St Margaret's Prep School Newsletter - 4 March 2016
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Transcript of St Margaret's Prep School Newsletter - 4 March 2016
Prep Newsletter Friday
4th March 2016
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Dear Parents,
This week in assemblies I spoke to the children about the new Prep
School and showed them the pictures below to give them an idea of
what to expect. As anticipated they were so excited and as one child
commented, “I want to move in now,” and many more said that they
couldn’t wait to move. We are all a little sad to be leaving our old
buildings though.
This week I have been interviewed to find out my thoughts on the move
of the Prep School.
1. What are you looking forward to the most when the building is ready?
I am looking forward to all of the Prep School being under one roof.
Currently Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 are in the Lower Prep house and
Years 3 - 6 are in 3 separate buildings. When we move all of Reception -
Year 6 will be in one building. Another good reason for the move is to
have greater interaction between our youngest and oldest pupils. At the
moment it takes a fair bit of organisation to bring them together. Also we
really enjoy the Senior School girls coming over to help; hopefully this.
will increase when
we move. Most
importantly though,
we are one school
with pupils aged
from 4 - 18 and to be
on one site will
encourage greater
interaction and
understanding.
2. Will you miss the old location?
Very much so, particularly the architectural aspects of our old buildings
as there is a lot of history which should not be forgotten. Our grounds
are spectacular and frequently used. However, we will not lose space as
there is so much on the Main School site.
3. How will you ensure the girls get to the Sports Centre safely?
Safety is paramount and our girls are very well supervised. A new road
crossing will be put between the new Prep School to the Sports Centre.
We regularly teach and remind all of the girls how to be safe and
responsible. In the Summer Term the Years 2s will have a Scooter/Road
Safety workshop (as has happened for the last few years). The Reception
and Year 1 children will also have a road safety workshop in July.
4. Are the girls looking forward to sharing the Dining Room with the
Senior School girls?
Absolutely, there was quite a ripple of excitement in assembly when I
told the girls. Currently we have lunch in the Senior School Dining Room
about once a term and the girls love the choice and variety of food.
5. What will the facilities be like?
All of the Prep School teachers have had an input into the new building
design and early on in the process met with the architects. The new
Science Lab will be modern and well resourced (as it is now). We will
also have an Art room, one Library for all of the Prep School pupils, a
multi-purpose Hall and a Play Barn. The south facing classrooms will be
large, with the downstairs rooms opening up into the play area with soft
flooring. flooring. We are
currently raising
money for an
adventure
playground, which
is causing quite a
bit of excitement
among the girls as
they are
suggesting what
apparatus they
would like.
Spelling Bee congratulations
On Wednesday we had the final of the Upper Prep Spelling Bee. This
followed every Prep School pupil learning their sponsored spelling
words over the half term. The highest scorers in Years 3 - 6 went forward
into the semi-final on Monday. In the semi-final and final the girls were
given words to spell that were not on their sponsored spelling list, but
were appropriate for their age group.
Congratulations to the semi-finalists (if there are 4 semi-finalists in a
year group it is because there was a tie for one of the places):
6. How much input will the girls have in the new building?
Quite a lot! The School Council Reps will be tasked with seeking their
class’s opinion and wishes - although we can’t guarantee they will have
everything they ask for. (Remember, they did once have a request for a
zip wire coming out of the current Year 1 classroom!) Watch out for the
girls’ comments, suggestions and feedback over the next few months -
we all know that they have a lot to say!
Semi-finalists Finalists Winner 2016
Year 3 Issey
Isabelle Isabelle
Zienna
Doris
Year 4 Shriya
Anaya Anaya Anaya
Melina
Year 5 Sienna
Izabella
Heeya Heeya
Afrah
Year 6 Dorsa Dorsa
Camille
Nikita
The Spelling Bee Champion 2016 was declared as Anaya in Year 4, who
correctly spelled more words than the other finalists. The staff were so
impressed that the girls applauded the contestants and were genuinely
pleased with their efforts, thus showing a true St Margaret’s spirit, being
happy for other’s achievements.
Thank you to all parents who have helped their child to collect sponsor
money. So far we have collected £953.10. If you still have money to hand
in please would you do so by Monday 7th at the latest. All monies
received will go into the new Prep School Adventure Playground fund.
St David’s Day Well done to Juliette (Y2), Amaya
(Y3), Millie (Y4) and Elif (Y5) who wore their
Cub/Brownie outfits on St David’s Day on
Tuesday - it was lovely to see you in your uniform.
Dress up as your favourite book character day
has been wonderful. The children have
experienced a range of different activities today
Mother’s Day Assembly (Tuesday 8th 14:30 in the Senior School Hall)
Please park in the Sports Centre car park and walk over to the Senior
School Hall which will be open from 14:15. Mrs Hardy will be giving a
short presentation before the children begin their assembly. At the end of
the assembly all children will return to class. After you have had
refreshments you may collect your daughter to go home. Zumba (Years 1
- 6), Science Club and Supervised Study (Years 3 - 6) and the After School
Club (Rec - Year 6) will all run as usual.
to develop and enhance their love of books and reading. What is
particularly heartening is how older and younger pupils have joined
forces to discuss their favourite books. It has been a very lovely day.
Congratulations
Congratulations to Kitty, Year 3,
who received this amazing cup
for having the most points in her
swimming club. Well done Kitty!
Mrs C Aisthorpe
Head of St. Margaret’s Preparatory School
Congratulations Lower Prep Star of the Week
(last week)
Reception: Simran & Navya
Year 1: Isabella
Year 2: Sofia
Commendation
CONGRATULATIONS to…
Heeya, Y5
Certificate
CONGRATULATIONS to…
Tia, Y3
Parents’ Evening (Tuesday 22nd - a letter will be sent on 11.03.16)
This term we are holding the Lower and Upper Prep Parents’ Evening on
the same day so that parents with children in both areas only need to
have one evening meeting. For those parents whose daughter is in the
Upper Prep you will also have the opportunity to meet with the subject
specialists.
