Prep for the Week Issue 1817

Prep for the Week Issue Number 1817 – 29 January 2016

In this week’s issue…

Headmaster's Blog and Commendations A View from the Maths Department Letter from the Library Lower and Middle School News Boys' and Girls' Sports Calendar Notices

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Headmaster's Blog Dear Parents This past week has been dominated by the visit of the Independent Schools Inspectorate. The Reporting Inspector states that she, and her colleagues, have very much enjoyed their visit. In the four days that they have been here, they have observed lessons, interviewed children and staff (teaching and ancillary), watched the myriad of activities that are on offer and checked important regulations. They have, however, reminded me that I am unable to offer any feedback on their findings until their report is finalised and posted on the Independent Schools Inspectorate website. When this happens, a copy will be made available to all parents.

During the week, the normal school routine continued and one of the highlights was the outstanding assembly given by Year 1. Enchanting and informative, this event demonstrated the value of the performing arts. All children were encouraged to make a contribution and the production values were exemplary – well done Year 1.

I will finish by praising all of the children for their behaviour during this past week. It is the norm, but to see such politeness, manners and confidence during what was an important week for the School, made me swell with pride. Thank you.

Mr Jon Whybrow

Year 8 pupils have been enjoying Art this term - the theme is printing.

In class, they have used graffiti lettering to design reduction prints on lino.

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A View from the Maths Department Success for all of us in the Maths Department is observing the enthusiasm of our pupils as they arrive for their lessons. It seems alien to us that there should be a fear or dread of our subject, as the faces we see routinely, are excited, smiling and eager to learn.

Most children love moving around, and our school facilities allow for so many opportunities to undertake maths activities outside of the classroom. The chess markings on the playground become number squares and grids to solve problems and to learn coordinates and bearings. Our grounds become a haven for shapes when we enhance our learning by Going on a Triangle Hunt, and our library shelves and reading corners hide Treasure Hunt clues when the weather is too inclement for outdoors. Our kitchens provide opportunities for baking: a great way for our pupils to learn about proportion by scaling recipes.

appointment of our Maths specialist Learning Support Worker. Mrs Goodman runs clinics several mornings per week for small groups of students who need some extra support and she also assists pupils on a 1 to 1 basis when they need some extra help with a particular topic or of they have missed a lesson. This together with our House Maths competitions every half term, playing host to DCB Maths Challenges, and national events, ensures that our pupils have full immersion in our subject and can make as much progress possible.

Without Mathematics there’s nothing you can do. Everything around you is Mathematics.

Mrs Sandra Gilmour Head of Mathematics

The mathematics involved in sport covers a massive range and undertaking projects connected with sport is a great way to engage our pupils. Our tennis courts become venues to find area and perimeter, to calculate serve speed and the profits on selling Strawberries and Cream to all Wimbledon’s Centre Court.

Cheltenham Race Week provides a familiar link to our theme of probability and I think that we could teach our whole syllabus by linking it to the theme of the Olympics!

Our department is continually looking for ways to improve our pupils’ progress and a huge success for us this year has been the

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Headmaster's Commendations Alice Bradley for her outstanding independent presentation on the formation of Hawaii Archie McNeill and Luke Richardson for their independent project work on plate tectonics Ruby Coull for her continued and amazing personal reading Louis Dessalles and Charlie Anton-Smith for making really good improvements in their English work Raif Nelson For excellent ICT skills and for helping others in the class Imogen Freissner-Day and Rory Jenkins for their oil paintings completed in Art scholars Activity on Tuesday nights Luke Richardson for consistently outstanding preps in Science

Letter from the Library On Monday we saw the first book swap take place in the library. Many pupils from Years 3-8 brought in their books and swapped them for a couple of different ones. There was a fantastic selection of good quality books and some very happy faces when children pored over the choices. It is always a pleasure to see children getting excited about reading.

The event also sparked interest from Kingfishers pupils and so next half term, we will run a Kingfishers book swap. More details to follow.

Eventually the remaining books will be sold to raise money for Gloucestershire Bundles. Thank you to all those pupils that took part and made the event a real success.

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Kingfishers There was a lot of animals in our assembly this week. Elephants and tigers and crocodiles...

But we weren't scared! We invited them home for tea.

Lower School In Year 3 Maths lessons pupils have been exploring 3D shapes. The pupils were challenged to use multilink cubes to build a ‘soma cube.’ This is a 3 x 3 x 3 cube made by interlinking seven smaller shapes. Some children were super speedy at constructing them!

The boys and girls have also clicked together ‘polydron’ shapes to make a range of 3D shapes. Could you identify a tetrahedron or cuboids? The class is now hoping to find enough pentagons to enable them to finish constructing a dodecahedron. Do you know how many they will need?

Don’t forget to look out for 3D shapes around your home and challenge any Year 3 pupil to name that shape!

