PREP
ISSUE 7 • SPRING 2021
The Very Hungry Caterpillar PAGE 4
stedwards.co.uk
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE...
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Mastering Bushcraft
The Easter Story
A Tudor Voyage
House Netball and Football
St Edward’s Preparatory School, 252 London Road, Charlton Kings, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire GL52 6NR T:01242 388550 E:prepschool@stedwards.co.uk
At the start of the Spring Term, we were once again facing the challenges posed by Distance Learning School. However, we hit the ground running, using technology to ensure that we could continue to provide everything expected of an excellent St Edward’s education. Having said that, we were delighted to be able to be back together on-site from the beginning of March and set about creating opportunities for in-person collaboration, following the enforced time spent apart. The maintaining of relationships was something that was very important to us during lockdown – with communication being key to ensuring that everyone still felt connected to one another. This edition of Term Times is full of examples of how we kept our school connection at the forefront of learning, both when we were learning from home and when we were back in school. In a year when we have had reduced contact with family and friends it was imperative that our pupils still felt part of their classes, year groups and the School as a whole. The many opportunities that our pupils have had to work together on projects has really helped to provide them with an element of consistency, when so much of our everyday lives had changed. The Summer Term ahead offers a way back to normal, enhanced as it will be by all the things that we have learnt over the past year. With trips and external activities coming back into the School calendar and a Year 6 Play on the horizon, there is certainly a lot for us all to look forward to!
Easter Bonnets and Crafts A bonnet parade has long-been part of celebrations of the Easter period. The wearing of a bonnet represents the tradition of wearing new clothes at Easter, in line with the idea of Easter being a time of newness and renewal.
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Spring Term 2021 Term Starts: Thursday 22nd April May Day Bank Holiday: Monday 3rd May Half Term: Monday 31st May – Friday 4th June Term Ends: Friday 2nd July, 12pm Social Media links For all the very latest from the Prep School please follow us on Twitter: • @StEdwards_Prep – for news from the Prep School • @StEdsPrePrep – for news from Kindergarten and Pre-Prep • @SportStEds_Prep – for news of our sporting activities • @StEdsPrep_Head And on Instagram: • stedwardsprepcheltenham You can also like us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ StEdwardsSchoolCheltenham
Mr Stephen McKernan Headmaster
This year, the children in Kindergarten kept up this tradition, parading through the Prep Hall in Easter bonnets, that they had designed and made themselves. They all looked wonderful and it was a truly special way to end the term.
DATES FOR THE DIARY
Children in Pre-Prep also had the opportunity to be creative, participating in the making of a range of Easter themed crafts to take home and enjoy.
Mastering Bushcraft
SURREALIST MASTERPIECES
Year 6 have been making the most of the outdoor space on offer at the Prep School this term as they embarked on a series of Bushcraft sessions with Mr Thurston. In the first session, their main focus was on shelter building skills, where they learnt about the all-important interlocking ‘Y shape’ of the support struts, and set to work building a small camp. They were tasked with building quality frames for their shelters, which were to be built up over the following weeks with the addition of a good layer of leaves and smaller branches to make the structures water and wind proof. This particular task also required the groups to use their teamwork and co-operation skills and it was a joy to see everyone working so well together as they built their shelters. In the subsequent sessions the children had the chance to learn fire-lighting skills. Our woodland wonders had sparks flying in no time as they
ignited a variety of materials. They lit cotton wool balls and petroleum jelly, with many of the children surprised by how flammable these materials were! Once they had the ability to make fire, they thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to toast marshmallows over the flames. Bushcraft activities such as these increase the connection between children and nature and help them to develop their understanding of, and respect for, the natural world around them. We look forward to extending the sessions to other year groups over the coming months.
World Book Day Celebrations
Our Year 4 artists explored the surrealist works of Salvador Dali in January. Year 4 were challenged to draw their own version of the ‘The Elephants’, featuring elephants atop long spidery legs. Lots of the children added colour, showing the sunset illuminating the tall forms! Some of the creations also featured a person and small structure at the bottom to show the enormity of the elephants.
