This week’s newsletter for Rossall Nursery, Pre-Prep and Prep School.
Message from the Preparatory School Headmaster
Dear All,
Wow! There are weeks and then there are weeks!
Oliver JR was simply outstanding and well and truly brought the house down. We have the most talented children and staff here at Rossall and when they combine, the sky really is the limit.
The chorus singing; the acting; the staging; the dancing; the lighting; the soloists; the programmes; the whole experience! The smiles on the faces of the pupils were mirrored by those of the audience, as we were taken on a thrilling journey through Victorian London.
To think that these children are only 9, 10 and 11 years old, defies belief and I am so proud of each and every one of them.
For more fantastic photographs, please visit our Flickr page.
On Thursday we held our end of term awards assembly which once again highlighted just what a talented and committed school of children that we have. House trophies, individual effort and attainment certificates, as well as sports awards galore, provided the perfect finale to a term in which the children have absolutely given their all.
Our School Council were delighted to donate a huge amount of Easter Eggs and colouring materials to Blackpool Victoria Hospital Children’s Ward. The collection was organised by the children and was supported by UK Galaxy Pageant. I am sure these will bring a smile to the faces of some children who may not get out of the hospital at Easter.
Continuing on the Easter theme, it was lovely to welcome some of you to our Egg rolling competition this morning. This event, alongside the pancake race and the Christmas light switch on, are just some of the reasons that help make Rossall so special and we were so delighted you could join us.
We end our term ready for a well-deserved break – well at least some of us do. The rest will be meeting at 2am (!) tomorrow morning to depart on our Prep Ski Trip to Sestriere, Italy. 36 children and 6 staff will be hitting the slopes, as we continue to make up for lost time in our pursuit of organising trips and residentials for the pupils. Keep an eye on Instagram for updates.
I wish you all a restful and peaceful Easter break.
Mr M Turner
Headmaster of Preparatory School & Nursery
Year 6
The Year 6 children have put an enormous amount of hard work and preparation in the last four months in ready for our Prep School production of Oliver! There were “Great Expectations” before the performance, which the children surpassed. Although there may have been some “Hard Times” on the lead up to Tuesday and Wednesday nights shows I think we can all agree the children did an absolutely fabulous job. At points in the final week there were definitely some “Bleak” moments, however, the children all pulled together to create what can only be described as an amazing show. We all have to take our hats off to “Our Mutual Friend” Mr Campbell for all the patience and hard work exhibited.
Believe it or not we have also been working hard in the classrooms, the children have been learning about algebra and even created their own formulae, have been completing their final write of the term on Darwin and been researching and advertising the Victorian town of Fleetwood.
Most would need a long rest after this, but not Mr Condon, he’ll see a number of you at 2:30am on Saturday morning, those of you going have a great time on your ski trip!
The rest enjoy the lie-in!
Year 5
I cannot believe that it is the end of the Lent Term!
What an action packed last week it has been.
The children thoroughly enjoyed the experience of Oliver and were fabulous in both performances.
The Egg Rolling Competition was hotly contested and the children enjoyed cheering each other on!
After such a busy Term, the children really do deserve a break to recharge their batteries ready for an action packed Summer Term!
Have a fabulous Easter, see you soon!
Year 4
Our musical ‘Oliver’ delighted and entertained a captive audience in Big School. The performance yielded a tremendous bank of talent that we have not been able to see or hear for years. Year 4 did everyone proud with the energy, joy, colour and light they radiated. The atmosphere was infectiously positive, a reminder of what we have been missing and a wonderful end to the Lent term.
The children have not only been busy on stage but also in class as we have completed reading our chosen book and finally discovered what happened when ‘The Giant Stirred’. The children have since been working hard to write stories detailing the events of the book and empathising with the characters in the story as they faced some very tough decisions. I have been very impressed with the children’s response to the text and the emotional anguish displayed in their writing.
In Geography, we have also finished our unit on ‘Natural Disasters’ by creating earthquake-proof structures. The children very successfully took on the challenge with vigour by constructing elaborate buildings with only cocktail sticks and blu-tack to hand. One construction became a six-story hotel, complete with grand lobby and swimming pool! When it came to the time of the earthquake/table shaking, I can happily report that we have a year group full of architects as each structure remained standing throughout the different earthquake intensities. The children should all be commended on their ambition to create the most architecturally sound building without losing the aspect of style.
Our Maths lessons have seen another week of fractions which involved a continuous array of imaginary pizzas and chocolate bars to support their learning. Little wonder we were all ready for lunch each day this week.
Have a happy and restful break.
Year 3
It is hard to believe that we have now completed two terms in Year 3! We have all grown and progressed so well throughout the year so far. This week was a fabulous way to end before Easter.
