Prep for the Week Issue Number 1895 – 15 June 2018
In this week’s issue… Headmaster's Blog & Commendations Next Steps for The Prep Kingfishers Update Lower School News Boarding House Update Science Festival Fun Young Scientist Day Sports Update Birthday Announcements Invitations
o t s y a d ts r o p S s From i h t , y r ve o c s i d e bit Scienc e l t t i l a d a h s a week h g! n i h t y r of eve
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Headmaster's Blog
Dear Parents It has been an honour and a privilege to be part of the interview process for those in Year 7 who wish to be considered for a position of responsibility in Year 8. Thirty-nine children submitted written applications, and all have been offered the chance to demonstrate their public speaking skills and state their case for selection. Without exception, the public speaking was of a high standard and the handling of a series of questions from the Headmaster, Mr Jenkins and Mrs Reid was, on the whole, skilfully done. So, what’s the point? In the first place, there is value in the process. It is with confidence that I predict all will, at some stage, undergo an interview for a job or promotion and so this was just a gentle introduction. Secondly, the days of the Head choosing those who he/she feels is up to the job on a subjective basis are over, and rightly so.
Prep for The Week Issue Number 1895 15 June 2018
The process involves all staff, the written application and the interview. And finally, there will be the need to deal with triumph or failure as there are only so many positions of responsibility. If ‘triumphant’ then there is the need for magnanimity. If unsuccessful, then there is the need for phlegmatism and the need to ‘go again’. As the panel were ‘bowled over’ by the quantity of quality candidates, I am almost certain that The Prep will appoint another tranche of prefects late in the Autumn Term and, then again, in the Easter Term. My congratulations to all of those who put themselves up for selection. The FIFA World Cup has just kicked off and no doubt we will be treated to a fest of diving, feigning injury and underhand behaviour all designed to cheat. This is in total contrast to the atmosphere which pervaded House Sports Day, which was conducted in the best of atmospheres. Jon Whybrow Headmaster
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Lower School News Headmaster's Commendations Zara L-H
Pablo R B
For representing The Prep very well and participating fully during the Young Scientist Day.
For representing The Prep very well and participating fully during the Young Scientist Day.
Isla-Rose E
Tulliah S
For representing The Prep very well and participating fully during the Young Scientist Day.
For representing The Prep very well and participating fully during the Young Scientist Day.
Kate O
Matilda C
For representing The Prep very well and participating fully during the Young Scientist Day.
For representing The Prep very well and participating fully during the Young Scientist Day.
Finn K
Taylor S
For representing The Prep very well and participating fully during the Young Scientist Day.
For representing The Prep very well and participating fully during the Young Scientist Day.
Felicity C
Lily F
For keeping an outstanding diary all year showing creativity and flair.
Molly R
For excellent perseverance when learning to serve.
Prep for The Week Issue Number 1895 15 June 2018
For using her initiative and generosity to raise money for her Chill and Chat group.
Amelia W
For excellent perseverance with her tennis serve and for collecting up and returning kit without being asked.
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Next Steps... Did you know?
5 10 1 8 21 30
We are always very excited here to support the pupils in preparing for their next steps. As we near the end of the academic year and look forward to the next, we have already begun the process of supporting some pupils in getting ready for the admissions process for their senior school of choice. Although many of our pupils choose to move on to College, as a prep school, we are entirely committed to supporting those who have selected alternative destination schools and pride ourselves in the support we give our families through this process.
The number of senior schools, Mrs Hamlyn, Deputy Head (Academic), has visited this term alone on behalf of families interested in their children moving on there, including Eton and CLC. Mrs Hamlyn has spoken to over ten other schools this term on behalf of families to help inform their decision making process when choosing a senior school and also to ensure we are clear on how we can help the pupils with preparing for the admissions process elsewhere. We have appointed a member of staff to oversee the transition to senior schools. Scott Newson, also Head of Geography, will be mapping the admissions process for each school and planning and delivering a bespoke preparation programme for pupils. The number of children currently benefiting from our new preparation sessions for the Gloucestershire 11+ Grammar Exams. Similar programmes are planned for those pupils preparing for entrance to other schools in line with their admissions timeline and requirements so we can focus specifically on the particular demands of each entrance process as they all differ greatly. This gives all of our children the best possible chance at achieving entrance to their senior school of choice. The number of Year 5 families who attended the information evening to help parents understand more about choosing a senior school. The number of meetings held this term between Mrs Hamlyn and families to help them with choosing a senior school.
