Prep for the Week Issue 1811

Prep for the Week Issue Number 1811 – 20 November 2015

In this week’s issue…

Headmaster's Blog and Commendations Kingfishers, Lower, Middle and Upper School News Young Shakespeare Company Bakery and Craft Clubs Persia v Athens Qurry Night Girls' and Boys' Sports Calendar and Notices

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Headmaster's Blog Dear Parents You will be extremely proud of the children in Years 3-8 after their performance in Assembly on Monday. As a response to the atrocities in Paris a minute's silence was held and ‘La Marseillaise’ was sung. More importantly, there was an immediate connection between the tragic events in Paris and Mr McCracken’s introduction to ‘Anti-Bullying Week’.

It was clear to all that the children quickly linked intolerance of others in school, in other words ‘bullying’, to the bigger picture and the eventual warped decisions of some to solve difficulties through violence.

The weekend off will help but the children are tired and tempers can be short. On their return on Monday, it is essential that they show selfawareness, taking a little more time over their decisions, especially those concerning relationships with others. There is no let up in the challenges and excitement in the final three weeks of term and compassion, co-operation and communication will be at the heart of our success.

Lost Property For the first time that I have been here, the tricky issue of lost property has come to the fore. As the father of a daughter who could lose several items of kit in an empty room, I do empathise with the frustrations of lost property, not least the considerable cost in replacing items. Therefore, we will tighten up our procedures to complement the efforts of parents who diligently name all items of kit.

The greatest challenge that the school and children face is the cramped nature of the changing facilities.

Built many decades ago, these are not ideal. They neither afford the space to install lockers for all children, nor is it possible to restructure them on account of planning issues and cost. Our first response to this has been to allow children to travel into school changed whenever possible, thereby reducing the time needed to change and the chances of losing kit. Nevertheless, children still need to change on occasions, especially on match days. When this occurs, we will do our best to give the children more time so that, in rushing, Prep for The Week Issue Number 1811, 20 November 2015

they do not misplace kit. “Surely changing is closely supervised?” I hear you ask. I am afraid not. The presence of a member of staff in the changing room is now compromised by a teacher managing a balance between doing his/her job and not being accused of being too intrusive.

Probably one of the great mysteries of lost property is where does the kit, which has been lost, actually go? If it is named, it should find its way back to the owner, normally via Mr Jenkins, or it will be in the lost property bins. Items which are clearly named, as opposed to those which have a couple of faded, scrawled initials, have a better chance of being reunited with their owner. If it is unnamed, then it is bound for the lost property bin. But, as we all know, this is not always the case and so the only other deduction is that lost kit must be travelling with the wrong owner. Therefore, our response to this will be to conduct spot kit checks. Children who are ‘borrowing’ the kit of others will suffer the consequences.

In my office is a pre-prepared notice for the racks in Yard Hall. It states that if a child’s belongings are not on the racks, it is because they were left in such a mess. It then goes on to state that they can be collected from my office. It is unusual for Zephie (my dog) and I not to return with at least four items of clothing left by the pitches or Astros after matches.

Team coaches return clutching tracksuits regularly.

My point is that we are all trying to prevent and cure the issue that is lost property and do not accept the problem as an inevitable status quo.

Mr Jon Whybrow 2

Rory Maddinson for an outstanding piece of artwork Andre Zamora for being very kind and supportive to Nathan Chancellor who was on a taster day today. Nathan came along to STEM club and Andre helped him to build a plane and chatted to him and was very kind Fionnuala Dowling-Membrado, Anna Forde, Freya Wood, and Jemimah Kayode for giving a warm welcome and support to visiting 11+ candidates on their exam day Will Davey for getting 97% in his Biology unit test. He was top of the class and only lost one mark on the whole paper. He’s worked incredibly hard!

Javier Berrow and Emer Hughes for their excellent effort and achievement in Geography recently Ghaus Chaudhary for completing an informative and well presented poster on World Climates at home. He has been inspired by the work we have been doing in Geography Monty White, Freddie Hall, Henry Watkinson and Craig Simpson for attitude and commitment when learning to tackle at rugby

Feeling festive?

"Oh no we're not!"

Here are some of The Prep's Year 5 children showing off their completed pantomime-themed Christmas decorations. Christmas trees are on their way to The Prep from Lapland and will soon be standing proud in the Dining Hall. All children in The Prep are busy making a tree decoration and will be invited to display them on the trees very soon. The themes for each tree are Cinderella (Upper School), Aladdin (Middle School), The Nutcracker (Lower School), Puss in Boots (Kingfishers Years 1-2) and Jack and the Beanstalk (Reception and Cottage).

