PRE-PREP

A Sticky Situation for 1S!

A rather sticky situation resulted in squeals of laughter in 1S this week!  A jam sandwich making role-play led to the children recognising the need for instructions to be simple, to the point and carefully sequenced.  Having asked the ‘visiting chef’ to put the butter on the bread, bemused faces watched as the tub of butter was perched on top of the loaf, which was still in its wrapper!  A sticky, gloopy mess of jam, butter and bread soon demonstrated to the children the need for their instructions to be much clearer and far more precise.  A fabulous way to bring imperative verbs and instructional writing to life – the children are already reflecting on this experience as they set about writing their own sets of instructions.

Year 2 Visit the Nagarjuna Buddhist Centre

Once the excitement of travelling in convoy on our Spratton minibuses had subsided, the children in Year 2 were immersed in a day of soothing calm and tranquillity, when they visited the peaceful surroundings of the Buddhist Centre in Thornby.  As part of their explorations of the Buddhist faith, the children enjoyed a range of activities, including making their own mandala, which they accompanied with ideas for what would make a perfect world. There were some very thoughtful suggestions, from having plenty to eat for everyone, to having a loving family and a safe home. The children even had a go at meditation and you could have heard a pin drop!

A Visiting Speaker Talks to Reception

As part of this term’s topic work, our Reception children have been finding out all about the human body.  On Wednesday, Mr Soomal, an ophthalmic optician, took time out of his busy practice to come and talk to the children about how important our eyes are.  There were a few giggles when they discovered that our eyes consist mainly of water and a jelly like substance!  Mr Soomal displayed some images to show what the inside of the eye looks like and even gave a simple demonstration of the way in which our vision is tested.  Mr Soomal had created the best vision assessment chart ever, as the letters spelt out, ‘We shine and grow at Spratton Hall!’ Following his brilliant and informative talk, Mr Soomal also treated the children to little goody bags as a memento of his wonderful visit.

Reception’s First Assembly!

The excitement continued for our Reception children on Thursday, when they presented their first ever assembly to parents. It is, by no means, an easy task to stand up and speak in front of a large audience, particularly when, like many of our little ones, you are only 4 years old.  We watched with overwhelming pride as the children jiggled along to and sang a selection of songs (we loved the healthy heart song!) and each one of them delivered a line.  The children were amazing and, after only nine weeks in school, we could not have been prouder!

Christmas Nativity Tickets

Finally, a gentle reminder that all ticket requests for our upcoming Christmas nativities need to be in by Monday please.  Mrs Hopwell and I will then begin the task of allocating seat numbers to names, with tickets being emailed to parents by Thursday 30^th November.

Pupil Achievements

Congratulations to Phoebe Tilston (1S) and Harriet Guppy (1S) who both achieved the Pre-Primary Level in their Ballet exam.

Very well done to Willa Mercer (1N) for gaining her Level 8 Award in Gymnastics

Finally, a special mention must go to Noah Carlin (2W) who, inspired by his learning about Sir David Attenborough, chose to undertake a 13 mile bike ride, along the Brampton Valley Way.  Noah set himself this challenge so that he could raise money to help stop deforestation and protect areas in the world where jaguars live, something that is close to Sir David Attenborough’s heart too.  Noah successfully raised £111 and is already planning his next fund raising project!

Fiona Sanchez
Head of Pre-Prep

ART

Artist of the Week

Portfolio Club have been looking at still-life paintings of famous artists and created their own pictures of the artists’ work.

Well done to Isla Allsopp, Shiro Upton, Lilly Brook, Bessie Sanders, Zac Smith and Bella Smith.

Paint a Pet Competition

We have now received an amazing 52 entries, all of which are now displayed in the Hunter Hall corridor for you to see.  The winner will be announced at the end of November.

HOUSE COMPETITIONS

Years 7&8 House Hockey & Rugby

Boys:  1st Drake, 2nd, Raleigh, 3rd Frobisher, 4th Grenville

Girls:  1st Frobisher, 2nd Grenville, 3rd Raleigh, 4th Drake

Junior General Knowledge Quiz

1st Frobisher, 2nd Raleigh, 3rd Drake, 4th Grenville

UPPINGHAM ‘ON THE BUZZER’ QUIZ

The eight pupils that represented Spratton, earned their place in the team after two in-house tricky selection rounds, getting that far was impressive in itself.

A Team: Archie, Barnaby, Alice & Finlay                     B Team:  Priscilla, Leilana, James & Ruben

On the day, both teams began by facing off against eight other schools in a number of intro rounds, answering a fastest finger question would then earn the team three follow on bonus questions.

Thankfully, last minute cramming in the minibus again proved useful in answering some taxing general knowledge questions. Spratton Hall A amassed the highest score in their pool winning all three of their first round games.

Spratton B faced a tough pool against two other school’s A teams. They were unsuccessful in progressing further in the main competition but moved to the Plate competition from here, eventually finishing 3^rd in that.

In the Quarter finals, Spratton A team had two wins and a loss, but again, amassed the most points from correct answers. They then breezed through the semi-finals against a shocked St Hugh’s team making it to the grand final.

Here they faced Witham Hall, a team they beat 180 to 60 in the quarters. They started strongly taking an early lead but, unfortunately, Witham were a fraction quicker on a few of the fastest finger starter questions, eventually pipping us to the post.

Both Spratton teams performed admirably, receiving lots of positive praise from Uppingham staff and parents. Many congratulations and well done to them all.