PREPARATORY DEPARTMENT
WoW Badge Design Competition
Pupils from across the UK were given the opportunity to take part in the annual WoW badge design competition. This is the Walk once a Week initiative, aimed at encouraging young people to walk/cycle/scooter to school at least once a week. The theme this year was ‘My Walk to School’ which required pupils to incorporate into their design things they see on their walk to school. Entries were sent via The Borough of Redbridge to Living Streets who run the national competition. Park School for Girls submitted entries from Harleen Athwal Year 5, Sanjalee Sharma Year 5 and Kalimah Adam Year 6. Each girl received a goody bag containing a T-shirt, badge, Frisbee, key-ring and rubber. We were very pleased to receive a visit from representatives from Redbridge Road Safety Team and Ziggy the Zebra, the road safety mascot for the team. During our Prep Assembly they presented Kalimah Adam with a prize for her winning entry.
VALENTINES MANSION
On Wednesday, 19th May the Preparatory Department visited Valentines Mansion. The girls enjoyed a varied, educational day and thanks to the pleasant weather were able to sit and enjoy lunch on the lawn.
The visit gave a good insight into life in the mansion in Victorian times and included a tour of the house and gardens. Period clothing and household items were handed out and girls worked in groups to discover the identity of the original wearer/user; butler, parlour maid, housekeeper were among the characters identified. ‘We found that our person was the butler, Alexander Findley. He was 35 years old and was married to the housekeeper Martha Findley also aged 35’ – Olatide Adetujoye, Upper Prep.
Time was spent in the gardens planting beans, learning about honey bees, tasting their honey – ‘We even tried honey straight from the honeycomb YUMMY!’ – Saramarie Harvey, Upper Prep. The girls also were shown various creatures, such as a tree frog, a South American toad, ducks, geese, a tortoise and a baby heron, some of which they were able to handle.
This experience gave the girls a good insight into life in the Mansion in the Victorian era.
ISLE OF WIGHT TRIP
In June girls from the Preparatory Department went to the Isle of Wight for a four day stay at the Kingswood Activity Centre, accompanied by staff from Park School. They were able to participate in activities which included driving go-karts and quad bikes, abseiling, the ‘Leap of Faith’, zip wire, an afternoon on the beach and many others. Evening activities included a talent show, a karaoke evening and a disco. Upper Prep have written reports of the trip which include the following: ‘Isle of Wight was the best school trip …It has also taught me new skills.’ ‘I had a fantabulous time at Kingswood and wish I could go back.’ The girls impressed the staff at Kingswood with their general conduct and their determination and enthusiasm. Each girl attempted every activity, learning new skills and overcoming fears along the way. Well done to all of you!
During the last week of this term, we invited parents to join us in school for a slide show of photographs of the trip. Thank you to those who were able to attend.
Short Story Competition
Children from the Preparatory School entered a competition on the Author Hotline website as part of their activities for World Book Day. Entrants were invited to write an ‘Attention Grabbing Opening’ to a story. The winning entries would then be completed by an author from the hotline and have their work published on the website. Zayna Dar from the Upper Prep was one of four winners; her story was finished by the author Annabel Claridge. If you would like to read the winning entries they are available on: http://www.authorhotline.com/.
Another author, Antony Lishak, attended an assembly in school to present Zayna with her prize of her prize of books for herself and her classmates. Mr Lishak was very interesting and amusing and we are pleased that Zayna’s mother was able to attend. Well done Zayna!
POETRY IN MOTION
Upper Prep entered the Poetry in Motion competition as part of Walk to School week in May. We were only allowed to send three entries and Anjali Patel, Shivalee Sharma and Guntas Kohli were chosen. Although they did not make the winning ten, which were put forward to have their poem printed in a ‘Poetry in Motion’ book, they were considered to be of outstanding quality and well deserving of a prize.
SPORTS DAY
A very big well done to all the girls at sports day and thank you to those parents who came along and gave the event their support.
The following are individual winners.
Lower Prep:
80m Talissa Quartey (new school record 9.25s)
Sack Ogheneyoma Toweh
Egg & Spoon Harleen Athwal
Skipping Zara Wali
Middle Prep:
80m Tamika Quartey
Sack Sanjalee Sharma
Egg & Spoon Maryam Mirza
Skipping Maryam Mirza
Upper Prep:
80m Zarmeen Chaudhry
Sack Shivalee Sharma
Egg & Spoon Kismet Lalli
Skipping Guntas Kohli
Mrs L Wright
P.E. KIT
Please note that it is compulsory for all current Year 6 students moving up to Year 7 in September 2010 to wear the new style blue P.E. kit. This is available from Henry Taylor.
As usual, please ensure that all P.E. kit is washed, appropriately labelled and ready for the return to school in September.
The whole school took part in the Send My Friend to School campaign this year. This brings together hundreds of thousands of students and teacher in the UK who want the Government to keep its promise and make sure that every child can go to school, no matter where they live in the world. We joined together to make a gigantic 1 GOAL supporter scarf that stretched
the length of the playground and collected 2,198 signatures in support of the campaign. The scarf will be sent to the Prime Minister!
Mrs C Clayden
SUMMER PRODUCTION – WIND IN THE WILLOWS
The Prep department worked extremely hard towards their summer production of Wind in the Willows, which was a great success. Under the guiding hand of Mrs Parker, Mr Bluck, Mrs Wright and Mrs Lesser the girls did very well to learn their lines, the songs and dances from the show. Acting and singing skills have certainly developed in leaps and bounds. It never ceases to amaze staff and parents alike how much talent lies within the students. Mrs Clayden drew on her former experience as a professional illustrator to produce a superb backdrop. All in all it was a production filled with energy and proved to be a delight to all.
Many congratulations to the Preps for all their hard work and success.
Mr N. Bluck
ABSENCE NOTES
If you are planning a holiday which necessitates your daughter being absent from school, you are required to write to Mrs Gallagher requesting permission for such absence. Also, if
your daughter is absent from school due to illness, medical or dental appointments or any other reason it is important that you provide a note to cover the period of absence to avoid such absence being recorded as ‘unauthorised’.
EMERGENCY CONTACT DETAILS
We are sorry to have to report that we still, on occasion, have difficulty contacting parents. Please ensure that we have current contact details for you, if your daughter is unwell or injured we need to be able to make contact quickly. If you are in any doubt about whether the details we hold are up-to-date, please provide your current details to enable us to check. We really cannot over emphasise how important this is!
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