Week Ending 23rd June
23rd June 23
Dear Parents,
This Tuesday, in the Prep, it was STEAM day. We started off the day with an assembly led by Lecturer of
Planetary science at UCL, Dr Louisa Preston, who is a Prep parent. Years 2-8 were gripped as Dr Preston
explained how her research into life in extreme environments on Earth will help her to understand what to
look for on other planets and moons in our solar system and beyond. She then was kind enough to visit
every class in turn from Years R-8 to allow pupils to ask questions and handle her real meteorites from
space.
We also had virtual speakers from NASA and the University of Western Australia join in the fun. Dr
Benjamin Dix-Matthews sent us a fascinating video all about the satellites he works on, whilst Constantine
Tsang, who works for NASA, sent a video answering lots of questions that Years 3-7 sent to him in advance
of the day. We would like to thank Mrs Gawn and Mrs Fitzgerald O’Connor for putting us in touch with
these inspiring scientists.
The rest of the day saw Years 3-8 finding out about all aspects of space through a variety of activities,
whilst providing the opportunity to develop skills such as teamwork, problem solving and
communication. Year 3 launched bottle rockets, made parachutes as well as investigated impact
craters, whilst Year 4 built rockets ready to launch next week. Year 5 built stomp rockets which impressed
everyone with how high some of them reached. Years 6-8 worked in mixed age group teams and tested
their science and engineering skills by building and launching bottle rockets across the field, with an
altimeter strapped to the side. The furthest horizontal distance reached was over 60m and the top speed
recorded was 127mph. Further data on altitude and acceleration yet to be collated and released!
STEM in recent years has become STEAM, so our day also included opportunities for artistic as well as
scientific creativity. Years 6-8 rose to the challenge of an art workshop in which they had one hour to
produce a piece of evidence that they might find on a distant planet which would show that life had been
on that planet before their arrival. The results were amazing and are now displayed in the Centenary
Centre. Year 4 also had great fun painting planets with balloons.
We would like to thank all of the wonderful staff who embraced STEAM and helped make the day a
success. We would also like to thank Dr Louisa Preston and our virtual speakers, who gave up their time for
our pupils.
Best Wishes
Dr Rolls and Mr Eyers
Dear Parents,
What a fun and exciting week the children have had. This is always such a busy time of year but we very
much enjoy seeing the children having such a great time.
This week Year 2 went on a trip to see Charlie and The Chocolate Factory at The New Wimbledon
Theatre. This compliments their work on Roald Dahl and they had a thoroughly enjoyable time, albeit a little
bit warm with the glorious weather that we have been enjoying.
Today, we are excited to see the Nursery and Kindergarten Sports Day and Grand Prix. The children looked
fabulous in their house colours and they were so excited ahead of the event. Then, this afternoon we are
opening up our doors to everyone for our Pre-Prep Open Afternoon, which is always a very special event to
celebrate the children’s achievements.
We are also very much looking forward to our annual Sports and Speech Day tomorrow for those
in Reception-Year 2. It is going to be a very warm and hot day, so please ensure that the children are coated
in sun cream, they have a Prep sun hat / cap and plenty of water (in a named water bottle).
I look forward to seeing everyone over the next two days.
Best wishes
Helen Cook