Prep Newsletter Summer Term Week 8 | Rossall - Independent Boarding School

This week’s newsletter for Rossall Nursery, Pre-Prep and Prep School.

Dear All,

This week I received a phone call out of the blue from daynurseries.com to inform us that we had been awarded the accolade of being chosen to be in the Top 20 Nurseries in the whole of the North West. A huge amount of time and effort has gone into creating a wonderful learning environment for our youngest members of the Rossall community and I am delighted that this has been recognised. There are well over 1000 nurseries in our region and the award is based on our profile and most importantly, our parent reviews. A huge thank you to all parents who have taken the time to post feedback, and of course to our wonderful Nursery staff team.

The children in Prep and Pre-Prep have been hard at work completing their termly assessments throughout the week. There have been no tears or tantrums – the children understand that we are just checking their progress and finding out if there are areas that we can further support them in. I am incredibly proud of the way in which they just ‘get on with it’. Despite the assessments, we have managed to pack in a great deal throughout the week. Year 5 enjoyed a Senior School Taster Day on Tuesday, taking part in a variety of activities alongside Larkholme School. On Wednesday, we hosted a rounders tournament for local schools. After losing their first game, our mixed team went on to win the remainder of their games, running out winners on ’rounders difference’. Congratulations to our team – I know that the Senior PE staff are looking forward to working with them; hands off for a few more weeks!

Year 6 enjoyed a fabulous Tapas event in our very own Dining Hall. The taster session is the latest in a series of activities including writing to Spanish pen pals. I know that the children thoroughly enjoyed trying authentic Spanish food – even if they didn’t like every dish!

What a glorious occasion Sports Day turned out to be. Although we were able to host our celebration of sport in Prep last year during Covid, today proved to be a much more inclusive event for the whole community. Even our Pre-School made their first appearance in front of a large crowd of enthusiastic parents.

Congratulations to all of our winners but also the other competitors, for without them, there are no races or events. I very much remember one of my own sports days from when I was at primary school. Picture the scene… a stiflingly hot summer’s day – the obstacle race. We set off from the starting line with hoops to jump through, a gym horse to mount, tunnels to negotiate, an egg and spoon, a quoit on head balance, and then my nemesis, a thick red itchy nylon jersey to put on. No matter how hard I tried, I could not seem to get my head through the arm hole (!) and I could hear the runners all moving past me. When I eventually realised and pulled my somewhat red face through the neck hole, it was too late – the race was done – apart from me! However, it was not the embarrassment of that moment that lives with me, but rather the cheers of the parents as I finally completed the race. We all have our part to play and I am delighted that every child participated with such enthusiasm and determination today – I am proud of you all! Now that was cathartic!

Next week, our residentials for Years 3-6 are very much being looked forward to, although for some, a little hesitantly. We have not forgotten that many of the children in Prep have not spent a night away from home ever, not even at a friend’s house, due to the pandemic. Our staff will be understandably delicate to this fact but it is a vital part of growing up, to spend time away from parents. I know the children will all have wonderful breaks at Waddecar (Years 3 & 4) and Stoller (Years 5 & 6). Upon their return, I anticipate many tales of achievement and feel sure that next year, it will not be a question of ‘if’ but rather, ‘when?’

Finally, huge congratulations to Freddie, who this week swam at the IAPS Swimming Championships for pupils from Independent Schools across the entire country. The finals that were held at the Olympic pool in London, were the culmination of a great deal of time spent working on speed and style in our pool here at Rossall. Freddie qualified for the 25m Freestyle final in 7th place and then produced a new PB to clinch GOLD! A wonderful achievement against an incredibly strong field; a massive well done from everyone!

Have a wonderful weekend,

Mr M Turner

Headmaster of Preparatory School & Nursery

Rossall Romp to Gold!

This Wednesday, Rossall Prep hosted an U11 Mixed rounders tournament for all of the schools in Thornton Cleveleys and Fleetwood. Weather conditions were perfect and the matches were very closely contested.

There were three teams (Rossall, Stanah and Shakespeare) on exactly the same points once all of the games were completed! This meant it was down to the rounders difference to determine their positions.

The Rossall team were utterly delighted when they were announced as the overall winners! Well done to all the children that took part, for playing with such enthusiasm, and making it such an enjoyable afternoon.

AJIS U11 Rounders at AKS

On Monday we travelled down the promenade to AKS, to take part in their annual rounders tournament. The girls had a fabulous afternoon of competitive matches, winning four out of seven games. There were some fine displays of fielding, batting and decision making.

