From Mrs Hall:

Thank you to those who were able to attend our Welcome Evening last week. It was lovely to see so many of you and to have the chance to chat informally at the start of the year. (see report from the PPA Chair in the main newsletter.)

As always, our Monday assemblies are led by me, and we usually focus on a topical theme or one of our school values. This week, as the Prep School were holding their first ‘Set’ assemblies of the academic year, we thought it was the perfect opportunity for the Pre-Prep boys to be included too.

Each boy is allocated to a Set: Romans, Monks, Normans, Wrens, or Saxons. In Pre-Prep, set points can be earned in many different ways - through demonstrating the Pilgrims’ values, academic effort, kindness, and more. Points are celebrated in our Friday assembly and then sent on to Mr Duncan, Second Master, to be added to the whole school totals. The boys took great pride in cheering each other on during Monday’s assemblies, and it was wonderful to see them feeling part of their wider school community.

In other news, we are always keen to share fun and educational family opportunities. Mrs Ford has been researching theatre trips that link to the boys’ topics this term, and there are some excellent productions to look out for:

• Reception
  All about me and my family: We're Going on a Bear Hunt | Little Angel Theatre
• Year 1
  SPACE: The Smeds and The Smoos | Theatre Royal Winchester
  LIGHT: WOW! Said the Owl | Little Angel Theatre
• Year 2
  Twisted Fairy Tales: The Three Little Pigs | The Unicorn Theatre

And looking ahead, some further ideas…

• Reception
  Animals: The Enormous Crocodile — by Roald Dahl | Rose Theatre, Kingston, London
• Year 1
  Knights and Castles: Jack and the Beanstalk — By Andrew Pollard | King's Head Theatre
• Year 2
  Africa: The Lion King | Book Theatre Tickets for The Lion King Musical

Over the next few weeks, we will be developing our Home Learning programme too. Depending on their year group, boys will receive a variety of activities, alongside their daily reading books.

We would also be very grateful for any donations of small terracotta pots and indoor plant pots which will be used for upcoming activities with the boys. Thank you in advance for your support.

Finally, a few practical reminders: please ensure that all items of kit are clearly named and that your son has everything he needs each day. With the weather being so changeable, we ask that boys always bring both a school jumper and a school coat.

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Shell awards:

Reception: to Arthur, for being a very helpful member of our class, especially during tidy-up time!
Year 1: to Maxi for getting on with classroom jobs independently and sensibly 
Year 2: to Maximillian S, for being helpful to his friends and teachers.

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Save the Dates !

Monday 29 September	all day		Year 2 class trip to the Tudor House, Southampton (information to follow)
Tuesday 30 September	tbc		Pre-Prep Drama workshops
Thursday 2 October	all day		National Poetry Day
Friday 3 October	09:30-11:30 15:00-13:30		Little Shells Pre-Prep Cathedral Assembly - all parents very welcome
Monday 6 October	tbc		Year 2 Parents' Evening
Friday 10 October	all day		Year 1 trip to Roche Court
Saturday 11 October	morning		Whole school Open Day
Monday 13 October	tbc		Reception and Year 1 Parents' Evenings
Friday 17 October			Half-Term begins at the end of the school day
Monday 3 November	08:30		Term resumes

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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Report from Commoners

Crafting Commoner - help please!

Our Pre-Prep Crafting Commoner is getting creative this term, and we’d love your help! We are looking for donations of clean odd socks, empty egg boxes, and balls of wool to use in our projects. These simple items will be transformed into fun and imaginative crafts by the boys. If you have any to spare, please send them in with your son or drop them off in the Pre-Prep. Thank you for supporting our budding crafters! Mrs Kent

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Cookery Commoner

Over the summer, Pilgrims' became a Leiths Education Partner School and the Pre-Prep Cookery Commoner is now in full swing. Rainbow wraps were proudly made this week by the Year 2 boys. They approached the task with care, attention to detail and wonderful team work. They learnt the skills of peeling safely and cutting carefully whilst understanding the importance of eating a balanced and colourful diet. They were thrilled with what they made and discovered that chives were their new favourite food! I could not have been prouder of my budding chefs.  Mrs Ford

Upcoming Events

 

Book here: 

• Little Shells: Book your Little Shells session - The Pilgrims' School
• Musical Shells: Book your Musical Shells course - The Pilgrims' School
• Open Morning: Pilgrims' Open Morning

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Reception

The boys in Reception Class have continued to rise to the challenge of school life, remembering the rules and routines superbly and not being phased when things have cropped up or changed a little. Well done boys, we are still so very impressed with your behaviour and the way you have settled!

