Once again Papplewick boys have made a remarkable effort in their contribution to the Operation Christmas Child appeal, organised by charity Samaritan’s Purse.  Over one hundred shoeboxes have been filled with goodies so far in the appeal – many more than last year.

The boys know through videos and presentations at school how much African schoolchildren enjoy receiving their donations, which include Lego, toy cars, pens, balls, cuddly toys, puzzles, hats, socks, soap and games.

Headmaster Tom Bunbury said: “This was a fantastic effort by both boys and their parents – a record year! Hopefully we can continue to exceed our targets for Operation Shoebox in the future. It’s particularly relevant for us to be focusing on giving to such a worthy cause especially in light of the fact that for many children their shoebox may be the first gift they have ever received.”

Operation Christmas Child is the world’s largest children’s Christmas project.  Samaritan’s Purse has been sending gift-filled shoeboxes around the world since 1990, to over 94 million underprivileged children. The appeal has grown to be the largest Christmas shoebox appeal in the UK. 

 Next Open Morning:   Saturday 4th November 2017 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m   Visit:  www.papplewick.org.uk 

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Actors from privileged backgrounds dominate film and television, but Charters School in Sunningdale has embarked on a quest to make acting accessible to students from all areas of society. The school has created “School Act”, a series of acting workshops that are free of charge, in the hope of identifying talented individuals who could have a bright future on stage or screen.

The actor Max Bowden recently visited Charters School in Sunningdale to host the first workshop focusing on TV Acting. Max, who has appeared in 'Waterloo Road' and 'Casualty' worked with students from all key stages during the workshop and was very impressed with the acting ability, commenting that “It was a very interesting group who listened and took everything on board. There is some serious potential at Charters.”

Pictured: Archie Wooldridge, a Day Boy in Year 6, With Author Sarah Baker.

Boys at Papplewick School, Ascot, were entertained on the evening of Thursday, 10^th November by the author Sarah Baker who talked to them about her career - how she started by working in film as a story editor and then decided to write a children's novel. Her debut book is called: "Through the Mirror Door.” It tells the story of Angela when she visits her Aunt Cece and Cousins Kitty and Fliss at their French holiday home.  

There was silence as Sarah read an excerpt from the book and the boys then met Sarah who signed a book for them. The boys were seen around the school the following day with their noses in their books as they read about Angela's adventures.

Tom Bunbury, headmaster, said: “We’re always delighted to welcome authors to Papplewick School. Meeting the writers face-to-face inspires the boys to read more and to appreciate the work that goes into writing a good story.”

Health and social care is about to get a whole lot better for the 750,000 residents of East Berkshire, North East Hampshire and Farnham and Surrey Heath.

Through the plan, councils, the NHS, community partners and services will work more closely together to strengthen services for people’s physical and mental wellbeing. All partners are committed to ensuring that residents have accessible, closer-to-home services delivered in a straightforward way.

The Frimley Health and Care Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP), published on November 24th, is one of 44 plans set up across the country to deliver the ‘Five Year Forward View[1]’ vision of better health, better patient care and improved efficiency.

The new plan sets out how more accessible services will be achieved locally and how services will evolve and become more sustainable over the next five years.

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Pictured: Students from Charters with Mr Richard Pilgrim (Co-Headteacher), Mr Adam Afriye (MP for Windsor) and Mr Alan Carr (Development Ambassador at Charters School).

Figures released by the Department of Education show that Charters School, Sunningdale, is ranked in the top 4% in the country for Value Added at A Level.

Unlike traditional League Table rankings, "Value Added" scores are government calculations which compare pupil performance in and between public examinations. They are designed to provide a measure as to how successful students have been by virtue of the school they attended, declaring how much 'value' their school has added to their results.

Director of Sixth Form Olimpia Morrison said, “All staff work extremely hard with our students to ensure that they all realise their full potential.”

Charters School Sixth Form was placed 125^th in the table that listed over 3000 institutions.

Co-Headteacher Mr Richard Pilgrim said, “We are delighted that Charters Sixth Form was placed in the top 4% of all schools including selective schools and those in the independent sector in a recent analysis of progress made by Sixth Form students.”

On Monday 7th November, Year 4 boys from Papplewick School, Ascot, visited Fishbourne Roman Palace near Chichester in West Sussex.  This is the site of an excavated Roman Palace, with remains of incredible mosaic floors, ruins of the Palace's baths and beautiful gardens.

They had an interview session with a Roman Soldier, in full armour and with weapons. The rest of the visit involved the boys in writing their name and age in Latin with ink; making a mini mosaic; cooking in a Roman kitchen; a problem-solving activity to make a mini arched bridge; playing with Roman children's games (an early version of 'checkers' for example) and dressing as a Roman slave - with one lucky boy being dressed in 'royal' purple as Emperor! 

Tom Bunbury, headmaster, said: “The visit was full of fascinating activities, and the boys all learned a lot about how the Romans lived.”