BUDDING ECOLOGISTS IN YEAR 1 Year 1 took part in lots of activities at the end of January linked to the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch. They learnt about the life cycle of a Robin, made their own bird feeders and even talked about the occasions featuring birds in the Bible. There was lots of garden bird watching by the children too, with some fantastic tally sheets and bar charts created to show the different species spotted.
World Book Day is always one of our favourite events in the Prep School calendar, and even with the majority of our pupils working from home, this year was no exception. The day is a wonderful way to encourage our pupils to talk about their favourite books and encourage a love of reading for pleasure. Despite the challenging circumstances, our teachers managed to incorporate lots of imaginative ways for the children to celebrate the event both at home and at school. • Kindergarten children arrived in a wonderful array of costumes, showing off the characters from some of their favourite stories. They also each brought a book to share with the class.
• Year 1 pupils spent time completing activities using their favourite book, designing bookmarks and looking for ‘words within words’. • Year 2 wrote reviews of their favourite books.
• Pre-Prep children brought their favourite book to their live Zoom session. • Reception children completed a special quiz, naming the story that Mrs France was thinking of from just two clues. They then took part in a World Book Day scavenger hunt.
• Year 3 were asked to submit photos of themselves reading in an unusual location.
SMELLY SENSORY PLAY! Children in Kindergarten have been focussing on exploring their senses this term, making extensive use of the facilities in our Sensory Garden. One of the activities they took part in was all about smell where they enjoyed using peppermint, vanilla, and lavender scented playdough, as well as exploring different types of herbs. They all had a wonderful time engaging with the sensory trays and making mud pies!
• Years 3-6 came to registration with a prop to symbolise a book that they had read recently, the rest of the class were then challenged to guess the title of the book.
TWELFTH NIGHT FOR YEAR 6 In Drama, during the first half of term, Year 6 explored Shakespeare’s comedy, ‘Twelfth Night’. In particular, they examined the characters of Viola, Olivia and Malvolio. They worked on the script, focusing on how to make Shakespearean language sound natural and expressive, using the language as a tool for communicating the characters. They had great fun, working together over Teams to act out parts of the play.
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PARALLEL AND PERPENDICULAR Year 3 were exploring different types of lines in their Maths lessons in March. They discovered that parallel lines never intersect and are always the same distance apart for their entire length. They also learnt that perpendicular lines are those which cross each other at a right angle. They worked in groups to sort a variety of shapes into categories on Venn diagrams. As part of their task they also had to decide whether the shapes had perpendicular, parallel, both or none of these types of lines.
AROUND THE WORLD IN… ONE SCHOOL TERM Reception children visited the seven continents without even travelling over the lockdown period this term, extending their knowledge and understanding of the world around them. They discussed where they lived in a local sense, the country and then the continent they live in, before embarking on a world tour. Their voyage saw them find out about the customs and traditions of a range of countries and learn about currencies, capital cities, flags and food.
THE SCIENCE OF LIGHT Prior to half-term Mr Parkin’s Year 6 Science group were learning all about light in their Science lessons. They worked on planning and conducting their own experiments to see how light travels in straight lines and explored refraction. The children worked really hard to plan their investigations using materials from home and did a great job making predictions, collecting their results and coming to conclusions.
WORLD POETRY DAY World Poetry Day is celebrated annually on 21st March, with the intention of recognising the unique ability of poetry to capture the creative spirit of the human mind. This year, in celebration of the event, Year 4 performed their favourite poems to their peers. The poems included ‘The Backwards Bus’ by Martha Cheney and ‘The Crocodile’ by Lewis Carroll. All of the children preformed their poems excellently and it was fantastic to see them embracing the task with such enthusiasm!