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The number of families Mr Whybrow has supported this year in planning the move to senior school.
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The age at which we start comprehensively mapping the progress, strengths and areas of development of the children. As the children progress through the school this builds and includes assessments which provide information not only on attainment but innate academic abilities and preferences. This means staff are able to respond to the individual needs of pupils, we have a good understanding of which senior school environment might suit them best, and we can ensure that every child's progress matches their potential.
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The partnership between home and school is essential in ensuring success for pupils in reaching their destination school of choice. Ongoing dialogue between the two means both are fully informed and can support pupils as well as possible. We also value working alongside tutors for those families who choose to offer additional support to their children in the holidays. Please do put us in contact so we can all be reinforcing the same messages.
If you would like to discuss the pathway to senior school, how to begin exploring the different options available or can update us as to your plans so we can tailor our provision accordingly, please don't hesitate to make contact with Mrs Hamlyn, Deputy Prep for TheHead Week Issue Number 1895 15 June 2018 4 (Academic) via r.hamlyn@cheltenhamcollege.org, or Mr Newson, Senior School Co-ordinator.
Kingfishers Update Reception trip to Farm Park Although the weather forecast was a little overcast, the Reception children’s spirits were high as they jumped on to the buses to take them to the Cotswold Wildlife Park. Sightings of wolves, camels, giraffes, snakes, crocodiles and a ride on a train thrilled the children. Luckily none of them were mistaken for monkeys as they were so well behaved and polite. A final treat of an ice cream in the sunshine, was the perfect end to a wonderful trip.
Kingfishers Sports Day From welly wanging to sprinting the children gave their all for Kingfishers Sports Day. Mr Whybrow tried his hardest in all the races but he may need a little more coaching on his sprinting technique. Well done to all the athletic parents who ran in the hotly contested heats and the final. The children cheered on their fellow team mates and a fantastic afternoon of fun and competition was rounded off with a lovely tea and icecream. Altogether a perfect mix of competition and sportsmanship. Prep for The Week Issue Number 1895 15 June 2018
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Lower School Science Day Lower School had a fantastic day investigating an array of scientific questions. The children were given the opportunity to experience a workshop lead by Professor Bug from Sublime Science. In just an hour, they watched polystyrene cups disintegrate and made slime and sherbet. The citric acid was extremely sour as the teachers can testify! The hour also included firing a rocket using a lemonade bottle and some Mentos. One bottle went so high it got stuck at the top of a tree!
Lower School News
The children managed to turn solids into liquids and vice versa using a substance called “gloop� and were fascinated to learn about particles and how they work to create solids, liquids and gases. In order to improve the outside space and encourage wildlife to come into the environment, a bug hotel has been constructed outside the entrance to Lower School. All the children were encouraged to build it using materials that were either natural or recyclable. Plastic bottles were also reused and turned into wonderful wormeries. The afternoon was spent outside investigating the power of air and centripetal force, not at the same time though! Straw shooters were made and tested. The flying bucket investigation enabled children to understand how forces can combine to prevent water in a cup from falling on their heads. They very quickly realised that it was necessary to spin at a certain speed to keep the water in the cup. All in all it was a fascinating and hugely exciting day. Many people helped to make it a success and Lower School would like to thank them for providing the resources to enable us to do so much.
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Boarding House Update Over the last few weeks we have enjoyed watching our tadpoles rapidly change into miniature frogs. First they gained back legs, then front legs and now we have some super-cute tiny frogs that love hiding under the rocks and climbing up the sides of their container! On Saturday afternoon they had an upgrade in housing and now have more space to develop. Unfortunately we won't be able to keep them much longer or else we will risk filling the Boarding House with Frogs! Saturday afternoon was a relaxed affair as we all recovered from Sports Day. There was a sudden interest in designing and making boardgames out of some spare cardboard with Sharpies, we then enjoyed playing some of them! After a long week of exams the Year 8s enjoyed a special evening of pizza and the film 'Inception' on Saturday evening. They then departed to Bude on Sunday morning for their leavers trip. There was perfect weather on Sunday afternoon for our trip to the Lido. Thank you to Miss Cox and the Gaps for leading the trip and enjoying icecreams by the pool! Lots of our Year 7s have now left for Spain and France on their MFL trips, leaving us with a much depleted Boarding House, we are hoping for a quiet week!
