Alton Prep Newsletter Spring Half Term
February 2020
Words from Mrs Grimes On Friday 7th February we had an Open Day. We School ‘is exceptional because it has a heart’. had lots of visitors, both prospective parents who I think that this should be our strap line! We do had come to look around have a heart and are very our school and also some caring of our young people “Three things in human life of our own parents who and of each other, we really had come to meet Mr Karl are important: the first is to be do live our key values. Guest. The Open Day was Whilst grit, resilience and kind; the second is to be kind, very successful and I had determination are all needed and the third is to be kind.” at times in life, kindness is the chance to talk to lots of people about our school. our guiding principle. It is Henry James something that emanates Mr Maher, Mr Guest and I all from the Sisters and gave short talks. Mr Guest permeates into the whole talked about our school school. being exceptional rather than just excellent. Mr Maher and I spoke about the four things we feel are really special about Alton School, these are that we: • • • •
encourage academic excellence develop character offer opportunity value kindness and demonstrate it in all we do
Speaking with our visitors after their tours of the school, the quality that had struck them most was kindness. Apparently, it is rare to find a school that talks about kindness and demonstrates it in everything they do. One mother said that Alton
We have had, as usual, an extremely busy start to the year. Our Year 6 children have survived and thrived over the exam season and all have much to be proud of. When I spend time with our children, I am most proud of the fact that they are good young people who are confident, have a healthy sense of self-worth and are kind. “Three things in human life are important: the first is to be kind; the second is to be kind, and the third is to be kind.” Henry James
Reception Visit from Mr Guest When Mr Guest visited Reception class he rolled up his sleeves and got involved with all sorts of activities. The children were busy learning independently and wanted to show him everything they were making, from playdough rabbits to straw umbrellas. The children made him feel very welcome and he had such a lovely time that eventually he had to be torn away from helping make burgers and hot dogs out of playdough!.
Food!
Chinese New Year
This half term the topic in Reception has been “Food� We have explored the topic in many different ways, such as discussing our favourite foods and making collage pictures of them, reading stories and looking at information books about food, investigating vegetables, and printing with different fruits. The children learned about healthy food and created their own fruit salads by choosing different fruits and chopping them carefully with the safety knives. Afterwards, the children ate their fruit salads at snack time. Everyone enjoyed them!
At Chinese New Year, the Reception children loved making their own dragon masks in the creative area. They watched a video of Chinese New Year traditions and created their own dragon dances with music to accompany them. They enjoyed trying to eat Chinese noodles with chopsticks and writing about Chinese New Year in their Literacy session.
Year 1
Time travelling at the Search Museum
Year 1 set off bright and early down to the Search Museum in Gosport on Monday 27th January. They were very excited about travelling in the minibus although the journey did take a long time. When they arrived, they immediately started looking at some old photographs of people. They looked at their clothes to help them to decide how old the photograph was, describing them as a long time ago, or a very long time ago. Eventually they made a timeline of the people. They then repeated this with pictures of kitchens. In one very large room, there are various sections each set up like a room in a 1950’s house. There was an activity for the children in each section. They looked at the packaging on food, so very different from ours today. They inspected and tried
to use 1950’s money. Even Mrs Love didn’t really understand the money! They went to a pretend birthday party and played traditional party games such as pin the tail on the donkey. They looked at plates and crockery suitable for tea and then helped to set the table for tea with china, glass, a bread board, cups and saucers. They went into the kitchen and tried to work out what all the gadgets were for, including the meat mincer and hand whisk. They put a tea towel through a mangle and pretended to wash some clothes using the washing dolly, artifical carbolic soap and a wash board. They commented on what hard work it must have been. For many in the class, the highlight of the day was to dress up in real clothes from the 1950’s. The journey back was much quicker and full of talk about all the wonderful things they had learnt.
Year 2 Protecting our planet On Monday 3rd February, Year 2 set off on an exciting journey to the Sustainability Centre in East Meon to be inspired to become the planet protectors and change makers that our world needs. Their focus for the day was to learn about materials and specifically change, decay and recycling in nature. The highlight of our trip was working together using a
range of natural and man-made recycled materials to create a big Mandela circular mosaic. As the children marched around their Mandela circle, they decided to give a rendition of the ‘Marching! Marching!’ song from their recent Nativity performance. A brilliant end to a fantastic day in which the children learnt a huge amount.
Baking Sweet Muffins
Firefighter Visit We have been learning about a famous event in history ‘The Great Fire of London’. Year 2 have been making comparisons between fire-fighting in 1666 and now. A recent visit from a firefighter has really helped to broaden the children’s knowledge about the fire service of today and how it has developed over time.
