The Ipswich Prep Year
Welcome
Welcome to the Prep Virtual Celebration Day 2020. It seems very strange typing that sentence, and not one I had ever dreamed of writing!
With this booklet is the link to the virtual event, that cannot even start to compete with the spectacular event that we usually commemorate the year with, but I hope that it goes a little way in helping us celebrate another amazing year in the Prep.
This academic year has been remarkable in so many ways. It is very easy to focus on the final part, where everything was truly extraordinary but we should also remember the amazing things that went before us having to close our doors to help protect others from Coronavirus.
This year saw us decide on Ipswich Prep’s Learning Dispositions, the learning characteristics that we feel make us the best learners we can be. We chose them together as a school as it is important that we all believe in them and have ownership over them. You can read more about these later in this booklet. The children have been increasingly able to recognise these learning dispositions in their own work and have demonstrated these more readily as the year has progressed; our Remote Learning programme has certainly given myriad opportunities to develop, and test, some of these dispositions.
I say on a regular basis how proud I am to be the Head of Ipswich Prep School but these last few months have magnified this in so many ways. We have all had to adapt to a very different way of working and learning. The children have risen incredibly to this challenge, and even when learning new skills and the need for greater independence was tough, we have seen the children learning as much as they would in school, albeit
perhaps different things, and for some, really flourishing with this type of teaching. And the staff have been incredible with their agility and adaptability, delivering a provision that has enabled the children’s learning in its broadest sense to continue.
The emotional and financial toll this virus has put on us all has been significant, but it is clear that we have an incredible community in the way that we are coming through it so strongly. As I write this, I have no idea what September will look like; we are still awaiting more children in school for the very last part of the term. What I do know, is that whatever we are told we have to do, we will continue to do our best in providing a great education for the children. I really hope we will be back to normal soon.
I am still so lucky to see our children’s successes every day, even remotely; be they academic, musical, sporting, dramatic or being a fantastic learner; where the small achievement is as important as the big one. As we come to the end of another extremely successful year here, in this booklet, we look back at some of the activities which have inspired the children, whether in the classroom or outside of it. Most importantly, we look forward to the future, in the light of what we have learnt this year, in being confident to keep trying new things, and with the belief that we can succeed.
I
Twitter: @ipswichprephead
Instagram: ipswichprephead
Website: www.ipswich.school
I would like to thank our parents and families for their continued support, especially over the last few months. It is vital, for the success of the children and the School that we all continue to work together effectively.
In a short time we will be at the end of this extraordinary academic year. For some, you will move on to new things; we look forward to hearing about future successes. For those who return, we look forward to another year, full of amazing achievements.
Amanda Childs, Ipswich Prep Head
say on a regular basis how proud I am to be the Head of Ipswich Prep School but these last few months have magnified this in so many ways. We have all had to adapt to a very different way of working and learning. The children have risen incredibly to this challenge.
Lockdown Learning
Prize winners
Achievement Award
6B Harriet and Sebastien
6D Aaron
6M Eve
Effort Prize
6B Panos
6D Jemima
6M Florence
3Rs Prize
These are awarded based upon the 3 Rs - Reliability, Resourcefulness and Responsibility. A pupil who receives this prize has had a positive attitude and good relationship with his/her peers throughout the year.
6B Adam C and Harry M
6D Eva and Alisha
6M Thomas
Subject Prizes
English Harriet and Eve
Maths Charlie D
Science Harry L
Art Abbie
Music Harriet and Charlie D
Geography Adam W
History Alex B
Computing Adam C
Drama Maisie and Sam
Design and Technology Florence
Le Grand Prix (French Prize) Panos
Religious Education Guy
Sport Prizes
Rugby Cup Harry C
Netball Shield Eve
Swimming Cup Rosie
Boys’ Southgate Shield for Hockey Callum
Girls’ Hockey Cup Rosie
The Warnes Cup
The Warnes Cup is awarded to the pupil who has embodied the visions and values of Ipswich Prep School.
Order of events
Today’s Celebration Day event is rather different to our traditional one, held in the marquee on School Field. But you can join us from the comfort of your own home and enjoy:
Introduction to Prep Celebration Day - Mr Henry Stauton, Chairman of Governors
Performances by Year 6 music scholars - Harriet, Charlie D, Aaron
Prize winner announcements - Mr James McCaughran
Year 6 virtual play song
Words from Ipswich Prep Head - Mrs Amanda Childs
A tribute to Mrs Benn, Ipswich School Catering Manager
The Ipswich Prep School Year - Our highlights
Year 6 - Rehearsing for
In the Lent Term Year 6 excitedly started their rehearsals for their end of term production, Porridge. The children worked really hard to learn their lines, different songs and dances. Learning dances was so much fun as it included the excellent choreography of Mrs Ward!
