Listen to: Walled Garden BBC Sussex27.9.11

The Garden Club had their first meeting on Wednesday 28th September and was a great success.  Pupils and staff enjoyed the lovely sunshine and the children were put to the task of putting some wonderful well rotted manure around the pear trees by the east wall.

They also planted four plots of Caliente mustard seed, a mixture of lettuce seeds and a ring of bulbs around the base of the Wisteria tree.

We are all looking forward to the clubs second meeting next week.

Andy Norman

On Tuesday the 20^th September we went to Pagham Harbour nature reserve. We travelled by mini-buses and the roads we went on were the A24,the A280, the A27 and the B2145. On the way we saw Arundel Castle and when we were almost there we saw a sign saying, Pagham Harbour with a duck on it.

When we got there we had a drink and a biscuit and Debbie was the leader and she showed us everything. After our drink we went to do a saltmarsh survey. We saw crabs and we did a quiz. We also saw lots of plants such as glasswort, sea aster, sea purslane and cord grass. After we had studied the salt marsh we went to an old rubbish dump. There were things like shoes, bottles, card and paper that had been left there for forty years.

After that we had our lunch. We had sandwiches, crisps, chocolate penguins an apple and water to drink. Following our lunch Debbie showed us some bird beaks, there was a heron, a puffin and several others. The next activity we did was mud sifting and we found ragworms, shrimps and spire shells. After that we did some pond dipping. We had nets and we had to try and find lots of animals like water boatmen and pond skaters. Then we went and saw spiders which were hiding in sticks and old wood and that ended our day’s trip to Pagham Harbour.

By Saskia Norman

On Tuesday 27^th September the Ones were taken to London to take a tour of The Globe Theatre. After a short walk down South Bank, we arrived at The Globe Theatre. We were greeted by a very upbeat tour guide who took us straight outside, describing to us along the way about Samuel Wannamaker: the founder of the Globe Theatre that we know today. The Globe was not in its original birthplace because it had been built under what was now a bridge, so they could not rebuild it on the original site. We were taken inside to enjoy the beautiful wooden structure and told about which class of people would sit where and why they now use props.

She gave us lots of information about all different aspects of Shakespeare’s performances and told us that: many of the boy actors died of poisoning due to the vast quantities of lead in their make-up; there were no actresses as female characters had to be played by young boys and the acting profession was not a credible one so it was unthinkable that any woman would appear in a play and that in just two weeks Elizabethan theatres could often present eleven performances of ten different plays!

It was a fascinating tour and we learnt a great deal.

Kate Aston

On Friday 23^rd, SG went to see the Shakespeare play: ‘Much Ado about Nothing’. We went in two minibuses to Danny House. When we arrived we had a delicious supper then straight out to the play.

The play was outside, so it was cold, but it made a very good Shakespearian experience. The stage was just an area of grass. Everyone sat around it. How they used the space, was amazing. The only props they had on stage were a bench and a tree.

It is a comedy and a romantic play. The main story line is about two people, (Hero and Claudio) who fall in love but, a villain tries to stop them just for fun.  The play had been made into a modern version, so the characters were wearing 60’s type clothing.

The play was very good and the actors were amazing. I loved it how they made the play modern which gave it a funny twist. The actors were always in character even when they walked in the background and there was also lots of audience participation. There was also lots of dramatic irony which is where we know something that the character didn’t, so in the play we knew that Hero hadn’t done anything but Claudio and most of the other characters didn’t.

During the interval we went inside and had some yummy hot chocolate and a Kit-Kat. Then we trooped outside again with our coats and sleeping bags!

My favourite characters were Beatrice and the crazy, Irish policeman. I loved Beatrice because she was so witty and sarcastic to anyone especially to Benedick. I loved the policeman because he was very funny with his Irish accent and eccentric ways.

I think the play was very cleverly done and I really enjoyed myself and had a great time. I would definitely recommend people to go and see it.

Mhairi Mclay

Almost 30 schools from around the region took part in our inaugural Year 6 Maths Challenge.

The first round was a mental test (out of 20!). Our four pairs did well here.

The second round constituted a ‘Countdown’ (Channel 4) numbers game,  we did not perform quite as well here as we would’ve hoped.

The third round, the problem solving round, saw all our pairs do well, especially Christopher Albertyn and Jake Stokes who solved an amazing 17 out of the 20 problems (the next best from any other school was 12!) and they edged the top pair from Portsmouth Grammar and Hurstpierpoint (among others) to win the entire event!

Quite an achievement to come first when there’s 122 very able children taking part!

On Thursday 29^th August a group of instrumental musicians from Windlesham was invited to play at the Lancing College Orchestral Day. They had the opportunity to play in an orchestra of about 100 children under the expert direction of Lancing’s Head of Music, Ian Morgan-Williams.

The music ranged from Jurassic Park to two American Tunes arranged and composed by Mr Morgan-Williams. Apart from playing in the magnificent surroundings of Lancing College Chapel the children also had the opportunity to visit the farm, the sports hall and the café (tuck shop). The day which finished with an informal performance was a resounding success!

On Thursday the 22^nd of September the Ones visited the Royal Opera House, it was amazing.  The 1^st performance, Emeralds ended after 31 minutes of magic.

When Rubies began, more oohs and aahs went around the audience. Rubies costumes were the prettiest and had the most sparkles on them out of every costume.  Rubies were my favourite by far. It was the most exhilarating and breath-taking. That was possibly the best 25 minutes of the entire show!

When Diamonds began, all was silent in awe, It was breath-taking, definitely my second favourite! It was amazing! I was sad to see it end!

