Dear Michael Hall Community,

The weeks are moving swiftly and we are now looking towards our Martinmas celebrations. Our younger classes have been learning about St Martin and his kindness towards the beggar with whom he shared his cloak to keep out the wintry cold.

According to folklore, if the weather is warm on St Martin’s Day, then a harsh winter will follow. Conversely, if the weather at Martinmas is icy, then by Christmas it will be much warmer:

‘If ducks do slide at Martinmas
At Christmas they will swim;
If ducks do swim at Martinmas
At Christmas they will slide.

Ice before Martinmas,
Enough to bear a duck.
The rest of winter,
Is sure to be but muck!’

I'm not sure which would be my preference, but it will be interesting to see if this measure stands the test of time this year.

Warmest Martinmas wishes to you all,

Sarah Stokes
Principal

Reporting your child's absence

To report a child as absent due to illness, please either email [email protected] or call 01342 822275 and choose option 1 by 08:30. Alternatively, you can leave a message in Reception. Please copy in your child's class teacher so that they are also aware of the absence.

Please also remind your children to report to Reception to sign in if they arrive to School late.

Congratulations Tiernan!

Tiernan of Class 12 was awarded a gold certificate in the Senior Mathematical Challenge, which took place last month, after answering questions such as the following:

Answer B. 

Each of the four people is either telling the truth or lying. Assume first that Wenlu is telling the truth, then Xander is lying, which implies that Yasser is telling the truth, which finally implies that Zoe is also telling the truth. In this case, 3 people are telling the truth. Now assume that Wenlu is lying. Therefore, Xander is telling the truth that Yasser is lying and, finally, Zoe is also lying. In this case, only 1 person tells the truth.

In both cases, all four statements are consistent with each other.

Well done!