Carol singing with the Prep!

Please note that in a change to the school calendar, the Carols on Bath Road on Tuesday 8 December will take place at 14.00.

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Kingfishers Prepare to be Proud!

On Friday afternoon, all Kingfishers children, from The Cottage to Year 2, welcomed their families into school as we hosted our first Open Afternoon of the year. The children had prepared their books, folders and pictures ready for viewing and, after escorting their mums, dads and grandparents into the classrooms, showed off their work and shared their achievements. The children were soon reading stories they had written, explaining how they had solved Maths problems and describing how they had created models, paintings or collages. It was fantastic to hear the children explaining what targets they were working towards or how the ‘Green for Go’ and ‘Pink for Think’ comments from their teachers were shared in our Friday Feedback time. The atmosphere in Kingfishers was one of excitement and enthusiasm but, above all, pride in themselves and in what they had achieved since our academic year began.

Prep for The Week Issue Number 1811, 20 November 2015

Kingfishers

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Morning Activities in Kingfishers At the start of every morning in Kingfishers, the children enjoy carrying out a variety of exciting activities.

These include practising their art skills, writing their weekend news and solving different Maths investigations. Some of these have really challenged their thinking and perseverance!

Monsterous crafts!

It's careful work...

Decorating was fun!

Craft Club Pupils at Craft Club have been busy making Monster cushions: they were very effective, colourful and fun to make, needing careful overstitching around the edge before stuffing. We are now thinking about the Yuletide season and have started deco patch, which is covering boxes or other items with special torn up tissue-like paper. We all love doing it, it is very addictive! Some pupils are covering boxes in Christmas themed paper and others have chosen floral, possibly for presents. We will be continuing our festive theme in the run up to Christmas!

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Lower School

Lower School Science Day Lower School had a fantastic experiment-filled day on Thursday when they took part in Science Day. They were all involved in a variety of different activities, such as making a Mars Lander to safely land an egg on Mars without cracking the shell, and they even got to make their very own alien goo!

As well as taking part in these wonderful activities, they had to answer and investigate questions such as ‘does your sense of smell affect your taste buds?’ and ‘are some liquids denser then others?’

Here are some of the things we learnt and enjoyed: “I learnt that my tongue has over 100,000 taste buds on it but that 75% of our taste comes from smell.”

“I didn’t realise that golden syrup was denser than oil and it stayed at the bottom of the glass.”

“I loved it when Mrs Coley showed us how dry ice works!”

“Making goo was my favourite - it was so messy! When you didn’t move it, the goo turned into liquid but when we pressed it, it turned into a solid.”

“I enjoyed building bridges. The one that used triangles was SO much stronger!”

“It was so fun building a Mars Lander.

It’s a shame that we broke our egg though!”

“I didn’t realise it would be so hard to tell what fruit I was eating when I couldn’t see or smell it! I thought it was a tomato but it was actually a grape!!”

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Young Shakespeare Company Shakespeare is certainly on the agenda for all this term. Following on from the success of last week’s Year 6 and Year 8 Shakespeare Schools Festival performances at The Everyman theatre in Cheltenham, Lower School were treated to a fabulous interactive workshop on Romeo and Juliet.

This London-based company is a long-standing visitor to The Prep and their lively, vibrant shows are always eagerly anticipated. We were taken through the full range of emotions from slapstick-style physical comedy to heart-wrenching tragedy. With a cast of just five, the actors used volunteer pupils to play some minor roles and there are always moments where the whole group is active and involved in the story.

It is always amazing to see the impact the YSC have on pupils as, when talking to Year 8s who had similar workshops when they were in Lower and Middle school, they still talk animatedly about the production they saw and can remember the stories in detail; a format that clearly works.

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Middle School Wednesday Wonder Last Wednesday, Mr Nick Nelson came to give a presentation entitled Birds, Beast and Relatives. He showed us a series of video clips and personal photographs all about the wonders of nature.

He amazed us with tales of the lyrebird, which can imitate virtually any sound it hears, even car alarms and chainsaws. He also revealed the devious and cruel side of cuckoos, who lay their eggs in reed warblers’ nests, wait for the reed warbler to incubate and rear their young, then the poor reed warblers are dealt another blow when the cuckoo chick destroys their own eggs. Mr Nelson also entertained us with some funnier video clips and showed us some of his own photo collection, taken on trips to the Galapagos Islands with College.

