This week’s newsletter for Rossall Nursery, Pre-Prep and Prep School.
Dear All,
Our annual Remembrance service took place earlier today and I was immensely proud of the whole of the Prep School, as the children observed the silence with the rest of the students in the Square. I was equally impressed by our School Captains, Rhiannon and Huxley, as they joined the Senior School service, laying a wreath at the front of Chapel.
Huge congratulations this week must go to our U11 Football team who, for the first time ever, won the Wyre & Fylde district primary schools cup. The team were incredible, only conceding one goal in 8 matches. The semi-final went to a penalty shootout in which we prevailed due to some accurate shots and a penalty save. This led us into the final where we once again showed some wonderful football skills in a 3-0 victory. The team will now go on to represent Wyre & Fylde in the district cup, as well as Fleetwood Town Community Trust in the EFL North of England final. We are all very proud of you!
The netballers continued their winning streak against St Pius X in Preston on Wednesday. Mrs Santamera was exceptionally proud of the performances on display and the outstanding camaraderie among the team. Again, well done!
The sport has not deterred our Year 6 children from working exceptionally hard in their core subjects, both in the classroom and at home! They have all entered the BBC’s 500 word competition for talented writers and I know that the staff have been wowed by the standard of some of their writing skills. Equally, Mr Rund and I have been holding some additional lunchtime Maths sessions on problem solving, as we help to prepare for the upcoming Primary Maths Challenge, which a number of children have qualified for.
We were delighted to receive a lovely email thanking us for our charitable efforts this week. The donation of £158 that was made to Counselling in the Community in Bispham was greatly appreciated after our ‘Feel Good Friday’ event.
Finally, it is always good to scroll through social media and see something impressive. This week, Mrs Tripper sent me this screenshot from ‘Lancashire Early Years’. The images are lovely and we know what a wonderful learning environment our youngest Rossallians have. Some of the comments were equally wonderful to see – it is great when social media has a positive impact – we all know that is not always the case!
Have a wonderful weekend.
Mr M Turner
Headmaster of Preparatory School & Nursery
Rocco Represents Preston North End
Over half term, Rocco (Yr5) represented Preston North End Football Club as part of the English Football League’s U10s Festival Tournament.
Rocco played against a huge host of teams, eventually facing Carlisle in the final at Port Vale. Rocco and his PNE teammates were victorious and lifted the festival trophy!
Well done Rocco, and for Mr Turner’s favourite team too!
Rossall Prep Go Nuts for Netball!
Luckily, the sun was shining in Preston on Wednesday afternoon, just in time for our U11 matches at St. Pius X Prep. We soon realised when we saw the height of the posts that our shooters were going to have to perform well! Both Rossall teams put in magnificent performances and won their matches comfortably. All of the girls had the opportunity to play in a variety of positions, showing the versatility of the Rossall players. Some also had the chance to play in a shooting role, and with an overall score of 35 this reflects the talent and dedication we have in the squad. Well done to all the Rossall and St. Pius X players!
‘The Power of Poetry is in the magic of words!’
The Preparatory School House Poetry Competition was certainly a magical experience for all the children from Years 3-6 with every child performing confidently on the Big School stage in front of their peers and teachers.
There were two parts to the event, with the children scoring points for their House in the individual class preliminaries, and then collectively, where all pupils worked together to prepare and perform a group poem in front of the whole of Prep and Pre-Prep.
The standard was superb, and it was wonderful to see our enthusiastic poets displaying their talents in the individual finals, followed by the team competition, which radiated the camaraderie and support that underpins all our House competitions.
There were certificates for all the finalists, with Annabel and Sophia winning the Upper and Lower School competitions respectively. Clifton were the champions in the Year 5/6 team event, whilst Hesketh received the Year 3/4 trophy. Assheton were plucky but really quite unlucky.
What a performance!
Individual Finalists:
Years 5 and 6: Annabel, Lara, Poppy, Ben, Karanjot and Amelia
Years 3 and 4: Sophia, Isla, Rex, Sophie, Beau and Starsky
Year 6
Did you know that tigers can weigh up to 300kg? Or that tiger urine smells like buttered popcorn? We’ll have to take the experts’ word on this, as none of us are particularly keen to get close enough to a tiger to find out for ourselves!
