Kewlife April 2021. Issue 99

KEW LIFE
Issue 99
March 2021
The Newsletter of Kew Green Preparatory School
WE’RE SO EGGCITED TO BE BACK!
To end the term with an Easter-bang, Kew Green had some special visitors arriving for the day: the Easter Bunny and his two friends! This trio
couldn’t be missed during drop-off with many parents (and staff) taking photo opportunities to start off our day of Easter activities, the first
being our Easter bonnet parade. Whilst welcoming the children at the school gate, we saw an impressive array of Easter bonnets made by
children from Reception to Year 6. These vast designs were colourful with some toweringly tall, extravagant (that will make the annual Ascot
visitors envious), cool caps, smart top hats, beanies donned with nests of chicks - all with an Easter theme. Just after registration, the whole
school came together on the playground and paraded their bonnets, with a noticeable buzz from the other children looking on. During Mr
Peck‘s live assembly, he (along with his helpers) then delivered a prize for a winning design from each class. It was quite a novelty seeing Mr
Peck and the Easter Bunny skipping through the corridors. But that wasn’t it for the Easter celebrations! Each year group in Lower School took
part in an Easter egg hunt, running around the outside area trying to find the hidden eggs, with the added challenge of finding a golden egg
or a gigantic egg to track down! The Easter Bunny and friends hid these very well and the children’s teamwork of helping their friends was
admirable. Finally, to end an exciting day, each class had a visit from our Easter Bunny and his two chicks to deliver their Easter eggs. The
sounds of laughter erupting from each classroom (including from Year 6) as the day’s special visitors appeared at their door. Thank you to the
Friends of Kew for donating an egg for each child! Miss Ray

BOOK WEEK EXCITEMENT
This year saw a Book Week like no other! As we entered the last week of remote learning, we had to be clever and creative in order to make
Book Week something special. The children loved taking part in our Masked Reader Competition. All staff read an extract from a book of their
choice but hidden behind a mask and often, a strange voice too. Everyone had to use their inference and deduction skills to identify the
reader behind the masked persona. It was hilarious – but really hard to identify each of the readers.
On World Book Day, even a worldwide pandemic did not stop us coming together to read. We had over 150 children and staff reading in
silence (well, quietly at least) and so, shared our love for books. From fairy tales to mysteries, all genres were there. We also dressed up for
Glossary Day. An opportunity for everyone to dress up as a word and explain the word that they were demonstrating. I loved the girl in her
swimsuit who ran down the street in the freezing cold with ‘optimism’ written across her back! There were so many great ideas and excellent
for helping to increase every body’s vocabulary. All the children read for extended periods of time in some very interesting places indeed! As
part of the Reading in Strange Places competition we saw children enjoying books, high up in the sky, at the dentist, in the fridge and even on
the roof of a car!
Upon our return to school, all the children had virtual visits from renowned authors. Years 1 and 2 met the award-winning poet Joseph
Coelho. The children heard parts of the much-loved Luna stories and were introduced to different artists as diverse as Van Gogh and Damien
Hirst. The event also included a draw along with Fiona Lumbers, where children learnt how to draw Luna. The concentration was
astounding… you could hear a pin drop! Further up the school, author of over thirty children’s books, Caroline Lawrence was welcomed in to
visit the children in Year 3 and Year 4. The book shared, ‘The Thieves of Ostia’, was the first in her award-winning historical detective series
‘The Roman Mysteries for boys and girls’. The children had the opportunity to get lost in the world of mystery, resilience and friendship - it
was the perfect escape into history. She cleverly taught the children the skills needed to create a great story and the importance of naming
their characters well.
The final author was Sita Brahmachari. The children were engrossed in her story telling and activities to stimulate creativity. She shared her
history and journey of writing. A thought-provoking talk and a real insight into her world. It was a fascinating and informative experience. Miss
Spencer