The children loved baking sweet muffins which was both a tasty and educational lesson. They learnt about good hygiene practices while baking, especially around handling eggs. The pupils impressed us with their independent working and demonstrated useful practical skills such as measuring, combining ingredients and sharing equally. We hope Year 2 parents enjoyed the results!
Year 3 Monks, bones and gold
On Friday the 24th January, Year 3 went on a trip to Winchester Cathedral. First we went inside the cathedral where we met our tour guide, Mrs Bryan. She started our tour by standing us at the front of the cathedral and looking around without moving our feet. It was amazing to think how old it was! Next, we went to the stairs and we saw pictures of Jesus’s life. Going up the stairs, we had to walk ‘right foot, left foot’, because the Anglo-Saxons thought right was ‘good’ and left was ‘bad’!
“boxes full of dry bones”
After that, we went to where the monks used to say their prayers and we sat on the Monks’ bench. The front seats were not as comfortable. From the bench we could see the tomb of William Rufus and we learnt about some boxes full of dry bones. Mrs Brian told us about how the bones got mixed up during the English civil war. The Roundheads pushed the boxes of and kicked the bones around. Years later the Anglo-Saxons put the bones back randomly in the boxes! Then we learnt about St Swithun. Mrs Brian told us that St Swithun’s Day is 15th July. This is the day when he was moved to a new grave. She also told us if it rains on St Swithun’s Day it will rain for 40 days. Harry Winn & Peter Baldwin
On Friday 24th January we went to Winchester. When we arrived we met Mrs Bryan and she was our tour guide for our visit to Winchester Cathedral. After this introduction, Mrs Bryan showed us into Winchester Cathedral. It looked very old but we thought it was an amazing building. The we learnt lots of facts about Saint Swithun.
“we thought it was an amazing building”
After our tour, we went to an art room where we painted with pure gold paint and even made out own broaches. Then it was time for lunch. After lunch we made an Anglo-Saxon puzzle. It was a special type of puzzle because you had to work it out without a picture to copy.
“we painted with pure gold”
Next Mrs Bryan told us a story about two kings fighting over land. It was a very interesting tale. Afterwards we all went back to school on the school minibus. We all thought it was an amazing day. Megan Gardiner
Year 4 Creative problem-solving Save the Jelly Babies! In Science, Year 4 have been learning about states of matter. They have been thinking about the scientific properties of solids, liquids and gases and how they can change state. In their experiment, they were set this challenge: “The evil Jelly Baby Queen has frozen all of the jelly babies in the land! They are running out time before it is too late to save them. Can you help free them before the Jelly Baby Queen finds out you are helping them? Quick, hurry! Use your scientific understanding of materials to help design an investigation to free your jelly baby in the fastest time possible!�
Designing sandals Year 4’s topic this half term is the Greeks. Linking this across the curriculum, the children were set the design challenge of creating sandals. They began by looking at Ancient Greek sandals and exploring a range of different designs. They then thought about the design criteria for their sandal such as durability, comfort, design, and purpose. Having planned out their materials and considered the different stages needed in their design, the children had a fantastic afternoon making them! All afternoon the classroom was buzzing with industry and excitement - lots of problem solving and team work took place. The children should be very proud of what they achieved!
Year 5 Dealing with tricky issues Helping the homeless
The Year Five children have been working extremely hard. Before the Christmas holidays, we had been discussing the coming of Jesus and how we prepare for this special day. The children worked in groups to identify the circumstances of Jesus’ birth and the effect it had on the ministry of the Church. The children discussed why the manger would not be an ideal place for a baby to lie, as well as describing and justifying what an ‘ideal home’ would be like for us. We were then able to discuss ‘wants’ and ‘needs’ which allowed the debate to progress further by talking about homelessness and how those who have little or nothing cope with day to day life.
Sikhism
We have also been discussing Sikhism, Guru Nanak in particular. Guru Nanak was the founder of Sikhism and the first of the ten Sikh Gurus. Although he lived a long time ago (1469 - 1539), his teachings still hold true today. The children were asked to order the teachings from most important to least important (a task they found tricky) based on their thoughts and beliefs. We had a lively discussion about the order in which the teachings should go. Should ‘men and women must be treated as equals’ be the most important? Or is it ‘be kind to all living beings’? Perhaps it is ‘always speak the truth’? After the children had arranged the teachings into the order that was most important to them, they were asked ‘does the order change if I ask you to put them in the order most important to the school?’. The children decided that there was a possibility that perhaps ‘work hard’ and ‘it is our actions that make us moral’ would perhaps move higher up the list. We decided, as a class, that we would endeavour to always be honest and kind and to treat others as we would like to be treated.
This brought us to reflect on the difficulties faced by the homeless and refugees so we decided we would write a letter to the Council suggesting how people in such difficult times could be helped.
