Pre-Prep Reflections Week 16 2024

Diary Dates

Friday 2 February – Year 2 entrance assessments for Exeter School

Friday 2 February 7pm – Parent/staff quiz night *new date*

Tuesday 6 February – Safer Internet Day

Wednesday 7 February – Open morning for prospective families

Thursday 8 February – Reception trip to Pizza Express

Friday 9 February – International Day

Monday 12 to Friday 16 February – Half term

Monday 19 & Tuesday 20 February – Staff INSET days (school closed)

Wednesday 21 February – Pancake races

Thursday 7 March – World Book Day

Wednesday 13 March – Spring Reviews issued

Friday 15 March – Science Day and Red Nose Day

Wednesday 20 March 4-7.30pm – Parents’ Evening

Wednesday 27 March – Easter Theme Day

Thursday 28 March to Tuesday 16 April – Easter holidays

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

Spotlight on Year 1

We have had a great week in Year 1. We began our English topic on ‘instructions’ and the children were able to follow and make up their own instructions for a partner. In mathematics, we have been exploring number bonds and looking at different ways to represent calculations. We put our sense of touch to the test in our wellbeing lessons. We discussed that when we activate our sense of touch, this releases a hormone called oxytocin into the body – the hormone of love, comfort and safety. The children had to feel and describe an object to their classmates without looking and we enjoyed guessing what the objects could be. As part of our ‘seasonal changes’ topic in science, we enjoyed going on a winter walk around the school grounds. The children were able to identify many signs of winter. In geography, we continued our learning about the flags, symbols and capital cities of the four countries that make up the United Kingdom.

Miss Lawrence, Mrs Thomas and Mrs Tyler

New House System

This week, after much anticipation, we revealed further details of our very first house system to the children. In the junior school, each house is named after an explorer from the south west: Scott, Blake, Gilbert and Grenville. We have therefore decided to use the locations of each explorer’s birthplace as our new house names:

• Devonport (red)
• Bridgwater (green)
• Brixham (yellow)
• Bideford (blue)

Siblings will be in the same houses and children who progress to Exeter Junior School will remain in their corresponding house when they start. Miss Lawrence is responsible for overseeing the houses and so she and Mr Ayling will not be part of any house, in order to maintain neutrality! 

Everyone will receive a house badge to wear on their blazer so that everyone knows which house they belong to. We will also be introducing a new house point system soon, where children will be awarded physical tokens for demonstrating any of our school character virtues of kindness, helpfulness, curiosity and teamwork, or for going ‘above and beyond’ in any area of school life. More on this next week…

Quiz Night

Please note that the date of the parent/staff quiz night has moved to Friday 2 February. This is a fun, relaxed social event for pre-prep and junior school parents and staff. Last year’s event was a huge success and we hope more of you will be able to join us this year. The event is held at Exeter School from 7-10pm. Entry is £5 cash per person on the door and everyone is welcome to bring their own food and drink. Teams are up to 6 people per table and anyone who wishes to come can be allocated to a team if necessary. Please let your class rep know if you would like to come.

Easter Theme Day

On Wednesday 27 March, the last day of the spring term, the children will spend the whole day off-timetable, taking part in Easter-themed activities. We would like to invite parents to come in at 3pm for a special Easter assembly, where the children will share some of their learning with you. This will be followed by a tea party in the hall in honour of Mrs Martin, as this will be her final day at Exeter Pre-Prep School. There is no need to book. We hope you will be able to join us and, if you would like to bring a nut-free cake, please feel free!

Please note that the parent drop-in that was previously scheduled for this date will no longer take place. Instead, we will put a selection of your child’s work out on parents’ evening (Wednesday 20 March) for you to look at before or after your meeting.