The minutes from our last PTA meeting can be found here.

The date of our next meeting is Tuesday 21st January 2020 at 7pm.

School reports for Autumn 2019 will be sent out tomorrow along with a letter regarding our up and coming Parents’ Evenings.

On Monday 11th November, Chantry Middle School marked the Armistice in our annual Remembrance Service assembly. We would like to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to Val (from the Mustard Tree Trust) for taking the time to lead our assembly, to Paul (Chair of the board for the Cheviot Learning Trust) for sharing details about his father’s involvement during WW2 and to all the pupils who participated in this event. It was wonderful to hear the school choir sing as part of the assembly, to hear the poems written and read out by Eva and Katie (from year 8) and to see all the wonderful poppies created by the pupils to mark this event. We would like to offer our final thanks to every member of our school community for helping to ensure Chantry acknowledges this occasion with the dignity and respect it deserves and for supporting the Royal  British Legion by selling, buying or wearing the Remembrance Day Poppy.

Don’t forget our next PTA meeting is Tuesday 26th November at 5.30 pm.

We hope to see you there!

Chantry has been lucky enough to be chosen as one of a few schools in the country to participate in a European Christmas decoration exchange.  Pupils have been putting their creative talents into practise and making some delightful mini Christmas trees. These are being sent to 30 different schools around Europe.  In return, we shall be receiving 30 bespoke decorations to hang on our own tree in the MFL block. They will be coming from all across Europe – from France to Romania, from Italy to Bulgaria, from Greece to Lithuania.  We can’t wait to see what the postman will be delivering over the next few weeks and will share every addition to our tree with you on Twitter.

“I am really looking forward to getting our European decorations.  I wonder if they will be things that we don’t normally put on our trees!”  Amy, Y6

“We are also sending information on our British Christmas traditions, such as the Queen’s speech or Brussel sprouts.  I am interested to see what traditions other countries have and how they compare to ours.” Gabby, Y8

“This is a great project to be involved in and is something quite unique for Chantry to be part of.”  Oscar, Y6

Interested in a great opportunity to volunteer in your local area?
The Three Rivers Learning Trust is looking to recruit Academy
Councillors to the governance of its schools.

Please click here for further information.

Kids’ Lit Quiz 2019

This year’s regional heat of the annual literary competition was a fiercely fought contest with every round finishing on a tie breaker. With rounds as obscure as Newspapers, Umbrellas, Archery and Confectionery, it was hard to anticipate our strengths.  

In recent years, this contest has tended to interpret the term ‘book’ ever more loosely and questions can skip from Norse mythology and comic strips via the classics to film and TV – a real mixed bag  – all in one round! It really keeps us on our toes!

In its valedictory year, however, the Narnia and Harry Potter series featured prominently as did books published more than half a century ago.  This put us at something of a disadvantage as we like to read books hot off the press, but we rose to the challenge as you will see.

This will be the last time the founder of the Kids’ Lit Quiz competition, Wayne Mills, will conduct the  British competition, although he will continue in his native New Zealand and other antipodean countries.

Our Y8 teams feel privileged to have met him and have thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. 

Well done to:

Ethan, Ruby, Rachel and Izzy

Eva, Sophie F, Charlotte and Sophie C.

who maintained their concentration and enthusiasm throughout to achieve Chantry’s highest scores to date!

Chantry A                                                   Chantry B

Chantry B participating in one of the many tie-breaks – the competition was fierce!

Following our successes with the French Spelling Bee over the past few years, we are challenging Y7 to participate in the Spanish version.  It is the first time Chantry will have ever competed in this language, so it is history in the making. The 1st round will take place in the last week of term and participants will have to spell as many words as possible in a minute using the Spanish alphabet.

3 of our Y8 pupils who competed in the regional and national heats last year helped deliver an assembly to tell Y7 what it was all about.

“At first, I didn’t know much about the Spelling Bee but I was determined to do well.  As so many people took part in the first round, I thought my chances of getting through were slim, but to my surprise I made it!  You have to be dedicated if you want to succeed but everyone encourages each other to do well which was helpful.” Ben

“Competing in the Spelling Bee was an amazing and rewarding experience, although a little daunting.  Standing in front of people may seem a terrifying prospect but after you do it, you feel so accomplished and it is worth the effort.  I definitely feel like I have gained confidence from this and I am looking forward to taking up new languages after I leave school.” Izzy

“I really enjoyed Round 3 as we got to compete against other schools.  I learnt how to spell more complex words and improve my vocabulary whilst under pressure.  The experience was scary but it was fun to compete. I would definitely do it again if given the opportunity.  It does take a lot of practise and effort to complete each round, but performing in front of people is a great way to improve your public speaking and memory skills.  It has inspired me to continue with languages at High School.” Eva