Beautiful poetry
In English, the children have been creating poems about dangerous animals. The idea was to create a piece of work that generated a sense of awe and wonder, rather than fear. We looked at a range of different poems about animals, including William Blake’s ‘The Tyger’ and discussed the language used and how we could use it to improve our work. The children used repetition, similes, metaphors, and modal verbs in their poems. See if you can spot these features in their work.
Year 6 5 Star Ratings & More Investigating light In Science, Year 6 have been investigating light. You can see them here using torches to find the lines of incidence and reflection.
Film Review! Walter and Lance team up when the evil Killian (played by Ben Mendelson) tries to take revenge on Lance and frame him for stealing a dangerous droid. We recently went to the cinema as a treat for Year 6 successfully completing their entrance exams. Here is Aine Pickford’s review for the film ‘Spies in Disguise’. “The plot: American Lance Sterling (played by Will Smith) is a smooth, well dressed, brave, skillful and highly successful super spy. Walter Beckett (played by Tom Holland) is a very young scientist who invents new tech for the spies. Walker is not at all like Lance - he is highly intelligent but very geeky and everyone thinks he is weird!
Biographies In English, Year 6 have been focusing on biographies and autobiographies. They have been researching William Shakespeare in order to write a short biography of his life. Once they have a good understanding of the Bard’s life, they will move on to look at one of his most wellknown tragedies, Macbeth.
When trying to make Lance invisible so he could defeat Killian, Walter accidently transforms Lance into a pigeon with a potion. However, as a pigeon, Lance manages to stop Killian from destroying everything he loves, including his career and his reputation. My opinion: I really liked the fact that Lance and Walter are complete opposites but they still work really well as a team. The film was full of action and lots of laughs. I highly recommend it to the whole family.
Co-Curricular Clubs Hockey Club
Toot & Flute Club
Hockey Club is in full swing this term, with 16 to 20 players giving their all every Monday evening. The mixed ability group are putting 100% effort into improving. The main emphasis is on having fun; enjoying hockey with friends; learning new skills; developing invasion games tactics and decision-making processes. We choose a Most Improved Player each week and if the weather’s too bad to head outside, we still have fun with a classroom-based lesson focusing on basic hockey skills. Come and join us!
We have welcomed some newcomers to Music Group this term. We take children who would like to learn the recorder, although the Toot, Dood, J-sax and flute are also welcome. No previous experience is needed, although it’s welcome. We have great fun and make some interesting sounds (which get steadily better over the term!). There are currently seven children in the Beginner Group and four in the more advanced group. We are working towards playing in the Prep Music Assembly next term.
Year 1 & 2 Craft Club
Goblin Cars
Year 1 and 2 Craft Club on Thursdays after school is very popular. Children participate in a huge range of craft activities which keep them creative and busy! They use craft kits with a variety of textures and materials and learn to develop skills such as colouring, painting, sewing and assembling. The children are always excited to know what they are going to make next and work with lots of enthusiasm.
The two Goblin Car teams have been busy this half term working on the finishing touches to their cars. Showing great collaborative spirit, they have shared their ideas and each team has now agreed a name and a design to give their cars. The last few weeks have been spent in the Art room making their ideas come alive… Early in the next half term we look forward to rolling out the completed cars!
House Singing Competition Our annual Year 3 to 6 House Singing Competition is one of the highlights of Music at Alton and this year’s theme, Eurovision, took some of us back quite a few years! Not only did each House choir present a hymn of their choice, perform the set song as well as their own choice small group number, but they also presented one of UK’s previous winning entries in the Eurovision contest - Puppet on a String, Save Your Kisses for Me and Making Your Mind Up! There were so many highlights, not least seeing the staff helping with the dance moves! Thank, too, to Mrs Douglas for returning to adjudicate. Well done, all; not least the winning House: St. Paul!
CONGRATULATIONS ST. PAUL!
MUSIC @ ALTON
Physical Education
Prep House Cross Country Competition. Congratulations to the champions: St. Paul!
Lacrosse workshop
Wet weather? No problem, we will practise yoga (Year 1)
Morning mile runners!
A muddy Year 3 cross-country lesson!
Physical Education Girls and Boys Football and Tag Rugby Festivals
Alton welcomed a large number of Year 5 and 6 pupils from local primary schools to play in our mixed boy/girl team football and tag rugby festivals! All teams played extremely well and sportsmanship was at an all time high throughout the festival. Thank you to Mrs Brown and the PE department for
organising such wonderful events and to Lorna, our catering manager, for providing all pupils with hot dogs at the end of the day! Congratulations to everyone for playing so well and especially Alton Team D for winning their Pool in the football!