Pre-Prep News, Friday 16 January

We began the week with an assembly to mark Winnie-the-Pooh Day.

From Mrs Hall:

We explored the much-loved characters from the stories and thought about what they are like – are they brave, thoughtful, nervous, loyal, or kind? The boys enjoyed discussing whether they could identify with any of the characters themselves and recognising that we can all be a little bit like different characters at different times. Some of the boys also fondly remembered our visit from author Jane Riordan, who has written further Winnie-the-Pooh stories, and it was lovely to hear them make those connections.

In assembly, we also introduced a new morning check-in system to support the boys’ emotional wellbeing as they arrive at school. Each morning, the boys will be able to let us know how they are feeling – whether they are feeling fabulous or perhaps a little fuzzy. We talked together about how “fuzzy” might mean feeling sad, worried, anxious, nervous, or even excited. If a boy is feeling a little fuzzy, a member of the teaching team will make time to chat with him and help him settle into the day. This is already proving to be a positive and supportive start to our mornings.

You may also have noticed four new whiteboards outside the Pre-Prep entrance. These boards will give you a clearer weekly overview for each class, helping you see what the boys are learning and focusing on. I will also be using these boards to share a weekly assembly overview, as well as any important calendar updates or reminders.

Thank you, as always, for your continued support. It has been a really positive start to the term, and we are very much looking forward to the weeks ahead.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Shell awards:

Year 2: to Justin for his resilience, curiosity and positive attitude.

Year 1: to Rufus for such a super start in Year 1 with his cheery presence in the classroom but also for his ‘get down to business’ attitude. Well done, Rufus!

Year R: to Oshin for coming back to school after the Christmas holidays with great enthusiasm and focus!

* * * * * * * * * * *

Save the Dates !

Friday 23 January	0830	PPA Parent Reps meeting
Wednesday 28 January	1500-1600	Christ Church visits the Pre-Prep
Saturday 31 January	0900	Pilgrims' Parley (see SchoolPost message of 6-Jan for details and how to book)
Thursday 5 February	0930-1030	Musical Shells for pre-school children
Friday 6 February	1900 1500	PPQ Quiz night - BOOKING NOW AVAILABLE*** Link to MSP: PPA Quiz booking form Pre-Prep Cathedral Assembly, all welcome
Thursday 12 February	1800	Pre-Prep Winter Warming evening
Friday 13 February	1500 1540	Pre-Prep Celebration Assembly Break for half-term
Monday 23 February	0830	Return to school
Thursday 26 February	morning	St Swithun's join Year 2 Forest School session
Friday 27 February	0830-0900 1000-1100	PPA Coffee by the river Little Shells for pre-schoolers
Tuesday 3 March	All day	Year 2 trip to the Hawk Conservancy (details to follow)
Thursday 5 March		World Book Day
Friday 6 March	All day 1500 1800-1900	PPA Book Sale Reception trip to Weald and Downland Museum (details to follow) Pre-Prep Cathedral Assembly, all Welcome Year 1 and Year 2 Stargazing evening (details already mailed to parents via SchoolPost)
Monday 9 March	1600-1800	Year 2 Parents' Evening (Details of booking will follow)
Tuesday 10 March	1500-1700	Year R and Year 1 Parents' Evening
Wednesday 11 March	1500-1600	Christ Church visits the Pre-Prep
Thursday 12 March	am	Mother's Day in the Woods (Invitation and details to follow)
Monday 16 March	0815-0845	Open Classrooms, all welcome
Tuesday 17 March	0815-0845	Open Classrooms, all welcome
Friday 20 March	1500	Red Nose Day Pre-Prep Celebration Assembly and term ends for Pre-Prep (Prep School term ends for Y4-8 Saturday 21 March)
Monday 20 April	0830	First day of Summer term

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.}

^{* * * * * * * * * *}

Upcoming Events

Friday 6 February, 7pm, All parents welcome
Join us for an evening of fun in the Pilgrims’ Hall, sparking those brain cells, as table teams go head to head for the honour of the winning the Pilgrims' Quiz Trophy! Will the teachers retain their winning streak?
It is possible to request to be part of a particular table, but plenty of people will be booking individually and tables will be created from those booked.
We look forward to seeing you there for an event that is a much loved Pilgrims' favourite!

Tickets: £17.50 per person to include a Curry Supper or a Vegan alternative as well as a drink beforehand. The PPA will run a bar selling wine, beer and soft drinks.

Please book on My School Portal, Bookings and forms - or click the link here:
PPA Quiz night - booking form

Ticket numbers are restricted by licensing rules so they are only available for Pilgrims’ parents and guardians.

ppa@pilgrims-school.co.uk

FOR ALL ENQUIRIES CLICK HERE

* * * * * * * * * *

Reception

We have had a fun-packed first week back in school after the Christmas holidays and it has been lovely to see the boys settling back into their routines so positively. After the excitement of the break, they are beginning to get back into the swing of things, showing great enthusiasm, focus and lots of smiling faces as they reconnect with friends and classroom life.

