Dear Parents,
Welcome back to the second half of the Autumn half-term. I hope you all had a wonderful break and are feeling relaxed and ready for everything coming up in the next six weeks! There is so much to look forward to across the school with exciting theatre trips for Pre-Prep, Maths Week challenges for Years 4 to 6 and our Nativity, Carol Service and lots more festive fun to finish the year.
You can find a roundup of our most recent highlights, House Football and Holiday Club, below followed by this week's important updates and reminders.
Photo Highlights
We had a spooktacular half-term Holiday Club with the children getting stuck in to all sorts of sports and crafts, including making magic potions, Halloween cookies and story boxes and trying their hand at archery and some very competitive games of dodgeball! It was wonderful to see them all having so much fun.
Here are a few highlights from a beautifully sunny House Football tournament. Well done to everyone who took part, in particular to St David's for their success in the Year 5 and 6 matches and St Patrick's for their overall win as well as winning the Year 3 and 4 matches. There were plenty of amazing goals, some incredible saves, great sportsmanship and teamwork and even a couple of tense penalty shoot outs! Thank you to everyone who came.
Calendar Reminders
Here are the key dates coming up. The website calendar is now up-to-date up to Christmas.
- Swimming: A reminder that Year 4 will have lessons with Year 2 on Wednesday mornings this half-term. Year 3 will resume sessions in the New Year.
- Festival of Light competition: Deadline for submissions - next Wednesday 6 November.
- Little Hatchlings Stay & Play: Sessions resume next Thursday 7 November.
- Celebration Assembly: Celebration Assembly will resume next Friday 8 November with our Remembrance Assembly.
- Reception Discovery Morning: Friday 8 November - see separate invite email.
- Football Fixtures - Wednesday 6 November - Y5/6 vs Sherfield (home), Friday 8 November - Y3/4 vs Sherfield (away).
- Cross Country- will take place on Friday, 29th November. For Nursery, Reception, and Year 1, the event will be held at school in the morning. For Years 2 to 6, it will take place at Sulhamstead Cricket Club at 2:30 PM where parents are invited to join us. Further details will be provided soon by Mr. Winship.
- Monday 11th November marks the start of Maths Week England.
- Tuesday 12th November - Year 5 and 6 will be doing the Primary Maths Challenge.
- Friday 15th November- Year 4 and 5 Maths challenge, to be hosted by Year 6.
Curriculum Overviews - Journeys & Discoveries
The curriculum overviews for this half term for each year group will be published on Monday November 4th. Once published, you can access this by using the link below. Find out how your child will be exploring this term's Theme of Investigation, Journeys and Discoveries, across different subjects and concepts.
Reception Discovery Morning Reminder
For parents of children joining our Reception class next September, don't forget to register for the 'Your Journey Starts Here' discovery event next Friday morning from 10-11.30am. This is the starting point of the exciting transition to Reception and we would love to see you there.
The event will be a chance for the children to experience Reception and meet those joining from other settings. It will also be a chance for you to hear from Mr Parsons about the Early Years curriculum and how to be ready for the start of Reception and the important first year of school.
You can confirm your attendance via the link below.
Final Reminder: Festival of Light Competition
Don't forget to send us your photos of light and celebration connected to the time of Diwali. Follow the link below for the competition guidelines and submit your entries to chloe.clark@stedwardsprep.com by next Wednesday 6 November. The winners will be announced in Celebration Assembly on Friday 8 November.
Remembrance Day: Poppy Purchases & Family Pictures
We are proud to support the annual Poppy Appeal this year, raising funds for the Royal British Legion. Poppies will be available for pupils to purchase at the start of the day and during break times. We kindly ask for a donation of £1 per poppy to contribute to this meaningful cause, which supports veterans and their families.
To commemorate this important event we will be holding an assembly in school and a two minute silence. In preparation for assembly and Remembrance Day, please could you send any photos or stories of people who have served in the forces from your family. It is always helpful to have this personal touch to support the children in understanding this important subject. Please email any photographs jordan.rudidck@stedwardsprep.com. Photos will either be included in assembly or be put on display in the hall.
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.
Best wishes,
Jonathan