​​​​From Mrs Ross

Our lunchtime breaks have taken place in the shade of the trees in our Riverside Garden. Snacks and activities have also been enjoyed outside in the shade, whenever possible. The air-conditioning in the Octagon has helped us spend cooler lunch times, along with delicious ice lollies yesterday!  We are also looking forward to spending some time in the beautiful Cathedral with Canon Tess this afternoon; our final Cathedral Assembly of the term. I look forward to seeing many of you at the Move Up meetings for parents next week, as we prepare for the end of this Academic Year and the beginning of the next.

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Save the Dates

• Monday 19 June Pre-Prep Move Up Meeting for parents (present Year 1, Year R and prospective Year R) 1900 
• Wednesday 21 June Year 2/3 Move Up Meeting for parents (present Year 2) 1900
• Wednesday 28 June Year 4 and Pre-Prep Performance 1500 (details to follow on Monday)
• Thursday 29 June Year 4 and Pre-Prep Performance 1500
• Friday 30 June Pre-Prep Sports Day 0900-1100
• Monday 3 and Tuesday 4 July Open Classrooms for parents 0815-0845
• Wednesday 5 July - Final Celebration Assembly 0845-0930
• Wednesday 5 July - Pre-Prep End of Term 1545
   

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Pilgrims' Shell Awards

• Year 2 – to Alex O for consistently impressing Mr du Plessis in music this term. Well done, Alex! 
• Year 1 - to Will Thomas for being an excellent role model for all boys in Year 1 this week by always being ready to listen and learn. A super class member!
• Year R - to Dario for taking such great care of the chicks this week and for his independent writing about them.

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Notices

Menus for next week 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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From the PPA

Year 2

The boys could not have been happier to head down to the Reception classroom on Tuesday morning… to see the chicks! There were many chicks that were extremely vocal at our arrival and very wriggly when being held! 

On Wednesday afternoon, Mrs Leslie welcomed us into the Briggs Library for our weekly session with a treasure hunt! As part of the boys’ transition into Year 3, we are keen to get the boys used to the Dewey Decimal System to be able to find books easily. They went off hunting for various books: a one-word title, a fairy tale, an animal book, a book written by an author with the same first letter as them. When the books were found, the boys had to write down the Dewey number on the spine. More treasure hunting next week! 

Mrs Ford 

 

Year 1

A great calmness has been present this week in Year 1 as the boys have been learning about Claude Monet. The boys learnt a little about Monet's life and how his artist skills developed as he grew older. Charcoal, oil pastels, canvas and impressionist are all words that have been explained, with examples being shown.  Ask your son if he can give you an explanation for each one!  

Monet's artwork has been shared and discussed and his particular 'brushstroke' style of painting was carefully explored.  

Seascape paintings have then been used to look closely at colours, patterns and images.  Some of his pieces of great interest have been 'Sunrise', 'Night Effect' and 'Seascape'. 

The boys have enjoyed experimenting with water colours and creating their own brushstroke seascape pictures.  They are practising at present, as it is a tricky, patient skill to master.  Once mastered, each boy will paint a seascape picture on canvas which will include a Pirate's Galleon.

Super calm and careful work boys, well done!

Mrs Huntley

 

Year R

Chicks, eggs, hatching, cracking, incubator, cage, and heat pad are just a few of the new words added to the boys' vocabulary this week. There has been so much learning with the making of long term memories. I know these will stay with the boys for many years to come. They have each shown great care and consideration for our eight chicks. We all watched in awe wonder as nature took over, and we celebrate a 100% success rate in hatching our eggs. The chicks have grown rapidly with real feathers appearing on their wings by day five.

Thank you to The Leslies who cared for our chicks over last weekend. They have now flown our nest, and we await news from Mrs Walker on how they settle into their new home.

This week we have also based much of our learning outside in the shade of our garden; we have made odd and even patterns and a new solar-powered water fountain has made a welcome splash.

Thank you, Miss White, for helping us play the 'Pop to the Shops' game. The boys have continued working with money, recognising and combining different coins.

Mrs Kent

Forest School

Following on from last week’s session about ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’, we chatted with the boys in Year R about what eventually happens to the caterpillars. We then had a wonderful time creating huge butterflies with symmetrical wings, and the boys thought it was very funny when they became the body of our butterflies!

Inspired by the story of the ‘Stickman’ by Julia Donaldson, we decided we would have a go at creating our own stickman. Once suitable sticks had been found, the boys used some of their knot skills to join the sticks together. Features such as hair and clothing were added, and the stickmen really came alive when a pair of eyes were stuck on to them!

Long ago there used to be a goblin village in the arboretum! Sadly the village was destroyed by a dragon, and after hearing this story the boys thought it would be a wonderful idea to try and rebuild the village. We chatted about what should be in the village, and the boys had great fun working sensibly together and using their imagination to rebuild the lost village! Shops, dance halls, swings and houses were all built using natural resources!

Mrs Walker