Prep for the Week - Week 13

Prep for the Week Issue Number 1876 – 1 December 2017

In this week’s issue…

Headmaster's Blog & Commendations Kingfishers Update Life in Upper School Lower School Update Boarding House Update Art, DT & LAMDA Updates Sports Update Birthday Announcements Important Notices

ws e i v r e t in o i d a r en From e b s ' t i , y a D a i to Ind ek e w t a re g r e h t ly ano n O ! p re P e h T m r e here at t f o eft l s k e e two w now!

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Prep for The Week Issue Number 1876 1 December 2017

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Headmaster's Blog

Dear Parents The last week has been dominated by academic matters, not least the results of the Year 6 and Year 8 examinations which were super. A pupil here at The Prep is very lucky indeed; not only do they have access to the excellent knowledge and skills of the teaching staff and amazing facilities, they have a curriculum that is built to develop their ability to achieve their full potential whilst not defining them solely on their academic or exam performance. There are many ways to approach education and schools will follow the pathway that is right to meet the aims they hold for the children in their care. Here our priority is the long game, preparation for life, not just one moment in time.

Although we could choose to boost and cram and drive pupils to exam success, we don’t believe this, in the long run, stands our young people in good stead. Once those exams are over, what foundations do the pupils have for the rest of their lives? What happens if the question or topic they are expecting doesn’t come up on the exam? How do they manage when they reach a point in life for which they haven’t been overtly prepared? Obviously, some preparation for these staging points is necessary, however, our philosophy focuses on developing the foundations to underpin achievement (and disappointment).

By developing the key skills and attributes so essential to life beyond the classroom, The Prep, and certainly exams, pupils have the ability to tackle the situations they face in any context with confidence. The ability to persevere, work creatively, show resilience, demonstrate empathy, embrace challenge and participate, coupled with subject knowledge and skills is a winning recipe, as we have seen.

With all the pieces of this jigsaw in place, academic potential will then be achieved but we will also have fully executed our responsibility as a preparatory school to prepare the children for their next steps, not just exams. We end the term with a key academic event, the Academic Olympiad, which embodies our passion for delivering a breadth of experience whilst having high expectations of the children. This will prove to be challenging, frustrating, perplexing, and require the children to demonstrate those key skills mentioned but, most importantly, it will also be enormous fun! We end where we started; what very lucky children!

I was also very fortunate to watch one of The Prep’s best teams in action during this past week. Did they pass the ball beautifully, find space and execute set moves? Not exactly.

Instead I was privileged to experience choral evensong on Thursday, an event at which choristers were welcomed to the College Chapel and positions of responsibility within the choir awarded. The singing was spectacular and all those boys and girls who have undertaken this challenge are to be congratulated.

We now enter the final two week run-up to the end of term and the Festive Season. You should have received details of the many events which are taking place; if I have to recommend one, it is the Carol Service on the last day of term. With the Chapel candlelit, it is a perfect end to a long, busy and enjoyable term.

Mr Jon Whybrow Headmaster

Headmaster's Commendations Ben Cunningham

For initiative, thoughtfulness and prioritising the helping of others above his own enjoyment.

Felix Doran

For a really well presented and detailed PowerPoint in ICT, showing off a range of PowerPoint skills.

Lily Ropner

For using her initiative in being proactive in writing to a member of staff when she received a wrong email.

Her response was eloquent and mature.

Tom Bridge

For helping the U11B team before the U11 tournament. He was an excellent role model and showed great leadership qualities.

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Notices BIRTHDAYS Happy birthday to the following pupils whose birthdays are coming up this week: Polina Solovyeva (12) Lily Flatman (8) Aidan Portch (13) Rafferty Turner (12) Seren Archer (6) Zandra Games (6) Torin Dale (5) Ted McQuitty (8)

Thank You To everyone who has already filled out the parent feedback survey sent around by Mr Whybrow on Tuesday. The insight given is invaluable and is already being used to make improvements for the future.

