From Mrs Ross 

The boys placed their own, hand made flowers amongst the floral tributes outside the Cathedral before spending some quiet time inside.  We lit candles and looked at the wonderful banners of photographs showing Queen Elizabeth, throughout the decades of her reign. I know that the teachers were very proud of each and every one of the boys during this very special visit, which will remain a memory to be treasured. 

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Pilgrims' Shell Awards

Year 2 – to Teddy J for thinking deeply about how London now is different from London in 1666. Brilliant effort in Topic work, Teddy! 

Year 1 - to Hugh Y for being a kind and helpful member of Year 1.

Reception - to Dario C for his fantastic attitude towards learning at school.

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Diary dates: the week ahead

Sunday 18 September	1000	PPA Event: Parents' Football tournament, Wolvesey
Wednesday 21 September	0815-0900	Second Hand Uniform Shop open
Friday 23 September	0830	PPA Event: Pre-Prep Coffee

 

Notices

Menus

Please find a link to next week's menus here, on My School Portal. 

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From the PPA

The Pilgrims' Parents' Association (PPA) is run by parent volunteers, and organises social and charity events for the school community. The team also runs  the school second-hand uniform and Pilgrims' merchandise shop. 

We had a busy programme of events in the 2021-22 school year. These included a School of Rock band night, charity sponsored walk and fete, Quiz Night, the fireworks party, termly second-hand book sales and fundraisers for Ukraine. We also drove the school's participation in Children in Need and Comic Relief and moved the uniform shop to its new home next to the Yard.

In 2021-22 we raised £14,349.34 for a range of charities. We also raised several thousand pounds for the PPA account and started the year with a healthy balance. We paid for a new sound system for the school and one of the new table tennis tables. We've also approved some new lighting for the Pilgrims' Hall, powerful microphones to use with the sound system, and a high-tech scanner for artwork.   The art department will be able to use it for creating a digital library of boys' work, amongst other things.  There are other projects in the pipeline. 

The 2022-2023 year is going to be even busier. We're planning a Christmas drinks party, in addition to the summer one, new dedicated events for the Pre-Prep and some old favourites for the whole school such as the fireworks, Quiz, auction and another band night.  To find out what's happening, click on the events sidebar on the PPA page of the portal, or look out for details in the newsletter, your class WhatsApp group, and on the noticeboards in the Yard and by the Pre-Prep. 

If you have any suggestions for community or charity activities, or would like to know more, do get in touch - collaboration is key to everything we do. Contact details for the entire PPA as well as individual class reps can be found in About Us on the school portal.

The Chair for 2022-23 is Anna Kennedy, who has a son in Year 8.

Anna can be contacted at: annabwillard@gmail.com or at ppa@pilgrims-school.co.uk

Save the date!
Pre-Prep Grandparents' Morning 
10.00-11.30
Friday 30 September 

Visit your grandsons' classrooms and join us for a cup of tea or coffee!

 

Year 2

It is wonderful to see just how Year 2 are settling into their new routines and new surroundings as we end our first full week back in the classroom. Many times many teachers have remarked upon what a good standard the boys have been setting for the rest of the Pre-Prep, particularly at lunchtimes.  

We have started our maths curriculum in Year 2 by revisiting the concept of Place Value, in particular the value of tens and ones, and building on the boys’ learning from Year 1. The boys have been introduced to a wonderful picture book that retells the story of the Great Fire of London which has certainly captured the boys’ interest. If only their written warnings of the danger of fire could have been read in 1666! 

We have continued to reflect upon the Queen this week. The boys have produced some beautiful paintings that capture her joyful sense of spirit. They have thought carefully about what Her Majesty meant to this country and why we are grateful for her 70 years as our Queen. I was very proud of the thought the boys put into their personal messages that they wrote on tags and tied to paper flowers which were laid at the Cathedral entrance.

Please remember that white socks are required as part of the school PE and Games uniform. We would be grateful if all boys could have two pairs of white socks included in their PE bag each week. 

Also, please may all boys have a pair of gardening gloves to take with them to Forest School.
Mrs Ford

    

 

Year 1

What a super full week in school we have had together in Year 1. The boys have engaged very enthusiastically with our class topic on Space and Out of this World. They have learnt about what life is like on a real space station that orbits Earth. They were glued to the footage we watched from the International Space Station and thought it was great to be able to float around and sleep upside down! They completed activities linked to life on a space station by matching and labelling (to name just a few activities they completed this week).

The excitement of swimming started last week and finally arrived on Thursday this week. The boys coped brilliantly with managing their own belongings, travelling together by minibus, getting changed independently, actually getting into the pool, swimming, and getting changed back again! Wow, what a lot to remember! 

A big well done, boys!  You were amazing.
Mrs Huntley

 

Reception

It has been a wonderful week in the Reception classroom, with boys investigating all areas, whilst also making new friends. 

They all had fun playing with the Numicon tiles; counting, matching and playing Swap Shop; which involved one cheeky elf (a boy) moving two tiles into different places along a number line, while the other boys closed their eyes, and then took turns to tell which tiles had been moved before returning them to their correct place. 
Mrs Kent

 

Forest School 

It was wonderful to welcome the boys to Forest School this week; lots of lovely smiles and they really enjoyed being back.

We introduced our Forest School routines to the boys in Year R, and showed them how to set up for our sessions. They explored our local site by playing a game called Run and Touch! The boys learned how to take natural rubbings and had a go at making their own bunting.

Year 1 spent some time re-familiarising themselves with the arboretum at the Bishop’s Palace. Using egg boxes they went on the hunt for particular items and proudly displayed them.

This week Year 2 learned about the skill of camouflaging. Using natural materials the boys had a go at trying to make their part of their body blend in with their chosen surroundings. The boys loved having the chance to get really muddy!
Mrs Walker