From the Headmaster:
It is not often, but I did pull rank on Wednesday by insisting on accompanying the Reception Class trip to Brooklands Museum.
If you haven't been, I strongly recommend a visit as children and adults alike had a thoroughly enjoyable day admiring the extraordinary array of aircraft, cars, bikes and buses on display.
The highlight (for all of us) was the visit to Concorde. I have very strong memories of Concorde flying directly over my university at 11am prompt each day, putting a hold on lectures as you couldn't possibly make yourself heard over the noise.
I have included images taken on the day in this edition and uploaded them in a format whereby clicking one one will maximise the image for easier viewing.
Do indulge me with the above image but the children were very patient as I reminisced (for quite some time) about this bike. The only items missing are the tassels from the handlebars....
It is important that I stress just how well behaved the children were and just what astute and intelligent questions they were asking of our excellent guide, Sandy.
Two more trips also took place this week. Second Steps had a most enjoyable visit to Kew and Year 1 travelled to Rowan School to participate in a writers workshop. A busy week!
Year 3 - Year 6 Curriculum Information
Do please read through this newsletter to read some important and hopefully interesting information about the content of the curriculum for our Year 3 and Year 4 (Prep) pupils next year. With 1:1 iPad provision for these children, additional time for Science, ICT and separate Art and DT lessons a great deal of thought has gone into ensuring the children not only receive the highest standard of teaching and learning but also enjoy activities and lessons that will challenge and develop their self esteem and confidence. A unique addition to the curriculum will be a weekly Outdoor and Adventurous Learning lesson - Microadventures will be a part of the curriculum. Do read the document to learn more.
Finally, looking slightly further ahead, Max, Dan, Lewis, Sam et al from Premier Sport will be holding a holiday camp this half term, a link for booking can be found directly below.
I hope you have an enjoyable weekend.
Yours sincerely,
Alistair
P.S. - Put it in your diaries now. The first ever Park Hill Inter-House Shout will take place on Thursday 25th May 9am. We will rock you....
May Half Term Camp
I am delighted to confirm that we shall be hosting a Half-Term Holiday Camp with Premier Sports once again using Park Hill as their base. The camp will run for four days in total - 30th May to 2nd June. Numbers will be limited to 30 children per day. If you would like to confirm your place in advance please complete this Google form -
Brooklands Museum Visit - Reception Class
An absolutely fabulous trip, made all the more enjoyable by an excellent and knowledgable guide. There can't be many people who get to sit in the same F1 car seat as Ayrton Senna and ride a penny farthing and sit in Concorde on the same day!
Prep School - Year 3 to Year 6 Curriculum
You will have read in a previous edition of the Deerstalker the World Economic Forum Report on the Future of Education. Critical skills such as collaboration, communication, emotional intelligence and resilience will become increasingly essential for children leaving education.
With this in mind and as part of the growth of the school, we have conducted a complete review of the curriculum across the school. Updated planning, topics and approaches to ensure we continue to improve and challenge all that we do. As part of this we have reviewed the planning for Prep School (Year 3 - Year 6) to ensure consistency and to ensure that we provide our children with a curriculum that will excite and challenge them.
I would like to draw your attention to one aspect in particular. All children will be studying a weekly lesson of Outdoor and Adventure School, everything from celestial navigation, GPS navigation, shelter building, mountain biking and micro adventures. Please follow this link to learn more -
Breakfast Club
In order to ensure we can obtain accurate numbers for Breakfast Club each day we have adapted the form currently used to book a place for the after school club. If you wish to apply for a place for breakfast club for the next day or coming week, these requests can be accommodated up to 2pm each day, with the form being taken off line at 2pm to ensure we can make the necessary arrangements. These bookings will need to be made each week and will be 'online' from 3pm each Friday afternoon for the consecutive week.
Kew Gardens Trip - Second Steps
I won't say which person in particular found this trip not only thoroughly enjoyable and a little exhausting (it wasn't just some of the children who fell asleep on the way home) but the children clearly had a super day out at Kew Gardens.
Uniform
Please ensure that all items of clothing are named.
Mrs Barikor has kindly established a Facebook page where you can request, post, sell and even donate spare items of uniform. Please follow this link to access the page -https://www.facebook.com/groups/159726614471426/
Boot bags and the new games kit (Year 1 upwards) are now available from Lester Bowden. All items can be ordered directly through their website.
I would be grateful if you could assist us in ensuring the children are wearing the correct uniform to school. Black school shoes should be worn, white socks for girls and grey socks for boys. Children from Reception to Year 3 are required to wear a blazer. Our school uniform is a source of great pride and I would be grateful for your assistance as we remind the children of the need to ensure shirts are tucked in and that they leave the school as smartly as the arrive.
Year 3 Mayan Worry Dolls
The Year 3 children, as part of their history topic studying the Ancient Mayans made their own Worry Dolls. After learning about the origins of the dolls, which are still popular in Guatemala today, they then twisted pipe cleaner to form the body, a bead for the head and then wool to make their garments.
Drop off and Collection Arrangements
The side gate is open each day from 8.00am - 8.05am for early bird drop off. It will then be opened again from 8.15am - 8.30am for drop off, and 3.30pm - 3.40pm for collection. Early bird drop off is for children only and you should leave your children with the member of staff on duty.
