Preparatory School Christmas Term Newsletter
We are sure you will agree that all children did fantastically well in their Christmas Productions!
Priory Poppets Nativity
Poppets and Nursery performed their Nativity play "A Miracle in Town " after weeks of practise.
The children enjoyed performing and are still singing the songs from the show. Many parents, family and
friends came along to support the children. This was a thoroughly enjoyable event which involved some of our
youngest children performing solo parts beautifully. Very well done to all children who took part.
Infants Nativity Play
The children from Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 performed their Nativity play ‘Bethlehem’s Buzzing’. The
children performed this play on two afternoons to ‘packed houses’ of their friends and family. The singing,
acting and dancing was of a very high standard with leading solo parts from many of the children in Year 2.
Book Fair
A big thank you to all parents and children who supported our annual Book Fair which raised £1872, beating last
year’s total of £1658. The school will now be able to spend £1123, which is commission, on books for the
classrooms and libraries.
Children in Need
Children from Poppets – Year 6 raised money for Children in Need by coming to school in Christmas fancy dress,
pyjamas or own clothes. The children raised £420 across both schools for this worthy cause.
Theatre Visit
KS1 and KS2 were royally entertained by the Riverside Performing Arts Company in December. They
participated in an extremely inventive and creative version of a well-known traditional tale, Jack and the
Incredibly Mean Stalk. The tale was presented by the actors using nothing more than buckets for props
together with a mixture of dynamic physical theatre and catchy music. The children were thoroughly entranced
and the British values of tolerance, respect and caring for others, were celebrated.
Carol Service
The 2015 Priory School Carol Service was a wonderful oasis of calm in the midst of all the frantic preChristmas activity, mainly lit by the Cristingles made by Year 6. As well as the traditional congregational carols,
sung with great enthusiasm by all the KS2 children, there were carols performed by each of Years 3 to 6 and a
Spanish carol sung by a group of Year 7 and 8 students. Louis Durkin and Grant Addis sang a lovely duet and
Gabriel Bajramai, Bruce Hygate and Gordon Chen created a peaceful atmosphere with their version of the Pifa
from Handel’s Messiah. The Prep Ensemble and Prep Choir were bigger and better than ever, the former giving
a spirited rendition of Good King Wenceslas and the latter singing two carols, with an ethereal solo from Louis
D’Souza. The Senior Ochestra and Brass Ensemble made a valuable contribution to the congregational carols, as
well as performing their own items and the Staff Choir made a welcome appearance with the Huron Indian
Carol. As always, the culmination of the event was the beautiful tableau created by Year 6 in their fabulous
costumes.
Prep Advent Mass
Children in Years 3 – 6 celebrated Advent Mass in the Chapel with wonderful readings from the Bible and
Christmas Hymns. The mass was offered for children less fortunate than themselves, Father Jeremy from St
Catherine’s led this Service. All of the children sang beautifully including the choir who sang ‘The snow lies
white’.
Christmas Card Competition
Congratulations to Sebastian Kimblin (Year 4) and Tanishka Naveen (Reception) on their winning designs for the
Priory School Christmas Card. Very well done to runners up Lily Sherrington (Reception) and Aydin Ali
(Reception). Thank you to all the children who took part. All the designs this year were wonderful - it was very
hard for Mr Cramb to choose the winners!
ISA National Art Competition
The two winning pieces of artwork that secured first places in the ISA Regional Art Competition went on for
submission to the National Competition held in November in Daventry at the ISA Headteachers' Conference.
The fantastic news is that Kiah Wright's colourful watercolour, inspired by Austrian artist
Friedensrich Hundertwasser, has been awarded first place in the KS2 Individual 2D art category. A huge well
done on this impressive achievement as she was competing against talented peers in schools from across the
country.
Attingham Park – Year 6 History trip
At the end of October, just before half term break, the Year 6 class travelled back in time to 1940 to become
child evacuees of the 2nd World War. Dressed in period clothing, they boarded the train (AKA the Priory
School mini bus) and exchanged war ravaged Birmingham for the Shropshire countryside. Participating in such
activities as rag-rugging, rationing recipe making, sandwich making and a spy adventure, the children
experienced what daily life would have been like for children during the war. They may even have been
convinced (or was it tricked) that they were actually staying with billets in the surrounding village until the
following Friday. It was an eye-opening experience that brought the plight of child evacuees to life for the
Year 6s.
