Autumn has certainly arrived this week with a few blustery gales and squally showers.
Please ensure your child has a PE jacket in school for PE lessons and break times. The children need breaks away from their desks in the fresh air.
The children will soon be wearing their duffle coats too and once the Junior children start wearing their duffle coats, they no longer need to wear their boaters and caps. Infant children have a winter hat. Blazers should still be worn around school and can be left on pegs with their PE jackets overnight.
It is very important that children feel safe and happy at school. We encourage children to talk and share any worries they have with any member of staff or even in assemblies. Mrs Thompson has recently received training in Mental health but we are all here to support the children. Of course if you ever have any worries or concerns about your children please do not hesitate to contact me.
I am outside every morning and at the side gate at 3.15pm, but always happy to chat by phone, zoom or in person if you have worries or need any support.
Enjoy the weekend.
Kind regards
Mrs Korcz Headmistress
Thank you to all those who donated for Jeans for Genes. A total of £129.10 was raised.
Jewellery
Although we generally prefer no jewellery in school, small stud earrings can be worn and inexpensive watches. However, earrings will need to be removed for PE or covered with plasters. Children will need to be responsible for their own jewellery and I suggest putting them in a box in their own desks, before changing for PE.
Hair
Please ensure that all long hair is tied back using a suitable bobble.
Uniform and PE kit
A polite reminder that all Uniform and PE kit needs to be named.
Save the Date!!
You are invited to a
Halloween Party, organised by our fabulous
Friends of Grantham Prep.
The cost is £5 per child and includes pizza. There will be disco and games, as well as fancy dress competition.
To collect money for tickets, we are using PayPal, and people should use this link to pay for their tickets:
If you buy a pumpkin from Ancaster Leisure don't forget to mention "Grantham Prep School".
For any families of Grantham Prep they will kindly donate a percentage of the sale to the "Friends of Grantham Prep"!
Friday 15th October
Wear Something Green to School, for "Just One Tree Day"
Swimming
Monday 4th October - Year 3 & Year 4
Monday 11th October - Year 5 & Year 6
October
Diary
Friday 1st October Brooke Priory Cross Country @ Rutland Water, 2pm (a)
Tuesday 5th October Postponed - Oakham School - Music Day
Wednesday 6th October Witham Hall - Cross Country (a)
Thursday 7th October U9 Rugby @ Stamford School
Monday 11th October Tri Golf Festival @ Dixie Grammar School (Y4) (a) 10.30 - 2.30pm
Tuesday 12th October Oral Hygienist to give talk to EYFS & Infants
Wednesday 13th October Open Day - by appointment Racket Pack Badminton Y3-Y6, 4 - 5.30pm
Thursday 14th October Halloween Disco organised by Friends of Grantham Prep International E-Waste Day G&D Netball League Y5-Y6, @ Priory Ruskin. 4 - 5.30pm
Friday 15th October Flu immunisations "Just One Tree Day" Break up for Half Term. (Normal pick up times)
Monday 18th - Friday 22nd October 2021 October Holiday Camp
Monday 1st November 2021 Back to School
Academic Year 2021 - 2022
Autumn Term 2021
Monday 6th September – Friday 10th December 2021
Half Term: Monday 18th October – Friday 29th October 2021
Spring Term 2022
Tuesday 4th January – Friday 1st April 2022
Half Term: Monday 14th February – Friday 18th February 2022
Summer Term 2022
Tuesday 19th April – Wednesday 20th July 2022
Half Term: Monday 30th May – Friday 3rd June 2022
May Day: Monday 2nd May 2022
It was a wonderful feeling to be driving off to the first away fixture of the year, as well as this being the first competitive match for the U11’s in a very long time. The excitement on the bus was palpable and on arrival to Ayscoughfee school, we were happy to see that the weather had cleared and that the sun was shining. Grantham started out strong, scoring 2x goals in the first quarter to Ayscoughfee’s 1, however we knew that this was going to be a close match, and the remainder of the game resembled something similar to Tennis, with goals being scored like for like after each teams centre pass. Eva and Jack worked tirelessly in defence, blocking shots and jumping for rebounds, then feeding the ball out to Seth, Isabella and Lily May who used their quick and effective passing skills to move the ball down to the other end of the court where a winning combination of shooters, Theo, Freddie and Finley managed to secure a 5-4 victory.
Team:
Freddie, Theo, Lily-May, Isabella, Eva, Jack Finley, Seth.
This week the children in year 6 looked at Queen Victoria's family tree and the impact it has had and that is still felt in the modern world. The children were asked to work in groups to research descendents of the queen and place them onto her family tree. Watching the children work collaboratively in order to complete the task was brilliant and hopefully inspired some of the children to research their own family trees!
