This week’s newsletter for Rossall Nursery, Pre-Prep and Prep School.
Dear All,
This week I spoke with the children about how they might display some of the Prep School values that we promote within our daily lessons, assemblies, and around School. The values of:
- Respect
- Collaboration
- Courage
- Independence
- Perseverance
- Curiosity
are key areas that we ask the children to endeavour to develop and display, as they go about their daily business of learning and growing at Rossall. I was delighted on Thursday at our awards’ assembly, to see so many children pick up awards relating to the various attributes that we look to promote and I am sure they will continue to strive to be the best they can be across these six areas.
I am currently on a healthy eating and exercise kick as I try to shift ‘a few’ summer pounds and get back into shape. It would be very easy to fall short in this quest whilst eating at Rossall, as the food choices are abundant. Thankfully that same abundance includes a plethora of healthy options and the choice very much comes down to an individual’s will power! Chocolate or fruit… mmmmm? Perhaps a little of everything in moderation!
My favourite afternoon of the week was back yesterday, as the children strode out to undertake their latest rounds of the carousel that is Rossall Rotation. The Year 1-6 children absolutely loved their new areas of study – whether on the beach or in the forest, playing golf or farming, gazing at the stars or creating scones – what a fabulous way to learn about some many different things and to pick up new skills.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Mr M Turner
Headmaster of Preparatory School & Nursery
Year 6
Year 6 have had an incredibly busy week of learning both inside and outside the classroom. We have completed some writing based on their book ‘Star of Fear, Star of Hope’ in English, linked to our History topic of World War 2. We have learnt about propaganda used during the war to encourage people to enlist and help the war efforts. In Science, we have proven that light travels in straight lines and set up an investigation to show how a shadow is formed. On Thursday, we had a very successful afternoon in the kitchen with our first Rossall Rotation of the academic year. We are delighted with everything we have achieved this week!
Year 5
A new year, new friends and now a freshly decorated new classroom for Year 5 to thrive! It has been extremely rewarding to see the children bounding into School each morning since our return, and there is a buzz of excitement as the children dive into their learning each day and relish the various class activities that benefit them in all aspects of their education.
Our Topic work has captivated the imagination of the class, and we have enjoyed learning about what happened to the New World after Colombus’ voyage with the European explorers that followed.
We have begun a new Art project with our specialist teacher Mrs Cox, making three-dimensional Totem poles, which has linked perfectly with our Topic, as well as our English writing on the fascinating book ‘Queen of the Falls’ set in North America. This story is taking us on a rollercoaster ride of excitement over Niagara Falls, and has already inspired the class with their creative writing. What a wonderful week!
Year 4
We’ve had another amazing week in Year 4! They have taken part in lots of specialist lessons this week from their first Drama and Music lesson of the year to the first of many Rossall Rotations. We’ve had a fantastic time at the farm learning about the new baby chicks and baby rabbits!
In English, the children have been super busy finishing off their stories relating to one picture in our ‘Gorilla’ book. It turned out to be quite a challenge as Year 4 had not yet read any of the story and therefore used their inventive imaginations to come up with an exciting plot.
Our Topic lessons have focussed on the period over sixteen hundred years ago when the Anglo-Saxons invaded Britain! They applied their geographical knowledge of countries around Europe and investigated where the warriors had set sail from. We studied the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and placed them on the UK map.
We also held our School Council elections this week and it was fantastic to see the class members putting themselves forward as candidates. They were all so brave and we were very proud of them! Well done to everyone who applied.
Year 3
Week 2 for Year 3 has been full of energy and excitement! We have fully embraced life in the Prep School and we are enjoying the more grown-up feel. We have been squirreling away with our learning this week and our brains are in the proper gears for Year 3’s challenges!
In English, we continued reading our book Seal Surfer. For this, we created a ‘KWL grid’ (know, want to know, learnt) and watched some videos about seals to learn more about these fascinating creatures. We also looked at using interesting verbs to describe a seal’s movements in the water (diving, twisting, looping, corkscrewing).
In Maths we are continuing our journey through 3-digit place value. This week we focussed on partitioning and part-whole model, particularly looking at partitioning hundreds, tens and ones but also flexible partitioning.
In our topic ‘Our Coasts’ we consolidated our learning about the seas that surround the UK and then learnt about the different features we see at the coast, thinking about how these vary around the country. We created mindmaps displaying what coasts make us think of.
For Science this week, we extended our learning about healthy eating to think about what animals need to eat. We learnt about herbivores, carnivores and omnivores, and created Venn diagrams to display this.
In Art, we created some lovely paintings inspired by Seal Surfer. We used oil pastels and watercolours to express ourselves and portray cute seals swimming in the calm seas. We will finish these next week.
We loved our first go at Rossall Rotation, this half term we are doing Beach School! This was a wonderful way to consolidate our learning about coastal features in Topic, being able to spot some of these in person!
What an absolutely fantastic week, well done Year 3!
Year 2
The weather may have taken a turn for the worse, but the children continue to shine in the classroom. In Mathematics we have continued to work on place value. We thoroughly enjoyed our first swimming session on Monday, we were impressed by the incredible speeds displayed in the pool.
The class have been learning a variety of ways in which they can represent numbers up to 100. This has included using base 10, part-whole models, rekenreks, 10s frames, place value grids, numbers and words. The children have demonstrated a fabulous understanding of these various ways in which to work with numbers. In English, we have continued our work related to “Troll Swap” the focus being on incorporating noun phrases in our writing.
