Prep School Newsletter Friday 29 September 2023

Reception

In Reception this week the children have enjoyed the story Funnybones by Janet and Allan Ahlberg. After reading the story we discussed our bodies and the different things that are under our skin. We also learnt a song about the different parts of our body such as our lungs that we need in order to breathe, our hearts that pump blood and our brain which helps us to think. When we talked about our bones the children thought it was very funny that we would be very floppy without them! The children labelled the parts of their body and made skeletons.

We also talked about our senses and how we use them all the time to learn about the world around us. This week we focused on sight and played a memory game. The children were very good at looking to see which item was missing!

Year 1

Year 1 are really enjoying their topic on Medieval Magic! Our role play castle is very popular; the children dress up, guard the entrance and role play as fire breathing dragons, fearsome knights and plucky princesses. They are learning a lot about castles and how they have changed over time and the different jobs people did in them. They were interested to find out that we still have lots of the same jobs today such as farming, cooking, and cleaning but were very glad to find out that some of the more gruesome and disgusting jobs are not needed any more! They have designed these beautiful castles in Art and are looking forward to their Knights and Princesses Day just before half term - details to follow.

Year 2

This week our young artists from Year 2 skillfully painted intricate patterns inspired by zebras, giraffes, snakes, crocodile and leopards. The play of light and shadow took center stage as they then crafted striking animal silhouettes.

Year 3

Year 3 have enjoyed creating Indian block prints. They have designed patterns, then carefully created them on card using string. It was rewarding to see the colourful designs printed onto paper and they are now proudly displayed in the upstairs corridor.

Year 4

Last week, Year 4 had an interesting trip to Hever Castle. On arrival, we were treated to a tour of the castle and learnt many things about Tudor life. Hever Castle was the childhood home of Anne Boleyn (Henry VIII’s second wife). It was fascinating to see the décor, portraits and furniture around the castle. After the tour, we took part in a workshop where we learnt about how Henry Tudor became King and about how Henry VIII influenced the Church and married six wives! Dressing up was really good fun; we enjoyed being peasants, servants and royals. After that we played Tudor games such as skittles and marbles. The castle adventure play was the final treat of the day.

Year 5

Colin Thompson is a talented author and illustrator whose work we are lucky enough to study in Year Five. The themes in his books are closely linked to finding personal happiness and caring for the environment. As an animal lover, many of his books and short stories star animals. This week we have shared the story of 'Sid the Mosquito' and discovered the tale of 'The Paperbag Prince 'who finds a life full of animals is better than a life full of humans. Pupils have developed their inference skills and thought about how a story's plot is organised.

Year 6

Another very busy week in Year 6 has just flown by! The children have continued with Daniel Pennac’s ‘Eye of the Wolf’, by examining the attitudes of the four main wolves to the hunters who are tracking them. Using quotations to support their views has led to a number of discussions regarding how the children felt about the situation that the wolves in the story face. In maths we have continued by rounding integers and using Gattegno’s chart and then solving a trio of problems on Wednesday. We included one of them for you to have a go at!

Three Squares - What is the greatest number of squares you can make by overlapping three squares of the same size? What if you have 4 squares?

Continuing with the topic of evolution and adaptation allowed the children to choose an animal to research, finding out about how it has adapted to the environment it lives in. We will be sharing this work with each other next week. In art we made some of the adornments for our Kahlo style headbands and continued to consider equality in climate change in the Global Citizenship lessons we have with Mrs Hall. All this and French, drama, music, swimming lessons, hockey matches and Outdoor Learning - where we made some fairy houses for the Nursery and Reception children to discover!