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It is so important to give children the best possible start to their school career. They have many years ahead of them in formal education and we want to begin this exciting but challenging process in a sensitive and caring manner. We want them to view school from the beginning with eagerness, to enjoy their time in and out of the classroom, and to begin to develop a true love for learning.

We aim to provide a broad and balanced curriculum which will enable each child to develop emotionally, socially, physically, creatively, and intellectually to their full potential and at their own pace. Each child is unique and is valued as an individual.


Pre-Prep News

Spring Term in Pre-Prep

The above heading, I think, is a bit of a misnomer, as the majority of this term has been pretty much winter!! It ought to be called the ‘Winter, with an itsy bit of Spring at the end, term’!

Winter or Spring – it makes no difference to the children, however: they love to be out of doors, whatever the weather. And we have had some wonderful experiences outside, sometimes because of, rather than in spite of, the weather! It has been a ‘proper winter’! Lots of snow, turning our school into a scene from ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’; luring us out in temperatures which would normally keep us firmly ensconced near a radiator! Nothing stops our intrepid year two children! They stride out, well wrapped up, keen as mustard, whenever they get the opportunity! They spent a magical afternoon with their class teachers in the woods next to the sports field living the life of the woodland people they have been learning about this term in their topic on Native Americans. Our two new wildlife clubs have been extremely popular and the snowfalls gave us wonderful opportunities to track the animals and birds which have ventured out onto the playing fields – we have been quite ‘foxed’ by some of them! 

Having to wait for it, has made the Spring all the more welcome, and children have been out searching for the signs and, as you may see from the photograph of Olivia and Kitty, soaking up the first few rays of warm sunshine. During an RS lesson, Reception class found snowdrops and winter aconites tentatively nosing their way up through the frosty ground and discovered the sticky buds of the horse chestnut and the jet black buds of the ash tree ready to burst into leaf.

We have set up a brand new School Council in Pre-Prep and we have elected our first School Councillors from Reception, Year 1 and Year 2. The children have been the source of many interesting and exciting ideas and these were raised at the two meetings held this term in the Head of Pre-Prep's office.

As I write the incubator is humming away in Mrs Bremner’s classroom and we hope very much to be witnessing the hatching of chicks next week! The children are becoming impatient now and I am met most mornings with ‘Will it be today?’

I must say a very big thank you to all those children and parents who have been trawling through their bookcases at home for overdue library books. We have been very successful in reducing the backlog from 85 outstanding books to 35! Well done, everyone! There is still an amnesty in place if any more materialise!

The inspections are over! Hurrah! And what accolades for the children and the school! I am so proud of them all.

Finally, as you know we have been working for quite a while now on a very big project to develop the large area outside Pre-Prep. We plan to create a wonderful new environment for learning – an outside classroom. Learning in the outdoors is not about moving what you have inside, outside. It is using nature as a rich resource to stimulate children’s sense of adventure, to build their skills, to open children’s eyes and ears to the wonder of what is all around them. And this is what we are going to do!

The first part of the project is to extend the outside area back into the woodland bordering the playground. This will give access for the children to a wonderful natural landscape in which to investigate and explore. There is to be a fence erected during the Easter holidays and we are hoping to raise a working party to venture into the woods and start to clear it of leaves and debris so that pathways and clearings can be established. Any volunteers please let Miss Watts or the School Office know! Mrs Fleming has also made a start on the wildflower meadow situated at the bottom of the field and this promises to be a lovely and fascinating place for children to wonder at and study.

All the staff in Pre-Prep wish you a very happy Easter and a restful break.

Sally Watts