Pre-Prep Reflections Week 15 January 2026
Dear parents,
We are now two weeks into the term and the children have (mostly) got over their initial tiredness and the slog of coming back to school in the dark depths of winter! Unfortunately, a sickness bug has been doing the rounds this week, taking several children and staff down with it. Please may we remind parents that any case of vomiting or diarrhoea requires children to stay at home for 48 hours after they are clear. This is to ensure that they are well enough to return to school, as well as to reduce the spread of infection to others. Fingers crossed that we are over the worst of it!
Visitors
We were delighted to welcome Mrs Leah Hardy in for assembly on Wednesday morning. Mrs Hardy is head of the lower junior school, overseeing Years 3 and 4, and visits us regularly so that she is a familiar face to the pre-prep children. The theme of her assembly was ‘let your light shine’ and the children were encouraged to be the best version of themselves through positive choices and actions. Every child was given a special sunshine sticker to remind them of this. Yesterday morning, Mr Wood, deputy head of the junior school, also visited to hear the Year 2 children read, as he likes to do regularly. We have also had a number of families in for tours this week from ECS and other schools, with more booked in over the next couple of weeks.
Staff update
I am pleased to announce that we have appointed Mr Sean Lovett to cover Ms Richards’ teaching role when she goes on maternity leave. Mr Lovett previously taught at Trinity School in Teignmouth for 15 years and has held various leadership roles including head of pre-prep and head of prep in that time. He stepped down last year to develop the Sporty Stars franchise in Plymouth, which he will continue to oversee while teaching Year 1 on Mondays to Wednesdays until the end of this academic year. Mr Lovett will be joining us after February half term and will work alongside Ms Richards for the first two weeks until she finishes on 5 March. He will also be attending the Year 1 parents’ evening meetings on 4 March. Mrs Wannell is due to return from her maternity leave on 2 March, working Mondays to Wednesdays in the Nursery with Mrs Dray. We are currently recruiting for another Early Years practitioner to work on Thursdays and Fridays, and I will update you in due course.
Family Society events
We are holding our annual quiz night on Friday 27 February from 6.30pm. A fun, relaxed social event open to all pre-prep, junior and senior school parents and staff, the event is held at Exeter School and we would love to see you there! Tickets are £5 per person and everyone is welcome to bring their own food and drink. Teams are up to 8 people per table and anyone who wishes to come can be allocated to a team if necessary. Please book your places on the Family Society website by clicking here. And don’t forget to sign up for the Family Society summer ball which takes place on Friday 5 June at Sandy Park – scroll down for full details.
I hope you all have a relaxing weekend.