11+ Experience Day On 13 November 2015, we had external students from all over the country come to join the rest of Year 6 at Cheltenham Prep for an 11+ Experience day. In the morning we did a wide range of activities run by various teachers, for example: samba music, periscope making, language skills and code cracking, as well as thinking skills. After lunch, we went over to College and had a treasure hunt! We also had to perform a play using all the Boarding House symbols. I really enjoyed the day and it was great to meet some of the pupils who will be coming here next year. At the end of the day, we had tea and cakes.

Jamie Reid – 6N

Tom Shaw – Mascot for England V France match "On Wednesday I was really lucky, as I got to walk on to the pitch with the players at the start of the friendly match between England and France, at Wembley! I had to practise a lot before and I walked on with Martial, a Manchester United player.

When we were standing in the tunnel, an alarm went off as a signal to walk on. We put our right hands out and a player, who I think was Matuidi, tapped me on the shoulder. I was nervous but excited as we walked on. After a photographer had taken a picture of us, we sat in the England dug-out and watched them train. I got given a full French kit and I’m going to get ‘Martial’ printed on the back of it.

The atmosphere was amazing and there were so many people! Once the match was about to start, I got to sit with my parents and watch the match.

Everyone who got to do it got good seats. My auntie works for Breast Cancer Care which is a partner of the Football Association, which is how I was asked to be a mascot." Tom Shaw – 5L Prep for The Week Issue Number 1811, 20 November 2015

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Persia Vs Athens Qurry Night

At this week's Quiz & Curry night, an excellent turn out of families from both Persia and Athens Houses saw stiff competition over six various rounds, with themes ranging from children’s toys, through to music and James Bond posters.

An excellent curry (or lasagne) was on offer and all made good inroads into the fruit platters! As the end of the evening drew near, the answers were marked and the papers taken in. After sorting the wheat from the chaff and removing all spoiled papers, the totals were added together and divided by the number of entries.

The winning House on this occasion was Persia! Mrs Conner and I would like to thank all the children, parents and staff who attended and who made it such an enjoyable evening. In total, we raised £102 for The Prep's Charity of the Year, Gloucestershire Bundles.

Upper School "We’ve had yet another very busy week in Upper School!

I must say, first of all, how proud I am of Year 7 and Year 8 in welcoming our Year 6 visitors on Friday for our 11+ Experience day. The Year 6 pupils enjoyed lots of different activities as part of their day, and many of Upper School came along at break time to meet the pupils, play games with them and generally help them feel settled. It was great to see Year 8 pupils leading the way in a huge game of tag and then hide and seek, followed by charades in the Assembly Hall. I must also thank the prefect team for their excellent support in setting up different activities and looking after groups of pupils.

From an academic point of view, now that we have finished Year 7 and Year 8 exams, we can start building on those results and feedback during the rest of the term and year. In addition, some Year 8 pupils have spent Monday and Tuesday of this week working hard on their Sports Scholarships at College. The boys and girls have conducted themselves really well during the last fortnight and I am confident that they understand how important it is that we balance the academic work we do with everything else offered at the Prep."

Mrs Sarah Reid, Director of Upper School

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Bakery Club

Here's

the mi

xture

The pupils at Bakery Club have been busy making flapjack and rock cakes – they both looked delicious!

Their latest challenge was making a sticky gingerbread dough and cutting out gingerbread men or stained glass windows. With these, you cut out a small shape from the biscuit and add a boiled sweet: this melts in the oven and makes a clear coloured window in the biscuit.

They can be threaded at the top with a ribbon and hung on a Christmas tree as a decoration. The photographs show the selection of gingerbread biscuits the pupils made and decorated. Some gingerbreadmen even had windows in their tummies! It was a lot to do in a short time and they all worked really well. There are more fun Christmas-themed recipes to come in the next two weeks!

Concentr

ating ver y hard...

Prep for The Week Issue Number 1811, 20 November 2015

Yummy!

