Since Easter, the Reception children have drawn on all their creative resources in literacy. Under the guise of ‘drawing club’, the children have dived enthusiastically into a different story each week based on the question ‘would you rather live on land or under the sea?’ This wonderful activity has given Reception ample opportunities to tap into a variety of skills; paying careful attention to the story, discussing the story and sharing their imaginative ideas with friends, and putting their thoughts about the story down on paper either in picture or word form.

Rosie Snagge, Reception Class Teacher

Year 1 headed off to forest school this week to create a realistic scavenger hunt linked to their knowledge of bugs, plants and seasons. The children worked together to collect water to make clay and showed real artistry to shape clay pots, which tied in beautifully with their art lessons. This free-learning session in the woods promoted positive mental wellbeing as the children collaborated while making the most of our expansive outdoor resource.

Rebecca Lane, Year 1 Class Teacher

Father’s Day will have a real Spanish flavour this year, thanks to our Year 2 linguists. The children demonstrated not only their ability to write and speak in Spanish but also their artistic flair as they carefully crafted thoughtful ‘hug’ cards which they will present to their fathers on Sunday. The special project emphasised the importance of teamwork, as the children worked in pairs to draw outlines of each other’s hands in order to create huggable arms, and the ability to take on board key instructions and put them into effect, offering a practical and enjoyable way for the children to get creative. Abrazos!

Leana Staring, Year 2 Spanish Teacher

Year 3 blew the roof off with their thrilling swimming gala, actively encouraging and cheering each other on. Demonstrating their impressive skills in front crawl, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly, the children glided through the water as they took great pride and pleasure in their successes. The rapturous applause throughout was testament to Year 3’s hard work and practise over the year which manifested itself in the prolific progress they have made with their extensive swimming skills.

Henrietta Platt, Year 3 Class Teacher

With the Olympic Games being held in Paris this summer, Year 5 took the opportunity to learn the names of competing countries in French this week. Just like the athletes themselves, the children rose to the challenge; working hard on their vocabulary and pronunciation and testing their memory skills in a game involving national flags. As a group, it was definitely a gold medal-winning performance!

Melanie Barnett, Year 5 French Teacher

Year 6 have been working hard on self-portrait and spirit animal drawings and this week enjoyed learning how to transform half of their face drawing into their spirit animal! The pupils took time to research various animals carefully, particularly their facial features, in order to add as much realistic detail to their artwork as possible. The end result was a series of beautiful pieces which displayed animal qualities such as feathers, horns and fur.

Tamsin Pearson, Year 6 Art Teacher

Year 7 enjoyed their fortnightly independent reading lesson in the library. Our key stage 3 pupils work toward a leavers’ reading certificate and these lessons are an ideal time for pupils to make selections from the library, keep their reading records up to date, and enjoy 45 minutes of uninterrupted reading. The challenge of the reading certificate encourages pupils to stretch themselves with their reading choices, thus developing a breadth of reading which includes classics and writing from other cultures as well as popular contemporary fiction. It also offers an opportunity for pupils to take responsibility for their own learning progression.

Katy Warner, Head of English

Following their exceptional efforts during exam week, Year 8 ventured to St David’s Bunk Barns for a week of activities in sunny Pembrokeshire. Throughout the week the children have thrown themselves into various ‘wet’ and ‘dry’ activities, ranging from surfing and climbing to kayaking and coasteering. The confidence and collaboration of the children has been exceptional and it has been delightful to see the children enjoy their adventure here. The sunshine certainly helped early in the week but the fact faces were still filled with smiles after a day in the driving wind and rain on Thursday reinforced what a magnificent and positive group this is. They have been exceptional ambassadors for the school and themselves and it has been a pleasure to share this space with them. I am also hugely grateful to Mr Backhouse, Miss Hendry, Miss Thesiger-Pratt, Mrs Backhouse, Mr Campbell, Miss Johnstone and Mrs Cryer for their exceptional support of the children throughout the week. This week has hopefully provided numerous exceptional memories for these children; ones that they will cherish for a long time. Their focus now moves to their School of Rock production, with work already under way thanks to plentiful singing on the bus home.

James Figgis, Head of Upper Prep