Michaelmas 2021
Prep School
Newsletter
Michaelmas Term 2021
Newsletter Week 1
Milk Monitors Head’s Welcome Year 2 have taken the role of milk monitor in their stride.
Woodwork Our first week of term certainly did not start slowly! The Heads of School and Club Captains were brilliant when asked to participate in the filming that we undertook on Thursday which will be making its way onto our website soon. Mrs Owen Take a look here to see our new Prep https://vimeo.com/user122599669 School Video.
Class Names
Mrs Haseldine painted each class a pebble doorstop showing our new class names, they are amazing!
Woodwork has now been introduced in Reception; building on the skills the children learned in Nursery and for some children this was a completely new experience. You can see the concentration required to use a saw in the children’s faces.
Michaelmas Term 2021
Week 2 Kismet - Therapy Dog
Outdoor Maths - Year 3
We had a surprise visitor this week from Kismet, a therapy dog. She was in school with Mr O’Hanlon and he asked me on Thursday lunchtime whether we would like the children in Lower Prep to meet her and hear her story. Well as you can see from the photographs it was a ‘yes please’ from everyone.
= + x Kismet is a very calm long haired dachshund and she happily let the children stroke her. In Nursery one of the children even got to hold her. Mr O’Hanlon told us that she was a rescue dog from Afghanistan. He had found her as a puppy when he was working there with the army and he brought her home. The children were all amazed by how soft her coat was and how gentle she is. A real treat for everyone.
Butterflies class enjoyed making dens & jam sandwiches this week.
Every Thursday, Year 3 have been enjoying some outdoor Maths lessons. The tasks follow the work we have been doing in the classroom , but also help the children develop their collaborative-working and communication skills. We are blessed with some wonderful outdoor areas at Wellingborough, and it is our intention to explore these and make the very best of them. The children all love these hands-on lessons, and, for many, the opportunity to learn outside is the highlight of their week. As the weather changes we will endeavour to remain outside for as long as practical before we head indoors during the winter months for some active Maths.
Michaelmas Term 2021
Week 3 Outside Learning We have all enjoyed the treat of warm, sunny Autumnal weather and every class has spent some learning time outside this week. This week the children were able to play with the Giant Polydron, as you can see from the photographs the response was amazing. The children worked together to make all kinds of structures, their excitement was infectious. We will introduce other equipment over the next few weeks.
Cookery Club Cookery Club always has no more than 5 children as we need to ensure supervision is high; with hot pans, ovens and sharp knives, safety is a high priority. This week the children made pizzas, they kneaded the dough, grated cheese, chose their toppings and enjoyed eating them at home.
Christmas Cards
Superheroes Superheroes have been a popular theme during outside choosing time in Nursery!
The children have been using the Interactive Whiteboard to design Christmas cards – the confidence the children have when using the technology is impressive.
Michaelmas Term 2021
New additions
We have some new additions to our fish tank and they are all getting along well. The children are very good at spotting the different varieties and any changes to the tank – they are also very good at reminding me when it needs cleaning!
Week 4
Bird Feeders
In DT, Owls have worked on their bird feeders. The children are very proud of their finished products. They have used recycled bottles to be environmentally friendly.
Charity Committee Conker Island
Nursery had a fabulous afternoon on Tuesday when Ranger J came to visit. She talked with the children about Autumn and then everyone went on a conker hunt in the School grounds. Ranger J stayed for tea with us and we hope she will visit us again soon.
Congratulations to all the Year 5 pupils who presented during Club Meetings on Tuesday, explaining why they wanted to be on the Charity Committee for this academic year. I was so impressed with the quality of presentations and passion for raising money for charity. The committee met later the same day, splitting themselves into four groups and selecting one charity per group. Each group will then present their charity to the school on Thursday 14th October and all pupils will be invited to vote for the charity which they believe should be the school charity for 2021-2022.
Michaelmas Term 2021
Week 5 Cadbury Visit
The pupils took part in an educational session which highlighted the bean to bar process. A variety of other zones showcased the history of chocolate, chocolate making, and also included a 4D Chocolate Adventure cinema experience. It was a fantastic trip that linked perfectly with their current IPC topic and provided an opportunity for our pupils to experience the world of chocolate from a different perspective.
Thoughtful Tree
Owls have made a fabulous Thoughtful Tree, with comments like ‘I was kind to my Nan when I helped her wash the dishes.’ And ‘I was kind to the dinner ladies when I said please and thank you.’
Rugby Lesson Year 4 had a fabulous trip to Cadbury World as part of their ‘Chocolate’ topic and it was very pleasing to hear that the Cadbury’s staff were so impressed with the level of our pupils’ knowledge – a testament to the work they have already done in school prior to the visit.
The children in Owls were very excited in their rugby lesson this week, this was the first time they had worn tags. They enjoyed pulling tags off other children but remembering to stand still and pass the ball when you got tagged was more challenging!
Michaelmas Term 2021
Week 6 Pumpkins
There has been some amazing construction this week, from a fortified castle to a Rocket for One. The children are so imaginative and ideas are shared and developed collaboratively and independently. It is lovely to see how one child’s idea inspires others.
