PRENTON PREPARATORY SCHOOL

NEWSLETTER

SUMMER 2017 Issue No. 67

FOND FAREWELLS As we reach the end of another extremely successful year it is, as always, tinged with sadness. We say goodbye to our Year 6 pupils as they take the next step on their educational journey. Academically they have achieved another excellent set of results in entrance exams to local independent and Catholic schools as well in the 11+. More recently they have also attained pleasing results in the SATs we are very proud of them all! Their departure from school in a “Hummer” capped a particularly enjoyable end to term, with the emotional leavers’ assembly, the trip to Thurstaston and the residential stay at Barnstondale amongst their highlights. This is another talented group of children who have the potential to succeed in all they do and to be a great credit both to us and themselves as they continue on to the next stage of their education, we are sure they will make us proud. Good luck to them all; they will be greatly missed at PPS!

STAFF NEWS This term we bid a fond farewell to Mr. Paul who is retiring. During his seventeen years at PPS he has made a huge impact as the Science, ICT and DT teacher and helped drive these subjects forward. He has been a very popular teacher with the pupils who all greatly enjoy his lessons and he has CHARITY always had great enthusiasm for his subjects. He will be much missed by all As is tradition, the children took part in our annual sponsored swim this term. All the pupils put a lot members of the school and we wish him every success in the future! Recently Mrs. Merrin, our Pre-School teacher of the last four years, took of effort into both the swim and the fundraising maternity leave as she and her husband were expecting their first child. She is and we were very proud of them. enjoying motherhood so much that she has decided to resign her post to The total raised was £1530.00, which we will be spend more time with Joshua and we are very sad to see her go. She has sharing between our regular local charities Claire been instrum ental in the social and academic development of our youngest House and Alder Hey Children’s Hospital. Our pupils and we have much to thank her for. We would like to wish the family third charity this year will be the Wirral Dyslexia great happiness and hope that we will continue to see them so we can watch Association, each receiving £510.00. Joshua grow and flourish. We are very proud of the work PPS does As a result of these changes we are very much looking forward to welcoming regularly for charity and it is also an important aspect of citizenship as it raises our children’s our new members of staff. Mrs. Julia Gallagher will take on the role of Science and ICT teacher. She has great experience in these subjects and has been awareness of local and global issues, reminding teaching at various schools in the and Wirral areas over many years, them how fortunate they are. including independent schools. We are sure that she will bring the right blend of experience and enthusiasm to enhance our staff team and that she will be P.P.S. PRODUCTIONS welcomed by all members of the school community. The summer term was again memorable for the We are also very pleased that Miss Jennie Hacking, who has done a superb quality of entertainment across our productions. job covering Mrs. Merrin’s maternity leave, has agreed to stay with us Our Foundation Stage put on a play called “The permanently in the role. She has already developed lovely relationships with Litter Muncher”. It was a lovely presentation in the children in the Pre-School (and KG) class(es) and it is a great comfort that which our robot grew increasingly tired from she will be here in September to carry on this work. We are sure that all the cleaning up after a lazy and messy town however Pre-School pupils will go from strength to strength under her leadership! all came good in the end as the mayor encouraged his citizens to help keep the town SCHOOL UNIFORM tidy. The children displayed amazing confidence The new term begins on Tuesday for such a young age and all enjoyed performing th 5 September and all children to their audiences. should be in winter uniform, The Infants play “Eddie the Penguin Saves the including sensible, flat black shoes World” gave an important environmental message and black or navy coats without about global warming. Our hero travelled the coloured trim. world and eventually stopped the ice caps Please ensure that all children melting! It was a very polished performance by a arrive at school each day in talented group and was much enjoyed by all who complete uniform, including hats saw it. as we aim to maintain high At the Gladstone Theatre the performances of all standards. our pupils was superb. We are so proud of our As increasing amounts of time are talented children. The production of “Joseph and now being spent chasing lost the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” was the clothing, please also check that highlight of the evening and was commented on all items of uniform are clearly by all as being of such a high standard! and indelibly named. Thanks and well done to all staff and pupils!

DROP OFF and PICK UP Once again we have had complaints from the police and our neighbours on Mount Pleasant due to inconsiderate parking at drop off and pick up times. There are also safety implications to these parking issues, which affect all of our children, including safe crossing areas and the necessity of emergency vehicles to access the road. Therefore we would like to ask all our parents to remember the access requirements of nearby residents and to park respectfully.

