Pre-Prep Reflections 13 February 2026

Diary Dates

16-20 February – Half term

23 February – Exeter School EdFest (school closed)

24 February – Staff INSET Day (school closed)

25 February – Open morning for prospective families

27 February – Spring reviews issued

27 February – Quiz Night at Exeter School

27 February – Ms Mulchrone’s last day

2 March – Mrs Wannell returns from maternity leave

4 March 4.00-7.30pm – Parents’ evening

5 March – World Book Day (costumes)

5 March – Ms Richards’ last day before maternity leave

20 March – Red Nose Day (non-uniform)

25 March 3pm – Informal parent drop-in

1 April – Easter assembly (3pm) and end of term

Term dates for 2025-26 and 2026-27 are available to download from the school website.

Spotlight on Nursery

This week in Nursery, we have been feeling the love as we explored activities linked to both Valentine’s Day and Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week. The children have enjoyed sharing a range of wellbeing social stories, giving them the opportunity to explore and talk about different emotions. In Literacy, the children have continued to work hard on their name writing, practising letter formation and developing their pencil control. In Mathematics, we have been focusing on number recognition and formation, using familiar rhymes to support our learning. A highlight of our week has been our daily post-lunch dance in the hall with the whole school, which has been a fun way to promote wellbeing. The children also got creative with Valentine’s painting, making headbands, and painting their names. We are so impressed with the children’s continued progress and hope you all have a wonderful and relaxing half-term break — fingers crossed for some sunshine too!

Mrs Dray and Ms Mulchrone

International Day

Today was International Day at Exeter Pre-Prep. This is an event we started in 2024 and a great opportunity to group the children in their houses for the day. The children visited five continents throughout the day:

• Europe in assembly with Mr Ayling – the children listened to Italian music and learnt about Italy’s landmarks, food, currency and language, as well as hearing more about Saint Valentine who came from Rome.
• Asia with Mrs Goodwill and Ms Richards – the children went to India where they painted geometric Buddhist mandala artworks using cotton buds, as well as learning about the Taj Mahal and trying some Bhangra dancing.
• Australia/Oceania with Mrs Dray and Ms Mulchrone – the children went to Australia, where they made paper plate koalas and had a go at building the Sydney Harbour Bridge using construction blocks.
• Africa with Miss Wheller and Mrs Tyler – the children went to Egypt where they made ancient string mummies and built enormous pyramids using stacking paper cups.
• Central America with Mrs Smyth and Miss Adams – the children went to Mexico where they tasted Mexican food and learnt a traditional dance.

The children were given their own passport and had to collect stamps and stickers on completion of each workshop. It was lovely to see children from Nursery to Year 2 working together in mixed age groups, and everyone enjoyed a special house lunch in the hall. We hope the children enjoyed the day as much as we did!

Book Week

Every year, we hold a very special Book Week to celebrate books and promote a love of reading with the children. This week’s Book Week will be from 2-6 March, with activities taking place every day. This year is extra special as 2026 is the National Year of Reading. The highlight of the week is World Book Day on Thursday 5 March, when everyone is invited to come into school dressed as any book character of their choice. We look forward to sharing more details with you in due course. Please do get involved in the Book Bento competition taking place across Exeter School, details of which you can find on our social media pages.

Schoolblazer sale

Schoolblazer will be running a 20% discount (on all in stock items) from 9 February – 22 February.

Visit the Schoolblazer website

Muddy Stiletto’s Children’s Art competition

Win a family holiday to Thailand worth £7,000

While we do not often bring you news like this, we thought it was worth putting out there for the half term break – it’s a great prize from Turquoise Holidays and the winner’s school will also get £500 to spend on art supplies.

• open to any children aged 5-11 years
• design a postcard scene from Thailand with pens, pencils, paint or paper
• deadline for entries midnight 8 Mar 2026

Click here to read more and enter

Parent quiz night

On Friday 27 February, the Family Society will be running a fun quiz night open to parents across the whole Exeter School community. Click the button below for more details on how to sign up.

The Family Society would also like to ask local businesses and individuals to donate gifts/prizes to go towards the raffle, to help make this a really special event. The support is very much appreciated and prizes can be dropped off at the bursary anytime between now and the 26 February.

Register here

Family Society summer ball

The Family Society will be hosting a summer ball on Friday 5 June at Sandy Park.

“We are offering an early bird discount and tickets are limited, so book now to avoid disappointment!

Hope to see you there!

The Family Society”

Book now