The Bulletin Edition 15

As we approach the middle of next week, we look forward to the arrival of the Lunar New Year, a significant and joyous occasion celebrated around the world and of course by a good number of families in our school community. After school today at the Prep, pupils thoroughly enjoyed participating in a range of workshops hosted by the HPPPA. These sessions were a terrific opportunity to learn more about this important cultural event and served as an early celebration of its arrival. My heartfelt thanks to the HPPPA for organising such a meaningful and enriching experience!

1/16

On Tuesday, Year 6 embarked on a trip to The Globe Theatre, stepping back in time to the world of Shakespeare, to complement their current study of Macbeth. The visit began with an engaging tour of the iconic theatre, where the boys learned about its fascinating history, the structure of the stage, and the lively groundlings who once crowded around it to watch performances. We learnt that groundlings were so named because, from the actors’ point of view, the audience resembled gawping fish! The boys then took part in a lively Macbeth workshop. They stepped into the roles of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth enthusiastically. Through experimenting with the emphasis on key words and deliberate, powerful body movements, they uncovered how these choices can completely shift the meaning of a scene. It was a very enjoyable trip, in support of our important work on Shakespeare this term. The Bard’s magic lives on!

The U8s and U10s launched the rugby season with the fist fixtures against Claremont Fan Court School last Monday and Friday. The U8s played Friday and put their training into action. It’s a challenging skill for a 7/8 year old to be aware of the ball and position themselves appropriately to it and your teammates and vary this according to whether your attacking or defending. But the boys are getting there and enjoying the process. The A team recorded a loss, and it was victory for the B,C and D teams.

At Hampton Pre-Prep, we often reflect on the skills that form the cornerstone of a supportive and nurturing community. One such skill, often underestimated but immensely powerful, is active listening. Active listening goes beyond simply hearing words. It’s about being fully present, offering our undivided attention, and responding with empathy and understanding. For our young learners, knowing they are truly heard bolsters their confidence and encourages them to share their thoughts openly, fostering both their self-esteem and emotional intelligence.

It has been an exceptionally chilly week in Kindergarten as we transformed into Arctic explorers! We’ve been learning about a variety of polar animals, including the reindeer, Arctic hare, polar bear, Arctic wolf, walrus, harp seal, penguin, and Arctic fox—all of whom call this icy region home. We discovered many fascinating facts about these animals and discussed how some of them have adaptations like thick fur, feathers, or blubber to keep warm in the freezing temperatures. One surprising fact we learned is that polar bears have black skin and hollow fur. This unique fur reflects visible light, giving the bear its white appearance and helping it blend seamlessly into its snowy surroundings.

This week, Reception have travelled back in time to the Jurassic period for our topic, ‘Fossil Hunters’. We have read information books about fossils and learnt a great deal about Mary Anning, who was born in Lyme Regis, Dorset, in 1799; she is recognised as the UK’s first recorded female palaeontologist. She spent much of her time searching the beaches and cliffs for fossils and bones. The class wrote fantastic biography pieces about her, accompanied by lovely drawings of her on the beach dressed in bonnet and tunic, carrying her large bag of chisels and hammers!

Year 1 read the story of The Three Billy Goats Gruff this week in English. We told the story using puppets and thoroughly enjoyed acting out the story in groups and performing to the class. The children ordered the story, using first, next, then and last. Finally, they came up with an alternative ending to the story and attempted joining their sentences with conjunctions. Next week, we’ll be reading the story “Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late!” by Mo Willems.

Year 2 have loved starting their new maths topic, multiplication and division this week. They have been working on recognising equal groups, making equal groups with a given number of objects, and then moving onto finding the total using repeated addition. The children will finally be introduced to the multiplication symbol next week, making the link between multiplication and repeated addition. Since the Year 2s are such avid fans of learning their times tables facts, this learning couldn’t come soon enough! They are also eager to get stuck into repeated subtraction and develop their understanding of division next week.