PRE-SCHOOL NEWS BY MISS HACKING KINDERGARTEN’S NEWS BY MISS ORME This term has been particularly busy, with our Foundation Stage It is the end of a very busy year in KG and the children are ready for their Sports day which was great fun! The children certainly enjoyed long summer break. It is a sad time saying goodbye to the children and practising their races in the lead up to it. families we have got to know so well, but they are ready for the new We also spent a lot of time practising for our summer concert, ‘The challenge of Year One. Litter Muncher’. We had a fantastic time and all the children put in I am sure that you will agree at how much the children have grown in a lot of effort lea rning their lines and songs. confidence and that this was very much in evidence during their The children have also been working hard to improve their phonics performance of this year’s summer production, “The Litter Muncher”. It is knowledge as well as developing their writing, reading and number amazing how they develop the confidence to stand up in front of all the skills and it has been pleasing to see them make lots of progress. parents, remember their lines and sing so many songs from memory, at They have all developed socially as well and this is so important at such a young age. this age. Our topic this term has been “Teddy Bears”. We have read lots of stories Pre-School also enjoyed a wonderful trip to Greenacres Animal about teddy bears, the children have been designing new teddy bears and Park to celebrate this year’s achievements. When we arrived at the they brought their favourite teddy bears to school to draw, write about and Animal Park we were greeted by a lovely lady who told us how to enjoy the teddy bears’ picnic. stay safe around the animals and how important it was to wash our The weather could have been better for our summer trip to Greenacres hands after touching them. We were very lucky and got to stroke Animal Farm, but we were lucky in that the rain started while we were eating lots of different animals. In Pet’s Corner we fed a baby goat some our lunch and had stopped by the time we had finished. It was also a very milk out of the bottle. I wonder if any of the Pre-School children busy day, with lots of fun activities to take part in. can remember what a baby goat is called? We also stroked an We started by visiting Pets Corner where we met various animals including owl, a bunny and even a skunk! After that we had a chance to goats, a rabbit, a skunk and a chicken. On the way to Pets Corner we watch the lady feed the lemurs. The children got to ask the lady passed a parrot, which said “hello” to us. After Pets Corner we were taken questions about the lemurs and were excited to know that they can to the Lemur House and learnt lots of interesting information about Lemur’s jump as far as the length of our bus! We then went around the rest and asked lots of questions. It was then time for lunch. This was when the of the park to look at all the different animals. After lunch, the rain started, but it didn’t matter, because we were inside a big marquee. farmer took us on a tractor ride around the fields. We raced with After lunch we went for a walk around the farm and saw more animals such Cameroon sheep, fed some Highland cows and got up close to the as meercats, wolves, baby wallabies and ducks. Then it was time for the horses. We finished our fun filled day in the soft play area before tractor ride. We had lots of fun singing “Old MacDonald had a Farm” and getting back on the bus to come home. saw lots more animals including alpaca’s highland cows, horses, Shetland We then enjoyed our Teddy Bears’ picnic with our friends in KG on ponies and goats. The goats had a race with the tractor, but we won. Thursday 13th July. We had the picnic in the back garden, brought After the tractor ride, there was just enough time to visit the soft play area our Teddies with us and had lots of fun! and burn off some energy, before heading back to the coach. The time We will miss the children who are moving up but look forward to seemed to fly and after all that fun and activity there were lots of sleepy seeing them develop even more in KG. children on the coach going back to school.

YEAR 2 VISIT TO THE MAGICAL CIRCUS This term Year 2, and their friends in Year 3 visited ‘Magical Circus’ to enjoy a fun-filled and cross-curricular day full of activities. All children thoroughly enjoyed the experience and were extremely enthusiastic when writing about their favourite memories of “marvellous” Magical Circus. “I really liked magical circus… I would love to go again!” Daniel “I loved the diablo best because I could do it first time. When we were playing, Daniel dressed up as a princess and I dressed up as the knight. We found a secret room.” James I loved Magical circus, it was amazing in the show. I especially liked the diablo. We spun plates and I loved the slide.” Saskia “There was an amazing show and we could dress up. I did origami and I loved YEAR 1 SEE THE LANDMARKS it. Also we got to go on the slide.” Kitty OF THE WIRRAL “When we got there I was very excited. I was very good at the diablo because I Year One went on a geography field trip around the landmarks of could do a pancake. I wish I could go there every day. I did the pedigoes too.” the . We visited Bidston windmill and found out Tom why it was built at the top of a hill. “It was fun and I learned how to use