Junior Reflections

Junior Reflections Week 16 2024

Dear parents,

It has been another busy week here in the junior school, where we kicked off the week with our theme of ‘making mistakes’. As always, the pupils were enthusiastic about sharing mistakes that they had made but, more importantly, how they dealt with them after. This is, for me, what builds our character; we all make mistakes, mine probably go into 10,000s, but we keep going and learn from them in order to make us a better person. I shared a few examples of my mistakes, and as I told the children, I could have been there all day. I also shared a short video of a few sports mistakes, which I hope the pupils can reflect on in their everyday lives. 

Youth Speaks Final 

On Wednesday, I was joined by Ms Simpson and Mr Brough as judges for the annual Upper Two Youth Speaks. As ever, the finalists were amazing, and all four groups offered thought-provoking and powerful speeches. It was a truly difficult decision, but congratulations to the winners, George, Angus, Greg, and Alex. Thank you to Ms Cox and Mr Evans for your valuable input in preparing all the Upper Twos for this wonderful event. 

Online safety 

Mrs Morgan has been reminding pupils from Upper School about the importance of staying safe online. The digital world that we live in is continually changing. Some of your children may have their own devices, and it is important that, as a school and parents, we remind them of how to behave, just like we would if they don’t follow the rules or expectations at school. But also, what to do if things go wrong… Please do keep an eye on what your children are up to, keep the lines of communication open, and, as we have told the children, many apps have age limits that are there for a reason: to keep them safe. 

Sea turtle talk with Jo Earlam 

Upper One pupils had a visit from local author Jo Earlam this week as part of their geography and art learning. The children enjoyed Jo’s story of ‘Tuamor the Turtle’ and learnt lots of fascinating facts about sea turtles and plastic pollution. The pupils are looking forward to developing their knowledge on this topic and making their clay sea turtle tiles during their art lessons. 

Family society 

I met with the family society on Wednesday to discuss future events, and there is one I would like to draw your attention to. The family society will be hosting a summer fete on Saturday June 15, so please pop the date in your diaries, and more details will be shared in due course. If you are interested in joining our family society, please send your details to jsreception@exeterschool.org.uk and we will pass them on. The more, the merrier, and events like these can only work with the support of the community. 

Coffee morning 

Next Thursday we have our Lower Two and Upper Two coffee morning in the dining hall at 8.25am. I hope you can join us for a croissant, a cup of coffee, and a catch-up.

Have a lovely weekend. 

Playground people of the week

Florence F1H

Amelie U1R

Robyn U1R

Arthur L2P

Benjamin L2P

World Book Day

Mark your calendars, everyone! On Thursday, March 7, junior school will immerse in the enchanting world of literature for World Book Day. We are delighted to host author Sam Sedgman, who will conduct engaging workshops for each year group. We invite you to join the festivities by participating in our biennial tradition of dressing up as your favourite book character. We would like you to step into the shoes of any one of your most cherished book characters. Let’s make this World Book Day a memorable celebration of the magic found within the pages of a good book! Happy reading from Mrs Hardy.

U8s & U9s start their season against ECS

In a fantastic start to the 2024 sporting season, our U8 and U9 teams hosted Exeter Cathedral School for their first hockey and netball matches on Thursday. The afternoon was not about competition but about learning the game and developing key skills. The matches were marked by the enthusiasm and sportsmanship of both teams, creating a wonderful spirit of friendly competition. Here’s to a fantastic season ahead, filled with growth, teamwork, and, most importantly, fun for our children.

Swim Squads

Last week over 80 pupils from the junior school trialled for the swim squads- an impressive number which highlights the enthusiasm for swimming at Exeter School. The level of swimming was very impressive and it is clear that pupils have been working hard over the past few months to improve their skills. Th squads began their training this week and we wish them the best of luck for their galas and competitions this term. Well done to all who trialled and congratulations to those who made the squads.

 

Make £5 Grow: Upper Two’s Maths Project is launched!

Last week Upper Two pupils attended talks given Mr Mackintosh from the senior school and some Young Enterprise sixth form pupils, to launch this year’s independent maths project. Virgin Money have ‘loaned’ our pupils £5 each which will be paid back at the end of the project. Each pupil will be receiving their £5 shortly, with the challenge to ‘make it grow’.

This week we have been exploring how teamwork impacts the world of business and have started to consider how we can use our strengths, interests and hobbies to generate product ideas, playing close attention to the time of the year and our target market.

Pupils will be working in groups of between three to five pupils within their class, to design, make and sell their products and hopefully make a profit. The profit raised will be split between the school charities as chosen by our school council.  Mr Cunningham, Mrs Van and Ms Barnes are busy collecting initial ideas from the groups and are already very excited about what’s to come!

Junior School News

Junior Sport News

📢 We are on the lookout for an amazing new drama and AV technician to join the school from September. 