Porridge!
Whilst the children were not able to put on a finished performance to their parents, they recorded themselves at home during our Remote Learning programme singing along to their favourite song, The Porridge Pot.
Their performances were cleverly spliced together to create a unique online performance for their family and friends!
Reception - “I love being a farmer”
During our topic ‘The Farm’, we received a delivery of potatoes and sugar beet. The learning and play that stemmed from this was amazing to watch. The children pretended to plant and harvest from the
mud pits, using the spades and other tools. The bikes became tractors and delivery vans, distributing the vegetables to the factories and shops. Lots of co-operation, collaboration and communication.
Year 5 - Victorian Day
Children in Year 5 (and parents) got to experience what life was like in a Victorian school. It was a fun day but the teachers were very scary and strict.
They got to experience writing with a dip pen, sewing and of course chanting those important times tables - no TTRockstars that day! Thankfully, the dunce cap wasn’t needed too often in Year 5.
Thank you to those parents who joined us for the morning and also got to experience a Victorian school along with their children.
Year 4 - Mayan construction challenge Nursery - People who help us
Year 4 faced the challenge of building a Mayan temple using sticks, elastic bands and most importantly co-operation and collaboration. They then used their skills to build a bridge in a team, remembering that triangles are the strongest 2D shape.
Year 3 - Our first competitive sports fixtures
Year 3 particularly enjoyed taking part in a variety of sports all year round, but we also got to compete in fixtures this year too.
For most of us, it was our first time playing a competitive match and we loved it.
Playing with our friends and in some cases, against them, is really enjoyable and we love the feeling of being part of a team.
Most of our games were ‘friendly’ without official scoring, however we did love the feeling of exhilaration when we scored a try or a goal.
The Nursery Class learnt all about ‘people who help us’ including having a visit from a police officer and police car. The children loved trying on the helmets and police hats as well as sitting in the police car.
The Ipswich Prep School Year - Our highlights
A musical year
Music has continued to flourish at the Prep in spite of the challenges of the last few months. At the beginning of the year in October, the Chamber Choir and the Super Singers had a very successful visit to the Suffolk Festival. The Chamber Choir came away as joint winners of the ‘11 Years and Under’ Choral Class with a fabulous performance of ‘When You Believe’ from the Prince of Egypt and the Super Singers won their Folk Song in the ‘Under 13’ category singing ‘The Ash Grove’.
The Chamber Choir also performed at the Ipswich School Festival of Music as part of the space-themed Family Concert, in which Maisie Scott gave a stunning performance of the Sesame Street song ‘I Don’t Want to Live on the Moon’, accompanied by a full orchestra. As part of the festival, our young brass players took part in a fabulous workshop given by the ‘Oom- Pah Brass’ Players.
Christmas across the school provided many more musical highlights. The Lower Prep gave wonderful performances of ‘Hey Ewe’ and ‘ We’re Going on a Star Hunt’, whilst Upper Prep celebrated Charles Dickens’ story of ‘A Christmas Carol’ in their moving
performance of ‘Bah Humbug!’ The first half of this concert included performances from some of our many choral and instrumental groups and finished with a memorable and rousing performance of ‘I Wish it Could Be Christmas Every Day’. On the last day of term the children took part in the end of term Carol Service with the Chamber Choir giving a beautiful rendition of ‘Silent Night’.
During the Michaelmas and Lent Terms we enjoyed several concerts given by the pupils of our Visiting Music Teachers and the children performed in Tea Time Tunes Concerts.
The ‘Lockdown’ gave us an unexpected and surprisingly exciting opportunity to completely rethink the way we present and ‘do’ music. Traditional ideas and techniques had to be abandoned in favour of creating our own instruments, sounds and rhythm patterns.
We have stomped, slapped, tinged, banged, created a soundtrack for a silent movie, built drum kits in our kitchens, followed a gorilla and made water glockenspiels with glasses and jars. We didn’t forget to sing and dance though and enjoyed singing along with many songs, karaoke-style.
It really has been a fantastic opportunity
for creativity and it has given the children a whole new perspective to the music that they hear and make - we can make and enjoy music anywhere!
What a very busy and successful year from competition to shows and performances to great new ways to learn and inspire children to love music. We have had so much fun and enjoyment from the year, whatever it looked like.
Year 1 - Party Time!
What a fantastic Christmas party we all had, during the times we could sit next to each other!
