Shared values
Events such as this week's Victory in Europe celebrations are an opportune time to pause to reflect on the values we uphold at Vinehall - values that were also important eighty years ago.
Resilience – During the war, people had to be strong and brave. They faced many challenges, but they kept going. Like them, our children learn to keep trying, even when something feels difficult. Just like Terry Tortoise.
Kindness – The war reminded everyone how important it is to support each other. Our collaborative approach encourages children to be good friends, to help one another, and to show kindness in all that they do.
Gratitude – VE Day is also about saying thank you to those who made sacrifices for peace. We help our children recognise the importance of gratitude — from saying thank you, to displaying respectful manners, and in grasping every opportunity provided for them.
Hope – After the war, people dreamed of building a better world. Here we talk about ambition and how we can act to make a difference — endeavouring to be the very best version of ourselves.
Joff
VE Day Celebrations in Pre-Prep
Nicky Whittaker - Head of Pre-Prep
Pre-Prep celebrated the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe with a special assembly on Thursday morning. After learning about the historic events, we put our learning to the test with a fun, participatory quiz. Louis and Victoria headed up one team, while Sloane and Rory led the other. Mrs Ruddle had kindly pre-taught Year 2 a simple swing dance which they happily demonstrated to the other children, and everyone had a fantastic time as they practised a simple “Jitterbug” dance to Glen Miller Music!
The value of this week was 'courage', and the children learnt about the courage and resilience of all those who fought in the war: the courage of the soldiers who had to go to fight; the courage of the women who ran the 'land army' at home; and the courage of the children, who had to show resilience in facing new, difficult situations. I was so impressed with how well the children listened throughout the assembly, and on how well they reflected about how it may have felt to have been alive in 1945.
Nursery - Where in the world?
Sarah Wolford - Head of Nursery & Kindergarten
What a wonderful world in which we live, with so many opportunities and adventures to be had; and it starts here at Little Vines Nursery! The children are learning all about transport and travelling to different parts of the world. There are so many learning opportunities to be gained from an understanding of the world. We set up a Travel Agent and looked at a map of the world to plan our adventures and holidays. The children also built different forms of transport using junk modelling, from trains with enormous funnels to ships that can sail over the oceans. The adventures took us world wide to places such as South Africa and France. All aboard for the next adventure!
Kindergarten
Cathy Fuggle - Kindergarten Teacher
Tickets please !
As we continue our transport theme this week we have been looking at buses and reading the fantastic story ‘The Lion on the Bus’ by visiting author, Gareth P Jones. The children have had great fun thinking about what animals they would like on their bus and what noise the animals might make. We have also had a wonderful time making lion art, playing ‘on the bus’ maths games and painting our bus tires.
We were also fortunate enough to have the lovely Year 7 children to read with us again and they loved reading ‘The Naughty Bus', 'Bunnies on the Bus' and having a little sing along to 'The Lion on the Bus' with the Kindergarten children.
Reception
Holly Newton - Reception Teacher
This week we have been learning about VE Day. We looked at a huge map of the world and found Europe and then the United Kingdom and then England. We have also been learning that there are four countries that make up the United Kingdom and that the flag that makes up these countries is called the Union Flag. We found out that on VE Day 80 years ago, people went out on the streets to celebrate by have a street party; they waved union flags, put up bunting, danced and shared food with each other. We celebrated by making pinwheels and decorating cakes in red, white and blue. Aria even managed to copy the Union flag on one of her cakes which we thought was incredible!
We also discovered that poppies were the first flowers to grow on the battlefields after the First World War and that they have become a way of remembering all those who have died on behalf of our country. We made our own poppy pictures and took great pride in assembling them. I felt very proud of the children and the care they took to make their poppy pictures extra special.
In Maths we have been adding ‘3 more’. We chose a number card and represented this number with yellow counters on our tens frames. We then added three more red counters and thought about how many we had now and wrote a corresponding number sentence to go with the pattern. We are making sure we write all our numbers the right way around as we write them too!
Year 1
Jacklyn Garwood - Year 1 Teacher
The children continued to focus on the United Kingdom this week by carefully painting their sculpted models. They used their atlases to ensure that each country was clearly painted and colour-coded.
Preparations for our Year 1 tea party have begun, with the children learning a special song and designing festive decorations for the occasion. The boys and girls have written some amazing descriptive sentences based on our story of 'The Queen’s Hat' and have extended their sentences to make them even more exciting! Another fabulous week of learning Year 1 - Well done!
Year 2
Louise Hawtin - Year 2 Teacher
Year 2 travelled back in time to the Crimean War in 1854. First they met Florence Nightingale, then the nurses got to work cleaning the hospital, setting up beds, finding fresh food and water, as well as looking after the injured soldiers. What a difference they made!
The children also took part in a fitness workshop with Year 8, run by Mr McKinnon, to learn about getting fit and the impact of exercise. It was hard work but great fun!