the diablo. At the end of the day there Then we went down to look at the view across the in was a show and you got to share your favourite skills.” Naomi Wallasey and spot some of the landmarks of Liverpool on the “When we went to Magical Circus I loved it because you dress up, tried out other side of the water. new circus tricks and a lot more. I would go again!” Alfie Next stop was Birkenhead docks where we could see some huge “It was a lot of fun at the circus because we did the diablo and we did plate warehouses and one of the Mersey ferries. spinning as well. We got to try all the skills in the circus!” Rhys We enjoyed our snack in and had time to play in “When we went to magical circus we went into a big, big hall. We used diablo the playground and have a walk around one of the lakes looking and could throw it up in the air and catch it on string.” Josh out for wildlife. “I loved magical circus. They taught us the best skills and had entertainment. I We drove to and learned that it is the oldest read lots of books and did origami. I learned about the circus and we created a brick built lighthouse in Britain and the light at the top was poster. I would love to go again.” Talia damaged many years ago in a storm. We had to walk a little way “The circus was good because I could dress up and I liked the diablo. I could before we could see the sea. spin the diablo and I could throw it and catch it.” Anna By this time we were getting hungry so we had our lunch on the “I think magical circus is such an exciting place to go because on the outside it rocks at . We could see where the river Dee, on the may look dull but on the inside it is a place full of imagination and wonder. Any other side of the Wirral peninsula, flowed into the sea. The three other circus could never be as magical. It’s like entering another world… and islands we could see were the which are a local you can dress up!” Maya nature reserve. Their names are: Hilbre Island, Middle Eye and I really liked meeting Angelo, Melanie and Angelica. I got to play with the Little Eye and when the tide is out you can walk over to them. spinning plates. I really want to go back!” Elicia Mr Robinson then drove us up a big hill and we all got off the I thought the playground was great! In the circus room I learned lots of skills. I minibus again to look at the Mariners' Beacon. It was very tall! It really liked it!” Miguel was used to show sailors the way to go up the river Dee to “I loved the circus because they taught us loads of amazing skills like juggling, Parkgate. diablo and spinning plates. Also there was a play area and I climbed the tall Then it was time for our favourite part of the day – a visit to the ice climbing frame up to the slide. I went in the library and there were lots of cream shop in Parkgate. This year the most popular flavour was storybooks. I would really go again!” Beau chocolate!

YEAR 4 had a very busy time this term.

YEAR 4’S HISTORY TRIP TO LIVERPOOL BY DANIYAL MIR AND SAMUEL HALL YEAR 3’S MAGICAL CIRCUS TRIP Year 4 all went to Liverpool for a history trip. BY HOLLY CROSS When we got to the museum two guides called We were very excited in class and, as we got Danny and John met us. We went to the first YEAR 6’S BARNSTONDALE TRIP on the minibus, we got even more excited. I enclosed dock in the world. It was old and BY YAN XU CHEN & FINLAY WOOD thought that we would have a magical day TH interesting and it was built by Thomas Steers. On the 26 of June, Year 6 went on a ahead of us. When we got there, we went The Old Dock is underground under Liverpool residential trip to Barnstondale. We were upstairs and there was a girl called Angelica One. We learnt that people didn’t have proper really excited as we were boarding the and her mum and dad Angelo and Melanie. toilets so they used a bucket and threw it in minibus. Then Mr Robinson (the school bus First of all, we practised juggling, stilts, plate the Dock. The dock also had a secret driver) started the engine and we were off. spinning and lots of other amazing things. I passageway from the castle. When we reached our destination we were liked the juggling best because it was Then, we went to the Museum of Liverpool jumping around with excitement. Next we challenging. and we had lunch. A guide called Chris did a were shown to our cabin called “The Dale” by After lunch, we went and had a play in the workshop. We learnt about how the docks Tom, the owner of Barnstondale. After that playroom, it was great fun. After a while, grew and we played a game about people the boys dropped their bags off at the dorms Melanie sat us down and we talked about the travelling to America on boats from Liverpool. I and the girls did the same. Then we went to history of the circus and made a circus would recommend the trip to a lot of my have lunch at the cafeteria; we had a choice poster of our own. It was great fun and I friends because I found it quite interesting. of: chicken & chips or pizza, and everyone learnt a lot about circuses. chose pizza. We then went to the forest and We ended the day with the Year 2s which YEAR 4 TRIP TO LIVERPOOL UNIVERSITY started walking. When Nikan saw a hill he was really exciting. We all loved the talent BY FATIMA MILLER AND SCOTT HEFFEY rolled down it and the rest followed him. After show and we all loved the magical circus. When Y4 went to the Geography Department that we went to our cabin and changed our We went home