Well done to all the girls who took part, especially for your superb team spirit and fantastic attitudes!

Year 6

It has been another busy and productive week in Year 6, we started the week with some quizzes, and since then the action just has not stopped.

On Tuesday Miss Hoban organised an exciting tapas taste sensation for the children, as much as they enjoyed it, there was a distinct smell of garlic in the classroom for the rest of the day.

We’ve really started to get into our new topic on milestones, the children were delighted with Tuesday’s delivery of flour babies! Care plans have been developed and even some birth certificates have been made!

Thus far the children have been taking on the responsibility with pride, although there was one incident in which a baby was left unattended for the duration of a school day, the neglect didn’t seem to cause too much harm, baby was back in school the next day.

If the new additions to the Rossall family did not stir up enough excitement Friday’s Sports Day really did, the soundtrack to Rocky and The Chariots of Fire got everyone enthused and the children attacked all the events with their usual commitment. They threw, jumped and ran their hearts out to finish off what has been a fabulous week.

This week was exciting, but we’ve only just got started! Our residential at Stoller next!

Year 5

Year 5 have this week experienced what it’s like to be a senior student for the day! They took part in a taster day and headed over to the senior school to learn about the Humanities subjects and Languages. They were joined by Larkholme children and greeted them in such a kind way -making them feel super welcome – well done Year 5.

They were taken back in time to learn all about the Romans in Latin, the gruesome black death and how life started before the dinosaur era. Year 5 were so enthusiastic and it was great to see them getting involved in all activities and learning.

In Topic, Year 5 have thoroughly enjoyed learning more about Climate Change and the impact it has on different species of animals and plants. They have then been able to channel their inner David Attenborough and carry out research on a species of their choice to understand how Climate Change has impacted it.

Our Science topic for this term goes hand in hand with Topic due to looking at famous Scientists such as David Attenborough and therefore having the cross over in learning about animals has shown a great interest to the Year 5’s.

Year 4

This was a very varied week as we utilised opportunities heralded by the good weather and the resources of the upper school.

In Science we have been busy learning about electricity and the children were very fortunate to visit the senior school science department to complete a variety of investigations and create numerous simple series circuits. Safe to say the most popular component was the buzzer – I can still hear ringing in my ears.

In Maths we have moved on to our next unit – ‘Coordinates’. Luckily we have been able to enjoy the good weather and take these lessons outside to create our very own game of human battleships. The children thought very tactically about their positions on the grid and were able to incorporate their newfound skills by trying to locate their peer’s grid reference and ‘sink’ them! The opportunity to learn outside offers many well researched benefits, including children’s wellbeing, confidence and creativity. The children certainly enjoyed learning a new set of skills, problem solving different concepts and trying out different approaches.

For History we have furthered our understanding of the Iron Age by learning how they lived in prehistoric times. The children designed their very own round houses and hill forts, complete with animal hide carpets for warmth and herbs to ward off evil spirits. They were able to immerse themselves in the time zone and produce some very accurate representations of life in the UK between 750BC and AD43.

The children are now very excited and looking forward to the residential trip next week. Let’s hope the beautiful weather continues.

Year 3

Another fun-filled week in Year 3! In English and Maths we have been doing assessments, but this was balanced out with lots of fun activities!

In English, we continued reading Zeraffa Giraffa and practiced using correct punctuation in our writing.

In Maths, we finished off our geometry unit by learning about 3D shapes in terms of vertices, edges and faces.

In Science, we learnt about darkness through an investigation with feely-bags, discovering that darkness is the absence of light, as light allows us to see.

In Topic, we learnt about life in Ancient Egypt was dependent on the river Nile, and did our own research about the famous river.

We also had our Rossall Rotation this week, our first session of Cookery (at a different time to everyone else due to kitchen availability!) The children were thrilled to make their own pizzas, practicing their chopping skills. The kitchen smelled amazing and the results were delicious!

We finished off the week with our Year 3 Chapel Assembly, which focused on Light and the quote from Jesus ‘I am the light of the world’. The class were so confident and sincere in their presentation, and should all be so proud of themselves for the hard work and practice they put into preparing it.

Last but not least – Sports Day! We could not have asked for a better end to the week out on the field competing in our houses. Well done to all the Year 3 athletes!

Next week promises to be extra special with our residential trip to Waddecar on Monday! Be prepared for games, outdoor activities, campfire and tons of fun. We can’t wait!

Year 2

What a fantastic time Year 2 have has this week! I have been so impressed with Year 2’s approach to their learning in Maths this week; time is such a tricky concept to grasp and they have persevered and applied their new knowledge to tell the time to 5 minutes, compare durations of time and convert minutes in an hour.

