Prep School Newsletter Friday 7 February 2025

Merci to all the pupils for their energy and enthusiasm, and to the Prep School staff—teachers and office teams alike—for making French Day such a fantastic success! Madam Moreau

Forest Explorers

This week, we have been immersing ourselves in the magical world of Disney stories, sparking our imaginations as we brainstormed as many beloved characters as we could. We created a giant Peter Pan and Rapunzel, carefully crafting every detail, and got creative with junk modelling to build magnificent castles fit for royalty. We also designed and decorated our own crowns, brought characters to life with stick puppets, and fully embraced the joy of messy play through a variety of hands-on activities. It has been an exciting, fun-filled week packed with creativity, laughter, and a touch of Disney magic!

Reception

This week, the children in Reception have been continuing to learn about how to keep themselves healthy. We talked about how exercise is good for us and listed many different ways to keep active. They were amazed at how active they are through the day! We learned about the importance of getting plenty of rest and sleep. Then we talked about healthy eating and that fruits and vegetables are full of vitamins, that carbohydrates give us lots of energy, proteins repair and build muscles and dairy food helps to keep our bones strong. We also learned that fats are important for our diet but we should eat the smallest amount of this food group. The children then sorted different food and placed them on the green plate if it was something they should eat lots of, or the red plate if they should only eat a little bit of that food. This provoked lots of interesting conversations about healthy food and why some food is better for us than others!

Year 1

Year 1 really enjoyed their internet safety talk this week. They met Millie, a little wizard who learnt to be kind online. The children were taught what information is safe to share if you are online and what you should "keep safe" and not share, like your real name, your school or your passwords. Ola Owl also showed the children what to do if they saw something which they didn't like online - to tell their trusted adult. All the children were turned into Internet Wizards by the end of the session!

We have also been developing our computer skills, by editing out text and making changes to font size and shape. We discovered the "undo" button and how useful it was to help create finished pieces of work.

Year 2

This week, we explored the fascinating invention of the wind turbine and its role in generating energy. We delved into the history of wind turbines, investigating when and how they were first developed and how their design has evolved over time. After gaining a deeper understanding, we put our knowledge into practice by constructing our own model wind turbines. Finally, we explained to a friend the principles behind how wind turbines harness the power of the wind to produce energy.

Year 3 and 4

We are very proud of Year 3 and Year 4 this week after their spectacular Roman Assembly. To rapturous applause from parents, and the rest of the Prep School, they acted, sang and danced whilst teaching everyone about the Roman Empire. The slaves built the straightest roads, whilst being watched over by soldiers, and the Roman wife couldn’t have been more worried (or bossy) about the arrival of the very dignified Emperor! They showcased their talented choreography in ‘Bad’ and pulled off some very mean moves!

Year 5

Internet safety was the focus on Thursday morning when Open View Education delivered a workshop. With fun and interactive activities the children explored the topics of online bullying, group chats, internet safety and wellbeing. The children worked in teams to come up with guidance on how to deal with any negative experiences. They learned more about settings, age controls, blocking and reporting. Learning how to be safe through drama was incredibly engaging for all.

Year 6

Year 6 have had another packed week full of exciting activities and learning experiences! They explored the effects of exercise on heart rate by taking their pulse and participated in an engaging internet safety workshop where they created freeze frames of scenarios like reading a shocking message—can you guess what each pose represents from the pictures? The class also enjoyed a wonderful French play during French Day, enjoying the opportunity to improve their French skills. They worked hard on planning and writing their Big Write, which I am very much looking forward to reading. In Computing, they are becoming experts at using variables while coding their games in Scratch. Finally, in Art/DT, the class made wooden frames in preparation for batiking their cushions. Have a great weekend!