Prep Newsletter Friday

4th March 2016

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Dear Parents,

This week in assemblies I spoke to the children about the new Prep

School and showed them the pictures below to give them an idea of

what to expect. As anticipated they were so excited and as one child

commented, “I want to move in now,” and many more said that they

couldn’t wait to move. We are all a little sad to be leaving our old

buildings though.

This week I have been interviewed to find out my thoughts on the move

of the Prep School.

1. What are you looking forward to the most when the building is ready?

I am looking forward to all of the Prep School being under one roof.

Currently Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 are in the Lower Prep house and

Years 3 - 6 are in 3 separate buildings. When we move all of Reception -

Year 6 will be in one building. Another good reason for the move is to

have greater interaction between our youngest and oldest pupils. At the

moment it takes a fair bit of organisation to bring them together. Also we

really enjoy the Senior School girls coming over to help; hopefully this.

will increase when

we move. Most

importantly though,

we are one school

with pupils aged

from 4 - 18 and to be

on one site will

encourage greater

interaction and

understanding.

2. Will you miss the old location?

Very much so, particularly the architectural aspects of our old buildings

as there is a lot of history which should not be forgotten. Our grounds

are spectacular and frequently used. However, we will not lose space as

there is so much on the Main School site.

3. How will you ensure the girls get to the Sports Centre safely?

Safety is paramount and our girls are very well supervised. A new road

crossing will be put between the new Prep School to the Sports Centre.

We regularly teach and remind all of the girls how to be safe and

responsible. In the Summer Term the Years 2s will have a Scooter/Road

Safety workshop (as has happened for the last few years). The Reception

and Year 1 children will also have a road safety workshop in July.

4. Are the girls looking forward to sharing the Dining Room with the

Senior School girls?

Absolutely, there was quite a ripple of excitement in assembly when I

told the girls. Currently we have lunch in the Senior School Dining Room

about once a term and the girls love the choice and variety of food.

5. What will the facilities be like?

All of the Prep School teachers have had an input into the new building

design and early on in the process met with the architects. The new

Science Lab will be modern and well resourced (as it is now). We will

also have an Art room, one Library for all of the Prep School pupils, a

multi-purpose Hall and a Play Barn. The south facing classrooms will be

large, with the downstairs rooms opening up into the play area with soft

flooring. flooring. We are

currently raising

money for an

adventure

playground, which

is causing quite a

bit of excitement

among the girls as

they are

suggesting what

apparatus they

would like.

Spelling Bee congratulations

On Wednesday we had the final of the Upper Prep Spelling Bee. This

followed every Prep School pupil learning their sponsored spelling

words over the half term. The highest scorers in Years 3 - 6 went forward

into the semi-final on Monday. In the semi-final and final the girls were

given words to spell that were not on their sponsored spelling list, but

were appropriate for their age group.

Congratulations to the semi-finalists (if there are 4 semi-finalists in a

year group it is because there was a tie for one of the places):

6. How much input will the girls have in the new building?

Quite a lot! The School Council Reps will be tasked with seeking their

class’s opinion and wishes - although we can’t guarantee they will have

everything they ask for. (Remember, they did once have a request for a

zip wire coming out of the current Year 1 classroom!) Watch out for the

girls’ comments, suggestions and feedback over the next few months -

we all know that they have a lot to say!

Semi-finalists Finalists Winner 2016

Year 3 Issey

Isabelle Isabelle

Zienna

Doris

Year 4 Shriya

Anaya Anaya Anaya

Melina

Year 5 Sienna

Izabella

Heeya Heeya

Afrah

Year 6 Dorsa Dorsa

Camille

Nikita

The Spelling Bee Champion 2016 was declared as Anaya in Year 4, who

correctly spelled more words than the other finalists. The staff were so

impressed that the girls applauded the contestants and were genuinely

pleased with their efforts, thus showing a true St Margaret’s spirit, being

happy for other’s achievements.

Thank you to all parents who have helped their child to collect sponsor

money. So far we have collected £953.10. If you still have money to hand

in please would you do so by Monday 7th at the latest. All monies

received will go into the new Prep School Adventure Playground fund.

St David’s Day Well done to Juliette (Y2), Amaya

(Y3), Millie (Y4) and Elif (Y5) who wore their

Cub/Brownie outfits on St David’s Day on

Tuesday - it was lovely to see you in your uniform.

Dress up as your favourite book character day

has been wonderful. The children have

experienced a range of different activities today

Mother’s Day Assembly (Tuesday 8th 14:30 in the Senior School Hall)

Please park in the Sports Centre car park and walk over to the Senior

School Hall which will be open from 14:15. Mrs Hardy will be giving a

short presentation before the children begin their assembly. At the end of

the assembly all children will return to class. After you have had

refreshments you may collect your daughter to go home. Zumba (Years 1

- 6), Science Club and Supervised Study (Years 3 - 6) and the After School

Club (Rec - Year 6) will all run as usual.

to develop and enhance their love of books and reading. What is

particularly heartening is how older and younger pupils have joined

forces to discuss their favourite books. It has been a very lovely day.

Congratulations

Congratulations to Kitty, Year 3,

who received this amazing cup

for having the most points in her

swimming club. Well done Kitty!

Mrs C Aisthorpe

Head of St. Margaret’s Preparatory School

Congratulations Lower Prep Star of the Week

(last week)

Reception: Simran & Navya

Year 1: Isabella

Year 2: Sofia

Commendation

CONGRATULATIONS to…

Heeya, Y5

Certificate

CONGRATULATIONS to…

Tia, Y3

Parents’ Evening (Tuesday 22nd - a letter will be sent on 11.03.16)

This term we are holding the Lower and Upper Prep Parents’ Evening on

the same day so that parents with children in both areas only need to

have one evening meeting. For those parents whose daughter is in the

Upper Prep you will also have the opportunity to meet with the subject

specialists.