Based within the drama department, the post-holder would work across the school to provide a high quality, safe and creative experience for our pupils across drama within the school, in addition to providing high-quality AV support and media creation across the school.
 
Know anyone that might be interested? Check out the links in bio

#hiringalert #independentschoolsuk #dramatechnician #joinourteam #exeterschools #vacancy

📢 We are on the lookout for an amazing new drama and AV technician to join the school from September.

Based within the drama department, the post-holder would work across the school to provide a high quality, safe and creative experience for our pupils across drama within the school, in addition to providing high-quality AV support and media creation across the school.

Know anyone that might be interested? Check out the links in bio

#hiringalert #independentschoolsuk #dramatechnician #joinourteam #exeterschools #vacancy
...

We have a gold medallist in our midst! 🥇

Many congratulations to Exonian rower Ollie from Middle Fifth (right), who did extremely well to reach the finals in two other events at the British Rowing National Championships over the weekend. In his single scull (OJ151x) he was placed fourth on Sunday and he topped this off with a gold medal in the OJ15 double sculls on Monday, this time sculling with partner Ethan in a composite crew with Hexham Rowing Club. They won in a tight battle for the finish over the 1000m course, making for extremely exciting racing. 

Other Exonians on the water over the weekend did very well too – well done to Chloe(4F), Evie and Molly (both M5), all of whom raced in a number of different boat categories and reached finals in all their events. 

Well done to everyone who took part! 🚣‍♀️

#schoolofgreatcharacter #exeterschools #independentschoolsuk #inspireandchallenge #sports #exonianlife

We have a gold medallist in our midst! 🥇

Many congratulations to Exonian rower Ollie from Middle Fifth (right), who did extremely well to reach the finals in two other events at the British Rowing National Championships over the weekend. In his single scull (OJ151x) he was placed fourth on Sunday and he topped this off with a gold medal in the OJ15 double sculls on Monday, this time sculling with partner Ethan in a composite crew with Hexham Rowing Club. They won in a tight battle for the finish over the 1000m course, making for extremely exciting racing.

Other Exonians on the water over the weekend did very well too – well done to Chloe(4F), Evie and Molly (both M5), all of whom raced in a number of different boat categories and reached finals in all their events.

Well done to everyone who took part! 🚣‍♀️

#schoolofgreatcharacter #exeterschools #independentschoolsuk #inspireandchallenge #sports #exonianlife
...

Our Exonians are busy over the summer holidays! 

Alex (U5) and Ollie (M5) won silver in the J16 double sculls at Nottingham’s National Watersports Centre, representing Exeter Rowing Club this weekend 🚣🏻

This is a brilliant outcome, especially as Ollie is only 15! 

We look forward to hearing about their future races! 🙌

Our Exonians are busy over the summer holidays!

Alex (U5) and Ollie (M5) won silver in the J16 double sculls at Nottingham’s National Watersports Centre, representing Exeter Rowing Club this weekend 🚣🏻

This is a brilliant outcome, especially as Ollie is only 15!

We look forward to hearing about their future races! 🙌
...

Good luck to our @exeterschooluk swimmers Evie (L5) James (L5) Harry (M5) and Holly (3) who are competing in Sheffield this summer. James and Harry will race at the Aquatics GB Summer Championships and Holly, Evie and Harry are racing at the Swim England National Summer meet #swimming #exeterschoolsport #nationals

Good luck to our @exeterschooluk swimmers Evie (L5) James (L5) Harry (M5) and Holly (3) who are competing in Sheffield this summer. James and Harry will race at the Aquatics GB Summer Championships and Holly, Evie and Harry are racing at the Swim England National Summer meet #swimming #exeterschoolsport #nationals ...

Cricket leavers 2024. Thank you to our year 13 leavers who played their final match on saturday and have all made a huge contribution to school cricket during their time at the school. Charlie missing from the photo….thank you Charlie! @exeterschooluk #cricket #leavers #commitment #hardwork #friendship

Cricket leavers 2024. Thank you to our year 13 leavers who played their final match on saturday and have all made a huge contribution to school cricket during their time at the school. Charlie missing from the photo….thank you Charlie! @exeterschooluk #cricket #leavers #commitment #hardwork #friendship ...

Well done to the 3 Harrys! 🙌🏻. All awarded their full colours for outstanding contributions and performances for @exeterschooluk cricket #colours #cricket #rolemodels #exeterschoolsport

Well done to the 3 Harrys! 🙌🏻. All awarded their full colours for outstanding contributions and performances for @exeterschooluk cricket #colours #cricket #rolemodels #exeterschoolsport ...

U13 girls are county champions following a superb performance today! Well done girls 🙌🏻 @exeterschooluk @devoncricket @westernstormofficial #cricket #devon #champions #exeterschoolsport

U13 girls are county champions following a superb performance today! Well done girls 🙌🏻 @exeterschooluk @devoncricket @westernstormofficial #cricket #devon #champions #exeterschoolsport ...