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Middle School It was a huge privilege for pupils and parents to watch Year 5 children perform a play about being an evacuee this week. After a few hours of exciting, fast-paced rehearsal, every pupil in Year 5 took on a role and led us through a dramatic recreation of evacuee experiences in WWII. Year 5 children were encouraged to use their own knowledge of WWII to enrich the performance. It was very rewarding to hear so many accurate WWII details retold with such confidence and in such an entertaining context; Mr Baird, Head of History, was thrilled to hear pupils recollecting how they loved to collect shrapnel from bombsites. Indeed, many of us are still chuckling at Arthur Robinson’s attempt to milk a cow; I am not sure who enjoyed it most, Arthur, the parents or the cow!

Thanks must also go to Mr Colin Smith who directed this wonderful extra-curricular History activity.

However, the stars of the day were undoubtedly the Year 5 evacuees themselves as they brought WWII to life for a day at The Prep.

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Boys' Sports

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

Boys' Hockey Fixtures TEAM OPPONENT RESULT SCORE U11 A Dean Close Hockey Festival Festival U11 B Dean Close Hockey Festival Festival U11 C Dean Close U11C Lost 2-3 U10 A Cheltenham Hockey Festival Festival U10 B Cheltenham Hockey Festival Festival U10 C Dean Close U10C Lost 0-2

Team of the Week: 1st XI Football Triangular Tournament with St John's on the Hill and Clifton Prep After the success of House Football, the boys were ready for the challenge of meeting opposition from neighbouring schools who play the game as part of their curriculum. In blustery conditions, the boys played the game in the correct manner with passing and movement of the ball. The A team were unlucky to lose 0-1 to St John's who scored with their only shot of the day. Cheltenham hit the woodwork three times in a direct assault on St John's goal. In the second game, a thriller was played out which resulted in a 3-2 victory over Clifton. Special mention must be given to the amount of time the boys spent in rehearsing their goal celebrations. Mrs Douglas would have been proud of their dramatics.

In the B game, team manager, Big Phil "Scolari' Williams, was in deep admiration of the skill levels demonstrated by his players. His cries of "Keep it on the carpet!" were followed to the letter as the team put in performances reminiscent of the great '82 Brazilian team, although later, it transpired that the boys were concerned about the ball damaging their carefully kept hair. One goal was even scored from a corner kick! Two great wins: 4-0 against St John's and 2-0 versus Clifton!

The boys were superb ambassadors for the school - allowing each other to be subbed so that all players had a window to show their silky skills. New friendships were forged and the boys returned happy to school with a belly full of sausage, chips and beans to replenish energy levels.

Well played, gentlemen.

Boys' Football Fixtures TEAM OPPONENT RESULT SCORE 1st XI St John's Lost 0-1 Clifton College Won 3-2 1st XI 2nd XI St John's Won 4-0 Clifton College Won 2-0 2nd XI 3rd XI Wycliffe Lost 0-4 4th XI Wycliffe Lost 2-3 5th VII Wycliffe Won 5-0

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Girls' Sports Team of the Week - U11B The Prep girls enjoyed a convincing victory this week against Richard Pate. They took a little time to warm into the game with only 1 goal in the first quarter. After shuffling positions and a constructive team talk the team marked closer, got into more spaces and drove forward. 5 goals ahead by half-time, the girls continued to play a more thoughtful game in the second half, slowing down the passes in the centre third, which had a positive impact and gave us more possession.

Girls' Netball Results TEAM OPPOSITION DATE SCORE RESULT 3rd VII Pinewood Wed 27 Jan 6 – 16 LOST 4th VII Pinewood Wed 27 Jan 1 – 11 LOST 5th VII Pinewood Wed 27 Jan 0 – 8 LOST U11 A Richard Pate Wed 27 Jan 6 – 17 LOST U11 B Richard Pate Wed 27 Jan 11 – 4 WON Pinewood Wed 27 Jan 9 – 6 WON U10 A U10 B Pinewood Wed 27 Jan 4 – 9 LOST Pinewood Wed 27 Jan 9 – 1 WON U10/11 C U9 A Pinewood Wed 27 Jan 5 – 4 WON U9 B Pinewood Wed 27 Jan 10 – 10 DREW Pinewood Wed 27 Jan 3 – 1 WON U8 A U8 B Pinewood Wed 27 Jan 1 – 4 LOST Pinewood Wed 27 Jan 0 – 5 LOST U8 C

nd xtures a ter! fi , s w e n For n Twit ow us o ll o f , s e t upda repgirls @cheltp

Swimming Please note the arrangements for the House Swimming Gala on Saturday 30 January. Parents are encouraged to come and watch, to support their children and their House.

Lower School Sign in with HSM at Sports Centre between 09:30 - 09:45. Arrive already changed, with swimming kit on under tracksuit. Leave belongings in designated changing area (these will be signposted when they get to the Sports Centre) and go straight through to pool. Bring a bag with House top, towel, underwear, water bottle, cap and goggles.

Prep for The Week Issue Number 1817 29 January 2016

Sign out with HSM at Sports Centre (a small snack will be provided at this point). Pick up is at 13:30.

