I was one of ten Year 6s that read to the Year 2s. It was really fun! We read The Enormous Turnip and The Elves and The Shoe Maker to them. They acted it out and we took it in turns to read. It was really good.
Later we went into the Welsford Hall to do some dancing with Mme Hoyet, who teaches Spanish in the Senior School. We danced to La Bamba and in the end even Mrs Wilson joined in! There is an English version and a Spanish version. Mme Hoyet said that it means that you have to have a little bit of grace. It is a really famous song and we all knew it. It got us very hot, although it was worth it!

Following the success of last year’s Year 2 boys’ activity afternoon, we extended the scope of the afternoon this year to include both boys and girls in Years 2 and 3. Prep and Senior School staff laid on a varied programme of taster sessions for some of our co-curricular clubs, with Mr Carpenter running a Karate session, touch rugby from Mr Hoffman, art inside and out from Mr Heath and Mrs Davis respectively, drama with Mrs Hillier, and some creative ICT with Mr Berry. The children certainly seem

The study of Judaism was brought to life for the children in Year 2 this week when they set about making Challah bread. The children had previously learnt about Shabbat and the eating of this special bread in the Jewish faith. They enthusiastically mixed ingredients, kneaded their dough and shaped it into plaits.

A real  hands on experience which ensured fun learning!

Children in Year 2 were delighted to be visited by Mrs Beard and her beautiful daughter, Elsie.

As part of their science topic, "Health and Growth", they had been finding out exactly what a new baby needs to develop. Mrs Beard kindly brought her baby in for children to ask lots of questions about what care Elsie has needed since birth, and what she can now do for herself. The children benefited greatly from this first hand experience and thoroughly enjoyed having a very special visitor.<

Years 1,2 and 3 worked extremely hard to produce a lively and imaginative display based around the theme of Noah’s Ark for the Summer Arts Festival and Open Day.

Year 1 enjoyed studying the work of Renoir and looked in detail at his work “Les Parapluies”. They painted their own version of the picture and then used marbling and bubble painting to create their own raindrops.

Year 2 helped to bring the display to life by making some realistic 3D animals and a large ark for Noah and his wife. Their pastel drawings depicted key elements of the story and a large rainbow helped to bring all the work together.

At the risk of reinforcing a few gender stereotypes, head of prep PE Mr Hoffman organized a programme of fun activities for the Year 2 boys on Wednesday afternoon, reflecting something of the extracurricular and sport programmes open to them as they join the upper prep in September.

The afternoon was spent learning karate with Mr Carpenter, senior school RE and law teacher; Quick Cricket with Mr Walker, who teaches one of the Year 4 classes; Tag Rugby with Mr Hoffman himself; and finally fire building with senior school head of history Mr Hawkins. The boys all had a great time and are looking forward to the move into Year 3.

Year Two enjoyed a trip to Legoland this term. The day included a structures workshop which linked closely with design technology. Children were encouraged to build their own sttructures which were then tested for stability on an earthquake simulator. The children also enjoyed the many rides and other activities on offer and were rather reluctant to leave when it came to home time!

Year 3: Spent a number of weeks designing, making and building their own kites, culminating in a kite-flying afternoon on the field. An expert was invited to demonstrate some of his own stunt kites and gave some valuable tips on how to fly them. The children were overjoyed to find that their own kites flew well and that their hard work had paid off!

Year 2: Have been enjoying designing and making models from the storybook "The Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch". One challenge that particularly fuelled their imagination was to design a working boat model to get the Lighthouse Keeper from his cottage to the lighthouse. The children used sails and simple motors to power their boats, and most reached their target.

A visit from Birdworld Outreach gave the boys and girls from years 1 and 2 a day to remember. Fur, feathers and scales were all in evidence as the animals involved ranged from a giant tarantula through snakes to a smelly ferret! The children were entertained and became totally absorbed by the experience, particularly enjoying the discoveries that snakes are not slimy and that parrots seem to enjoy perching on teachers' heads.