PARKLIFE Winter 2021 A Touch of Kindness

PARKLIFE
Winter. A touch of kindness
How did Christmas came to be?
Music, Drama and History
Year Two took their audience on a musical
journey through the ages, discovering
how Christmas came to be in ‘A Tale of
Christmas Time’. With festive and catchy
songs, they travelled from Ancient Rome
right up to the 21st century. They taught
about how old customs have shaped our
modern Christmas, reminding us that a
strong message has always prevailed…
sharing goodwill, happiness, and being
thankful for family and friends is important
at Christmas time. Congratulations Year
Two, on an enchanting performance!

“When you sit and think
About what Christmas will bring,
What might be the most important thing?
The gifts round the tree?
So many good things to eat?
Well, Christmas means a little more to me.”
What does Christmas mean to you?

What has kept us busy?
Music
Christmas preparations have been the focus of this
term (the sound of ‘God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen’
has been heard from the music room since early
November), and it has been wonderful to see the
learning come to fruition in the Reception Nativity,
Year One Carol Assembly, Year Two Christmas
production, and Upper School Carol Concert. The
RPPS Community Choir have made a comeback and
are in particularly fine voice this year. We also enjoyed
soloists and ensembles performing in the Autumn
Concert, and two music assemblies. The calibre of
playing and poise of the children was exemplary,
showcasing the array of musical talent at RPPS.

May | see your ticket, please?
Christmas Fair
The RPPS Christmas Fair returned this year after
being a much missed part of last year’s festivities.
With a more scaled back, outdoor version for 2021, the
parents, teaching team and children, came together to
create, and enjoy all the much loved stalls. From the
famous jam jar stall, to golf putting and Reception’s
take home makeover kit, there was something for
everyone. This year’s Raffle was bumper full of
wonderful prizes donated by the parents. The Fair
looks set to raise significant funds for Sparkle. Sparkle
attended the fair to be able to meet as many of the
RPPS community as possible to thank them in person
for all their support over the last year.
Amelia Harvey & Rachel Harley (Friends of RPPS)
What is kindness?
Anti-bullying Week
As part of our focus on anti-bullying, we were delighted to
welcome OpenView Education to run a series of theatrebased
workshops with children from Year One to Year
Six. The theme this year was ‘One Kind Word’ and the
children explored what this might mean; how they might
express kindness in different ways; the barriers that we
can experience in always treating others with kindness and
respect; and ways in which we can overcome these.
Ms Griffiths’
recommendations
Through role-play, puppetry and forum-theatre, the children
covered topics such as the role of a bystander, imbalance
of power, and how to respond to unkind behaviour,
or behaviour that makes you feel uncomfortable. The
workshops empowered the children. They helped develop
their voice when it comes to interactions with others and
their learning built upon our school culture of positivity,
kindness and respect.
One Kind Word

Who are all those animals?
Music, Drama and R.E.
The lights were dimmed, Christmas music rang
out, and the Reception parents were treated
to a Nativity based in a stable in Bethlehem.
Squeezed into the stable were sheep, mice,
donkeys, chickens, cats, pigs, and cows trying
to settle down for a quiet night’s sleep. When
news of imminent arrivals came to their attention,
a quick tidy up was needed if the stable was to
be presentable for not only these visitors, but
others who had travelled from afar - and what
special visitors they were, as the animals learnt
when Mary and Joseph arrived, closely followed
by baby Jesus. Then there were shepherds and
kings to consider too.
The Reception children welcomed everyone to
their Nativity performances, saying their lines
clearly and with great enthusiasm as well as
singing songs and performing actions. All in all, it
was a higgledy-piggledy stable but one where a
warm welcome was guaranteed.

Who takes care of the hedgehogs?
Ceramics Club
Senior Ceramics Club decided to make ceramic
animals to sell at the Christmas Fair to fundraise for
two charaties of their choice. The WWF (The World
Wildlife Fund) and BHPS (The British Hedgehog
Preservation Society) work effortlesy to ‘stop the
degradation of the planet’s natural environment and
to build a future in which humans live in harmony
with nature’. We hope these little, cute creatures are
now adoring many of your homes.