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The Very Hungry Caterpillar This term, children in Pre-School have completed topic work based on the story ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ by Eric Carle. After reading the book, they took part in a range of cross-curricular activities all themed around the story, including creating caterpillar artwork, by rolling dice to decide which colour each segment of the creature would be coloured. They also extended their learning by exploring how things change and grow. As part of the topic, the children were introduced to some real caterpillars living in ‘caterpillar houses’ in their classrooms. The children fed the caterpillars a special food mix which helped them to grow big and strong, getting them to the point at which they were ready to cocoon. All the children were hugely excited to witness the final stages in the metamorphosis life cycle, with
the emergence of beautiful butterflies from the chrysalis. After a few days waiting for their wings to dry out whilst gaining strength from sugar water and orange slices, the time came for the butterflies to be released. On a lovely and sunny afternoon, Pre-School waved and cheered them goodbye as the butterflies flew off into the big wide world!
The Power of Funny We were all delighted to be back in school in person to celebrate Red Nose Day in March, harnessing the ‘power of funny’ to raise money for Comic Relief. To start the day, the children attended a special assembly led by Mrs Bailey, where she showed the children red noses from previous years and talked about how they had changed. The pupils learnt that this year there were 10 brand new designs that, for the first time ever, were completely plastic free! Made from a natural sugarcane by-product, they are even biodegradable. As the greenest Red Noses ever produced, each design featured a character who would be at home outdoors, such as caterpillars, badgers and ladybirds. During assembly the children also learnt about the many ways in which the money that they had donated would be used to change the lives of those less fortunate than themselves. For example, £10 would be enough to provide 40 meals for people living in food poverty.
After assembly, each class took part in a Red Nose Day themed quiz about all things red! There was red everywhere, with both staff and children getting fully involved in raising money for a good cause by wearing red clothing, red noses and donning as many red accessories as they could find. The pupils were even treated to themed cupcakes at lunchtime!
The Australia Project GETTING CREATIVE WITH STEM Lockdown restrictions have challenged our ways of teaching and learning, particularly on those projects that involve more than one ‘bubble’ working in collaboration with each other. To mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on our usual team projects, Year 6 and Year 9 have been using ‘Teams’ to work together this term. Twelve Year 9 students volunteered to lead groups of Year 6 pupils in researching and compiling presentations on the Wildlife of Australia. Although this was a new way of working for all of the students involved, everyone worked fantastically well and managed to overcome the additional challenges collaborative work presented by meeting virtually. For the Year 9 students, this was a brilliant way of developing their leadership skills, all of whom rose to the challenge magnificently. Just after half-term, all groups gave their presentations to an audience of other pupils and several teachers, including Mr Burke and Mr Lewis from the Senior School.
The Easter Story Throughout March, RE lessons for Year 3 focussed on the events of Easter, considering the events of Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday and the entire Holy Week. In one of their lessons they learnt about Good Friday and Jesus’ death on the cross. They considered why it is called ‘Good Friday’, despite it being a sad day, and they learnt that the cross is a symbol of Christianity. They also talked about how crosses can be found on the end of a rosary and on hot cross buns! To round off the lesson they made some beautiful representations of stained glass crosses which then went on display in the windows of the Year 3 classrooms.
Giving public presentations tends to be a somewhat daunting task, even for most adults but Year 6 took it in their stride! Fantastic technical ability was demonstrated in the presentation slides with fancy transitions surprising the audience on a regular basis. All the pupils spoke with confidence and clarity and the quality of their research was clear to see. A huge congratulations to all on the completion of a fantastic project!
During Distance Learning School, children in Reception continued to complete a wide range of STEM focussed activities. Tasks included constructing their own ‘Great Wall of China’, making a bridge to transport a small vehicle, and creating a boat to help keep gingerbread men safe and dry! They had to be creative when thinking about the construction, using all sorts of materials to make their structures – from pasta to Lego and items of food packaging.
YEAR 3 ARE SUPERHEROES! Mrs Dobson’s Year 3 Drama group transformed into superheroes in early March when they each dressed up as their favourite superhero and used physical and vocal expressions to embody their different characters. The act of donning their superhero outfits enabled Year 3 to feel empowered and was a fantastic opportunity for the children to improve their verbal and non-verbal communication.
