The Bulletin Edition 31

This is the final Bulletin of this academic year, ahead of a separate letter I shall write to all Pre-Prep & Prep parents at the end of next week.

Ronak, a boy currently in Year 6 who will, alongside his cohort, be leaving us next week for pastures new was sent to see me earlier this week so that I might read his reflections on his time at Hampton Prep. Ronak had written these entirely off his own bat, prompted, I suspect, by the thoughtful mood that has settled over the whole cohort as they prepare to move on to their senior schools (wherever they may be) this September.

I found what he wrote a wonderfully fitting summary of the time the boys in Year 6 have enjoyed here, and, with his permission, I reproduce a version of it for you below:

My time at Hampton Prep

For me it could seem like the end of the journey; a conclusion to the four years we’ve been together at Hampton Prep. For me however it’s more like the end of the chapter. The book isn’t being shut, for I am sure that there are still plenty of adventures to come.

The key point I wish to make is that being at Hampton Prep is also a bit like being a part of a galaxy, perhaps even the Milky Way. In Year 3, Hampton Prep attracted new stars: new boys, to the school. Quaternary star systems happened when boys formed new friendship groups, nebulae would represent our two classes! They were the breeding grounds of kindness and intelligence.

In Year 4 there were several other new opportunities. Our first residential proved to be awesome and at this time relationships strengthened. And now we would truly trust ourselves and friends. Year 4 was a great year and was worth a few constellations in the milky way.

In Year 5 there were plenty of times to shine, such as the Maths Challenge, reading really thought-provoking novels in English lessons and plenty of demanding sport.

In Year 6 the 11+ process meant there were lots of moments of intense concentration, until finally a truly bright star shone for us in the form of the Year 6 Leavers’ Programme. Now at the end of our time at Hampton Prep, as we near the point of singularity, we the pupils shoot up into space like a supercharged cloud of stars, travelling to larger, bigger, and more mature galaxies (who knows, maybe it’s Andromeda or M1161??)

This stage of our journey is complete and another one is about begin…!

Sport has the great quality of bringing people together, and that quality was on full display on Monday at Sports Day. Boys cheered for their Houses as their housemates raced in 300m, 75m egg and spoon, threw cricket balls and pulled the rope together in the tug-of-war for the pride of their house. The parents were not to be left out! Come the parents’ race, it was great to see the numbers of mums and dads demonstrating their competitive spirit. Not to be left out, the staff celebrated victory against the Year 6s in the tug of war. As Head of Sport, it was great to see the school community come together and enjoying taking part in a sport together.

Who can believe this is the last bulletin of the term? The year has simply flown by! Last week was as busy as ever, and Kindergarten in particular had a very exciting time. Firstly, they welcomed Mrs G the Beekeeper to school, who shared a wealth of fascinating information about beekeeping — what a lot they discovered about bees! Then, at the end of the week, they enjoyed their Teddy Bears' Picnic. Accompanied by their favourite bear (who, incidentally, weren’t in disguise!) and a delicious packed lunch, they had the greatest fun!

In Kindergarten, we had a visit from Mrs G, the beekeeper. We thoroughly enjoyed looking at photographs of her hives, bees, and actual beekeeping equipment, including her bee suit, the hive tool, smoker, bee brush, and her very special gloves. Mrs G explained that the worker bees are female and they are the ones who fly from the hive to collect nectar. They pack it into their pollen baskets, which are located on their back legs, before returning to the hive and passing the nectar to another bee. The drones are the male bees; however, unlike the worker bees, all they do is eat honey and sleep!

This week in Reception, our topic has been ‘Colour’. We had some wonderful discussions about our favourite colours and how they make us feel. It was lovely to hear the children's thoughtful and imaginative responses – from the calming blue of the sky, to the soft green of the grass in our garden, and even all the vibrant shades of the rainbow.

In English, Year 1 have tried to cool down by taking a trip to the Arctic, and learning all about Polar Bears! We wrote questions related to what we would like to find out about these magnificent creatures, then used information books and the internet to find out the answers. Next week we plan to use this knowledge, to create some informative fact files. We were amazed to learn that a polar bear’s fur is in fact translucent! And indeed, that their skin is black! Ask your child to share some of the new facts that they learned – they really are fascinating!

The absolute highlight for Year 2, this week, has been our participation in the Times Tables Rock Stars (TTRS) “London Rocks” tournament. We set ourselves the challenge of competing with 355 London schools over three days (Tuesday – Thursday) to answer as many multiplication or division questions accurately, within a daily time limit. The TTRS platform then calculated the class average to compete with the other schools. We had a very challenging first day, when technology was not on our side. However, we persevered and by Wednesday afternoon we had climbed up the leader board from the bottom to position 35!