It has been lovely to welcome the girls back into school this week, following the February half term break
We enjoyed two days of apricity before the winter clouds and cold rolled back in with a fine mesh of drizzle! We made the most of Tuesday’s sunshine with two year group fixtures of: netball for Year 5 at St George’s and hockey for Year 6 at Manor House, alongside a cross country run at St. Cat’s for a select handful of Year 6 girls. That same afternoon we also had swimmers in the IAPS qualifiers, then Thursday, we had another gala, this time against Notre Dame
In the midst of a busy week, I would like to celebrate our Art Captain, Thea, who ran our Tuesday assembly and taught us much about three of her favourite types of art. Demonstrating famous artists’ works, her own work in their style and encouraging girls to spread their wings in their own artful pursuits.
On Wednesday, we were treated to a wonderful class assembly by 6MK who poignantly took us through their topic on World War II with specific reference to the life of an evacuee The messages, facts and thoughts shared were done with pathos and good British humour Well done, 6MK, what a lot you have learned
Looking ahead to next week, we have a full on week of Book-Week-based activities including an author visit, a writing competition, the final of our performance poetry competition, our annual World Book Day dress up day, as well as quizzes, hot seating and sharing books.
With Spring officially starting on Sunday, things are looking brighter already.
Have a great weekend,
Gareth Tindall
Pastoral Pause
After demonstrating improved levels of self-care in January (some habits I hope you have carried on) and actioning Random Acts of Kindness throughout February, it is now time to turn our hearts and minds to diversity To the appreciation of others, their cultures, their stories, their traditions – what can we learn of others this month and how can we develop a greater appreciation of the world around us in our own lives Developing empathy leads to perspective centres of the mind being awakened, leading to loving kindness and more acts of kindness.
And this can be as simple as trying a new food, reading a story from another culture, talking to our classmates or coworkers from other countries and traditions, listening to music from a culture you have yet to explore and learning words in other languages.
At the same time as you are deciding and actioning the above ideas from the March calendar (bottom of page), do the following two things throughout this weekend and the week ahead:
GOLDEN BOOK
Well done to all of the girls in our Golden Books this week:
5AB
Arabella H for showing great empathy and sharing sensible thoughts during our recent PSHE lessons.
Eloise K for working hard in our recent Maths lessons, to calculate equivalent fractions and decimals
5HT
Monica H and Chioma N for their efforts recognising equivalent fractions and decimals. They have used great mathematical vocabulary to clearly explain these concepts
6RG
Isla M for her desire to improve her writing shown in the start of her narrative where she has created some super description and listened well to feedback.
Layla B for her maturity when tackling different activities whilst she has been unable to take part in sports and for doing so without a single complaint
6MK
Anna R for making an excellent start to the new half term and for being a fantastic ambassador on the School Council.
Thea S for sharing her enthusiasm for Vincent van Gogh, introducing us to contemporary artist Do Ho Suh and sharing her passion for photography in assembly this week
Ellie B-S for excellent strategic thinking in chess, using opportunities as they arose and spotting her opponents (Mrs Choudhary's!) weakness quickly
DRAMA STARS
Year 5 Florence D and Laila A for their impressive performance in the game 'Just a minute'.
SCIENTIST OF THE WEEK
Olivia H, Flo E-N, Emilia C for their progress with working on graphs.
Sophia C for her fantastic light knowledge.
Isla S for her excellent note-taking skills.
Sophia H for her stunning Mary Anning fact file.
Spring Term, 2026 Key Diary Dates:
Mon 2nd Mar World Book Week
Visiting Author - Ally Sherrick 08:55 - 12:15
Wed 4th March Welcome Event (Offer Holders) for Year 6 students 17:00 - 19:00 Thu 5th Mar Prep School Dress up for World Book Day All Day
Mon 9th Mar Visiting Author - Joel Arcanjo 13:15 – 15:45
This week you have received the following communications
Year 5
Year 6
Prep School, Parent Information Meeting for the Year 5 Trip to Osmington Bay
Prep School, Parent Information Meeting for the Year 6 Trip to France
Prep School, Parent Information Meeting for the Year 6 Trip to France
Prep School, Year 6 leavers’ hoodies
Whole School Faith Discussion Evening, Wednesday 18 March
Prep School, Spring Concert – Thursday 12th March 2026
Prep School, After School Collection, March 2026
Mobility Aids Whilst In School
Prep School, LAMDA, 4th March 2026
St Teresa’s SchoolPost Communication System
Go to: https://stteresas schoolpost co uk
Please remember to check your inbox, including your junk/spam, as the email may go to your junk box the first time it is sent.