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Science Festival Fun Year 5 had a fantastic time at the Science Festival today! They spent time exploring the hands-on activities in the Discovery Zone which included trying to beat the artificial intelligence of robots, looking at the millions of bacteria on their own hands under UV light and taking fantastic virtual reality walks through futuristic landscapes. They then went in to The Arena to watch a talk by adventure scientist Huw James on "Our Wild World". Huw led them through his adventures studying the Ocean, Volcanoes and jungles through exciting visuals and hands-on experiments. A great time was had by all!
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Young Scientist Day This years’ theme was ‘Communication’ and the pupils experienced an exciting carousel of Science and Design Technology lessons. Pupils worked in the Science labs and thoroughly enjoyed the practical experiments, looking like real scientists wearing safety goggles and white lab coats. In the Biochemistry activity, Mrs Wells showed the pupils how animals can change colour to communicate how they are feeling. They looked at bioluminescence in fireflies and pigment changes in cuttlefish and chameleons, before undertaking some experiments using chemicals to cause colour changes. The pupils really enjoyed doing a wide range of experiments. In Physics, Mr Webber (in his rainbow coloured lab coat!) used a slinky to demonstrate how energy but not particles can be transferred. The pupils watched wave patterns form on an oscilloscope in relation to loudness and pitch. The highlight of the lesson was watching flames dancing on a Ruben’s Tube to Mr Webber’s playlist! The pupils then had the opportunity to transfer sound waves by using cups and string and also transmitted messages using morse code. The Design Technology activity allowed the pupils to design and create a keyring which was cut out on a laser before their very eyes! The were able to have their name or favourite topic engraved on it. It was fascinating to watch. Pupils received an introduction to graphic design by using 2D Corel Draw and then also 3D design using Google SketchUp. Mr Boyd’s 3D printer was mesmerizing to watch and proved a real attraction. The exciting day finished with a very entertaining and interactive performance by the charismatic Gastronaut Stefan Gates who discussed digestion and related….emissions - on the topic of Fartology! It was accompanied by many hilarious demonstrations! Two children held live locust and one brave boy had the chance to try eating a dried locust! Stefan believes that insects will be the food of the future! For more details on Stefan look at: www.thegastronaut.com Our thanks go to Cheltenham Festivals for giving us the opportunity to host this special day, designed to promote Science and Design Technology to our young and enthusiastic learners. The pupils had an amazing day.
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Sport Update Swimming Success Saturday 9 June saw the culmination of the 2017/18 IAPS National Swimming Championships with the top 20 swimmers from all over the country descending on the London Aquatics Centre. In itself this was quite something. Being ranked within the top 20 swimmers in your event in the country, and then the excitement of competing in the Olympic Pool was a great draw as you can imagine. Therefore three very excited (and a little nervous) swimmers arrived for this high level event. After a tour of the arena, all three swimmers took part in their warm ups ready for competition. Jude R, Aidan P and Olivia G represented College in these finals and all three swimmers competed with great distinction. First to compete in the morning session was Aidan in the Boys' 25 Butterfly. Aidan does not have a lot of competitive swimming experience so this was quite daunting for him. However he grasped the opportunity put before him and swam a personal best time, and qualified for the final! Next up was Jude Richardson in the 50 Backstroke. Jude had done extremely well in qualification and is certainly not the biggest so his achievement was superb in swimming an IAPS PB, and only being off his lifetime PB by a fraction of a second. Jude was reserve finalist. And so to the finals where Aidan swam outstandingly well, lifting himself from 10th to 8th position. Unfortunately, Jude didn't get to swim in his final. The afternoon session followed straight on after the morning. Olivia G was very excited by her surroundings but let nothing daunt her, indeed she was lifted by the whole experience. She actually qualified slowest for the finals, but swam superbly, following her thought through race plan and swam a huge PB, beating it by 1.3 seconds! On a 50 that is a very large PB. Olivia didn't feature in the finals but actually had the largest improvement in her time of all the swimmers in the event. A great achievement. Congratulations to all of the swimmers. Actually getting to National finals is a great achievement. Excelling when there was the icing on the cake. Thank you to all staff who helped throughout the IAPS Championships this year, through the qualifying rounds and with finals organisation.
