weekly round up 14th February

Dear Parents

I hope you are well.

It has been a most busy lead up to the end of the first half of Spring Term 2025!

We enjoyed a successful Wellbeing Week, with events ranging from an assembly with Olympic gold medal rower Emily Craig (who also spent time in PE lessons) to our Year 6 pupils enjoying a wonderful week in France, exploring the sights of Pairs and even finding time to enjoy the delights of Disneyland.  We welcomed author Jenny McLachlan to talk with the pupils about her books.  Members of our choir travelled to The 02 arena to participate in Young Voices 2025 and our Year 5 chess players competed “up a year” in Year 6’s absence and played fantastically well at a multi-school competition.  More details on all of these events can be found later in this newsletter.

I shall stop writing now because it is a jam-packed edition, I hope that you all have a wonderful weekend and that the pupils enjoy their half term adventures!

Best wishes

Luke Harrison

Dear Parents,

The Pre-Prep have had a busy term which has culminated in bringing our topics for this term to a close with an action packed few weeks.

The Nursery children have had a focus week all about ‘Love’ talking about their families and the people they love.  They have been busy making lots of heart decorations ready for Valentines Day and have enjoyed spending time in the ‘Heart Café’ preparing wonderful meals for their customers.

In Kindergarten, the children have been looking at different categories of animals such as; British Wildlife, Jungle, Sea Creatures and Farm Animals.  During Children’s Mental Health week the children really enjoyed dressing up in clothes that made them ‘Happy’ and dressing ‘Babs the Bear’ so that she felt good too!

In Reception, the children have been exploring height and length in maths, ordering children in the class which can been seen in a lovely window display at pick up.  They have also been writing speech bubbles linked to their story in Literacy and have been very creative artists making colourful dinosaur masterpieces!

The learning in Year 1 was taken on the road this week with a chilly but exciting trip to Leeds Castle to explore the fascinating history of this 900-year-old castle. The children impressed the tour guides with their knowledge of the features of the castle and wowed the teachers with their acting skills while acting out ‘The Swan Princess’, making links to their unit of work on fairy tales. We were also very fortunate to be able to explore beyond the castle walls and gain an insight into Lady Bailey’s home.  The children have also been super busy writing their very own fairytales, it has been a wonderful opportunity to see how their writing has developed this term and see the enthusiasm they had towards this task.

In Year 2, the children have been finishing off their topic on Kenya with non-chronological report writing about lions, learning how to describe their appearance, habitat and diet which came together as a beautiful fact-file complete with illustrations as the finished product.  The children have also spent time comparing life in the UK with that of life in the Kenyan bush.  The children participated in creative activities including block print artwork and beaded jewellery inspired by the Maasai people, all while singing along to some Swahili songs that they have been learning.

I would like to wish you all a restful half term break and we look forward to welcoming the children back on Monday 24^th February for a brighter Spring Term 2.

Best Wishes

Louisa Rowland

Head of Early Years