St Teresa's Prep Bulletin 8 January 2021

11th January 2021

Message from Mrs Conrad I hope you had a wonderful Christmas; the staff and I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your lovely cards, messages and gifts at the end of term – we were really touched.

I was pleased to hear from the girls that Father Christmas managed to visit despite all the Covid restrictions! They have enjoyed telling me about the amazing gifts they received from rainbow makers to skateboards – clearly fun has been had by all over the last few weeks.

We were all extremely disappointed by the Prime Minister’s announcement on Monday evening that schools would be closed but the St Teresa’s team rallied immediately so as to move to online learning the very next day with only a few hours’ notice. Huge thanks to the staff for all their hard work and commitment that enabled this to happen; thanks also to all of you for supporting your daughter’s virtual education; and congratulations to the girls for adapting so quickly – their resilience and positivity this week has really impressed me.

Obviously, we know and understand that this is once again a very difficult and worrying time for everyone but be assured that we are here to help and support; not just the girls’ academic education but the pastoral wellbeing of everyone in our school community. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you need anything or just need a chat – I am available on email and am also in the office at school every day. With Spring on its way, and a vaccine programme begun, there is light at the end of the tunnel and I am minded of this beautiful quote: Do not worry. God is never blind to your tears, never deaf to your prayers and never silent to your pain. He sees, he hears and he will deliver.

This week you should have received: Whole School

Online learning timetable and guide for online learning.

Years 1 to 4

Letter-join log in details

LAMDA

Registration form for Spring 2021

Good News!

Lockdown Lessons Well done to Lyla for teaching her older sister, Eloise, a family card game called ‘split’. Eloise went on to win two rounds with guidance from her coach!

Is there something new that you could teach a sibling or your parents during lockdown? We’d love to hear about it if you do.

An Update From Miss Hilder About the Reading Challenge.

Firstly, well done to those keen beans who have read one or more of the Reading Challenge books already! We are going to continue with the challenge, but it will be extended into the Summer Term, so please don't worry if you don't have access to the books at the moment.

When you have finished a book, email the book chief (see below for a reminder) and they will send you some questions to answer. However, Mrs Conrad would love to have a chat with you about 'The Castle of Tangled Magic' so please email her asking for a good time to call her on Teams.

Good luck and enjoy your reading!

Miss Hilder

The Castle of Tangled Magic by Sophie Anderson

(book chief - Mrs Conrad)

High Rise Mystery by Sharna Jackson

(book chief - Miss Hilder)

The Night Bus Hero by Onjali RaĂšf

(book chief - Mrs Canning)

The Girl who Stole an Elephant by Nizrana Farook

(book chief - Mrs Kearley)

The Highland Falcon Thief by M.G. Leonard and Sam Sedgman (book chief - Mrs Gibson)

Golden Book Well done to all of the girls in our Golden Books this week:

1BB

Sienna D N for joining Year 1 during our online learning, fitting in so well and being really enthusiastic!

2EB

Olivia G for her energy and enthusiasm during online lessons and for superb imaginative responses to an illustration from a book used in an English lesson.

3DI

Alice F for her calm, sensible approach and fabulous independence with online learning this week.

3KC

Rachel H for settling in so well to St Teresa's, including being a great student on online learning.

4RN

Felicity S for her fantastic attitude to online learning this week, taking part in all the lessons and contributing her ideas.

4CR

India Rose C for her fabulous, diligent attitude. She has participated well and her work has been clearly organised, detailed and beautifully presented.

5MK

Sophia Cand Alisa K for their super engagement during our first week of online learning, particularly in our lesson on riddles.

Ruby A for super confident 121 reading this week.

5HC

Amy L for a most impressive start to St Teresa's, via online learning, bringing a confident and conscientious attitude to all live lessons and tasks. Well done, Amy! Myla M for her enthusiastic participation and diligent attitude when engaging with online learning.

6KH

Sofia F and Myah K for their dedication to, and hard work for, the art scholarship.

6JG

Ariadna L S for her positive start to the term. She has been enthusiastic and is clearly working hard.

Great Work!

Now that we have returned to online learning, we are looking forward to sharing some of the amazing work that the girls have been doing at home.

Year 2 Lanterns The girls in Year 2 made beautiful lanterns featuring nativity scenes to remind us that Jesus was God's gift to us and is the Light of the World.

Year 3 Toy Shops Year 3 have been creating their own toy shops at home. They have attached money labels to their toys and added amounts of money together using coins and notes.

Great Work!

Year 5—’Off With Her Head’ Year 5 created these brilliant comic strips after starting their new topic "Off With Her Head" . They learnt about how the Tudors came to power after the Battle of Bosworth.

Year 5 have also been studying riddles this week, before writing their own riddles in groups of three, they wrote a shared riddle together. Can you work out the answer to the question, ' What am I'?

You cannot always see me but I'm always there, Unable to touch me - I shine like a diamond Queen of the sky or a sunny disco ball.

Bright, warm and sizzling Blinding your eyes.

A burning ball of gas - hot like fire A welcome guest by the pool and sea I can't help but make you smile What am I?

Great Work!

Year 4 In Year 4 we have started our new topic 1066. We began by learning about the struggle for succession after the death of Edward the Confessor and the four potential future Kings of England. We each chose one person to explore. Later in the week we wrote job applications outlining the reasons why our person would make the best King of England.

Year 1—French Rosalind drew this brilliant picture and labelled it with the vocabulary for winter clothes. C’est Super!

Music News Musicians of the Week Seren S for showing initiative when learning about the Greek bouzouki.

Freya C and Briony L for good listening work on the music of Glenn Miller.

Free Singing Sessions Sing Up will be running free live sessions on Tuesday mornings at 9am with a #FeelgoodFifteen minutes of singing and musical fun. Our school day has of course started by then but each video will be saved so children can catch up at some other point. Please use the Sing Up YouTube Channel or Sing Up at Home These sessions are aimed primarily at children aged 4-11.

Music Competition Look out for a St T’s Prep lockdown music competition which Mrs Yalden will launch next week. There will be different sections for Lower and Upper Prep.

Music Exams Congratulations to Isabella K in Year 3 who has gained a distinction for her Grade 1 piano exam. Well done Isabella!

There will be no more music exams in school until we return from lockdown and are able to record the exam programmes for submission.

Sports News Pupils’ News Huge congratulations to Tabby (Year 6) who came 1st in the 50m breaststroke in Surrey for U10s and 3rd in the 50m breaststroke in the South East for U10s. This is an incredible achievement and she should be super proud!

Keep up the hard work!

This Week As we returned to school this week - and to lockdown! we began by continuing to celebrate the season of Christmas. On Wednesday we met as a whole school community on line to celebrate the great feast of the Epiphany of the Lord - the day on which we celebrate the coming of the Magi.

We remembered how they followed the star. This physical phenomenon, repeated this year with the great conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter, reminds us to be observant and to recognise how God calls us in our lives.

We remembered how the Magi immediately left their homes and began the perilous journey. We are reminded that when we see a similar sign in our lives, we are called to respond however hesitant we may feel.

We remembered that the Magi faced the difficulty of the conniving King Herod. We are reminded that when we begin to respond to God’s call in our lives we may face opposition, we are called to continue nonetheless.

We remembered that the Magi gave gifts of great value in homage to the new born baby king, gifts that declared to the world that he was Priest, King and Prophet. We are reminded that we are called to give the very best that we have in all that we do as we respond to God’s call.

And finally, we remembered how the Magi returned to their country by another way. The experience of meeting the living God changes us forever. We can never be the same again, as our lives are transformed by the experience of meeting the Light of the World.