This half of term our new theme is 'Winter Wonders', with our big question: “Which Winter Wonder makes me shout WOW?!”
The boys have already shown a real curiosity about the changes that happen during winter and are enjoying exploring the season through discussion, stories and creative activities.

This week we were excited to receive another letter and story book from our woodland friend Sam Squirrel. Sam has asked for our help once again – this time to explain to his little cousin Sid all about what happens in winter. The boys discussed the signs of winter they might notice, such as colder weather, frost, snow, shorter days and bare trees. They also thought carefully about what Sid should look out for and what he would need to pack when coming to stay at this time of year, including warm clothes, hats, scarves and gloves.

After discussing winter, we read the story The Snow Thief by Alice Hemming and Nicola Slater and chatted about how poor Sam really did think that a thief had stolen his hazelnuts and indeed the SNOW, just like in the story The Leaf Thief, which we read last term. The boys produced some fantastic winter-inspired pencil drawings, proudly showing their ideas and growing knowledge of the season. These detailed illustrations reflected their understanding of winter weather, clothing and outdoor scenes, and it was lovely to see the care and effort they put into their work. We are very much looking forward to continuing our Winter Wonders learning journey over the coming weeks and discovering which winter wonders really do make us shout WOW!

As well as starting our new theme, after much eager anticipation, the boys have now all been taught how to safely use our class woodwork bench. They learned how to use the vice to securely clamp wood ready for sawing, developing both confidence and care in their approach. Each child then measured and cut two precise 10 cm lengths of wood, which will be used to create something exciting in our next session. It was wonderful to see such focus, pride, and enthusiasm as they worked. Great excitement for next session!

Have a great weekend!

Mrs Sarah Huntley
Reception Teacher

Year 1

The boys have been working hard during their first full week back in the classroom and have really enjoyed welcoming Mrs Pleming into Year 1 as our TA and Rufus as the newest member of our class.

English – knights and castles
The boys have been introduced to a knight, a dragon, a griffin and a troll as character in the new class story, The Knight Who Wouldn’t Fight. We have predicted what we think these characters might be like and what might happen with them in the story. This has helped us to practise using the word because in a sentence to explain our opinion. We have also tried to extend our vocabulary by using some interesting adjectives to describe them. The boys have spent the week writing their own thoughts as well as taking part in a shared writing activity where the grown-ups were the scribes to help the boys focus on the ideas and the WOW words. Gently, bit by bit, we are warming ourselves up to write our own story by the end of the half-term that includes a hero and a mythical beast, set in the land of castles. We shall be reading lots of stories to help us gather as many ideas as we can.

Maths – “ten and a bit” numbers, the teen numbers
Maths has had a very practical focus this week to help boys to secure their understanding of a teen number (11-19) as a number that includes one ten plus another amount. We have used Numicon, Dienes, tens frames, bead strings, counting sticks and blocks. The boys have been challenged to problem-solve and verbalise the right answer. For instance, why is the amount shown 31 and not 13. By the end of the week, it is evident how secure the boys are in their understanding of this. We are ready to progress to using number lines next week and comparing numbers within 20 and perhaps beyond.

Mrs Victoria Ford
Year 1 Teacher

Year 2

Year 2 have had a fantastic week of learning across the curriculum.

In Science, we have been exploring what a hypothesis is, inspired by the story Ada Twist, Scientist. The boys have learnt that a hypothesis is a sensible guess based on what we already know. To help bring this to life, we carried out a fun experiment using a neatly wrapped bar of soap, encouraging the children to think carefully about their predictions. This was followed by their own exciting smelling experiment, where they worked like real scientists to decipher what was causing an awful smell!

The second column.

In Maths, the boys have been learning all about money. They have been sorting coins, making up different amounts, and using their skills in a class shop where they practised counting and problem-solving in real-life contexts.

In our topic, we have begun our new learning journey on Amazing Africa. The boys are very excited to explore this fascinating continent and are already full of questions and enthusiasm for what’s to come.

What a brilliant week of curious thinking and hands-on learning!

Mrs Maxine Kent
Year 2 Teacher

Forest School

It is always very exciting welcoming the boys back to Forest School after a long break. What better way to start the year than by having a party for our planet!

Year R had a wonderful session creating a birthday cake for our planet Earth to celebrate the start of a new year, and of course, a lot of mud was involved! We even sang “Happy Birthday” to our planet at the end of the session.

Year 1 had fun reconnecting with nature and enjoying a nature scavenger hunt. The boys randomly chose a scavenger card and then tried to find an example of it to place in their hoop. The boys worked cooperatively with each other and did a lot of running around and searching together, which helped us keep warm!

This week, Year 2 were given the challenge of seeing how far they could make a stick travel without throwing it. They were allowed to use two sticks and a piece of string and were given a clue that their knot skills were going to come in handy. After quite a bit of discussion and experimenting, the boys soon realised they had enough resources to make a bow and arrow. The boys became very excited when I announced we were going to have a competition to see whose arrow could go the furthest!