Mini Marathon The temperature at the moment may not be too cold but the early darkening of our evenings tells us this is autumn and Butterflies have embraced this. They have been working carefully, making close observational drawings of pumpkins. We were amazed when Miss Herbert showed us a green and yellow pumpkin, we can’t wait to see if it has the same sort of seeds inside as the orange pumpkin. The children were fascinated by the texture, colour, smell and the size of the seeds, and yes they are the same in a green pumpkin. Some of the children took this activity to be a truly hands-on experience!
Construction
On Wednesday 13th October we took part in the Mini London Marathon, a 2.6 mile route around the School grounds. It was a fantastic event with around 100 pupils taking part, pupils from all over the School joined in, from Hedgehogs to Year 13. This event was to raise money for the Senior and Prep School charities and has got the fundraising off to a solid start. Thank you to all of the pupils, staff and parents involved.
Michaelmas Term 2021
New Slides
Mr G has made the children three frames with sticks which the children can move to make ramps and slides. The concentration was incredible as they worked out how to make a slide that the car would go through all three frames.
Week 7 Hockey
Hedgehogs had their first hockey lesson with Mr Houghton, it felt rather strange wearing a gum shield but everyone had a fantastic time learning new skills. The children wore coats as it was rather cold on Wednesday.
Fireworks Art Tidy up The children did a fabulous job helping to clear the leaves that had blown into their outside space after the storm on Sunday – a wonderful child initiated activity!
Fireworks were another theme for this week and the children made some fabulous prints of fireworks exploding, they mixed colours to create a vibrant scene.
Michaelmas Term 2021
Rememberance Services
Week 8
Thursday at 11 o’clock, the whole School site fell silent for our collective act of remembrance. The Upper Prep pupils stopped and stood where they were, and the eery quiet in the middle of morning breaktime added to the poignancy of those two minutes. I would like to commend the children for the respect which they showed.
Eco Club
Kandinsky
This week’s Eco-Club was very busy. The Warriors started making natural Christmas decorations, to be sold at the WPSA Christmas Fair on Saturday, to raise money for the School charity - there was biodegradable glitter everywhere! They were also able to make and play old fashioned conkers on a string and some of the older members wrote emails to the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, about the UK's environmental situation.
Butterflies are looking at some of Kandinsky’s amazing art work and have used shapes to create their own pictures in his style. They have used their new interactive board, foam shapes and stickle bricks.
Michaelmas Term 2021
Week 9
Princess Trust
Owls Hockey
Owls are enjoying their hockey lessons with Mr Houghton. He is very impressed with how their skills have progressed since half term, this is equally true for Hedgehogs. This week the children learned how to make a controlled pass and to block the ball. Zakariya has donated his beautiful hair to the Little Princess Trust. I really do not have to write much as the photographs show the amazing story so clearly. We are all very proud of you, Zakariya.
Odd Sock Day
Monday was Odd Sock Day and we had an amazing collection! We were promoting our theme of One Kind Word
Advent Calendars This week I was delighted to deliver a car boot full of advent calendars to the Wellingborough Foodbank. Thanks to your generous donations, 216 children, who are not as fortunate as our pupils, will receive and enjoy an advent calendar in their weekly food parcel.
Michaelmas Term 2021
Head’s Welcome
Week 10 & 11 Nursery
This morning’s Christingle Service, led by Year 2, was just lovely and the children spoke and sang so well.
Christmas Tree At 10:20 Nursery joined us as Andy the Elf arrived to deliver Lower Prep’s Christmas tree! We sang ‘We wish you a Merry Christmas’ to Andy and he left us and said he would let Father Christmas know how welcoming everyone had been.
Nursery had been invited to switch on the Christmas tree lights in the Dining Hall. The children were treated to hot chocolate with marshmallows and a chocolate chip cookie. They also got to sit in Santa’s sleigh that sits beside the tree waiting to be filled with presents. Nursery made some beautiful candy canes in the afternoon as part of our special day.
Michaelmas Term 2021
Academic Update
Week 10 & 11
Christmas Show
There was a buzz of excitement amongst Year 4 as they got the chance to interact with the virtual reality goggles.
Calendars Well I am actually struggling for words that would aptly describe the Nursery Christmas show, Ready Steady Elves. The children looked incredible, spoke clearly and sang enthusiastically. The children performed brilliantly in front of parents and grandparents. A magical 20 minutes was had by everyone. Well done, Nursery!
Owls, have been really busy making calendars which will come home next week. They have used a range of skills and techniques to show how a tree changes throughout the year. Learning about the Seasons is part of the Science curriculum but we have included it in our art activities so it has real meaning for the children. Another example of the benefit of having a cross curricular curriculum for our children.
Butterflies were completely amazing in their Christmas show, ‘The Nativity’. They had so many lines to learn both for speaking and singing, as well as remembering their stage directions.
Michaelmas Term 2021
Week 12 Christmas lunch and Christmas jumper day
Elf School
‘Making the News’ Year 6 have been working hard with Mr Pickett as they explored the world of ‘Making the News’.
The children enjoyed many of the activities, from looking at the animals, being initiated into Elf School, writing and posting a letter to Father Christmas in a special snow covered post box. The children then went to meet and talk with Father Christmas, he made notes about the presents the children are hoping for.
They’ve been putting together their own news videos. We’ve included some screenshots of them hard at work.
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