This week’s newsletter for Rossall Nursery, Pre-Prep and Prep School.
Dear All
What a week! We could not have asked for better weather as our children from Years 2 to 6 embarked on their residential activities. I am immensely proud of our residential programme. Year 2 took part in their Big School Sleepover, taking their first steps into the world of ‘staying out’ and they took the experience in their stride. Not a single tear shed as they enjoyed swimming, a BBQ, team games, and a movie, followed by sleeping in their classroom. Myself and Dylan even had our hair done in the Pavilion Parlour!
Years 3 and 4 once again travelled to Waddecar for a variety of ‘next level’ experiences. Bouldering, canoeing, axe throwing, and archery were just some of the exciting activities laid on and once again, the children were fabulous in their approach to all aspects of their trips.
Years 5 and 6 made the journey to YMCA Stoller on Windermere. Kayaking, sailing, campfires, night lines, obstacle courses and zip wiring made up some of the wonderful activities and I know that they returned after their two-night stay, somewhat shattered!
My overwhelming feeling of pride for all of the children is immense. They tackled new challenges admirably, displayed impeccable manners, showed great courage, and were simply a joy to be with. You cannot put a price on the experiences that the children have enjoyed this week. They are quite simply life-changing and memory-making. Thank you to the staff who gave up their evenings and to all parents who supported us by allowing your children to attend. There are Flickr pages of photos that have been set up that contain some of the special moments and highlights from your child’s trip. Please read on for details.
I was delighted to attend the Pre-School’s celebration of their time in the Nursery this morning. The children and parents all enjoyed morning tea outside the Pavillion, with the children receiving certificates and playing games with the entertainer. We look forward to welcoming many of the families into the fold of the Prep School in September.
This afternoon we welcomed family members into School for our open afternoon and Year 6 exhibition. The children have worked exceptionally hard this year and it was lovely for them to take a moment to talk through some of their favourite pieces of work. Similarly, the Year 6s have created a fabulous exhibition based on their learning across the year. Whether it was flood defences, Shakespearean sonnets, electrical circuits, or saving the oceans, the educational games and display boards they have created are a testament to some fabulous learning.
As we look ahead to our final full week of the academic year, I know that there is great anticipation for Sports Day on Monday, House Challenge Day on Tuesday, our Beach Party on Wednesday, the Reception Stay & Play on Thursday, and the transition day followed by the Year 6 party on Friday. It is a good job the final few days of term are quieter and we do not have a Prize Day to think about!
It has been a busy seven days that also involved ‘Rossall’s Got Talent’ and the ‘Colour Run’ last weekend. I thoroughly enjoyed having fun alongside the children and that was certainly the case on both Saturday and Sunday…they say to never take yourself too seriously!
Oh and one last thing… Happy birthday Mrs Trippier – we will not mention your age but I think you count backwards from that number?!
Have a relaxing weekend.
Mr M Turner
Headmaster of Preparatory School & Nursery
Year 6
It has been an action-packed week for Year 6, full of excitement, adventure and skills!
Our week began with a magnificent residential trip to Stoller. We stepped out of our comfort zones and embraced a range of thrilling activities. We sailed across calm waters, kayaked through Windermere, zipped down high lines, aimed arrows in archery, and navigated an obstacle course whilst trying to not lose even a drop of water from a cup – a real test of our agility and balance! Each activity challenged us and helped us grow in confidence and teamwork.
On our final night, we gathered around a campfire to roast marshmallows and make delicious s’mores. Although we had to wait for some heavy rain to pass before heading outside, we made the most of our indoor time. We unleashed our creativity by crafting sweet art to represent one of the camp activities, stacking shoes into the highest tower possible, and designing paper aeroplanes. It was a fantastic opportunity to bond and collaborate as a team. As this was our last residential in the Prep School, we made the most of it and we have created memories to last a lifetime!
The action didn’t stop when we returned to school. On Thursday, we participated in Bikeability, where we put our safe cycling knowledge into practice. Building on what we learned during our first session, we ventured further afield this time, enhancing our cycling skills and confidence on the road. Thankfully, the weather was much more summer-like this time around.