on the minibus and were very in Liverpool University we got split into groups. dirty clothes into nice clean clothes. tired! My group did a treasure hunt on a map of We went to have supper, and pudding was ice Liverpool. Then, we played ‘Pin the Landmark cream wrapped in cake: it was very enjoyable. on the Map’. This was my favourite bit We then went to the adventure playground because it was hard but fun. Another group and some people played football. When we BIKEABILITY BY HARRIET DOOLEY had to put maps of Liverpool in chronological finished playing we went to the campfire and On the 08/06/17, Year 6 had a ‘Bikeability’ order from oldest to newest. roasted marshmallows and they were golden. course with ‘Bike Right’. We had two days of We then walked to another part of the Afterwards we went to the cabin. this course, spread over 2 weeks. We had to University where there were science labs. We We went for breakfast at the cafeteria. Then bring our own bikes for this, as they were not learnt about erosion and coastal defences and we went to kayaking, which was great fun. able to bring enough for all of us (12). we did an experiment with sand, water, gravel When we got there our class got on the safety We had two instructors called Jim and Mel. and a fish tank! We rocked the fish tank to clothes that were given to us. 10 minutes later They are workers for Bike Right and they make waves. Our defence didn’t work as our we were all in the water with our kayaks. At taught us how to do an ‘M’ check (that’s to beach was completely destroyed by the the end of the session we all got thrown into make sure our bike is steady and alright to waves. We did the experiment again and used the water for fun. We went to change our ride on). But we did this in the playground ‘rip rap’ and our beach didn’t get destroyed. soggy wet clothes into nice dry clothes. We because we wouldn’t want to go out on a went on a bus back to Barnstondale. road – with cars – and not know how to GANGSTA GRANNY Year 4 went to the Liverpool Empire to see Next we had archery and each of us had signal. So we just checked that we could do three shots to try and hit the target. We were what we needed to do in the playground and ‘Gangsta Granny’. This is based on a book by David Walliams. We all thought it was split into four groups we had three shots each once we could do all that, we moved onto the and most of us scored. road. We did Snaking (that’s so we can stay amazing, fantastic and funny. The best bit was when the actors playing the parents sat in Now we had rifle shooting so we went over together and be safe), signalling, turning, and got split into groups of two. The targets emergency breaking and looking behind you some empty seats in front of us. Their acting was really good even when they were off were really far away so it was hard to shoot in case a car is coming. In the afternoon we them, but everybody did well. Then Mr Jones went onto the road and we practised the stage. In the interval ‘Raj’ shouted that there were free ice creams – but he was joking! picked us up and we went back to school. It positions of riding the bike; for example, was an amazing trip. primary and secondary. THE SECOND WEEK We practised going around a car if we were YEAR 5 COLOMENDY TRIP in secondary position. We had to be at least BY ELOISE NASH & SCARLET CLARKSON about an arm’s length away from a car Every year, Year 5 go on a school trip to because if there was a person in the car and Colomendy in . In 2017, our class went. they opened the door, you would go SPLAT! We arrived at Colomendy, dropped our bags And we practised doing U turns: practised off in our cabin and then set off to our first and practised, until the last thing on the activity. The first activity was caving and it agenda... ROAD SIGNS. was great fun, but slightly claustrophobic. If you get a triangle with your fingers and Caving was also very dirty so when we all KEY STAGE 2’s TRIP TO open the top up, it makes a W, which stands came out, we had mud all over our clothes!!! THURSTASTON & WEST KIRBY for a warning (especially with red around it). A few more activities were: Scrapheap BY ROSIE TUOHEY Fortunately, everyone passed the test and Challenge, Giant Zip wire, Laser Tag, AND MISTIQUE JONES I’m sure everyone enjoyed it and I would like Campfire, Fencing, Aero ball, Balance Beam, On Monday the 10th of July 2017 the whole of to say a BIG thanks to our instructors from Leap of Faith and Problem Solving. the Junior Department travelled on a coach to Bike Right for teaching us so well and nicely. All of these activities were fun, but the at Thurstaston. It was a activities that really stood out to us were the bit wet and rainy when we got there, but we Giant Zip wire because we both really like didn’t care; we played on the beach and found heights and it was very exciting. The campfire crabs in the rock pools. It was fun. Then we was very funny and we all got time to spend had lunch up at the visitor centre. with our friends. The Leap of Faith was We then walked (a long way!) along the Wirral overwhelming and loads of people got over Way to Ashton park in West Kirby. We played their fear of heights!!! on the swings there and played tag on the We all had a great time at Colomendy and field. It was great fun. Finally, the bus picked were very sad to leave! us up and we came back to school, where we

were met by Mr Jones at the back gate. What a great day.

