Weekly Newsletter 8th October 2021

Dear Parents

I would like to congratulate all of you who completed the London Marathon last weekend, I hope that you enjoyed the experience and having the crowds to urge you on as you ran around the iconic course. I spent some time watching the BBC’s coverage and whilst I was in awe of the elite athletes, I was struck by the bravery and generosity of the people interviewed on the journeys around the course. Many wore costumes to highlight the charity that they were representing but all had their own reason for taking on the challenge. Although it is incredible that millions of pounds is raised, the personal stories of challenge and triumph abounded and it was very humbling sitting on the sofa and thinking that the ‘couch to 5K’ was going to be my aim in the new year!

Continuing the sporting theme, I had a very enjoyable afternoon on Wednesday roaming the site and watching so many sports fixtures as we hosted St. Edmund’s, Cranleigh and Amesbury. All the boys and girls played enthusiastically and no matter what the results they definitely earned their match teas! My cup of tea was made all the better as I admired the efforts and tenacity of the Colts D team who certainly made sure their opponents were in a tough match. The B and C teams had some really close matches and scored some great goals. The Colts A and Senior Girls’ netball were resoundingly victorious exhibiting some really high level skills and teamwork.

Yesterday evening, Mrs Poyntz and I welcomed parents of children in Years 5 and 6 to a presentation on the various admissions processes for senior school. Having been through these practicalities, we will be welcoming representatives of many of these schools next Tuesday for our Senior Schools’ Evening. This is a good opportunity for parents of children in Year 4 upwards to find out what is on offer from many of our destination schools. If you would like to come along, please remember that we are asking everyone to wear face masks whilst inside the buildings.

Last Friday we held a very successful mini Open Morning and I felt extremely proud as all our visitors complimented me on the behaviour, energy and happiness that our children displayed as they were guided around the site. Next week, we are holding a Forest School Open Morning to which we are inviting our own parents and external families with children of Nursery and Kindy age to join us for the magical experience of one of Mrs Wilson’s Forest School sessions. If you are joining us, make sure you bring the correct accessories as whatever the weather, Mrs Wilson braves the elements!

Back to this week, I thoroughly enjoyed the assembly from 4G – well done to all of you for your presentation. And finally, I will be thinking of the Under 11 girls’ hockey team who have travelled to Haileybury for the IAPS competition today. I must apologise for not waving you off this morning as you set off at 6.30am but Toby gave you a good luck bark!

I hope that you all have a wonderful weekend and come back with recharged batteries for the final week of the half term.

Kind regards

Philip Oldroyd

Head

Pre-Prep

Dear Parents

A good week has been had with the children working and playing in Pre-Prep. Half-term in a week’s time will be a welcome rest for all, particularly with the colds and bugs around at the moment.

In our assembly this week I read ‘Ravi’s Roar’ by Tom Percival. It is about a little boy who one day gets so angry when nothing goes right for him, that he lost his temper and turned into a tiger! Ravi thought this was great at first as he could do everything he wished but then found that nobody wanted to play with him. After the story I shared with the children that I thought Ravi had hit the red zone in the ‘Zones of Regulation’.

In their classes, teachers have been discussing these zones with the children. These correlate to how we are feeling and managing ourselves. The zones start on a green (1) – feeling relaxed, blue (2) – calm, focused and working hard, playing well with friends. Yellow (3) – calm and listening, working hard, having a good time with friends, orange (4) – not concentrating in class, fidgeting, accidentally hurting someone when playing. At the top of the scale is red (5) – not listening at all, rough games at playtime. The ideal zones are 2 and 3 in the classroom and at playtime. We are encouraging children to be aware of their zone and by this they can also help others to be aware too.

In our assembly stickers were given out for Year 1’s Reward Charts and happy birthday was sung to Eesa. We have been practising our hymns ready to sing to you on Wednesday 13th October in our Pre-Prep Assembly (8.45-9.30am). We hope you are able to join us.

Have a lovely weekend.

Mrs Rachel E Harris

Head of Pre-Prep