This week’s newsletter for Rossall Nursery, Pre-Prep and Prep School.
Dear All
A very warm welcome back to what promises to be a most wonderful Summer term. We have been blessed with the sunshine for our somewhat short week and I know the children have relished getting started with their exciting new topics and sports.
The Easter break provided some amazing opportunities for Rossall pupils, not least the senior football tour to Holland and the ski trip. I was proud to lead the latter, taking 45 children to Jay Peak, Vermont, USA (with a stop over in New York!). The behaviour of the children was incredible, despite a journey that ended up taking 24 hours and 9 minutes! The array of activities on offer beyond the skiing included a waterpark, an ice hockey game, climbing walls, arcades, a trip on the iconic Staten Island ferry, and standing on the glass floor 100 stories high at ‘The Edge’. My thanks to all the incredible students who made the trip so memorable, and to the staff who gave of their time and provided such great humour and support. Our attention now turns to the Prep Ski Trip 2024 to Tonale, Italy… details coming soon!
Summer term is always a whirlwind of events, much akin to the Michaemas term. With sports days, residentials, cricket/athletics/rounders matches, a new clubs schedule, prize day, the beach party, as well as different Rossall Rotation activities, all taking place in a little over ten weeks of school! That was my simple message to the children in assembly on Wednesday – around 50 days of school to tackle your targets, make improvements, and get the very most out of all of the amazing opportunities available. The challenge has been set!
Have a lovely weekend,
Mr M Turner
Headmaster of Preparatory School & Nursery
Victoria Hospital Appeal
Before Easter, the Prep School Council organised an appeal for donations of Easter eggs and treats for sick children at Blackpool Victoria Hospital. Thank you so much to everyone who made a kind donation to this appeal. Our contribution added to make a grand total of 511 Easter eggs, 13 chocolate bunnies and over 50 colouring and activity books. These were very gratefully received and brought huge smiles to sick children in the hospital.
Wyre Schools Y3/4 Girls Football Frenzy!
After only one day back at school, we were straight into Prep School sporting fixtures! A squad of excited Y3 & 4 girls travelled to Poolfoot to compete with teams from across Wyre. The team spirit was fantastic from all the girls, many of whom had never played a competitive match before. We had a mixed bag of results; wins, draws and losses, and the Rossall girls remained positive no matter what. There were many superb performances, both individually and as a team. It really was a delight to witness the progress each girl made throughout the afternoon. Well done to everyone that took part. Thank you to Lee Cadwallader and the referees from Cardinal Allen School for organising and officiating such an enjoyable event.
Year 6
Welcome back to the glorious Summer Term. As Chaucer said, “ All good things must come to an end” and indeed, for our Year 6 children, this is their final term in the Preparatory School before they head through the Archway and into Senior School, but what an exciting term it is going to be!
We are looking forward to the Year 6 Exhibition, Sports Day, our residential to the Lake District, cricket and rounders fixtures and so much more.
Relish each and every moment of this Term Year 6!
Year 5
Refreshed and ready for the summer term, Year 5 have been eager to start our new topics this week.
We have focused on our debating skills; paying attention to plastic pollution and addressing the issues surrounding this.
This topic links well with our book for English this term ‘The Paperbag Prince’ and in Science, ‘Living Things and Their Habitats’.
Year 4
As the sun shone down on Rossall, the children had an exciting three days discovering all the new and wonderful topics we will be covering this half term.
Our new English text, ‘Where the Forest Meets the Sea’ has inspired us to write some fabulous descriptive paragraphs using various settings and landscapes including; the Arctic, the rainforest, the seaside and the desert. The question on everyone’s lips is which one will be the real setting of our story. The children are now looking forward to finding out how the story unfolds.
In Topic, the children were busy developing their understanding of life in the rainforest environment by writing questions they would like to find out answers about over the course of the half term. In our short week the children have demonstrated higher level thinking skills and are set to delve more deeply into a subject they clearly find stimulating.
How many trees are in the rainforest?
Why do people live in the rainforest?
Who was the first person to explore the rainforests?
Why is it so rainy in the rainforest?
The rainforest theme has followed through into our Art lessons where the children have created symmetrical sketches based on the animals that might be found there. They have developed their shading skills and looked carefully at all the details and patterns required to complete each individual animal.
We have a very busy term ahead of us and Year 4 are looking forward to their next discoveries as our new topics commence.
