Pre-Prep Reflections

Pre-Prep Reflections Week 26 2024

Dear parents,

Welcome back to the summer term!

It is lovely to finally have a bit more sunshine and hopefully higher temperatures are on the way. This week, I spoke to the children in assembly about our ‘endeavour and collaborate’ spotlight virtues, using our ‘teamwork turtle dove’ character, and they have been keen to show us their co-operative teamwork skills over the past few days. The children have settled back into their routines and clubs well and it was lovely to see the return of Mrs Pike’s gardening club with the better weather. We have also taken delivery of lots of new classroom resources as we start the new term.

New pupils

I would like to extend a warm welcome to the six new pupils and their families who have joined Exeter Pre-Prep this term: Bodhi, Sophie and Amelia in Nursery, Freddy in Reception, and twin brothers Santi and Salvi in Year 1. This brings the school roll up to 71 children. All the children are settling in very well and being supported and cared for by their new friends and staff.

Staff update

Mrs Rickard has been settling in well this week as our new Reception Teacher, ably supported by Mrs Dray and the Reception children, who enjoyed their first swimming lesson at Exeter School today! Following Mrs Martin’s departure, I will be taking on the leadership of the Early Years Foundation Stage (Nursery and Reception), while Miss Lawrence will be Acting Special Educational Needs & Disabilities Co-ordinator (SENDCo) for the summer term. We are in the process of reviewing leadership roles and responsibilities for September and will share more details in due course.

Recruitment

I am pleased to announce that we have appointed Ms Andrea Jellard as our school administrator to succeed Mrs Furniss, who will be retiring at May half term. Julie’s last day will be Thursday 23 May and she will then be spending some time with Ms Jellard over the half term to ensure that there is a smooth handover of all relevant information. Ms Jellard, known as AJ, is currently the pre-prep receptionist at Exeter Cathedral School, a role she has held for the past 12 years, and we look forward to having her on the team.

Next week

I will be holding my final coffee morning of the year on Monday from 8.50am. Any parent who is free is welcome to join me in the hall. Please note that there will be no Art Club on Wednesday for next week only, and that children are welcome to join Late Room without charge if needed. We have lots of outings taking place next week. On Tuesday, Years 1 and 2 will be heading out on their RE trip to Exeter Cathedral and St Martin’s Church. Year 1 will be going on a short walk around the local area on Thursday as part of their geography topic. We then look forward to our whole school theatre trip to Taunton Brewhouse on Friday afternoon, which I’m sure will be great fun!

Wishing you all a fantastic weekend.

Mr Daniel Ayling

Diary Dates

Monday 22 April 8.50am – Head’s coffee morning

Tuesday 23 April – Year 1 and Year 2 RE trip

Friday 26 April – Whole school theatre trip (afternoon)

Thursday 9 May – Exeter School open evening

Thursday 16 May – Open morning for prospective families

Saturday 18 May – Devon County Show

Friday 24 May – Staff INSET day (school closed)

Monday 27 to Friday 31 May – Half term

Saturday 15 June 1.00-4.00pm – Family Society summer fayre

Wednesday 19 June – Transition Day (TBC)

Friday 21 June – Sports Day (TBC)

Wednesday 3 July – Year 1 fire station trip

Monday 8 July 3.00pm – Parent drop-in

Tuesday 9 July 2.30pm – Summer showcase

Wednesday 10 July – Summer term ends at 3.30pm

A list of term dates for the academic year 2024-25 is now available on the school website.

Sponsor Money

Thank you to everyone who has already sent in their sponsorship money for the charity fun run at the end of last term. Please can we ask you to ensure you have collected all sponsorship by the end of next week (Friday 26 April) and sent it in to us. If you do not have a sponsor form, please do not worry – a sealed envelope marked with your child’s name will be perfectly acceptable. We have already collected a good amount for our friends at Westbank in Exminster and we look forward to sharing the final total with you soon. Thank you so much for your support.

House Picnic

We are excited to share our plans for a joint teddy bear house picnic with Form One at Exeter Junior School and the whole of Exeter Pre-Prep School on Tuesday 18 June. We will travel to Exeter School during the school day and return before the end of the day for usual pick up or clubs to take place. A picnic lunch will be served at Exeter School. We would like the children to bring a teddy into school on this day to join them at the picnic, if they would like to. Please ensure the teddy fits into your child’s bag. We hope it will be an enjoyable experience and chance for children to spend more time in their houses. More information will be shared in due course.

Miss Lawrence

House Leader

Welcome to Mrs Rickard

We are delighted to welcome Kate Rickard as our new Reception Teacher this term. Mrs Rickard is an experienced Early Years teacher who started her career at Totnes Primary School in 2014, before moving to Shiphay Learning Academy in Torquay, where she taught for six years and became lower school team leader. In her spare time, Kate enjoys baking, cooking and gardening. One of her favourite hobbies is constructing Ikea flat pack furniture and she is looking forward to sharing her crafting skills with the children. Kate has two young children and her husband also coaches tennis and football at Exeter Pre-Prep.

Superstars

Stars of the Week will return next week once we have had a full week back in school. In the meantime, the following Year 2 children had news of some great achievements over the Easter break that we wanted to share with you:

  • Louisa achieved a merit in her ABRSM grade 1 violin examination.
  • Bel achieved a distinction in her third LAMDA speech and drama examination.
  • Ollie has been selected to train with the Under 10s Youth National Mini Squad by Exeter Trampolining Academy.

Congratulations and well done to all – we are very proud of them!

Family Society Summer Fete

If you would like your own stall at the fete, please click on this link to book.

 

Nativity dress rehearsal 🌟

Nativity dress rehearsal 🌟 ...

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Pre-Prep News

Junior school Interhouse Cross Country

Founders' Day 2024

Sports Award Dinner

Come along to our whole school open morning on Friday 24 January 9-10.45am to hear from the Head, have a pupil-led tour around classes in action and have your questions answered by our friendly admissions team.

Register your place here