This week’s newsletter for Rossall Nursery, Pre-Prep and Prep School.
Message from the Preparatory School Headmaster
Dear Parents,
I am sure that you will have seen the fantastic achievement of our Senior School footballers, as they progressed through to the semi finals of the ISFA cup. The Prep School Year 4, 5 and 6 pupils were offered the opportunity to watch and support their fellow Rossalians and did so with great gusto as they sang and cheered the team on to victory.
Having attended many football matches over the years, I do not believe I have ever witnessed such great fan behaviour, as the crowd, led ably by our very own Mr Condon, delivered rousing versions of ‘Rossall, Together Standing Tall’ and ‘The Carmen’. What I was most proud of however, was the reaction of the children as they discarded their Premier League players, finding new heroes in the form of the Headmaster’s 1st XI.
It has most certainly moved into the Christmas season with a fabulous performance at our pantomime. Watching the reactions of the pupils to a live performance that was full of audience participation, made me realise just how much the children have missed the annual traditions such as this. Oh yes they have!
I eagerly await next week as we enjoy the Christmas Nativity, the Christmas Showcase, Christmas parties, Christmas Jumper Day, Christmas lunch, and the Christmas Carol service – it is all beginning to feel a bit like Christmas!
Have a relaxing weekend and we look forward to welcoming you into School next week.
Mr M Turner
Headmaster of Preparatory School & Nursery
Football Tournament
It was amazing! We hit the jackpot as the weather was great for playing football. There were 20 schools entered in the competition, we played 4 matches.
All the games were close! The scores were so tight every match and the difference was never more than a goal or two. We reached the quarter finals, we were given a short break where we practiced shooting and corners. That obviously paid off in our final match.
It was such an evenly matched game that it came down to penalties. Unfortunately Larkholme won, but it was a brilliant experience, so much so we have asked for a rematch next term!
By Betsy
Year 6
The penultimate week of term may well have been the busiest the year 6 children have experienced so far.
Not only have we been continuing all our fabulous work in the classroom including weaving our own Maya place mats, we also had a great deal of activities taking place in and around school.
The two classes have designed their Christmas trees and delivered them to Father John; the girls have been out of school playing in the regional football tournament; a large group of children went to Poolfoot Farm to watch the Headmaster’s Eleven play in the quarter finals of the Independent School’s Cup against Millfield; on Thursday we had the pleasure of a very entertaining and amusing pantomime visit; and finally Friday saw the final Rossall Rotation of the year.
It really has been somewhat of a Christmas miracle that we managed to do as much work in the classroom as we have. The fact we have demonstrates the fabulous work ethic and commitment of the Year 6 children. There will be some very tired children over the next week, but just remind them there are only five more get ups till the Christmas holidays.
Year 5
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!
Meredith Willson
As the penultimate week draws to an end, the excitement in the Preparatory School is palpable. Class Christmas trees have been decorated ( with amazing home made decorations) Carols and Christmas songs have been practiced and the fabulous Pantomime was enjoyed by all!
We did manage to fit in some academic work in too. Jub has vanquished the wicked witch and the ‘ happy endings’ are back, glowing in the night sky. The children’s dreams are happy once again . Year 5 have thoroughly enjoyed this book and it has encouraged some superb writing and discussion.
We have worked hard to master multiples in Mathematics and become ninjas at noticing patterns in number sequences.
The amazing Geographical features of the Scandinavian countries have been explored and marvelled at. The children were keen to go on a class trip!
In History we have been investigating the mighty Viking Gods and struggling a little to pronounce some of their names!
As the Michaelmas Term draws to an end, I am proud of all the children and the enormous effort they put into everything that they do.
Year 4
This has been a turbocharged week of events as we go hurtling into the final week of term.
Pupils investigated how sound travels through solids and gases by a series of experiments. We made an improvised telephone with two paper cups joined together with a long length of string. The children found the visual representation of sound travelling along string fascinating. We tried the experiment with the string left loose and then again pulled tight. The children were quite enthralled by the difference in volume between the two experiments.
We also had the exciting delivery of a Christmas tree which the children decorated prior to taking it to the chapel. Each class had the opportunity to decorate their class tree in a theme of their choice. Year 4 dressed their class tree with ‘times-table’ baubles and it joined the rest of the trees in the chapel for the final year ceremony on Friday morning. The sight of all the Christmas trees lined up in the chapel with their different themed decorations was very engaging and one couldn’t help but make the analogy of how such differences make the world a more vibrant place.
The children are busy practising for next week’s circus performance and their ideas are amazing. This is totally child led and testimony to the skills, talents, imagination and huge potential of the Year 4 children. I can’t wait to see them present their acts next week and I’m sure they will all do amazingly well.
Year 3
Advent has begun and Year 3 are already having a fabulous and busy end to the first term of the year! We are excitedly rehearsing our Nativity and can’t wait to perform to our families and friends next week.
We are finishing off our English unit on Winter’s Child by writing dialogues; next week we will write our own stories inspired by the book! In Maths, we have been mastering the 4 times table and the even harder 8 times table, and developing our skills with different multiplication and division strategies.
