Pre-Prep: Sowing Seeds for Summer
Nothing says 'summer term' like the smell of sun cream, sun hats and tennis!
We had a very exciting start to the term with both lambing at Aikengall Farm, thanks to the Hamilton Family, and camp-out activities with the Wild Outdoors.
At the farm, the children saw lambs being born, beautiful calves, frogs, a very pregnant horse (the foal later being named Belhaven Boy!) and, the biggest hit of all, the puppy, Gerald. Thank you to the Hamiltons for hosting us all and for looking after us so brilliantly.
On the night the Prep school had their camp out, Pre-Prep enjoyed a delicious BBQ for tea followed by some fun camping games and a cosy campfire. Toasting marshmallows was obviously a necessity!
Outdoor Education is a core part of the children's learning in the Pre-Prep and throughout the Prep School - find out all about our Outdoor Education lessons this term in Mrs Lang's review '. Lettuce celebrate the Pre-Prep Gardening Squad - they really dig it!'
Drama
In Drama Form 6 have been working on their puppet performance that they will be showcasing at the Pre-Prep concert. They made their puppets during DT with Mrs Haddon – we won’t give too much away now....make sure you come and see them at the concert next Friday!
Music
In music the children have been working hard to prepare themselves for their concert. The Form 8s have been learning the recorder, the Form 7s the violin and the Form 6s the ukulele. They are preparing a number of group performances and there will be several soloists too. Very courageous!
Sport
Tennis has been a real hit this term! Many of the children played tennis last year and have picked up from where they left off. Mr Derbyshire has been very impressed with them so far. Keep it up!
During athletics, the Pre-Prep have covered various events, including lots of running, jumping and throwing. The children have all run the, 800, 400, 200, 100 and 60 meters. They have also all practised the long jump and rounders ball throw. Form 6 have been learning high-jump with Mr Dryburgh in PE. All of the children have applied themselves with great enthusiasm and we have now started to time and measure our events. The sole focus has been on the children beating their own personal best and not comparing themselves to anyone else. In their Patrols, the children have been practising the tricky event of the relay and passing the baton whilst running, which is proving a challenge. However, I have no doubt that they will continue to improve and that by Sports Day they will be running a Pre-Prep Olympic standard relay race!
Classwork
Form 8
Form 8 have been busy with their topic, The Garden. In line with this topic we have used the book Amara and the Bats to start a series of writing and have been recreating our own version of Van Gogh’s sunflowers.
We have just finished our series of number lessons on multiplication and division and are working to become confident in counting in 2s, 5s and 10s. This skill has come in very handy as we are now learning about money, with a focus on counting coins. We have started to use arrays to understand multiplication and division and have also used the repeated addition method.
In science we have been enjoying watching our seeds come to life, encouraged by our singing of course! We have also learned the difference between wild and garden plants.
Form 7
In maths, we have finished our learning about fractions. The Form 7s can now confidently identify and find halves, quarters and thirds of shapes, objects and numbers. We have now started learning how to tell the time! We have revised o’clock and half past and are beginning to explore quarter past and quarter to. Telling the time on an analogue clock is tricky, but we’re persevering! We’re using our understanding of halves, quarters and wholes to navigate our way around the clock-face!
In our literacy lessons, we have been inspired by our new book, Lots: The Diversity of Life on Earth. The children have written incredible descriptions of an abundant jungle as well as a lifeless jungle using a range of positive and negative adjectives and verbs.
We have enjoyed learning about the needs of animals in our Science and Topic lessons, and the impact it can have if these needs aren’t met. We are discovering a range of extinct animals which unfortunately haven’t survived and what we could have done to protect them!
Form 6
In maths we have started looking at time and have introduced Roman numerals. Please do ask the children what the time is when you can – they are really enjoying trying to work it out! We have been working on our –2, -3, -5 and 10 times tables and will soon start looking at the 4 times tables. Any counting up in these amounts will help to consolidate this and improve their fact recall.
In our literacy lessons we have been working hard on our reading and comprehensions. We have been looking at the past tense as we work towards our recount about the journey of our polar explorer.
In science we have enjoyed looking at fossils and how they were formed. With a particular focus on dinosaurs, which is always very exciting! We have now moved on to look at light – which are sources, and which are not, such as the sun and the moon.
