Prep for the Week - Spring Week 6

Prep for the Week

Issue Number 1915 – 15 February 2019

That was the week that was...

Prep for The Week Issue Number 1915 15 February 2019

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Prep for the Week

Issue Number 1915 – 15 February 2019

Cheltenham Prep has joined the world of Instagram! Make sure you are following us (instagram.com/cheltprep) to keep up to date with all of the fun things going on...

Included in this week’s issue…

• The Grand Masquerade Ball • Kingfishers Update • Lower School News • Year of Reading Update • Sports Update • Birthday Announcements • Scooby Awards • Updated Week 8 Calendar Prep for The Week Issue Number 1915 15 February 2019

And finally...

Don’t miss Mr O’Sullivan’s take on this week. His Week 6 blog can be found at the back of this week’s edition.

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Kingfishers Update

This week in Nursery...

This week the Nursery children have been exploring shapes in their environment. They have been singing shapes songs and playing shape pass the parcel. The children have become expert shape hunters.

Keep up to date Make sure you’re following Kingfishers on twitter (@CheltKingfisher) to keep up to date with all of the latest activities we’re getting up to!

They have also been looking at caveman paintings.

They had a go at creating their own using a range of mark making materials. A bit messy, but fun!

Reception Assembly The Reception children enjoyed sharing their ‘roarsome’ assembly with their parents and Kingfishers this week. They were able to choose what they wanted to show, giving everyone a chance to see what they have been learning about in their dinosaur topic.

Football Fun Year 2 and Year 3 boys had a fantastic morning playing football against Prestbury Phantoms.

Many goals were scored from both teams and fun was had by all. The morning ended with a delicious match tea.

Open Morning There was lots of fun to be had on Saturday as the Kingfishers helped to play host to the Circus themed Open Morning.

We ourselves were getting our faces painted, making popcorn and creating clown masks!

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Easter Fun Time!

Come and join in the Easter fun in the Kingfishers Nursery: Monday 1 - Friday 5 April 10am - 4pm each day

Open

to chil 41/2 an dren aged d unde r

There will be lots of fun activities to take part in and games to play with the Nursery staff To book your place email Mrs Davis via: r.davis@cheltenhamcollege.org

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Lower School News

Keep up to date

The circus came to Lower School on Saturday. What fun we had. Our pupils had a fantastic time, finding out about Marcelle Marceau and learning French words for a variety of circus acts. Some of the children had a go at miming in the manner of ‘Bip the Clown’.

Meanwhile others used their knowledge of electrical circuits to create a working circus with headlights on the clowns’ cars, spinning unicycles and juggling balls. Once we had designed our balloon powered cars, wacky races were run, although it was a bit hard to decide who won as they veered around the course in the middle room.

Make sure you’re following Lower School on twitter (@CheltPrepLower) to keep up to date with all of the latest activities we’re getting up to!

Tuesday was House Cross Country day. Well done to all of our Lower School pupils who took part, warmly cheered on by the rest of Lower School.

A big congratulations to Scarlett G who won Silver at the South West Tumbling Prelims at the weekend, despite competing against much older girls. She is through to the next round and, if she is successful, will go forward to the Nationals. Good luck Scarlett!

Finally, look out for our new Lower School Enrichment Passport, coming home this week. A great chance for you to look through and discuss some of the extra activities your children have been taking part in this term.

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The Grand Masquerade Ball

On Thursday night Years 6, 7 and 8, along with staff, were invited to the Grand Masquerade `ball at The Prep.

They were treated to some amazing food before Mr O’Sullivan hosted an auction for a variety of prizes. Currency for this auction was special (chocolate) gold coins! After which they danced to ‘The Prep’s top 10 favourite songs’, as voted for by the pupils themselves.

Thank you to everyone who attended and the long list of people who helped prepare such a magical evening.

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The Grand Masquerade Ball

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2019 - Our Year of Reading Famous Author Returns for Book Signings Thank you to John Dougherty who returned to The Prep this week to sign well over 100 books for pupils, much to their delight!

Accelerated Reader Bronze Award Congratulations to Isabel C, our second AR Bronze Award winner with over 250 points on her book quizzes!

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2019 - Our Year of Reading Caught You Reading Here at The Prep, we love to catch our pupils reading. All pupils have regular access to the Library, with the majority of pupils also having weekly Library lessons. Such is their love of reading, many of our pupils also love to read at breaktimes, lunchtimes and during other opportunities across the school day. For this reason, we introduced our Caught You Reading initiative last year. All staff carry Caught You Reading slips which they fill in and give to pupils when they catch them reading. These slips then go in the Caught You Reading box in the Library, and a prize is given to one lucky winner, drawn out weekly by Mr O’Sullivan. You have to be in it, to win it!