We have completed our Topic on Riotous Royals by learning about Queen Victoria and the British Empire. In Science we have started our final project which is to make our own magnet games. The children have shown so much creativity in this, with games such as magnet fishing, magnetic races and magnetic mazes being designed and created.
We also finished the week with our final round of Astronomy for Rossall Rotation. And of course, who could forget the Panto! It’s such a festive feeling at school and we all can’t wait for the fun Christmas activities of the final week of school. Keeping smiling, Year 3!
Year 2
This week has we have been busy practising the nativity, singing our nativity songs and practising a bit more of the nativity! We have also written our lists to Father Christmas this week.
We had lots of fun creating our own special Christmas stamps, writing Father Christmas’ address on our envelopes and we will be sending them off in the post next week. In our Topic lesson this week, we learned about the continents of the world and looked at what the world looked like when the dinosaurs were alive.
We created our own super continent ‘Pangea’ and had so much fun singing along to the ‘continent song’!
Year 1
Lights, camera, action! This week has been full of drama. Oh no it hasn’t!
This week we had the opportunity to watch a pantomime ‘Red Riding Hood’. The children were so excited to watch a live performance, and really enjoyed the pantomime atmosphere. Watching the pantomime performance helped us to understand the importance of using a loud, clear voice and adding drama to our own Nativity performance. We are really looking forward to performing our live performance of the Nativity, and have been practising in preparation for the real thing next week.
In Maths we have been identifying, sorting and describing 3D shapes. We made our own 3D shape decorations to decorate our class Christmas tree for the Chaplain’s Christmas tree competition.
For our final Rossall Rotation for this year we enjoyed making gingerbread with Mrs Payne. Thank you Mrs Payne for our lovely creations this term.
Reception
Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and think about the first time you ever saw a live performance. Chances are, no matter what age you were, you felt the childlike joy performances can bring to people of all ages.
Over the last few weeks the children have had several opportunities to watch and take part in numerous performances. We have enjoyed singing Christmas carols at the tree switch on and watching one of the Houses practise for the Senior School House singing competition. Of course, we have been practising very hard for our Nativity play next week and Can’t wait to perform it to our families. This week, we have thoroughly enjoyed watching a live Pantomime ‘Little Red Riding Hood’, which had the children captivated from start to finish.
Taking your children to live performances comes with more perks than just creating memories. It can also help spark their learning, both emotionally and academically. Live performances can help expand your children’s ability to retain information as well as teach them how to interact with new communities and learn how to interpret the emotions of others.
When watching a story unfold during a live performance, it’s a safe place to witness scenarios and people that your children might not be exposed to otherwise. Through this witnessing, they learn to better understand the choices and backgrounds of others and gain new perspectives.
Watching a live performance creates an entirely different entertainment experience than they might be used to. They’ll learn how to be engaged in something from the beginning to the end without any extra screens, video clips, or texts to distract them.
Not only are live performances fun and engaging, but they help your children to learn and grow!
Nursery
This week saw the arrival of the Christmas trees in each room and the children have all enjoyed decorating them. However, they have had more fun taking them back off again.
Preschool have been practising very hard for their nativity. They love to sing the songs during the day when they are playing but for some reason when its time for rehearsals it becomes a Mrs Stott solo performance. Fingers crossed it will be okay on the day and we are all looking forward to welcoming you in to school for the first time in nearly 2 years.
The book of the month is ‘Stick Man’ and the children enjoyed their forest school adventure looking for sticks to create their own stick man. Creativity is such a great opportunity for children to explore and gives them the confidence later on in life to try out new things.
Sandpipers have been busy making Christmas crafts that even Kirstie Allsopp would be envious of. The pride the child have once they have completed the task is lovely to see and I am sure they cannot wait to share them with you. The story of the month is ‘My Present’ which gives the children a chance to guess what is wrapped up and hidden beneath the paper . They have enjoyed playing with wrapping paper, ripping it, squashing it and scrunching it up. All good skills used to improve fine motor skills.
Sanderlings have also been busy little Elves creating some lovely Christmas goodies to take home and cherish. They particular love painting with their whole bodies, using their hands to squish the paint and make marks on the paper.
Award Winners
Year 6
Our certificates this week go to:
- Aliyah – Fabulous fraction work in Mathematics
- Alicia – Outstanding team spirit and enthusiasm on the sports field
- Michael – Excellent effort to improve the standard of written work
- Aran – Awareness of others and support of new pupils
Year 5
Our certificates this week go to Amelie FOR super work and settling into her new school and Jessica for amazing performance in the football tournament.
Year 4
Our awards this week go to Amelia and Archie for outstanding enthusiasm in Topic.
Year 3
This week’s certificates go to Dolly who has been really pushing herself in Maths recently and to Sebastian who has settled in wonderfully to Rossall life.
Year 2
Our certificates this week are for amazing independence whilst using an atlas to label the continents.
Year 1
This week’s awards go to Beau for fantastic effort with his assessments, and to Harry for being a super, helpful scenery manager during our Nativity rehearsals.
Reception
This weeks certificates of achievement award go to Teigan and Millie.
Both girls have been amazing in our recent Nativity rehearsals. They have been singing all the songs and with great big smiles on their faces. We can not wait till our live performances next week!
