Prep for the Week - Week 1

Prep for the Week

Issue Number 1898 – 7 September 2018

Welcome back everyone, we hope you all had a fantastic summer!

In this week’s issue…

• Head’s blog • Kingfishers Update • Lower School News • Boarding House Update • Building Learning Power • House competition round-up • Football Fixtures Report • Birthday Announcements

Prep for The Week Issue Number 1898 7 September 2018

Get involved! @CheltPrep facebook.com/CheltPrep

1

Headmaster’s Blog Dear Parents Thank you all for the warmest of welcomes. It has been an incredibly busy, but immensely fulfilling week. The school has been abuzz with excited children and, whilst it may take me a little while to correctly put names to all faces, I feel like I know a great many of the children already.

Two things have really stood out for me over the last few days. Firstly, this seems to be the smiliest, happiest group of children to come back to school I have ever seen - which says much about The Prep. Secondly, having spent most of the week in and out of lessons, it has been so reassuring to see the standard of teaching that is happening across all areas of the school. Facilities and curriculums are all important, but fundamentally education is about having a brilliant and inspirational teacher who engages and excites the children. The Prep is absolutely full of these from the Nursery right the way through to Year 8. It’s a fantastic team and I feel very lucky to be part of it.

I have really enjoyed meeting a great many of you already, at drop off and pick up and at the Information Evenings this week. If I haven’t met you please do stop me and introduce yourself. I will be refereeing the 1st team rugby on Saturday and watching the girls’ hockey festival on Sunday. So, I’m sure I will see many of you over the weekend.

Best wishes Tom

PS One new date for your diary: Nicola Huggett and I will be hosting a ‘Meet the Heads’ Evening on Monday, 24 September at 18:30. We will be sending an invitation out next week, but it will be an opportunity for you to hear us both speak about our roles and plans and for you to meet and chat to us both informally. Watch this space!

Prep for The Week Issue Number 1898 7 September 2018

2

Kingfishers Update Nursery News The children loved exploring our newly refurbished Nursery this week and have come back full of beans and raring to go! They have settled in very quickly and our ‘big boys’ and ‘big girls’ who were in Nursery last year have been very welcoming to the new children and of course to our new Head of Nursery Mrs Davis. Their favourite game seemed to be “How many Kingfishers can you fit in a Tipi!’

We look forward to more fun next week as we begin our Forest School adventures.

Welcome back!

A warm welcome to the Autumn Term in Kingfishers! The children have been excited this week and very keen to find out about their new classrooms and their new teachers. The emphasis this week has been on working together and the boys and girls have been learning to be together in work and play. Reception experienced their first ever swimming lesson and were brilliant at trying hard to get dressed and undressed in the changing rooms. Year 1 have been learning to share the new toys, especially the castle in 1J, and the children in 1S have been getting to know a new teacher to Kingfishers, Mrs Jones.

Year 2 have made a super start, leading our singing in assembly and setting an example to the little ones around Kingfishers.

Our fun doesn’t end on Friday afternoon – don’t forget that Year 1 and Year 2 children can sign up for Super Saturdays. We begin this term with some Crazy Cricket Capers at 09.00 in Kingfishers.

Prep for The Week Issue Number 1898 7 September 2018

3

Lower School News A great start to the term for Lower School, Tuesday saw everyone return with smiles and chatter, excitement and laughter. How delightful it was to meet up with old friends and share our stories of what we had done and achieved over the holidays. Our Year 4s have come back a little taller and now see themselves as leaders of Lower School, taking the responsibility seriously and well within their stride. Year 3 came in eager to work and find out how to fit in and do their best.

With a clear focus on building learning skills and developing good learning behaviours our team building afternoon activities were designed for pupils to have fun getting to know each other but also to start on this learning journey.

Lower School enjoyed the thrill and challenge of finding a way to retrieve a comic from the Lower School Office without stepping inside the room. Collaboration, observation and creativity were required to be successful, the teams clearly showing many of these behaviours.

Others had to find a way to get themselves, their teams and the items they were required to carry through an obstacle course, on the fort. With perseverance and plenty of empathy as well as watching and imitating how other teammates tackled the obstacles, all team members managed to get to the end.

Meanwhile interdependence was key when blindfolded teammates needed to listen to clear instructions and retrieve coins that had been lost. Our weaving activity required creativity and the ability to see what the end product might look like. Some beautiful pieces of natural art were created by groups.

By Wednesday all classes were hard at work, getting started on History topics, sorting out reading books, finding out their new targets and topics. We are looking forward to a busy and productive term with trips to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, special India and Egypt days and of course our Christmas Production at the end of term.

Finally, some key dates for your diaries. Informal Parents Meetings are between 08.00-09.00 on Wednesday 19 September, this is a great opportunity to have an informal chat with class teachers about how your children have settled in to their new class. In week 4, Friday 28 September we are running our “Book at Bedtime” event for parents to find out how to support your child’s reading development at home. We also offer you the chance to see what your children have been doing by looking at their books with them on Friday 19 October between 08.00-09.00 in their classrooms at our Open Doors Event. I do hope you will mark these dates in your diaries and we look forward to seeing you at as many of these occasions as you can manage.

