Bulletin 01.04.2022

WEEKLY BULLETIN

01.04.2022 | ISSUE 19

01.04 2022 | ISSUE 19

WEEKLY BULLETIN

Moon Hall School Reigate

Dear Parents and families of Moon Hall,

As we have reached the end of term, the best thing about this term simply has to be that long awaited return to normality. We are of
course still mindful of our duty of care to our whole school community, however returning to how things used to be 2 years ago is truly
heart-warming.

We have had many whole school assemblies; these are such an important event in the weekly plans. Not only have we covered
important topics such as LGBTQ+, the situation in Ukraine, Careers and had several Departmental assemblies, but it also so important
as it allows our youngest pupils to see the older pupils of the school and the super Ambassadors that they are.

The school assembly is a formal event, my expectations of the pupils are high, and this is important because the topics that we discuss
are important. Assemblies are just one of the ways that we educate pupils out of the classroom about important topics; our PHSEE day
this week focussed on discrimination and bias as well as our daily form time sessions where pupils are encouraged to be open and
share things that are important to them. Encouraging informed independent thinkers and confident debaters of sometimes sensitive
topics is our aim.

The visit to the Dyslexia show, last week was phenomenal. This was the first year for this event and it enabled me to meet with many
like minded individuals and representatives from other specialist schools and industry. It was entirely reassuring to know that Moon
Hall is absolutely leading the way in providing an excellent education for Dyslexic children - of this I have no doubt. Our child focussed
approach to lessons, the use of Assistive Technology and the in-house Therapy team is not something on offer at all schools and even
on offer at other specialist schools.

The highlight of the visit was my meeting with Matt Hancock MP. He was gracious to spend around 10 minutes with me, allowing me to
wax lyrical about Moon Hall and what we offer. We are currently trying to schedule a visit for him to
come and see the wonders of Moon Hall for himself, hopefully some time after the Easter break. Matt
is dyslexic himself and also has a bill going through Parliament currently for early screening for every
child.

Attending the Bett at London Excel centre and presenting on the OrCam stand was also a wonderful
experience. Although I resembled a 1980’s Madonna video with 2 different headsets and mic’s it was
great to present to others about the benefit of Assistive Technology in the classroom. I also took three
pupils with me on the day - Adrianna, Winston and Jacob who were amazing! They also spoke to visitors
on the day and talked about their experience of Moon Hall and the benefits of using technology-
outstanding Ambassadors of the school and I could not have been prouder of them.

Friday, we finished with our Coco’s sponsored walk. We are halfway to our target and our Year 11’s would hugely appreciate any
sponsorship money donated to try and achieve our target of building a home for a family in Africa. We need £2000 to reach the target.
Please click on link to see more! https://youtu.be/hbEDtOupB-k

Egg throwing for our finale! Please ask your child to explain the Moon Hall egg throwing, it really is spectacular and great fun! Watch the
video here of the end of term fun: https://youtu.be/ySwziS1cyx8

Wishing you all a wonderful Easter break. Hopefully the sun will shine for us all. The Catterson’s are staying put in Sussex, but to all
those finally travelling after many restrictions over the past two years please enjoy your well-earned break. When you are on the beach
spare a thought for me refurbishing my (not touched since the 80’s) nostalgic new home, that my children haven’t quite yet forgiven me
for!

Kindest wishes

Michelle Catterson
Executive Head
Moon Hall Schools Educational Trust

HALF TERM HIGHLIGHT
WORLD BOOK WEEK!

On Thursday 3rd March, Moon Hall School
celebrated World Book Day 2022! The theme this
year, 'You Are a Reader,' has been a particularly
important message to convey to our pupils as we
ardently wish to encourage more curiosity for
reading, especially for our Juniors!

We began our celebration with a whole-school assembly
led by our Reading Coordinator, Mrs Katie Eldred, and
English Teacher, Mr Joe Crawford, who quizzed the pupils
on their favourite authors & fictional characters, reminding
pupils across all year groups that 'You Are a Reader.' The
costumed Juniors stole the show, entering the gymnasium
to a round of applause and cheering from the Seniors. The
teachers, too, appeared as costumed characters from their
favourite books, including Mrs Catterson as Professor
McGonagall and her magnificent, miniature wizarding
wand!

Students enjoyed a series of World Book Day activities
across the English Department. Yr7 created a Room 13
Vampire Survival Guide, hunted for book titles in the MC
Grammar Rap, and competed to identify the film
adaptations of books in the World Book Day quiz - Yr11's
Rufus Jordan currently holds the highest-score!
We hope you will help us continue to enrich your child's
curiosity for reading!

