From Mrs Hall:

At the beginning of the week, the Pre-Prep boys had the wonderful opportunity to attend the whole-school Set assemblies. This was a fantastic chance for our youngest boys to feel part of the wider school community and to see what life is like beyond Pre-Prep.

Many of the boys were eager to get involved, and it was lovely to see hands shooting up to answer questions. I also heard from another teacher about a particularly proud moment, when a Year 2 boy confidently stood up and answered a question in front of his whole Set, a brilliant confidence boost and a reminder of how much our boys are growing in self-belief.

Looking ahead to this weekend, we encourage the boys to keep their eyes peeled for the ‘visitors’ they might spot in their gardens as part of the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch. It’s a lovely way to connect with nature and to continue our curiosity about the world around us.

Have a wonderful weekend and happy birdwatching! 🐦

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Shell awards:

Year 2: to Felix-for his wonderful progress in reading, showing great effort and growing confidence with improved fluency.

Year 1: to Artie for his enthusiasm towards doing his best in all areas of classroom learning this week. Well done, Artie!

Year R: to Yi for making very good progress with his reading.

 

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Save the Dates !

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
Monday 2 March (Please note change of day from Tuesday)	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.}

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Upcoming Events

FOR ALL ENQUIRIES CLICK HERE

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Reception

This week in Reception Class we continued to enjoy our focus text The Snow Thief. The boys have been particularly engaged with the story and have used it as inspiration for their own writing. They had a go at writing sentences about Winter for Sid Squirrel as independently as possible, which was a real achievement. The boys tried very hard to use their knowledge of letters and sounds, remembering to include the cursive script we use at school, word spaces, capital letters and full stops. There is such a lot to remember when writing at such a young age, and many of these skills can easily be taken for granted. The boys showed great effort and perseverance, and we are very proud of how hard they tried.  

Writing will be a key focus for us in Reception throughout this term and into next term. Any opportunities you can provide for your son to practise writing at home would be hugely beneficial. This could include writing shopping lists, cards, or short sentences about weekend events (for example, “I went to the shop”), as well as labelling drawings or pictures. Any writing at all helps to build confidence and reinforce the skills we are developing in class.

We have also introduced a new way of working this week with the launch of our Challenge Jobs/Tasks. Each week there will be three challenge jobs to complete by the end of the week, displayed on our new Challenge Job Board. This approach encourages the boys to think more carefully about completing tasks that are asked of them, to work as independently as possible, and adds a little more structure and an element of challenge to their play and learning. Once a challenge job has been completed, the boys tick their name next to the task using a coloured pen: green if they completed it completely independently, orange if they needed a little help, and red if full support was needed. This week the tasks were:

1. Cut and stick the shapes to create a penguin/penguins.
2. Make a character from the story The Snow Thief.  Cut and attach the body pieces together using split pins.
3. Make a sledge from any construction equipment you choose.

Super results were achieved!  This new system is already going very well, and we have been really impressed with the boys’ understanding, honesty and engagement with it. 

Finally, I would like to say a big thank you to the Street family for kindly bringing in a gorgeous two-year-old sheep for the boys to enjoy during our Show and Tell session. It was a very special experience and sparked lots of excitement and curiosity. We are still deciding on a name and have already had some wonderful discussions and suggestions from the boys!

I hope you have an enjoyable weekend.

Mrs Sarah Huntley
Reception Teacher

 

Year 1

Winchester Observatory
The week started with an exciting adventure to the observatory at Winchester College. We were met at the Porter’s Lodge by Mr Douglas, the Don of Physics, who guided us on a long walk through the beautiful school grounds to the Science department.

High above us sat the observatory, tucked inside a dome on the roof. To reach it, we had to climb some very steep steps! Inside, the space was quite small, but that only added to the excitement. Mr Douglas opened the roof so we could see out, and we were amazed to discover that the observatory roof could turn all the way around. We took turns looking through the telescope and spotted the trees on St Catherine’s Hill. To our surprise, they were upside down! Mr Douglas also showed us another telescope that is portable and can be taken out onto the fields to look at the night sky. Both telescopes were bigger than us.

Back in the classroom, we wrote thank you letters to Mr Douglas including our favourite parts of the visit. There was a lot of independence on show during this task and many boys starting to join some of their letters as they wrote. Very impressive Year 1!

Sketching castles
We have really enjoyed exploring sketching skills as a class this term. The boys were really interested in the different types of pencils they could use and the different marks these would make on paper. This week, they followed instructions brilliantly to sketch some very impressive castles. Do come and see their fine work in the classroom next week.

Challenge Tasks
The class has been full of busy boys working independently on some of the challenge jobs around the room. Thoughtful crown designs have been exhibited as well as well-protected castles.The second column.

Mrs Victoria Ford
Year 1 Teacher

 

Year 2

Please note an important change to the calendar, where coats and wellies  will be needed: Year 2 trip to the Hawk Conservancy Monday 2 March, moved from Tuesday, More details to follow.

Year 2 have enjoyed a varied and engaging week of learning across the curriculum, showing great curiosity, creativity and perseverance.

Science
The boys have been exploring the question 'What makes a good scientist?' 

Using the story Ada Twist, Scientist as our inspiration, the boys discussed key scientific traits such as curiosity, careful observation, resilience and asking thoughtful questions. They enjoyed identifying these characteristics in the story and reflecting on how they can use them in their own learning, particularly when investigating and problem‑solving. Coincidentally, Monday provided a very memorable real‑life reminder of the importance of observation, when a bottle thought to be ketchup at lunchtime turned out to be a much hotter sauce than expected — a comical moment that prompted plenty of wide eyes, good humour and a gentle reminder about checking labels carefully!

It has been a busy and purposeful week, and Year 2 should be very proud of their enthusiasm and growing independence across all areas of learning.

Mrs Maxine Kent
Year 2 Teacher
 

Forest School

It is always at this time of year that we turn our attention to our wonderful British garden birds, and with the RSPB Garden Birdwatch taking place between 23 and 25 January, I thought it would be lovely to show the boys in Year R how to make some tasty snacks for the birds. Using fir cones and a gooey mixture of oats, cheese and raisins, the boys created some delicious fat balls for the birds. Some boys even had a go at making some Cheerio garlands for the birds. The boys proudly hung up their creations across the river, so we could watch the birds enjoy their feast!
 

Year 2 very much enjoyed using larger sticks this week to try and create the tallest stick tower they could. The boys soon realised that a stable base was needed for the structure, and they learned the importance of working as a team. The challenge was to see who could build the highest tower!

Mrs Fiona Walker
Forest School and LAMDA Teacher

 

Winchester College