ST EDWARD'S PREP Newsletter May 2017

Dear Parents,

The summer term is always hugely busy, but this one started in a fabulous way with our Space-themed Open Morning. I felt that the school was shown in its most positive light, the sense of community, learning and fun really shone through. The fact that we were busier than at any other time since I have been Headmaster was testament to all the good work that’s happening in school and the support we feel from the parent body.

Further evidence of this came last week when we were inspected by two members of the Wishford Board. Inspirational teaching, the development of individual learners and their knowledge of the language of learning were all praised highly. The stimulating and exciting learning environment, plus our STEAMED initiative and Computer Science curriculum were also celebrated in the report.

I was extremely proud to hear the feedback they gave and proof that the school has made great strides forward over the past couple of years. The Wishford Board and I feel that annual inspections are invaluable in helping schools develop, rather than accepting the normal three-year cycle. There is still plenty of work to do, as schools must never stand still.

The hard work put in by the boys is a large part of what makes a school successful and I look forward to celebrating all that they have achieved this year at Prize Giving in the coming weeks.

Yours sincerely,

Stuart Morgan-Nash

STEAMED Week brought yet more fun learning to St Ed's, and with Space as our theme, the sky really was no limit!

Pre-Prep Space Workshop

The whole of Pre-Prep enjoyed an Interactive Space Workshop on 4th May, when Jo Richardson from Space Detectives Education Team came to visit. She ran two workshops, one in the morning for Year 1 and 2 and another in the afternoon for Reception and Pre-Reception. The theme was ‘Our Place in Space’.

We looked at our own amazing Solar System and how Earth sits in relation to everything around it. We examined the origins of the Solar System and how celestial bodies are organised in space. We made a voyage of discovery to each of the planets in turn and learnt not only about the mind boggling distances involved in space travel but we also made size comparisons with our nearest neighbours.

As you can see in the picture above, we even made a replica of the Solar System with the boys as the planets! They all really enjoyed these interactive, hands-on activities!

‘I loved being Mercury because it was fast and I like being fast’. Kai

‘I liked being Earth when we were talking about the Solar System’. Dylan

‘I thought it was fun being Uranus orbiting slowly around the Sun.’ Tom

We were then lucky enough to try on a pair of Virtual Reality goggles and experience what it would actually be like to be in space! Finally we took part in fun activities and experiments looking at the theories of gravity and modeled a planet to take home.

‘I really liked using the gravity mat and watching the Earth spin around the sun.’ Jamie and Ollie

‘I learnt more than I thought I would learn.’ Toby

‘I enjoyed watching the Story Bots who told us about the planets.’ Yash

‘I felt really happy because I really liked the fun activities and finding out about things I didn’t know.’ Rohan

‘I enjoyed looking through the Space Goggles.’ Felix

‘I liked learning when the Sun was invented and all the other planets.’ Luca

‘I liked the activity when we put pepper into water, spun it around and put fairy liquid into it.’ Nathan

‘I liked when we had to spin the ball and string and pull the string in. It showed us how planets closer to the sun orbit more quickly.’ Ronit

‘I liked everything!’ Mihai

The Prep boys had an exciting day at the Science Museum for STEAMED Week

SPRING TERM OPEN MORNING

Who needs Buzz Lightyear? Pre-Prep astronauts are in charge of Star Command!

St Edward’s was buzzing at the Spring Term Open Morning, and with more new families than ever before coming to look around our amazing school, we pulled out all the stops and went into Space!

There were lots of activities on offer from an astronaut bootcamp to creating constellations with marshmallows. We tackled the technology required to control a moon buggy, harnessed the kinetic power of water to send rockets sky high, made and flew our own UFO hovercraft, carried out weird and wonderful alien chemistry experiments. It was a very busy morning!

Awesome water powered rockets!

Thank you to our Year 6 boys who did an amazing job as tour guides for new families. There were many comments about how polite, confident and eloquent you were; we are very proud of you all. Thanks also to our Parent Ambassadors who helped host our visitors and share their own experiences of St Ed’s. To the parents and boys who gave up their Saturday morning to come into school, we hope you all enjoyed it, thank you.

A special thank you to our staff team who do such an incredible job planning and delivering these events, and showcasing the fun and innovative way we educate our boys.

Thank you everyone!

PRE-PREP SPRING PICNIC

Picnic time!

It was a dull morning on 19th May. In assembly Mr Morgan-Nash said ‘It’s grey and drizzling, the temperature has dropped by 5 degrees, so...it must be the day of the Pre-Prep Picnic!’

However, as we loaded packed lunches and boys onto the minibuses the sun began to peep through the clouds and we ended up having three beautiful hours in the sunshine at Basildon Hall. Although still too wet on the ground to eat outside, the boys enjoyed playing football and cricket on the large playing fields. Different play equipment and climbing frames kept the boys entertained and happy.

We were very lucky to be joined by lots of parents (great that so many dads could join us this year too!) who enjoyed spending special time with their sons and also gave them a relaxed and informal opportunity to catch up with Pre-Prep staff. Furthermore it was a lovely opportunity for boys joining us next academic year to join in the fun and meet their new teachers and soon to be friends!

An extra special moment at the picnic this year was surprising Miss Cullum with a beautifully decorated biscuit mountain to share with everybody as we helped celebrate her imminent wedding. A huge thank you to Mrs Garlick for organising this and for the many hours she spent icing the delicious biscuits.

Miss Cullum's amazing biscuit mountain
Come rain or shine, there are always happy faces at the annual family picnic!

LAMDA RESULTS

Matthew Perry: Mime Entry, Distinction

Oliver Hunt: Acting Entry, Distinction

Daniel Hunt: Introductory Stage Two, Distinction

Mihai Ocheseanu: Introductory Stage One, Merit

Tobias White: Introductory Stage One, Merit

James Richmond-Coggan: Stage One Poetry, Merit

Adam Richmond-Coggan: Acting Grade One, Merit

Oliver Burton: Introductory Stage One, Distinction

Darsh Haridas: Introductory Stage One, Merit

Archie Parker: Introductory Stage One, Merit

Alexander Orton, Introductory Stage One, Merit

Musa Ahmed: Speaking of Verse and Prose Entry: Merit

Jabari Herbert: Introductory Stage Two, Distinction

Joseph Swift: Mime Entry, Merit

Thomas Swift: Introductory Stage One, Merit

Dylan Wastney: Introductory Stage Three, Merit

Rohan Sturup-Toft: Introductory Stage Three, Merit

Callum Colquhoun: Introductory Stage One, Pass

Max Williams: Introductory Stage Three, Distinction

Isaac Pappenberger: Speaking of Verse and Prose Grade One, Distinction

Kai Sever: Introductory Stage One, Distinction

Jordan Ndungu: Introductory Stage Three, Distinction

Manaswith Vipperla: Acting Grade One, Distinction

Rujul Nayak: Acting Entry, Distinction

Owen Warwick: Speaking of Verse and Prose Grade One, Merit

Congratulations boys on all your hard work!

FENCING GRADING RESULTS

Passed grade 2: Aedan, Yadveer, Nathan, Josh, Khalil, Branson, Billy, Lewis, Adam, Zach

Passed grade 1: Mohamed, Khalil, Christian, Aedan

Congratulations to all the boys!

Please support our PTA!

Little Griffins Pre-Reception Open Morning

Whatever your plans for Half Term, we hope everyone gets to enjoy some sunshine!

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