In History, we are looking at life in the Victorian era. We have considered the notable difference in lifestyles, housing and jobs for the rich and the poor, as well as talked about children going to work from as young as 4 years old.
In this week's lesson, Mrs Dickinson brought to life a Victorian schoolroom and we discussed punishment, the dunce's cap (thank you Mr Tranter) and the similarities and differences between then and now.
The children were thoroughly engaged in the lesson and enjoyed the experience. Dante said, "Can we do this every lesson?" I think like everything, it would get repetitive.
Taseen told Mrs Thompson "Mrs Dickinson pretended to be a Victorian teacher with a bamboo cane. She also did a funny voice!" I am glad he was so excited by it.
Jessica commented, " it was fun and scary!" I hope my lessons aren't that bad. **Please note, no children were harmed in the making of these photos!
Class 4 have written about some of their most memorable Summer Holiday experiences, and popped them on a 'postcard' for our 'Wish you were Here' display.
Some neat handwriting and expressive writing, well done Class 4.
Rainforests
From Holiday postcards to the Rainforests - we looked at the four different parts of the Rainforest; The Forest Floor, The Understory, the Canopy, and the Emergent Layers.
Each layer has particular weather conditions, and we identified the types of animals that would live there.
Sailing Award for Henry
Congratulations to Henry for completing his Stage 2 RYA youth Sailing award - what an amazing achievement!
Henry had to cover many aspects of sailing, from rigging, ropework, through to steering, sailing techniques and even meteorology!
The children have been using the ipads this week in History to research some facts about Ancient Egypt. We started the topic at the beginning of the term and it has already captured the imagination of the class. The children have also tried their hand at ancient Hieroglyphics and are looking forward to the mummification lessons which follow after half term.
This week in Geography, Class 2 have been discussing the places where they live and how a postman is able to deliver letters to their homes. The children learnt what each part of an address means and the importance of it being in the correct order. The pupils then enjoyed a cut and paste activity to sort out the school address in the correct way.
In English, Class 2 have been learning about verbs which are action words and tell us what a person or object is doing. The children then practised identifying verbs within a sentence. They were also able to create action words by adding –ing and –ed to the end of the verbs. A strong understanding of verbs can help to improve children's writing skills and overall literacy.
Please have a look at the neat handwriting and the lovely letter formation by the children in Class 2.
Africa, addition, subtraction and enormous turnips!
Once again, this week has flown past and what a busy bunch we have been in Year One. In Art, we have continued looking at the life and work of Uzo Egonu and traditional African art. The children have been busy designing their own colourful patterns, drawing African animals and landscapes and looking at a large map of the African continent in order to locate Nigeria - the place of our chosen artist's birth. Zara was also delighted to pinpoint Uganda and to tell us all about her travels to see her grandparents and cousins.
In Numeracy, we have been thinking about more and less and the associated mathematical vocabulary, symbols and operations. In Literacy, everyone had great fun acting out and retelling the story of the 'Enormous Turnip.' The written work that followed was completed beautifully with incredible illustrations. Well done, Class One.
Looking at the heavy downpours last Monday it was looking a bit doubtful as too whether our P.E. lesson would go ahead. Thankfully it did subside and by the early afternoon the sun came out. Phew! This week the children used the main playground and the lesson’s theme was to practise their gross motor skills using our tricycles, hula hoops, scooters, Space hoppers, rugby and footballs and balancing boards as well as having lots of fun.
Nova acted as a driver on one of the tricycles taking her passengers around the playground and to the many stops that were required of her! Charles is really getting the hang of scootering and enjoyed attempting to turn corners with speed. Georgina learnt to balance on a balance board, Sybil also enjoyed being ‘a driver’ manoeuvring around various obstacles, Henry and Alfie enjoyed making music with the playground instruments and Aneira launched herself into space on the space hopper to name just a few!
Gross motor skills are so important to our overall physical and mental health and here at the Grantham Prep we certainly know how to put them to good use.
Well done Pre-school and Reception for great agility.
Bookings for this week:
Please contact the school office to book a place for your child.
8.05am Honnington
8.10am Barkston
8.20am Ancaster Playing Field
8.25am Ancaster Leisure Car Park (The Tank)
On Fridays the bus will run 15 minutes earlier to ensure pupils arrive in time for School Band.
The school bus mobile:
07784 343749
Access to the School Building after 4.30pm
As you are all aware there is now a gate which has a key code access to the Creche in the evening. If you do not have the code, please call 01476 593293 and your call will be answered by Creche.