A super morning filled with Christmas crafts, followed by Christmas lunch, disco and party food. We certainly love a Party Ring!
Our sporting successes
Despite the ‘new normal’ we are living in and not being able to enjoy any sport over the Summer Term at school, we can still look back at this year with a great deal of pride and satisfaction.
At the start of September, girls from Years 5 and 6 went on a hockey tour to North Norfolk. This annual trip is so much more than hockey and helps build and cement relationships at the start of the year. The girls had a fantastic two terms of sports. Everyone represented the School and we were able to put out five teams on a Wednesday afternoon for the first time in a number of years.
Year 5 and 6 boys also had two fabulous terms, and to finish the Michaelmas Term in November, our U11A, U11B, U10A and U10B rugby teams went on our first ever rugby tour. Our rugby goes from strength to strength with our belief in working on core skills, especially handling and passing skills, and our unique approach to the contact element of the game is making sure our pupils are prepared and ready for rugby throughout their school careers. In all year groups we work so hard on the fundamental skills in all our sports, life skills, meaning our pupils will be fully prepared for their future.
This year pupils have represented Ipswich Prep at netball, hockey, football, rugby, swimming, biathlons, table tennis, squash and fives. We have also run athletics, cricket and skiing clubs during the year. What an impressive list!
We know the importance of allowing our pupils to have the opportunity to learn and play a variety of sports; not specialising too young in one sport. Roger Federer played basketball, badminton, table tennis, handball and football - and he swam, wrestled and skied before he specialised in tennis when he was a teenager.
Earlier this year, our U11 Boys Hockey Team
were crowned Suffolk Champions and were in the top four teams in the East of England. Since 2014, we have been champions five times and runners up twice! This record matches the 20039 teams who were so successful and is incredibly impressive. It is testament to our approach to delivering hockey at Ipswich Prep, especially when you look at the investment in hockey that has happened over the last few years in all independent schools and in particular, our local schools in Suffolk, that we continue to come out on top.
We would also have had swimmers at the national swimming finals in June as well as pupils at the national biathlon finals. However, we do not measure our success by winning trophies or results, we measure it by watching pupils fulfil their potential after they have moved on from Ipswich Prep.
Year 2 -
Tasting Chinese food
Our parent pop-ins are always popular, and this year, Year 2 children enjoyed sharing their Chinese food tasting activity with their familes. Smiles all around!
Meet our Learning Dispositions
We believe that the more children understand how a ‘good learner’ behaves (Learning Dispositions), the more they will be able to develop the behaviours themselves.
Since September, the staff and children prioritised which learning dispositions we would like to focus on in school.
After deciding on the dispositions together, we had a successful House competition to design our characters. Thanks to Mrs Mee’s amazing design skills, we morphed different aspects of different designs to come up with the final Fabulous Five!
Special stamps and stickers are now used to record times when the children demonstrate using any of these learning dispositions.
In the Upper Prep, children collect stamps in their Homework Diaries. Each week, their aim is to demonstrate using each disposition at least once, collecting a stamp in the process.
LEARNING DISPOSITIONS
Crump and Curly the caterpillars: co-operation and collaboration
Luna the lion: courage and self-belief
Calypso the cat: curiosity and enthusiasm
Onyx the octopus: independence and initiative
Ruffles the raccoon: resilience and risk-taking
Of course, we encourage the children to use these dispositions in their learning as much as possible. Whilst they can only collect one of each stamp a week, if they demonstrate the same learning disposition at another time in the same week, they will still be rewarded with a housepoint. If they manage to collect one of each stamp in any one week, they receive a bonus five housepoints!
In the Lower Prep, children have a card on which to record their stamps. It may take them longer than a week to collect all 5, but
when they have collected a ‘full house’, they too receive a bonus five housepoints!
The children have been really excited about demonstrating the Learning Dispositions inside and outside of their lessons and have been as excited gaining them in lockdown as they did before in school.
The pictures below of Crump and Curly, Calypso and Luna were created by Lower Prep children working with visiting artist Bee Willey.
Our special Teddy Bears’ Picnic
In February, the children from Nursery, Reception and Years 1 and 2 enjoyed a special ‘teddy bears’ picnic’ on the new artificial grass which now covers one of the playground areas.
Mrs Childs said: “We are thrilled to bits with our lush new grass. Not only does the grass
look beautiful, but it feels amazing to play and walk on. There has been lots of rolling and tumbling, plus comfy chill out time in our new garden!”
The project was completed thanks to generous donations from the Friends of Ipswich School and the Old Ipswichian community.
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