If you are running late, please inform Mrs Blower so we can make the necessary arrangements.
Breakfast Club
You are welcome to bring your children to breakfast club which opens its doors at 7.30am. £5 per session.
Parking
Please help us maintain the very best relationships with our neighbours by not blocking or parking in their drives when dropping off or collecting your children.
Please do not park on the yellow chevrons directly in front of the school or across driveways for the safety of all of our children.
Woodland School
Could I ask that you ensure that waterproof trousers and coats are brought into school on the relevant day (regardless of the forecast) so that we maximise our use of Richmond Park.
After School Activities
Please note: all activities, clubs (including after- school and breakfast clubs and trips will be charged through schoolmoney.
Please follow this link to access the booking forms for after school club and for teacher led activities -
Chess Club
In the next two weeks, the chess club will be taking their Level 1 Chess examinations at school. These are developed by the Institute of chess, in conjunction with a Grand Master. Level 1 exams test the basics of chess and we wish them good luck in their exams. Results will be given out after half term.
Richmond Park Film
Some of may have already seen the rather fascinating film presented by Sir David Attenborough about Richmond Park but, thanks to the link provided by Mrs. Walsh, I thought it should be shared. Please follow this link -
News from First Steps
This week in First Steps we have looked at the Nursery Rhyme of 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’. We have discussed our wishes and written them on stars that we have displayed in the classroom. For Mathematics we have been counting the points on a star and exploring other shapes too. Moreover, we enjoyed making black play dough and adding glitter to make it look like a nights sky with lots of stars twinkling. With this play dough we have been building our fine motor skills by rolling, squeezing and cutting it using different tools. We have had a lovely week.
News from Second Steps
Second Steps have thoroughly enjoyed their week, particularly at the beginning when children visited Kew Gardens. Second Steps took part in a workshop investigating plants, trees and flowers and learnt the name of each part of the plant. The children searched the garden for different leaves, petals and roots comparing its size, texture and colour. We all had lots of fun in Climbers and Creepers zooming down the slides and climbing through tunnels. Some children had the opportunity to visit the Hive which is a great multi-sensory experience. The children listened to the bee activity as if they were in a real beehive. The other groups had the opportunity to visit the glasshouse to compare plants in wet and dry tropics. Further within this environment the children had fun looking at the fish. Well done to everyone for your excellent listening skills and manners - you displayed superb behaviour.
Following on from the trip, the children were keen in drawing and labelling the parts of a flower and produced some excellent independent writing. Towards the end of the week, the children continued to develop our ‘Rainbow Fish’ display, creating sea creatures and decorating their wow folders ready for the end of year.
News from Reception
What an amazing day Reception had a Brooklands Museum on Wednesday. We had a fantastic tour guide who showed us around the museum, Reception saw lots of planes including Concord where they even got to sit in first class!
We had the opportunity to see a variety of different cars from old Bentleys to a modern day Formula One car. After our tour Reception had some time in the activity centre full of dressing up, type writers, cars and even a real plane which we could play in!
Our tour guide Sandy gave Reception the opportunity to ride an old Penny Farthing bike after seeing the transformation from the oldest bike to the newest
“The penny farthing was super high like a tower and looked funny”- Adrius.
On Thursday we had a creative morning where we used clay to make our own aeroplanes and we are planning to paint them once they are dry.
News from Year 1
Year 1 will provide us with a report about their wonderful visit to Rowan School and their work with author Petr Horacek next week.
News from Year 2
This week, the children have been completing work on the legend of Robin Hood. They have been working hard organising, and then rewriting the story including as much description as they can - this has resulted in some excellent pieces of work. Mathematics lessons this week have been focused on unusual 3D shapes, with the children learning all about prisms, describing these shapes, and sorting the according to features. With such a lovely start to the week, the year 2’s got outside and planted seeds in small pots, after planning an investigation to find out how quickly different plants grow. Our topic this week, the Stone age, was particularly exciting, with the children learning all about the early stone age, how archaeologists find out about them, and stone age carvings. They then had a go at making some of their own.
News from Year 3
Year 3 have worked hard this week, developing our understanding of the Mayans. In Science, we were looking at forces, particularly measuring them using force meters. We experimented, and discovered how much force it took to move certain objects. Maths this week has been all about 3D shapes and we have learnt how to draw them and describe them using various mathematical vocabulary. Our focus in English this week has been the legend of Robin Hood and his merry men. Computing this week gave us a chance to try out our new 'green screen' in the playground and we made movies describing places around the school.
Dates for the diary...
12th May - Year 1 to a Creative Workshop at Rowan Preparatory School with award winning children’s author and illustrator, Petr Horacek.
15th May - Year 3 & Year 4 Curriculum Information Meeting
15th - 19th May - Art Exhibition and Art Week
20th May - Pre-Prep School Football Festival at Shrewsbury House
23rd May - Race for Life
25th May - Inter House Shout, 9am School Assembly
25th May - Start of half term holiday
5th June - Term resumes
7th June - Reception Information Meeting
20th June - 1st and 2nd Steps to Chessington World of Adventures
24th June - Prize Giving and Sports Day
6th July - End of term
Please do not hesitate to contact the school office if you would like to obtain a copy of an image of your child that is included in the newsletter.
Credits:
Alistair Bond