Issue one Prep 8 Field Trip connect in this issue >>> Michaelmas Term 2012 Introducing the new ‘Hatherop Castle Connect’. Biology and Geography up close Prep 8 Field Trip Charity update Prep 3 and 4 Bushcraft Prep 6 Leadership Challenge Prep 1 are keeping it local Extra Curricular Welcome to the new ‘Hatherop Castle Connect’. We will be publishing this for all parents at the start of each term to highlight the events of the previous term in greater detail that what you will see in the normal newsletters. Please get in touch with the school office if there is anything new you would like to see in the different editions. For more current and up to date news about school events, you can refer to the school website and the school Twitter account, @hatheropcastle. A termly review from Hatherop Castle School HATHEROP CASTLE The annual Prep 8 field trip to St Issy, Cornwall took place early in October. Studying habitats and adaptations of animals for biology, looking at sea formations and completing a tourism study for their Common Entrance Geography project the children and staff knew it would be a busy but enjoyable trip. On the Friday they visited the Eden Project to look at biodiversity of plants and how leaves are adapted for the different climates they live in. The workshop on “Jungle Connections” really showed how much we rely on plants and the work on Fair Trade revealed just how much we take advantage of workers in Africa and how much profit the chocolate companies and the retailers make. Saturday was spent at Polzeath beach where the children developed several new skills, learning how to draw a cross section of a rock pool, carry out a transect study and how to work out populations using a quadrat. The children caught some amazing creatures which they then studied. In the evening they had an informative and enjoyable visit to the Blue Reef aquarium in Newquay On Sunday they studied estuaries and cycled to Padstow, stopping at the bird hide, the slate quarry and the various coves along the way. In Padstow the children conducted pedestrian surveys and got answers to their tourism questionnaires. On Monday the children surfed in the morning and in the afternoon they attempted the cliff walk to study heathland and cliff plants as well as the geographical features of caves, arches, stacks, stumps and the amazing blow hole at Trevone bay. Unfortunately after about three miles a very thick sea mist rolled in and so the party had to take the inland path. They visited Rough Tor, which is the second highest peak on Bodmin Moor, on the final day. They found the sundew, the only carnivorous plant indigenous to the British Isles and walked up to the Bronze Age settlement patterns. All of this was done in torrential rain and when a typical moor fog descended from the top of the tor they beat a hasty retreat for the mini-bus! Finally they visited Boscastle as it is one of the case studies for geography. The children returned to school on Tuesday evening tired but having done a lot of very useful work. “We all had a productive and happy time. Everyone got along well and were great
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Transcript
Issue
one
Prep 8 Field Trip
connect
in this issue >>>
Michaelmas Term 2012
Introducing the new ‘Hatherop Castle
Connect’.
Biology and Geography up close
Prep 8 Field Trip
Charity update
Prep 3 and 4 Bushcraft
Prep 6 Leadership Challenge
Prep 1 are keeping it local
Extra Curricular
Welcome to the new ‘Hatherop Castle
Connect’. We will be publishing this for all
parents at the start of each term to highlight
the events of the previous term in greater
detail that what you will see in the normal
newsletters.
Please get in touch with the school office if
there is anything new you would like to see in
the different editions.
For more current and up to date news about
school events, you can refer to the school
website and the school Twitter
account, @hatheropcastle.
A termly review from Hatherop Castle School
HATHEROP CASTLE
The annual Prep 8 field trip to St Issy,
Cornwall took place early in October.
Studying habitats and adaptations of animals
for biology, looking at sea formations and
completing a tourism study for their Common
Entrance Geography project the children and
staff knew it would be a busy but enjoyable
trip.
On the Friday they visited the Eden Project to
look at biodiversity of plants and how leaves
are adapted for the different climates they
live in. The workshop on “Jungle
Connections” really showed how
much we rely on plants and the
work on Fair Trade revealed just
how much we take advantage of
workers in Africa and how much
profit the chocolate companies
and the retailers make. Saturday
was spent at Polzeath beach
where the children developed several new
skills, learning how to draw a cross section of
a rock pool, carry out a transect study and
how to work out populations using a quadrat.
