Preparatory School Spring Half Term Newsletter
Year 1 Assembly
Year 1 led a fantastic class assembly on 23rd January for the Prep School and
parents, based on the parable of the Good Samaritan. They acted out the story in
the modern context of a little boy being hurt at an Aston Villa vs Birmingham City
football game and the unlikely person who came to help him. The whole class
remembered their lines, delivering them in beautiful clear voices and with so much
confidence!
Reception Parents Assembly
Reception class performed their very first
assembly on 30th January about animals for
their parents and the whole of the Prep
School. They enjoyed sharing all of the
information they had learnt about animals.
They painted some wonderful pictures and
made some fantastic junk models. The
Reception teachers and their parents were
very proud of them.
Prep Arts Day
On the 6th February the whole of Prep School became a hive of artistic activity. Everyone from Poppets
through to Year 6 engaged in a full and creative programme. This year's theme was 'Making our Mark' looking
at drawing skills. This included working with our Artist in Residence for the day, Ruth Radcliffe, who led a
brilliant workshop looking at observational skills and using charcoal as a drawing medium with some amazing
results! Ms Charles led a lively and immensely enjoyable music mark-making workshop and Mrs Claughton
excelled at sharing her ballet skills with the children making marks using glow sticks as they danced. Mrs Smith
was a roving artist collecting postcard pictures drawn by the pupils for a large artwork yet to be unveiled!
Poppets and Nursery enjoyed a fun rhythm workshop making marks using their bodies to the sound of music. All
Key Stage 2 children now have their own upgraded personal sketchbooks to start collecting ideas and sketching
in. There was certainly a creative buzz which looks set to continue!
Tennis
After school tennis started in September and takes place on
Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 3:30pm for children in Years 2 and
3. The tennis teaching aims to develop the children's physical skills in
agility, balance and co-ordination. Furthermore Mr Wilson and his
assistant Mr Lloyd are preparing the children to be able to play in
mini tennis matches by the Summer Term. During this term they will
be working on improving their technical and tactical abilities in a
games based format.
Tennis is a game for life, teaching the children competition, fair play and
social skills that will serve them into adulthood.
KS2 Visit to RSC Stratford
Key Stage 2 had the opportunity to visit the Royal Shakespeare Company to watch Wendy and Peter Pan. They
were reading J.M. Barrie’s version during English lessons and were very excited to compare Ella Hickson’s stage
version. The stage design was incredible, along with the acting, music and lighting, captivating us all from
beginning to end. It was a wonderful experience and one that the children were desperate to share with their
families.
Year 1 Visit to Selly Manor
Year 1 visited Selly Manor on Tuesday 4th
February as part of their Homes of the Past
topic. They enjoyed looking around the
house and learning about the old furniture
and household objects. Their favourite room
of the house was the kitchen where they
learnt about the food they ate and how they
cooked it. They also couldn’t wait to get
dressed up and play with the different toys
of the past such as the diablo and cup and ball. Year 1 now know how people lived in the past and how different
it is to how we live today.
Year 3 Workshop on Saxons
On Wednesday 5th February the Year 3 children had a Saxon workshop where
they acted out a Saxon burial. Through this ceremony, the children
discovered different Saxon artefacts and their importance in everyday life.
They discovered how to tell if someone was rich or poor by their clothes, as
well as learning about different tools that Saxons would have used for
cooking and working. It was a very successful workshop where the children
came away enthused.
Year 4 Workshop on Tudors
Spices and far off lands, diamonds, pearls and sapphires! The Year 4 class had
an exciting History workshop learning more about Tudor wealth, exploration
and sea travel. They made their own quadrants and used them to measure
degrees just like the Tudors would have done when they were on their
ships. The children also learned about the pros and cons of differently shaped
ships and which ones the Tudors would have used. All this after having sifted
through pearls and other types of jewels! What an adventure!
Year 6 Workshop on Egyptians
On Monday 3rd February, Year 6 had a fantastic History workshop all
about the Amazing Egyptians. They learned some gruesome facts about
mummification, before testing out their pyramid-building skills, adopting
some of the innovations devised by the ancient civilization. The workshop
encouraged creative thinking and problem-solving skills as the children had
to work together to come up with pre-technology solutions to dilemmas!
They learnt that the Egyptians were extremely advanced in terms of their
scientific and mathematical understanding and all left the workshop
inspired by this amazing culture.
Debate
What an impressive half-term we have had in Upper Key Stage 2! The children
out-shone all expectations. Every single one of them stood up and produced an
outstanding argument during the debate focus. The motion debated was, ‘P.E
should be taken off the national Curriculum.’ The motion was defeated!
Winning houses were able to choose a brand new book to add to their
collection.
Forest School
In Forest School this half term, Year 4 have been doing work linked to traditional tales. Our sessions have
begun with storytelling around the base camp area, and the children have then worked in teams on their
practical activities, including building a trap to catch the Big Bad Wolf from ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ and laying a
trail, just like the Grimm brothers’ Hansel and Gretel, to lead a friend to hidden treasure. They have also
enjoyed building woodland dens and practising their tree-climbing skills. The children have worked together
brilliantly to solve problems and have demonstrated a very good awareness of the safety measures when
working with fire and tools.
Early Years
Baby Poppets - The babies have been busy painting pictures of winter animals
such as polar bears and penguins. Our new babies have been making lots of
friends and have been getting to know one another. We have enjoyed music and
movement sessions.
Mini Poppets - The children in mini poppets have been using their imagination and
creative skills by completing our Dora the Explorer display board. The children
have been exploring different textures by creating flowers using sequins, clouds
using cotton wool and finger painting different types of insects.
Poppets - During this term we have looked at the topic ‘Living Things’. The
children have all enjoyed looking at different animals, talking about the sounds
they make and where they live. The children used puppets and were very creative
using their imagination. Poppets also enjoyed looking at people from around the
world and the different clothes they wear. We added new countries to our globe
to complete our ‘around the world’ display board. Poppets have also been learning
specific jolly phonic sounds which have been incorporated into their topic such as
‘P’ for parrot. They have also been very busy learning new songs in preparation for their spring concert.
Nursery - Nursery has focused on day and night as part of
their ‘Opposites’ topic. They have discussed day and
nocturnal animals, created a day and night display for
their classroom as well as focusing on Jolly Phonics.
During Maths the children have been working on more and
less than and number recognition. Nursery celebrated
Chinese New Year by dancing to Chinese music, getting
messy with noodle play and creating lovely paintings using Chinese herbs and spices.
We hope you all have a wonderful Half Term and look forward to welcoming you back on
Monday 24th February 2014 when we will be holding our Multi Faith Week.