During the last two weeks we have celebrated the sensational efforts made by Year 6 for our annual Science Fair. The work showed a great level of maturity and curiosity. Having put their hearts and souls into these projects, all the children should be commended. This week we also received the wonderful news that Blue Coat has been awarded the prestigious Primary Science Quality Mark to celebrate our commitment to excellence in science teaching and learning. What a wonderful achievement! Special thanks to our Science Leads Mrs Simmons in Prep and Mr Fogarty in Pre-Prep for all their hard work.
This week, Year 4 will celebrate their ‘Heroes’ projects. Virtually, of course. As you will see from the article below, the work that has gone into this has been splendid. I must congratulate the children for their interest, their imaginative approach and the care that they have taken. Well done to them and the Year 4 Staff team. A great job under testing conditions.
On the subject of scientists and heroes, heroines, mystery, tales of the imagination and captivating adventure, if you, children, are interested in such things, and have some spare time in the summer break, there are some reading suggestions coming up below………
Before that, as we end the penultimate week of term, I must congratulate the children for embracing their new routine. Staff have been very impressed by their hard work.
A big thank you to all parents for supporting us by following our safety requirements. We are hopeful that when further Government guidance is released it will allow us to move closer to ‘the old normal’.
However, since it is very unlikely that mass gathering will be allowed in the short to medium term, online assemblies and services are likely to continue for a while yet.
As mentioned in previous correspondence, I will inform you and the children as soon as possible of their teachers for next academic year. Ideally, we would share this information now, but in these unprecedented times we may need to re-evaluate. Thank you for bearing with us.
I often think how technology can be burdensome for many but during this pandemic it has allowed us to communicate effectively, whether that be for academic delivery or to enable assemblies. As a dad, I have seen my son flourish with home learning but, hand on heart, I know that there is no substitute for children being in the classroom.
Next week we will be trying to bring the end of term alive through virtual final assemblies and our end of term thanksgiving services for Pre-Prep and Prep. We would encourage parents to take some time out of their busy schedules to watch the thanksgiving service. It will be a lovely way to end the term.
Last time, I promised you a list of children’s literature. Here it is, below. This 36-strong list is not, of course, meant to be a comprehensive guide to recommended reading. It does not contain a Harry Potter tale, so it cannot be. I offer it merely as a random selection of books – roughly calibrated from the easier to the more challenging – that children, particularly of Prep age might care to read.
It contains books that are funny, books about Science, books about animals, books of adventure, historical novels and a few classics, two of them abridged. Something for every taste, I trust!
Alice in Wonderland (Ladybird Classics)*
Black Beauty (Ladybird Classics)*
The Sheep-Pig by Dick King-Smith
The Diary of a Killer Cat by Anne Fine
Varjak Paw by S F Said
Fantastic Mr Fox by Roald Dahl
The Call of the Wild by Jack London
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo
War Game by Michael Foreman
The Boy Who Loved Words by Roni Schotter
How To Make a Human Out Of Soup by Tracey Turner
Cool Science Tricks by Daniel Tatarsky
What’s Eating You? by Nicola Davies
The Borrowers by Mary Norton
Ladybird Tales of Super Heroes
Tom’s Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce
Five on Treasure Island by Enid Blyton
The Pumpkin Project by Katie Smith
The Twits by Roald Dahl
The Girl of Ink and Stars by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
Bedtime Inspirational Stories by L.A.Amber
Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
Matilda by Roald Dahl
Charlotte’s Web by E.B.White
The Queen’s Nose by Dick King-Smith
The Tom Gates Series by Liz Pichon
The Story of the Amulet by E.Nesbit
Goodnight, Mr Tom by Michelle Magorian
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain
The Ordinary Princess by M.M. Kaye
Flour Babies by Anne Fine
The World’s Worst Children by David Walliams
The Worst Witch by Jill Murphy
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
Truckers (part of the Nome trilogy) by Terry Pratchett
*Abridged version
Food for thought!
Have a great weekend!
Mr Noel Neeson | Headmaster
