Dear Parents
The Prep School arrived at School on Monday morning to a complete covering of fresh snow. The School field gave the children a blank canvas for them to learn and play. Groups of children worked together creating giant mounds of snow, many of these taller than themselves and the field was covered with “snow angels”. Every break time was eagerly awaited and the children have really enjoyed their time in the snow as the photographs in this week’s newsletter show. The cold and snowy conditions were also used this week to support learning in the curriculum; acrostic snow poems were written by year 2 and containers of snow melting were found around the School in an experiment on temperature and rates of melting.
Year 6 led Assembly on Wednesday morning with their theme being “Day of the Sun”. They told the rest of the School all about the people living near the North Pole, within the Arctic Circle and how during the winter months they have no daylight at all; as the sun does not rise above the horizon. We learnt that January 21st is a very special day for them as it is the day when people living inside the Arctic Circle see the sun for the first time since November. To celebrate they have parties, music and dance out on the hills. At 12 o’clock midday they all look to the south to see a small section of the big yellow sun appear above the horizon. Year 6 finished by giving thanks for the opportunities to learn about how other people live and to be grateful that at least we have some daylight all the year round.
Prep School children are being encouraged to take part in a national bird watch this weekend as part of the RSPB’s “Big Garden Birdwatch”. Mrs. Carey introduced this to the children at Science Club on Wednesday and before long news of this exciting activity had spread around the School. Many children have enthusiastically picked up bird spotting sheets from the entrance hall ready for this special event which is taking place this weekend, 26th-27th January. Big Garden Birdwatch allows the RSPB to monitor trends and helps them understand how well the birds we see in our gardens are doing. Each year the survey stays the same, which means that the scientific data can be compared year-on-year. With results from so many gardens, they are able to create a ‘snapshot’ of bird numbers across the UK. So our results will be very valuable to their scientists. If any families wish to participate in the Big Garden Birdwatch this year all the information, including a spotting sheet, can be found at www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch. Have fun!
The Nursery and Reception class have had inspectors from ISI scrutinising our EYFS provision this week. Thanks go to the parents who completed questionnaires and to those who met with the inspectors, to the staff who rose to the challenge of the occasion so well and to our children who charmed the inspectors with their obvious love of learning. I look forward to sharing judgments and comments from the inspectorate in the near future.
Best wishes.
Maria Maslin
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