Newsletters

Newsletter - Friday 13th May 2022

Dear Parents,

The atmosphere around school this week can be divided neatly into two. In the mornings you could have heard a pin drop, as Remove (Yr 6) and Upper Prep (Yr 2) have been sitting the national SATs exams with studious determination. Parents, you should be very proud. The children, some as young as 6 years old, have approached their exams calmly, showing great resilience and measure. It is great practice for future exams and pressures.

In contrast to the quiet mornings, our afternoons have been full of music and fun, with Lower Trans, Trans and Upper Trans practising and performing their Peace Performance. The singing has echoed down the corridors. I hope all the parents who came to watch enjoyed it. Not to be overshadowed by the older children, Prep (Yr 1) led a beautiful Liturgy and our Early Years children have been working hard on their Multi-Faith Assembly, which we will share with parents next week.

This week has been the embodiment of the school's alternative motto, that I share regularly with the children: Work hard, and play harder!

UKMT - UK Maths Trust

We know St Bernard's Prep has always been strong in maths, but our results for this year's Junior Maths Challenge by UKMT blew our socks off! This year almost 250,000 children entered the Junior Maths Challenge worldwide, which is open to children in Year 8 and below. Out of our 18 participants we were awarded 8 gold (Jayan, Vedanth, Aiden, Sai, Sahas, Aarush, Vihaan and Jagat), 5 silver (Satinderpal, Mannat, Nivaan, Shariya and Devam), 4 bronze (Aisheek, Joran, Rehan and Akshay) and 1 participation (Shubhay). To put those results in context, only the top half of entries are awarded gold , silver or bronze. The top 10,000 children who scored highest are then invited on to a second, more taxing round - so a huge congratulations to Sai, Sahas and Aiden who will be competing in the Kangaroo round, a fantastic achievement! The very highest scores by the top 1200 competitors are invited to take part in the Olympiad round - well done to Jayan who achieved a phenomenal score! The children will be presented with a certificate during Assembly on Wednesday 25th May at 10:45am - look out for a picture on our social media accounts @stbernardsprep.

Peace Performance

The children and staff worked incredibly hard to put together a moving and beautiful Peace Performance, which included singing, dancing and poetry. Following the disrupted years of the pandemic, it is so uplifting to get back to these performances and even better to share them with you. It's a great confidence booster to the children and a wonderful way to help them finesse those softer skills. Well done to everyone involved.

Rainforests and Liturgies

What an interesting trip Prep (Yr 1) had to the Living Rainforest on Monday. We learnt about how animals and plants protect themselves in this amazing habitat. Highlights included seeing the poisonous dart frogs and the noisy Toucan! A great day out with lots of wonderful memories. The children returned to school refreshed and eager to share with everyone (including parents!) a beautiful Liturgy on Wednesday. It always amazes me that even our youngest children are able to remember their lines and present them with confidence. Well done Prep!

Jubilee Bunting

As part of this year's Jubilee celebrations we are asking all the children in the school to decorate a piece of bunting, which will be displayed at the Chiltern Open Air Museum. The children have been asked to decorate their bunting with their hopes, dreams and aspirations. We will make copies of the until before we send it off to the museum, so we can display the children's designs around school.

Holy Communion Celebration

Congratulations to Elle who made her First Holy Communion last weekend and enjoyed a beautiful family celebration on this very special occassion.

Early Years

Early Years have been learning about minibeasts this week.

We also hosted our monthly Little St Bs toddler group, which is becoming very popular with our local community.

Spotlight on Success

Congratulations to Jayan for getting to the Olympiad stage of UKMT. An outstanding result!

Sports Star

This week’s Sports Star is Nainikka in Year 4. Nainikka has been working extremely hard at her tennis and is making great progress. Well done and keep it up Nainikka!

Mental Health Awareness Week 2022 (9th - 15th May 2022)

This year the theme is 'loneliness' so the focus in school has been on bucket-fillers; when you are kind to someone you fill their metaphorical bucket, so that it becomes full of happiness.

This week's focus was to fill each other's buckets with acts of friendship and kindness. Throughout the week teachers who have spotted moments of kindness and friendship have publicly praised the children and added their picture to our digital board in the reception area, so everyone can celebrate their act of friendship. It's been a wonderful exercise in helping everyone to feel happier and more mindful of other's feelings at school.

Rounders

Although the weather was not completely on our side this week, we were able to attend one Rounders Fixture. On Tuesday the 10^th of June our Under 9 Rounders team travelled to Long Close for their first fixture of the season. In what was a very exciting match, with very good all-round fielding and batting skills on display, our girls came out on top by winning the match 14 and a half rounders to 10. Well done to Miss Robinson and all these players, and a special well done to Hasitha for being nominated as her team’s MVP.

Cricket

On Saturday, during Open Morning a combination of Under 10 and Under 11 players will be participating in an exhibition cricket match in preparation for tournaments and hard ball matches after half-term. We wish all the players the best of luck for the day.

Thank you to Mrs Bhargavafor the photos!

Mrs Verma's Big Ideas for Curious Minds

As a school we love to stretch and challenge our children, to enrich their education beyond the curriculum. Every week I will be sharing with you some discussion topics, new vocabulary, Maths riddles and book recommendations, that will infect our children with a love of learning. These will all be posted in the Parent Portal section of our website as well.

Word of the week: Rigmarole

A lengthy and complicated procedure.

"He went through the rigmarole of reading and signing the legal papers before securing the deal."

In The News This Week - A blood moon

This weekend a total lunar eclipse is set to take place, which is when the Earth is positioned precisely between the Sun and the Moon so that all three are in a straight line - turning the Moon red, hence the name "blood moon."

Not only that, but this blood moon will be a special one as it's taking place when the Moon will be at its closest orbit to Earth, so it will appear larger than usual - making it what's called a "SUPER blood moon."

The eclipse will last around five hours in total, but the Moon will only appear red for around 75 minutes while it is completely in the Earth's shadow.

To all our budding astrologers, if you want to see it set your alarm - the best time to see this event in the UK will be between 4.29 and 5.35am on 16 May. Check with your parents first!

Calling All Book Worms

As part of Mental Health Awareness Week we have chosen titles suitable for children to help support them with a range of challenges that impact on mental health.

Bear: A story of autism and difference by Val Jones

A beautifully illustrated book exploring ASD, exploring the challenges and strengths of people living with autism.

It's ok to worry by Natalie Shutlar

This book explores worries and anxieties that children and young people may have. It's reassuring and helps children to understand that they are not alone when they feel anxious.

The Little Monsters Book of Wellbeing by Steve Turner

This daily journal helps to promote happiness, wellbeing and self-esteem.

Confidence is my Superpower by Alicia Ortego

This book, suitable for our younger children, reinforces to the reader that making mistakes isn't a bad thing. Confidence can be found within.

We have a week of activities planned for Remove (Yr 6) as they complete their final term at St Bernard's Prep...Brighton, Chessington, National Gallery and a theatre trip are just a few of our highlights, so please look out for some interesting photos of us on the roller-coaster. After all their hard work I think they earned their chance to play harder!

Have a lovely weekend and enjoy the sunshine.

Yours sincerely,

Mrs A Verma