Pre-Prep newsletter - 25 May 2018

Dear parents, 

In the life of the Pre-Prep the summer term is filled with opportunities for the children to express what they have discovered about themselves as learners. Familiarity with the expectations of the year, the routines of the day and the established relationships with their teachers and peers all contribute to the children feeling positive and confident during their time in school.

In our Kindergarten classes the children have had a series of challenges to tackle and through working on solutions our youngest pupils have demonstrated their ability to think creatively. The first challenge was based on a story about a troll that lived in a hole and the children needed to find a way of crossing the hole. After a group discussion, they had several ideas that included, building a bridge and using a helicopter. The children voted on the best approach and shared their decision with their parents in the class assemblies this week. The class assemblies were a lively event that captured how enthusiastic and excited the children are about learning. A highlight in both the Madingley and City assembly was the minibeast dance!

The Reception children are relishing being responsible for their own learning. In small groups they are allocated an area of the classroom and they choose what challenges need to be completed in this area. When they present the challenges to the whole class they give each other helpful hints on how to achieve success. In the creative area, this week the challenge was to design a robot and the children had drawn a helpful diagram to support success.

From the youngest to the oldest, all of the children are beginning to think about the next class that they will be moving to and the types of learner they need to be. The Year 2 children regularly demonstrate a mature and responsible attitude to school life as they prepare for Year 3. In the City, the Year 2 class accompanied the residents of St George’s Care Home on a trip to the Botanical Gardens. During the trip the children initiated conversation and helped the residents notice areas of interest in the gardens. At Madingley the Year 2 class have volunteered to support the Year 1 class in learning how to do country dancing. The words of encouragement between the children and their patience as they allow the Year 1s time to rehearse is an example of the children’s growing understanding of the impact that they can have on others.

We look forward to welcoming parents to join us in celebrating the children’s learning in the different events taking place in the second half of term.

Sarah Holyoake

Head of Pre-prep @SPFPreprep