PREP NEWSLETTER
27th February - 3rd March Lent Term Newsletter Issue 7
Headmaster's Message
Dear Parents and Guardians,
Religious Theme
Lent: What is true charity?
On Monday, with a beaming smile, the most wonderful child presented me with a portrait of ‘Mr Cartwright’. It’s fair to say that the image gave me a beaming smile of my own (despite reflecting selfishly that yes, I am going bald and yes, my hair is now officially grey) The care and attention to detail were just marvellous and I have placed the picture in pride of place on my office wall Nothing could have made me happier though, than seeing the efforts of many staff and almost all of the children in support of World Book Day on Thursday Such inspired joy was abound and my thanks to Mrs Sayer and all involved in making sure that a love of reading and books continues to be at the centre of much of what we do
Some Prep parents, with older College-aged siblings, will have noted a ‘bus letter’ falling into their inboxes from Assistant Head of St Edmund’s College, Mr West. I have no doubt that this letter will be read with interest as standards and high expectations are re-enforced and clarified It seems timely to let you know that the Prep School is in the process of drafting a letter of its own and this will be communicated to you in due course So far as we have needed to concern ourselves with these matters, the Prep has always found children and parents to be nothing other than supportive and I look forward to this correspondence and any resulting dialogue with you
Finally, please save the date of 2pm on Tuesday 28th March 2023 for the children’s presentation of the Easter Story in the College Pugin Chapel This will be a sombre but high-quality and emotional service through which we can reflect upon our own current spiritual journeys, inspired by Jesus’ journey and His ultimate death and resurrection. The children are working hard on this and I know that they will value you attending to celebrate their work.
With every best wish for the weekend ahead I trust that your Lenten commitments are holding fast and that you have a good book to enjoy on your coffee table – the History of St Edmund’s perhaps,
Mr S Cartwright Headmaster, St Edmund’s PrepQuote
"Prayer is not asking Prayer is putting oneself in the hands of God, at His disposition, and listening to His voice in the depth of our hearts" - Mother
TeresaE-Safety
TikTok
Mr Cartwright's quiz
Q: Incisors and molars are types of what?
A: In next week's Newsletter
Last Week's answer
Q: Which sport takes place in a velodrome?
A: Cycling
Although the minimum age-rating for TikTok is 13, we are aware that children several years younger are accessing this video-sharing app We strongly recommend that you do not allow your child to access platforms that are not suitable for their age and that you regularly talk to them about any apps and websites they are using Lets try together to make 'parent pressure ' count more than any ' peer pressure '
You may have read in the news this week that TiKTok are setting a 60-minute daily screen time limit for under-18s: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-64813981
The website www internetmatters org provides a wealth of guidance for parents about social media platforms
Check Mate!
Harvey pictured here, nearly got the better of Mr Cartwright in a battle of brains at breaktime on Friday His chess set, made entirely of lego, was brought in to show his classmates, all of whom were suitably impressed. Go Harvey – you will beat Mr Cartwright one day soon, we know it!!
The children have been spoken to regarding the use of Blu Tack in school Please could you remind your child that they should not bring Blu Tack into school as it is not required.
Head's Commendations
Lizzie Belsey
Theodore Brace
Grace Brown
Lucy Berkley
Jack Dodds
Oliver Hollingsworth-Gee
Luke McNerney
Adriel Olaleye
George Stainer
Theadora Yiannoullou
Sam Belsey
Alexander Ivnik-Sotiriou
Benedict Penfold
Patrick Cochrane
Oliver Upton
Jessica Northen
Tristan Orgill-Faulkner
Henry Skitt
Phoebe Stetzel Hammond
William Howell
Samuel Adegebite
Maths
English
English
Brilliant observational drawing in Science
Brilliant observational drawing in Science
Fantastic Character description for Homework
For a detailed observational drawing of a plant Analysing the colours, shapes and patterns carefully
For excellent vocabulary selection and description in creative writing
For a detailed observational drawing of a plant Analysing the colours, shapes and patterns carefully
For a detailed observational drawing of a plant Analysing the colours, shapes and patterns carefully
Excellence in Mathematics
Incredible problem solving skills and teamwork in maths
Incredible problem solving skills and teamwork in Maths
Superb homework on Pope Francis in RE, created with originality and depth thanks to his trip to Rome this half-term
Consistently well presented and completed maths homework
For creative English homework: weaving vocabulary into an interesting story
For excellent maths homework going above and beyond what was asked of him
For creative English homework: weaving vocabulary into an interesting story
For a creative and maturely written paragraph, produced for homework
Excellent phonics progress
Excellent Florence Nightingale letter
Upcoming dates - March
Monday 6th
Wednesday 8th
Thursday 9th
Friday 10th
Tuesday 28th
Final date to register interest for Tiger Club
U11 Girls' Football v Manor Lodge - Away
3 45pm - U11 & U10 Rugby v Duncombe - Home
3 45pm - U8 &U9 Rugby v Duncombe - Home
3.45pm - U9 Hockey v Duncombe - Home
Prep Open Morning - please tell your friends!
