St Margaret's Prep School Newsletter - 29 January 2016
-
Upload
st-margarets-school -
Category
Documents
-
view
217 -
download
1
description
Transcript of St Margaret's Prep School Newsletter - 29 January 2016
Prep Newsletter Friday
29th January 2016
tf
Dear Parents,
Behaviour
This week we have reminded the children about good behaviour and
being our best self to ensure that we ‘treat others as you would wish to
be treated’.
What is good behaviour? Treat others as you would wish to be treated ~ Be organised
Know the difference between right and wrong Be kind and caring ~ Be respectful, honest and polite
Behave maturely ~ Work to the best of your ability Be a role model ~ Recognise there are limits and rules
Accept responsibility for your actions ~ Listen and follow instructions
We believe that children want to be good and it
is our job to ‘catch’ them at it. On a daily basis
there is so much that is good and through
assemblies, lessons and indeed all areas of
school life, we promote and celebrate this.
Parents are the first educators of our children
and in partnership with parents the emphasis
must always be on promoting good behaviour.
At St Margaret’s we have high expectations for
pupil conduct and through working
collaboratively we can ensure that these high
standards are maintained. Courtesy, good manners and consideration for
others, together with self-discipline and a proper respect for authority
and safety are encouraged at all times and are important for our school
to be a true, caring community.
With the girls in assembly we discussed what good behaviour is and
came to a consensus of opinion. We will continue this theme in future
assemblies and keep you up to date.
School Council
This week we held our first School Council meeting of the
term with Mansi (Reception), Dyana (Year 1), Sia (Year 2),
Zoya (Year 3), Anya (Year 4), Sienna (Year 5) and Amisha
(Year 6) in attendance to express their class’s views on
certain topics. The meeting was overseen by our Head and
Deputy Head Girls Ami, Kalyani and Bryony.
The first agenda item was to update the Prep School’s
‘Golden Rules’. Sienna suggested that ‘No interrupting and
Listen to adults’ was included and Amisha agreed saying
that the rules should also include ‘Don’t open the door for
strangers’ and change ‘Don’t waste people’s time’ to ‘Don’t
take up people’s time’. As everyone agreed that the poster
needs to be more eye catching, Ami, Kalyani and Bryony
have been tasked with this job. We will see the final updated
‘Golden Rules’ poster in a future Newsletter.
The School Council were given £200 to spend and asked
their class how they felt the money would be best spent.
Ideas included Year 1 wanting a bigger garden and Years 3,
4 and 5 wanting more wet playtime games and outside toys.
However they voted 9 - 10 that more money should be raised
for an end of year workshop. Ideas for workshops currently
include animals, art, electronic games, cookery, a magician
and a skipping workshop. First the School Council need to
decide how they will raise at least another £400 and decide
which workshop they think all of the Prep School girls would
benefit from/like...
We also had a positive discussion about the food at St
Margaret’s. The girls have requested hot chocolate at break
times and a variety of fruit. At lunchtime noodles and wraps
were popular with Fish Friday being on a rota with pizza,
nuggets and hot dogs. We are a healthy school but the girls
would like an opportunity to be a little unhealthy at times!
Themed lunches were discussed and we heard ideas for 101
Dalmatians, a Pancake Day and a Roald Dahl themed lunch!
Mufti Days are always popular and the decision for what we
Mufti Days are always popular and the decision for what we will be
wearing on Friday 12th February was made - onesies. Please do not go
out and buy one especially for the mufti day.
At the end of the School Council meeting the reps were asked to bring up
any other business. A popular comment came from Sienna (Year 5) who
suggested that we invite parents to talk in assembly about their religion.
What a great idea! If you are interested, please let me know.
‘Going the extra mile’
I regularly ask if any children have gone ‘the extra mile’ and this week
Chuwen in Year 5 was so inspired by her Science lesson that she
designed and carried out 2 experiments at home. The class had been
learning about insulation materials. Chuwen’s first experiment was to find
out: Does different insulation affect water temperature? Chuwen used 4
beakers and taped a different material to each (cotton, plastic, paper, fur).
She poured an equal amount of boiling water in each and each minute
measured the water temperature. Chuwen discovered that fur was the
best insulator because the water stayed warmer for longer.
