Prep Newsletter Michaelmas Term Week 12
This week's newsletter for Rossall Nursery, Pre-Prep and Prep School.
Dear All
So here it is, Merry Christmas, everybody's having fun...
Last Friday provided us with the opportunity to celebrate Christmas Around the World at our annual Christmas Concert. In a change to proceedings, it was lovely to see parents and family members sitting more comfortably as we enjoyed mulled wine and mince pies at tables. The children performed wonderfully and I was delighted by their confidence to deliver in front of a packed Big School.
The week has well and truly flown by as we have enjoyed so many Christmas activities and events. Monday was Christmas lunch, and the children enjoyed the delicious offering from our wonderful Catering team. The House Captains took part in the traditional balloon race to see who would win the House Trophy in the Summer term - I think it was too close to call this year so all to play for!
The Nativities for both Pre-Prep and Nursery made me smile from start to finish. It is truly remarkable how well our youngest pupils can stand on a stage in front of an audience, many for the first time, and show so little fear. My particular favourite every year is listening to the children shout out their songs and watching all the parents mouthing along as they have heard them so many times at home; please spare a moment for the staff who are still humming those very same tunes in January!
The annual Elf Run had a twist this year as the elves were taking a break and instead sent the reindeer! I love the crazy antics that we take part in at Rossall, particularly when they are linked to such worthy causes. Brian House will benefit hugely from the Reindeer Run, the bauble sales, and the non-uniform Christmas Jumper Day! Thank you to all members of our community who managed to donate and ensure that children who can not or will not go home for Christmas, and their families, enjoy some special treasured times together as families.
The cold snap of weather certainly reminded the children that it is indeed winter! A crisp morning with frost covered grass and blue skies is a sight to behold at Rossall. The children thoroughly enjoyed a little bit of disappearing art on the playground, as they used warm hands to print their way around at break time!
It was House hockey and football on Wednesday in some stunning weather - congratulations to Hesketh and Clifton respectively for winning some well fought contests.
Thursday provided us with the chance for a Panto - oh no it didn't - no, it really did! The children enjoyed popcorn and drinks as they watched and joined in with a thoroughly entertaining show.
As the term draws to a close, I can reflect upon a truly wonderful few months in which the children have thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of the education on offer at Rossall. I am immeasurably proud of them all, as well as the staff who always go above and beyond to ensure that everything about our School is truly special; thank you! I hope that you all enjoy a restful, peaceful and enjoyable break and look forward to seeing the children back in School on Wednesday 4th January.
... look to the future now, it's only just begun...
Merry Christmas!
Mr M Turner
Headmaster of Preparatory School & Nursery
Community!
This half term our well-being theme has been community. We started off with an assembly to talk about what community means and what different communities there are. Part of our PSHE lessons have been focused around Anti-Bullying Week and how we can treat people kindly in our communities and make our community friendlier. We have been thinking a lot about how we work together in our community at school and how we can help others in the community around us. We have had a huge charity focus this half term, with Prep School Council organising many events. Firstly, a non-uniform day to raise funds for Children in Need, along with a Smarties tube collection. Next, we focused on a more local charity, Brian House, and funds were raised by a Christmas bauble competition and the Reindeer Run around the Square. School Council also worked hard to plan the Christmas Jumper Day and Christmas Parties for the Prep community. All in all, it has been great celebration of our Rossall community!
Click the images below to view each photo album. Videos of the Pre-Prep and Nursery will be sent to directly parents before Christmas.
Prep School Christmas Dinner
Time Is Now By Rossall Preparatory School
Rossall Preparatory wish the England team the best of luck as they kick off in the World Cup quarter finals on Saturday. They will be playing this song repeatedly in support of the team!
Prep School House Hockey
On Wednesday we had the Year 5 & 6 House hockey matches. We played four quarters of eight minutes. These were the matches we have been working towards all this term. Both teams played some superb hockey,, but there could only be one winner. Assheton scored a first and second goal in quick succession! All of a sudden, Hesketh was on fire and scored four consecutive goals, meaning they were this year's champions! Both teams said three cheers and well done to each other for their achievements. Well done to everybody for taking part and playing with such a good attitude. Thanks also to the girls from Clifton who represented both Assheton and Hesketh. We then headed back to Prep for the rest of the busy school day.
By Emily and Amelie
Year 6
“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me.”
Charles Dickens, ‘A Christmas Carol’.
The Preparatory School has been full of good cheer and joy all week. It has been lovely to watch the children celebrate the start of the festive season. We enjoyed a delicious Christmas lunch, a Christmas concert celebrating traditions from all around the world, the Reindeer Run and the Pantomime (oh yes we did!) The highlight of the week for me was the Carol Service. Year 6 led the service superbly and they should all be very proud. Whether they sang or read, they all contributed in some way. Mr Condon and I wish you and your families and wonderful Christmas full of joy!