THE MUSIC AFTERNOON SECRET GARDENS OF OXTON YEARS 1 & 2’S TRIP TO THE LIVERPOOL BY NINA KARYAMPUDI BY HARVEEN DHILLON PHILHARMONIC HALL AND TABITHA RUSHTON AND LILY JONES Year One and Two went to the Philharmonic Hall to When we went to the music afternoon we On Sunday 14th May, Prenton Prep see the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra play heard the following instruments: the guitar, choir sang three songs at this year’s all their amazing musical instruments. The orchestra violin, piano, ocarina and ukulele. We both Oxton Secret Gardens’ event. We was conducted by Alasdair Malloy and the story was played the piano. sang ‘When you Believe’ from the called, "Harper and the Scarlet Umbrella" and was Our musicians were great and they played film “The Prince of Egypt”, written and presented by Cerrie Burnell. their music with confidence. We had people ‘A Whole New World’ from “Aladdin” Veer We recognised Cerrie Burnell from CBeebies playing from as young as KG to our year 6. and ‘Way Way Back / Joseph’s and she read the whole story. The main character Each child had clearly practiced their pieces Coat’ from “Joseph and the was called Harper and she had a cat called and, as a number of the pianists were taking Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat.” Midnight. The orchestra played their instruments their piano Grade 1 exam the following At first we were all setting up and and the conductor waved his hands to show them Monday, it gave them a chance to perform in preparing the CD player; it was very when to play and whether they should play fast or public and hopefully not make any mistakes. loud and noisy! Parents were slow, loud or soft. He didn't use a conductor's baton crowding around our performance or wear a tailcoat like the ones we saw when the area and once we were all prepared ladies from the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra came and set to go we felt a little bit to our school.

“JOSEPH” PERFORMANCE AT THE nervous. Suddenly we heard Mrs. Thomas B I saw the cellos and the violins like the GLADSTONE THEATRE Hughes say “quickly get ready” then ones we had seen in school. I saw the big drums On the 7th of July , the Juniors performed their end out of nowhere we heard our first called kettledrums or timpani and there was a big of the year show, “Joseph”. Everyone really gave song. At the end we got a massive xylophone. It made a beautiful sound. round of applause and then we Jacob There was a piano and it was much bigger it their all, and made it a great show. This year Mrs. Hughes challenged our Year 6’s, by doing could look around the gardens of than the one in our school hall. Mrs Dutton said it an all-singing musical. Oxton if we wanted to. was called a grand piano. I saw another instrument We were so pleased that we had 2 wonderful that did look like the piano in school but it didn't people to make all of our beautiful costumes. sound the same. It made twinkly sounds. We found out that it was a celesta. Thank you to Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Jaffar. Some of our best scenes were: Close Every Door to Me; A Bella In the story they met a wolf and they played Pharaoh’s Story; One More Angel in Heaven; some spooky music for the wolf. It was from "Peter Megamix; Any Dream Will Do; and the Song of and the Wolf" by Prokofiev and we recognised it the King. because we had heard it in our music lessons. It was a good wolf and it belonged to the boy in the Mrs. Smith amazed us with the wonderful coat she had made; she had put so much time and story because he didn’t have a cat. Everybody else effort into making this coat, but unfortunately she in the story owned a pet cat. Harper put all her couldn’t be here to watch the show because she belongings onto a helicopter, even her umbrella. was on holiday. Then the helicopter flew off without her! Matilda No! Harper was about to put her umbrella The brothers put a lot of effort into the show to GLADSTONE THEATRE make it a good laugh, especially in their “One on the helicopter but the rotor blades caught the DEMONSTRATIONS & AWARDS umbrella and snapped it into two pieces! More Angel in Heaven” and “Benjamin Calypso” BY NIKAN NOROUZI scenes. Fabio There was a little door in the story with a On Friday 7/7/17 we went to the notice which said, "KEEP OUT!" But the little girl did It was brilliant; everyone gave it their all. It was Gladstone and we did the quite nerve-wracking, but as soon as I got onto not keep out; she went through it to find out what demonstrations of all the clubs and was on the other side. There was a cat orchestra on that stage I felt fine. The show this year couldn’t the award ceremony with our big have been better, and I would like to thank Mrs the other side of the door. production. “Joseph and the Matilda When the cat orchestra played, each Hughes for putt ing a lot of time and effort into the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” show and for making it possible. Thank you so section of the real orchestra stood up to show us Our first demonstration was karate, who was playing. The man in the story said he much. We couldn’t have done it without you all. in which, as every year, we are Thank you again. By Emily Roberts [‘Narrator’]. would pick up the nearest thing to him and it turned really proud of our karate squad out to be Harper. Then he let go of her and took Before the show I had a lot of butterflies in my and Sensei Paul. Then it was the stomach but when I stepped on stage they all Midnight instead. speech and drama squad, who Thomas G There were cats playing all sorts of went