The children caught some amazing creatures
which they then studied. In the evening they
had an informative and enjoyable visit to the
Blue Reef aquarium in Newquay
On Sunday they studied estuaries and cycled
to Padstow, stopping at the bird hide, the
slate quarry and the various coves along the
way. In Padstow the children conducted
pedestrian surveys and got answers to their
tourism questionnaires. On Monday the
children surfed in the morning and in the
afternoon they attempted the cliff walk to
study heathland and cliff plants as well as the
geographical features of caves, arches, stacks,
stumps and the amazing blow hole at
Trevone bay. Unfortunately after about three
miles a very thick sea mist rolled in and so
the party had to take the inland path.
They visited Rough Tor, which is the second
highest peak on Bodmin Moor, on the final
day. They found the sundew, the only
carnivorous plant indigenous to the
British Isles and walked up to the
Bronze Age settlement patterns. All of
this was done in torrential rain and
when a typical moor fog descended
from the top of the tor they beat a
hasty retreat for the mini-bus! Finally
they visited Boscastle as it is one of the case
studies for geography.
The children returned to school on Tuesday
evening tired but having done a lot of very
useful work.
“We all had a
productive and
happy time.
Everyone got
along well and
were great
Prep 2 Legoland
bushcraft >>>
Prep 3 and 4 go into the wild
Prep 2 visited Legoland as part of their
science topic ‘Simple Machines’. The
children had both a fun and educational
trip.
They started their day with a computer
based workshop creating Lego models
using cogs and gears. The programmed the
models to move and dance in various
ways.
This was followed by time to explore the
park!
charity >>>
The Harvest Festival service taken by the
Kindergarten and Pre-Prep children saw
the children thinking about others both
near and far.
All the children
brought in delicious
cakes, homemade
bread and goodies that
were given over in
church to be taken later to elderly people
living in the local area.
The theme of the service looked further
afield to Africa and after the service the
children donned their wellies and set off
on a sponsored walk to raise money for
Farm Africa. The children had filled
wellies with sponsorship money and this
together with a retiring
collection after the
service meant that the
school could donate to
this deserving charity.
The children in the Prep school supported
a local initiative harnessing the
fundraising for Send a Cow, from the
primary age schools in the area under the
auspices the vicar, Craig Bishop. Their
service looked at what different amounts
of money could provide for a family as
the charity also provides other farm
animals such as chickens and goats as
well as cows.
We were able to donate a large amount to
the pot for this charity and so a cow or
two should very soon be installed in a
new home!
Prep 3 and 4 both went off on their
Bushcraft adventures this term. Prep 4
went for an overnight stay and Prep 3
went just for the day to Cornbury Park.
When they arrived at the camp, which
was set up in the forest; there was a
parachute suspended between the trees
with a large camp fire.
The children learnt different ways to
make fires and then split into two tribes to
make separate fires and cook lunch. After
lunch they made up tribal names and Prep
4 made up tribal dances which they
performed to each other.
Prep 4 then went on a wilderness walk
where they learnt all about our
surroundings – why fungus grows in
certain places and why a woodpecker will
only use certain trees.
Prep 3 had a great time cooking fresh
trout and eating chocolate bananas over
the camp fire. Afterwards the children
played some team building games.
Prep 4 enjoyed hot chocolate and
marshmallows over their camp fire before
settling down in their tents for the night.
Although Prep 4 didn't get a lot of sleep
due to midnight feasts and early morning
singing, the children all had a wonderful
time and went home tired but happy.
A double dose of giving
Prep 6 children complete the Leadership Challenge...
Storybox Theatre visit
On Thursday 8 November, 15 Prep Schools pitted their wits and en-
ergies against each other in the annual Cheltenham College 2012
Prep 6 Leadership Challenge.