Sainsbury’s Active Kids Vouchers

We have begun to collect these vouchers in the Active Kids box in the

Upper Prep Office (Lower Prep may put their vouchers into the post box

in the Lower Prep entrance). Angel’s Year 6 team are encouraging all of

the girls to bring in vouchers. So far we have collected …. and the team

would like to buy ….., but they need a total of ……. Please help support

us as last year we were able to buy a number of toys which are now used

regularly at play times.

Website

As mentioned at the beginning of this term, we have been updating the

Parent Area of the School website. Please have a look as there is

information on the curriculum, ‘How to Support Your Child With Reading’,

Pupil Wellbeing, Behaviour and recommended reading lists. Please take

a look - www.stmargaretsbushey.co.uk - Parents - Prep Parents. I would

welcome suggestions as to what you

would like to see in the Prep Area of our

website.

March

4th Prep School “Dress up as your favourite book character”

7th 16:15-17:20

Years 5 & 6 Netball v St Hilda’s (Home)

8th 14:30-15:30

Mother’s Day Assembly, Senior School Hall

16th Year 4 visit to Water Works

17th-18th

LAMDA exams

22nd 15:30-20:00

Rec – Year 6 - Parents’ Evening

24th

Prep School Mufti Day - £2 “Career Mufti Day” What profession would you like to be in when you are an adult? Come to school dressed for this job.

24th 14:00 Term Ends

April

12th Summer Term begins

Dates

Reception

“

This week we have been making some special gifts for Mother’s Day. The girls made beautiful boxes and

delicious peppermint creams to go inside them.

Year 1

“

This week in Science, Year 1 have been learning about

insulators. We tested 3 different materials: fur, felt and tin

foil, and discovered that the best insulator to keep Mrs

Carter's tea warm for longest, was the fur.

Year 2 studied the poem, "What is red?" We thought

about the pattern of rhyming words and how the poem

was set out, then we worked in small groups to write

our own colour poems.

Year 2

“

Year 3

“

This week is the first one of Spring. It is exciting to think of the

days getting longer and the sun getting stronger. It will be

wonderful if it happens soon!

With Easter getting closer too we have started to think about a

lovely decoration that we can make. We started this week by

weaving a mat. This will be decorated over the next few weeks

ready to take home for the Easter holidays.

We will all be looking out for daffodils and signs of Spring over

the next few weeks…..

Year 3

“

Year 4

“

Every student in Year 4 has a different

talent/strength. In PSHE we discussed our

strengths and how it makes us an expert in

something. Therefore if we all work together

in our area of strength we will help each

other succeed. We put our strength on a

puzzle piece and placed them together on

the wall.

Year 5

Year 5 had a

wonderful time in

St Albans

yesterday.

In the morning

we enjoyed a

Victorian

Classroom

experience. Each

girl had to pay a

penny to the

Headmistress

and say “Good

morning Ma'am”.

The teachers

were extremely

strict and Sienna

had to be caned

at one point!

Heeya and Safiya

had to read in

front of the class

and poor Elif had

to stand in the

corner wearing

the Dunce's hat.

In the afternoon

there was a lovely

session playing

old Victorian

games including

Jacobs Ladder

and a spinning

hoop. The girls

then had the

chance to make

their own

thaumatrope

which involved drawing two pictures which would

merge when the card was spun. We arrived back at

school safely and tired but everyone had thoroughly

enjoyed a great day.

Year 6

This week Year 6 visited the Lincolnsfield Centre in Bushey as

part of their studies of World War 2. After being greeted by Mrs

Summerhayes the girls were given their official war-time identity

cards and reminded they must have them on their person at all

times.

In groups the girls had the

opportunity to visit a brick

shelter and a war-time house.

They also had the opportunity

to ride on an actual war-time

jeep which they all decided

was rather fun, albeit a little

scary. They learned about the

three different types of

shelters; the Morrison shelter,

Anderson shelter and brick

shelter. They were astounded

that during air raids, teachers

continued to deliver lessons to

the children in the shelters.

The visit was particularly

poignant as two of the

volunteers told stories of their

own experiences of the war

and the girls were able to ask

questions; Mr Howard’s

description of his experiences

of being evacuated left many of

the girls feeling sad and

emotional, and grateful that

they no longer have to

experience this.

Another highlight was

learning about the Dig For

Victory garden, and some

girls even had the

opportunity to hold Stewy

the bunny. Their teamwork

was also put to the test when

they were asked to

extinguish a fire bomb that

had landed on the roof using

only a bucket and a pump;

an exhausting and

somewhat soggy experience.

Well done to all the girls who tried the recent challenges on the

Mathematics board. The next challenges are now on display in

the classroom block. Girls are encouraged to solve these in

school or they can take them home to complete.

In Years 3 & 4 the following girls successfully completed the

‘Treasure Chests’ challenge and have been awarded a

commendation for their House!

Maths Challenge

In Years 5&6 the following girls successfully completed the

‘Coin Magic’ challenge and have been awarded a commendation

for their House!

A special mention for Alessia in Year 3 who

completed both challenges – well done!

Windsor Southwark St Johns Waterhouse

Scarlet

Luciana

Maya

Lily

Alessia

Isabel L

Isabella S

Aneesa

Arya

Windsor Southwark St Johns Waterhouse

Kamand

Nikita

Alessia

(Yr3)

Arabella

Heeya

Katie

Marina

Karina

Sanaa

Ami