Don't forget, one lucky respondent will win a bottle of Champagne and a box of Lindt chocolates. There is still time to fill in the survey, simply follow the link in the email which contains this edition of Prep for The Week.

FUN FRIDAYS Do you, a friend or family member have a child aged three or under?

Why not come along to a special edition of Fun Friday?

On Friday 8 December we will be holding a very special Fun Friday as the 'Pyjama Drama' team will be joining us for some more fun!

Fun Fridays are free stay & play events for parents with children under the age of three, giving them the opportunity to come along to Kingfishers, take a look around, meet our teachers and take part in some fun activities.

Sessions run from 9.00-10.15 and we have plenty of tea, coffee and biscuits on offer! To let us know that you'd like to come along, or for more information, email: prepadmissions@cheltenhamcollege.org

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Kin gfis Upd hers ate Year 1 are having a great time playing with the ne w Maths games.

The children have b een very excited to explore the redesi gned Kingfisher library. They have enjoyed reading in the cosy book co rner.

Kingfishers Years 1 and 2 proudly present

It is the last few days before the Kingfisher Nativities. All the children have been busy rehearsing this week.

There have been the final touches to the performances such as perfecting the moves to the Funky Camel and learning the last songs. We are very excited about performing next week and look forward to seeing you there.

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Nell Lamyman, Year 2

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We’ve had another busy week in Upper School and here are some of our highlights: Claudie MacInnes has given an interview on BBC Radio Gloucestershire to talk about writing her own book. Well done Claudie!

Life in U pper School

She has also read excerpts from her book to different pupils in school and they have enjoyed this immensely.

Upper School pupils generally, including Prefect and Peer Mentor work We have been delighted with the efficient, kind and responsible way all of Upper School have acted throughout the term, and thought a summary of the different things they’ve done in this week might be interesting. It’s also worth adding that a lot of these things are done without being told to do it, and aren’t ‘part of being a prefect’ – which is a real sign of understanding responsibility and independence.

• Helped one of the gap students move goalposts onto the astros without being asked • Organised a Lower School Christmas colouring competition • Told a member of staff about a pupil who was struggling with friendships and needed some guidance • Led some games during break and lunchtime with younger pupils • Helped younger pupils with their reading • Supported Lower School String Group during breaktimes and offered to help in Kingfishers with string group as well • Played on the patio with Kingfisher pupils It’s great to see so many of Upper School leading by example.

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Lower School Update Healthy Smiles Year 3 had a visitor today. Dr Hammersley, a local dentist and Edward Davies’ Mum, came in to talk about how to keep teeth clean and healthy. She brought in a selection of snacks and drinks and the children were asked which ones were good for teeth and which ones damaged them. Interestingly some foods heal teeth. Cheese is one of these.

The children were also fascinated to see how large and heavy an elephant’s tooth is. Apparently they have 24 of these in their mouth! The talk ended with a guide on how to clean teeth and the children were all surprised to hear that it should take four minutes. It was a fascinating and useful talk and hopefully all the children now understand how to keep their teeth well into their old age.

India Day It was India Day for Year 4 on Thursday this week.

The children have been studying India in their Geography lessons so the topic was brought alive for the day through a number of activities.

All of the pupils got the opportunity to dress up and pose in some Indian style costumes and they could move and dance to some Bollywood music too. They learnt about housing in Mumbai and created some wonderful collage pieces of shanty towns. Rangoli patterns were designed and created using a range of colourful seeds, pulses and lentils. Spicy aromas filled the air of Lower School in the afternoon as pupils were treated to a feast of Indian delights that they had helped to prepare. Enjoy the photos which give you a snapshot of some of the super experiences the children enjoyed.

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Boarding House Update After a restful weekend away from school, the Boarders have returned ready for the final few festive weeks of term. We will be starting our Boarding House advent calendar tomorrow and look forward to decorating our tree over the weekend, which arrived earlier in the week.

Wednesday evening is a popular one in the Boarding House, with Mr Baker's CDT club. The Boarders enjoy the freedom to come up with their own projects, and with the help of Mr Baker and Mr Luman, are able to produce some fantastic products.

