The Bulletin – Edition 13
It continues to be a source of enormous encouragement to us here that parents are very kindly getting in touch to let us know how well our programme of guided home learning is currently operating. We shall not rest on any laurels of course – no one gets even better at anything that way! To that end, Mr Ford, Mrs Murphy and I have been thinking carefully this week about adjustments needed for guided home learning from Monday onwards, and Mr Ford has sent a message to parents of boys in Years 3 – 6 outlining one or two tweaks to our programme which will be in place from Monday. The intention behind these is to improve what we have already been doing, so please do read what Mr Ford outlines. Once again, if any parents have questions or observations they wish to share please come back to teaching colleagues directly, or indeed to any one of us on the senior team here.
Prep
Year 6
Boys in Year 6 are, I am sure, ever mindful of the wait that most of them must now endure for news of their applications to senior schools for next year and beyond. Mr Ford, Mrs Tinkler, Mr Bendelow, Mr Salt and I are keeping all the Year 6 boys high in our minds at present, as we too are looking forward to hearing of the outcomes, as they start to trickle in towards the end of this half term. If Year 6 parents ever wish to get in touch to discuss any aspect of the process, or indeed are seeking a bit of reassurance, or feel they would like to feed back on how their boy is feeling, please do get in touch. We will be very happy to listen and if we can help with any matters that may be emerging at home, ahead of news from the senior schools arriving, naturally we will.
Attain Magazine
Attain magazine is the leading publication representing the interests and views of the Prep sector in the UK. It is widely read by Prep Heads and teaching colleagues alike and is known and respected by schools belonging to the associations affiliated to the Independent Schools Council (ISC).
Feedback on the First Headmaster’s Cheerful Challenge
Generous, open-hearted, thoughtful, incredibly polite, appropriately interested and HILARIOUS! are all words I am compelled to use now to describe your boys, as they represented themselves in their letters to me, which have arrived in great abundance at the Prep this week. I was anxious for some cheering up from the boys and my goodness, how they have come back with plenty of that! Mrs Zander and I have had great fun waiting for the mail to arrive each day and I have rationed out opening and reading the letters, such is the pleasure they have proven to bring me. So, please tell your sons the Headmaster is very grateful for their wonderful efforts, and as a thank you Mrs Henderson, colleagues from the publications department based at Hampton School and I are now putting something together for the boys in Years 3 – 6 arising from the content of their letters. I shall aim to post that to them all before half term (Big clue – get ready for some serious chuckles!)
Guidance for the Second Headmaster’s Cheerful Challenge
I am hoping the boys will listen carefully in my assembly on Monday morning, loosely based on notions associated with ‘land’, our theme for this half term. As a precursor for you as parents now, when I was a young boy we came to live in Britain for a year, in 1977 (the Queen's Silver Jubilee) and I was immersed in all things British at a very impressionable age as it turns out (I came back as an adult and here I am to this day!) One of the things I remember so well from my year in the UK then was the great number of castles (NZ has only one – a Victorian hodge podge but with a fascinating and suitably tragic gothic history to go with it nonetheless) and stately homes we visited. A stand out for me, to this day, was Warwick Castle, and I have very fond memories of learning so much about it during the course of our visit.
Pre-Prep
A word from Mrs Murphy
As we draw breath as the first full week of the Spring Term comes to end, I think we should all feel proud of our accomplishments. We all know the current situation we find ourselves in is far from ideal, far from ideal for anyone, not least the children. You are all doing an amazing job at trying to emulate a busy infant classroom whilst at the same time juggling your normal daytime work commitments. The road ahead will most certainly be rocky at times but, experience tells us, we will settle into new routines. In school, our first Golden Rule is ‘do be gentle’ and the second ‘do be kind and helpful’ - it is, therefore, essential we support one another through this challenging time by recognising it isn’t easy for anyone at the moment. Keeping safe and well, and in good spirits, must be our top priority.
Kindergarten
It has been a ‘cosmic’ week in Kindergarten, learning lots of interesting facts about the eight planets in our Solar System - some are made from gas, rock or ice. We found out that there is only one sun that all planets orbit and that comets are made from ice and, when they travel towards Earth, they begin to melt and break away and it is this that causes the shooting star effect. We were amazed to find out that Mercury is the closest planet to Earth and if we look through a telescope we may see it in the night sky. We watched a video clip of a real astronaut called Tim Peake. When he was in his space shuttle, he squirted some water from his water bottle and it turned into floating ball because there is no gravity in space.
Reception
In Reception, we have been immersing ourselves in all things to do with winter and cold weather. Conducting a science experiment with icy cold water and Vaseline, we discovered why certain animals have a good insulating layer of fat in order to keep themselves warm during winter.
We are really proud of how hard the girls and boys are working in these tricky times – very well done!
Do you like our winter newspaper animals – some made at school and some at home?
Year 1
All Year 1 children have been busy and purposeful regardless of whether they are at home or at school. Their theme in science is, ‘What’s the weather?’ and this will be been carried through into their art tasks this term - here’s a small selection for you to enjoy.
Well done to all our amazing children in Year 1 – diligence, perseverance and hard work demonstrated in spades!
Year 2
With Week 1 of remote learning under our belts, we are so proud of all the Year 2 children. ‘Inspiring Individuals’ is our humanities project this term and, so far, the boys have been learning about Rosa Parks, her bravery and dignity and the part she played in the civil rights movement.
Similarly, in art, we will be exploring inspiring individuals in terms of famous artists. Our first, a particular favourite of Mrs Murphy, Henri Matisse started off our topic. Working in the style of Henri has been great fun – look, we have been ‘drawing with scissors’!