Middle School Sign in with HSM at Sports Centre between 09:30 - 09:45. Arrive already changed, with swimming kit on under tracksuit. Leave belongings in designated changing area (these will be signposted when they get to the Sports Centre) and go straight through to pool. Bring a bag with House top, towel, underwear, water bottle, cap and goggles. Sign out with HSM at Sports Centre (a small snack will be provided at this point).

Pick up is at 13:30.

Upper School Lessons as normal in the morning.

Quick ‘grab and go’ bun and drink at 09:50 which should be eaten on the way up to the Sports Centre.

Must get to Sports Centre asap. Sign in with HSM, leave belongings in designated changing area (these will be signposted), and get into the pool and warm up. Should go to lessons already changed with swimming kit on under tracksuits. Bring a bag with House top, towel, underwear, water bottle, cap and goggles. Sign out with HSM at Sports Centre (a small snack will be provided at this point).

Pick up is at 13:30.

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

Calendar

Sunday, 31 January 2016 13:00 Boarders' Trip to Foodworks Cookery School (Full and Regular Flexi-Boarders Only) Monday, 1 February 2016 Week 5, 1 - 7 February

Pro Corda Chamber Music Festival (Venue TBC) Tuesday, 2 February 2016

Year 3 Ancient Greece Day. Presentation to parents at 15:30 (Lower School) Wednesday, 3 February 2016 11:00 Year 3 Music for Youth Primary Prom (Cheltenham Town Hall) 12:00 Departure for Prior Park Netball Tournament (A): 1st VII. Start 13:30. Pick up 17:30 12:00 Departure for St Hugh’s Netball Tournament (A): U12A, U12B. Start 13:30. Pick up 17:30 12:45 Departure for Hockey v Clifton (A): U9A VII, U9B VII, U9C VII, U11A VII, U11B VII, U11C VII.

Start 14:00. Pick up 17:00 13:30 Departure for Hockey v Dean Close (A): 1st VII, 2nd VII. Start 14:00. Pick up 16:15 Departure for Netball v The Richard Pate School (A): U10A, U10B. Start 14:45. Pick up 16:15 14:00 14:00 Hockey v Dean Close (H): 3rd VII, 5th VII. Pick up 16:15 Netball v St Hugh’s (H): U11A, U11B, U13B, U13C. Pick up 16:15 14:30 Hockey v Clifton (H): U10A VII, U10B VII, U10C VII. Pick up 16:15 14:30 Departure for Hockey v Dean Close (A): 3rd VII, 5th VII. Start 15:15. Pick up 16:45 14:30 Departure for Netball v Dean Close (A): U8A, U8B. Start 15:30. Pick up 17:00 14:45 15:00 Departure for Netball v The Richard Pate School (A): U9A, U9B. Start 15:45. Pick up 17:15 Thursday, 4 February 2016 09:30 Kingfishers Experience for prospective parents House Cross Country Relays 10:30 13:00 Year 4 Maths DCB Eagle Challenge for selected pupils (Assembly Hall) Swimming Gala v Denmark Road HSFG (H): Years 7-8. Pick up 18:15 17:00 Friday, 5 February 2016 07:30 Departure for IAPS Hockey at Clifton (A): Colts A VII. Start 09:30. Pick up dependent on progress Chapel (parents welcome) 14:15 Friends of The Prep Family Race Night (Assembly Hall) 18:30 Saturday, 6 February 2016 08:45 Departure for Football v Pinewood (A): U11B IX, U10A VIII, U10B VIII, U9 VI, U9B VI and U9C VI.

Start 10:00. Pick up 12:00 09:00 Departure for Netball v Pinewood (A): U10A, U10B, U10C, U11B. Start 10:30. Pick up 12:45 09:30 Netball v Pinewood (H): U9A, U9B, U8A, U8B, U8C. Pick up 11:00 09:50 Departure for Hockey v Pinewood (A): 5th VII, 6th VII. Start 11:00. Pick up 13.00 10:00 Football v Pinewood (H): U8A VI, U8B VI, U8C VI, U11A IX. Pick up 11:45 10:30 Netball v Pinewood (H): U11A, 1st VII, 2nd VII, 3rd VII, 4th VII. Pick up 12:00 10:30 Hockey v Pinewood (H): 1st VII, 2nd VII, 3rd VII, 4th VII. Pick up 12:00 Sunday, 7 February 2016 10:30 Boarders' Trip to Premiership Rugby London Irish v Worcester (Full and Regular Flexi-Boarders Only)

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NOTICES Happy Birthday to the following pupils this week!

Charlotte Gilder 5

Jemima Penny 7 Joey Richardson 7

Jaylynn Lopez 8

Uniform Shop Current term time opening hours are: Wednesdays 13.30 to 16.00 Fridays 13.00 to 15.00

Harry Pearson 9 Ciaran Portch 9 Harry Richardson 9 Sofiia Shulzhenko

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Ollie McGrath

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Benjamin Cunningham Rory Jenkins

Rory Maddinson Annaliese Goff

11 12 12

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Parents' Netball Training with CC Foxes now taking place at Cheltenham College Sports Hall, every Friday during term time at 09.50

It's been raining outside the Art Room but we are still enjoying our brolly project - look at these fantastic designs!

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