The Bulletin – Edition 11
Not quite a Christmas baby, but this week I am delighted to let you all know that Mme Houghton, one of our French teachers in the Prep, gave birth to a healthy baby boy last weekend. We have wished her and her husband our warmest congratulations on the arrival of a little brother (with an appropriately Breton-French name of course!) for their young daughter.
I am very glad there will be two new and exciting ways in which the development of the boys’ personal values shall be recognised in the Prep next week. On Monday morning we will hold our very first ‘House Breakfast’. Boys whose House Tutors feel have really personified the spirit and ethos of each House will enjoy sharing some delicious breakfast treats with their House Tutors, by way of a celebration. The Year 6 boys who have assumed responsibility as Joint Heads of House this year will also be celebrating the personal achievements of selected boys from their Houses, at a special assembly on Friday morning next week.
Mrs Tinkler and I met with House colleagues and the Year 6 Heads of Houses to hear who they wished to recognise and why. It was immediately clear to both of us that both adults and Year 6 boys alike had devoted much careful thought to selecting boys across the Prep whose personal journeys this term definitely deserved to be recognised. I am always mindful that the good natured, well behaved, hardworking, perfectly lovely boy can be in danger of falling off the radar at times, if he does not shout loudly enough about his own accomplishments. There is no need for me to worry about that here however, as boys who fit that bill will most certainly be recognised and praised on two separate occasions next week.
Prep
Year 6 Friendship Champions
The Year 6 Friendship Champion initiative at Hampton Prep got off to a flying start this term, and with Mrs Mills’ careful shepherding it has continued apace. The boys are Josh Gibbins, Joseph Timba, Alfie Keller, Jasper Miles, Thomas Duffy, Rory Walker, Bertie Bishop, Ollie Nicholls, Archie Duggan, Oscar Bayliss, Xavier McGuire, Theo Tang and Danny Prichard.
Primary Maths Challenge
Last week, all of the boys in Years 5 and 6 took part in the Primary Maths Challenge.
This annual, national mathematics extravaganza is attempted by thousands of pupils in hundreds of schools across the UK and consists of 25 tough wordy problems that really encourage burgeoning mathematicians to ‘think outside the box’. Interestingly, there is never much arithmetic involved. The challenge comes from the complex and multifaceted nature of the questions. The scores have now been received here at the Prep and certificates were awarded to the boys whose scores exceeded our expectations. The Maths Society organises the competition and they will decide upon a small selection of pupils to take part in the Bonus Round in February. Watch this space…!
An Individual Pupil’s Accomplishment
It feels very good to give, and we have all been hugely impressed with the effort and spirit of giving that the boys in the Prep have embraced this week, in the context of our ’12 Days of Giving’ event run in conjunction with Hampton School and meeting the requirements of our L.I.O.N. Award.
Year 3 Boys’ Museum Exhibition
The boys in Year 3 have been studying the Stone Age here this term and we would have dearly loved for them to go on our annual Year 3 trip to Stonehenge itself, to see this wonder with their very own eyes. Instead, we put a great deal of time and effort into arranging some museum exhibits in the James Hall at the Prep which showcased all that the boys had learnt in art and history lessons about the early development of human kind. Please follow this link to see a short video of the wonderful displays of the boys’ work we all enjoyed:
Assemblies
Mrs Morris led an excellent assembly on ‘ambition’ for us in the Prep this week. At the start of her career she used to work at a school in Oxford, and on her way there each morning she would pass by the Iffley Road Sports Centre running track where Roger Bannister made athletics history and completed his famous ‘4 minute mile’ in 1954. Mrs Morris has remained inspired by Roger Bannister’s ambition and humility ever since; the key lessons we all learnt were, just like her athletics hero, ability and careful planning count when trying to realise one’s ambition but aiming for one’s personal best counts for so much more.
News from Mr Salt, head of Games
Speaking to a few of the boys today, it was good to hear that they will be fully returning to community sport this weekend, now that lockdown has ended. I am sure parents will be happy to see them outside once more, running around and expending energy. When they have finished there is the England vs. France match to relax in front of.
Pre-Prep
A word from Mrs Murphy
It’s official, we are on countdown to Christmas - our Christmas trees are up, the Christmas post-box is open and Secret Santa has taken place this morning! I have to say, what a joy to see the children’s faces whilst carefully selecting presents for their loved ones. With regard to the post-box, please note 7th December will be the last opportunity to post Christmas cards here in school, so to avoid any disappointment do make sure your child brings theirs into school on Monday morning.
Kindergarten
In Kindergarten, we have enjoyed reading and focusing our week on ‘The Jolly Christmas Postman’ by Janet and Allan Ahlberg. We had great fun reading this funny story and reading the letters that the characters wrote to their friends. It was surprising to see the big bad wolf being kind to the three little pigs and the little red hen, and we loved the puzzle that the King’s men sent to Humpty Dumpty.
Reception
We have been celebrating the start of Advent in Reception, each day we have opened our Christmas joke advent calendar, enjoying a daily funny Christmas joke! We have also enjoyed sharing our progress with the ‘12 days of giving’ - it has been lovely to hear the children’s wishes on their baubles, their letters to loved ones and yet more Christmas jokes!
Year 1
Year 1 are thoroughly enjoying the build up to Christmas in school. They worked extremely hard rehearsing their Christmas poems and song ready for our filming next week.
In English, we enjoyed the story of ‘Mog’s Christmas Calamity’, pausing the video at various points to look at Mog’s expressions. We discussed captions we could use to describe Mog’s expressions and wrote these onto speech bubbles. We also wrote some lovely letters to Father Christmas thinking about things he can bring to others.
Year 2
In Year 2, we have been focusing on fractions this week. We have identified ½, ¼, 2/4, ¾, 1/3 and 2/3 of different shapes and amounts. It was tricky at first but after some practice, we are much more confident now!
Next week, we will be revising how to tell the time.
In science, we learnt all about John McAdam and what he invented – do ask your child to explain the macadam road and where the word tarmac comes from!
We also finished our Anansi stories this week and made a great display with them! Do you like the spiders we made?