If you have any questions please email prepinfo@st-teresas com
Book Week 2026
Next week, we have an exciting programme of activities planned for the pupils
Performance Poetry Competition
Pupils have preformed their poems this week and class finalists will perform in Celebration Assembly
Author Visit – Ally Sherrick (Monday 2nd March)
We look forward to welcoming award‑winning author Ally Sherrick (Allysherrick.com).
Signed copies of Rebel Hearts will be given out at lunch time
Creative Writing Day (Tuesday 3rd March)
Workshops and a Book Week assembly will focus on heroes and villains. Pupils will write a hero‑themed story, with winning entries announced on Friday 6th March
Quizzes & Activities (Wednesday 4th March)
Fun book themed quizzes and competitions will take place throughout the day.
World Book Day (Thursday 5th March)
Pupils may come dressed as their favourite literary hero or villain
There will be an Alice in Wonderland themed lunch and World Book Day vouchers will be distributed.
Celebration Assembly (Friday 6th March)
Finalists will perform in the Performance Poetry Competition, and prizes for the best hero stories will be awarded.
Author Visit – Joel Arcanjo (Monday 9th March)
We are delighted to welcome Joel Arcanjo, author of the Crookhaven series Pre ordered copies will be signed and given out at the end of the day.
This week, Thea, our Art Captain, confidently led a whole-school assembly celebrating creativity and artistic inspiration. She shared her enthusiasm for her favourite artist, Vincent van Gogh, showcasing some of his most iconic works. Thea also introduced the school to contemporary artist Do Ho Suh, highlighting his unique approach to sculpture and space, and presented stunning examples from this year ’ s Wildlife Photographer of the Year Her presentation was informative, engaging and included examples of Thea's own art work too A wonderful celebration of the power of art
Music News
Orchestra
This week in orchestra, Sophia C turned her hand to conducting and together we encouraged the musicians to watch, listen and play together.
Chamber Choir
We rounded off the last half term by choosing the vocal spotlights for our performance number and we have enjoyed piecing it all together this week
Music Makers
Delightful duets performed by Jemima H and Sofia A this week, alongside some supper rhythm cups and singing
Year 5
Musician of the Week:
ear 6 Sophia C for offering such kind and supportive encouragement and uidance in our keyboard group.
ear 5 Kimberley C for really working hard on those tricky fingerings in ur ukulele group.
A huge well done to all those girls who memorised the song words over half term - we had a super rehearsals of our performance pieces this week which allowed time for some of the girls to experiment with keyboards and chime bars to recreate some of the effects we discovered in Liszt’s piano music In the ukulele groups we have tried some new strumming patterns and focused on quick small movements to get to the tricky chords.
Year 6
This week saw the much anticipated casting announcements for the Wizard of Oz. Both Mrs Gibson and Mrs Giannopoulos thoroughly enjoyed the auditions and the time and effort invested by each of the girls was clear to see. We hope they enjoyed the audition process and will throw themselves into their allocated roles with their usual enthusiasm.
Sports News
Swimming
On Tuesday, St Teresa’s proudly hosted the IAPS (Independent Association of Prep Schools) Swim Qualifiers for the very first time, welcoming six schools for an afternoon of high-quality competition. With several teams travelling from London, the excitement began building well before the first race, and the buzz on poolside was electric as swimmers, coaches and supporters prepared for a fantastic gala.