We have learnt many amazing facts about tigers this week, through research and non-fiction reading in our English lessons – key skills that will help students in their future studies. To present our information, we embraced our creative side and made fortune tellers. Mrs Kenmare and I (Mrs Scott) were transported back to our youth and it was fantastic to share this moment with the children (though we were quite rusty and actually some of the children were much better at creating them than we were!).
We also discussed and debated whether zoos are morally right for animals. Although our initial response was that it was unfair to animals, we actually discovered that in some cases zoos can help to conserve endangered species. For example in Fota Wildlife Park in Ireland, three red panda cubs were born during the summer – the first for over ten years! In addition to debates, discussions and research, we have also mastered the use of some grammatical features to use in our non-fiction writing.
In our Topic lessons, we looked at how different living things are connected in an ecosystem. We focused on the famous Yellowstone National Park and were amazed at how the ecosystem was affected by the reintroduction of wolves. We initially thought that this would have had a negative effect on the other animals since wolves are predators, but we were amazed to discover how various species have thrived since then!
In Science, we travelled back in time to see how famous scientists Aristotle and Carl Linnaeus influenced how we now classify animals and plants. We had a go at classifying living things into their correct kingdom and we are excited to learn more about how to do this in the coming weeks.
Year 5
‘The Force is strong in this one!’ This has certainly been the case in Year 5 this week, where our Science investigations have led us to conduct a variety of simple but effective experiments to develop our understanding of our new unit on ‘Forces’. Wind has been at the forefront of our work, with a number of Science enthusiasts bringing in experiments to enhance our learning with balloons and even homemade air cannons!
The Rossall Vikings have continued to embark on new adventures, and we have gained inspiration from our new book ‘Arthur and the Golden Rope’, which explores Norse Mythology and has us gripped to discover more about our fascinating invaders and Viking hero.
We have relished the opportunity to fine-tune our golf skills in Rossall Rotation, and I was delighted to hear the class discussing our work on forces when thinking about hitting the golf ball, as well as the friction of the ball on the putting green – Science really is all around us – ‘May The Force be with you!’
Year 4
Our week began investigating the historical Blackpool and how holidaying in the town became popular in Victorian times aided by the development of the railways. We looked at past photographs and videos to imagine what life was really like back then visiting the seaside. Punch and Judy was just one form of entertainment that endured the test of time along with sea bathing and donkey rides. We also researched the broad spectrum of entertainment found in the area including many iconic buildings – Blackpool Tower and the three piers.
In Maths, we have looked at the subtraction of 4-digit numbers – using the formal column method and visually representing questions using counters. This helped to aid our understanding of the process of exchanging between place value columns. It was a tricky skill to grasp but we all worked our very best and did not give up!
After completing our ‘Sound walk/survey’ last week, we moved on to understanding how sound travels through a series of vibrations. As we cannot visually see how sound travels, it was time to introduce another experiment! To appreciate how this happened, we used tuning forks and water to see how vibrations create movement. We were fascinated by the relationship between sound and the waves that were produced in the water. We were all amazed and couldn’t stop repeating the experiment!
This week has also seen the return of Rossall Rotation, in which we headed down to Rossall Beach to build mini circus sculptures. We had a fantastic time and are looking forward to returning in another fortnight.
Year 3
This week has been filled to the brim with fun activities and fantastic learning. We kicked things off on Monday with our much-anticipated day out! As part of our history topic “Riotous Royals”, we visited the stunning Hoghton Tower near Preston. Our knowledgeable guides showed us around and shared the fascinating history of this special place and its ties to different monarchs. They were very impressed with the pupils’ knowledge already, even at the start of our topic. We participated in our own knighting ceremony and also healing from the “king’s evil”! Great fun, and when we got back we designed posters showcasing the wonderful experience we had.
