Pre-Prep News

Year One had a fabulous day out this week on their trip to Babbacombe Model Village and Kent's Cavern. There was great excitement as the children explored the model buildings looking for Letterland characters. They were particularly interested in the fire breathing dragon. They had a delicious picnic sitting in the sunshine before visiting the caves at Kent's Cavern. The guide gave them an entertaining tour and they learned much about life for cave men and women. The day was concluded with a well-deserved ice cream.

Year Two visited Morwellham Quay recently. They enjoyed visiting the restored copper-mining village and quay. They discovered what life was like in the small but busy mining village by exploring the beautifully restored houses, cottages and other buildings, spending some time in a Victorian school with a very strict teacher, making rope from sisal, going on a trip into the mine and also boarding the boat which would have carried the copper to South Wales.

Recently the children in Year One entertained their friends and families with a fantastic performance of Rudyard Kipling's story, "The Elephant's Child". They sang and danced and kept the audience spellbound as the story unravelled.

The very youngest children in Nursery One delighted a packed hall with their retelling of the story "The Sleeping Princess." They all wore costumes and played various Nursery Rhyme characters who attempted to wake up the sleeping princess. There was Humpty Dumpty, Aiken Drum, Incy Wincy and Baa Baa Black sheep to name but a few. Finally it was the handsome princes with their swords who woke her up and ended the story very happily. They sang beautifully and coped very well with their first summer production!

The Kindergarten entertained us with their fabulous performance of "Toby's Ark". All the children were involved in telling the story of an ark which travels to India, Africa, China, Peru and Antarctica with a Kinkajou (Honey Bear) from Peru. There was some wonderful singing and the sailors managed some skilful boat handling through rough seas.

Children in the PrePrep had a very exciting morning when the Royal Navy landed a Lynx helicopter on the school field. Captain Dutton and Captain Cree and their crew kindly helped each child onto the helicopter one at a time to view the different instruments and to find out about their jobs. The helicopter stayed for a few hours and then they treated us to some interesting manouevres in the sky before they flew off. It was an experience many of us will never forget.

Year two enjoyed their visit to Tiverton castle yesterday. Mrs Gordon (the ownwer) showed them round and told them all about the history of the castle and how it was involved in the Civil War. She also delighted the children with stories of the castle's ghosts.

This year's ballet show was a wonderful display of colour and talent. There were dancers of all ages, the youngest in the school through to the oldest, entertaining a packed hall. It was a delight to watch.

Year One had an interesting visit to the school Chapel where Mr. Hunt, the school Chaplain, explained some of the features of the building. The children were keen to ask questions and had the opportunity to look around.

Year One had a very interesting trip to the Tiverton Museum this week where they took part in workshops that helped them to understand more about life during the Victorian Age. They experienced being taught by a Victorian teacher and were shocked to hear about the different rules and expectations. They thought that the teacher was particularly strict. They were able to use the dolly peg and mangle during a session about the Victorian washday. They were fascinated by the different implements in the Victorian kitchen; the overall feeling was that it was jolly hard work to run a household in those days. They also had the opportunity to play with Victorian toys and to find out the different ways in which the children entertained themselves. After lunch, they were able to look around the museum and look at the different artefacts; a particular favourite was the Tivvy Bumper.

This week we had the pleasure of watching Year Two performing the play of "The Selfish Giant." This poignant story was retold through song, dance and narration. There were three soloists who coped brilliantly with singing in front of an audience and everyone seemed to enjoy being part of the production. Well done to Year Two on a super performance!

The Nursery Two children performed a delightful play for their friends and families this week called "The Garden." The story was about planting seeds and growing flowers and vegetables. They had helped make the props which included flowers, weeds, stones and packets of seeds. They all sang and danced confidently and provided their audience with great entertainment.

We celebrated Red Nose Day with a Crazy Hat Day. The children (and staff!) had great fun wearing some amazingly original hats.

Sally Jackson from Resource Futures ran a workshop on mini-beasts in the compost bin with children in Kindergarten. The children are pretending to be wriggly worms!

Left: Children in Year One learned about recycling during a workshop with Sally Jackson. They had to sort various materials according to whether they could be recycled or composted.

Right: Children in Year Two had great fun acting out the story of how tins are recycled.

Left: Professor Paradox visited the school and put on a very entertaining science show about the environment.

Right: Mrs Charlesworth and some of the children helped Professor Paradox with his show.

As part of science week, there were two competitions that the children could partake in if they wanted to. One was to design a poster to encourage people to think more about how to look after our environment. The other was to design and make a boat out of recycled materials.

It was wonderful to see how many children took part and what fantastic and imaginative entries there were. The competitions were judged by Mrs. Sally Jackson from "Resource Futures" and there were winners in each year group. These photos show some of the wonderful boat designs and the winners of the two competitions.

There was great excitement amongst the Year Two girls and boys this week when they played their first match against Kelly College. They played really well and enjoyed the experience. All the children and staff in the PrePrep went along to watch and cheer them on. There were lots of parents there to support the teams and a delicious tea was enjoyed by all after the match.

