Pre-Prep Reflections Week 13 December 2024

Dear parents,

Parent drop-in

On Tuesday afternoon, we held our first parent drop-in session of the year. It was lovely to see so many parents coming along and the children proudly sharing their work with you. I am always amazed to see how much they have done in one term and the huge progress they make in that time. If you were unable to join us this time, we will hold parent drop-in afternoons again towards the end of the spring and summer terms.

Christmas lunch

On Wednesday, the whole school came together in the hall for a festive Christmas lunch. We enjoyed traditional roast turkey with all the trimmings, followed by profiteroles. The excellent food was accompanied by a soundtrack of Christmas music and the pulling of Christmas crackers. Ms Simpson, Head of Exeter School, also popped in to talk to the children about the Jewish festival of Hanukkah in assembly. The Year 2 children have recently been learning about this in RE and she was very impressed with their knowledge.

Nativity

The highlight of the term has to be the two fantastic nativity performances today and yesterday. The children performed brilliantly, exuding joy and confidence, and we were extremely proud of them all. On Tuesday morning, the dress rehearsal of the nativity was recorded and photographed (see the article below for further details). Many thanks to Ms Richards and the team for creating and leading such a wonderful production.

Next week

The children are enjoying sending and receiving Christmas cards to one another via the Christmas post box. This will still be out next week if your child would like to write and post some cards. The article below has full details of the final three days of term, which are sure to be exciting and exhausting – please do try to fit some rest in this weekend.

Have a wonderful weekend and don’t forget those Christmas jumpers on Monday!

Mr Daniel Ayling

Diary Dates

Monday 16 December – Christmas jumper day

Tuesday 17 December – Christmas pantomime

Wednesday 18 December – Christmas party and end of autumn term (12 noon)

Spring Term 2025

Monday 6 January – Spring term starts

Friday 31 January – 7+ assessment morning for Year 2

Tuesday 11 February – Open morning for prospective families

Friday 14 February – International theme day

Monday 17 to Friday 21 February – Half term (school closed)

Monday 24 & Tuesday 25 February – Staff INSET days (school closed)

Tuesday 4 March – Pancake races

Thursday 6 March – World Book Day

Monday 10 March – Spring Reviews issued

Friday 14 March – Red Nose Day

Wednesday 19 March – Parents’ Evening

Wednesday 26 March – Informal parent drop-in

Thursday 3 April – Easter theme day and end of spring term (3.30pm)

Friday 4 to Tuesday 22 April – Easter break (school closed)

Term dates for 2024-25 and 2025-26 are available to download from the school website.

Spotlight on Nursery

The Nursery children have had a very exciting week preparing for Christmas! In literacy, our story of the week has been Zoe’s Christmas List. We discussed what our Christmas wish would be and then created our very own list to give to Father Christmas. In mathematics, we have been focusing on our ‘finger numbers’, practising holding up the correct number of fingers for each number. The children have also enjoyed being creative, making lots of Christmas treats for their families and friends, including some fruit kebab snowmen! The Nursery children have been working so hard during their nativity rehearsals, and we hope that you enjoy it as much as us! We wish you all a wonderful Christmas time with your loved ones.

Mrs Dray and Mrs Wannell

Nativity

We hope you enjoyed the nativity performances as much as we did! Many thanks to Mrs Leigh Farmer, parent of Max in Reception, for giving up her time on Tuesday morning to come in and take beautiful photographs at the nativity dress rehearsal. Please click below to take a look at the secure online gallery. The password is Rudolph. Parents are welcome to view and download photographs from the gallery, but please do not share them on social media. The dress rehearsal was also filmed and this recording is currently being edited. We look forward to sharing this with you in due course.

Next week

A reminder that the arrangements for the last few days of term are as follows:

Monday 16 December

Christmas Jumper Day: all children and staff may come into school wearing a Christmas jumper over their uniform. This is just for fun – no donations necessary. There will be no swimming for Year 2. Drama Club will now go ahead after school.

Tuesday 17 December

The Pantomime Play Company will be coming into school to perform ‘The National Elf Service’ for the whole school in the afternoon.

Wednesday 18 December

There will be no swimming for Year 1. Mrs Ruth Lawrence, our Drama Club teacher, will be entertaining the children at their annual Christmas Party in the hall from 10-11am. All children are welcome to come to school in party clothes for the morning. Each child will also receive a Christmas present from Father Christmas!

Please note that we finish early at 12 noon for the end of term on Wednesday 18 December. There will be no lunch or Late Room, but the minibus will be operating a return journey to Exeter School.

With the exception of Drama Club on Monday, which will go ahead, there are no after school clubs running in the final week of term (16-18 December). Late Room will be open until 5.30pm on Monday 16 and Tuesday 17 December for those who need after school care.

 

Save the date!

The parent/staff quiz night is back by popular demand. Please add the date of Friday 24 January 2025 to your diaries. This event is open to all parents from the pre-prep and junior schools, and will take place at Exeter School from 6.30pm. More details to follow…

Stars of the Week

Nursery

Rose

For working so hard and making great progress with her reading. Well done!

Mrs Dray

Reception

Sophie

For the brilliant progress she has made with her reading this term. Well done!

Mrs Rickard & Mrs Smyth

Year 1

Sadie

For being sensible in our nativity rehearsals, learning her lines and using a loud voice. Well done!

Mrs Lawrence-Jones

 

Year 2

Oscar

For the excellent effort he has put into his writing this week, including trying really hard to construct his sentences correctly. Well done!

Ms Richards & Mrs Goodwill

Head's Star of the Week

Ella B (Year 1)

For stepping in at the last minute to cover some extra lines in the nativity dress rehearsal. Well done!

Mr Ayling

News

Do you have a story or pupil achievement to share with our community?

If you have a couple of lines of information and a photograph that you and your child are happy to be shared we will try to post these at relevant times through the year.
Email our communications team
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