​​​​From Mrs Ross

A special welcome to Dev, who has joined Year 2. The boys (and staff) have begun the term with their infectious enthusiasm and humour, and it has been wonderful to listen to everyone's chatter about their school holiday.

 Unfortunately, the weather has not been as warm as we had hoped but between the showers, we have enjoyed a lot of time outside in the sunshine. This term is a busy one, and we have added a 'Save the Date' section to help you with your planning.

Save the Dates

• Monday 24 April Reception Trip to Marwell Zoo
• Friday 5 May Coronation Tea Party 1600
• Tuesday 9 May Year 2 Trip to Blue Reef Aquarium
• Friday 15 May Year 1 trip to Portsmouth Historic Dockyard
• Friday 26 May Celebration Assembly for Parents 1115-1145
• Friday 16 June Cathedral Assembly 1500
• Monday 19 June Pre-Prep Move Up Meeting for parents (Present Year1, YearR and Prospective YearR) 1900
• Wednesday 21 June Year2/3 Move Up Meeting for parents (Present Year 2) 1900
• Wednesday 28 June Year 4 and Pre-Prep Performance 1500
• Thursday 29 June Year 4 and Pre-Prep Performance 1500
• Friday 30 June Pre-Prep Sports Day 0900-1100
• Monday 3 & Tuesday 4 July Open Classrooms for parents 015-0845
• Wednesday 5 July - Pre-Prep End of Term and Final Celebration Assembly 0845-093

 

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Pilgrims' Shell Awards

• Year 2 – to Theo N for his sparky and alert approach in the classroom on our return to school. Well done, Theo! 
• Year 1 - to William O’K for an excellent homework diary and for super handwriting this week.

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Notices

Menus for next week are available 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.
 

Important message from Mrs Beaumont, Head Nurse - Please find some information about ticks: there have been some concerns about Lyme Disease and Tick-borne encephalitis. See the links below:

• The boys currently wear long tracksuit trousers and long-sleeved tops to Forest School.  The staff help the boys brush down their clothing and check for ticks on return to the classroom.
• During hot weather, we would advise that you send in a long-sleeved T-shirt for your son to wear.  You may wish to apply insect repellent on exposed skin.
• Please check your son's skin for ticks, check his head and neck areas including his scalp and make sure ticks have not been brought home on his clothes. 

The staff will help the boys to brush down clothing on return from Forest School. 

How to remove a tick?

 1.Using fine-toothed tweezers, gently grip the tick as close to the skin as possible.
 2. pull steadily away from the skin without twisting or crushing the tick.
 3.  Wash the skin with water and soap afterwards. 
 4. Apply an antiseptic cream to the skin around the bite.

Do not use substances like alcohol or petroleum jelly to force the tick out. Some vets and pet shops sell cheap tick removal devices which are very useful. If the tick's mouthparts break off in the skin and cannot be removed, these may cause local irritation but should fall out naturally in time. 

Lyme disease - NHS (www.nhs.uk)
Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) - NHS (www.nhs.uk)

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From the PPA

The PPA Spring Drinks Party this evening has been postponed. Further details to follow. 

Year 2

The boys have slipped back into school life most impressively this week. They have been wonderful company around the lunch table and in the playground, and they have impressed in the classroom with their interest and focus towards their new topics.  

• The topic of fractions has brought with it much vocabulary like whole, part, equal, unequal, half and quarter. We have investigated shapes that can be split into equal parts and used the Surface Gos to practise these skills on screen too. Do bring this language in at home to help the boys secure their understanding.  
• Oceans and Seas of the world have been investigated. Can the boys tells how many oceans in the world there are and which is the largest? Perhaps they can tell you which is the warmest, and which houses the Mariana Trench? They might even be able to place some of the smaller Seas within the world too. The boys’ curiosity to this new topic of Oceans has been fantastic to be a part of which much rich discussion.  
• Not only shall we be learning about the life in the oceans of the world, we shall be learning about the care and conservation needed to keep our oceans and their creatures safe for the future. We have started a rich dialogue about sea pollution, in particular plastic pollution, and have started a new book to explore this further. The boys were very perceptive when exploring the first picture detailing beach pollution due to humans. 
   

* We are preparing for some artwork that will use plastic bottles to help heighten our awareness of the plight of sea creatures living in our polluted oceans and seas. Any 2L Coke/water bottles would be gratefully received by next Friday, please.  

 * Please can all Year 2 boys have a pair of gardening gloves for Forest School. * 
Mrs Ford 

Year 1

Welcome back to the Summer Term in Year 1.  I hope you all have had a fantastic Easter break.  It has been lovely to hear all about the different experiences the boys have had during their holidays, from holidays abroad, the Easter Bunny visiting, play dates with friends to days out and time playing at home.  Lots of variety.  The boys have completed some beautiful holiday writing and paintings during this week.

The boys have settled quickly back into school life again.  In Maths, capacity work has been completed looking closely at different containers and 'scoopfuls' of water to fill these.  We also explored millilitres and litres and how much these units of measurement look like in real experiences.  I set the boys a challenge to complete at home if they would like to.  How much water does your school water bottle actually hold?  So far we have the maximum being 500mls!  Maybe try this at home over the weekend if you haven't had a go yet!

Pirates and Sea Faring/Life on the Sea, is our new topic for the term.  The boys have been sharing their knowledge of what they think this topic will be about.  They have had a go at drawing what they think a pirate looks like to them.  Lots of very imaginative ideas!  Next week we will look further into this topic and compare our own pictures to those from different sources.

I am excited for the term ahead!  Lots of fun activities and learning experiences are on their way!

Have a great weekend. 
Mrs Huntley

 

Year R

The Reception boys were thrilled to be back in the classroom on Tuesday and quickly settled into self-chosen activities, such as water-play, painting and building (of a rather impressive train track). There were many tales of wonderful memories made over the Easter holidays, and I was impressed with the speaking and listening from each boy during our Circle Time. 

We are all very excited about our trip to Marwell Zoo on Monday 24 April. Please remember:

1. If you would like your son to use his own booster seat, please bring it to school (named) and drop it off it the classroom on Monday morning.
2. Boys should come to school wearing their school tracksuit at the usual drop-off time. 
3. Please ensure the boys have sun cream already applied, and bring a coat, a sunhat and their water bottle to school.
4. Boys should bring a small backpack in which to carry their lunch.

And finally:

If your son is an Annual pass holder to Marwell Zoo, please may I ask that you let me know and either provide me with his membership number or card that I can photocopy.  
Mrs Kent

The boys have enjoyed using their new book corner during Sit Down.  The animal finger puppets have also enjoyed being read to! 

Forest School

It was lovely to welcome the boys back to Forest School and the sun came out for us, which really made a difference.

The boys in Year R had a wonderful time for looking for signs of spring. So much has changed since we have been away, and everyone had the chance of creating their own spring card with their discoveries. In free exploration time, the boys also had a chance to identify some of their findings, as well as exploring spring colours.

Year 1 focused on their observations skills this week, and used small card picture frames to find their favourite spring photo. With this in mind, the boys then had a go at creating their own spring picture using a wooden frame made from sticks and natural spring resources.

It is that time of year again when we plant up our raised beds with vegetables and flowers. The boys in Year 2 learned how to plant small samplings into the ground and the requirements needed for them to grow successfully. Some of the boys reused plastic milk bottles to make watering cans, whilst others made wooden plant labels for our vegetables.

Mrs Walker