Does insulation affect ice melting? For this experiment Chuwen took a
piece of tablecloth, fur and plastic, wrapping each around a beaker. The
fourth beaker was not wrapped with any material. She shared the ice
equally between the beakers and observed the ice every 5 minutes for 1
hour. She discovered that the ice inside the beakers lined with fur and
plastic melted more quickly than the uncovered beaker and the one
covered with the table cloth.
Chuwen then tabulated her results into a scatter graph.
In addition this week Chuwen presented a
PowerPoint about Chinese New Year to her
class, how Chinese people celebrate the
occasion and what they eat. We are always
thrilled when girls talk about their cultural
background and can tell us stories, explain
meanings and show us interesting items.
Chuwen certainly did this, again, proving that
she is an exceptional student who works
above and beyond expectations at school.
Mufti Day
On Friday 12th February we encourage all of our Prep School pupils to
come into school in mufti. Lower Prep children may wear their home
clothes with sensible shoes, appropriate for school. The Upper Prep
decided to wear their onesies again. Please do not go out and buy one
especially. If your daughter does not have one, she may come in home
clothes appropriate to school. All girls will need their school coat, hat
and gloves. As Year 2 will have their Swimming lesson as usual please
ensure that the mufti she wears is easily removed and put back on again.
Year 6 will have PE as usual.
Projects
I mentioned in a previous Newsletter that I would be very keen for our
pupils to do a self-directed project about something they are very
interested in. Your daughter can select a topic, do some research to
develop her ideas and organise the information into a finished product
which could be a talk, PowerPoint presentation, collage, model, piece of
artwork, computer based presentation, fashion show, photographic
montage, dance or written report. During the project a range of skills will
be used which may include interviewing others, finding information from
books and the internet, note taking and/or writing up findings.
Undoubtedly a number of extremely important skills such as problem
solving, making decisions, thinking critically, creatively and flexibly and
presenting the project to a selected audience will be involved, leading to
a final product of which your daughter feels proud.
How to organise the project:
Select an area of interest.
Make a mind map of what is already known.
Add in questions that you would like to find answers to.
Research the answers using a range of sources.
Begin to organise the project, considering how you would like to
present it and who your audience will be...
Complete the project.
Deliver the project / presentation.
Mrs C Aisthorpe
Head of St. Margaret’s Preparatory School
Congratulations Lower Prep Star of the Week
(last week)
Reception: Alexa
Year 1: Morayo
Year 2: Ore
Achievement
We are very excited to learn that Scarlet, Year 4, has some
exciting news! After some recent tough battles in the
British Championship and the Junior Four Nations Chess
League Scarlet has received her new grades.
She is currently ranked 11th
in England for Under 9 girls in
rapidplay and 5th
in England for Under 9 girls in longplay.
Scarlet has even entered the top 100 Under 14 girls long play
competition.
Over the next fortnight we have a number of exciting events:
Monday 1st
- Upper Prep Swimming Gala in our swimming pool.
Thursday 4th
- Year 2 - 6 Spring Concert - parents invited - Letter home
today.
Monday 8th
- Upper Prep Lunchtime Concert - performers parents
invited - Letter home today.
Thursday 11th - Valentine’s Disco for Lower and Upper Prep - Letter
home today.
Friday 12th
- Mufti Day. Half Term commences - finish at usual time. After
School Club will run as usual.
Radio 2’s 500 Words
competition
We encourage each girl to enter
this wonderful competition. Last
year Heeya in Year 5 entered
and was a semi-finalist! This
year we would like as many of
our pupils to enter as this
develops her literacy skills and
is just a great thing to do! For
more information please visit
www.bbc.co.uk/500words . If
you do enter please let us know.
February
1st Upper Prep Swimming Gala
4th 17:00-18:00 Preparatory School Spring Concert (No M:tech, Gymnastics, Ballet)
8th 13:00-13:30 Upper Prep Lunchtime Concert
11th 15:30-16:45 Lower Prep Valentine’s Disco - £3 (no Co-Curricular Activities)
17:00-18:45 Upper Prep Valentine’s Disco - £3 (no Co-Curricular Activities)
12th Mufti Day - £2 Half Term commences
22nd Term recommences
22nd-26th
Prep School Sponsored Spelling Week
25th 09:30-12:00 School at Work Open Morning
29th-4th
Prep School World Book Week
March
1st
St David’s Day- girls may come to school wearing their Rainbow/Brownies/Guides/Beavers/Cubs/ Scouts uniform.