MATHS AND ART COMBINED
In Maths, Year 6 have been learning to use a pair of compasses to draw circles and construct triangles. We have learnt about diameter, radius
and circumference and ‘discovered’ the value of pi by drawing circles and measuring, as well as using the formula. We have also used pairs
of compasses to draw circle patterns and discovered that it is a LOT harder than we thought! For every successful circle, there were quite a
few mistakes.
KEW GREEN BRING HOME THE GOLD!
In November, children from Years 4, 5 and 6 took
this year’s Primary Maths Challenge and nine
children were awarded Gold certificates!
Of these nine, one did well enough to be invited to
take part in the bonus round – Karan. Unfortunately,
because of Covid 19 restrictions, the bonus round
did not go ahead as normal this year however,
some Year 6 children were still able to try the
harder paper. The following children did
particularly well, and we celebrate their success.
Well done! Karan B, Reggie D, Josh T-J, Tally J,
Lauren C, Lisa B. Advance notice that, in June,
children in Year 3 and 4 will be able to try the First
Maths Challenge which has been designed
specifically for the younger age group. I love
because it keeps problem solving, investigations
and maths challenges are regular features at Kew
Green! Mrs Chandler
YEAR 4 GET THEIR TEETH INTO SCIENCE
On Monday, 15 th March, Year 4 participated in a ‘Teeth and Digestion’ workshop with Mr. Joe. We had a great time and did some really
exciting things. First, we made teeth using plaster of Paris and water, then left it to set in a mould (for the rest of the session). Next, Joe
showed us some replica skulls, then we had to guess which animal it belonged to, based on the types of teeth. We learnt that carnivore’s eyes
are positioned so that they only point forward, and herbivores are positioned at the side/back so they can look behind them. At the end of
the session, we took the plaster teeth out of the moulds and they were rock solid! Finally, we tidied up and thanked Joe for all the fun we had.
Milly and Amelia 4G

4 NATIONS MAKES A COMEBACK
What an absolute pleasure the last week of PE and Games have been! The sun has been shining, the children have been smiling and there
has been a fantastic atmosphere in and around the school. The Spring term’s 8 nations Tag Rugby competition had to adapt to current
conditions and so evolved into the 4 nations for the 20/21 season. Each Year group was split into 4 teams; England, Scotland, Ireland and
Wales, in order to compete in a round robin tournament, with all year group teams contributing to a final league table. Over the course of
the week, we have seen some outstanding rugby, fantastic teamwork, great leadership skills and most importantly, children having fun
playing sport with their friends. I cannot tell you how much we have missed it! Well done to all and congratulations to Ireland who were this
years’ overall winners! Mr Harrington
“I was really excited when we were told that we would be able to
do the 4 Nations tag rugby competition. I was worried that I
wouldn't be able to do it again. I was sad that we couldn't do it
with the other year groups combined but it was still great fun.
The teams were England Ireland Scotland and Wales. In our
competition England came first, Scotland second, Ireland came
third and Wales came fourth. But that was just for year 6. Me and
Rufus were lucky enough to be chosen for the most valued
player trophy and it was really great to get an award. Overall, I
think we all enjoyed being able to do the competition and even
though not everyone got a trophy or medal, I think we all played
fantastically well and had such amazing fun.” Lexi Year 6
Overall Won Drawn Lost Points
Ireland 5 3 4 18
England 4 5 3 17
Scotland 4 4 4 16
Wales 2 4 6 10

