The Bulletin Edition 12

“It’s beginning to look a lot like…” well, you know how the rest of that festive tune goes! We have been slowly but surely unleashing the Christmas spirit here, and it was terrific to have the HPPPA on site this week to help us along with their wonderfully well-organised Secret Santa events.

I was delighted to hear from the co-chairs afterwards who told us (and I quote) “We cannot stress enough how polite and well-mannered the children were and, in particular, how carefully they chose gifts for their loved ones. We hope they enjoyed it as much as we did!” They also reported a record year for gift orders, and said how lovely it was to use the Pre-Prep Hall for the event for the first time.

Our magnificent tree is now standing proud at the Prep, and festive decorations have begun to emerge in the Pre-Prep too, all adding to the growing excitement as we head towards the Christmas holidays.

In my assembly next week, I shall be taking the pupils back to an imagined time when Father Christmas was himself a young boy. I have often wondered what he must have been like… Generous of spirit, of course, creative, adventurous and quite possibly the sort of young chap who left a trail of glitter, good cheer and half-finished inventions wherever he went. (Remind parents of anyone…??)

I suspect he would have fitted in rather well at Hampton Pre-Prep & Prep: thoughtful, enthusiastic, eager to help others, and brimming with energy and ideas. In fact, I would not be at all surprised if today’s Hampton Prep boys reminded him rather warmly of his own childhood, just with fewer reindeer hoofprints on the playground. Here’s to a joyful, sparkly, tinsel-tinged week ahead for us all!

iN CASE YOU MISSED IT…

Here’s a round-up of our Instagram posts from this week – take a look below!

1/3

Make sure to follow us on Instagram for regular updates and snapshots of daily school life.

FOLLOW US

This half term has seen Hampton Prep’s footballers take to the field with determination and flair across all year groups. From early September through to the close of November, our boys have contested a full programme of 105 fixtures against strong opposition, and the results speak volumes about their excellent progress and admirable spirit!

Across this term, Year 3 have been developing their understanding of Ancient Britain. On Monday, the visit to Butser Ancient Farm took them on a trip back through time to further their knowledge and bring it to life. Our shelter against the elements, for the day, was Horton House: a replica of a real stone age building based on excavations by Wessex Archaeology of a large house dating to 3800BC.

We were pleased to welcome OpenView Education to the school this week. Prep pupils took part in a series of interactive workshops that explored teamwork, positive communication, and the importance of supporting one another.

This year’s House Maths competition was hotly contested and went right down to the wire. To begin with, each year group completed a collaborative quiz with the boys in their House. This contributed a possible 20 points towards their total score. Once this round had been completed from Year 3 through Year 6, the competition progressed onto the individual rounds.

Christmas has well and truly arrived in Pre-Prep! Yesterday, we were even treated to a very special visitor — Father Christmas himself — who joined us for our much-loved Secret Santa event. As always, it was a roaring success.  It was such a joy to watch the children carefully choosing gifts for their loved ones, their faces full of excitement and thoughtfulness. 

This week, we have been exploring the much-loved story The Jolly Christmas Postman by Janet and Allan Ahlberg. The children have had so much fun listening to this delightful and humorous tale, especially as we read the letters from the different characters. In our class Post Office, the children have been busy writing their own cards and letters, which they then posted in our class post-box. We are working hard on our fine motor skills by holding our pencils correctly, using our thumb and two fingers, and focusing on writing the first letter of our names carefully. 

The festive season has truly begun in Reception Class!  We’ve been celebrating the start of Advent and enjoying our Christmas joke advent calendar — sharing a giggle each day with a festive joke. This week, a very special visitor arrived in our classroom: a Christmas Elf! Our Reception classroom seems to be under special ‘elf surveillance’! Reception have been delighted by his mischievous antics and decided to name him Elfie.

This week in Year 1 we have loved diving into Harvey Slumfenburger’s Christmas Present by John Burningham. The children imagined the long journey to Roly Poly Mountain and dreamed up the perfect gift Father Christmas might deliver to Harvey. They wrote some fantastic sentences, adding descriptive adjectives to bring their ideas to life! 

In Year 2, a good proportion of the week was spent rehearsing for the Christmas Production. We have been so delighted with the efforts that every single one of the children has put into learning their lines and knowing their cues. What a talented bunch this year group are! We look forward to performing to all the families and friends next week.