Friday Headlines

14 May 2021

In this Mental Health Awareness Week we have had much to smile about and be proud of, all of which helps us to feel happy.  There were certainly smiles on our ‘Photograph Day’ when the classes gathered for a group picture.  We were very pleased to be able to take these outside and managed to miss the heavy showers which came later in the day.

We also noted that May is National Pet Month, Story Telling Month, Walking and Local History Month.  These are all activities that we know can also make us feel happy and ones we can all enjoy.  To add to the smiles of the week we marked National Limerick Day and I was very pleased that Ria Bahal and Catrin Swanborough rose to the challenge of composing their own humorous verses in the limerick format.

We were also delighted by the performances of the girls in the two inter-house swimming galas held this week.  The first gala of the year was for Year 6.  This will be their last one in the Prep School and they produced some impressive performances for the occasion with Frank being the victorious House.  There was a special entry in the Medley Relay when a staff team joined in.  Mrs Woodfield, Miss Nelsey, Mrs Aston and Miss Brown impressed the girls with their swimming skills and first place finish.

On Tuesday afternoon, it was the turn of Year 3 to compete in what was their very first gala.  They too made us very proud with their positive attitude and support of each other.  Despite having missed swimming during the last year, they demonstrated some good developing skills.  Frank was again the winning House.

Well done to all of our swimmers this week with special congratulations to Isla Batchelor and Grace Moran for being selected to train with the City of Birmingham. 

In addition to their written work, this week Year 5 and Year 3 have enjoyed some practical work in our specialist subject rooms in the Prep School.  Year 5 have extended their study of portraiture by making some clay faces in the Art Studio.  They sketched faces showing a variety of different faces and then translated these into 3D sculptures.  Year 3 enjoyed a lesson using magnets in our Science laboratory.  They were able to investigate and create magnetic fields.  They are looking forward to continuing their lessons in our specialist facility.

The toy day held in Year 1 as an extension of their History studies gave the girls the opportunity to write about and create paintings of their toys and to measure them using a range of different units.

Following the introduction to cricket by the All Stars coaches last week a number of girls joined the program and Ruby in Year 2 has shared her thoughts after her first session.

‘I went to All Stars Cricket on Friday and it was great.  I did batting, and catching and bowling.  In catching, we pretended we had a hot potato.  It was so funny I kept dropping it!  In batting, we had to get the balls through the cone gates and finally we did bowling pretending to be a starfish.  I had so much fun!’

The girls are all enjoying the extra-curricular activities that are on offer during the day and after school and the opportunities are being added to regularly.

Mrs Sally Hartley

Head of Preparatory School