ART CONTINUES TO BE BOLD
It is hard to express how thrilled we are to be back in the art room with the children! Miss Ivory and I were so dazzled by the standard and
quantity of remote work completed across all year groups, that we have easily been able to build upon many of these projects, developed
with such care and sensitivity at home. There is so much energy now our art room is busy again, I was greeted in the art room by one of the
children who burst into the room at the start of my first art club, announcing “I AM SO HAPPY TO BE HERE!” What more can a teacher ask for
than a greeting like that?
Needless to say, we have, without a doubt ‘hit the ground sprinting’! The summer term promises yet more vibrancy, with sculpture, large
scale work and vivid colour being high on the agenda in the art department. I truly believe that the resilience and positivity of our children
since they have been back at school is an inspiration to all staff. Let creativity at Kew Green continue to flourish! I love these little insights
from quotes and discussions in the art room. Mrs Elden-Ford
Quotes from the Art Room.
“It is nice to do the actual artwork in the classroom, and work in more detail with more instructions.” James, 2K
“I am happy because it is more of an artsy environment, and I have more resources.” Nina, 6G.
“It is fun to do more of a variety of art, and to have our teacher back in the classroom. The clay project is great. It is lonely to work at home
and much better to do art with your friends. Art makes me feel happy and it brightens my imagination.” Anjali, 4K
“It’s very good to be back! It’s so much easier, because whenever you have a question, you can just ask. I think we all feel more connected!”
Athena, 6G
“My favourite thing about being back at school is seeing everyone working together and holding our work up to show the whole class.”
Casper, 1K
“I am enjoying Cubism, because you can express all of your creativity though drawing and colouring.” Charlotte, 6G.

FRENCH FILM STARS GET TO WORK
This Year’s Upper School French Poetry Slam was challenging to teach online and organise as a digital event, but the children were not
daunted by the prospect of learning remotely and the quality of their recitals was astonishingly high. They used props and different
locations to make it more exciting, especially during those dark days of lockdown.
I received incredible entries from all the year groups with beautiful recitals, both sung and spoken, across three different topics: les
comptines, les animaux, les saisons. It was heart-warming to see children throwing themselves into this project with such verve and energy,
some in the snow, others bouncing on trampolines and one funny submission that would have been a worthy contender for a Tony’s
Chocoloney advertising campaign! Madame Thorpe-Woods
Here is a glimpse of the stills from some of the winners: -
Khushi D with her brilliant performance of the traditional comptine: Madame Semaine;-
MAKING
HARIBO
BECOME
EDUCATIONAL!
Our maths investigation was centred around sweets
and sugar! We worked in groups of 4 or 5. Each
one of the 5 groups had a different investigation
with Haribos, sugar cubes, Pepsi, etc. My group had
different challenges to investigate, such as: How
many Haribos would you need to make a stack as
high as the Eiffel Tower? We found out that each
heart, when not squished, was 1cm. We know that
there are 100cm in a metre which means that there
are 100 Haribo hearts in one metre. So, we
multiplied the height of the Eiffel Tower, 324m, by
100, which equals 32,400 Haribo hearts! One
shocking fact that another group discovered was
that there are 11 sugar cubes in just one 250ml
glass of Pepsi! It was really fun finding out all about
sugar! Christopher Year 5

RECEPTION BOUNCE BACK!
Reception bounced back into school after lockdown with
happy faces, full of enthusiasm. They settled back so quickly
and they have loved playing and charging around the
playground together. We have of course been busy in both
our indoor and outdoor classroom, completing lots of
hands on learning as well as playing. A huge amount of
reading has taken place since returning to school, with
guided reading being embedded within our phonic lessons
as well as some extra 1:1 reading sessions. In maths the
children have been consolidating key skills in addition and
subtraction, thinking about different strategies to use to
solve a problem. They have also learnt about money and
have started counting in 2s and 10s. We have thought about
why counting in different ways would be better than
counting in 1s all the time! As we come to the end of our
‘Animal Around the World’ topic, we have been asking the
children to think about what they know about different
animals and habitats and to group animals in different ways
thinking of their own criteria.
We could not be more proud of our Reception children,
who have shown an enormous amount of resilience and
perseverance throughout lockdown and returning to
school. Well done from all of your teachers! Miss Heaton
YEAR 1 TAKE TO THE WEST END
Children and staff got on their dancing shoes
and stepped up to the stage during the last two
weeks of remote learning Year 2 - 6 when they
took part in workshops with two West End
performers. Daniel Hope played the role of
Michael in 'Matilda' and led the children through
an exploration of the story and characters before
teaching them the dance routine for part of the
song 'Revolting Children'. Jenny Legg was in ‘9
to 5 The Musical' until lockdown last year and
introduced the children to this upbeat, positive
show learning a routine to the title song.
Hopefully, these will have given the children
further confidence to try new things and step out
of their comfort zone. Mr Reed
FIRE FIRE!
Year 1 finally managed to complete their
'London Then and Now' topic with the annual
burning of their Tudor houses. Recreating the
infamous event from 1666 has become an
anticipated event and this year was no
different. However, for the first time we brought
the past into the future by streaming the event
live to the rest of the school who would
normally join Year 1 on the gravel to watch. We
also went live on our Instagram page to share
the event with parents and our followers
around Richmond. If you missed it, you can still
watch it on our Instagram @kewgreenprep.