1st Year 6 visit to Lincolnsfield Centre (school uniform)
2ns 13:30-14:00 Upper Prep Inter House Spelling Bee
3rd Year 5 visit to St Albans Abbey
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 09:00-09:45 Mother’s Day Assembly, Senior School Hall
10th Lower Prep Environmental Day
16th Year 4 visit to Water Works
Dates
Reception
“
In Reception
Class we have
been learning all
about
Cinderella. We
have written our
very own
invitations, made
beautiful tiaras
and held a
fantastic
‘Cinderella Ball.’
f
Year 1
“
In Year 1 we have enjoyed story writing. Just
look at these wonderful pieces of writing and
amazing artwork. Well done Year 1!
Year 2
“
After admiring all the wonderful
houses that Year 2 made, Miss
Pares will be speaking to an
architect soon to see if a
combination of these designs
can be created for her. Ideally
she would like a tennis court and
swimming pool in the grounds,
energy provided by solar panels
and a covered roof top jacuzzi!
Year 3
“
We have been busy designing umbrellas. We looked at a
variety of designs on different umbrellas and discussed
the patterns. After thinking what designs we wanted, and
looking at the various things that we had which we could
use for decoration, we created our designs. We were able
to use buttons, doilies, feathers, sequins and other little
treasures.
It was fun to make our designs and we felt proud and
happy when we had finished.
With the storm that is just arriving across The Atlantic we
would be pleased to have another umbrella! The only
problem is the rain might blow them away if they were
real!
It was fun to make our designs
and we felt proud and happy
when we had finished.
With the storm that is just
arriving across The Atlantic
we would be pleased to have
another umbrella! The only
problem is the rain might blow
them away if they were real!
Alliteration
During Writing
Year 4 discussed
alliteration. In
groups we created
sentences using
alliteration.
Year 4
“
The silly squirrel sat on the soaked sofa.
A parrot peeked through a pink prickly hole.
The rude rabbit ran through the wrinkly floor.
The treacherous tiger told Tracy to try.
The obnoxious octopus opened his owl eyes.
The squeaky squirrel told Scarlet to scare the bear.
The dodgy dolphin dived in the deep dark ocean.
The pink parrot pecked the purple peanut to play with Priya.
The plump pig playfully picked the yummy plums.
A scary spider spun the web in the cellar.
The remarkable rabbit ruined the running race.
The terrifying tiger trembled terribly through the trees.
The orange octopus plays the oboe in the orchestra.
The dangerous dog dug under the dirty ground.
The creepy, creative cat crawled through the cold tunnel.
The lucky lion looked at the lumpy lamb.
The fat frog frowned in the flowery field.
The smelly spider climbed up the silver spout.
Year 5
Year 5 have been
writing some
fabulous stories in
their creative
writing lessons.
The stimulus was a
bunch of keys. The
girls discussed their
ideas with a talk
partner to help them
clarify their ideas
and then recorded
them on a story
plan prior to writing
them. The stories
the girls wrote were
fast paced and
imaginative and
there was lots of
exciting vocabulary
included to add
interest for the
reader.A brilliant
effort girls - well
done!
In Year 6 we have been
continuing our studies of
World War 2. In a recent
lesson we learned about
the miraculous
evacuation of soldiers
from Northern France and
the notable ‘Dunkirk
spirit’ of the many people
who came in boats of all
sizes despite the many
dangers. It is a theme of
St Margaret’s to always
believe you can
overcome anything,
particularly if you work as
a team and this piece of
history represents that
ideal perfectly.
We have also been
exploring life in Britain
during the war and the
girls have been
discussing the idea of
rationing and what it
would have been like for
families at this time. Gas-
masks became part of
everyday life at this time
and the girls had the
opportunity to try some
on; needless to say they
were not hugely
impressed by the feel or
smell of these.
Year 6