The Friends of Blundells Prep School kindly organised a wonderful party for the children in the PrePrep this term. They all dressed up in their party clothes and were full of excitement as the story teller described to them what the evening would involve. They then acted out the story of The Pied Piper with each year group having a part to play in its dramatisation. The committee made a delicious packed tea for them all to tuck into halfway through the evening. It was lots of fun and enjoyed by all.

Year Two recently made a trip to Exeter Cathedral. We had a tour and enjoyed doing art and craft activities in the Chapter House.

The children of the kindergarten recently had a lot of fun playing out in the snow!

Our youngest children in Nursery One went on the double decker bus to Tiverton Parkway Station. The purpose of the outing was to look at houses in our neighbourhood and to experience a ride on the top of a bus. Several parents helped on the trip and enjoyed the experience almost as much as the children. Lots of conversation and activities evolved from the morning including work for a board display.

The children in Year One went on an exciting trip to St. Nicholas's Priory in Exeter to attend a workshop about the Great Fire of London. They had four different topics during the day where they found out about food, clothing, buildings and the diary of Samuel Pepys. They were able to look around the Tudor house which has recently been renovated to resemble a house of that time. They tried on Tudor clothes, drew pictures of Tudor architecture, laid a table for a rich Tudor family and sequenced the events of the fire through reading about it in Samuel Pepys's diary. The day ended with the children acting out different parts of the story. It was a very enlightening day; we all had the chance to learn such a lot about how different life was in those days.

Neil from Really Wild Enterprises came to see the Kindergarten classes and brought some interesting creatures with him. We met Cracker and Bryan (large African snails), Bella (the bird-eating spider) and Norris (the skink). Some of us were lucky enough to hold or stroke these creatures... and some of us did not want to!

Children in Year One ended the term with a trip to Killerton House where they experienced a Victorian Christmas. To add to the occasion, they dressed up in Victorian style clothes. The house was beautifully decorated with Victorian style decorations and the Killerton staff talked about food, games and entertainment at Christmas time. The visit ended with the children singing Christmas songs to the staff of the house. It made us feel very festive!

Even the very youngest children in the preprep acted in a Nativity play for their friends and relatives. They retold the story of the birth of Jesus and charmed the audience with their performance.

The Kindergarten year group captivated us with their story of "Snowman at Sunset." It was an enchanting story of children building a snowman and being made cross by the sun who threatened to melt him with its warm rays. There were dancing snowflakes, singing snowmen and eager children ready to put on their warm snow clothes. It was a marvellous and moving performance.

All the children in Year One took part in their play which was called "The Little Angel." The little angel went on a search for the true meaning of Christmas. Her search took her to different Christmas traditions, children decorating the Christmas tree, Father Christmas delivering presents, snowflakes dancing and delicious Christmas food, before she found the stable where Jesus had been born. It was a very touching performance with delightful songs and dances to enjoy.

The Christmas season has started with the first Nativity play this week. Year Two gave a wonderful performance of "The Shepherd Boy" to their friends and relatives. They sang beautifully and looked as though they were thoroughly enjoying themselves on stage.

Mrs Gray came to visit the Nursery to talk to the children about her role as a nurse as part of our 'People Who Help Us' topic.

There was great excitement this week when Pudsey Bear visited the preprep during Mr. Folland's assembly. The school will all be supporting the Children in Need Appeal by encouraging the pupils to wear a spotty accessory on Friday and donating money to this worthwhile charity.

We recently had our annual visit from the West Midlands Theatre Company. They always provide the children with a breathtakingly lively and interactive preformance. This year's play was called "The Golden Dragon" and retold the ancient Chinese story about the building of the Great Wall of China.

The theme for this year's Book Week is Rhyme and Poetry. All the children have been involved in choosing favourite poems to recite in assembly. Each class has made a book of favourite rhymes and poems. Children have visited Tiverton library to look at the books there and to find out what the library has to offer. There was a book fair where children were able to purchase a book.

Left: The very youngest children in the nursery sang their favourite nursery rhyme which was "Old MacDonald had a Farm."
Right: The children particularly enjoyed a visit by story teller and author, John Dougherty. He captivated them with his funny poems and songs and answered their questions about being an author.

Left and right: As part of the Book Week celebrations, everyone came to school dressed as characters from nursery rhymes and poems. There were some wonderful costumes and a great deal of excitement.
Far right: Even the staff dressed up. Here we have Mrs Charlesworth dressed up as Dr Foster with a puddle right up to her middle!

Left: There was great excitement as the three teams of children from each year group vied for first place in the Book Quiz competition. The yellow team won but it was very close. They received book tokens for prizes, which were presented after the Quiz.
Right: The highlight of the week is the "Book at Bedtime" when all the children return to school in their pyjamas with their sleeping bags, pillows and teddies. The staff read them bedtime stories whilst the children enjoy a cup of hot chocolate and a cookie before sleepily returning home to bed.

The Pre-Prep celebrated its Harvest Festival this week. Mr. Folland led the harvest assembly with the help of children in Year Two. Many children brought in contributions for the Harvest table; the produce was given to the St. Petrocks charity in Exeter who will distribute it to homeless people.

Year two went on a trip to Budleigh Salterton. We had a super day as the weather was fantastic. A local fisherman took the time to talk to the children about his catch and let them handle some starfish.