YEAR 2 GO 3D Year 2 were working hard to develop their understanding of 3D shape in February. The children engaged with shapes through activities and games, establishing a wider knowledge base and expanding their vocabulary. They talked about familiar 2D shapes and then considered the different names used when these become three dimensional. They also thought about the properties of the various 3D shapes before using this knowledge to create their own models!
VERY TASTY VEGETABLES In March, Pre-School children read and discussed the story ‘Oliver’s Vegetables’ by Vivian French. In the book, Oliver made eating and trying different vegetables a game. The children were given a variety of vegetables and they said whether they liked them or not. They also talked about where vegetables grow - in the ground or on top of the soil, before planting some in pots!
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Signs of Spring One Wednesday afternoon, towards the end of term, and whilst the sun was shining, Reception went on a walk in search of signs of Spring as part of their Science topic.
Staying Safe Online In March, Year 6 had their first of three Internet Safety Talks with PC McDowell, a Cheltenham-based Schoolbeat Officer with the Gloucestershire Police School Unit.
We are so fortunate here at St Edward’s to have 45 acres of parkland for our children to explore, which we share with a whole range of animals, insects and plants. As the children walked, they discussed what the weather was like and how the trees and bushes were changing with the season. They spotted trees in bud, daffodils, butterflies and even a doe with her fawns.
Schoolbeat is an initiative from the Gloucestershire Constabulary that sees officers visit schools all over the county and talk to children in Year 6 to Year 9 about a range of potential hazards that they may encounter as they mature both in and out of school. In the session Year 6 found out about the possible risks associated with online gaming, apps and social media. They also thought about what was safe to share online and took part in activities that helped them decide what the boundaries should be. They learnt how important it is to be responsible with what they share and to take care about who they interact with. All of the children took the session very seriously and asked some very important, wellconsidered questions.
Musical Instrument Challenge As part of their Science topic on Sound, Year 4 were set the challenge of making their very own musical instrument. It could be a string, percussion or wind instrument, and the children were asked to construct it using items they could find around the house like bottles, straws, boxes, tins and elastic bands! They were also encouraged to decorate their creations. It was a great effort from everyone, with many of instruments producing a great sound!
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THE NATURE LIBRARY In Science this term, some of our Year 6 groups have been studying the topic of ‘The Nature Library’, where they have been classifying living things. During classification, the emphasis is on the similarities of objects, which demonstrate that they belong to the same group. As part of this the pupils used microscopes with pre-made slides to look at micro-organisms in more detail, before drawing and describing what they could see.
LEARNING ABOUT THE BODY
Minibeasts in Micro-habitats In the last week of term, to conclude their Science topic on habitats, Year 2 ventured into the Prep School woodland in search of micro-habitats - small-scale, specific habitats that support certain animals and plants. They differ from the larger environment around it, making it particularly suited to one or more species. The children explored the woodland, in search of insects on a very soggy afternoon, looking under logs, in the leaves, and in the soil. The damp underside of a log or stone in the woodland, as well as the decaying leaves for them to eat, is perfect for woodlice.
A Tudor Voyage In Drama lessons in January, Mrs Dobson took Year 5 out on the open seas on a Tudor voyage! As part of a practical exploration of Tudor life, from the comfort of their own homes, the children raided their cupboards to find costumes and props to bring the drama to life, and they did not disappoint. We had pirates, scientists, doctors, cooks, captains, first mates, tourists and even a stowaway! The pupils embarked on loading the ship, in a virtual group mime. Once the ship was fully stocked, the class set sail on calm and gentle seas in search of new land. Events took a dramatic turn when they sighted a terrible and violent storm. The children depicted this in a series of exciting freeze frames that demonstrated the devastating impact of the storm upon the ship and its passengers. In an empathy exercise, the children then spoke about how they felt during the storm. Thankfully, the ship and its passengers survived the journey and the adventurers could continue on with their voyage! The pupils had a fantastic time and it was lovely to see them fully embrace the activity.