Year 3
The Year 3 pupils have come back ready and raring to go for the Summer term! The sunshine has been energising us and we all feel exciting for the last term of the Year. We have started our newest book Journey and made some predictions about the story. We have begun our new Maths unit on measuring length and learning how to measure precisely and accurately with rulers. We have also started our new topic with a Geography focus all about Modern Europe. Lots to look forward to this term!
Year 2
Year 2 have made a fabulous start to the Summer Term, the children are fully rejuvenated after the Easter break and this has meant they have managed to fit a great deal of work into what has been a shortened week.
In Mathematics we have continued our work on fractions and the children are experts in unit and non-unit fractions, which we have done our very best to “simplify”!
In English we have started to think about our new book “The Last Wolf” which has been the inspiration for some fabulous discussions about endangered and extinct animals.
In Science we have been learning about seed dispersal, the class really enjoyed the opportunity to get outside and make their own helicopter seed.
Year 1
Welcome back everyone- it’s been wonderful to see our children in Year 1 come back to school so refreshed and so enthusiastic about the term ahead.
We’ve had a busy few days starting our new topic! We began our school week discussing and writing about our Half Term holidays and it was so brilliant to hear what everyone has been up to. In Maths we are measuring lengths using non-standard units as well as comparing objects that are longer or shorter, and the children were superb at doing so.
We’ve been quite arty this week too, learning about collage as a technique and style and creating our own collages of The Union Jack. They were fab! In Science we are learning all about Plants and we are testing whether a bean could grow into a plant…in a bag!
We’ll let you know our results soon!
Reception
Promoting oral health in early years is essential to protecting young teeth and establishing good habits. It is also a requirement of the EYFS guidelines: “All settings must promote the good health, including oral health, of children attending the setting.”
There are three main themes in good dental health:
- Keep sugary and acidic food and drinks to mealtimes
- Brush teeth at least twice a day with a fluoride toothpaste
- Visit the dentist regularly
This week we enjoyed a visit by Bupa Dental Care, who kindly discussed the importance of brushing your teeth and dispelled any uncertainty about visits to the dentist. The children learnt which toothbrush was the appropriate size for them and learnt how to brush their teeth correctly. With the help of some very friendly dragons, the children practised their toothbrushing skills.
Nursery
“The more that you read the more things you will know. The more that you learn and the more places you will go!”
Dr Seuss
This week in the Nursery we have focused on Literacy.
The Sanderlings
This week has been fun in the Sanderlings room. The babies have enjoyed lots of fresh air and lovely walks now the weather is getting better. Miss Schofield read a book in the playground as the babies needed a rest after a big walk around the Rossall grounds. The Sanderlings have been getting creative with mark making and using crayons to copy drawing lines and shapes. Some of the older babies were able to copy words such as circle and square. Messy play is always a firm favourite in Sanderlings and Mrs Beddis set up a gloop tray with the dinosaurs, to create dinosaur footprints ‘STAMP STAMP.’ Miss Heatley and Miss Qualter took a group of babies along with some children and staff from Sandpipers to the Rossall library, it was nice to look at different books in a different and exciting environment. Finally, we have welcomed a new member into the Sanderlings family and enjoyed celebrating a 1st birthday with balloons, disco light and music! x
The Sandpipers
This week The Sandpipers have been using different tools to mark make; the children have used sticks, pens, fingers and natural resources. As an extension from this the children have been giving meaning to the marks we make using our imaginations, there were beautiful creations of snakes, Mummy, Daddy, The Gruffalo, rainbows and shapes.
The Sandpipers have been enjoying their trips to the school library to look at all different books. This week the children have been encouraged to look and talk about what they can see in the illustrations. The Sandpipers book of the month is ‘The Gruffalo’ by Julia Donaldson. Everyone has enjoyed looking at the details of the story and learning about all the different characters (they even made their own interpretations of the recipes). Finally, whilst outside we have also been using big chalk to draw on the chalkboard and floor as well as using sticks in the mud.
Pre-School
The Pre-School children have been practising writing and holding their pencil to help with control and accuracy when forming letters. The children have done so well at writing their own names and will now begin to label their own pictures. Pre-School have been working on letter recognition with a focus on g, p and i. The children have played ‘eye spy’ to reinforce their letter focus this week. The children enjoyed the challenge and worked together as a team to find items beginning with each letter. In the library the Pre-School now have their own clipboards so that they can take their writing and drawing around the room whilst taking part in activities. Finally, Miss Ward has been gardening with the children. The children have been encouraged to use adjectives to describe how big or small their plants will become, for example, gigantic – this is linked to the book of the month ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’.
