week ending 19 May 23

Dear Parents

I hope you are all well.

Once again, Mr Collings and his team did wonders converting our hall into The G² Arena for last Saturday’s
Prep Idol. It is always so inspiring to see our pupils from Years 6, 7 and 8 putting themselves forward,
rehearsing hard and performing with such enthusiasm on stage in front of such a large audience. The
performers are always so supportive of their fellow competitors – it is a real treat seeing them encourage
each other so much as they wait backstage for their big moment. Huge congratulations to all our musicians
and the staff involved for the extra hours they put in to making the event such a success.

The sun has been shining this week so it has been good to see a few more cricket matches taking
place. During Saturday’s Prep Idol sound checks it was wonderful to have some of our Year 6 cricketers/
musicians returning from a competition at Rose Hill holding the winners’ trophy in their hands. It was also
great to spend time with our athletes on Monday who were competing against other schools at a local
meeting. Well done indeed to everyone, whether you be a cricketer, athlete or both – you did The Prep
proud.

On Friday, it is the turn of parents to don their sporting attire and head to the lovely course at Knole Park
for our annual golf day. I always enjoy the build-up to this event, particularly hearing from those
competing about how little golf they have played and how they are never going to post a good score. I
think we all know that the driving ranges have been extra busy over the past few weeks! Good luck to
everyone taking part and we will announce the outcome in next week’s newsletter.

Best wishes

Luke Harrison

Dear Parents,

It has been wonderful to finally enjoy some warmer weather and to see the sunshine! Last weekend, I had
the pleasure of attending the Schools Triathlon event, held at Sevenoaks School. It is an externally organised
event for pupils across a number of schools, from Years 3 and up, with the aim of raising money for their
charity: Restless Development. I felt so proud to see so many Prep children at the event and it was
absolutely amazing to watch their team spirit, their support for one another and their determination across
each part of the event. The event encouraged children of all sporting abilities to come together and to have
fun whilst taking part and there was a real sense of community to the whole day. Well done to each and
every child who took part and also to the children involved in fundraising for the event, what a wonderful
way to give something back. I really hope to see many of our Year 2 children taking part in this next year
and I would highly recommend it.

With the sun finally making an appearance, so too has the ability for taking some of our usual indoor lessons
outside. Year 2 have enjoyed an outdoor maths lesson, learning to tell the time by making a huge clock on
the field and then jumping and counting in steps of five as they consolidated their work on past the hour
and to the hour!

Miss Young is really looking forward to celebrating our Doodle Maths stars in the coming week. Well done
to all of the children who are regularly ‘Doodling’. We are certainly seeing the positive impact on your
mental maths, which is hugely encouraging, and I cannot wait to celebrate your achievements in our
assembly on Monday.

We held another music assembly this week, this time showcasing our wonderful pianists in Year 2. All of the
children gave a great performance and huge thanks to Mrs Billingham and Mrs Cheeseman for their support
in organising this.

A reminder to everyone that we have two very special events taking place next Friday: Grandparents’ Day
and Maypole. Grandparents’ Day is just for grandparents to attend, they do not need to be accompanied by
the children’s parents or guardians. As in the original information letter, if a child’s grandparents are unable
to attend, another family member or close friend may attend instead. Maypole will begin at 2.00 pm. The
event will be held in the Pre-Prep gardens and parents should park on the main car park and then walk
around by the green playground to gain access to the garden.

I look forward to welcoming the grandparents on Friday morning and hopefully welcoming many of them
back for Maypole in the afternoon, as well as seeing all of you for our Maypole dancing.

Best wishes,

Helen Cook