These range from a miniature chest of drawers, to models of a favourite toy dragon, a working water mill, an iPad holder and a marble run.

A massive thanks to Mr Baker for continuing to come in and inspire Boarders to have a go and express their creativity.

We are looking forward to the Pantomime on Sunday and the rest of what the next few weeks will bring.

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HEA 131 Christmas boxes!

L Ro man ia

A huge thank you to everyone who made a Christmas box: you donated 131 boxes in total! They have been collected and are due to be shipped to Romania on December 1 to arrive in time for Christmas.

Cake Sale Success Many thanks to all parents and pupils who came to the cake sale organised

by Grow Your Own Cash on the Friday of Exeat. We raised a further £118.55 by selling cakes, cookies and ‘squishies’ (toys). The boys will now be discussing what to invest in to grow their profits in the final week of term, so watch this space! Thanks go, once again, to several other Year 7 boys who decided to lend a hand at the sale.

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GIRLS' SPORT This Week's Results 1st VII vs Bromsgrove 2-3 2nd VII vs Bromsgrove 1-0 3rd VII vs Bromsgrove 0-3 4th VII vs Bromsgrove 4-2 5th VII vs Bromsgrove 0-5 U11A vs Bromsgrove 3-1 U11B/C vs Bromsgrove 1-6 U10 A vs Bromsgrove 2-1 U10B/C vs Bromsgrove 1-3 U9A vs St Edward's 5-0 U9B vs St Edward's 5-0 U8A vs Richard Pate 0-0 U8B vs Richard Pate 0-1

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Team of the week...

Pic o f the Wee k...

Led by seaso Mrs Ba mea n with a ird, the U ning they 5-0 win 9Bs fini sh finis hed at St Ed ed the w w i t a all y ear. h just o rd's, ne lo ss Another victory this week secures an undefeated

4th VII

season for the fourth team! Both sides braved the cold conditions to produce some fantastic, skilful and nail-biting hockey. A draw at half time, our girls knew they had their work cut out for them in the second half; boy, did they lift their efforts and rise to the challenge! It has been so pleasing to see the team put what they have been working on in training into practice when it counts: our defence and goalkeeper were as solid as ever; our midfielders worked relentlessly to assist our defenders and they were always ready to make a counter attack - their accurate and well-timed passes were particularly impressive; our skilful strikers were on fire once again, scoring some vital goals to nudge us into the lead! Well done ladies - a thoroughly enjoyable season!

HOCKEY TO NETBALL SWITCHOVER It has been an enjoyable and jam-packed hockey season. We had an average of 13 teams out playing in competitive fixtures every week, involving every girl in the school. In total, we played 147 matches, winning or drawing 96 of these. Well done to all of our girls for their commitment and enthusiasm. In preparation for the shorter Spring term, we are now moving from hockey to netball training, to ensure that we have plenty of pre-season ahead of fixtures starting in January. See below for details of all games sessions and match days before Christmas.

Saturday 2 December – U8 Hockey and everyone else pre-season Netball friendly matches Monday 4 December – Netball during games session Wednesday 6 December – U9 and Upper School Netball training, Middle School house hockey competition Friday 8 December – House cross country during games session Saturday 9 December – No sport due to Academic Olympiad Monday 11 December – Netball during games session Wednesday 13 December – Upper and Middle School Netball training 10

BOYS' SPORT Prep school sport at Cheltenham Prep is a very inclusive affair, as we endeavour to involve all the boys in fixtures as often as possible, however there is always one area where this doesn’t happen. It is usually the A teams who get invited to high profile tournaments, leave school early and then get to stand up in assembly on the Monday to be re-awarded the medals they have won… and it is the job of the other boys to clap them. The Barbarian Xs is the antithesis of this – it is a tournament for the lowest ability U13 side at each school… a tournament for the boys who never get invited to tournaments. For once, it is them who leave school early, play for trophies and receive a round of applause in assembly on the Monday.