Last week was neurodiversity celebration week, and the Junior School have all responded really
well to recognising our differences and that these can be good things and a strength. Just look at
some of the lovely work Mr Martin’s English group did!
Mr Claxton.

SCIENCE WEEK 21ST-25TH MARCH

Last week we ran a photo competition and had a lunchtime 'Bath Bomb Club.'
All the lessons had a little extra spice involving flaming bubbles, flame tests, the “whoosh” bottle,
volcanoes, spaghetti towers and buzzers.

Homemade bath bombs
Mrs B-K's year 8 groups carried out some exciting experiments with flames and fire extinguishers. They
burned several metal compounds in a Bunsen flame to see the different colours produced, with copper
chloride producing a bright green flame and potassium chloride a lovely lilac colour. They finished off by
making their own fire extinguishers to put out a candle with the foam produced. Lots of mess! Please see
videos on our YouTube channel.

Spaghetti tower

PSHE DAY!

What a fun packed day we had on Monday. A large range of activities were put on for the pupils including
Basketball (with one pupil in a wheelchair), Boccia, anti-bullying workshops and discussions and debates
about equality, discrimination and prejudice.

Homemade bath bombs

The pupils enjoyed a game of Boccia (pronounced bot-
cha,) a Paralympic sport similar to bowls. The game is
played on a flat surface, usually indoors, with a court
the size of a badminton court.

Pupils had the opportunity to use virtual reality
headsets to watch and interact with simulated
environments about bullying and experience a
first-person view as well as ask questions.

Buzz even got involved!

SCIENCE WEEK - PHOTOGRAPH COMPETITION

The science department opened up a photographic competition for the whole school. There were over 20
entries and all staff voted for their top three and here they are. All entries will be displayed on a board
outside the science laboratory.

Lucas J - 1st Lucas J - 2nd Adriana dV - 3rd

MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLBEING

Importance of spending time in nature
Spending time in nature improves low moods and
promotes relaxation and calm. This is because we all have
an innate deep connection to our environment and to the
earth itself that goes way back to our ancestors.

"We are part of the wildness of the universe. That is our
nature. Our noblest, happiest character develops with the
influence of wildness" - Howard Zahniser.

The society in which we live in today, with industrialisation
and urbanisation, means we have become disconnected
with our natural surroundings, which has a direct negative
impact on our mental health and wellbeing.

We are meant to be free, to run wild, use our imagination,
climb trees, play, explore, connect and notice.

How could you encourage a young person in your life today
to run free and connect to nature?

Mrs Proctor

SAVE THE DATE!

This half term Miss
Wheeler’s art club have
been working hard at
painting their portraits and
I think you’ll agree they
have done such an amazing
job! First, they projected
their image onto a canvas
board and traced around it.
Then they used acrylic
paints to paint them. Well
done juniors!

COVID UPDATE

As many parents will have heard, the in-school COVID-19 vaccination programme ends today, Friday 1st
April. 12 to 15 year olds will still be able to access the vaccine outside of school at a vaccination centre,
pharmacy or walk-in centre.
Healthy 5 to 11 year olds will be now be offered the COVID-19 vaccine from the beginning of April.
Vaccinations will take place outside of school in vaccination centres, pharmacies, GP surgeries and
walk-in centres. If your child is between the ages of 5 – 11 you will receive a letter from the NHS with
further information on the vaccine.
You can use this link to book your child’s vaccination book COVID-19 vaccination appointments online,
at a vaccination centre or pharmacy, or find a walk-in COVID-19 vaccination site without needing an
appointment.

GIRLS PE KIT

As the weather becomes warmer, girls are allowed to
wear Moon Hall PE shorts, leggings, school tracksuit
bottoms or plain black shorts (reasonable length.) No
cycling shorts or skorts to be worn.

TRIVIA

80 million easter eggs are
sold every year in the UK and
the average child will
consume 8 of them. That's
8,000 calories!

COMPETITION TIME!!

Inter-school touch typing
competition

!!! Test your skills against students in other
schools!!!

EASTER TYPE BUNNIES

Ideas to get you going . . .

Please send your designs to [email protected]

5TH MOON HALL SCHOOL FESTIVAL

Make a film on the theme "Disguise" the theme is quite open
Detail to follow...

PSHE

If I can’t be famous my future career will be…?
PSHE Day 4th May 2022 (All Students.) For our next PSHE day after the Easter break, we are
inviting all children to dress up (if they want to) in clothes that show their future career. Try to
avoid careers that make you famous – like being a footballer. Be creative and get thinking…

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Address:

Moon Hall School Reigate, Flanchford Road,
Leigh, Surrey RH2 8RE



Telephone:

01306 611372