This week, during our Maths sessions, we have been learning about 'Comparing, matching and sorting' different objects. The boys explored many different natural objects to see what is the same and what is different about them and were then able to put these into sets/groups. The objects have been looked at closely according to size, shape, colour and the group they are most linked to. For example, all the conkers were put together, the leaves put together and then the shells.  

This became a little more tricky when objects from the same set were used, such as buttons. Some boys were able to sort according to how many holes their buttons had in them, while others chose colours or sizes. The boys then explored Miss Whitmore's sets to see if they could guess her sorting tactics. Some very good observational skills were used, with most boys guessing correctly.

Ways to use these skills at home would be to look for items at home to put into sets and talk about why these items are grouped together. Can your son make some sets for you to guess the criteria?  

Next week we will be moving on to look at numerals starting from '0'. At school, we use the resource 'Ten Town' to help with this.  You may like to look at this for home use also.

I hope you all have a super weekend.

Mrs Sarah Huntley
Reception Teacher

Year 1

English
A strange package arrived in the classroom on Monday morning which included a knitted waistcoat, tie and mug. We discussed who might have sent us such a package. We decided it must be someone who went to work in an office because of the tie and perhaps someone who liked drinking cups of tea. We have since learnt it was sent by Bob, the Man on the Moon! Strange because we didn’t think astronauts wore ties, but perhaps that is when they are not in space! We certainly have some questions for Bob and were able to practise using question marks when writing questions to ask him.

• Why do you have a star on your rocket? (Henry B)
• What did you see on the moon? Why do you need to go to the moon? (Hammie)
• Did you see an alien? (William)
• What do you do in space? (Joshua)
• Do you play in space? (Henry R)
• How long did it take? What do you do on the moon? Who made the rocket? (Artie)
• What is your job on the moon? When do you go? (Ralph)
• Why is he on the moon? How did you go to space? (Maxi)

We are hopeful that Bob might get back in touch with us to help us answer some of our questions…

Art
We have thought about what the word “alien” means and tried to envisage what a visitor from space might look like.  As nobody is really sure what extra-terrestrial life might be out there, that means we can be extra creative. The boys have collected ideas for different alien features and had a go at drawing them. Next week, we shall be designing and drawing our own alien lifeform!

Victoria Ford
Year 1 Teacher

Mrs Victoria Ford
Year 1 Teacher

 

 

Year 2 

This week, the boys have been putting their letter-writing skills to the test after a mysterious letter appeared in class — from none other than Little Red Riding Hood herself! Inspired by her tale, the boys wrote thoughtful replies, showing off their creativity and imagination. Some even designed bold WANTED posters to help capture the sneaky Wolf. Alongside this, they have been comparing two versions of the classic tale: Little Red Reading Hood by Lucy Rowland and the traditional story we all know and love.  Well done, boys!

Later the same day, the boys stepped back in time to 1666 to explore what life was like during that period. They looked closely at the different types of objects people used then compared to what we have today, as well as the kinds of jobs people did in the past. As you can imagine, this sparked a great deal of interest and lively communication, with the boys sharing their thoughts and asking plenty of curious questions. 

We are very much looking forward to our upcoming trip to the Tudor House in Southampton, which will inspire the boys further and allow them to delve even deeper into this fascinating historic period. Further information to follow.

Mrs Maxine Kent
Year 2 Teacher

 

Forest School

It has been a wonderful year for apples, so this week we took advantage of all the fallen apples in the grounds. The boys in Year R enjoyed hunting for apples of all different shapes and sizes and had a closer look at the inside of an apple. Then, working in teams, they had fun creating a huge apple snake that wove its way around the Pilgrims’ Garden. During free-exploration time, some of the boys very much enjoyed playing a game of apple boules as well as apple printing!

Apples were our inspiration for Year 1 as well. The boys had a go at building the largest apple tower and soon realised the importance of a solid and stable base for their creation. We then used our imagination to create some apple aliens using sticks and apples, as well as making some apple boats that we raced down the river.

Learning how to camouflage yourself is always great fun, as it allows the boys in Year 2 to practise blending in with their surroundings, as well as working with their favourite medium — mud! After choosing a suitable site to blend in with, the boys thought carefully about the necessary components that were needed to make their hands really disappear. I loved how the boys used the leaves and grass effectively.

Mrs Fiona Walker
Forest School and LAMDA Teacher