Forest School
There's been a fabulously festive feel to Forest School sessions for years 3 & 5. Both year groups have been
designing and making natural items for the Christmas Fayre, helping to raise money for St Chad's Sanctuary.
Year 3 learnt how to safely use a bow saw to cut discs, on which they designed a variety of Christmas scenes
which were later pyrographed to make Christmas tree decorations.
Year 5 went willow-weaving crazy, making spiral tealight decorations, Christmas trees and wreaths.
All the children thoroughly enjoyed the challenges of working with natural materials and did a wonderful job in
creating so many amazing works of art.
Amongst the endeavours of charity work, both year groups found time to enjoy the usual delights of Forest
School, including digging, whittling, balancing, role-play and many other activities.
Years 1 to 6 Visit to the MAC
Children in Year 1 and Year 2 were treated to a wonderful adaptation of Grimm’s classic tale, ‘Cinderella’ at the
M.A.C theatre recently as part of their Christmas celebrations.
Birds started flying, characters started singing and the magic of a live performance began. Throughout the
show the children sat enthralled caught up in the trials and tribulations of Ella as she adjusted to life under
the new rules of her stepmother, the bullying of her step sisters and the love of a bird-watching prince.
The children were a credit to you all and to Priory School, with members of the public and theatre staff
commenting on their impeccable behaviour, manners and beautiful singing voices.
Many thanks and well done to all involved in this thoroughly enjoyable experience.
Early Years
Visit to Ash End Farm
Poppets and Nursery had a special visit to the farm on Tuesday 8rd Dec.They experienced feeding the sheep,
holding the chicks, seeing Rudolf and even sitting on Santa’s sleigh. They went on to take part in another
Nativity play in the barn, singing a variety of Christmas songs. A good day was had by all and it finished on a
high with a visit to Santa’s house and a gift from him.
Reception
Reception children had a wonderful time watching Michael Rosen’s ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’ at the Mac
theatre. They were enthralled watching the puppets wading through the river, squelching over the oozy mud and
they were very brave when the bear appeared! A great time was had by all.
Nursery
The children have been very creative making decorations for their Christmas trees, cards and calendars. We
have all had a fantastic time this term and are looking forward to spending Christmas with our families.
In literacy they have learnt all the phase two phonics and are beginning to hear the initial sounds in words.
During mathematics the children have worked on number recognition and ordering numbers as well as learning a
variety of 2D shapes.
Baby Poppets
During the build up to Christmas the babies have continued to explore colour. We have been focusing on the
colours blue, yellow, red & green.
The children have painted with sponges, brushes, hands, combs. They have enjoyed gluing and sticking using a
variety of resources, free drawing with chalks and crayons. They have participated happily in messy play
activities with Rice Krispies and Cornflour. They had lots of fun painting and colouring Pudsy Bear followed by
Christmas jumper day!
Now we are prepared for Christmas and ready to take home lots of special artwork for our family.
Mini Poppets
The children in Mini Poppets have participated in a variety of activites which included decorating Christmas
cards, lanterns, snowflakes, stars and trees. The children enjoyed listening to and singing festive songs as well
as looking at different books about Christmas. They were given the opportunity to attend the Christmas Fayre
and see Santa. The children have also done a variety of indoor and outdoor activites relating to their learning.
We have been learning about colours and looking at simple shapes and numbers. They have also enjoyed many
Nature Walks down the field.
Poppets
Poppets have taken part in a range of activities such as pencil control, maths games, jigsaw puzzles, jolly
phonics, cooking, making Christmas cards and decorations for the Christmas tree. This gives the children the
opportunity to express themselves through creativity. The children have also taken part in nature walks,
allowing them to explore the world around them and learn through play.
The children were very excited as Father Christmas came to visit the Christmas Fayre.
We hope you all have a lovely Christmas holiday and look forward to welcoming you back on
Wednesday 6th January 2016.