Newsletters

Newsletter 22nd May

Dear Parents,

We made it! Our first half term of remote learning complete and I am so proud of what we, as a school community have achieved. As you know, the staff have worked incredibly hard, as have the children. Supported by you the parents, I think we make quite the team.  

At the beginning of this term I did an assembly where I encouraged the children, to the soundtrack of David Bowie, to turn and face the strange changes, and they really did. It is a strange and challenging time, but I am so proud of how the St Bernard's Prep community has, despite some bumps in the road, adapted and made the best of a difficult situation.  We have continued to deliver the standard of education that other schools aspire to and our pupils have rewarded us with enthusiasm, a willingness to learn and some fantastic work. 

Headmaster's Award

This week I have been overwhelmed with nominations for the Headmaster's Award. The first award goes to Rajan in Year 6, nominated by Miss Carter.  Rajan has approached his online learning with the same commitment and dedication as he does in school. His English work, videos and History have been of a really high standard. Well done. 

Mrs Verma has nominated five girls in Year 5; Amaya Patel, Ria Khanna, Shaan Bachu, Aishni Mishra and Jasmin Sroa. All have approached their English writing with enthusiasm and are developing a great sense of curiosity for learning. It has been a true pleasure to see their lightbulbs oof inspiration glow and in turn see their confidence blossom. 

Oluwafishayo also receives a nomination for adapting to remote teaching. He really has developed a mature approach to his learning and his 'can do' attitude means that he will always try his best. Shayo, it is a genuine pleasure to be able to teach you and see you grow on your learning journey. Keep up the good work and the positive mental attitude!

Rajvir in Year 5, over the past half-term has worked well with remote teaching. It has been a privilege to see his imagination grow and in turn see this reflected in written outcomes. His polite manner and his natural curiosity for learning and a genuine love of words, means that he has truly captured Mrs Verma's heart! Keep on shining, Rajvir.

Mrs Hupalo has nominated Amrit Sabharwal for his wonderful work in English and Araya Jalaf for her commitment to online learning and always trying her best.

Early Years Half Term Challenge

Our Early Years teachers have set the pupils a Half Term Challenge to make their own wind chime with materials from around the house. There are lots of ideas online and our creative teachers have made some of their own to inspire you.  Photos of your entries can be uploaded on Tapestry.

When I Coloured The World

The children in Year 5 have studied an unusual poem called 'When I coloured in the World' this term and written some beautiful poetry of their own, entitled 'If I could change the world'. 

I was luck enough to hear some of these poems read aloud in one of Mrs Verma's  (virtual) lessons and was really impressed.   We are going to share a selection of these poems on our social media channels and on the Home Learning Hub, so do take the time to log on and see how well they've done.

 

Praise

I also want to take this opportunity to say a big well done to Year 4 for their poetry and a particularly good video by Daya on keeping safe during this pandemic.  Mrs Mehta has shared some great Science work by Year 3 and Year 2 have been busy making some lovely plans for Wildlife Gardens.  Our Early Years children have been learning about money and so have had some great fun setting up their own toy shops at home, while Year 1 have impressed Miss Bohannon with their hard work this week. 

Sunflowers

Over the last few weeks we have been so lucky with the beautiful weather - lets hope it continues. Now is a great time to get out into the garden, so we will be sending giant sunflower seeds to all the pupils so that they can grow their own flower. If you don't have a garden you can plant it in a pot. We'll send some instructions along with the seeds, kindly donated by Pinewood Nurseries.

French Week for Year 6

As many of you will be aware our Year 6 pupils should have been in France this week, but unfortunately this hasn't been possible. Instead Madame Creech and the Year 6 teachers put on a French-themed week for the children, which was a great success. Madame Creech tells us all about it:

"There was no shortage of ideas or enthusiasm from the Year 6 staff in planning activities with a French accent. 

The week started off with pupils practising their culinary skills, as Monday was French bake-off day. All the mouth-watering mille-feuille, croissants, éclairs, baguettes and other baked treats would have made an impressive display in a French pâtisserie. Watch out, Le Meilleur Pâtissier (France’s ‘Great British Bake-off)! We have future contestants in our midst!

Construction day on Tuesday gave our Year 6 class a chance to get creative with their model-making skills: from a simple Eiffel Tower made of straws, to a scale model of the Sacre Coeur. With all the Paris landmarks created, we could have made our own miniature Paris!

Parlez-vous francais? Well, St.Bernards Remove pupils proved that they certainly could on Wednesday! The morning was spent confidently acting out scenes in which they were asking the way to places, buying food from shops and ordering drinks and snacks in cafes. The afternoon was spent putting together a composition of fun French sounds to make a French vocal mix. A cool musical activity, but also great training for future language-learning! 

Thursday provided the opportunity for pupils to display their extensive artistic talents. Investigating the art works of Henri Matisse and Claude Monet inspired a day of painting. 

The week was rounded off with a quiz. Congratulations to all staff and pupils for making this such a fun and successful week. No, we didn’t get to France, but as the saying goes, ‘if life gives you lemons..........’: ‘si la vie te donne des citrons, fais-en de la limonade (ou des gâteaux et des Tours Eiffel’)!

Bravo, tout le monde!"

Madame Creech

All that is left for me to say is have a wonderful half term and we'll see you all, either in school or on online after the break. 

Yours sincerely

Mr N Cheesman