This week’s Caught You Reading Winner is...

Oscar M

Readers of the Week Congratulations to this week’s Reader of the Week... Jules H and Victoria H Prep for The Week Issue Number 1915 15 February 2019

Each week, staff in the English department, together with Miss Richardson, our Librarian, nominate one pupil who has made particular progress with, or shown genuine commitment to, their private reading.

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Half Term Reading Challenge

Since introducing Accelerated Reader for all pupils in Years 5-7 September, there continues to be a real buzz about private reading here at The Prep! Pupils in just these three year groups at the Prep have now collectively read over 63 million words and successfully

passed over

1,800 book quizzes between them. We now have an impressive 12 members of the prestigious ‘Millionaires Club’, all of whom have individually read over a million words in Accelerated Reader books since September. What’s more, we now have five Double Word Millionaires!

As part of the celebration of our 2019 Year of Reading, and new for this term, we have also introduced

Bronze, Silver and Gold

Reading Awards for our highest achieving readers, and I am delighted to report that two of our pupils have already received Bronze Awards for attaining 250 points on Accelerated Reader quizzes – an impressive achievement!

The contest to see which House is meeting the most reading targets also continues, and as we approach the half term break, Troy House continues to hold a slender lead over Persia, closely followed by Rome House.

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Half Term Reading Challenge It continues to be a fabulous response to Accelerated Reader across all three year groups, ably supported by the efforts of our Librarian, Miss Richardson, and the English department in engaging our young readers. We would also like to thank all those parents who continue to encourage their children at home with their reading; the strengths of Accelerated Reader very much depend on a successful partnership between the school and home.

The February Half Term Reading Challenge To maintain this excellent progress with reading over the short break, we are encouraging all our pupils from Year 3 right up to Year 8 to continue to read as much as possible in their spare time, and for this to be recorded in their Reading Record booklets, which all pupils have been given. Each member of the English department and the Lower School team will have some special prizes to award to the pupils in their classes who have made the most progress with their reading over the half term holiday.

How Can Parents Help?

1. Firstly, do please continue to support your children with their reading whenever possible: the more they read, the better! If you’re ever in need of ideas for excellent books to borrow or buy, we really recommend https://schoolreadinglist.co.uk – it has some fantastic suggestions for books which are split into different age categories and genres. You may also find the Accelerated Reader Bookfinder website useful when searching for books for your children: http://www.arbookfind.co.uk The website offers an Advanced Search option which allows you to refine your search in detail.

2. Secondly, please do ask to see your children’s Reading Record on a regular basis. Talk to them about the reading, and even better, Prep for The Week Issue Number 1915 15 February 2019

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Half Term Reading Challenge read with them, or allow them to read aloud to you or other members of the family.

3. Lastly, please sign your children’s Reading Record at least once before they return to school after the half term break.

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Theatre Trip A Frighteningly Good Play!

The Year 8 Scholars enjoyed a trip to London’s West End on Saturday to see the acclaimed stage production of “The Woman in Black” at the Fortune Theatre. Before the performance started at 8.00pm, we spent an hour enjoying the sights and sounds of Covent Garden.

This included some very entertaining street performers such as a tightrope knife juggler and an amazing opera singer!

After being blown away by Covent Garden, we then went to Zizzi’s for a very tasty pre-show dinner, before the short walk around the corner to the theatre. We have been studying Susan Hill’s novel in English this term, so it was a real treat to be able to see a live performance of the story. It was a terrifying, blood-curdling production with so many spine-chilling scenes which had us literally jumping out of our chairs! The performance was excellent: there were only three actors in the cast, who played all of the characters between them. The scenery and staging was used really effectively, and made you feel like you were there with them on the pony trap, crossing the treacherous causeway on the way to the isolated Eel Marsh House.

We would like to thank Mr Clarke and Dr Gilmour for taking us - the play was 100% recommended by everyone in the class.

Written by Autumn C

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Sport Update

Hockey team of the week: U10A

The U10A team have had a frustrating start to the term.

They have dominated matches, just being unable to score the goals they deserve to win the game. Their progress was then disrupted by the bad weather, however on Wednesday everything clicked. The boys played a superb brand of hockey and scored the goals they deserved in a great win.

Netball team of the week: U11B Blue Team The U11 Blue team faced a good side from the Dragon on Wednesday, and even though the mighty Blues went 2-0 down after the first two quarters, they rallied, gathered themselves, took on board pointers from Mr Runciman and finished the match strongly with a 3-3 draw.

Girls’ Netball Results U11A vs Abberley Hall Won 23 - 1 U11B vs Abberley Hall Won 14 - 3 U11 White vs Abberley Hall Won 17 - 1 Well done to the U13A and U12A sides who represented the school brilliantly at their tournaments this week, some great Netball was playedby all!