The week finished with the much-anticipated Year 6 Exhibition. We were thrilled to welcome the rest of the Prep School and many of our parents to showcase our learning. Our displays highlighted our studies about Shakespeare in English, rivers and flooding in Geography, and Electricity in Science. We particularly enjoyed sharing the engaging games we created to captivate our audience and show our understanding in fun, interactive ways.
View the full album of the Year 6 trip here.
Year 5
It’s fun to stay in the YMCA!!! was sounding out from the Lake District this morning as our amazing Year 5 and 6 children embarked on their final activities overlooking the stunning backdrop of Lake Windermere.
The children and teachers have loved the team challenges, giant swings, zip wires and water sports, but most of all the quality time that we have had together and the funny moments we have shared that we will be able to laugh about when we return to Rossall and will stay with us for years to come.
It has been a wonderful opportunity for the children to experience so many outdoor activities, as well as develop teamwork and leadership skills that flourish from working together. From learning to sail (or capsize!) to guiding each other blindfolded through the woodland (Ouch!), these activities have united the Year 5 as a group and helped build new friendships. For the Year 6- what a wonderful way to begin their final two weeks in Prep School and make fond memories that we will cherish forever.
Well done everyone and thank you for an amazing trip!
View the full album of the Year 5 trip here.
Year 4
The weeks are flying by so quickly, and our excitement has been building throughout the week as we awaited our trip to Waddecar. I’m thrilled to share that we had a fantastic time, taking on many new challenges during our adventurous activities. Year 4 demonstrated great courage and teamwork, making the trip a memorable experience for everyone.
In our English lessons, we are nearing the end of our unit. This week, we received a letter from a ‘Curious Caver’ who had visited Treak Hill Cavern and had an unfortunate accident tripping over a stalagmite. We have been hard at work putting ourselves in the shoes of a cave expert, writing detailed explanations back to the Curious Caver on how stalactites, stalagmites, and caves/caverns are formed. Our writing has been informative and creative, showcasing our understanding of geological processes.
In Maths, we have embarked on a new unit focused on Time. We have found it rather challenging but are making great progress. We’ve been converting between 12-hour analogue and 24-hour digital time, as well as solving time-related word problems. Our perseverance and problem-solving skills have been great.
Our Topic lessons have culminated in the creation of informative posters about the Iron Age. We combined all our learning so far into these posters, highlighting aspects such as Iron Age living conditions, roundhouses, and hill forts like Maiden Castle.
View the full album of the Year 4 trip here.
Year 3
This week, the Year 3s absolutely loved their first residential trip away at Waddecar! We arrived at our lodge with the sun shining and smiles all around, setting the tone for our fabulous two days. The children participated in fantastic outdoor activities, including tomahawk throwing, archery, a leap of faith, bouldering and pond dipping! (Don’t worry, the tadpoles were returned to their natural habitat!) In the evening, the class enjoyed a lovely home-cooked meal in the lodge day room. This was followed by a wonderful campfire, where marshmallows were roasted and campfire songs were sung. Mrs Payne, Ms Santarmera and Miss Smith were all so impressed with all the enthusiasm and energy the group showed with each activity. Well done for a fabulous trip Year 3, you will certainly sleep well afterwards! And next stop… the final full week of Year 3!
View the full album of the Year 3 trip here.
Year 2
It finally came, the week of the most talked about event, the Year 2 Sleepover! The children were so excited about this event, they had so many questions about what it would be like. For some, this would have been the first time they had stayed overnight away from home and you would never have known, they were incredible.
Starting with an afternoon at the beach the children did a beach clean, built sandcastles and explored rock pools. After this we had a pool party and the children embraced playing in the water with the pool toys. Following this we enjoyed a delicious burger on the field followed by some ice cream. The weather was beautiful and we enjoyed playing lots of games. We even opened the Pavilion Parlour and the children pampered the teachers. Mr Turner especially enjoyed getting his hair done.
As night time approached the children came back to the classroom to discover it had been transformed into their bedroom for the night. They were so excited to get into their pyjamas and into their sleeping bag ready for a hot chocolate and a cookie. The children got cosy and snuggled up to their soft toys and watched Inside Out. One by one the children fell asleep surrounded by their friends and happy memories.
