From Mrs Hall

Our Nativity rehearsals have begun! Excitement is in the air as we prepare for this year’s Nativity performance. The boys have already embraced their roles with enthusiasm, and it’s heart-warming to hear them practising their lines and songs. We can’t wait to see it all come together in the coming weeks and share this special moment with you.

A Visit from an Inspirational Guest
This week, we were incredibly fortunate to welcome a very special visitor, Nath Fernandes, to our school. Nath, who has cerebral palsy, is an inspiring individual who has achieved remarkable success. Amongst his accomplishments, he has set up several businesses, including a charity that educates children about disabilities, and a Lego robotic party company—an idea that absolutely thrilled the Year 1 boys! During his visit, Nath conducted engaging workshops with each year group, sparking meaningful discussions about disabilities such as blindness, deafness, and cerebral palsy. The boys had the opportunity to experience challenges like completing tasks while blindfolded, helping them develop empathy and a deeper understanding of what life can be like for those with disabilities. Nath also shared common challenges faced by wheelchair users and encouraged the boys to think about ways to help, fostering a sense of problem-solving and inclusivity. Despite having a severe speech impediment, Nath’s kindness, patience, and gentle demeanour made everyone feel at ease. After a few moments, the boys were able to tune into his speech and were eager to interact with him. Nath’s openness and warmth made this experience truly enriching for everyone.

Following our weekly focus on themes such as Respect and Anti-Bullying, and including our celebration of what makes us unique with odd socks day, Nath’s visit was a perfect extension of these lessons. We explored similarity and difference and reflected on how, even when someone’s life may look different from ours, we share so much in common. The boys left the workshops inspired, empathetic, and curious to learn more. Some of the Year 2 boys went straight back to class to write Nath notes and cards.

It has been a week filled with meaningful learning and heartfelt connections, and the boys have made each and every one of us proud!

 

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Shell Awards this week:

Year 2: to Rhys A-D for his respect and empathy.
Year 1: to Skerdi for his thoughtful engagement with Nath, our special visitor to the Pre-Prep, and stellar manners throughout the week. Well done, Skerdi.
Reception: to Maxi for settling into school life more confidently over the term and for being a calm and kind friend to others.

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Save the Dates !

Wednesday 27 November	17:00-18:00	Twilight Talk - Steve Brine (see SchoolPost of 20 November at 16:30 to book a seat)
Thursday 28 November	10:30-11:45	Balanced Babies Event for prospective parents Book here: Open mornings and events - The Pilgrims' School
Friday 29 November	15:00-15:30	Pre-Prep Cathedral Assembly
Friday 29 November	19:00-21:00	PPA Christmas Drinks in the Pilgrims' Hall for all parents (details to follow)
Saturday 30 November	08:15-09:15	Wellbeing Matters LIVE: details to follow
Tuesday 3 December	All day	Christmas Jumper Day and Christmas lunch for all boys Choristers sing at the switching on of Cathedral Christmas tree lights
Wednesday 4 December	15:00-16:00	Christ Church visit Pre-Prep
Thursday 5 December	10:30	Balanced Babies Event for prospective parents Book here: Open mornings and events - The Pilgrims' School
Thursday 5 December	11:00	Pre-Prep Nativity Dress Rehearsal
Friday 6 December	11:00-11:45	Pre-Prep Nativity for parents (Details to follow)
Monday 9 December	08:15-08:45	Pre-Prep Open Classrooms
Tuesday 10 December	08:15-08:45	Pre-Prep Open Classrooms Pre-Prep trip to Mother Goose pantomime
Wednesday 11 December	13:30 15:30	End of Term Cathedral Carol Service for all parents

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Notices

After School Club and Commoners pickup times: Please remember to collect your sons promptly, either at 1630 when After School Club ends, or at 1800 when Supper Club ends. 