Prep for The Week Issue Number 1898 7 September 2018

4

Boarding House Update The Prep Boarding House has got off to a great start this year. Our returning Boarders have started in great spirits and have been fantastic at inducting all the new Boarders. We also welcome some new staff to the team and are really excited about the year ahead. So far we have had a whole House game of ‘Crocker’, some seriously contested Barn football, CDT, the Pirate Ship, XBox, craft and much more. We look forward to our Boarders’ BBQ and games this Sunday.

Prep for The Week Issue Number 1898 7 September 2018

5

Building Learning Power The staff and pupils have hit the ground running this year as they started the term thinking about the skills needed to become better learners. This wasn’t about who found Maths easy or who was best at Art, but developing the characteristics they will need throughout their lives to cope with the challenges they will face wherever they are.

The whole school community is excited to be further developing our learning culture which has involved staff working on monthly learning modules over the course of the past year, and us introducing some exciting new Learning Ladders to the children which have been developed by a core team of staff here at The Prep. These have been compiled to help the pupils know what they need to do to further develop their different learning skills such as making links, collaboration, managing distractions and reasoning (to name but a few!). Kingfishers designed their own learning superheroes who had incredible learning superpowers, Lower School and Middle School completed a range of different team challenges which got them thinking about the skills they need above and beyond subject facts, and Upper School began to identify the different characteristics of a good learner in themselves. Join us for our parents information evening on Monday 5 November to find out more about how we are preparing our young people for life beyond The Prep, what Building Learning Power is, why it is so exciting and how you can support your child at home.

Building Our Learning Power - Growing as People CHALLENGE

EMPATHY

Making Links

Imitation

Planning

Listening

Look for connections between ideas

Be ready to learn from others

Visualise the end result

Pay close attention to people who are speaking

Hi, I’m Charlie the Challenging Cheetah - I run as fast as I can and I help you try to do more and more tricky things every day

Bouncing Back

Stop and reflect Bounce back and - what is going try again when well? What things are tough needs to change?

Noticing

Collaboration

Scan and identify Put the needs of key information the group above my own

Imagining

Reasoning

Resourcefulness

Ask 'What if...'

Think sensibly through a problem

Know what resources are available (internet, books, people)

Hi, I’m Ella the Empathetic Elephant - I think about how other people feel and I will help you to understand others

RESILIENCE Reviewing

CREATIVITY

Hi, I’m Catherine the Creative Cat - I like to experiment and think of new ideas. I will help you use your imagination

PARTICIPATION Managing Distractions

Absorption

Questioning

Purposefully try to minimise distractions

Want to learn more

Have high levels of curiosity – relish getting to the bottom of things

Hi, I’m Billy the Bounce Back Bunny - If I find things hard I don’t get upset, I just have a bounce and have another go

Prep for The Week Issue Number 1898 7 September 2018

PERSEVERANCE Me as a learner

Stickability

Practising

Be honest about No quitting, even Know what my my strengths when things target is, practise and weaknesses, don’t go right. with my target and aim to in mind. challenge myself

Hi, I’m Peter the Participating Penguin - You always find me joining in with my penguin friends. I will help you take part in activities

Keeping Calm Think positively, what is making me stuck, how can I get unstuck?

Hi, I’m Poppy the Perseverance Pony - I love jumping over fences and if they seem too big, I try and try and never give up

6

Football Fixtures vs South East Schools On Monday 2 July, the 1st XI Football team set out to play two fixtures against schools in the South East. Accompanied by Mr Yiend, the Assistant Coach, and Mr Dawson, who insisted that everyone called him ‘Drives’ for the duration, we travelled to Kent, via a tour of Reading and Clacket Lane Services. Our first destination was Sevenoaks School, who kindly hosted our match against Solefield School. The facilities were incredible and the pitch was already prepared for the Autumn Term. Even after regular practices during Lunch Breaks and the Friday Evening Activity Slot, the team was quite rusty at first, but soon found their rhythm. The deadlock was broken with a fantastic shot from well outside the box, which was initially met with shock and then followed by wild celebrations. This gave a real boost to the rest of the players who added a second before Half Time. At the break, the message was to keep it simple and continue to press the opposition while they were in possession. A few changes were made before the second half began and Cheltenham were able to increase the goal margin to three during a dominant spell. They continued to control the game until the final whistle, maintaining a clean sheet even with a change of keepers during the game. A great win, but also a milestone, as the first girl to represent The Prep 1st XI made her debut, proving herself more than a match for the boys. The more observant readership will also notice from the photos that this was the first official outing of the Dutch-esque away kit!

A fantastic tea was laid on by the hosts and then it was back in the bus towards Crawley. Although not famed for much, other than being near Gatwick and home to Crawley Town of League Two, the town was an excellent setting for our accommodation and evening of entertainment. Bowling and Nandos were the order of the day, both were enjoyed by all. The Holiday Inn Express more than delivered on its promise of ‘stylish rooms and free breakfast’ and the buffet was on particularly good form that Tuesday morning. We got back on the bus, wearing swimming gear and all sun-creamed-up, and headed to Worthing sea front.

