From Mrs Hall

In addition to all these exciting lessons and events we have all focused-on Children’s Mental Health Week, ‘My Voice Matters’ with an emphasis on kindness and awareness of each other’s mental wellbeing. It is so important the boys all know that we are here for them, and they can, at any time, let us know how they are feeling, however that might be.

The boys had a fantastic end to their half term, showcasing their talents in singing and gymnastics. It's always wonderful to see the boys excel and be recognised for their hard work. A big thank you to Mr du Plessis, Ms Willcocks, Mr Greenwood, and Mr Buck for their efforts and support in helping the boys reach their potential.

Thank you for all your support this half-term and we hope you all have a good break.

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Pilgrims' Shell Awards

Year 2 - to Zakariya for demonstrating true Pilgrims' spirit.
Year 1 - to Guy for beavering away by himself to write a wonderful and individual story. Well done, Guy! 
Year R - to Felix for his kind and sensitive manner towards others and for being an excellent friend.

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Save the Dates!

Monday 19 February	Term resumes at 0830
Friday 23 February	PPA Book Sale 1630
Saturday 24 February	Whole School Open Morning 1000
Friday 1 March	Pilgrims' Play for prospective parents 1000 Pre-Prep Cathedral Assembly 1500 PPA Quiz Night, Save the date, details to come
Monday 4 March	Year 2 trip to the Hawk Conservancy
Wednesday 6 March	Year 1: Mother's Day in the Woods 0930-1100
Thursday 7 March	Year R and Year 2: Mother's Day in the Woods 0930-1100
Monday 11 March	Year 1 Trip to Portchester Castle
Monday 18 March	Pre-Prep Parents' Evening 1630
Tuesday 19 March	Reception trip to Manor Farm
Monday 25 March	Pre-Prep Open Classroom 0815
Tuesday 26 March	Pre-Prep Open Classroom 0815 End of term 1630

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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

Book Club is currently reading ‘Demon Copperhead’ by Barbara Kingsolver, co-recipient of the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the Woman’s Prize for Fiction.  Kingsolver was inspired by the Charles Dickens novel David Copperfield, in this brilliantly gripping novel which we just can’t put down. Still time to pick up a copy and join us!

 

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Commoners

 

Year 2

This week there has been a focus on both speaking and listening. The boys have shared stories, learnt, and recited extracts of poems, and spoken out in our Celebration Assembly. We are very proud of all of them as they have effortlessly risen to the challenge. They are very proud of their stories and over the week they have each taken their turn to read aloud, with expression and intrigue, drawing in the listener.

For the remainder of the week, we have been exploring and creating poems about familiar settings inspired by the book Our Tower, written by Joseph Coelho. Please do ask your son to explain what onomatopoeia is!

Finally, we hope you have been able to admire our African silhouettes on display in our classroom.

Have a well-deserved half-term break boys, make some memories with your friends and families, and we look forward to hearing about them on your return. Don’t forget Times Tables Rock Stars – Times Tables Rock Stars (ttrockstars.com) to support your learning of multiplication and division. Log-in details can be found in your yellow reading record books.

Mrs Kent

 

Year 1

Chinese New Year has featured heavily in Year 1 this week. Our learning got off to a great start at the end of last week when Rhys showed the class a special collection of pictures that he and his mummy had collated about how they celebrate Chinese New Year. Rhys also brought in many items that are symbols of good luck at this time of year. He showed us his special chopsticks that he uses to toss noodles. The higher you toss the noodles, the more luck you will have! Both Rhys and Dario have shown the class special clothing that they wear to celebrate Chinese New Year. It has been so brilliant for us as a class to share in the special traditions celebrated within different families.  

The boys have tried to write their own name in Chinese; we have had a go at learning the different Chinese characters for the animals that connect with the Chinese calendar, we have practised our cutting skills with various types of scissors to make Chinese lanterns in the lucky colour of red and finally, we have made our own pet dragon to bring us good luck this New Year. 

In amongst all that, we have found the time to finish our own stories based on The Knight Who Wouldn’t Fight. The boys have worked SO hard on these, and they are very proud of them. The finishing touches of a front cover are just being completed. We look forward to sharing these with you after half-term. 

What an incredible five weeks we have had in Year 1. A half-term break is definitely in order! Well done, boys. You have done yourself proud in these last couple of weeks.  

Mrs Ford 

Year R

This week the Reception boys have been learning about The Lunar New Year/Chinese New Year.  It has been interesting to explore how each year is named after an animal and why this is.  It was thought that the poor cat really missed out unfairly!  Do ask your sons about the story of the great race and what happened to the poor cat.  With this in mind, some of the boys have changed the story using small world animals, to reenact the naughty rat missing out and NOT the cat!

This year we welcome the Year of the Dragon.  The Dragon's attributes being, confident, loyal, fun, powerful and doing things to the best of his ability.  It is thought that people born in The Year of the Dragon have these attributes also.  We looked at which year the boys were born in and found out that they are born in the Year of the Pig and the Year of the Dog.  Can you find out what attributes these animals have?  Do they reflect in your son's characteristics?

The boys enjoyed colouring a very intricate dragon over the course of the week, taking great pride in each scale, even adding flames to his mouth.  

Dragon and lion dances have been observed with great awe and wonder and the musicality has been greatly enjoyed.  The boys have made their own dragon puppets, decorating these with colourful patterns and gems.  I have been very impressed to see each different dragon progress with each boy really blossoming with independence and imagination.  The boys have also shown great skills folding and joining in their own chosen method. 

A super week. The boys are looking forward to taking home, and sharing all of their traditional creations with you.

I hope you all have a relaxing and well deserved half-term break.

Mrs Huntley

Forest School

Last Friday it was National Hedgehog Day, so I used this opportunity to chat to the boys in Year R about where they think small animals might go during the cold winter months. We spent some time looking for hiding places and working out what made a suitable home. We then decided to have a go at trying to build our own home for our minibeasts which were warm and would protect them from the rain. At the end of the session, we went back to our homes to see if our little insects were still dry! The boys were most excited when they discovered that the rain had not seeped in.

Following on from National Storytelling Week last week, we used the wonderful story of ‘The Three Little Pigs’ to inspire us in Forest School. Having chatted about the various homes the little pigs tried to make, the boys had fun trying to build their own home to protect our three little pigs. Of course, the big bad wolf paid a visit to our little houses and tested out the strength of our homes!

Using our natural environment to create artwork is always something I love doing with the boys. This week we chatted about how water freezes and turns into ice when cold enough. Inspired by this physical change, we decided to have a go at creating some ice art using natural resources. The weather wasn’t quite cold enough to freeze the artwork outside, so we had to use the freezer. Our artwork will all be revealed after half-term, so don’t forget to look out for it!

Inspired by the ‘Dragon Dance’ they saw during their lunch break, some of the boys had great fun creating their own dragon sculpture.

Mrs Walker
Forest School Leader

 

Open Days