Additionally, in Topic, we have learnt about our next menacing monarch… King John, famously the worst king ever! We learnt about the Magna Carta which King John signed, and wrote our own version for Rossall School.
In English this week we have continued reading ‘Winter’s Child’ and we used this to learn about past tense verbs and adverbs. We planned and wrote diary entries from Tom’s perspective to apply these skills, all about days out in the snowy weather!
For our Maths, we have been continuing our journey with column addition and subtraction, and have been extending our exchanging skills, in particular when you need to exchange twice which can be really tricky!
Continuing our Science unit this week all about Forces and Magnets, we started exploring magnets and their properties. We discussed what materials are magnetic and conducted an investigation in the classroom to discover which objects and materials attract magnetic force.
Not only all this but we also had our first Rossall Rotation this half-term, over in the Astronomy Centre! We enjoyed our session with Dr Lister learning about the planets and blackholes. It was galactically fascinating and we look forward to hopefully visiting the planetarium next time!
Phew, what a busy week! Well done for your continued enthusiasm and love of learning Year 3!
Year 2
I will leave it with you to decide whether it was coincidence or excellent planning that led to Year 2 using the class book “The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark” to inspire our descriptive writing about fireworks. Our use of adjectives is ever improving and it was great to see the children incorporating commas.
Our Pre-Prep assembly was about Remembrance Day, as was our Art lesson in which we created our own poppies in preparation for today’s service. The children demonstrated a real understanding of the purpose and importance of this ceremony.
Thursday saw the next phase of Rossall Rotation and the class were very excited to embrace Forest School with their usual gusto and enthusiasm. Miss Fletcher enjoyed the opportunity to spend time with Year 2, and the fact very little mud made it onto the classroom carpet was a real bonus.
Two weeks of term have already flown by, before you know it, it will be time for the Nativity! With rehearsals and the children’s renditions of The Twelve Days of Christmas (at any given opportunity) I just hope we are not all sung out before December!
Year 1
This week Nibbles, the Book Monster, has been causing all sorts of mischief in Year 1, and has even escaped to Mr Turner’s office where he has caused a terrible mess! We have been making ‘Wanted’ posters to warn everybody else about him and to try and locate him. Have you seen him? He has also been nibbling his way through fairy tales and changing the way the stories end; what fun it has been reading about his mischievous antics!
In Maths, we have been busy making and writing fact families and learning number bonds. We have used lots of resources to help us with our learning.
At the end of last week, leading up to Bonfire Night, we learnt about Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot, then created firework pictures by using glue and glitter. This week we have been thinking about Remembrance and why it is important. We learnt about different coloured poppies and what they symbolise and created printed poppies using our fingerprints.
We have also been very busy outside of the classroom this week. In PE we have been enjoying gymnastics and learning all about stretching, balancing and rolls. In Music we have been practising hard for our upcoming nativity, The Very Grumpy Sheep, and in Dance we have been learning the song, and actions, to ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’. Finally, we enjoyed our first Rossall Rotation for this half term and made some tasty monster biscuits in Rossall Kitchens.
Reception
Remembrance Day is an occasion of national significance, and we hope that by helping children understand why the nation comes to a halt at 11.00am to remember the war, we can safeguard its future. In Reception, we have completed several activities to help the children understand what we are remembering on Remembrance Day in an age-appropriate way.
We started by thinking about if we had ever done anything we didn’t want to do but knew we had to do. Here are some of our replies… “My Mummy makes me eat all my tea”, “I have to eat my vegetables and I don’t like them!”, “I don’t want to go to war”, “I don’t want to tidy up but my Mummy makes me”, “My Mummy makes me go shopping”, “I don’t want to go to bed”.
We then watched an animated short film about the journey of the poppy and what it means. It was written specifically for very young children so was an excellent introduction to the poppy and remembrance. The children stood sensibly and quietly in the Square for our two minute silence with our beautiful, painted poppies. We have looked at the history of the poppy and how it has changed over the years. We learnt about the meaning of the different coloured poppies and even designed and traced our own poppies.
