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Mathematicians, scientists, artists and doctors of the future

Oh my days! Having opened this week saying that it's important to be kind as well as clever, can I just emphasise how smart (and kind, and confident!) your children are? This week as well as being International Women's Day, where several of our girls celebrated the females they admire most, we also dug deep on World Maths Day with the whole school taking part in amazing activities, AND we also sent our Year 6's to Baylab, our second Science trip in as many weeks. 

We are truly creating empowered artists, engineers and scientists of the future here at St Bernard's Prep. From Frida Kahlo and her passion for art, to the Nobel-Prize winning Marie Curie, the girls I spoke to had really thought hard about who inspires them and why. We'd love to share these videos on our website, so we'll be in touch with you individually to ask permission. 

It all adds up

World Maths Day was quite an extravaganza. Year 5 were solving GCSE Maths questions, Isaac in Year 2 set word problems for all of his classmates to solve (see them down below) and Year 6 conducted a Maths murder mystery. In Year 1 the children compared and ordered objects by mass, and Year 3 used TT Rockstars to work on their multiplication skills. 

I have to say one of my favourite moments was seeing Head of Early Years, Mrs Biscardi, lying down on the floor to be measured by her class. It looked like a scene out of Gulliver's Travels! It was also lovely to see the little ones out and about around the school as they learnt all about time and the different types of clocks. 

Hand on heart, the best week ever!

Finally, this week's Science trip was again to Baylab in Reading, under the leadership of our Head of Science, Mrs Thapar. The children had an absolutely brilliant time learning about the heart and the function of blood, even making their own samples.

Using microscopes to look at blood smears was a fantastic opportunity for the children to apply their prior knowledge and consolidate their thinking around the core structures and functions of the heart and cardiovascular system.

In fact, it set such a brilliant pace and enthusiasm for learning, it's making my own heart race just thinking about it!

Back to the Stone Age

I'm so proud of our Year 3 pupils and teachers for getting out to their first ever overnight residential to Ufton Court near Reading. Staying away from home is a big step, but encouraging these kinds of adventures at an early age is really important to us at St Bernard's Prep, as it builds great resilience and a can do  spirit.

I imagine you might have a few tired pre-historic little men and women home with you now, but I hope they all enjoyed their time away!  

Spring has sprung in Early Years

We've got some special guests in our nursery this week - brought in to help our children learn all about eggs and birds. We were all in suspense as we waited excitedly for their tiny chicks to hatch.

This kind of 'hands on' learning is so important for our smaller children, they loved listening to them cheep and stroking their soft feathers. 

St Bernards is a place to grow

Laura Druce, our Early Years teacher, was the first of our team to be interviewed for a new 'Getting to know' story on our website this week.

She spoke about all the reasons that she loves combining the theory of learning with playtime, as she works towards a degree from the University of Reading. Her most recent favourite moment was when the children brought their favourite toys to show and tell - she brought her classic Barbies, which everyone loved. She's keen to encourage others to follow in her footsteps and grow their careers at St Bernard's Prep.

Your special achievements

Arjen in Year 2 shared a lovely picture of him at the swimming pool with his Level 2 qualification - what a brilliant achievement. 

Happy Holi!

The lovely Viyona and the lovely Myra in Year 2 both brought in smashing photos of themselves with their brothers, celebrating the Hindu festival of Holi.

Otherwise known as the Festival of Colour, Spring or Love - this festival seems to have all my favourite things combined!

Mr B's sport report 

Inter-house dodgeball and bench-ball

Although we were unable to participate in fixtures this week due to the weather conditions, we were still able to keep our children competitively active in inter-house dodgeball and bench-ball. 

Our Year 6’s took to the courts on Wednesday to play in both games in order to accumulate as many house points as possible for their teams. The overall winners in the Bench-ball Tournament were Luke, while Mark were crowned champions of the Dodgeball. The final standings for the afternoon were Luke 1^st with 700 points, Mark 2^nd with 600 points, John 3^rd with 400 points and Matthew 4^th with 300 points.

Well done to all the players for their ongoing enthusiasm and outstanding participation throughout the afternoon! 

Slough Catholic Schools Football and Netball Festival

We look forward to welcoming St Anthony’s, Our Lady of Peace and Holy Family to our school next week, when we host the annual Slough Catholic Schools Football and Netball Festival. All the children in Year 6 will be involved - we wish them the very best of luck in both competitions.

The Big Skip

Every day next week everyone in our school will put their skipping skills into practice to raise money for those affected by the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. We’re donating via CAFOD (The Catholic Agency for Overseas Development).

We'll all be giving it a go, even the teachers! Mr Barendse, our Head of PE actually uses skipping as a key marker for fitness too. He said: “Skipping can be a tricky skill to master. But once you get the hang of it, it’s a brilliant way of improving coordination, aerobic fitness and muscle strength.”

We’ll be skipping all through the week – and hopefully it will also keep everyone’s spirits up during this stretch of rotten weather. Any donations will be greatly appreciated.

Tulsi's weekly book review

"The art of communication is the language of leadership.”   James Humes