Some of o ur festive creations

g can be a n i t a r o c e D ! bit tricky 10

Girls' Sports Hockey Results TEAM OPPOSITION DATE SCORE RESULT U8A Dean Close 14 Nov 4 – 1 WON U8B Dean Close 14 Nov 1 – 3 LOST U10A Dean Close 14 Nov 4 – 1 WON U10B Dean Close 14 Nov 3 – 0 WON

and , fixtures s w e n itter! r Fo us on Tw w o ll o f , updates eltprepgirls @ch

Team of the Week – U8A What a super performance from the U8 team this week against Dean Close. The girls have all shown just how far they have come in such a short space of time. We are really beginning to gel as a team and are starting to pass the ball wide using the spaces outside of the opposition defenders. This has made a huge difference to the amount of possession we retain and territory we gain. Our attacking players are putting on the pressure in the D and it is lovely to see how many shots at goal we are attempting. More accuracy here and we would have been in double figures! Our defenders have gained in confidence too, which left Dean Close with very few opportunities to score. Well played, girls.

TEAM OPPOSITION DATE SCORE RESULT 1st VII Pate's Grammar 18 Nov 2 – 0 WON 2nd VII Pate's Grammar 18 Nov 8 – 0 WON 3rd VII Pate's Grammar 18 Nov 3 – 1 WON 4th VII Pate's Grammar 18 Nov 5 – 0 WON Team of the Week - 3rd VII Although our focus for this game was to drive forward and to attack goal, we had to work hard on our defence initially as Pate's were controlling the game and pushing forward. Once we recognised that, we had to pass the ball wide and keep possession, we were able to implement our attacking play. We worked incredibly hard for the duration of the match, chasing every ball and closing Pates down each time they approached. With goals came confidence and our passing in the second half was the best to date. Well done for a well deserved win!

Swim Squad and Cross Country Swim Gala v Prior Park Another very convincing swimming gala win last week! This time it was the turn of our Years 5, 6, 7 and 8 swimmers to shine, as they stormed to a 242 – 176 victory over Prior Park. There were some very impressive individual races and our relays are getting slicker every week. This was the biggest gala we have run and having four year groups as well as all of their faithful supporters, the atmosphere was very exciting and team spirit very strong. Good luck to our Years 4-6 swimmers when they go to Clifton High School. Future Gala dates to note this term are Thursday 26 November: Years 3-5 v Beaudesert (Away) and Thursday 26 November: Years 6-8 v Dean Close (Away) District Cross Country Championships We had one of our strongest performances at the District Cross Country Championships last week. Clearly Mr Williams’ Cross Country Club is paying off! We had a number of top ten finishes and our pupils really did run their hearts out despite the freezing wind and rain. Our Year 8 Girls' team placed 3rd overall in the team event.

The following individual runners qualified to compete at the County Championships in December: Freya Coull (Year 8), Anya James (Year 7), Finlay Hurst (Year 7), Tom Peck (Year 7) and Ollie Callon Hine (Year 7).

Good luck to all!

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Boys' Sports Rugby Fixtures TEAM OPPONENT RESULT SCORE U13A XV Abingdon U13A Won 12-10 U12A XII Abingdon U12A Won 20-5 3rd XII Abingdon U12B Lost 20-15 U13A XV Abberley Hall 1st XV Lost 0-50 U12A XV Abberley Hall 2nd XV Won 22-5 3rd XV Abberley Hall 3rd XV Lost 0-10 U11A Abberley Hall U11A Won 30-0 U11 Barbarians Abberley Hall U11B Won 25-15 U10A Abberley Hall U10A Lost 15-20 U10 Barbarians Abberley Hall U10B Won 40-5

Team of the Week - U11B/C v Abberley Hall On Wednesday 18 November a mixed team of U11B and C players headed to a muddy Abberley Hall.

The boys, now used to the festival format, made up a mixed B and C squad for the afternoon. After a few minutes, it was evident that Abberley, a school that has a long-standing reputation for its focus on the volume of rugby training sessions, was not going to roll over. There was little way through the defensive line and this was going to be a game of patience: a question of who could last the longest in the trying conditions. The wind picked up and the rain started to fall.

After a sustained multi-phase attack, a breakthrough was had as a C team prop-forward received the ball and managed to charge his way through the opposition, quite literally bowling over two defenders in the process: an excellent try! However, as often happens, the team were caught out by the quick reply and stood off the man with the ball who crashed through a gap in the wall.

The Barbarians regrouped and this is where the experience of the B team players counted as they started to put the ball though hands and guide the Cs through the motions of getting back into the match. Well practised at this art (as the Bs are still yet to be beaten this season) two more tries were added before half time. At this point the heavens opened and it was all hands on deck. The second half was eventful and very wet. Two tries apiece took the game to 25-15, which is where it stayed. The support lasted the duration due to the gripping nature of the game and the boys were the last team standing as other Prep and Abberley teams headed for the safety of changing rooms and match teas.

