Weekly Newsletter 28th May 2021

Dear Parents

Whenever I get to the end of a half term, I always seem to be surprised how quickly the previous weeks seem to have flown by. However, when I reflect on how much has happened within those weeks I am less surprised because there has barely been time to breathe. I am now wondering how on earth we are going to fit everything planned for the rest of the term into only four weeks!

Looking back at the last week, I have continued to enjoy meeting prospective parents and helping Mrs McBrown with the high number of tours. In doing so I feel myself talking with so much pride about what the children experience in their time at Barrow Hills. There really is a very happy atmosphere emanating from classrooms and playgrounds as we roam around the site and pop heads around doorways and look through windows. The children are very happy to share their work, be it a poem they are writing, a performance they are rehearsing, a pizza they have been baking, a bird box they have been making, a piece of artwork they are painting or a science experiment they are undertaking.

Away from the tours, the highlights of my week are always those times I get to spend time with the children rather than all the management and leadership responsibilities that come with the territory of being a Head. This week, I have enjoyed maths and English lessons with Year 4. In the maths lesson we were discussing rounding whole numbers, moving onto decimals and then pushing the boundaries into discussing decimal places. It was great to see that the concept of rounding was well understood as the new terminology was introduced. In English, the children were working on synonyms. They had a pirate story and collaborated to make it more interesting by using a thesaurus to substitute mundane words for more exciting alternatives. There was a real buzz as they discussed all the alternative words to find the one that they felt were the best.

On Monday, I managed to dodge the rain showers and watched an amazing Pentathlon competition on our athletics track. Mrs Burnett and her team put on a great event between five schools with the athletes showing off their prowess in running, throwing and jumping. The slippery conditions meant the hurdles event was replaced by a relay, but this proved to be a wonderful finale. Medals were awarded for the winning individual in each age group and a shield awarded for the winning team. I was very pleased to discover that we had medal winners in Cleo (5G) and Beatrix (7G) and that Barrow Hills came first in the team event and retained the shield. Well done to everyone for their superb efforts and for the support that they gave one another. It was a truly uplifting experience!

On Wednesday, I felt most honoured by being asked to take the boys First Team cricket to Cranleigh where we played on the senior school’s main pitch. Up against a very good side, the boys always gave their best and produced some great cricket. A win would have been the icing on the cake, but I couldn’t fault their attitude whether batting, bowling or fielding. One of the great things about match days is getting back to school and chatting to all the other members of staff about how well their teams fared. It is so fantastic to hear the passion from everyone as we try to convince each other that our own teams have performed the best!

Today, I am looking forward to 7G’s assembly and Mrs Oldroyd’s birthday. The former to set us up for the day and the latter to celebrate in the evening over a nice meal and a drink or two to unwind.

Finally, as we start to reminisce on the past year and plan for the next , please click this link for a message from Cris Martin St Valerie, Chair of the BHCC. The BHCC is such an important part of school life and we hope that you find the message informative and that it will inspire you to get involved.

Best wishes for the weekend. At least the end of this week has brought sunshine and warmth, at times, with the promise of more summer-like weather for the holiday.

Kind regards

Philip Oldroyd

Head

Pre-Prep

Half term seems to have come just at the right time, with the added bonus of some better weather forecast for the week. The children have been working and playing hard and are ready for the break. They will return to a very busy last half of the summer term, including a library event with the reading of ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’, the Reception trip to RHS Wisley, Nursery and Kindy farm visit, the Pre-Prep summer concert and not forgetting sports day.

This week, we have enjoyed more animal visits in Pre-Prep with Martha and Bella’s guinea pigs Tickle and Pickle, Mrs Triska’s dog, Molly and a tortoise visit!  The animals have encouraged lots of discussion about how to look after them, how to be around them, confronting fears, taking turns to hold and stroke them and lots of discussion about the children’s own pets. The children have thoroughly enjoyed all the animals!

Kindy children have played in the Pre-Prep garden with the older children and on Thursday, they also joined them for Assembly in Chapel for the first time. I read the story ‘The Huge Bag of Worries’, which many had read before with their teachers. The book talks about Jenny, who, wherever she goes her worries follow her in a big, blue bag. Jenny learns that many of her worries will disappear once they see the light of day when they are shared. Some are not hers to have and that some are worries everyone has. At this point of term, the children are beginning to think about their new class in September so we are beginning to discuss this move in school and give those worries the light of day!

Have a restful week,

Mrs Rachel E Harris

Head of Pre-Prep