Pre-Prep have been treated to two super class assemblies this week led by Years 1 and 2, both focusing on school values – Year 1 chose ‘teamwork’ and Year 2 ‘perseverance’.  All the children performed their parts with poise and confidence, helping their peers to embed a greater understanding of these two important fundamental beliefs. Values govern our lives, inspiring how we act and speak – so in essence, a guide to life.  They embody the person we want to be, influence how we treat others and how we interact with the world around us.  Personal values are at the core of who we are and here a Hampton Pre-Prep and Prep, we have the following four values:  honesty, perseverance, teamwork and integrity.

School Council met for their second meeting of the term to firm up plans for their forthcoming charity event next week.  After some consideration, they have decided to support The Little Roo Neonatal fund, which is the local charity for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at St Peter’s Hospital in Chertsey, Surrey and this will be in conjunction with raising money for the charity Childnet.  One of our current school councillors benefited from this particular unit and put forward a very convincing proposal to support the unit during our last meeting, which gained a unanimous ‘yes’ from all present!

The care of babies born very early, or with unexpected problems, has improved immensely, with great improvements in survival and outlook but the work within the unit is increasingly specialised and requires dedicated teams of highly trained nurses and doctors, available at all times.  St Peter’s Hospital is the only hospital in Surrey, but is also utilised by residents more local to our school, with the appropriate staff, equipment, skills and experience to provide the highest level of intensive care for the smallest and sickest newborn babies.

Whilst the NHS funded costs of the new centre in 2005, the centre relies on charitable funds to provide specialist equipment.  Each Neonatal Intensive care cot costs in the region of £80,000 to fully equip and there is always ongoing need for additional and replacement specialist equipment, but also to send staff for specialist training that the NHS cannot provide.

Therefore, the extremely popular Krispy Kreme Doughnut event will be back on Wednesday 20 March to raise money for these two very important causes.  To take part, your child / children must bring £2 to school on that day.  Our school council thanks you in advance for your support!

As part of Science Week, we have been very excited to consider where our food comes from – to this end, thanks to Mrs Morris, Head of Science, we took part in the NFU Farming live lesson on Tuesday morning.  During the lesson, we were transported to Farmer Fiona’s farm in Warrington where live she explained her daily routines to the children –  including all the important jobs she does bright and early to keep her livestock fit and healthy well before we have got out of bed, as well as the seasonal jobs associated her being an arable farmer, too.  We discovered farms with a mixture of arable and livestock are called mixed farms.

I shall be picking up on this during Monday’s assembly as I believe understanding the provenance of food is very much a part of ‘expanding horizons’ and looking for the all-important tractor symbol on food items is essential not only in support British farmers but also pivotal in cutting down our carbon footprint.  I shall be sending some work home for the Easter holiday should your child wish to take part; this includes the follow up worksheets from the NFU but I will also challenge the children to begin growing their own apple trees over the Easter break.

This week the Courtesy Cup and Badge went to Seby Singh for his unfailingly polite manners – it is always a pleasure to speak with Seby, thanks to his courteous manner.

and Stars of the Week were awarded to:

Year 2: Charlie for persevering to his very best every single day at school!

Year 1: Oscar Scullion for improved presentation, and for taking care to form letters neatly in the cursive style.

Reception: Bodie for using his phonic skills to write about signs of Spring. Lovely work Bodie!

Finally, Neurodiversity Celebration Week takes place from Monday 18 March until 24 March, and we shall be celebrating everyone’s uniqueness here at Pre-Prep.  This is an important week, as neurodiversity is all about ‘a world where neurological differences are recognised and respected as all other human variations’ – do take a look at their website for greater information.

Neurodiversity Week 2024 – Events

Have a super weekend!