In Literacy, we created a frayer model for the word ‘giant’ which allowed us to explore the meaning of the word in detail. We also designed our own giant, using expanded noun phrases and suffixes to add descriptive detail. In Science, we created and decorated our own bird scarers out of old CDs and hung them up in the Secret Garden!

Today, we enjoyed Year 3’s chapel service and had a super time this afternoon competing in Sports Day!

Year 1

If you were wondering what happens to your lost toys…they have been taken to space by aliens. Be careful not to leave them out in the garden at night or they WILL disappear! We have started reading our ‘Toys In Space’ story this week, and found that the toys have been left out past bedtime. We have thought about how the toys are feeling being left all alone in the dark, surrounded by the night sky. We have used our imagination to help us describe what the toys can see, hear and feel while lying in the garden looking at the stars and darkness around them.

We have been finding out about Vincent Van Gogh and some of his famous paintings. We discussed how he uses different colours to represent different feelings and emotions.. We have tried mixing colours to create lighter and darker shades of blue to help us prepare for painting our own version of Van Gogh’s Starry Night

In Science, we have named and ordered the planets and have been looking at lots of information books about space to find out about the different planets, as well as the sun, moon and stars.

In Maths, we have continued to learn about fractions. We used our knowledge of halves and quarters when we visited Rossall Kitchen earlier in the week to make pizzas. We shared ingredients with a partner, and made each half of the pizza have an equal amount of toppings.

In PE we have been practising our fastest running, furthest jumping and best throwing in preparation for Sports Day which we are all really excited about. I believe some of the class have even been training at home!

Reception

This week, on my chair, we found a copy of the book ‘Supertato’ with a message written inside:

Dear Reception,
Inside this parcel is a very important book that you must read. It is about some very naughty vegetables and how they escaped from the ice. If you come across any frozen peas, don’t help them because they will cause mischief and chaos. Keep them frozen!
Love from ST

We discussed what had happened and explained that they needed to be on the lookout for any of those naughty peas they helped escape from the ice last week.

Throughout the week the children have found taped up figures, cubes tipped under the table and even tables turned upside down. We read the story together and discussed the different things Supertato does to save the day e.g. washing the broccoli, lifting up the cheese, flying through the air.

The children chose one of the super powers to mime. We then asked each child about what they were doing using the magic microphone!

We discussed what super heroes the pupils knew and what their powers are. The children then drew themselves as superheroes and wrote about their super powers, which ranged from strength and speed to flying and making flowers!

The children then loved using both the indoor and outdoor environments to pretend to be a superhero, thinking about their powers and how they would help others. Hopefully our new super heroes can stop the evil peas from causing more chaos around school…

Nursery

“Children learn as they play. Most importantly, in play children learn how to learn”
Fred Donaldson

We have had a lovely, sunny week nursery!

The Sanderlings have been practising their gross motor skills in the big garden; running and climbing has been so fun. The weather has been glorious this week so the babies have also been going on lots of walks in our lovely grounds and on the field. The Sanderlings have also been enjoying sensory play with gloop and water play to explore textures using our sense of touch.

The Sandpipers have been to the beach (they even found some sharks) as well as having lots of fun playing in the sunshine. The Sandpipers have been investigating maths and literacy in their new dedicated learning area. Finally, as some of The Sandpipers will soon be moving up into the pre-school room they have been working on identifying their own names in circle time and learning new songs for us to have a singalong to with our song box.

The Sparrows in pre-school have had an extremely active week building upon our gross and fine motor skills. Pre-school have played beach games on the our beautiful beach, how lucky are we to have a beach on our doorstep? School have had sports day this week so we have practised running and relay races ready for lots of summer fun in our garden. We also took part in a running race on sports day.

Awards

Year 6

Our outstanding pupils this week are:

Henry and Sophie: Outstanding enthusiasm and attitude

Kameron: Outstanding leadership on the sports field

Michael: Personality and engagement in class

Year 5

Our awards go to Roman I and Reuben for showing such enthusiasm during the taster day and for being so kind and welcoming to children from a different school.

Year 4

In Year 4 our certificates this week go to:

Grace and Rhiannon for outstanding effort in Computing

Seluleko for outstanding effort in Maths

Eleanor for outstanding effort in all activities

Year 3

Our Year 3 certificates this week go to Oleg for having such a determined attitude and always giving things a go and to Spencer for building his confidence to take himself out of his comfort zone.