Each team took part in a round
robin style tournament with
activities including shuttlecock
challenge, unexploded bombs, tent
challenge, catch phrase, spider's
web, copy cats, the
ladder, amazing poncho and many
more. The children's mental ability
was stretched, having to memorise
objects after only having seen them
for 30 seconds, working out how to
remove bombs from a roped circle
without touching the ground and
making phrases out of random
letters and words. The physical
challenges also required mental
effort and teamwork, from
directing members of the team
through a maze blindfolded to
passing through a spider's web
without touching the sides. The
HCS representatives - Lois Melik,
Stanley Floyd, Isabella Wilkinson,
Toby Archard, Freddie Shepherd,
Jack Bowers, Jack Tolchard and
Luke Dale-Henderson - did their
very best and managed to win two
or three of the challenges.
Great fun was had by all though,
with the day topped and tailed by a
very well-received lunch and
afternoon tea in Cheltenham
College's Dining Hall.
Well done to all involved!
A visit to see Harry Potter
Today was Percy Bear’s 5th birthday and to
finish our Teddy Bear topic this term we had
a birthday party for Percy. In preparation
the children had iced cakes, made
decorations and written invitations to their
teddies.
Everyone was very excited, including Percy,
when they entered the party room.
Percy loved the cards all the children had
made for him and Mrs. Riley helped Percy
open his present – a chocolate teddy!
We had a birthday cake for Percy with 5
candles and he only needed a little help to
blow them out.
We finished the party with some fun games
– pass the parcel and musical statues.
Transition celebrate
Storybox 2012 production was called ‘The
Sun, the Moon and Half a Chicken’. It was
made up of three separate traditional tales
and was as usual, expertly performed by
Rod Burnett and enjoyed by all year groups.
The first tale was based on an Aesop’s
Fable, the second telling the Spanish story
of how a chicken got to be a weather vane
on the top of a church and the last told of a
king who wanted to touch the moon. All of
the tales had a strong moral theme.
boarding >>>
On Sunday 11th November the boarders, with Mrs “E” and Michelle, spent a
mesmerising day at the Warner Brother studios. It was truly a magical experience.
The film sets in their entirety are life size and just as you witness in the Harry
Potter films. As a non fan I had my concerns
about going but from an artistic point of view I
was astonished by the high quality which was
paid to detail, down to the fact that 6,000
wand boxes had been painted and customised
individually! If you have an opportunity to
take your child, I would thoroughly
recommend it.
in the next issue >>>
Middle School Production
Literacy Day
Theme Week Focus
Clubs Round Up
Prep 1 have been keeping it local this half term using all sorts of re-
sources from the local community to supplement the curriculum.
extra curricular >>>
Prep 1 are keeping it local
In its first term, the new Pre Prep
lesson judoka (judo students) have
thoroughly enjoyed the experience
and the challenges. They have
learnt how to Ukemi, break-falls
(how to land safely) which will
always be a continuing and vital
weekly aspect to their training,
basic Dojo etiquette (rules and
manners) how to Rei (bow),
respect, look after, Kumi-Kata
(how to grip or hold) their training
partners. As part of the weekly
sessions the children play a variety
of judo games selected to promote
balance, strength, core stability and
confidence.
We are delighted that we have been
able to re-establish Judo into our
pre-prep sports programme at
Hatherop Castle. It has proved an
absolute success with both boys
and girls from Reception to Prep 2,
whilst also continuing for children
higher up the school each week.
Reception Space Day 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 we have lift off!
That’s how the day started for the children
in the Reception classes recently. Experience
days regularly feature as part of the active
learning approach in their Reception year.
The space day was no exception as children
were encouraged to imagine, re-create and
question that it would be like to travel in
space. Their next journey will be off to the
desert. Was that a camel passing by?
We had a fantastic trip to the Cotswold Wildlife Park, just a few minutes drive
away, where we learned all about animal senses and carried out a people study
to find out how people use the park. We also hunted for amenities and decided
that the Cotswold Wildlife Park cater very well for their customers!
This term’s art board, which will be displayed in the main school corridor ready
for Open Morning on 17th October, has been inspired by our extensive school
grounds and has the title ‘Woodland’. We had great fun collecting leaves for
printing and doing some bark rubbing from the huge variety of trees we have,
all the time enjoying and appreciating our beautiful surroundings.
Finally we had a visit from local optician, Mrs. Rachel Bath, who came to talk