The standard of competition was exceptionally high, with races closely contested across all age groups St Teresa’s U10 and U11 teams delivered outstanding performances, demonstrating not only impressive skill and determination but also superb team spirit. Every race was fiercely fought, and the evenly matched nature of the competition made for a thrilling spectacle from start to finish
The girls performances were the culmination of months of hard work and commitment from our swimmers. Throughout the year, pupils have attended early morning training sessions and after school sessions, consistently demonstrating resilience and focus in the pool Their dedication to improving starts, turns and finishes was evident in every race, and their positive attitude towards training has been instrumental in their success. It was clear to see how much progress had been made since the start of the year
Hosting the IAPS Qualifiers was a tremendous effort from the entire St Teresa’s community and it was a proud moment for the school to stage such an important fixture in the swimming calendar
We now face a nervous wait to hear whether our swimmers have done enough to secure qualification for the finals in June at the London Aquatics Centre.
St Teresa’s looks forward to building on this success and hopes to continue hosting this exciting event in the years to come.
Netball
Our U10 netball team delivered good performances in their matches against St Georges on Tuesday. The girls showed great determination, teamwork and sportsmanship throughout the game
From the first whistle, the players demonstrated good passing and movement down the court St Georges proved to be tough opponents, moving the ball quickly and fighting for every possession. Unfortunately the A,B&C teams couldn't win but the D team won! Well done, everyone!
Fixtures (week commencing 2nd March)
3rd March: 14:30 - 15:45: U10A-D Netball v Tormead
3rd March: 13:45: U11A-C Football vs Notre Dame (A)
7th March: 16:45 – 21:00: U10A & U11A It’s a Fish Out
You will be able to access fixtures for the day, alongside the Sports Calendar which can provide you with all the sports fixtures weeks and months in advance
If a team sheet has been published for a particular fixture, the blue ‘ person ’ symbol will be available to click on. simply click on the blue symbol next to the fixture to access the team sheet
St Teresa's Effingham | Sports Home
Felbridge Equestrian Centre - Saturday 21 February st
It has been an extremely harsh few months for equestrians as the weather has caused flooded arenas and hampered training plans Many horses do not do well with irregular work and can become difficult to ride and train. Given these circumstances, the results the team achieved at the very first qualifier for the Championships, are outstanding.
Show Jumping
The 80 cm team (Amber B, Harriet L, Ivy M and Olivia S) rode exceptional rounds to win the class as a team against stiff competition. Amber rode an amazingly fast and clear round to come second individually, meaning both her and the team have qualified for the NSEA National Championships in October Ivy made an exceptional return to the show jumping team on her new pony, Teddy, riding a super-fast and clear round, placing sixth individually
The 90 cm pink team (Amber B, Rosie C, Harriet L and Ivy M) rode extremely well as a team to come second. Amber came second individually and Ivy excelled herself by placing fourth. This means that the whole team and 2 individuals qualified at this height for the championships too A superb result
The 1M team (Amber B, Rosie C, Harriet L and Antonia S) came third, narrowly missing qualification but with brilliant clear rounds from both Antonia and Harriet coming 6 and 9 individually, respectively. th th Antonia also competed in the 1.10M class, coming third and just narrowly missing qualification
Combined Training
Harriet L and her pony Tommy made their debut for the team in Combined Training, (results are combined from a dressage test and Show Jumping round). They did amazingly well, coming 5th!
A Reading from the Gospel of Matthew
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written,
“‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Reflection
Lent has now officially started, well it did last week on Ash Wednesday. Perhaps we see Lent as a difficult time, a time of testing and hardship. Yet Lent truly is a time to grow in freedom. To loosen and cast away those many things that can bind us, entrap us and trick us Lent is about turning our hearts to the one who loves us and to align our lives once more with His Grace.
Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ,
You entered the solitude of the desert not to display power, but to reveal the depth of Your love a love that refuses every false promise and every distorted image of God
Grant us, O Lord, a heart that listens before it speaks, that seeks truth before comfort, that chooses fidelity over the easy path.
When we are tempted by noise, by distraction, by the illusion of self-reliance, draw us back to the simplicity of Your word.
In the Name of the Father ...Amen.
Wednesday 18 March 6:00pm-8:00pm St Teresa’s School RH5 6ST
Or click HERE
Topics to include:
• How to grow Faith in our modern world
• Acedia (the spiritual vice you didn’t know you had)
• How AI and how social media is making it worse?
• Does St Francis still have anything to teach us?
Donations welcomed on the day going towards:
Running the event
Radio Maria Franciscan Friars of Renewal
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