The Bulletin Edition 17

Scheduled around our class assemblies, we hold our Celebration Assembly every few weeks. An assembly that both boys and staff very much look forward to, I often stand by the doors of the James Hall as boys arrive from their Form rooms. Just this morning, a Year 3 boy greeted me with, “Good morning, Mr Ford.  Is this one of the big assemblies today?” I smiled and replied, “It certainly is…”

At Hampton Pre‑Prep & Prep, part of our aims and ethos is for children to fulfil their academic potential, develop a positive approach to learning, show a helpful and committed attitude to the community, involve themselves fully in co‑curricular life, and grow the skills they need for their next steps. Our 30 minutes in the James Hall this morning captured this perfectly.

We had more certificates than I could count for the boys in Years 3 and 4 who have made excellent progress with their times tables recall. This was followed by two Year 5 boys confidently reading aloud some excellent French work – something they, and Mme Houghton, were rightly proud of.

Headmaster’s Commendations recognised a number of boys for their achievements and positive contributions across different aspects of school life; it was brilliant to see at least one representative from every Form acknowledged with a certificate. Our Year 6 Heads of Houses awarded Pupil Points to boys who have demonstrated our Pride Values. We also heard from those pursuing interests outside of school, and we celebrated the runners from yesterday’s magnificent House Cross Country event – held, of course, in typical cross‑country weather!

As I sat to the side of the James Hall, reflecting, it was clear that Hampton Prep boys are doing an excellent job of living out our school ethos.

Have a wonderful half term.

Mr J Ford – Deputy Head

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT…

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

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

House Cross Country took place on Thursday, and in true tradition the weather stayed perfectly on trend; plenty of rain and mud… glorious mud! The boys rose to the challenge with some superb performances on display. Congratulations to Emile (Year 3), Luke (Year 4), Max (Year 5) and Oli (Year 6) for taking the individual wins.

Our Digital Ambassadors delivered two excellent presentations this week for both the Pre‑Prep on Monday and the Prep on Wednesday as part of National Safer Internet Day, exploring this year’s theme: Smart Tech, Smart Choices. They explained in impressive detail what AI is, how it works behind the scenes, and discussed both the exciting benefits and the potential dangers of AI. Pupils at both the Prep and Pre-Prep were superb listeners -engaged, curious, and full of thoughtful questions - as the ambassadors also unpacked key areas such as misinformation and deepfakes. To conclude, I have launched a poetry competition at the Prep inviting pupils to create a poem about AI or deepfakes, inspired by the book Alice Through the Smartphone (with a prize for the winner). Pupils have until the 26th of February to create and hand in their poem (handwritten or digitally) to Mr Hitchen-Hoy.

Year 4 welcomed families to the Reading Café for a relaxed and lively celebration of reading. Guests enjoyed a menu of book-inspired treats, from James and the Giant Peach Tea to Green Eggs and Matcha and Donut Quixote, while pupils shared favourite stories and reading recommendations. The room was filled with page-turning and conversation as children confidently talked about the books they love. It was a joyful morning that showed just how much Year 4 pupils enjoy reading.

Chris Harrison is the Professional Cricket Coach at Hampton School, and he will be running cricket camps during the school holidays. Each day will have a mix of skill drills, nets and match play practice in a fun learning environment. The boys and girls will be split into age/ability- specific groups when required. The sessions will take place in the sports hall at Hampton School. A great way to enjoy some cricket during the holiday periods.

Goodness me, another busy week in Pre-Prep. We have been thinking about two important national events: Children’s Mental Health Week and, on Tuesday, Safer Internet Day, as well as our ongoing consideration of the School’s six PRIDE values.  Firstly, I must mention the terrific job Year 1 made of their class assembly focusing on the theme, Kindness. The children spoke with such confidence, and their thoughtful reflections were a joy to hear. It was clear how much care and effort they had put into preparing, and the warmth of their message truly set a positive tone for the day. Their lovely reading and the sincerity with which they shared their ideas made us all feel incredibly proud. 

We have been learning about and celebrating Lunar New Year all week long! We began with the wellknown story, The Race, discovering how each year is named after an animal from the tale. The children were surprised that the clever rat won despite being the smallest animal, and they quickly noticed that he wasn’t exactly keeping the Golden Rules when he pushed the cat into the river. As a class, we acted out the story using stick puppets, following the order in which the animals crossed the river and using ordinal mathematical language from 1st to 12th. 

Reception have enjoyed an exciting and vibrant week celebrating Lunar New Year, with a special focus on the Year of the Horse. Together, we explored how this important festival is celebrated across the world and discovered the traditions that make it such a joyful and meaningful occasion. We have spoken about the story of the great race – and the children were interested to learn that each year is assigned an animal according to the Chinese zodiac. The children wrote and drew pictures about what they had learnt about celebrating Luna New Year. 

In English, on Tuesday, we designed impactful posters for Safer Internet Day – thinking about the messages we wanted to share and using capital letters to hammer home our ideas. Linked to our phonics lesson, we also matched ‘ou’ words to ‘ou’ images. We practised our pronunciation and spelling from our ‘ou’ vocabulary.

In mathematics, Year 2 have focused on multiplication and division facts for the 5- and 10-times tables this week. The children are now mastering these number facts and can see the connections between them. They have enjoyed spotting patterns and making generalisations, such as noticing that 4 × 10 = 8 × 5 and that there are twice as many 5s as there are 10s. They also recognised that the 10-times table is double the 5-times table — fantastic reasoning!