Menus are available here on My School Portal. 
^{Reminder: no food is to be brought into the school and/or given to boys at any time, especially at sign-out.}

 

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Reception news

The Reception boys have been learning about 'subitising' in their Maths sessions recently.  Subitising at its simplest, is being able to visually see a number of objects instantly without needing to count them out one at a time.  We have been practising being able to see a group of objects and 'notice' straightaway what number there is in a group.  The boys have found out that nature is incredibly clever and interesting. Natural items, such as seeds, acorns, conkers and pine cones, when thrown in the air, always land in ones, twos and threes! 

When working with Miss Whitmore using natural items, the boys took turns to talk about what they 'noticed' about the landed conkers. For example, 'there is one conker here, two conkers here, one conker here and three over here'.  When using a larger group of conkers, the boys were encouraged to talk about whether they could see any groups of such as fours, fives or sixes. This provided the boys with the opportunity to work on their composition of numbers one-six. For example, 'I notice a two and a two, and I know that makes four', or 'I notice a one and another one, and a two, and I know that one and one makes two and two and two make four'.

Games have also been played using pictorial cards with groups of natural items on them.  The pictures were looked at closely to see if the boys could use their subitising skills.  Some pictures were easier to subitise than others!

Try playing some dice games at home and encourage your son to name the number landed on the dice, rather than count the spots every time.  You may also like to have a go at some fun interactive maths games together where subitising can also be practised:

• Buds Garden on BBC Bitesize
• Ladybird spots on Topmarks

Happy exeat weekend!

Mrs Sarah Huntley
Reception Class Teacher

 

Year 1 news

The Dark: Our English lessons are focused around a book called The Dark by Lemony Snicket and Jon Klassen this half term. To inspire the boys a little further, we listened to two pieces of music today that are from stories set in darkness: Danny Elfman's cinematic music from Edward Scissorhands and part of the Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack. The boys were not exposed to the pictures but the mood of the music helped the boys to think further about atmosphere. They were very engaged in this activity and really enjoyed exploring with the artistic medium of charcoal to produce their thoughts related to the music. We then tried to conjure up some images through words and phrases that we wrote on strips of paper. Tomorrow we shall try different ways of arranging these phrases to create an atmospheric poem about the dark.

As the story The Dark progresses (and as we read more of our class reader The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark), the boys are starting to understand that dark is not something to be feared but something that is necessary, kind, exciting, fun and thoughtful. That is the ultimate goal of this half term of learning.

David Attenborough’s Asia documentary (currently on BBC1 on Sunday evenings) included a recent clip showing the largest owl on our planet, the Blakiston's Fish Owl, going out fishing for supper for its young. The boys adore hearing the next instalment of Plop’s adventures in The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark. They chuckle because he is ALWAYS hungry and his parents are ALWAYS hunting for him.

Mrs Victoria Ford
Year 1 Teacher

Year 2 news

This week the boys have been given the opportunity to let their imaginations run wild. I know they would correct me by saying Fly not Run.

Next, the boys had fun with role play, meeting Nanty Solo, choosing a bird and flying. They looked up facts about their chosen bird, before finally writing a story about being a bird for a day. We look forward to sharing these with you during our Open Classroom session in a couple of week's time. 

 

Forest School

Reminder: all boys need to bring a waterproof coat into school each week, along with waterproof trousers and wellington boots for their Forest School sessions. Hats and gloves are advisable too, in the colder weather.

The autumn trees are still looking wonderful, and provide us with much inspiration for Forest School. 

What an exciting week it has been for Reception class. It was their first session at the Arboretum, and it was snowing! On our way to the arboretum we went on an autumn scavenger hunt, looking closely at the leaves, the trees, spotting any fungi on the ground or lichen growing on the trees. We even searched for some squirrels hurrying through the trees! The snow caused great excitement, and we tried to catch a few snowflakes on our tongues.

Year 1 had great fun making some wonderful autumn clay balls. Using a small ball of clay, the boys collected a selection of beautiful autumn leaves and attached these to the clay ball. As the leaves were added one by one, the ball of clay grew into a wonderful display of autumn colours. 

Year 2's session is linked in with their science curriculum this week. The boys were asked to investigate everyday materials and discover why certain materials were used for particular purposes. They learnt to identify the properties of the selected materials.

 

Mrs Walker
Forest School and LAMDA Teacher

 

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