Year 3 - Flowers, Trees and Pollinators
Carina Everist - Year 3 Teacher & Religious Studies Teacher Years 3-6
The photos say it all! What a wonderful day we all had visiting the beautiful and stunning botanical gardens at Wakehurst. Everybody learnt a lot and Mrs E was proud of how inquisitive and interested the children were. Thank you to Mrs Waters and Mrs Walker for driving us.
Year 3 - Observational Drawings
Year 3 looked very closely at a variety of whole plants. Having made detailed drawings, they labelled the parts of the plant, thinking about each of the functions.
Year 3 - Changing Me
As an introduction to this topic, Year 3 played a game where they had to find the 'pair' - a baby animal and their female parent.
Year 4 – VE Day
Louise Barrett - Head of Juniors
After a reading comprehension on WW2, 4B had fun making Spitfires.
Year 4 – Science
They children loved investigating with the electrical equipment.
Year 6 - Wrap up "Healthy Me" in Life Skills
Ally Linney - Deputy Head (Pastoral)
Last week, 6PW's learning focused on coping with stress and pressure. To wrap up this Life Skills unit, they were joined by Mrs Robinson (while Ms Linney was on a Mental Health and Wellbeing course) and the pupils designed cubes with a range of coping techniques.
Taking deep breaths, playing with my dogs, playing with my friends, listening to music, and trying to talk to someone were just a few of the helpful strategies the pupils came up with to deal with stress.
Ms Linney was so pleased to find the stress-relieved tower of cubes on her desk this Tuesday morning!
On Wednesday, we enjoyed heading outside to take photos of the project for our assessment folders. The cubes are making their way home, and Ms Linney hopes the pupils use them when they feel they are needed - there were so many great ideas!
Sport
Matt McKinnon - Director of Sport & Head of Co-Curricular
The second week of the cricket season was a slightly chillier affair, but that did not stop the pupils getting stuck in, with a good amount of progress being made across all the teams.
1st XI boys v Saint Ronan's - Played against a strong side, fewer extras this week, but still an area on which the team need to work.
1st XI girls v Marlborough House - An entertaining game, and Mr Newman was pleased with the effort shown, with a few good batting partnerships
2nd Team girls v MHS - A good win for the team, with a stronger all-round performance.
Mixed Colts A v MHS - An improved batting performance against a good bowling attack.
Mixed Colts B v MHS - A 48 run loss against a strong group team.
Mixed Colts C v MHS - An enjoyable game, with plenty of fun had by both teams.
U8/9 Boys v Skippers Hill - It was wonderful to see the enthusiasm from both groups, with some wonderful bowling and improved striking.
U8 Girls v Sacred Heart - A narrow defeat, but the group continue to improve in every aspect of their game.
U9 Girls v Beechwood - A great start to the season for the group, with a good 20 run victory.
Next weeks fixtures are:
Tuesday 13 May - Swimming Gala at Dulwich - U8, U10 & U11s
Wednesday 14 May – Girls: 1st & 2nds v Claremont Away; Colts A & B v Claremont Home. Boys: 1st & Colts v Claremont Home; 2nds & Colts B v Claremont Away
Thursday 15 May - Girls: U8/9 v Claremont Away. Boys: U8/9 v St Andrew's Home
Saturday 17 May – Golf & Tennis fun morning- 9.30am to 12.30pm; all welcome.
House News
Saxton Charity Event for Hedgehog Awareness Week
This year Saxton are supporting the British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS) as their nominated charity and today we celebrated Hedgehog Awareness Week in great style. Pupils from Years 2-8 were invited to bring £1 and a tin of dog food into school for a grand tin-rolling competition down the field. BHPS had put us in touch with the East Sussex Wildlife Rescue & Ambulance Service (WRAS) and Trevor Weeks very kindly drove his vehicle on site to give the children a talk about the wonderful work his charity do to rescue injured wildlife throughout the year. He then launched the three races for Juniors, Middles and Seniors and there was huge excitement as the dog food went whizzing down the hill. Daisy W, Gabriella G and James H are now the proud owners of toy hedgehogs and everyone enjoyed a chewy treat. WRAS is currently providing care to a huge number of hedgehogs and Trevor was delighted to accept the well-travelled tins, as dog food is their staple diet before they return to the wild. We will be sending a cheque to BHPS once the Bursary have counted all your most generous donations!
COMING SOON …
Joff and Eddy warmly invite parents from Vinehall and Marlborough House to Drinks and Canapés on Tuesday 20th May, 7.00-9.00pm on the Front Lawn at Vinehall.
This will be an opportunity for families from both schools to come together for a social event.
Drinks Party - Tuesday 20th May 2025 - Booking Form
If you would like to join us, to assist with catering, we would kindly ask you to RSVP by completing the booking form above by Tuesday 13th May 2025