LIVE MUSIC MAKES A RETURN
We hadn’t been back at school long, but we definitely wanted the opportunity for real live performances. Miss Dawn, Mr Peck and Mr Parkes-
Reeves were impressed by the confidence and skills shown by all of those who put themselves forward for our music assemblies. With one
year group a day, for almost a week, we were delighted by the talent shown by the children. The performances ranged from songs from
musical theatre and popular music, piano pieces that had been carefully prepared, ‘cello music that had character and wit, as well as a variety
of guitar pieces that covered some very different styles. We were pleased to also be able to listen to a powerful performance on the
Saxophone and an accomplished drum piece. Watching and listening to the live performances once again reminded us all of the revelatory
importance of music making. Being so close to the performers and their year bubble group audience, whilst zoomed to the rest of Upper
School, made it feel very intimate and quite a privilege. We look forward to plenty more live music this term. Mr Parkes-Reeves
LOCKDOWN REFLECTIONS
On the 23 rd of March it had been exactly one year since the start of Lockdown in England. Mr Puckle spoke to 6K about this topic. As part of
the conversation we discussed: what had changed during the year; reflections of remote learning; new vocabulary we had learnt and hopes
for all activities outside of school to reopen and go back to ‘normal’. However, what we’ve learnt through all of this is that there is no ‘normal’.
Normal is what we are used to and what we do every day. Coronavirus has created things that have now become the new normal – like
wearing masks in shops and on public transport.
So, what has changed? All of our lives have changed in different ways. Some people have lost loved ones. Some people have changed the
way they work and study. All of us have started washing our hands more! No team sports and no spectators for sporting events has really
affected me personally.
We talked about reflections of remote learning. Firstly, I just want to say, the teachers have made remote learning straight forward and at
times fun! They have made sure we understand each task and they have made remote learning as stress free as possible. Although I’m not
sure I’d describe the virtual 11 plus process as straight forward! Even though remote learning was ‘ok’ we all agreed that not seeing each
other in person was really sad.
We’ve all learnt new vocabulary from this pandemic for example: lockdown; quarantine; social distancing and PPE and ‘Foggy’ (Mr Dan’s
teddy).
And finally, we discussed hopes for what we can do again in the future, like: going back to playing team sports, going to each others’ houses
for playdates or for a chat, and being able to connect with our family in person. But we all know, when you’re really at school, is special.
Josh Year 6
AND FINALLY…
Well done all, for returning to school with a smile and a commitment to enjoy being back with friends and colleagues. After just three weeks
back, it feels like we have been here for ages. I love how swiftly we have returned to our ‘normal’ back in school. You can’t replace the swift
responses, the glances, laughter and smiles between children and staff. There is also great excitement for the summer term as restrictions
continue to lift gradually and I hope that many of the usual summer activities are able to return this year. We are looking forward to welcoming
parents back into school too. Congratulations Year 6, for a bumper crop of 11+ results this year. I very much hope everybody can enjoy some
warm and sunny days over Easter and begin to reconnect with friends and family… whilst respecting regulations of course! Jem Peck, Editor.
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