Welcome back after the short half-term break! I trust you all had time to rest and recuperate a little before the beginning of this next busy half term. March is packed with a host of trips and events as well as a series of Parent Talks. Please see 'Dates for Your Diary' below for more details, particularly for Class Assembly dates.
Kent College Prep School hosted the U11 IAPS qualifier for our area. It is a Bee Netball tournament and our U11 team, comprising of Sadhbh, Arianna, Ella, Eva, Imi, Emilia B and Sophia B played incredibly well. They won two out of 3 of their opening matches, and made it through to the quarter finals of the Cup! They played a fantastic match and eventually lost by 2 goals to the team that came 3rd overall! Well done to all the players and congratulations to the overall winners Wally Hall Prep School.
Thank you to Mrs Hall for her support all day and for presenting the medals.
Prep School Notice
- Swimming Gala - Please be advised the Swimming Gala scheduled for 29 February has been cancelled.
- Lower School Choir Cancelled - Due to the KS2 Parent Teacher Consultations, choir practice will be cancelled on Wednesday 28 February and Wednesday 6 March.
Author Visit Monday 4 March and World Book Day arrangements on Thursday 7th March
We are very excited to welcome author Gareth P. Jones (writer of the Dragon Detective series amongst many others) to the Prep School on Monday 4th March. We have extended the deadline for book ordering to Monday 26 February. Please take note Solve your own Mystery - The Time Thief is now OUT of Print. However, we have two new titles for you to choose between: The Transylvanian Express and Monster Maker at £6 each. Please email prepschool@kentcollege.kent.sch.uk to order these.
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Remember to email your photos of all the unusual or extreme places you have been reading to prepschool@kentcollege.kent.sch.uk
Senior School Open Morning - 2025 and 2026 intake
We invite families to join us for the Senior School Open Morning to tour the Senior School, see our pupils in lessons and hear from our Head, Miss Katrina Handford, Deputy Heads, Mr James Mossman (Academic) and Mrs Louise Payne (Pastoral), the Head Girl Team and current parents. Please email the Admissions Team to book your place at admissions@kentcollege.kent.sch.uk
What happened in school this week?
Forest Explorers
This term our topic is ‘People Who Help Us’ and we have had great fun playing at being firefighters in the woods, police officers and doctors. We have also loved spending time caring for the animals in our new Veterinary Surgery!
Reception
In Literacy this week, our story has been Little Red Riding Hood and the children have had fun retelling the story and singing the Fairytale Tea party song. They have created ‘Wanted’ posters for the Big Bad Wolf and thought about and matched describing words for each of the characters in the story.
Year 1
In Science this half term, Year 1 will be learning about plants. This week we focused on making observations and we talked about different plants. We worked with partners to plant sunflower seeds and we will be keeping a diary to track their growth over the next few weeks.
Congratulations to Isabelle on her wonderful achievement. She participated in a horse show with her ponies and won the Veteran Class (for older horses/ponies) with her 26-year-old pony, Tommy.
Year 2
This week, Year 2 hopped on a plane and flew all the way to Kenya to begin their Africa topic. They used maps to locate the capital city, mountains and the location of Kenya. They also created their own African patterns in Art.
During the Half Term Holiday Maisie participated in various Show Jumping Competitions on her pony Noud M and Rocco and did extremely well. We are so proud of this little rider!
Year 3
Year 3 had a wonderful trip, a few days before half term, to the Maidstone Museum to learn about the Ancient Egyptians. The highlight of the trip was mummifying an orange. After scooping out the insides of the orange (brain) and adding salt to dry the orange out, we stuffed it with newsletter (the Egyptians used scented linen), and bound it tightly with bandages. We then each drew on our death masks so the gods would know who we were!
In the afternoon we explored the museum and were able to see an actual Mummy called Ta-Kush who came to Kent from Egypt in the 1820’s.
Year 4
This week, Year 4 have been exploring creative phrases to describe a lion. Focusing on personification, alliteration, metaphors, similes and imagery, they produced some thought provoking phrases for their class poem.
Year 5
As part of Year Five's continued study of Chinese art, this week they discovered the 'Four Gentlemen' which are four plants that have special meaning and a deep-rooted connection with the seasons. Bamboo was the plant of focus on Tuesday. Bamboo is the summer plant, symbolising strength and humility.
Holding the paintbrush in a particular way was suggested to create this linear style of art. The children are practicing the techniques here with three different black washes.
Year 6
To conclude our cross curricular topic on Blood and The Circulatory System, we are going to have a debate. This week we have been split into two groups and have been brainstorming ideas. The title of our debate is - Should you be paid to give blood? We are busy preparing our arguments (one group in favour, the other against). Chaplain Katie has kindly offered to come and act as our Judge. We look forward to hearing the opposing arguments. The pupils who have been to Debating Club all term have had lots of great advice to share.
HALO Lecture - The history and philosophy of yoga.
On Wednesday some of the Year 6 children attended Mrs Stein’s HALO lecture about the history and philosophy of yoga. As well as learning a vast number of fascinating facts – did you know that over 300 million people practise yoga today? – they were able to work on some mindful breathing and try out a few yoga poses.
Pizza Strategy Summit: Houses unite for Brilliance!
It was a cheesy affair that ended in a very successful discussion. Chaplain Katie invited the House Captains to a House Strategy Meeting. The Captains had wonderful ideas for the upcoming year and hope to include the Senior School in some of the fun. Here's to a year filled with triumphs and, of course, more pizza-fueled strategy sessions!
BOOK YOUR TICKETS NOW!
We are very excited to announce a whole school performance of Saint-Saens “Carnival of the Animals”. This will take place on Wednesday 1st May at 2:00pm and 6:00pm in the Theatre and will feature original poems, orchestral music, dancing and singing.
All pupils from Reception to Year 6 will participate in the 2:00pm concert and we invite all parents to come to this exciting event. For the 6:00pm concert we invite our Choir and Instrumental Pupils from Key Stage 2 to participate along with the Senior School students and Parents are welcome to attend both concerts. It is not too late for your child to join a choir/instrumental group if they are very keen to participate in the 6pm concert! Please get in touch with Helen Bruce @ bruceh@kentcollege.kent.sch.uk
Sport News
It was a super exciting week for the Prep School as we hosted our first competitive football match against Kings Rochester this week.
It was truly history in the making as we played matches against King's Rochester and did brilliantly. Congratulations to all the teams participating in this wonderful event and we look forward to many more GOALS!
Gymnastic
Congratulations to Sadhbh and Arianna in Year 6 on their wonderful achievements at the Floor and Vault Kent Championships held in Tonbridge. Over 200 gymnasts participated in the event.
Upcoming Workshops for Parents
Following on from the success of our Digital Resilience workshop before half term, please see the details below for the next free workshops in our series. Booking for the next workshop on March 4th, How to Help your Child Build Resilience, is now open. Please click the button below to sign up.
The Wellbeing Hub
It takes a village to raise a child but this can be super tricky when our parenting styles differ!
Whether that’s our partners, grandparents, or our childcare support. In this webinar, Dr Maryhan Baker explains how you can successfully navigate these differences.
Access the Webinar Recording HERE.
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