When we left, I was feeling enchanted about what had just happened but also sad to be leaving, I stayed sad until I realised we would get autographs! My heart suddenly was filled with happiness, Mr & Mrs Westcombe’s daughter gve autographs, the Westcombes’ daughter was lovely!

I stayed happy for the rest of the day.

After this enchanting and breath-taking performance, I can promise you, I will be back to the Royal Opera House to watch more! So I can easily say, I would definitely recommend this to everyone however young or old.

By Alice Leng

U9A Football Westbourne @ Tournament / Wednesday 21^st September

Westbourne ‘B’        WON   1 – 0 GOALS: Beattie

West Hill Park         WON   2 – 0 GOALS: Beattie, Hammond

Westbourne ‘A’        WON   1 – 0 GOALS: Beattie

Dorset House           WON   1 – 0 GOALS: Kent

Oakwood                  WON   1 – 0 GOALS: Kent

After the debacle against Brambletye, Windlesham U9 football team stepped up big time in the Westbourne tournament on Wednesday to finish as champions after sensationally winning all five of their games.

Playing on bigger pitches with bigger goals, the Windlesham boys showed what quick learners they are, with team shape, marking and tackling all improving immeasurably from the weekend.  A Daniel Beattie goal was enough to seal victory against a competitive Westbourne ‘B’ team in the opening match, before Toby Hammond and a further strike from Beattie clinched a relatively comfortable 2-0 win against West Hill Park.

The third game against the hosts ‘A’ team was always going to give us a clearer indication of where the team were at.  The positioning and composure of McGurk allied to the pace and power of Hammond gave Windlesham a solid foundation against tough opponents.  From this base the attacking trio of Tatchell, Beattie and Kent always looked threatening, working more as a team with passing and intelligent movement to the fore.  Beattie’s third strike of the day curled in neatly from just outside the box proved enough for a third straight victory.  A powerful shot on the break from the ever improving Hector Kent was enough to see off a skilful and pacey Dorset House outfit in game four so that as it turned out, the final game of the day against Oakwood would be a winner take all affair.

A nervous start saw Oakwood press forward ominously, only to be met by some superb one-on-one defending from Ollie Munn.  Even with this resistance the yellow and greens from Chichester managed to get several shots on goal.  Thankfully, Will Nielsen in the Windlesham net showed fantastic alertness, bravery and athleticism to pounce on anything loose and keep the score at 0-0.  With the confidence born of secure foundations, Windlesham began to reassert their dominance and from one of a series of lightening counter attacks Kent grabbed his second goal of the day and sealed tournament victory with a thunderbolt that crashed off the underside of the cross bar and into the goal.

With five wins out of five and no goals conceded Windlesham were worthy champions of this inaugural competition.  Even more impressive than the medals and trophy however, was the way the squad bounced back from serious disappointment, and their increasing realisation that a team works best when each individual is prepared to work for each other, do their job and enjoy each others success.  Well done boys, you have made us all very proud.  The trick now will be to avoid complacency and to keep it going.

SQUAD:  William Nielsen, Ollie Munn, Fred McGurk, Toby Hammond, Alex Tatchell,

Daniel Beattie, Hector Kent

Man-of-the-Tournament: THE WHOLE SQUAD!!!

Next Match:    Saturday 24^th September v Cottesmore (H)

MD

Cher Monsieur Westcombe,

Pendant mes vacances d’été, j’ai passé quatre jours très bons en Bretagne, en France. J’étais avec la famille Coëtoux. Ils sont très gentils. Ils ont une très grande maison près de Treguier, qui est la capitale de la Bretagne.

Le samedi, je suis allée à Paris avec ma mère pour rencontrer la mère de Sixtine, qui est ma correspondante. On a passé la nuit chez les grands-parents de Sixtine.

De bonne heure le lendemain matin, on est parti pour la gare de l’Est à Paris. On a pris le train à un petit village près des autres grands-parents de Sixtine. Ils sont les parents du père de la famille, Guillaume. J’ai rencontré Sixtine et ses sœurs, Marine (15) et Nolwenn (3) et son frère, Jean-Baptiste (7). Ils sont tous très gentils. On a mangé le déjeuner et après, on est parti pour Kerboriou (la maison de la famille). C’était une courte distance en voiture. On a joué un peu aux cartes, après on a mis la table pour le diner et on a mangé. On a regardé le film « Cendrillon » et après, on s’est couché.

Le lendemain, on a s’est levé plus tard. On a mangé le petit déjeuner (du chocolat chaud et du pain grillé avec du Nutella), et après on a lu un peu. On a joué au « Monopoly ». Après le déjeuner, nous sommes partis avec Guillaume et Jean-Baptiste pour faire de la voile. Il n’y avait pas beaucoup de vent, mais il suffisait. Nous avons nagé un peu, mais l’eau était très froide, alors on s’est arrêté vite. Nous sommes rentrés à la maison très mouillés. Nous nous nous sommes changés et après, nous avons mangé le diner. On s’est couché de bonne heure.

Le lendemain matin, on s’est levé à huit heures. On est parti pour la plage. Il y avait beaucoup de sable. J’ai fait des châteaux de sable avec Nolwenn, les autres ont nagé. C’était trop froid pour moi! Après, nous sommes allés au marché à Treguier. C’était un marché traditionnel de la Bretagne, avec les personnes qui ont chanté dans la langue celtique. Il y avait une femme qui a joué à la harpe, un homme qui a joué à la cornemuse.

Le lendemain, je suis parti avec Sixtine sur l’Eurostar à Ebbsfleet, près de Londres.

A bientôt,

Grace

(by Grace Day – SG Form)