From Mrs Hall:

It has been an absolute joy to welcome the boys back to school, and what a wonderful first full week it has been in the Pre-Prep, filled with smiles and positivity! We’ve had a smooth and successful start to the term, and our new boys have settled in beautifully. I have to say that in all my teaching career I have never known such a calm start: no initial tears from the boys, parents, or staff! It has been a particular delight to welcome the new boys and their families to the Pre-Prep, and we look forward to seeing you at our ‘Welcome Evening’ tonight.

We began the week in our Monday assembly discussing the Pilgrims’ values and what it means to be a superhero, or for us, a “super helper.” The boys have truly embraced this, and it has been heart-warming to watch them making new friends and feeling right at home. The older boys have welcomed the younger ones with enthusiasm, offering support and encouragement every step of the way. Kindness has truly prevailed, and the boys have embodied the Pilgrims’ values wonderfully this week.

The teaching staff have also been full of praise for the high standard of work already being produced.

Wishing you all a fantastic weekend, and hopefully a little late-summer sunshine!

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Shell awards:

Reception: to Kai for his positive learning attitude and the excellent way he has settled into Reception Class.
Year 1: to Joshua for his lovely manners all week and settling in to new classroom routines.
Year 2: to Edward for being a 'super helper' this week and taking on the role of class monitor brilliantly! 

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Save the Dates !

Thursday 18 September	from 09:00		Whole school 'flu vaccinations with NHS Nurses (You will have received a SchoolPost email asking you to sign up)
Saturday 20 September	08:15-09:15		Wellbeing Matters LIVE 1 (details in a SchoolPost email of 12-Sep)
Tuesday 30 September	tbc		Pre-Prep Drama workshops
Friday 3 October	15:00-15:30		Pre-Prep Cathedral Assembly
Monday 6 October	tbc		Year 2 Parents' Evening
Monday 13 October	tbc		Reception and Year 1 Parents' Evenings

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

Do you have any unwanted terracotta pots and saucers at home?

The Pre-Prep are on the hunt for terracotta pots and saucers of any size for a new potting venture they are hoping to set up. From tiny pots to larger ones, all would be extremely useful. Please either reply to Mrs Ford (vford@pilgrims-school.co.uk) or bring down to the Pre-Prep if you can help.

Thank you in advance! 🙂

 

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Reception

Welcome to Reception Class and our new families, and to some familiar faces too!  It has been great to hear all of your summer holiday news, with a mixture of staycations and foreign holidays alike. What great memorable times you have all had. We now move into the Christmas Term at school and, for the Reception boys, the first term at 'big school'!

What a fantastic start your boys have made to life in Reception here at Pilgrims'! They have settled in brilliantly, quickly picking up the routines of the day and showing growing confidence and independence. It has been such a joy to see them making new friends, exploring their classroom, and joining in with lots of enthusiasm.

The boys have been busy! They have explored the school grounds, met lots of staff, and learnt new vocabulary like ‘Exploring Time’. They have shared snacks and lunches with new friends and played in the big playground with the Year 1 and 2 boys. They have enjoyed PE, music, French and Forest School. They have also attended assemblies, listened to stories, painted self-portraits in their smart uniforms, played games, and chosen their own activities. All that in just one full week (and two extra days) — wow!

We are so proud of how well the boys are getting on and can not wait for all the fun, learning and adventures that lie ahead this year! Next week I will tell you more about our 'Theme' for the term and focus on a different area of the Early Years Foundation Stage that the boys have been busy exploring.  

I hope many of you were able to join us for our curriculum and drinks evening where any questions you may have were answered. I hope you all have a restful weekend.

Mrs Sarah Huntley
Reception Teacher

Year 1 has been having an extremely productive start to the term getting used to their new classroom. Some mysterious bones appearing one morning helped the boys to explore the various spaces in the classroom and the resources they found there. The boys worked together to put the skeletons back together, with a little help from Mr Reid, who had found some across the school on his way in that morning! Thankfully, these skeletons were happy Funnybones, a Janet and Allen Alhberg story that we have enjoyed together and has facilitated some great learning. From naming the parts of the skeleton to practising our fine motor skills, writing a new start to the story and cutting out a skeleton puppet, we have got to know each other a little more. A very big well done to all of Year 1 for starting the year off in such a joyful way. We are now deep diving, or should I say blasting off, into the big wide learning world of SPACE. What is in the sky above our eyes? We shall report back!

Developing speaking and listening skills
There are various opportunities within the Year 1 classroom to promote effective speaking and listening, which is an important skill for our boys to develop. Each Monday morning, we shall have “Weekend News” time when we shall have the opportunity to share something of interest to us from our weekend.

Each Friday afternoon, we shall have “Show and Tell” time when the boys can speak about an item that is of interest to them. This is an important learning experience for the boys, both for developing their speaking skills in front of an audience, but also to practise their listening and questioning skills. Each boy will have an opportunity once a fortnight to bring an item in to talk about. See your son’s Reading Record for further information about what group your son is in.

As you will be aware from Reception, we ask that the item they bring in is either something they have made, something from a special day out or trip, or perhaps something of interest they have found. A photo of something they have done is also a lovely way to share some news as well. This can be emailed to me or shared via Tapestry once you have your login for this resource. Boys should try to speak for a minute or two about their item and answer some questions from the rest of the class.  

Mrs Victoria Ford
Year 1 Teacher

Year 2 

Off to a Flying Start in Year 2

Energy, imagination, and adventure in our first full week back

What a delight it has been to welcome the boys into the Year 2 classroom. It is hard to believe that we have only just completed our first full week—the days have already been filled with energy, fun, laughter, and plenty of learning!

The boys have been settling into their new classroom beautifully, sharing ideas about what they would like it to be: caring, friendly, and tidy, while also continuing to build resilience and perseverance. 

Crafting Commoner has also been a huge success—offering a moment of calm after a very busy day. The boys created their own unique “summer creature,” using only the primary colours of paint and a straw to bring their imaginative designs to life.

In our topic work, we are looking forward to delving into the depths of London, before discovering what really happened in 1666 on Pudding Lane. 

Mrs Maxine Kent
Year 2 Teacher

 

Forest School

It was lovely to welcome the boys back to Forest School this week; we were all excited about being in nature again and Year R very much enjoyed their first Forest School.

This week, the boys in Year R and Year 1 focused on getting to know the site, understanding any changes that might have happened over the summer, as well as chatting about our expectations for Forest School. Both year groups explored the site with a focus on adjectives, identifying different natural items, and sharing them with their peers. We played some simple games to help build confidence and get the boys used to the site. Year R learned how to take rubbings and made some wonderful woodland bunting, which we hung up in the Bower House.

The creativity skills for the boys in Year 2 were put to the test this week in the form of natural rings. The boys were asked to build a series of natural rings using items they found on site. This encouraged them to think about patterns and colours and to work collaboratively with each other. It was lovely to see the designs develop and to listen to the chatter as the boys worked together. The upgraded mud kitchen was also put to the test and passed with flying colours!

Mrs Fiona Walker
Forest School and LAMDA Teacher