Prep School Newsletter Friday 9 May 2025

Reception

This week, the children in Reception have continued their topic work on plants and our focus has been sunflowers. We began by looking at the non-fiction book the Life Cycle of a Sunflower and discussed how non-fiction books differ from fiction books and that we can use them in a different way. We learnt about the lifecycle of a sunflower and that sunflower seeds are used for many things. Using bossy verbs, the children wrote instructions for planting a sunflower seed and then used their instructions to plant their own seed.

Year 1 and 2 Assembly

What a confident crew of pirates! This week, Year 1 and 2 took to the stage with a wonderfully enthusiastic pirate-themed assembly. The children performed with great energy and confidence, clearly enjoying every moment. Each child delivered their lines beautifully, demonstrating excellent memory and clear speech. It was a delight to see them work together so well, and we are incredibly proud of their achievements and growing stage presence.

Year 1

Year 1 have worked very hard in maths this week as we near the end of our topic on multiplication and division. As well as practising counting in 2s, 5s, and 10s they have looked at arrays and doubling, all of which will help when we come to start learning times tables next year! Our next topic is fractions, starting with recognising and finding a half. We are also enjoying our art topic, about making colour and they enjoyed some colour mixing, as well as creating shades of their favourite colour by adding a little white to each stroke.

Year 2

This week in Year 2, we’ve been learning about fractions. We explored halves by folding Post-it notes to find different ways of dividing a square into two equal parts. We also enjoyed using the iPads to create pictograms and display the data we collected. On Thursday, we had a wonderful time celebrating VE Day and especially loved creating a colourful display board to showcase everything we had learnt.

Year 3

As part of our VE Day celebrations and our topic on WWII, Year 3 enjoyed reading extracts from My Secret Diary by Marica Williams. They read and discussed diary entries written by a nine year old girl called Flossie Albright, growing up in the Second World War. Flossie wrote about her Dad joining the Army, rationing, air raid sirens and how she and her family celebrated on VE Day. The children then used this to inspire their own diary writing imagining that they were taking part in the VE Day celebrations.

Year 4

This week Year 4 took part in a cricket match against Homewood House. After much practice and coaching by Mr George both teams did brilliantly. The teams supported each other wonderfully which contributed to a brilliant time had by all.

Year 5

Classifying, measuring and drawing angles has been a huge part of Year Five's week but this have been interspersed with many varied learning experiences. We have enjoyed our continued study of the fascinating text, 'High Rise Mystery', writing a manual for murder investigations and a news report for Hugo Knightley-Webb's murder. The children have been introduced to the 5 Ks of Siksm and studied parts of a flowering plant. Each pupil named and discovered information about the carpel, stamen, and petals and discovered more about their role in plant reproduction. During science lessons the children interacted with online resources, played parts of a flower bingo and dissected lilies. In each and every lesson the excitement for next week's residential has been growing.

Year 6

Challenge Accepted. Memories Made. Fears Conquered.

Mrs Hall and Mrs Crotty had a brilliant time taking Year 6 away on their PGL adventure. Full of laughter, teamwork, and personal triumphs, the week was a shining example of what it means to be a Kent College pupil. Our children made us proud, and now it’s time to hear it in their own words…

'I really enjoyed canoeing, as it involved lots of teamwork and splashing each other.' Karly

I was really scared to go on the Giant Swing, but I overcame my fears. Isla

I conquered my fear of heights on the zip line. Amelie

I loved archery, I've discovered a new sport. Elizabeth

I loved the giant swing because they pull you up, then you drop down so suddenly when you pull the black rope. The feeling really wakes you up! Emilia

I raced to the top of The Jacob's Ladder with Sophia G. Mrs Crotty said we were awesome! Isabella

BSGA Acro & Tumbling Nationals – Stoke-on-Trent

What an incredible experience it was for our amazing gymnasts who travelled to Fenton Manor in Stoke-on-Trent to compete in the BSGA Acro & Tumbling National Finals! Going up against schools from all across the UK and Northern Ireland, they truly did us proud.

Every one of our competitors earned their place at nationals by winning their regional heats — no small feat, and a huge accomplishment in itself. The standard was incredibly high, with up to 24 tumblers and 12 pairs in each category, but our team rose to the occasion with confidence, poise, and passion.

A particularly special moment was seeing Mabel and Harriet from Year 4 take to the floor. Not only were they the youngest competitors at the entire event, but this was also their first-ever national final. Going head-to-head with Year 6 gymnasts didn’t faze them one bit — they gave it their all, and we couldn’t be prouder.

Here’s how our gymnasts placed:

• U11 Tumbling: Mabel (Year 4) – 12th place
• U11 Girls Pair: Mabel & Harriet (Year 4) – 8th place

A huge well done to every single one of them — what a fantastic achievement and such a proud moment for our school! Mrs Cox