Pre-Prep News, Friday 17 March
Comic Relief and Red Nose Day
From Mrs Ross
Well done to all those who wore something red for 'Red Nose Day 2023'. Mrs Huntley and Mrs Newman, certainly win my prize for 'most co-ordinated and stylish Red Nose teachers this year!
* * * * * * * * * *
Pilgrims' Shell Awards
- Year 2 – to Franklin for all the little acts of kindness that you do regularly. You are a fantastic role model to us all. Well done!
- Year 1 - to Aaron for showing some excellent skills when becoming an Author this week.
- Reception - to Ben for his effort and focus in PE (rugby).
* * * * * * * * * *
Diary dates
| Diary dates | Times | The week ahead |
|---|---|---|
| Wednesday 22 March | pm | Christ Church School's team visit to lead Pre-Prep Assembly |
|
Friday 24 March |
1115-1145 |
Celebration Assembly |
| Tuesday 18 April | 0815-0830 | Summer Term starts |
* * * * * * * * * *
Notices
Menus - Please find a link to next week's menus here, on My School Portal.
Message from the Head Nurse, Nicki Beaumont:
Reminder: no food is to be brought into the school and/or given to boys at any time, especially at sign-out.
* * * * * * * * * *
From the PPA
Year 2
In amongst handwriting, spelling and reading in English, and ordering and comparing measurements in Maths, the boys in Year 2 have spent a lot of this week thinking about elements relating to their emotional wellbeing and development. The boys have been looking out for others in the playground that have acted kindly or helpfully to another boy or staff member. It has been a lovely bonus as the boys came in at the end of a playtime to hear them share their stories. They are keen to create a Kindness Wall in the classroom to record their observations which we shall start together – stars on a night sky or leaves on a tree have both been suggested by the boys as a way of displaying their kindness towards each other. Watch this space boys!
The Easter Story, explored this week, provided another medium to discuss kindness and friendship as Judas betrayed Jesus whilst Simon helped him. After listening to the Easter Story together, the boys worked in pairs to order the main events and create a spinning story wheel to recount the main facts. The following day, as some boys were finishing off, I found pairs recounting the story to each other of their own accord. A touching moment to observe.
The whole of the Pre-Prep has been re-introduced to the NSPCC Pantosaurus mascot to help us remember the serious message that our pants are private and to talk to a trusted adult if a secret upsets you. The boys certainly enjoyed seeing the Pantosaurus sing his particularly catchy song, with a similarly catchy dance, to help us remember this. We all had an opportunity to design our own pair of special pants after having a giggle at two story books all about pants: The Queen’s Knickers by Nicholas Allen and Pants by Nick Sharratt.
Mrs Ford
Year 1
We have been very busy in Year 1 this week creating our 'Knight's helmets' from papier mache. What a fun, yet challenging task this was.
First we made our gooey flour and paste mix, next blew up balloons (much to Mrs Beverton's horror), thirdly covered the balloons with the paste and newspaper strips and lastly left the balloons to dry. The balloons dried very quickly which allowed us to move onto stage two of our creation, popping the balloons and waiting to see if the structures held fast! A few balloons had already popped on their own, but the boys were able to watch one balloon pop, slowly deflate and be removed from the solid balloon shaped creation. With the creations now solid, the boys were able to use their helmet designs to cut, measure, test out and make their helmet more lifelike. Painting of the helmets took place next, either using gold or silver shades ready for the final decorations and visors to be added next week.
The boys are very proud of their helmets. All the hard work at the beginning of the papier mache task has paid off, and they now realised why a lot of layers were needed.
I look forward to sharing the completed Knight's helmet creations in next week's newsletter. Super perseverance and determination shown. Well done, boys!
Mrs Huntley
Reception
The boys have enjoyed icing and eating their own red nose biscuits before carefully choosing a friend or teacher to give a postcard to, thus 'spreading a little bit of joy' around the Pre-Prep.
Much work has focussed on counting, forwards and back from ten, twenty and one hundred. We have also begun thinking about environmental art inspired by Andy Goldsworthy; a five-minute filler activity continued for half an hour, making patterns and sculptures in the sand with some natural resources.
In PE this week, the boys worked on striking and fielding when playing 'Three Ball Rounders'. They worked hard on developing their techniques on the rugby pitch, throwing, kicking and hitting. Well done boys!
As we near the end of the second term, it has been a delight to share each boy’s progress at parents evening on Wednesday; so much learning and development. We look forward to sharing their books and classroom with you next week, during our Open classroom sessions.
Mrs Kent
Forest School
This week the boys brought along their teddies and learned how to create a simple tipi for them. After being reminded how to tie an open clove hitch knot, the boys gathered some suitable sticks together and had a go at trying to create a stable tipi for teddy! Some boys even thought about the interior of their tipi, as well as protecting it from the elements. The teddies looked very happy with the end results and the boys even took part in a work-out with their teddy!
Lurking in the nooks and crannies of the trees in Elizabeth Mead this week, there were some wonderful woodland elves! The boys had fun not only creating their elf, but they thought about his home and imaginatively created a woodland home fit for any elf!
Year 2 learned how to put up different shelters this week, and the importance of working as a team as well as listening to and cooperating with each other. Once the shelters were up the boys enjoyed spending time undercover and enjoying a lovely mug of hot chocolate!
Mrs Walker
The boys enjoying mugs of hot chocolate in shelters built in Forest School this week.
