From Mrs Ross 

• one Pre-School Bear Hunt
• two class trips, three Shell Awards
• four little ducklings at the beginning of today
• and five ducklings hatched by home time!

Thank you to all the staff for taking extra time and care to ensure that the boys have such an enriched curriculum, with wonderful, memorable learning experiences. Thank you to the Year 1 and 2 boys for their exemplary behaviour during the school trips and for making their teachers so proud.

I look forward to seeing and walking with many of you on the sponsored walk tomorrow morning.

   

Diary dates

Saturday 21 May	am	PPA Sponsored walk and fête
Friday 27 May		Ducklings collected Jubilee Celebration Half-Term starts, return on Monday 6 June
Tuesday 7 June	All day	Reception Class trip to Marwell Zoo
Wednesday 8 June	1545-1630	Year 2 Choir Concert
Friday 10 June	1000-1100	Pilgrims' Play session for pre-school children
Friday 17 June	0845-0915	Pre-Prep Celebration Assembly for parents
Monday 20 June	1900	Pre-Prep Move-Up meeting for parents
Tuesday 21 June	0900	Whole School photo
Friday 24 June	1000-1100	Pilgrims' Play session for pre-school children
Tuesday 28 June		New Boys' Day
Wednesday 29 June	am 1800-1845	Dress rehearsal: Ocean Commotion Ocean Commotion performance for parents
Thursday 30 June	1800-1845	Ocean Commotion performance for parents
Friday 1 July	1400-1530	Pre-Prep Sports Day (NB: this is a change to the previously published date of 30 June)

 

 

 

Notices

Homes needed for our very own ducklings; please do email Mrs Kent if you would like to rehouse our ducklings, who hatched earlier this week. They are white, flightless, Pekin ducks and will be ready to spread their wings at the start of half-term. You will need a suitable place to house them, with the opportunity of water for them to splash about in. A heat lamp will also be needed to keep them warm. Any question please do ask. 🐣🐣

Pilgrims' Shell awards

Year 2 - to Rupert B for his mature and sensible behaviour in the playground this week.

Year 1 - to Darcy C for his excellent behaviour and interest during our trip this week.

Reception - to Digby F for his hard work in Maths and creativity.

* * * * * * * * * *

Year 2

Excitement has been building all week for our trip to the Blue Reef Aquarium in Portsmouth. The boys have interrogated the website and various guides and flyers to discover just what sea creatures may be lurking in this underwater world. Before we left this morning, clownfish were a popular choice to hold pole position as ‘most wished to see fish’. Hermit crabs, glass dogfish, cow fish, snapping turtles and axolotl have come in close seconds however! 

As soon as we arrived, there were whoops of joy at every turn when the boys saw all the various sea creatures that we have come across in our study of oceans and reefs. Certainly, being able to get so close to the rays and the bull huss sharks in the open pool will be a memorable moment for many. They also seemed excited about our presence and kept popping up out of the water to say hello! The boys got a special mention from our guide, India, for their engagement and interesting questions. During the journey back to school, boys shared their favourite fish and favourite facts. 

Did you know…? 

• There is a type of sting ray that doesn’t have any sting.  
• There is a type of coral called candy cane coral. 
• Fire shrimp are very small and bright red. 
• Sharks and rays do not have skeletons like us. They have elastic bones made of cartilage. 
• Male spider crabs look after the eggs in a hatch in their tummy, a bit like a kangaroo’s pouch.  
• Glass catfish are see-through so you can see their bones. 
• The sting ray has its sting at the end of its tail. 
• Seahorses hold on to kelp because they are not very strong swimmers. 
• There really is a type of fish that is called a cow fish because it has horns on its head. 

The boys should be hugely proud of themselves for their energy towards their learning, shown time and again in the way that they engaged in today’s trip. Year 2, you were an utter pleasure to share the aquarium with today.  

    

    

 

    

    

Maths this week has continued to focus on position and direction. We have started to create our own patterns with shape including quarter, half, three-quarter and full turns moving clockwise and anticlockwise. Can you continue these boys’ patterns? We shall be asking our friends to continue our patterns next week and creating some more challenges… with a Jubilee theme! 
Mrs Ford

    

    

Year 1

The boys in Year 1 had a fabulous time at The Historic Dockyard in Old Portsmouth this week. To enhance their topic about Pirates and sea faring they were able to explore both HMS Warrior and HMS Victory. What remarkable ships and wow moments were had. The boys had a go at a gun drill as if they were in battle on The Warrior and listened to the story of Lord Nelson and the Battle of Trafalgar of The Victory. They learnt about what life was like living on a ship many years ago and how difficult life must have been. 

What a fabulous learning experience, and such thought-provoking questions and thoughts were generated to inspire our topic. 

'When are we going on our next school trip?' the boys asked eagerly.
Mrs Huntley

    

    

    

    

    

         

Reception

This week, following on from their work on doubles, the boys have been hard at work thinking about halving or sharing. To begin with they had to find an 'even' Numicon tile, one that could be cut in half and shared fairly between themselves and their chosen animal. 

    

 

 The boys enjoyed a wonderful Library session with Mrs Leslie, outside in the Pre-Prep playground soaking up the early morning sunshine...

followed by an 'eggciting' afternoon Lie Down session next to the newly arrived incubator, complete with five duck eggs and the brooding cage. 

 

 

    

    

    

And the last duckling hatched at 1353 this afternoon!

Mrs Kent

 

Forest School

Year R continued with their magical theme from last week and set about creating some potions made from natural resources. A wonderful collection of items were mixed together to create a potion that was responsible for a natural event. Some boys had a go at making some magical mud pies whilst others chose to spend some time drilling with a palm drill or making a home for our soft toys.

This week Year 1 were inspired by nature’s natural patterns. The boys spent some time identifying natural circles and spirals in the Arboretum and then had a go at trying to create their circular and spiral patterns using natural items. The boys worked cooperatively together and were very proud of their results.

Year 2 explored the Arboretum in depth and found something that interested them. Everyone was encouraged to share their findings with the class. The boys were then given the opportunity to explore the Arboretum more independently. Some boys used eggs boxes to place their discoveries in, some chose to go on a bug hunt using magnifiers, bug pots and ID charts. There was much excitement in the air when a mini beast was found.
Mrs Walker