On Thursday, we had the much-awaited return of Rossall Rotation, the children thoroughly enjoyed their Astronomy session and were eager to share what they had learnt from the incredibly knowledgeable Dr Lister. Another fabulous week of work and fun in Year 2, well done and keep it up!
Year 1
This week, in Year 1, we were excited to start our swimming lessons. Next time, our target is to get changed into our swim gear as quickly as possible to spend as much time in the pool as we can! We enjoyed our first golf lesson in our Rossall Rotation too.
In English, we have started to think about our new class book ‘Lost and Found’. We have looked at some objects and had some interesting discussions to predict what and who the story is about. We have used our phonics to write sentences about what we can see and hear at the beach.
In Maths, we have been learning about place value, representing numbers with objects and using number names. We have been working really hard with our Maths.
We have also started to think about our new topic ‘Near and Far’ and have been using Google Earth to find where we live. We also talked about what we know about boats, such as different types of boats and their purpose, in readiness for building our own model boats.
Reception
The beginning of formal schooling comes with a myriad of change and responsibility. We are learning to dress and undress independently, cut up our own food, go to the toilet ourselves, concentrate on classroom discussions, listen to instructions and the list goes on… Regardless of the structure of Reception or rigour of our standards, it’s safe to say Reception is hard work for our children.
Things to remember during this transition
- Remember every week won’t be like the first few weeks. The first weeks of Reception are an emotional rollercoaster for everyone. The first weeks of school are about settling in and experience new things that might make us feel uneasy and even want to cry. Don’t try to predict the whole year based on the first few weeks.
- Remember they are little. Reception are not little adults. They may not adjust quickly and they really aren’t designed to. A little understanding can go a long way in the first few weeks of school. After the first few weeks, we will have had the opportunity to teach some simple coping skills and inch every child closer to adjusting to their new environment and situation.
- Remember their purpose. They are coming to Reception to learn. We will learn to count, read, and write this year. But they are also (and more importantly, in my opinion) coming to school to learn how to be part of a community. They will learn to share, be kind to others, wait their turn, clean up after themselves, serve their own snack, and wash their hands after they go to the bathroom. If we get bogged down in emotions and problems, we might lose sight of why our children are at school in the first place.
Nursery
“Play is our brain’s favourite way of learning” Diane Ackerman
This week in the Nursery we have focused on Physical Development.
The Sanderlings
This week the older Sanderling babies have been encouraged to help with dressing and undressing themselves to go outside; this has involved learning how to put on their own shoes and coats. Miss Schofield, Mrs Beddis and Miss Heatley have provided support where needed but the babies have done a fantastic job at trying for themselves. The babies liked taking part in large-scale drawing with crayons and where possible they were also encouraged to provide meaning to their marks. The Sanderlings have been exploring sensory activities such as gloop and painting with water to practise drawing with different materials. The wooden slide in the room has been turned into a ramp to allow the children to have a go at balancing and climbing safely. The babies were able to do this independently and were given support when needed.
The Sandpipers
The Sandpipers have been learning about all the different colours there are in the world such as red, pink, yellow, green and blue to link in with their book of the month ‘Elmer’. The children have been playing with colour-themed playdough, bricks, water play, gloop, and paint and have been on colour hunts around our setting and local environment. The older Sandpipers have also focused on mark making, scissor control, and control of jugs to pour water to support their fine motor skills. Finally, the children’s gross motor skills have been strengthened through lots of exercise including Tumble Tots, outdoor play, walks around the grounds, beach trips and the welcome addition of soft play equipment.
Pre-School
This week Pre-School have enjoyed getting messy, taking trips to the beach, exploring their environment at Rossall and meeting new friends. At the beginning of the week, the children created their own faces using different coloured paints. They used the mirrors to look at their reflection to see what colours and shapes they would need to use. Some of the children painted smiles whilst others painted themselves with their tongues out. The Pre-School book of the month is ‘The Singing Mermaid’, following this topic, the children have been taking trips to the beach. The children explored rock pools and found lots of jellyfish on the sand. The children were all super at listening and sharing with their friends, and they can’t wait for another trip to the seaside.
Awards
Year 6
This week in Year 6S, our awards go out to Nick for making excellent choices both in his learning and around school, and Skyla for being a responsible and caring member of the class, making good choices to help her learning and respecting others.
In Year 6R, Sophie received her award for great determination and improved self confidence, and Reuben was recognised for displaying super interest in his Science learning.
Year 5
This week our awards go to Olivia for outstanding enthusiasm towards all activities, and Dolly for her resilience and Rugby tackling!
Year 4
Our awards this week go to Sophie for going above and beyond in English, and Wyatt for collaboration and contribution in Touch Rugby.
Year 3
Our Year 3 certificates this week go to Alicia for always being respectful, helpful and thoughtful, and to Khaled for his wonderful perseverance in Maths!
Year 2
This week we are recognising Teigan and Jaxon for demonstrating dedication and enthusiasm beyond the classroom.
Year 1
This week’s awards are for Isabelle for fantastic Phonics work, and Tabitha for enthusiasm and effort in all her learning.
Reception
This week’s certificate of achievement goes to Pippa and Rory. Both children have settled quickly into their new routines and set an excellent example to all the other children in the class.