Nursery
“Rough and uneven surfaces, provide opportunities for the development of physical strength, balance and coordination” – Clare Warden
This week in the Nursery, we have focused on Physical development.
The Sanderlings
This week, The Sanderlings have been given lots of opportunities to practice mark-making using different ranges of media such as paint, crayons and sand. The babies used their fingers and paint brushes when working with malleable materials to create their own marks on each surface. To support the babies’ gross motor skills, Miss Schofield, Mrs Beddis and Miss Heatley brought the soft play inside and the babies were supported to climb, balance and negotiate space safely.
Finally, we know our Sanderlings love song times together, especially when their teachers put some music on so the babies can have a dance! Therefore, the Sanderlings team have been regularly including nursery rhymes for children who have experience with different languages at home and within their families.
The Sandpipers
The Sandpipers have been practising undressing and dressing to help the children feel confident and independent, especially the older children who will soon be transitioning into Pre-School.
The children have also been learning about space: planets, rockets and the Moon, using their gross motor skills in a creative way by making big rockets to fly into space. The children have had space-themed play dough to strengthen the muscles in their hands and have also been doing “dough disco” to further support this.
The Sandpipers have braved the weather outdoors and have been moving differently such as: jumping, running, skipping, crawling and hopping. Whilst outside, the children took an interest in the bikes and were really good at hand-eye coordination, as a result, Miss Chapman set up an obstacle course to support balancing and moving safely.
Finally, the week ended with yoga for the children’s well-being.
Pre-School
This week Pre-School have talked about Remembrance Day and the importance of wearing a Poppy on our clothes as a mark of respect. The children understand that “we wear them for the soldiers”. The children have also created their own poppies using red paint to make hand prints and coloured pencils for the centre and leaves. Today, some of the Pre-School children went to the Square for a two-minute silence as an Act of Remembrance.
Throughout the week, the Pre-School children have also been learning about and celebrating Diwali (Festival of Light). The children have designed their own patterns for hand art by drawing zig-zags, swirls and dots.
Towards the end of the week, following the Pre-School book of the month ‘Stickman’ by Julia Donaldson, the children enjoyed a walk along the grounds in search of sticks to make their own stickmen. The children found a variety of different sizes and used mathematical language to describe the sticks such as “big”, “small” and “huge”.
Awards
Year 6
In 6R, Savannah won a certificate for showing excellent perseverance and independence when tackling challenging work in Mathematics, and Ahill was awarded for thoughtful work in English when writing from someone else’s point of view.
In 6S, Jasper won for excellent independent learning skills, both in class and at home, resulting in outstanding progress in his learning, and Annabel for her perseverance in her learning this week, particularly for the progress she has made in Maths.
Year 5
Well done to Billy who achieved a certificate for outstanding enthusiasm for learning and progress in creative writing, and Archer for outstanding interest, enthusiasm and ability in Science.
Year 4
Our certificate winners for this week go to Anthony for showing fantastic enthusiasm during our Science experiment, with another awarded for excellent Maths work during our subtraction topic.
Year 3
Our certificates this week go to Junior and Rex for their perseverance and hard work in Maths with exchanging and column method.
Year 2
This week, certificates were awarded to Lexi, for being a fantastic role model to all classmates, and Max for making a fabulous start on his return to Rossall.
Year 1
This week’s awards are for Francis, for making excellent progress with his writing, and Theo, for making good choices and following instructions.
Reception
Certificates of achievement this week go to Harry and Lucas. Both boys have become more confident with their sounding and blending in phonics lessons and are making excellent progress as a result.
Choral Evensong
Join us for a Choral Evensong service on Sunday 19th November at 6.30pm in Chapel of St John the Baptist. South Drive will be open, with Chapel parking available. Rossallians, parents, family, friends and members of the general public are all welcome.
180th Anniversary Ball
In 2024, Rossall Celebrates its 180th anniversary. To mark this we will be holding a ball on Saturday 1st June. Initially, tickets will be sold as tables of 10, at £80 per person. Booking now open – buy your tickets here. Please contact [email protected] for more information.
180th Anniversary Ball