away. I loved the show this year and it really showed their true colours and couldn’t have been better, and I wish I could be in instruments and because the man took Harper's cat really impressed the audience. she had to go and search for him. Finally Harper next year’s show as well. It was a great Then it was the dance squad, and it experience for high school and before I leave found Midnight but she had to play a game to win was fantastic; it really blew the Midnight back. Luckily Harper won the game and got school I just want to say a big thank you to Mrs audience away. After that the Hughes and all of the rest of the teachers for her cat back. musicians: Joseph with his piano Luka Then she had to find a key to open the making this the best show I have ever been in. and Finlay with his guitar, and they By Catherine Jarvis [‘Joseph’]. birdcage and get the enchanted umbrella out. No really hit the high note! Then it was one knew where the key was but it was hanging on MRS HUGHES: the prize giving and the prizes were We started our rehearsals for ‘Joseph’ way, way the birdcage. being given out by Mrs. Draper. Matilda The key was golden and it shone through all back in February. It was always going to be a Everyone was really happy with very colourful and dynamic show and the of her memories. Harper unlocked the birdcage and th what they got, as they walked off got the umbrella out. Then she saw a man who had performance on Friday 7 July didn’t disappoint. the stage with their trophies and Here are some comments from both performers hair like a magpie and a crinkled nose. Harper met prizes. It was, as ever, a real the boy with a wolf for a pet. The boy wanted to and members of the audience: highlight of the year.  “It was one of the best shows ever- just like know what she was doing with the umbrella. They flew up to the rooftop holding onto the magic being at the West End!”  “The show brought tears to my eyes as the umbrella. children sang so well” Thomas B The xylophone played one, two, three beats to make the umbrella fly by magic.  “I couldn’t believe the energy coming off the Veer Harper's gran was very proud of Harper for stage; I didn’t know what to look at next!” getting the enchanted umbrella. At the end Harper  “I just loved all of the songs especially ‘Close went to sleep with Midnight lying on her bed. Every Door’. Olivia We were all clapping at the end because it  “The Joseph Mega-Mix was fun to dance to. I was so good. I enjoyed watching the conductor think we did it really well and there were a lot when he got us to clap a special rhythm and when of moves to remember” we had to copy his miaow, miaow, miaow song.  “Who made the coat? It was beautiful!” ATHLETICS BY MISTIQUE JONES AND SARAH WILLIAMS SPEECH AND DRAMA REPORT BY MISS R. HAMER Years 4 to 6 can participate in athletics club when children work This term the Speech and Drama pupils from Kindergarten to Year 4 have been towards English Schools Athletic Association (ESSA) badges in busy working on preparing scenes based on 'Food' for the annual summer triathlon and pentathlon. We do lots of different events such as concert. The speech and drama pupils were creative in devising and animating long jump, high jump, ball throw, sprints, long distance and their drama scenes and poems. The poem KG recited was original and rewritten occasionally hurdles. Congratulations to Lucy Whisker, Mistique with the help of the children. Year 2 acted the 'Fruit and Vegetable Awards Jones and Sarah Williams who all achieved Gold in the Ceremony' and Year 3 and 4's devised scenes based in three well known 'Fast pentathlon – a fantastic achievement. Food' restaurants. The scenes were all super and the children worked extremely Competitions hard, merging the clever use of staging, costume changes and props to denote Our school has been to a lot of athletics tournaments, including the different establishments. This was handled with professionalism and the ISA North meet in Manchester; everybody did so well! In the maturity beyond their years; especially as two members of the cast were off ill, track events the Year 6 girls got through to the relay finals and the scene was extremely well acted, with superb characterisation, animation and th achieved a 5 place. They were: Emily, Sarah, Rosie and comic timing, which the audience certainly enjoyed. Mistique. Other sprint finalists were Sophie in Year 3 who came At the end of November 2017 the children will have the opportunity to enter rd th 3 and Mistique who came 5 . Trinity College London speech and drama Examinations, if you are interested in In the field events we had strong performances in high jump with your child taking a speech and drama examination, please do email Miss Cottier rd nd Phillip in Year 5 coming 3 and Mistique in Year 6 coming 2 . directly for further details. st Lucy in Year 5 achieved 1 place in high jump and qualified for I would like to take this opportunity to thank the speech and drama pupils for all th the nationals, representing the North of ; she is now 5 in their hard work this year and looking forward to more, creative exciting drama England! Sarah in Year 6 also qualified for the nationals as she lessons in September, if any new pupils wish to join the fun of Speech and st was 1 in the rounders ball throw. She represented the North of Drama please contact Mrs Slater to reserve your place. All new pupils are very nd th England for the 2 time as a Prenton Prep athlete, and came 7 welcome and there will be a fun free lesson for pupils to try at the start of term. in England. We also went to a local athletics competition