Afterwards, it was difficult to tell which players were Bs and Cs, not just because they were all caked in mud, but because they left the field as one team, with players that had all given their best to achieve the result that they deserved.

A classic prep school match of the genre; fought between two well-matched teams that played some great rugby, in some classic English weather.

House rugby results so far...

Team Lower School Middle School Upper School 1st Persia Sparta=Troy * 2nd Corinth * * 3rd Troy Athens * 4th Rome=Sparta Corinth=Rome * 5th * * * 6th Athens Persia *

For n update ews, fixtures a s, follo w us o nd n Twitt @chelt er! prep_b oys

* Match still to be played Prep for The Week Issue Number 1811, 20 November 2015

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All changes and additions to the School Calendar appear in pink.

Calendar

Sunday 22 November 2015 10:00 The Cheltonian Association and Society Christmas Fair until 16:00 (College) 19:00 Boarders return, latest return 19:30 Monday 23 November 2015 Week 12 23 - 29 November Tuesday 24 November 2015

Year 3 Egyptian Day 15:00 Selected musicians perform at a local care home 17:00 Girls' rugby trials for Year 7 and 8. Pick up 18:00 17:30 Boarders' Trip to watch Bristol Rovers v Stevenage Wednesday 25 November 2015 Fixtures 10:30 Departure for Pinewood Rugby 7s (A): 1st VII. Start 12:00. Pick up 18:00 12:45 Departure for Rugby v St Hugh's (A): 2nd XV, 4th X. Start 14:30. Pick up 17:30 13:00 Departure for Hockey v Clifton College (A): 3rd VII, 4th VII, 5th VII. Start 14:30. Pick up 17:00 13:30 Departure for Severnside Hockey Tournament at Dean Close (A): 1st VII, 2nd VII. Start 13:30.

Pick up 17:00 13:30 Departure for Rugby Festival at Dean Close (A): U10A VIII, U10B VIII, U10C VIII. Start 14:30. Pick up17:00 14:00 Hockey v Berkhampstead (H): U10A VII, U10B VII, U11A VII, U11B VII. Pick up 16:15 14:30 ugby Festival (H): U11A IX, U11B IX, U11C IX. Pick up 16:30 14:30 Rugby v St Hugh's (H): U9A VII, U9B VII, U9C VII, U9D VII. Pick up 16:00 15:00 Hockey v Berkhampstead (H): U8A VII, U8B VII, U9A VII, U9B VII. Pick up 16:30 Thursday 26 November 2015

Year 4 India Day with presentation to parents at 15:15 15:45 Departure for Swimming Gala v Beaudesert Park (A): Years 3-5. Start 17:00. Pick up 19:00 16:15 Departure for Swimming Gala v Dean Close (A): Years 6-8. Start 17:00. Pick up 18:15 Friday 27 November 2015 08:15 Friends of The Prep Coffee Morning (Drawing Room) 14:00 Advent Carol Service for Years 3-8. Parents welcome (Chapel) Upper School House Rugby 15:00 Rugby v St Edward's and The Richard Pate School (H): U9A VII, U9B VII, U9C VII, U9D VII. 15:45

Pick up16:45 Saturday 28 November 2015 Rugby v Dean Close (H): Year 2 Boys. Pick up 11:30 10:00 Netball v Dean Close (H): Year 2 Girls. Pick up 11:30 10:00 10:30 Academic Olympiad for Years 3-8. Pick up 12:30.

7s Training. 1st VII, U11 VII. Pick up 13:45 12:30 Sunday 29 November 2015 14:00 Boarders at the Movies (Full and Regular Flexi-Boarders Only)

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NOTICES Happy Birthday to the following pupils next week!

Sophia McCarthy

7

Harry Crawford

9

Ethan Feinson

10

Jay Wheatley

10

Freddie Young Alice Wheatley Sammy Baines

Javier Berrow

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School Uniform Shop The school uniform shop term-time opening hours are:

Tuesday 13.30 to 15.30 Wednesday 15.30 to 17.00

We are happy to receive email enquiries, as it is not always possible to get to the shop.

We are also happy to accept clean uniform in good condition for sale.

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Santa Family Fun Run 11.00 - 12.00 on Sunday 6 December 2015 Will you run and raise money for Gloucestershire Bundles?

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