From Mrs Hall

We talked about what respect looks like in the classroom, on the playground, and at home. The children shared their ideas and learned how to show respect not only to others but also to themselves. They left the assembly with a clear understanding of how respect can help them build stronger friendships and communities.

 In celebration of Odd Socks Day on Tuesday, the boys came in proudly sporting their most colourful, mismatched socks! This fun event was part of Anti-Bullying Week, reminding everyone that our differences make us unique. Odd Socks Day encouraged conversations about kindness and acceptance, reinforcing our theme of the week.

Preparations are underway for our Christmas nativity, ‘The Fleece Force’, and Christmas music is beginning to fill the air around Pre-Prep! If anyone has any children’s police dressing up costumes, please let us know.

Finally, we have a little update on George Sheldon! George is now hibernating, and we look forward to welcoming him back in the new year, refreshed and ready for new adventures with us!

As this busy term rushes by please do keep an eye out on upcoming dates in the calendar. Next Friday (22 November) the whole school finishes at 12:00 for the Exeat weekend and there will be no After School Clubs on this day. Please make sure you come to collect your sons at midday.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend.

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Shell Awards this week:

Year 2: to Guy, for showing respect through being kind and helpful. 
Year 1: to Macarthur, for jumping forward in reading by putting lots of effort in. Well done, Macarthur!
Reception: to Refik, for his precision and attention to detail when working on any fine motor activity, such as colouring,
and also to Vedat, for his great enthusiasm towards all craft activities.

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Save the Dates !

Thursday 21 November	All day 09:30-10:30 10:30-11:45	NHS Flu vaccinations Musical Shells for pre-schoolers Balanced Babies Book here: Open mornings and events - The Pilgrims' School
Friday 22 November	12:00	School day finishes for Exeat weekend
Wednesday 27 November	17:00-18:00	Twilight Talk - Steve Brine
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.}

Music Groups for Toddlers and Babies
Don't forget our new toddler music group, Musical Shells and our Balanced Babies group.  For more details, please refer to the link on our website and our recent Social posts. We encourage you to spread the word to friends and family! 

Thank you, as always, for your ongoing support. 

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The Last Post

A group of senior school trumpeters was asked to show the Pre-Prep what their role was during the Remembrance Day service for the school, and what is meant by The Last Post and the Reveille. Miss Willcocks explained to the boys that it was like a 'musical prayer' which I thought was a very clever description.  Here is a short video. (password is: shell)

Mrs Victoria Ford
Year 1 Teacher

Reception news

Following on from last week's newsletter where the boys made a super Rangoli pattern on the floor with Miss Whitmore, I said I would let you know if the pattern remained intact by the end of the week.....YES it did!  Great care and motivation was shown in looking after the pattern.  Well done boys!

This week has been full of art and craft, one of my favourite activities. The boys have painted their Diva lamps carefully, noting the different colour and texture the clay has turned. Now their lamps are dry and hard.  Patterns have been considered and, the new skill of 'dabbing' has been learnt to colour all the embedded shapes.  This was a popular activity and the boys cannot wait to bring their lamps home.  

Remembrance was discussed this week and why the poppy flower is a key symbol at this time of year. The boys were able to watch a short animation showing how this flower grew through the mud and darkness at the end of such worrying times.  You can view it here.

Poppy pictures were another favourite activity.  Lots of different materials have been used to make the poppy stem and head, from feathers to pom-poms.  Each picture has been created with great thought and precision and every poppy head is different.  This activity was so popular that some boys made two!  

Next week I will focus upon a maths term called 'subitising'. The boys have been exploring this during their maths sessions this week and talking about what they 'notice' about amounts of natural objects. Maybe you would like to find out more beforehand.

I hope you have a super weekend and maybe get to see some turning on of Christmas lights.

Mrs Sarah Huntley
Reception Class Teacher

Year 1 news

Jet-packs – DT Project
What a week we have had with your sons in Year 1 this week. We have been fully immersed in the creation of our jet-packs and what fun it has been. We were able to design and then make our jet-packs once some important research had been carried out.

The boys were interested to find out how real jet-packs were used by astronauts as a safety tool when performing space walks outside the International Space Station (ISS). These are professionally termed a Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue (SAFER). We watched a video of Tim Peake using, what astronauts call a small, self-contained, propulsive backpack system in a simulator to practise returning to the ISS if he loses connection. We have investigated various mission patches that have been worn by astronauts and the details included, such as names or initials, flags of their country and a picture and number for the mission. The boys have also revisited their knowledge of astronaut space suits to decide what controls they may need to include on their jet-pack.

Each design is completely individual. The boys worked extremely hard on practising various joining techniques to use for the different materials. Through investigation, they have found some worked better than others. Trial and error is such a valuable learning experience. The learning that the boys have displayed this week through their designs is something for them to be really proud of. What a great week in Year 1!

Mrs Victoria Ford
Year 1 Teacher

 

Year 2 news

What a varied and busy week it has been this week, with the boys working and playing hard, just as the saying goes!

 

In English, much work has centred around 'past and present tense' whilst discussing the wonderful topiary tress the Night Gardener created in the story by the Fan Brothers. In Maths, the boys have been challenged to use their number-bonds to ten when adding and subtracting across tens.

 

 

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.

This week we took advantage of the dry and calm weather and based our Forest School sessions around the firepit.

As this was Year R’s first fire pit session, the boys enjoyed listening to a story about fire safety before learning about how to make a fire.

Years 1 and 2 were also reminded about how to behave around an open fire.

After collecting fire wood and building the fire, all the boys enjoyed helping cook the popcorn, which is always a firm favourite. The older boys learned how to make toast on an open fire, as well as having a go to create a spark using a flint and steel fire striker.

At the end of the session, our older boys were invited to pour a small amount of water on to the embers and tell the class what they enjoyed most about the session.

Mrs Walker
Forest School and LAMDA Teacher

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From the PPA