Sainsbury’s Active Kids Vouchers
We have begun to collect these vouchers in the Active Kids box in the
Upper Prep Office (Lower Prep may put their vouchers into the post box
in the Lower Prep entrance). Angel’s Year 6 team are encouraging all of
the girls to bring in vouchers. So far we have collected …. and the team
would like to buy ….., but they need a total of ……. Please help support
us as last year we were able to buy a number of toys which are now used
regularly at play times.
Website
As mentioned at the beginning of this term, we have been updating the
Parent Area of the School website. Please have a look as there is
information on the curriculum, ‘How to Support Your Child With Reading’,
Pupil Wellbeing, Behaviour and recommended reading lists. Please take
a look - www.stmargaretsbushey.co.uk - Parents - Prep Parents. I would
welcome suggestions as to what you
would like to see in the Prep Area of our
website.
March
4th Prep School “Dress up as your favourite book character”
7th 16:15-17:20
Years 5 & 6 Netball v St Hilda’s (Home)
8th 14:30-15:30
Mother’s Day Assembly, Senior School Hall
16th Year 4 visit to Water Works
17th-18th
LAMDA exams
22nd 15:30-20:00
Rec – Year 6 - Parents’ Evening
24th
Prep School Mufti Day - £2 “Career Mufti Day” What profession would you like to be in when you are an adult? Come to school dressed for this job.
24th 14:00 Term Ends
April
12th Summer Term begins
Dates
Reception
“
This week we have been making some special gifts for Mother’s Day. The girls made beautiful boxes and
delicious peppermint creams to go inside them.
Year 1
“
This week in Science, Year 1 have been learning about
insulators. We tested 3 different materials: fur, felt and tin
foil, and discovered that the best insulator to keep Mrs
Carter's tea warm for longest, was the fur.
Year 2 studied the poem, "What is red?" We thought
about the pattern of rhyming words and how the poem
was set out, then we worked in small groups to write
our own colour poems.
Year 2
“
Year 3
“
This week is the first one of Spring. It is exciting to think of the
days getting longer and the sun getting stronger. It will be
wonderful if it happens soon!
With Easter getting closer too we have started to think about a
lovely decoration that we can make. We started this week by
weaving a mat. This will be decorated over the next few weeks
ready to take home for the Easter holidays.
We will all be looking out for daffodils and signs of Spring over
the next few weeks…..
Year 3
“
Year 4
“
Every student in Year 4 has a different
talent/strength. In PSHE we discussed our
strengths and how it makes us an expert in
something. Therefore if we all work together
in our area of strength we will help each
other succeed. We put our strength on a
puzzle piece and placed them together on
the wall.
Year 5
Year 5 had a
wonderful time in
St Albans
yesterday.
In the morning
we enjoyed a
Victorian
Classroom
experience. Each
girl had to pay a
penny to the
Headmistress
and say “Good
morning Ma'am”.
The teachers
were extremely
strict and Sienna
had to be caned
at one point!
Heeya and Safiya
had to read in
front of the class
and poor Elif had
to stand in the
corner wearing
the Dunce's hat.
In the afternoon
there was a lovely
session playing
old Victorian
games including
Jacobs Ladder
and a spinning
hoop. The girls
then had the
chance to make
their own
thaumatrope
which involved drawing two pictures which would
merge when the card was spun. We arrived back at
school safely and tired but everyone had thoroughly
enjoyed a great day.
Year 6
This week Year 6 visited the Lincolnsfield Centre in Bushey as
part of their studies of World War 2. After being greeted by Mrs
Summerhayes the girls were given their official war-time identity
cards and reminded they must have them on their person at all
times.
In groups the girls had the
opportunity to visit a brick
shelter and a war-time house.
They also had the opportunity
to ride on an actual war-time
jeep which they all decided
was rather fun, albeit a little
scary. They learned about the
three different types of
shelters; the Morrison shelter,
Anderson shelter and brick
shelter. They were astounded
that during air raids, teachers
continued to deliver lessons to
the children in the shelters.
The visit was particularly
poignant as two of the
volunteers told stories of their
own experiences of the war
and the girls were able to ask
questions; Mr Howard’s
description of his experiences
of being evacuated left many of
the girls feeling sad and
emotional, and grateful that
they no longer have to
experience this.
Another highlight was
learning about the Dig For
Victory garden, and some
girls even had the
opportunity to hold Stewy
the bunny. Their teamwork
was also put to the test when
they were asked to
extinguish a fire bomb that
had landed on the roof using
only a bucket and a pump;
an exhausting and
somewhat soggy experience.
Well done to all the girls who tried the recent challenges on the
Mathematics board. The next challenges are now on display in
the classroom block. Girls are encouraged to solve these in
school or they can take them home to complete.
In Years 3 & 4 the following girls successfully completed the
‘Treasure Chests’ challenge and have been awarded a
commendation for their House!
Maths Challenge
In Years 5&6 the following girls successfully completed the
‘Coin Magic’ challenge and have been awarded a commendation
for their House!
A special mention for Alessia in Year 3 who
completed both challenges – well done!
Windsor Southwark St Johns Waterhouse
Scarlet
Luciana
Maya
Lily
Alessia
Isabel L
Isabella S
Aneesa
Arya
Windsor Southwark St Johns Waterhouse
Kamand
Nikita
Alessia
(Yr3)
Arabella
Heeya
Katie
Marina
Karina
Sanaa
Ami