In English, we finished writing our articles about Blue Whales for our very own Year 3 Wildlife Magazine! Our articles not only included facts about blue whales, but also used sub-headings and persuasive writing. We invited the Year 4 pupils (who wrote the same articles last year) to come and read our writing, it was great to share with them and get their feedback. We hope we have convinced our readers to protect blue whales!
We continued the blue whale theme in Art where we made crafty blue whales using paper plates.In Maths we have returned to measuring length, looking at adding and subtracting lengths using metres, centimetres and millimetres. We finished off our topic – Protect the Planet – by creating our own Environmental posters. These posters are bright, eye-catching and include lots of our topic vocabulary, explaining what the problems with our environment are and also what we can do to help.
In Science, we reflected on why our blue-dye experiment did not go to plan! A scientist will always learn from when things go differently than expected! We also learnt about the parts of a flower by completing a flower dissection and labelling up all the different parts.
Well done for a fantastic Lent term Year 3, looking forward to our final term of the year!
Year 2
What a super final week to the Lent term Year 2 have had!
We finished off our Great Fire of London Topic by burning our Tudor Houses. It was a very exciting day! We watched as the fire spread from house to house easily because they were so close together and noticed how the ‘top heavy’ houses burnt a lot quicker than the others. We thought the fire was about a die out but a gust of wind helped it keep burning. It allowed us to see how the wind in 1666 helped the fire to spread so quickly.
We have enjoyed learning about the Easter story in RS and completing our Easter activities such as the Easter Hunt and the Egg Rolling.
I hope you all have a wonderful Easter when it arrives and a great break!
Year 1
This week we have finished reading our class book ‘The Lion inside’. We were shocked to discover that the huge, brave lion is actually afraid of the meek, tiny mouse. We discussed the moral at the end ‘ No matter your size, we all have a mouse and lion inside’. Then we have started to plan our own story using different animals, thinking about adding lots of detail to our animal descriptions.
As part of our Science and Topic we have looked at different animal habitats and how the animals that live there adapt to their environment. In particular, we thought about animals that live in very hot and very cold places.
We have been eggs-tra busy this week creating easter wreaths and cards to share with our families, and learning about the Easter story. We also had an eggs-cellent time taking part in the egg rolling competition and hunting for eggs in the egg hunt.
The children have worked eggs-ceptionally hard this term and deserve a well-earned rest. Have a lovely holiday everyone!
Reception
On Wednesday, Reception were very excited to venture out for the day to Leighton Hall near Carnforth. This is the ancestral home of the world-renowned Gillow furniture family. The home is still lived in today and we were warmly welcomed into their home and enjoyed a full tour of the house by our friendly and enthusiastic tour guides, Pam and Gill.
We heard lots of funny and fascinating tales and the family’s ancestry meant there were plenty of pieces of furniture and paintings to enjoy. The children loved guessing what the unusual artefacts and objects were around the home. The children behaved impeccably and asked lots of questions.
The Main Garden, Walled Garden and Woodland walk offered the chance to explore, with plenty of space and a play area for the children to enjoy and let off steam. In the Walled Garden there was also a ‘Caterpillar maze’, where the children enjoyed running around the interlocking paths and seeing if they could get to the middle without cheating!
The children thoroughly enjoyed their trip and cannot wait to find out what we will learn on our next adventure in the Summer Term … Have a lovely Easter break!
Nursery
Summer term is almost upon us and the warmer weather has been a welcome treat for all! There is something about a sunny day that always puts a big smile on our faces :).
Sanderlings have been out toddling in their gardens and around the school grounds eagerly searching for the “chick chicks”, now that the hens have begun visiting us in the gardens again. The children have been exploring the sensory experience of making their own playdough with Miss Heatley and planting some beautiful flowers in their outdoor area… their favourite part was scooping the soil then watering the flowers at the end.
Sandpipers have enjoyed creating their own floral themed artwork based on the daffodils and flowers they have encountered on their walks around the school grounds. The children used their fine motor skills to make marks using paint brushes of different sizes. In the outdoor area the children have been developing their listening & understanding skills by playing ‘stop’ and ‘go’ games with friends. Our ‘stop’ and ‘go’ games helped us learn how to play musical statues.. we love to incorporate music and dance into our learning in Sandpipers.
Preschool have loved being outside in the sun, with lots of trips to the beach where the children learnt about risk, boundaries and the environment, the learning opportunities are limitless in the natural environment. The children enjoyed hunting for treasure, making marks in the sand and making mermaid tails with their friends.
Award Winners
Congratulations to our End of Term Award winners.
Oliver! Album