2pm - Easter Story - College Pugin Chapel
Plea for socks
If you have any old boys' grey or girls' white socks that might fit our Nursery and Reception, we would be very grateful of the hand me downs, thank you
week in the Prep...
Science experiment
Form 5 have been learning about forces in a recent experiment Last week the children explored water resistance and the force of water They had to design and make their own boats using tin foil They had to make them as streamlined as possible and they had to be different shapes The children then raced their boats, with some weights in and in both fresh and salty water
The class really enjoyed this experiment and found that their boats need to be water tight, shaped as streamlined as possible and with not too much weight in them in order for them to float and move quickly through the water. They also found that water type did not make too much difference to water buoyancy or resistance
Anti-bullying
Form 5 worked hard on creating Anti-bullying posters around the theme of 'Reach out'. Their posters centred on how to be kind to others, how to reach out if you are being bullied and what to do if you see bullying going on In class we discussed how our behaviour can affect others and what we say and do can make a difference Their colourful and bold posters are certainly eyecatching and help us to think more about reaching out
This
This week in the Prep...
A great display of all the different activities that Form 3 took part in during anti-bullying week
Nursery read the book 'Have you filled a bucket today?' This book is all about filling your imaginary bucket by saying kind things to our friends and helping people, and how rewarding this can be. We also made our handprint to pledge that we will always use our kind hands and helping hands when we sit with our friends.
Fantastic bubbles
Nursery have been busy making bubble bottle blowers to link to our letter 'b' this week. The children enjoyed blowing the bubble mixture through the sock and watching them float away.
This week in the Prep...
Number work
Form 1 have been working really hard learning all about portioning numbers into Tens and Ones.
J'aime la Creme Brulée!
J'aime la Creme Brulée! I love Creme Brulée!
Last Friday Form 1 children were tasting a French traditional pudding : the Creme Brulée or (burnt cream) consists of a rich custard base topped with a hardened caramelized sugar Most of them loved it! They named the ingredients in French and reflected on how to make it It was a treat
World Book Day
From buddy reading to a whole school, live Where’s Wally? game, the children had a wonderful World Book Day this year Our fantastic reading ambassadors launched the day with an assembly full of top tips to help boost reading for pleasure Buddy reading followed, along with a trip to the library to guess the guest at the mystery dinner party The children had to work collaboratively to deduce the books from the clues on the dining plates and then use the library to find the authors Live interactive lessons with authors, such as Michael Rosen and Kevin Tsang, followed and then it was time for a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party lunch, complete with jam tarts and strawberry milkshake
In the afternoon, the children gathered together and explored the grounds, searching for characters and objects from Where’s Wally? When they returned to the playground, they realised they hadn’t found Wally himself and the hunt was on! The real-life Wally was hiding in the orchard Then it was back to class for an array of activities, from six-word story challenges to book reviews, prop book links, character charades and much, much, more
PERFORMING ARTS
Forthcoming events:
LAMDA (drama) exams - Monday 13th March
ABRSM (music) exams - Wednesday 15th & Thursday 16th March
Easter Story – Tuesday 28th March at 2:00pm in the College Chapel
All children in Forms 1-6 are going to be involved in this retelling of the events of Holy Week in drama, song and prayer. As we are casting and starting to rehearse now, please could you contact your child’s Form Tutor if you know that your child is not going to be in school on 28th March, two days before the end of term Thank you
Photo of the week
Forced Perspective Photography Project - Sophie Smawfield