The Bulletin Edition 8

Pre-Prep & Prep pupils enjoyed an action-packed STEM Day on Thursday 6 November, filled with creativity, teamwork, and innovation. In the Prep the various sessions were led by Jeremy King, an experienced engineer, who guided boys through a series of exciting, hands-on workshops. Year 3 designed and tested their own Stomp vehicles, Year 4 built working burglar alarms, while Years 5 and 6 took on advanced challenges that included programming buggies, controlling motorised fairground rides, and managing sets of traffic lights using coding and electronics. The day culminated in a fascinating whole-school assembly delivered by Mr Fuldner, Physics teacher at Hampton School and joint Head of First Year, who improved our depths of understanding about space, including a live rocket demonstration in the James Hall! STEM Day proved to be a wonderful celebration of curiosity, experimentation, and problem-solving, which of course are all skills that lie at the heart of science and engineering. Very many thanks to the wonderful HPPPA for their continued support in making this inspiring event possible!

iN CASE YOU MISSED IT…

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

Open HOMEWORK EXHIBITION

stem day

#FRIDAYFEELING

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

FOLLOW US

This morning kicked off with a celebration assembly. It was wonderful to have the time to get together and reflect boys’ sporting efforts and achievements, alongside other accomplishments, from the last few weeks of school. From Year 5, we had the chance to congratulate Anush for earning a place in the Surrey U10 County team, continuing a growing tradition of Hampton Prep boys representing the county.

Welcome back to school, I hope you all had a restful and enjoyable half-term break. It has been a joy to hear the children’s stories about their adventures - many have shared exciting tales of travels both near and far! 

This week, our Kindergarten classroom has been buzzing with excitement and creativity as we explored two special celebrations: Diwali and Bonfire Night. We began by learning about Diwali, the Festival of Light. Through the story of Rama and Sita, the children discovered the significance of Diya lamps and how they help welcome Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth. Many children shared their own Diwali experiences, describing Rangoli patterns, special outfits, family parties and fireworks. We finished the week by sewing and decorating our own Diyas - each one unique and full of sparkle!

Reception have had a vibrant and engaging week of learning, centered around the theme of Autumn Festivals of Light. We extended our knowledge of the festival of Diwali, learning about the significance and traditions. The children wrote about the festival and enjoyed painting their own clay Diya lamps, which will soon be proudly displayed in our classroom. 

In maths, we revisited the part-whole model to strengthen our understanding of addition and subtraction. For example, if 10 is the whole and one part is 6, the other part must be 4. The children have impressed us with how confidently they’ve recalled and applied number bonds using this method. We will continue to embed this method.

Year 2 were lucky enough to enjoy an African workshop, led by African Activities, allowing the children to be immersed in a variety of African experiences and cultures: First of all, the children learnt about adinkra symbols and their meaning; Adinkra is a cotton cloth produced in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire which has traditional Akan symbols stamped upon it. The adinkra symbols represent popular proverbs, express particular attitudes or behaviour uniquely related to abstract shapes. It is one of several traditional cloths produced in the region.