Year 2 had to record what they had found, where they had found it and describe the micro-habitat, noting how the living things were adapted to suit their particular environment. They found lots of worms, woodlice, slugs, and snails; the children carefully put each insect back where they came from after looking at them through a microscope.
In December, both Reception Classes spent time in their Science lessons learning about the human body. They had particular fun investigating the skeleton with the help of their teachers and ‘Bob’ the skeleton. A willing volunteer from each class was used as a platform onto which the bones of ‘Bob’ were placed. The children did a fantastic job, finding the correct location for each one.
JOINING THE ROMAN LEGION Humanities lessons in Year 3 were focussing on the incredibly interesting Roman period in January, with pupils learning about the lives of soldiers during this time. They found out about the military manoeuvres, punishments and rewards that were employed by those in charge, which contributed to the success of the Legion. Each of the children designed an informative poster about the life of a Roman soldier, including their own thoughts on whether they would like to do the job themselves!
SUPER SCIENCE CLUB During the period of Distance Learning School, Year 6 pupils had the opportunity to join Year 7 pupils at Senior School Science Club. Run by Physics Teacher Mrs Hammond, the children conducted a range of wacky and colour filled experiments together via ‘Teams’. A huge hit with Year 6, experiments included ‘Smartie Circles’, ‘Follow the Rainbow’, ‘Erupting Volcanoes’ and ‘Magic Flowers’.
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MEET
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House Netball and House Football
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Towards the end of term we were able to have our first House sport events since coming back to School. It was fantastic to see children from all year groups taking part in a competitive event and doing their best to earn points for their Houses. Many congratulations to Lewis House who won the Netball and Blyton House who were the victors in the Football. A great effort all round!
Mrs Esther O’Reilly-Cain, Admissions Manager (Prep School)
What is your role within the School? As Admissions Manager, I am on hand to ensure that everything runs as smoothly and easily as possible from a family’s first contact with the School through to their child’s first day. In essence, I try to make starting or changing Schools as seamless as possible. What did you do before working at St Edward’s? I have had a varied career with senior posts within the Banking and the Retail sector. I was Media & Public Relations Manager for Cheltenham & Gloucester working for LloydsTSB Group for the best part of 15 years and then moved into the Retail Sector looking after various brand profiles. What would you say is the most interesting part of your day-to-day work? The huge amount of variety that this role offers - every family needs something slightly different from me. I particularly love seeing the children I have worked with walking the corridors happy and thriving in their new environment because this means I have done a good job. What activities do you enjoy in your spare time? I love spending time with my family and friends, being Irish, I am very sociable and at home our front door is always “open” (Pandemic allowing of course!). My daughter is an Open Championship Irish Dancer so I travel a fair bit with competitions throughout the year. In the winter she plays a lot of hockey - need I say more! Who, or what, would you say has most inspired you in life? If I was to be totally honest my Father. He was a tremendous guide in my life and someone who could always be counted upon. Sadly, he passed away 14 years ago and not a day goes by where I don’t miss him. Outside of that I would say anyone with backbone! I love people who are straight forward and do what they say they are going to do.
Challenging Circuit Training To kickstart being physically back in school, our Year 5 girls took part in a fun and challenging netball circuit in one of their PE lessons during the first week back into face-to-face lessons. They practised a wide variety of skills including shooting, passing and footwork, whilst also working on their movement around the court and basic fitness. These are crucial skills that they will be able to use in a competitive game situation, the development of which will prove extremely useful to Year 5 once fixtures are back up and running. All the girls worked extremely hard, clearly thoroughly enjoying being back on the netball court and back with their peers.
Tell us one activity that is on your ‘Bucket List’ Travel, travel and more travel! Finally, the best thing about working at St Edward’s is... Being part of a team who all want the best for the children who come here. I know this sounds like a cliché but it is a very special School with people who really care. P8
St Edward’s Preparatory School, 252 London Road, Charlton Kings, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire GL52 6NR
T:01242 388550 E:prepschool@stedwards.co.uk