On Wednesday afternoon, eight other schools joined our U13B squad for an afternoon of rugby.

Some of the rugby on show was spectacular, with a try by Bromsgrove U13D team being one that the British Lions would have been proud of. There were also a few ‘agricultural’ moments, as would be expected in the long tradition of the Barbarian Xs. The boys played a round of group matches, then split into different competitions for the different levels of performance.

All the group winners went into the Cup competition, the runners up into the Shield and the third place teams into the Bowl.

I am pleased to report that the Cheltenham side retained their hold on the Shield, winning it for the second time in succession. The boys went down to the eventual Cup winners, Sherborne, before an outstanding win over Clifton. This put the boys into the Shield competition, which they won after two great wins over Pinewood and St Hugh’s. Every boy that took part was then presented with a medal by Tom Stanton – Tom is the current College 1st XV Captain, a Gloucester player and an ex-Cheltenham Prep 1st team captain, who spoke really well about the enjoyment of sport rather than winning and losing.

As with every running of the Barbarian Xs, it finished with the most important part of the day... hot dogs and hot chocolate!

Pic of the Week...

The U9Bs after a 10-2 win over Downs Wraxall.

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Art & DT Update DT Year 5 have been making wooden pencil boxes this term. They have used two types of saw, bench hooks, hammers, nails and glue. On the revolving lid each child has made a 'badge' to personalise their box.

This is a photo of 5J with their fabulous pencil boxes.

House Art 2017 House Art had a Science twist. We had very kindly been donated 4 sets of books, to be given as prizes, by naturalist and wildlife enthusiast Peter Parks.

The children were asked to create an original piece of artwork of any living animal. They had to include within the illustration three interesting facts about their creature.

We had over 100 entries, all of which can be seen displayed along the House Corridor. There were runner-up prizes and everyone who entered gained a point for their House.

(We also had a few keen staff who entered who all won additional points for their Houses. Thank you Mrs Conner, Mrs Miles, Mrs Barrett, Mrs Simpson and Miss Anderes) Lower School Winner – Tobias Evans 3S Runners up – Fenella Pearson Y4, Hattie Lait Y4 Highly Commended – Flo Wheatley Y3, Eva Brown Y3

Peter Parks with the winners and showing them some wildlife art.

Zara Leach-Herrero shows Peter Parks and his wife her winning painting of a lion.

Middle School Winner – Zara Leach-Herrero Y6 Runners up - Hattie Keen Y6, Edward Lait Y6 Highly Commended – Emily Grant, Henry Watkinson Y5, Sofiia Shulzhenko Y6 Upper School Winner – Evie de Quincey Adams Y8 Runners up – Freya Wood Y8, Willoughby Cooke Y8 Highly Commended – Ollie Blanchfield Y7, Angus Wragg Y8.

Special Science Award for Interesting and detailed facts - William Matthews Y7

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LAMDA Over the last fortnight LAMDA (London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art) pupils at The Prep have been able to show off their skills to parents and staff in two Drama Showcases.

The level of talent is excellent, the actors find the Showcases exciting and the profile of peripatetic drama lessons has led to lots of other pupils enquiring about the subject.

Many of the scripted pieces are very funny. It was a great opportunity for the participants to put on a bit of costume to show their talents.

Christmas Decorations When collecting your children at Day End, you may have noticed the new stained glass window in The Prep Dining Hall . If you you come inside and have a look, you will find at the foot of the window 5 Christmas Trees. These trees contain one decoration made by every child at The Prep.

Each year we do this, but I'm not sure that many parents get to see it.

The idea is the this is a whole school display. We have a different theme each year and 2017 got Christmas Birds. So, Reception and Year 1 made owls, Year 2 made geese, Lower School made robins, both ceramic and hand-sewn felt, Year 5 made pheasants, Year 6, swans, Year 7, quails eggs and Year 8, Turkeys.

Please do pop in to have a look, the children are generally excited and pleased with the display.

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