NEWS FROM MRS KNIGHT, HEAD OF PRE-PREP
1st March 2024
The children have come back full of enthusiasm after the half term break! It was lovely to hear about their time away, and see some photos and videos of their adventures. This week we have all been appreciating the longer days and subtle signs of Spring. Many of our after school clubs have been able to undertake activities outside, enhancing the different experiences the children can enjoy.
In Assembly this week, with the help of the NSPCC’s friendly dinosaur Pantosaurus, I spoke to them about keeping themselves safe. Talk PANTS is a resource for families and schools to use to help children understand their body belongs to them, and help them understand they should tell a safe adult they trust if anything makes them feel upset or worried. More advice can be found here.
Years 1 and 2 enjoyed participating in a relay Cross Country event this week having prepared fully in their P.E. lessons this term. They all competed with enthusiasm and impressive energy! There was also lots of training taking place on the playground with some very determined personal trainers! Congratulations to the Girls’ A team on winning first place.
World Book Day will be taking place on Thursday 7th March 2024. This annual celebration of authors, illustrators, books and the joy of reading is one of the highlights of our year. World Book Day provides a fantastic opportunity to focus on reading for pleasure, supporting children's autonomy in book choice, and embedding a habit of reading that brings a wide range of benefits.
Although this year we have decided to not dress up, all children will enjoy a variety of different activities in our classes. These will include sharing favourite books, “drop everything and read”.
We would very much like our families and friends to join us in the Theatre at 3.00pm on Thursday 7th March to enjoy some poetry performances by all children and the final of each class’s Poetry recital competition. Each child will be given a WBD token to spend at a range of book shops.
Wishing you a wonderful first Spring weekend!
Kirsten Knight
NEWS FROM MRS KNIGHT, HEAD OF PRE-PREP
Nursery
It has been so lovely to welcome all the children back, see all their gorgeous smiling faces and listen to all their stories from half term. With our upcoming trip to Low Barns farm, we kicked off the week finding out all about farm animals, with a focus on the names of baby animals in particular. We also discussed where the animals on a farm live. Alongside that we have learnt a poem about sounds on the farm and also looked at recapping our counting, subitising and numerals to 5.
Reception
We have kicked off our new topic of Brazil and the Amazon Rainforest. Whilst listening to samba music and the noises of the rainforest animals we have created fabulous Carnival masks, paper plate parrots and chain snakes. The story ‘The Great Kapok Tree’ has ignited interest in the animals that roam the forest, and we have started talking about taking care of our planet. In maths we have had fun ordering numerals to 10, and finding the cheeky errors our partners made! Tessa Fairclough
NEWS FROM MRS KNIGHT, HEAD OF PRE-PREP
Year 1P
I was thrilled to hear some of the poems and rhymes the children have been learning during the half term holidays, in preparation for the Poetry By Heart competition next week. We have tied this in with our English work, focusing on poetry. After hearing many poems, the children noticed that lots of them contain rhyming words. They enjoyed playing games where we had to generate a new word to rhyme, and find matching pairs of rhyming words.
Lucy PembertonYear 1B
We have started our poetry unit by sharing a variety of poems. They have listened carefully to the poems and looked at them written down. They have been poetry detectives spotting adjectives, rhymes and repeated words.
In Science, we have started to look at seasonal change and have talked about how spring has started early this year. We have gone on a seasonal walk and the children took photos of different signs of spring. We then used these photos when creating observational drawings in Art.
Victoria BulmanYear 2
Enjoyed competing in the Hunter Hall Cross Country fixture and delicious hot chocolate. They have had a busy week preparing for the poetry competition and World Book Day celebrations. They have been learning lots of interesting facts about Elizabeth I and comparing weather patterns in three different geographical areas. Model Gurdwaras have been built and lots of lovely shared reading.
Kirsten Knight