Boys’ Hockey Results U10A vs Dragon Won 2 - 1 U10B vs Dragon Lost 0 - 2 U10C vs Dragon Lost 1 - 3 U11C vs Dragon Won 4 - 2 Well done to the 1st VII, 2nd VII, U11A, U11B, U9A and U9B teams who took part in the Severnside Hockey Tournaments this week!

Boys’ Football Results U13 Blue vs Clifton Lost 2 - 4 U13 White vs Clifton Lost 0 - 2

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Year 6 London Tour Last weekend 44 girls and boys from Year 6 went on their first hockey tour to the Olympic Park complex in London. They enjoyed coaching sessions with GB players on the Olympic astros as well as playing fixtures against local schools and hockey clubs in the area. They also went on a great visit to the London Olympic stadium, they swam in the aquatic centre and watched a pro netball match and met the players.

Finally they all flew down the stomach-churning Arcelor Mittal Orbit slide! It was a fantastic experience and many thanks to the staff who helped make this tour so memorable.

Look out for Mr Bass’ email with a link to some of the highlights of the tour!

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Year 6 London Tour

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Birthdays Happy birthday to the following pupils who have their birthdays this week:

• Lauren S (5) • Olivia G (13) • Jocasta A (9) • Harry N (12) • Mark C (6) • Emily G (11) • Lois J (11) • Freddie B (8) • Sian V (11) • Makari D (9)

Invites you to join our Private Marquee on CHAMPION’S DAY AT THE CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL Tuesday 12th March 2019 To Book

by 1st March

Card Payments: 01242 265694 Online Booking: cheltoniansociety.org for individual login details please email r.creed@cheltenhamcollege.org

Cheltenham Racecourse

Ticket Prices £140 for Non Members £65 for Racecourse Members or those with entrance tickets £12 Parking Ticket Included in the Marquee Cash Bar Private Tote Racing Coverage

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Scooby Awards Congratulations to the following pupils who have already earned 25 pluses this term, a fantastic achievement!

• Ben A • Sofia G • Freya B • Harris C • Thomas C • Beatrice C

• Daisy DQA • Will D • Ollie E • Scarlet G • Shamil I • Ryan N

• Evie P • Pablo R • Ronan T • Alice W-C • Dameli A • Sam A

• Robyn B • Freddie B • Anabelle B • Isabel C • Star J • Nell L

• Olivia L • Charlie S • Iola W-C • Michael W

And well done to the following pupils who have already reached 50 pluses this term!

• Freddie A • Georgia B • Verity C • Zac M • Tiger S

• Eva C • Penny C • Amelia D • Tobias E • Maddi G

• Claudia H • Flora M • Flo P • Oliver S • Laurence Y

• Jack B • Carys B • Sean D • Saif J • Seb M-T

• Max M • Sophia W

Congratulations to Ava B, Henry B and Almo P who have all earned 75 pluses in the first half of term!

And finally, a massive well done to Jerome Y who has reached the incredible milestone of 100 pluses in just six weeks, a fantastic achievement!

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And finally...

Dear Parents As we approach the half way point in the year, I wanted to highlight one or two notable recent successes.

I have now given out a second Bronze Award for Accelerated Reading. This programme has really taken off and I hope you will have seen the benefits at home with children choosing to read more and more. This is not only an enjoyable life skill, but all the evidence clearly shows that children who actively read for fun perform better across a broad range of academic subjects.

I hope you enjoy the pictures of The Masquerade Ball. It was a fantastic evening with the children really throwing themselves into it and making the most of the opportunity. We really did all have a ball!

The combination of experienced Prep School staff and specialist professional coaches allows the children to both enjoy their sport, but also to make excellence progress.

The ‘sport for all’ mantra is often quoted but rarely well executed. We know that we don’t get everything right yet,

In the last week or so our 6th and 7th VII hockey teams have

but we are working really hard to ensure every single child

scored 20 goals between them and conceded only 4. These boys

can love playing sport.

have gone through Monday night pre-season training and get specialist coaching every week from Gwyn Williams, the College Director of Hockey. Our under 10C and under 11C teams, who receive weekly sessions with Tim Lang, the College Assistant Director of Hockey, both had good wins against The Dragon this week.

You will have received details of two exciting trips coming up over the next 15 months: Choir Tour and Ski trip. These trips are fully inclusive and open to all children in the relevant year groups and will undoubtedly provide a fantastic experience for all who go. I must stress, however, that they are holiday trips and you should feel

This year there are now more sports professionals working

under no pressure to send your children. We are acutely

with the girls than the boys. Each session sees Miss Willey, the

aware of the costs involved and provide them very much

College Head of Netball, Miss Meyer, Miss Epsly, Mr Slowik and Mr

as an optional holiday extra should you be interested.

