ℯNEWS December, 12 2025

In our final assembly of 2025, the children enjoyed sharing seasonal jokes. We also gathered to celebrate the end of term and to say a fond farewell to Lorena, our lovely kitchen lady.

Community Partnership - Festive Carol Singing at Penfold Community Hub

On Monday morning it was lovely to receive a card from one of the members of the Penfold Community Hub, thanking the pupils they received Christmas cards from. This was a fantastic representation of why community partnerships like this are so important for our wider community.  

Victory Services Club - Christmas Carols 

Forms Four to Six made the short walk next door to sing in front of a wonderfully appreciative audience at the VSC. The children’s singing was so warmly received that they were asked for an encore, which they gladly gave with a spirited rendition of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

They were then treated to a surprise visit from Santa, who arrived with a delicious gift to thank them for their efforts.

Junior Christmas Play and Senior Choir Performance - Thursday 11 December

We hope you all enjoyed the children’s festive performances yesterday. They certainly looked and sounded wonderful to our, admittedly slightly biased, eyes and ears.

Form Three opened the show with a lively rendition of Jingle Bells on the glockenspiels; this was swiftly followed by Form Four playing Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer on the recorder, with lovely solo performances from Klara on the recorder and Clara on the flute. Our woodwind exhibition continued with Form Five performing In the Bleak Midwinter, conducted masterfully by Rosa.  The Jolly Christmas Postman then took centre stage and  showcased excellent performances from all our Key stage One pupils, along with song and dance from our youngest children in Junior One. Bravo to them all on their first stage performance.

Our Form Six pupils celebrated Hanukkah on the ukuleles with a cheerful rendition of the dreidel song and our fabulous Senior Choir, including all pupils from Form Three to Form Six, brought the show to a close with superb performances, including Stille Nacht (Silent Night) sung in German - featuring Elena on the Viola, Michael on the Cello and Alan on the double bass, and a sensational whole-school version of Little Drummer Boy, complete with drums. A commendable solo from Lara  in Form Six left the audience feeling all the joys of the festive season.

We would like to extend our warmest thanks to Ms Hannet, our Woodwind teacher, for all her work with the pupils over the last year whilst Ms Monaghan has been on maternity cover.  

If you or your children have been inspired by the musical performances you may want to consider signing up for peripatetic music lessons.  Dr Ashworth offers piano, singing and music theory lessons, Ms Monaghan offers woodwind instruments such as flute and recorders and Ms Yavuz offers violin tuition.

Please contact Dr Ashworth if you are interested.

CHS Parents Fundraising Committee - Thank you! 

Thank you to our Parents’ Fundraising Committee, who took advantage of the school community gathering during the performances to hold a bake sale, raising a phenomenal £763 for the school’s Bursary fund. We are extremely grateful to the school community for supporting the school in this way. In challenging times, we are proud to continue offering Bursary aid to families who might otherwise be unable to attend our school.

Reports 

Reports were sent out to parents in the afternoon from the ReportBox platform. Please contact the school office if there were any problems. 

Fees

Spring term fees invoices will be sent to you next week from our school Bursar. Additional costs  which cover school run clubs, trips beyond the school day and show filming costs which are invoiced retrospectively for the Autumn term will also be sent in a separate invoice.

Thank you 

A great big thank you to parents for the very generous gifts to the CHS staff. The personalised bottles have been a hit with all members of the team and we truly appreciate all your thoughtfulness. 

House Points

Clifton = 2426         Sussex = 2285

Parents Fundraising Committee 

Second Hand Uniform Sale - Friday 16 January
The Parents Fundraising Committee are collecting clothing - uniform and other,  that children have outgrown. So during the holidays if you happen to have a notice your child has outgrown anything, this can be saved and the Parent Fundraising Committee will collect these and donate them to a good cause. 

Artwork of the week 

Veda, in Form Three, for creating a fantastic penguin print cushion cover. Brilliant relief-printing on fabric and excellent sewing, well done Veda!

It has been a long term and we are all looking forward to a festive holiday. We wish all our families celebrating Christmas and Hanukkah a joyous time with family and friends.

Upcoming Dates for Your Diary

January
6th Start of Term
16th Second Hand Uniform Sale