text: 14th May 2021 | King's Hall School Taunton
  Our Year 5 pupils are off for a fantastic all-round outdoor experience at Kilve Court near the Quantock Hills! We h… https://t.co/DDGHWqpceX - 26 minutes ago
  How many times can you have Happy Birthday sung to you in one day?
  Well, in schools it can obviously happen quite a few times as you touch base with different groups of children or adults. When you're 21 it is even more likely to happen! Mr Eyers has probably heard enough of it today but congratulations to him on his 21st Birthday!
  It is also Liz, our lovely catering manager's, birthday and she is not so far from her 21st that she cannot remember it!
  No doubt we are all excited about passing the next milestone in the National Roadmap out of lockdown on Monday. You may even have plans in place to have friends round indoors, or head for a meal. It'll be nice to have some people indoors – that first week after 12 April was such a cold one as we all braved outside gatherings and found old blankets we didn't know we still had!!
  There will be a few alterations here at school and I will write a message over the weekend but I can tell you one of them will be that Year 7 & 8 children will not need a face covering in school, unless they wish to wear one.
  A lovely benefit we already enjoy due to the gradually lifting restrictions and reduced risk of transmissions has been welcoming children in to school for Taster Days. New faces, future possibilities and the pleasure the children gain from sharing their school and the hope of more friendships to make is terrific to have back.
  Reading back, there is a background theme in these paragraphs highlighting again how much at whatever age we all value human interaction and being with each other. Enjoy your weekend, which I hope includes some revelry in the company of others – still need those blankets for a day or two!
  I am sure many of you, like myself, are counting down the minutes until you can once again hug your loved ones on Monday. I consider myself lucky that I have not been short on hugs throughout the pandemic thus far due to the frequent number of impromptu hugs the children give on a daily basis. However, there will be something quite special (and likely quite emotional) about hugging my parents on Monday!
  Around £100 in cash was collected on the day from the home clothes day at King's Hall to go with the online donations, bringing the current total to a fantastic £1400!
  After what has been a very busy week, this weekend needed to be somewhat lazy and relaxing.
  Chill out time around school; swimming, rounders, karting and a man hunt were on the cards! Also big discussions about a very special birthday coming up – sorry Mr Eyers, someone even more special than you! Yes, you've guessed it, Snoops will be four years old on 31 May, so we have decided to celebrate it on the 22 with a party. If you have any recipes for dog birthday cakes, they would be gratefully received! Definitely something to look forward to.
  I will also let you into a little secret; Mr Eyers celebrates his 21st birthday on Saturday so this will be another excuse for celebrating. However, making a cake for him I think will prove far more difficult than for Snoops!! I best get checking out recipes…
  This week at King's Hall has been fun and exciting for all of us. We are all very pleased to be able to play fixtures again, because of the COVID restrictions we have not played any matches against other schools for nearly 2 years! We have lots of fixtures planned, unfortunately, the weather has had other plans recently and it has rained on the days we have had matches which has been very frustrating and made us all a bit sad.
  We are now getting ready and revising hard for our Common Entrance Exams that are taking place the week after half term. They are going be a good experience and might even be fun, but they are also making everyone a bit nervous. This week I have had Mental Maths and French listening and speaking exams, which were not as scary or as hard as I thought they would be.
  My last term at King's Hall is flying by and I am excited for our upcoming trip to Okehampton.
  Mrs Hayden-Briffett – 3HB
  It's been good to get back into school and a more normal routine. This week Year 3 went not on a bear hunt, but a litter hunt and found two huge bags of rubbish and a broken chair. We have been trying hard to recycle as much as possible.
  At break times, the footballers are trying not to be so enthusiastic with their kicks as we seem to be losing a lot of balls onto the roof and into the swimming pool and we are enjoying having the extra space of the Cording Lawn at break times.
  We've been learning about legends and really enjoyed watching an animated story The Dragon Slayer – even though it didn't have any words! Our posters advertising his services will be coming out soon.
  We were due to play two matches this week, against Taunton on Monday and, as we type are due to play Blundell's this afternoon – but the rain out pay to our second outing.
  I hope you've all had a super week. I've been run off my paws with my increasingly busy schedule. Now that I'm maturing into a fine and well disciplined hound, there is a growing demand for my presence in lessons. Children have read to me since I was a puppy but back in the early days I was a bit of a fidget. In Maths my number skills have improved considerably and I'm now able to apply them in my everyday life. They've come in particularly handy for counting squirrels from my lookout in the sewing room.
  I just have a little grumble about one of the classes that I visited this week. As you will see from my photo, they were rather rude about my breath and as I entered the room they all held their noses.
  You might think that I always have smelly breath but I'd just like to interject before I continue my little grumble and inform you that I brush my teeth regularly and have exemplary oral hygiene. Anyway, my breath smelled on this particular morning because of my recently consumed breakfast which on this particular occasion was either 'Swish Fish' or my other culinary favourite, 'Oh My Cod'. Both of these meals incite adverse, and quite frankly, offensive, reactions from my human friends. In my opinion nose holding is quite uncalled for. Let me remind you, my dear friends, that I have spent time in confined spaces with you humans after you have consumed sprouts and beans and that is no pleasant experience either.
  Anyway, rant over, I love spending time in the classroom but I'll try and stick to the non-smelly dishes on working days. I'll save stinky fishy ones for the weekends when I'm with Mrs Masters; she's either very polite or hasn't got a very good sense of smell!
  Academic Life – Mathematics
  It's been a busy few weeks in mathematics for our Prep children and the Year 5 pupils have recently been challenged with their fractions work. They were asked to take two sequences involving fractions, then to convert the improper fractions to mixed numbers and simplify them to their lowest terms. The task was made all the more palatable by the arrival of some take away pizza, which certainly helped with the fractions and division, as well as being very tasty!