I am so proud of every child in Year 2 as they embraced everything this opportunity had to offer and they did it with huge smiles on their faces. Friendships have blossomed, resilience has grown and memories have been made that they can cherish forever. Well done Year 2, it was a pleasure to share this experience with you!
View the full album of the Year 2 trip here.
Year 1
Today we visited the
Year 6 exhibition and learnt lots of new things. We learnt how oil is destroying the ocean habitats and harming animals, about how to protect the land by building flood defences, and about Jacques Cousteau, a famous ocean
explorer.
In Music we had lots of fun learning how to play the djembe drums, an African musical instrument, thinking carefully about keeping the rhythm.
In Maths we have started our final unit, using numbers up to 100. We have partitioned numbers into tens and ones, estimated numbers on a number line, and counted in tens to 100.
In English, we completed our class book. We read about how the lost toys decided to throw a party to cheer up Hoctopize. We wrote invitations and diary entries from the toys’ perspectives. On the last day of term, we will be throwing our own toys
party. Children will be invited to bring in their own toys on this day.
In Topic, we learnt about the famous astronaut, Tim Peake, and watched a video of him on the International Space Station. We learnt about what life is like for astronauts onboard.
On Thursday Miss Hoban gave us a special treat and we got to visit the Year 2 heladería, where we had to use our best Spanish to order helados (ice-cream). They were delicioso! We also visited the beach with Year 2 where we collected litter and built sandcastles. We have had an extremely busy week and are looking forward to all the exciting events coming up. We also enjoyed showcasing all our hard work from our time in Year 1 to our parents today when they visited our class for Open Afternoon.
Reception
Gardening is a great and inexpensive way to teach your little adventurers about nature and the environment. Digging in muddy soil and watching their own little plants grow can encourage children’s love of the outdoors and foster their curiosity about the surrounding world. Taking care of their tiny seeds and plants will teach little gardeners responsibility and patience and will improve their organisational skills.This term, Reception has planted some mysterious seeds after reading ‘The Tiny Seed’ By Eric Carle. We discussed how to plant seeds, what equipment we needed and what we had to do to look after our seeds so they grew healthy and strong. The children made excellent connections to our previous topic of animal needs. They carefully followed instructions to plant their seeds and began looking after them straight away by watering them. It is also nearly time to harvest our potatoes. We have nurtured our potatoes since February, when we watched the chits grow on our classroom windowsill, before planting them in soil. The children are very excited to see that we have grown our very own Supertato! Maybe the children would like to grow something at home too? We’d love to see photographs of your planting and gardening if you do.
Nursery
This week in Nursery we have focused on Maths.
This week in the Sanderling room the babies have been learning the foundations of basic maths through play and engaging activities. The babies have been working on their building and stacking skills by using a variety of different shapes and different size construction toys. Furthermore, the babies have been encouraged to play with the inset puzzle boards to try to match different shapes with their spaces. Inset number puzzles are a great way to make children aware of shapes, numbers and counting. In addition to further enhancing their mathematical skills, the babies have also been enjoying water play in the sunshine, where they have been practising tipping and pouring.
This week in sandpipers the children have been focusing on developing their mathematical skills. The children have been building on their knowledge of weight and measure through the use of weighing scales and height charts. The children worked together to decorate a large-scale giraffe for the wall, and they have used this to measure themselves and compare height. During circle time the children have been engaged in a variety of counting activities through number songs and rhymes and they have been encouraged to use their fingers to represent numbers. In addition, the children have been exploring shapes including 2D and 3D shapes. They have also been supported with identifying and matching numbers through a fishing game and using the language of size when building towers.
This week in preschool, the children have been furthering their understanding of maths through a variety of activities. These have included using the interactive whiteboards to participate in number and shape related games, engaging in tabletop games and maths related ‘tuff tray’ activities. During circle time the children have participated in an array of number songs that encourage the children to identify one more or one less. In addition, the children have been on a scavenger hunt around the grounds to find the given quantity of natural items found in the environment. This activity encouraged counting and solving number problems.
