From Mrs Hall:

It’s hard to believe that we’ve already reached the end of our first half term of the year! The weeks have flown by and the boys have genuinely thrown themselves into every activity with such curiosity, energy, and joy. It’s been a real pleasure to see their enthusiasm shine through in all they do.

This week, Reception had a fantastic day out at the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens. We were so impressed with the boys’ behaviour on their very first school trip. They represented the Pre-Prep beautifully, and members of the public were full of smiles and praise for their enthusiasm. The boys thoroughly enjoyed taking part in the workshops and had a wonderful time exploring the gardens together.

It’s been lovely to see how much the boys have grown in confidence since the start of term. Reception have settled beautifully, embracing new routines and friendships. Year 1 have taken big steps in their learning, showing increasing independence and curiosity. Year 2, as our oldest Pre-Prep boys, are becoming great role models and leaders, always ready to lend a hand or share a smile.

As we head into the half term break, we hope you all enjoy some well-earned rest and family time. When we return, we’ll be diving into one of the most exciting parts of the school year, Nativity season! We can’t wait to start rehearsing and to share the boys’ hard work and Christmas cheer with you all soon.

Wishing you a relaxing and happy half term.

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Save the Dates !

Monday 3 November	08:30		Term resumes
Friday 7 November	18:00		PPA Fireworks event and Mufti day (book tickets on MSP)
Wednesday 12 November	09:30-11:30		Virtual Open Morning
Friday 14 November	tba		PPA Book Sale in aid of Children-in-Need
22-23 November			Exeat weekend
Friday 28 November	15:00 19:00		Pre-Prep Cathedral Assembly - all welcome PPA Christmas Drinks for parents and staff
Tuesday 2 December	all day		Christmas jumper day and Christmas lunch
Thursday 4 December	09:00-09:45		Pre-Prep Nativity dress rehearsal
Friday 5 December	09:45-10:30		Pre-Prep Nativity performance
Wednesday 10 December	am		Pre-Prep to the pantomime: Puss in Boots

 

Notices

Menus are available here on My School Portal. 
^{Reminder: no food is to be brought into the school and/or given to boys at any time, especially at sign-out.}

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Upcoming Events

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Year 2 

Year 2 Boys Share Their Twisted Fairy Tales
The Year 2 boys were delighted to be invited into the Reception classroom by Mrs Huntley to share their own twisted fairy tales. Some of which you will have heard this afternoon during our Celebration Assembly.  After a few moments of understandable apprehension, they soon settled into the task, filling the room with a wonderful hum of excited chatter and an air of anticipation. As they began reading, their clarity, creativity, and growing confidence shone through. It was a joy to see the older boys engaging so warmly with the younger pupils and taking such pride in their storytelling!

Mrs Maxine Kent
Year 2 Teacher
 

Year 1

Make.do Cardboard Construction Tool Kit
We have a wonderful cardboard toolkit in the Pre-Prep called Make.Do. In the toolbox is a safe-saw, a fold roller, screwdriver and screws. This kit can help small hands create models out of cardboard with safety and ease. It really helps to develop fine motor skills at the same time.

Over the past two weeks, the boys have been challenged to make a space rocket or shuttle out of cardboard. They are getting used to using the fold roller tool and hole punch. Both tools help to develop strength in their hands as we practise pressing into the cardboard. We have used the joining technique of split pins, building on skills learnt in Reception.

All the boys have impressed me with the way that they have learnt the skills of using these tools effectively and safely. They are now able to score along a line, fold accurately, punch holes and join using split pins pretty much independently.  

Boys have been building rockets and spaceships out of the Polydron construction as well this week. Some designs have included engine boosters whereas others have included a launch pad. There has been much ingenuity on display!

Ordering the planets
The boys have developed a deep understanding of the order of the eight planets in our solar system and some facts about what makes each planet unique through various activities we have completed over the past two weeks. Many boys have loved playing Little Astronauts to hone their understanding. They have enjoyed finding relevant pages about planets in our space topic book area. Designing planets on the Purple Mash computer programme was another favourite activity. By the middle of this week, all boys were able to have a go independently at completing the job of cutting out and ordering the planets in their books. A fabulous end to this wonderful first half term of Year 1!

Mrs Victoria Ford
Year 1 Teacher
 

Reception

What a fantastic half term we have had in Reception Class. The boys have really wowed us with how well they have settled into their new class and their new school. They are fully in the swing of life at Pilgrims' and have progressed so well in many different ways already.  Our class trip was a lovely way to end the half term.

The boys were an absolute pleasure to take out of school this week on their first Reception Class trip to Sir Harold Hillier Gardens in Ampfield. The weather was kind to us, a little on the cold side, but we were all dressed approproately and ready for outdoor adventures.  No rain, which was a bonus.

The minibus journey to Sir Harold Hillier Gardens was very exciting, and for some a new experience in itself. It didn't take us long to get there. We were met by Sally who was our Staff Leader from Hillier's for the day. We had our own designated learning space available and use of our own toilets, so this was great! We had a morning snack in the outdoor Honeysuckle Hut and were then ready to go.

Sally had five activities planned for us during our visit. These were split with lunch at midday. Before we started the activities we needed to take our food compost to the wormery and discover what was growing in the garden. We saw worms at work, smelt the curry, lemon and mint plants, saw rhubarb, onions and grapes growing and watched the tractors at work.

The activities that followed were:

• A scavenger hunt around parts of the gardens where we had to collect items found on the ground,
• 1 - a yellow leaf. 2 - a red leaf. 3 - an acorn. 4 - a large fruit. 5 - a cone. 6 - a flying item. 7 - an object that had been nibbled by an animal. 8 - a beech nut. 9 - a mushroom (not to be picked).
• Leaf and tree matching - pictures of leaves were given out and we had to locate which numbered tree the leaves had come from. We also learnt about evergreen and deciduous trees and what this means.
• An exploration of the grounds of Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, including a walk through bamboo paths, looking at the fish in the large pond and galloping across the wobbly bridge to see what we could hear and see.
• Colour matching. What colours could we find from what plants to match with the colours on our palettes?
• Curtains up - making natural hanging garlands using items we had collected from our scavenger hunt to hang up to create an outdoor curtain.

The day ended with a big thank you to Sally, a change back into our trainers and a gathering of all our many bags of supplies needed for a day out with Reception children! We had a very welcome trip back to school on the minibus with some boys having a little snooze. Well done boys, a super day out and a super first half term! I hope you all have a fun yet restful half term holiday.

Mrs Sarah Huntley
Reception Teacher

 

Forest School

Our world is full of wonderful shapes, and the boys in Year R were on a mission to discover some of them using our special shape magnifiers. They searched for circles, rectangles and squares in our natural environment, and were amazed by their discoveries. Our shape detectives also ventured beyond the school gates and onto the school’s playing field for the first time during Forest School. The boys had great fun running and rolling down the hill.

This week, Year 1 learned about how different materials are used in our natural environment. After discovering which materials are used, the boys spent time exploring how they were being used and thinking about the properties of those materials. I was very impressed with their observational skills.

 

Year 2 had great fun this week making woodland cocktails! We chatted about the ingredients they could use, as well as the finishing touches that could be added. Imaginations flourished, and I was presented with a delicious range of cocktails; complete with some very interesting names!

 

Mrs Fiona Walker
Forest School and LAMDA Teacher