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Sport Update A great day for Lower School With the Year 7 and Year 8s away, it was the turn of Lower School to take centre stage on Wednesday. The U9A headed down to Clifton for a festival with a number of other teams. The boys played three matches and performed superbly winning all three. Runs and wickets were shared around, but it was the accuracy and intensity that our boys brought to the field that set them up in all three games. Back at Cheltenham, the U9B and U9C sides headed over to Dean Close for fixtures and also came away with two great wins. The U9B team had a close match, winning by 9 runs and the U9C romped home with a 23 run win. In both games it was the accuracy of the bowling and the hard work in the field that set the boys up for the superb wins. At home base it was the turn of the U8s to take on Dean Close. On the famous Prep 1st XI wicket the U8 team had a dominant win over Dean Close with the boys dominating with bat and ball. Playing on the wicket is quite an honour and the boys more than did it justice. Of particular note was the running between the wickets from our boys who called superbly and stole a huge number of singles. The B team game was up on Cotswold Astro and was a much tighter affair, with the game being decided by a number of boundaries hit by the Cheltenham side. All in all, a great afternoon. Ignoring all the triumphs in the win/loss column it was a success seeing the children after a term’s coaching playing with such skill, understanding and enthusiasm right across the board. Prep for The Week Issue Number 1895 15 June 2018
Boys' Cricket Results U9A vs Dean Close Won by 4 wickets U9A vs Beaudesert Won by 38 runs U9A vs Tockington Manor Won by 24 runs U9B vs Dean Cloase Won by 9 runs U9C vs Dean Close Won by 23 runs U8A vs Dean Close Won by 26 runs U8B vs Dean Close Won by 26 runs U10A vs Dean Close Won by 10 wickets Colts D vs Dean Close U10B Lost by 32 runs
Girls' Cricket Result U9A vs St Hugh's Draw
Girls' Tennis Result U11B vs St Hugh's 4 - 15 11
Notices BIRTHDAYS Happy birthday to the following pupils who have their birthdays this week: Harry W (9) Evie W (9)
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Prep for The Week Issue Number 1895 15 June 2018
04/06/2018 14:46
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Notices
Invites you to drinks at
THE HOUSE OF COMMONS on
Thursday 21st June 7.30pm - 10.30pm To Book Card Payments: 01242 265694 Online Booking: cheltoniansociety.org Cheques Payable to: Cheltenham College Post to: Rebecca Creed, Society Manager Cheltenham College Bath Road Cheltenham Gloucestershire, GL53 7LD r.creed@cheltenhamcollege.org
Price: £40pp Includes: Welcome drink & canapés Cash Bar
Subject to demand, a return coach from Cheltenham will be available at £10pp.
Invites you to
THROUGHAM COURT GARDEN on
Thursday 5th July 2018 Througham Court, Througham, Gloucestershire, GL6 7HG To Book Card Payments: 01242 265694 Online Booking: cheltoniansociety.org Cheques Payable to: Cheltenham College Post to: Rebecca Creed, Society Manager Cheltenham College Bath Road Cheltenham Gloucestershire, GL53 7LD r.creed@cheltenhamcollege.org
2.30pm - 5.00pm Price: £30pp Programme 2.30pm Garden Tour with Dr Christine Facer 4.00pm Tea in The Garden Room
Invites you to
THE BREWIN DOLPHIN CHELTENHAM CRICKET FESTIVAL Gloucestershire v Durham The Specsavers County Championship Game on
Sunday 22nd July 2018
To Book Card Payments: 01242 265694 Online Booking: cheltoniansociety.org Cheques Payable to: Cheltenham College Post to: Rebecca Creed, Society Manager Cheltenham College Bath Road Cheltenham Gloucestershire, GL53 7LD Prep for The Week Issue Number 1895 15 June 2018 r.creed@cheltenhamcollege.org
Price: £60pp or £50 for under 16s Programme 10.30am - 6.00pm Cash Bar Open 11.00am Play Starts 12 noon Welcome Drink 1.00pm (approx) Buffet Luncheon 3.40pm (approx) Afternoon Tea 13
Notices CARIBBEAN CARNIVAL SUMMER FÊTE
JOIN THE FUN OF THE CARNIVAL Saturday 16 June 12:00 to 14:00 (Directly after Summer Concert & House Singing Competition) Steel Band · Caribbean Food · Rum Punch Bar · Giant Slide Human Table Football · Bouncy Castle · Go-Karts · Sponge the Teacher Beat-the-Goalie · Lucky Dip · Coconut Shy · Hook-a-Duck · Raffle Ice cream · Karaoke · Tattoo & Nail Bar · Colour Run New & exciting retail stalls….and MUCH MORE!
All proceeds will be donated to HEAL Romania Prep for The Week Issue Number 1895 15 June 2018
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