The British weather did not live up to its reputation and we had a wonderful time at the beach with plenty of opportunity to swim. This was followed by the traditional ice cream stop, the lady serving remembered last year’s visit and even Mr Dawson’s incredibly specific additional toppings order, item for item!

However, soon our minds turned back to the Football. After a brief sandwich lunch and bus travel, we arrived at Hazelwood School. They were much bigger opponents and we were warned of a particularly good season of results. It was a closely fought and physical affair, with two goals either side of Half Time for the home side. Although tough to take, this was clearly a school that knew their game and showed the benefits of a full season of football under their belts. Perhaps 1-0 might have been a fairer reflection of the match, but, as one of the Year 7s said, it gives us even more of a reason to come back next year. The team managed to drag themselves out of their mood slump and the McDonalds debrief on the way back to Cheltenham was full of reflection, as well as hope for the future. This year had seen a win against The New Beacon School, 3-1 in the October Half Term, for the first time in four years, having lost the inaugural game in 2014 7-0 away from home. This year’s squad had the most Year 7s of any previous incarnation, who will hopefully form a strong spine for the Autumn. It has been a brilliant season, with many great memories. The eight Year 8s led by example throughout, particularly the four who had two years as a part of the team. We look forward to the trials over the first two weeks of the new term and aim to emulate the successes of the previous academic year. My thanks to Mr Whybrow and Mr Simpson for enabling Football to thrive and for the fixtures to go ahead, as well as Mr Yiend and Mr Dawson, who gave up their much deserved holiday to help staff the trip and were, as ever, exceptional company.

Prep for The Week Issue Number 1898 7 September 2018

7

House Points Competition - Summer Term Report Each Term the Six Houses (Athens, Corinth, Persia, Rome, Sparta and Troy) compete in the House Points Competition. There are various House Events that take place each Term and points are awarded for first to sixth place, culminating in the winners being announced at the End of Term Assembly.

Rules • Almost every event has been split into Lower, Middle and Upper School • There are 6 points awarded to ‘first place’, 5 points for ‘second place’, 4 points for ‘third place’, 3 points for ‘fourth place’, 2 points for ‘fifth place’ and 1 point for ‘sixth place’ • Therefore, for each event (providing that this took place in all sections) there are a maximum of 18 points available, if a house wins across all sections • The points are added through the term chronologically (depending when the first part of that event took place) Facts and Stats • There were 8 House Events this term; 1 academic (History), 3 sporting (Sports Day, Tennis & Rounders and Cricket), 3 ‘effort’ (Prep Award, PR3 & PR4 and Pluses) and 1 creative (Singing) • All of the events were completed after Half Term! All 8 events finished in a staggering four weeks!

• One House won as many as three events but did not go on to win the competition!

• After all the events, only 8 points separates the top four Houses!

• This Term saw us welcome a new Housemaster, Mr Patterson, who took over from Mrs Greives, congratulations to Mr Patterson! And many thanks to Mrs Grieves for her stewardship!

• We also congratulate Mrs Jenkins on her appointment to Housemistress of Athens Athens just managed to pip Sparta (the holders from the previous Spring Term) to the post, by just three points! This means that the Planners and the Flag on the Head’s Lawn will again return to being coloured RED! Congratulations to Mrs Conner on her fifth and final victory of her reign! Perhaps this will open up the House Points Competition, but I’m sure that Mrs Jenkins and the Athenians will do their best to make sure that it will be another red term!

Overall Totals

Winning House Summer Term 2018

1st

Athens

85

2nd

Sparta

82

3rd

Corinth

78

4th

Rome

77

5th

Persia

65

6th

Troy

59

Prep for The Week Issue Number 1898 7 September 2018

ATHENS

8

A loud start in Upper School Pupils in Upper School enjoyed some body percussion work, learning about different types of sound, rhythm and dance moves as part of their team building activities at the start of the week.

We’re enjoying welcoming everyone into the section! We finished off the afternoon with a short assembly and some work on Building Learning Power.

Sporting Success

Congratulations to Hector, Valentine and Elizabeth who over the summer won the Jorrocks Division 2 Pony Club Polo title, playing for the Cotswold Pony Club. A fantastic achievement from up and coming sporting stars!

Hector also won the Rupert Thorneloe Trophy for Most Improved Player. Rupert was a Lieutenant Colonel who played pony club polo but was very sadly killed in action in Afghanistan in 2009, his nephew George is a student across the road at Cheltenham College.

Let us know

We’d love to hear about your child’s achievements outside of school, both on and off the sports field. If you’d like us to include them in future editions, please send a photo(s) and brief explanation of their acheivement to their class tutor.

Prep for The Week Issue Number 1898 7 September 2018

9

Birthdays Happy birthday to the following pupils who have their birthdays this week: • Rory S (8) • Toby E (12) • Ben M (12) • Verity C (11) • Jack B (8) • James K (12) • Isabelle M (11) • Angela N (11) • Nick N (11) • Emma H (5) • Francesca A (4) • Ava B (10)

Prep for The Week Issue Number 1898 7 September 2018

10