  Year 6 have undertaken a brief review of their line symmetry work from earlier in the year before looking in more detail this week at reflecting shapes and getting to grips with the names of some of the common mirror lines they will encounter next year in their Common Entrance course. Currently in production are some very imaginative and colourful (but also mathematically accurate) reflection pictures.
  Whilst the Year 8 Common Entrance pupils are focusing on their exam revision, 8S have continued with their post-exam investigational work. Their two tasks this week (Painted Cube and Max Box) were broadly themed around 3 dimensional shapes but, typically as this level, the pupils soon appreciated that it was using and applying their algebraic skills that would prove to be the essential ingredient in solving these two problems. Although 7S are a year behind their Year 8 counterparts and have been studying a very different topic this week (number patterns and sequences), they too have been discovering that algebra is very much the 'mathematical glue' that binds lots of seemingly different parts of the subject together.
  A group of keen year 7 artists meet on Monday at lunchtime to develop their artistic talents. Today they have been experimenting with Indian and coloured inks ahead of adding detail to their lovely watercolour paintings of a cheese-plant.
  In Geography on the theme of 'Planet Earth' 8S have been investigating climate change. They have used data from the Mauna Loa observatory to graph CO2 levels and global temperature change over the last 55 years and are now researching what the world leaders and us as individuals can do about it. Over the last few lessons they have focused on how we can make out homes more sustainable, thinking about the materials used as well as ways to be more environmentally friendly inside our houses. They used the resources available to them and decided to build their community next to a volcano in order to use geothermal energy, as well as wind turbines to harness more renewable energy sources.
  Mrs Hardy's Year 8 Tutor Group
  8H tell us about their highlights this week
  Listening to French music in our French lessons
  Playing a cricket match against Taunton Prep School on Wednesday
  Completing our mental maths CE exam on Monday
  Testing sports drinks in science
  Enjoying our cricket session with Mr Barrow in the rain during games on Tuesday
  Looking forward to going sailing in Weymouth on Saturday
  Hitting a nice forward drive when batting against Taunton
  Having a positive experience in my French speaking exam
  Bowling out three people in a cricket match on Wednesday
  Trying to build the strongest tower out of wood in DT to support Mr Stannett's weight!
  Playing cricket after school on Friday in the U13 girls' County Cup match
  Getting my first CE exams out of the way (mental maths, French listening and speaking)
  Researching and creating sustainable houses in geography
  Taking five wickets in cricket training during a games lesson
  Creating Aboriginal art for my 8S project
  Bring Him Home from Les Miserables – the Colm Wilkinson sung version. It's a musical I have enjoyed since it first came out on the West End and I have always loved this song sung by Colm Wilkinson, who was the original Jean Valjean in the London cast.
  It's a very emotional moment in the show and its hopeful message is a wonderful and powerful one.
  "God on high hear my prayer in my need you have always been there"
  "He is young he's afraid let him rest heaven blessed."
  "Bring him home Bring him home Bring him home."
  "He's like the son I might have known if God had granted me a son. the summers die one by one"
  "How soon they fly on and on and I am old and will be gone."
  "Bring him peace bring him joy he is young he is only a boy"
  "You can take you can give let him be let him live"
  "If I die, let me die let him live bring him home bring him home Bring him home."
  by Auggie Cheong
  Please see link below to our next Pupil Podcast – Auggie's interview talking about the Park Run.
  The pupils are loving their cricket (when the sun's out).
  Both our boys' and girls' teams have had a great start and are keen to develop their skills further.
  The U12s gave it a good go with Beechen Cliff on Tuesday afternoon, however, we had to abandon play after nine overs as there was just too much rain to continue.
  We have had some fabulous designs received so far for this competition (images below)
  There is still time for your child to enter the Royal Mail Stamp design competition as the closing date is Monday 17 May in order that the designs may be sent to the Royal Mail in advance of the closing date for entries. Unfortunately, entries cannot be returned so please remember to make a copy of your design if you wish.
  The Rotary Canal Challenge
  Cycle/Walk/Paddle - Sunday 4th July 2021
  Here is some information about a fantastic charity event taking place in July. The event aims to raise money for Nightstop, Young Somerset and other Rotary Charities.
  The Canal Challenge is a family fun event that will see teams 'cycle walk or paddle to the sun and beyond'. Starting at Firepool Lock in Taunton and finishing either at Maunsel Lock (7 miles) or Bridgwater Docks (14 miles), covering the entire length of the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal.
  Entry is £5 per adult with under 16s free.
  The Somerset Boat Centre have generously agreed that participants of the event will be able to make use of the kayaks, canoes and paddle boards on arrival at the centre. Although children will have priority, adults are also welcome to have a go, subject to availability.
  A bar, serving refreshments will be available at the centre.
  A shuttle bus service will be available for walkers from Maunsel Lock and Bridgwater Docks, as well as a safe road route home provided for cyclists wanting to cycle a loop.
  Paddlers will need to exit at Somerset Boat Centre.
  Parking and turning is available for buses and trailers.
  If you're interested, please follow the links below:
  Email for More Information Website Entry Form
  'Door to Door' Bike Ride
  Training has begun for Mr Clark's charity bike ride in memory of the sad loss of his close friend this year.
  Donations are still being received, and Mr Clark would like to thank you for your generosity.
  If you haven't yet donated and would like to support Mr Clark, please follow the link below to his Just Giving page. Funds raised will go to the Charlie Waller Trust for mental health.