Friday Headlines

01 May 2020

We started this first full week back by marking Morse Code Day which takes place on April 24 each year. This year it seemed very significant to look at how much communication has changed in the last 150 years as we are learning lessons and keeping in touch with friends and family using such a range of sophisticated technology.

Well done to Daya who set me a very challenging coded message to solve!

We also marked the 75th birthday of the Thomas the Tank Engine books. Some Westbourne children made happy birthday cards for Thomas, practised writing his name and coloured some pictures. With books and communication being a theme this week it has been good to see the range of books that girls in Prep have been reading.  I now have a new reading list based on the girls’ reviews and listening to recordings of them reading.

The range of topics being studied this week has been very broad and it has been good to see the finished results that have been posted on the year group blogs. Westbourne pupils have been doing mathematics using vegetables and in Reception they have been creating beds for their toy pets.  This is part of the term’s topic on animals great and small.

In Key Stage 1, girls have been learning about topics at home and abroad. Year 1 have been learning about Spain and its culture and I enjoyed singing along in French with Year 2, to ‘Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes.’  Following the Queen’s birthday last week the Year 2 work on the coronation and crown jewels seemed very apt.  The girls have produced some very informative fact sheets and some very creative pieces of art.

Year 3 have been to the Arctic via video whilst Year 6 girls have enjoyed a French themed week. This was not the same as visiting France where they should have been this week but we are sure they have enjoyed a range of cooking, virtual museum tours, singing and history study. In Years 4 and 5, in addition to their core subjects, they have extended their art history knowledge and appreciation with studies of the work of Paul Klee and William Morris.

I am busy judging the Earth Day badge designs which were entered into the competition launched last week. I am hoping to be able to announce the results next week but it is proving to be a very difficult job having received over 100 entries. Well done to everyone who has entered as it is clear you are very keen environmentalists.
Mrs Aston and I are also hoping that many girls will take on the Monopoly Board Challenge. This is a project that can completed away from the computer over the next few weeks.

We are very proud of all girls and how they are adapting to remote learning and we thank parents for their support too. Please keep us updated on the girls independent activities.

Mrs Sally Hartley
Head of Preparatory School