Runciman all working with the girls. This means that the coaching

expertise

is

spread

around

all ability teams get the same input.

ensuring

that

One of the key

appointments has been that of Mr Nick Runciman to the girls’ netball programme.

If you are on the slopes this half term, I very much hope you enjoy some wonderful snow. I hope you all have a relaxing and enjoyable half term.

As one of the College’s Strength

and Conditioning coaches, he has brought a real passion to developing the movement skills of the girls on the court, rather than just focussing on the technical and tactical play. There is now a focus on evasion ability, tracking of defenders and speed of reaction as well as the core skills of the game.

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Week 8 Calendar Week 8

25/2/19 - 3/3/19 Mon - 25/2/19 Week 8 (23) 25 February - 3 March Cheltenham College 13+ Academic Scholarship Examinations (College) 08:00 School resumes 16:30 Pupils' Informal Concert (Lake House)* Tue - 26/2/19 Cheltenham College 13+ Academic Scholarship Examinations (College) Year 8 Common Entrance Mock Examinations (All day) 08:30 Year 4 Viking Trip to Compton Verney 16:00 Parents' Evening for parents of pupils in Kingfishers (Kingfishers Classrooms)* Wed - 27/2/19 Year 8 Common Entrance Mock Examinations (AM) 12:45 Departure for Hockey at Bromsgrove (A): U11C VII, U10C VII. Start 14:15. Pick up 16:45 13:00 Departure for Severnside Netball Tournaments (Clifton): U9A, U10A. Start 14:30. Pick up 18:00 13:15 Departure for Netball v Wycliffe (A): U13A, U13B, U13C, U12A, U12B. Start 14:30. Pick up 16:45 13:30 Departure for Hockey v Bromsgrove (A): U11A VII, U11B VII, U10A VII, U10B VII. Start 15:00. Pick up 17:30 14:15 Hockey v Bromsgrove (H): 4th VII, 5th VII, 6th VII, 7th VII. Pick up 16:20 14:30 Football v Berkhampstead and Rendcomb (H): U8A VII, U8B VII. Pick up 16:00 14:30 Football v Rendcomb (H): U9A VII, U9B VII. Pick up 16:00 14:30 Netball v Wycliffe (H): U11A, U11B, U10B, U9B, U8s. Pick up 16:20 15:00 Hockey v Bromsgrove (H): 1st VII, 2nd VII, 3rd VII. Pick up 16:20

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Week 8 Calendar Thu - 28/2/19 Year 8 Common Entrance Mock Examinations (All day) 07:00 Departure for IAPS Netball at Millfield (A): U11A. Pick up 18:00 13:30 Cheltenham College Science Day for selected pupils from Year 6 15:20 Departure for Cross Country League Race 4 (St Edward's): Years 3-6. Pick up 18:00 16:00 Parents' Evening for parents of pupils in Kingfishers (Kingfishers Classrooms)* Fri - 1/3/19 Year 8 Common Entrance Mock Examinations (AM) 07:00 Departure for IAPS Netball at Millfield (A): U13A. Pick up 18:00 09:30 Departure for County Hockey Finals at Dean Close (A): 1st VII. Start 10:00. Return 12:30 14:20 Chapel* Sat - 2/3/19 09:00 Super Saturday: Disco Fever with Miss Farr. Pick up 10:30 09:30 Netball v Kitebrook House (H): U9A, U9B, U8A, U8B. Pick up 10:45 10:00 Optional Cricket Nets for Upper School. Pick up 11:30 10:00 Middle School House Hockey. Pick up 12:00 10:00 Departure for The Downs Wraxall Rugby 7s (A): U13A VII, U12A VII. Start 12:00. Pick up 17:00 10:00 Cross Country County Championships (for pupils who qualify) (St Edward's) 10:15 Netball v RGS Worcester (H): U13A, U13B, U13C, U12A, U12B. Pick up 11:45 Sun - 3/3/19 08:30 Boarders' London Experience

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Mr O’Sullivan invites you to join in the fun at the...

PARENTS’ CRICKET AND TENNIS TOURNAMENT

SUNDAY 9 JUNE If you would like to enter the Doubles Tennis tournament, please contact Lucy Hill on lucy24bennerley@yahoo.co.uk Don’t worry, you don’t need to have a doubles partner - this is a friendly tournament where partners swap after each match!

If you are a cricketer and wish to participate, please contact Andrew Hill on hillybilly67@me.com A delicious match tea will be served at 15.30.

Thank you and we really hope you can come, the event will be a lot of fun!

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