Have a good rest Year 6, there is lots more to come in the Lent Term!
Year 5
What a way to finish the penultimate week with the Christmas around the World concert, last Friday. With all the excitement during this hectic week, it seems like such a long time ago. Well done to all the Year 5 children for their performance of Feliz Navidad, and especially to Huxley for his solo trumpet performance.
On Monday, we enjoyed our traditional Christmas lunch. On Tuesday, we had a fantastic Christmas party organised by the School Council. There was dancing, competitions, snowball skittles and Christmas cookie decorating. We had such a good time. On Wednesday, the Square was taken over by reindeer for our Brian House Reindeer Run. On Thursday, we enjoyed the pantomime ‘Aladdin’... oh no we didn’t! Finally, finishing of the week, and the term, with the Carol Service. In between all of these exciting events we also managed to complete our final piece of writing ‘The Golden Pen’ to conclude our English work, and create our own endings to the class book ‘The Lost Happy Endings’.
You have definitely earned a break, Year 5. Miss Whitehead and I would like to wish all our children and their families a wonderful Christmas holiday.
Year 4
Monday morning began in an unusual way with an entourage of unrecognisable circus performers arriving in School. A carnival spirit of festivity filled the air. Dancers, gymnasts, magicians, clowns and comedians all decked out in the most colourful costumes livened our classroom. The excitement and anticipation of the acts to come was palpable and it was wonderful to see all the children’s hidden talents revealed.
In English we wrote diaries pretending to be Leon entering ‘The Place Between’, and what imaginations the children have. Magical performances abounded and there was a vivid array of jugglers, rabbits and magicians all staring in the children’s inventive creations.
Our History of Entertainment topic came to close this week with the children learning all about how Christmas was celebrated in the past. The children discussed their favourite Christmas traditions and learnt where they originated.
May I wish you and yours a very happy holiday and a joyous and peaceful Christmas.
Year 3
The final week of our first term in Year 3 has been (there is only one word for it) ...EPIC! We have managed to fit some amazing learning in amongst all the exciting festive events. Firstly, in English we planned and wrote our own Fantasy stories, inspired by 'Winter's Child' and featuring our own magical characters. We aimed to use adverbs, conjunctions, speech marks and similes in our stories, quite a challenge to include them all, but results were spectacular! In Maths, we have continued our learning of the 4 times table and moved on to the 8 times tables, applying our multiplication and division strategies in different ways. For our Science we finished off our amazing Magnet Games, and invited the Year 4 pupils to come and test them out (as they had made their own last year!) It was wonderful to see the Year 3 children using their scientific vocabulary and knowledge to explain their games and apply their learning in a fun way. Year 4 loved it!
In Topic we have finished our learning about Riotous Royals by learning about Queen Victoria and her involvement in the British Empire. Of course in addition to all this we have squeezed awesome Christmas activities, including Christmas lunch (delicious), watching the Pre-Prep Nativity (fantastic), the School Council Christmas Party (dance-tastic), the Reindeer Run (super), and the Panto (hilarious!) then finishing off with our lovely Carol Service in Chapel was very special. I think we are all ready for a proper rest! Well done for a wonderful first term Year 3, you're all fabulous, have a wonderful holiday and see you in 2023!
Year 2
Wow! What a week the final one of the term has been. It has been action packed and the children have truly impressed me in so many ways over the last few days. On Monday, we had our Christmas lunch, closely followed by the Nativity dress rehearsal The Prep School children were thoroughly entertained and it went fantastically, even with our tummies full of turkey. Just when we thought it could not get any better, the children saved their very best for Tuesday morning, looking out from behind the Christmas tree I could see some very proud faces, and rightly so. Tuesday’s excitement did not stop there, the Student Council organised fabulous parties for all the classes, dancing, games and snacks were truly appreciated by all the children.
Wednesday brought some normality and we managed to complete our final piece of writing associated with our class book, after all the excitement the children enjoyed the opportunity for a little calm, which was furthered with art in the afternoon, we hope you like the reindeers. It did not last though, Thursday’s Panto saw to that, my ears are still buzzing from the screeching and shouting.
Today we have had the Carol Service, this is always a fitting way to end the term, it prepares us for three weeks of well-deserved rest and some overindulgence. Wishing you all a fabulous Christmas, I very much hope Santa treats you all well, after an amazing first term I am fully confident that the children will have some very full stockings!
Year 1
WOW! What a week, Year 1! It’s been a week of performing and doing everything to the best of our ability and I am so proud of what you have all achieved. We started the week with a dress rehearsal of our Nativity for Prep School and although we were slightly nervous about it we performed incredibly well. The Prep children were so impressed and enjoyed our show! This gave us all a huge confidence boost and the following morning we performed to our parents and family…what a show it was!
