NURTURING A LOVE OF LEARNING

Going on safari, tea with Paddington bear, swashbuckling pirate quests, flying across the world on a magic carpet, and who could forget that giant T-Rex stomping around the classrooms?! Our Pre-Prep campus is the inspiration for many exciting adventures, nurturing imagination, curiosity, and social skills, helping to bring learning alive. The Foundation Years form the basis on which all future learning depends. Our role is built upon instilling a love of learning right from the start, ensuring children are exposed to many opportunities. These incorporate not only the acquisition of knowledge but also experiences through which children can demonstrate problemsolving, collaboration, risk-taking and perseverance; just four of our Cranleigh Skills. This year, we were excited to come back together again as one. We are very much a family in PrePrep, and we value the importance of the connection between home and school. Our families are a vital part of this colourful learning journey.

Caroline Mather, Head of Pre-Prep School

Topics And Enrichment Days

Our topic-based approach allows the children to lead their own learning at key points in the year. These include chances to explore geography and the wider world during topics like: Are We There Yet? to link past inventors with their own future inventions in our Year 2, Just Imagine topic, and to use reasoning skills during Humpty Egg Drop Day. We also place great emphasis on fostering responsibility, empathy, and kindness. Our Pre-Prep House Captains and Wellbeing Champions inspire others to try and make a difference by caring for others and their environment.

“I know so much about dinosaurs I’m going to test my mummy and daddy when I get home.”

ROAR! Dinosaur Day, Year 1

“Dinosaurs have great big feet that stomp, stomp, stomp. Dinosaurs have great big teeth that chomp, chomp, chomp…” so goes the well-loved song. Year 1 went back 250 million years to the Mesozoic era when dinosaurs of all shapes and sizes stomped confidently into school! The children learnt about the history of dinosaurs and understood the use of timelines. Our little palaeontologists also had the opportunity to explore and excavate their own dinosaur eggs.

Let’s Explore It, Animal Dress-up Day, FS1 Nursery Growls, squeaks, roars, barks, bleats, and tweets could all be heard during Animal Dress-up Day. As part of Cranleigh’s Enrichment Week, animals from all the kingdoms arrived on campus to enjoy a colourful parade and an investigative experience of safari hunts and learning through play.

Superheroes, FS2

In Term 1, our FS2 superheroes were put through their paces at Superhero Training Camp. Using their Super Cranleigh Skills to crawl, jump, bounce, and speed through obstacles, they also captured hidden villains in the playground. Pow! Zap! Fine motor skills were flexed, teamwork was top, and creative thinking crushed those baddies. Thank you to our Superheroes for saving the day!

BANG! POW!

“I loved being a superhero for the day, the training was awesome, and it was great spraying the baddies!”

ZAP!

“I love my flamingo costume! I can balance on one leg like a flamingo... watch me!”

Paddington Party, Year 2

“If we are kind and polite, we can make everything right.” Wise words from our favourite spectacled bear. Known for his old hat, battered suitcase and love of marmalade, Paddington Bear is also kind, considerate, and looks for the good in everyone. As part of their literacy unit, Pre-Prep made party invitations, menus, and birthday cards to celebrate all things Paddington. Children worked as a team, used their creative skills to decorate Paddington’s birthday cake and showed politeness and team spirit while playing various party games.

“I loved decorating Paddington’s birthday cake with as many sprinkles as I could fit on.”

MASSIVE and Minuscule Day, FS2

During Term 2, FS2 learnt about size and scale. Massive dinosaurs, lions, elephants, and even buildings turned up in our classrooms to meet minuscule mice, butterflies, spiders, and buzzy bees. A MASSIVE and minuscule parade was followed by a minibeast hunt around the Pre-Prep grounds.

Ronda Armitage, Author Talk, Year 2

Year 2 was treated to a very special guest when Ronda Armitage, author of The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch (among many other children’s books), came to Circle Time to talk about characters, storyline, setting, and the resolution of the Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch dilemma. Ronda wrote the book in 1977, and this imaginative story is as enriching and delightful to children now as it was then.

“My favourite part was when Rhonda read the story. It made me want to write my own.”

Bear Hunt, FS1 Nursery

One shiny wet nose, two big furry ears, two big googly eyes. It’s a bear!

FS1 Nursery went on an adventurous bear hunt with joyful delight, embracing all the benefits role-play and imagination can bring.

“Splash Day was so much fun! We even got to play in the swimming pool with Mrs Mather.”

Splash Day

Pre-Prep Splash Day returned this year with a SPLASH! Between the swimming pool and the shaded outdoor spaces, campus was awash with squeals and giggles as Pre-Prep celebrated the end of the year in the happiest (and very wet!) way.

“Learning our lines from our poems felt quite hard. But when we performed them it felt great.”

“We found the bear!”

At the Beach, Year 2

A fabulous day full of beachthemed activities for Year

2. This special event was designed to inspire creative writing in preparation for the Under the Sea Poetry Café.

Poetry Café, Year 2

Have you ever heard a jellyfish recite poetry? A shark practice their rhyming skills? A crab rehearse a verse?! Year 2’s Under The Sea Poetry Café expanded the minds of sea creatures of all kinds through storytelling, role play, creative design and confidence building.

“I love playing in the sand. It sometimes feels gritty, sometimes soft.”

Special Topic Days

We aim to curate an ideas-led environment where pupils feel confident to explore their talents and passions. Our exciting array of Special Topic Days helps to inspire creativity, innovation, teamwork, and culturally aware individuals.