against Redcourt and Avalon. First places went to Mistique in the sprint and to her KARATE and Scarlet in the high jump. Third places went to Sarah and BY SARAH WILLIAMS & MYA CASEY Finlay in long jump and Joseph in the high jump. In karate we have just had our final grading We have a very good athletics team and we are so grateful that of the year. You can either be awarded with we have so many amazing athletes in our school! a striped belt, which means that you have met the learning task, like the kata you need to be able to get the next belt. Or you could get a full colour belt, which means that you have learnt the kata well and performed it well. We have four main Senseis: Kate, Mike, Emily and the head sensei… Paul Nolan. He SWIMMING rd th BY ROSIE TUOHEY & NIKAN NOROUZI is the 3 best in the world and is on the 7 It has been another successful term for our Dan in black belt, which is very high. Dan means that when you have reached the swimming team. There have been so many competitions this term and we have done black belt you are not done yet. There are about 20 different Dans, which can take a DANCE BY MRS. J. MANN exceptionally well! We are very proud of lifetime of training to get the highest of the Dance Club has had a fantastic summer term ourselves. On Tuesday the 16/5/17, we went highest belts. with events such as the Gladstone Theatre to Europa Pools to host and compete in the Karate club is really good. You have to work Performance and the Dance Awards. Wirral Independent Schools Swimming Gala; hard and behave well, but it’s very satisfying The awards have been introduced this year we won 34 out of 36 races! to work your way up through the grades. to acknowledge those who have excelled Then, on the 23/5/17, the Juniors did a themselves in dance club. However, as sponsored swim: they swam very well, there are so many hard working and swimming as many lengths as possible in half dedicated children in dance, I decided to an hour. award everyone a bronze dance medal. The Our swimmers also competed in the aim is to work their way up to silver, then Birkenhead Schools Gala, and we all swam st gold. excellently and were proud to come 1 . I would like to congratulate the following This meant that our swimmers qualified for pupils who have been chosen for this year’s the Wirral Schools Gala, this was a very awards: difficult competition as all the schools from the Outstanding achievement in dance peninsula could enter and only the top two in Year 1 Bella McLoughlin each area qualified for the finals. Every Year 2 Saskia Jackson swimmer swam to their best ability and we ROUNDERS AND CRICKET st Year 3 Gurpriya Dhillon came 1 again! BY JOSEPH WILSON. Year 4 Olivia Weir We therefore qualified for the This term in training we have nd Year 5 Nina Karyampudi School Games, where we came 2 (there been taught lots of skills by our Year 6 Harriet Dooley were twelve schools participating who had awesome teacher, Mr. Huskisson; Performer of the Year qualified from their areas containing over here are some of them. We learnt Jeevan Bhullar, Year 3 1000 schools!) how to bowl (properly), how to Most Improved in Dance Our swimmers also competed at national stand when batting in cricket: you Robynne Wood, Year 5 level in the English Schools Swimming could go forward, backwards or Teachers Recognition Award Association (ESSA) freestyle and medley stay where you are. We also th th Lily Jones, Year 5 relays. We came 9 in one and 11 in the learnt how to play to competition I would also like to congratulate Years 3, 4, 5 other (out of all schools in the whole of rules in rounders. and 6 for their performance of "Joseph". The England!) In cricket we play a game at the costumes and colours were stunning, plus I Our swimmers have really performed end, but during the session we always feel it is a challenge for the children amazingly this term and we are very proud of practise some skills, like throwing to adapt to singing and dancing at the same every member of the team. and catching the ball from long time which they did tremendously. Once distances; we also learn how bowl again, thank you to all the staff at Prenton on the wall and then let it bounce Prep for their constant guidance, support and off the wall and catch it. We also encouragement in dance club. learn how to bowl to someone and Dance club will return on the week of 11th then be able to hit it back to the September. I wish you all an enjoyable other person. We also learnt how summer. to play a proper cricket game. MUSIC REPORT BY MRS McDONALD This term most students were working towards their examinations some of which took place on 3rd July. The following students took Victoria College of Music piano exams: Catherine Jarvis Grade 2 Lily Jones Grade 1 Nithin Karyampudi Grade 1 Piyush Pradeep Grade 1 Tabitha Ruston Grade 1 Joseph Wilson Grade 1 The results should be available during the school holidays. Students hoping to take examinations in December please keep practising during the holidays. All students also practised hard for the music concert on 29th June. They have shown great interest in learning their pieces and they enjoyed performing for their friends and parents. When you are playing the piano, you have to focus on the rhythm, pitch, temp, note duration and many other things. Even though you are doing something you actually enjoy, this is really a multi-level concentration exercise. In fact, it has been shown that every time a musician plays their instrument, there are ‘fireworks’ or multiple operations happening in their brains. Playing an instrument is perhaps the only activity