Everyone sang so beautifully, with huge smiles on their faces, and performed their part with such confidence and gusto! We were all blown away, and it certainly put us in the mood for Christmas. The children also participated remarkably well in our Reindeer Run and it was wonderful to see the support they gave each other too. We’ve also had fun making Christmas cards, writing notes to Santa and completing our monster hand puppets in class too - the creativity has been overflowing in our class this week. Well done to everyone for all of their hard work this week; what a fantastic way to end the term. Have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year - see you in the Lent term for lots of fun!
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 light switch on, singing in the Dining Hall at the Christmas lunch and singing in the carol service. In music, we even had the opportunity to perform Christmas songs in front of our friends.
This week, we thoroughly enjoyed watching a live Pantomime ‘Beauty and the Beast’, 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 child'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!
The children have also thoroughly enjoyed taking part in our nativity play which has long been a tradition in schools up and down the country. Based around the story of the bossy Christmas fairies, this play has given the children the opportunity to get involved in a production and try their hand at performing in front of a big crowd of parents and peers. The confidence that the children have gained out of being a part of a performance such as this, is the kind of thing that can benefit a child for life.
A perfect end to their first exciting term in School! Happy Christmas from everyone in the Reception Class!
Nursery
The Sanderlings have continued their festive creativity this week - making reindeer food and salt dough decorations to take home to their families. The babies worked together to make a festive collage, gluing and sticking Christmas shapes, the finished product was fantastically festive. As always in the Nursery there have been lots of opportunities to sing, this week was no different - especially with a singing and dancing Christmas tree in the room. The babies all dance every time the Christmas tree starts his musical offerings. As this week has been very frosty, The Sanderlings have been out and about exploring the grounds looking for the patterns the frost has left, in the garden the grass became very crunchy which provided a fun experience stomping around listening to the crunches and cracks the ground made. Finally, The Sanderlings have been listening to three stories all with a Christmas theme - The Silly Snowman, The Happy Reindeer and Jolly Santa. The children used the puppets related to each story and participated in a small roleplay based on the events in the story. Finally, it was The Sanderlings last stay and play of the year with Christmas carolling and activities for the children complete with their family members.
The Sandpipers have been creative making candy cane pictures, reindeer hot chocolate, Christmas trees and reindeer food (to leave out on Christmas Eve). The children have been on a trip to the library to explore new worlds within the books. The children thoroughly enjoyed learning how we can use our imaginations to immerse ourselves into any environment from a story. The children pretended they were climbing over mountains, rolling down dunes, trekking through long, wavy grass and eventually found the best hills to slide down - it was so much fun! On Friday, it was the last stay and play of the year and it was the children’s opportunity to showcase all the Christmas songs they have been learning. There were lots of activities set up for the children to enjoy with their families. Finally, in the tuff tray the children had access to natural resources to make their own interpretations of Christmas presents using play dough.
The Preschool children have performed their nativity for their families. The nativity was entitled ‘The Little Owl and The Star’, the story follows the traditional tale of the Christmas star leading the Three Wise Men and the shepherds to see baby Jesus in the manger. The children performed their parts brilliantly and used their loud voices when the time came to say their lines. On Tuesday it was Christmas Jumper Day, it was lovely to see all of the wonderful Christmas-themed jumpers. The Preschool children have also made Christmas crafts - stockings, decorations and reindeer food. The children can’t wait to take all of the beautiful pieces of work home to share with their families over the festive season. Whilst out and about the children have been on our crispy, icy field; it was so cold so the children were wrapped up extra warm with hats, gloves and puddle suits over their coats.
We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!
Awards
Year 6
Alfie and Roman for showing independence and perseverance in Mathematics.
Rio for perseverance and determination and Gregory for outstanding progress!
Year 5
This week’s awards go to Monty and Sebastian for always showing kindness to others, Huxley for showing courage and confidence in his solo performance in the Christmas Concert and Tommy for amazing, imaginative story writing.
Year 4
In Year 4 our award winners are Lara and Ralph for their fabulous circus performance.
Year 3
Our certificate winners in Year 3 this week are Abrianna and Larry for both have a great attitude to their learning and to school in general!
Year 2
Our certificate winners are Aidan and Khaled for fabulous independent writing!
Year 1
This week’s achievement awards in Year 1 go to:
Lena for her fabulous performance in our Nativity - how brave you were! Aria for her wonderful part in our Nativity - you were so enthusiastic!
Reception
This week's certificate of achievement goes to Joshua and Ares. Both children have shown exemplary behaviour in all our recent Christmas events.
Well done!
House Point Award Winners
