with the staff batting first and setting a fairly average target of 128 in their allotted 20 overs. Charlie O'Brien, this year’s Junior Master, hit the shot of the innings with a lofty six that went into the trees by the pavilion at about 30 foot in the air! There was a brief stoppage for rain between the innings but thankfully a beer and burger helped pass the time!

The parents then set about the task confidently and only lost a few wickets in their innings. They required 3 runs to win off the last 5 balls and 4 byes after a quicker one went through the keeper gave them a comfortable victory. Both sides enjoyed a lovely evening and the staff look forward to getting back to their winning ways next year!

The two new events, the fathers’ 5-a-side football and the coconut shy, were also well supported and great fun. The Barbeque was hugely successful with delicious food. There seemed to be more people attending than ever and luckily the weather was relatively kind and everyone seemed to have a lovely time.

Many thanks to the Friends’ Committee for organising such a fun evening, to Phil Cornish for organising and running the coconut shy so merrily, to Mr Lockyer and Linda for providing such delicious food, to Hugh Willing and finally to the very nice ice cream man for his generous donation!

Mrs Liz Daley would like to thank all the lovely mums who looked after her when she injured her leg on Friday. She felt very well ‘mummyed’ and her only regret is not saying yes to some of the many glasses of wine that were offered to make her feel better! She has been back at school this week with her leg in plaster and on crutches, we wish her all the very best for a speedy recovery.

Leavers’ Revue
Well done to the Year 8 pupils who put on a fantastic Leavers’ Revue on Wednesday. The theme was ‘Disaster of the decades!’ which included sketches ranging from The Sound of Music, Fanny and Johnny Craddock, Blind Date to a Jane Fonda Fitness Video! The audience were highly amused by the sketches and impressed by the talents of their children!
Very many thanks to Mrs Rachel Elliott and Mr Paul Tooze for all their hard work in helping to produce the show.


Year 6 French
Over the last few French sessions of the term, the Year 6 children have been dipping into the website for French children takatrouver.net, reading French jokes, poems, recipes etc., which we then shared together on Tuesday morning. Many congratulations to the pupils who had learned their French jokes off by heart. Best (or worst!) of the bunch: Qu'est-ce qui est vert et qui monte et qui descend? Réponse: un petit pois dans un ascenseur.


Pre-Prep swimming gala
The day of the Pre-Prep Swimming Gala started with torrential rain, high winds and a powercut! After the return of the power, and having managed to get the water temperature in the pool up to 30 degrees, a slightly reduced Gala went ahead. It was a rather grey and chilly afternoon but the children swam with gusto and just managed to avoid the showers. Well done to all who swam, the standard of swimming seems to get better year after year. Many thanks to Mrs Louise Heilbron and Mrs Rachel Fox for all their hard work and dedication, not just for the Gala, but throughout the year.

‘Recorder Fantasia’
Finchcocks – Goudhurst
Saturday 13th September 2.00pm
This is a concert of recorder music to celebrate the legacy of Arnold Dolmetsch, the great pioneer of early music. Pupils from MHS are taking part. Tickets are available from Finchcocks 01580 211702.


Housesitters
Miss Charlotte Gibbs, who was our Junior Matron in 2006, is back in England for the Summer and would be interested in house sitting along with her boyfriend who is an agricultural contractor by trade and is able to do handyman style jobs around the house if needed! They both drive and would hire a car if necessary and are available until the end of July.
Charlotte’s mobile number is 07766 080268.


Mr Philip Lockyer ran the London Marathon back in April to raise money for the Gurkha Welfare Trust, this was also combined with a 100km (66 mile) walk over the South Downs to be completed in no longer than 30 hours, his team ‘the Locksmiths’ are aiming for 24 hours! The event is a non stop walk with 10 stages to complete. They will be starting at 6am on Saturday 19th July and finish, hopefully at 6am the next morning. If interested in their progress and comments on how they are feeling, then log on to http://twitter.com/thetrailwalkers and see how they are getting on. Or go to www.justgiving/thelocksmiths. He would like to thank parents and staff for all the support for the marathon and now the Trailwalker.


Windsurfing – Kids’ Camps – Sailing
Following the success of the Year 8 pupils’ windsurfing course at Rye Watersports this term, the Proprietor (ex-MHS parent, Margaret) is happy to offer Marlborough House School children a 10% discount on all Windsurfing and Sailing courses and Kids’ Camps during the summer holidays.
Please call 01797 225238 or see their website www.ryewatersports.co.uk


Tennis tuition and coaching
Ex-MHS pupil and PTR Qualified Coach Alex O’Mahony-Zed is available for tennis coaching. For beginners and players wanting to improve their game. Coaching is available for single and group tuition. Based locally in Wadhurst
Telephone: 07746 856575
Email: alexomahonyzed@yahoo.com