during which almost all brain areas are simultaneously activated. Learning new pieces on the piano takes time and effort. Until you can actually play a song fluently by heart, you will probably spend several weeks practising it. As you look forward to being able to play the piece, you stay motivated, learn patience and increase your perseverance. These skills will always help you when you are confronted with difficult tasks at school, university or at work. Playing the piano can be quite challenging, however, practising frequently and working hard will not only teach you perseverance, but also discipline. Consider the parts of the piece you will have to practise over and over again. There is only one ‘magic key’ to successfully playing the piano – daily practice. Those people who play an instrument are also better listeners and it is not surprising that studies have actually revealed that musicians are more perceptive in interpreting the emotions of others. As you learn to play pieces, stimulated areas of your brain become larger and therefore more active. Your ability to memorise audio information increases. Maybe it would be good for parents to begin learning to play the piano too; then you could help each other and perhaps stave off future memory loss. I hope all my pupils enjoy a wonderful summer holiday and those who are leaving for senior schools I wish them many years of musical appreciation. I do hope that they continue to play an instrument too. Lessons will resume on Tuesday 12th September 2017. Have a wonderful holiday and don’t forget to listen to lots of music and maybe go to a Proms concert too!

OCARINA CLUB BY MRS BEECROFT UKULELE CLUB BY MR. P. JOLLIFFE It was a very proud moment for me when Once again we have had another exciting year at Ukulele Club with a small group of I watched Ocarina Club perform their children from Years' Two and Three participating. It has been great to see the ‘musical medley’ for an adult audience children making progress and growing in confidence with the instrument. Our group during the music afternoon. Despite has learnt a number of songs and we have been privileged enough to perform some their young age, the children played with of these at the Musical Afternoon. Ukulele Club is a mixture of songs, games and CHARITY confidence and enjoyment, a testament practical activities that make learning the ukulele a lot of fun! to their hard work and weekly dedication Although our group is small, we are keen and enthusiastic and we would really like As is tradition, the children took part in our annual sponsored swim this throughout the year. Well done children some additional members! If you think that your child would be interested in learning term. All the childrenchildren put a lot of effort into both the swim and the and thank you! the ukulele you can visit: www.myguk.co.uk for more information. Alternatively, you fundraising and we were very proud of them can email us at [email protected] The total raised was £759.00, which we will be sharing between our regular local charities Claire House and Alder Hey Children’s Hospital and also StreetchildrenStreetchildren a charity supporting homeless children PRENTON PREPARATORY SCHOOL PARENTS’ ASSOCIATION REPORT BY MR. R. SIBAL predominantly in Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala. What an excellent year this has been, with some major developments and successful occasions. We have run a number of We are vveryery proud of the work PPS does regularly for charity and it is also events in the last term including the Summer Fair and the BBQ. an important aspect of citizenship as it raises our children’s awareness of The Summer Fair was a great success with lots of stalls and plenty of sunshine. We boosted Grand Raffle sales by selling tickets at the Oxton Secret Gardens – thanks to the committee members who gave their time to do this. local and globalglobal issues, reminding them how fortunate they are. The end of year BBQ was a great event with the weather holding off just about to the end, lots of fun was had by all including Zimmo being his usual over-enthusiastic self!! We made over £400 at the event, so thank you all for your contributions, From funds raised, this year we have been able to support the acquisition of Tablet computers, I am glad to say we will be adding to the schools technology capability by part funding the new wired / wifi network for the school, that will enable the tablet computers to be used across the school including outside access point to enable use in the gardens. We hope this will make a difference to Geography and Science lessons and more!! The PPSPA events could not happen without the support of the committee, helpers and staff. Many thanks also to the people who have kindly made donations to our events. I would like to thank the Parent body, the teachers and children for making this great year for the PPSPA!! We have had some willing and much appreciated contributors to the PPSPA over the last few years but are in need of new blood onto the committee and into the leadership roles. We need fresh ideas, a fresh approach and lots of people to contribute a little so we can deliver as a whole. So if you can spare some time / energy to the cause you will be openly welcomed. The first committee meeting of the new school year is on 13th September 2017, in the school hall at 7:30pm. Everyone is welcome to attend and we look forward to seeing many new faces!

All the Staff at PPS would like to wish you a happy and relaxing summer holiday and look forward to the new term which commences on Tuesday, 5th September 2017