@RPPS_Art
What would you create for a Xmas Card Competition?
Art & Design
The art room began to ‘feel a lot like Christmas’ in
mid-November, when the first Year Two Xmas trees
exited the kiln. The feeling intesified with every mark,
texture, and shape produced. Year One decorated
their freshly printed Xmas tree with shiny stars and
bright baubles. Year Three contributed to the cosy
athmosphere with paintings of Xmas trees lighting up
the nightime sky. Year Four produced original mixed
media work influnced by cubist and constructivist
aesthetics. Year Six worked asidously, some even
during their breaktime, to capture our iconic school
building and its Victorian charm. The robin has
arrived - it is time for us all to enjoy the beauty of
winter, get cosy, and hope for snow.

Head’s Message
“What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?”. So wrote the
philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Of all our school values, I cannot think
of one, more important than kindness. We have discussed the topic in several
assemblies, and the children are always extremely clear about what kindness is,
and how to be kind towards others. Miss Mangion got the Upper School thinking
more deeply about kindness with the question: “What can get in the way of us
being kind towards others?” This led to a powerful discussion, with comments
such as: “If you are tired or stressed, it can be hard to remember to be kind”; “It’s
hard to be kind if someone has been unkind to you”. It was impressive to witness
the children acknowledging the importance of being kind, and that it isn’t always
easy. In this edition of PARKLIFE, you can read about the many different ways
that we have explored our value for this half term.
Carl Howes
What is our Learning Culture?
@RPPSlondon
Our Learning Culture refers to a set of
factors that characterise the learning
environment of our school, including the
physical features, the culture, and our
practices. These six factors, alongside
quality instruction and learning, are the
foundation for success. Watch the webinar
hosted by Miss Lucy Bennison (Deputy
Head) and Mr. Sam Challenor (Deputy Head
-Teaching and Learning) to discover what
each means to us, how we promote them,
and finally, how you might help from home.

Light Up the World with Kindness
School Council
If you have seen our School Councillors busy
with a microphone or interviewing members of
our local community, there may just be a reason
why! This term your School Councillors have
been preparing for our first ever RPPS Podcast
episode: Light Up the World with Kindness. This
involved the team selecting a member of staff to
have as a guest on the show so that they could
discuss how we can spread kindness during
this festive season and beyond! Keep an eye on
your Inbox, the podcast will arrive soon!
What have we achieved?
Charity work
before
The children have had the opportunity to learn about The
Sparkle Foundation in two assemblies this term. In the first they
explored Malawi, whilst the second explained how the children’s
fundraising has helped the Sparkle Foundation so far. With over
£30,000 currently raised, the children discovered that this has
contributed to helping with medical care, food and education at
Sparkle.
We decided to create portrait tea towels for each year group this
Christmas. We were blown away by the generosity of the RPPS
families, and raised over £4000 in profit from this venture!
Keep your eyes peeled for a Sparkle and RPPS musical
exchange at the Christmas Concert. Children from Sparkle have
kindly sent us a lovely video of them singing ‘Feliz Navidad’
for our RPPS children to sing along to. The Junior Choir also
featured in the Sparkle Christmas Special Variety Show on
December 9th, where all donations helped to raise money for
a new Children’s Centre opening in early 2022, to help children
who live too far away to access Sparkle’s services at the main
Sparkle site.
We can’t wait for all our further fundraising in support of Sparkle
in 2022!
& after

How does poetry make you feel?
LS English
Year One have been exploring poetry using the
senses. During this topic, they have worked
collaboratively to learn and perform a poem for
their classmates, used their senses to describe
the sensation of a chocolate button melting in
their hands, and turned their descriptions into
similes. To finish the unit, they wrote their own
‘Sounds’ poetry using superlative adjectives
while following a rhyming pattern.
Katie, Year One
Alone... by Matthew Balmond, 6R
How do you create mood in poetry?
US English
Year Six have been writing Winter themed
poems, written from the perspectives of
different objects and animals that may be
associated when thinking of a Winter scene.
They have been experimenting with the
use of figurative language to create a given
mood throughout their poems.

What’s the best type of Maths learning?
LS Maths
In Lower School we have been busy
getting our heads around how we
learn best in Maths. Making mistakes
has been key. Children now know
that this gives them the opportunity
to think carefully about their ideas
and understanding. Central to this is
investigating. Investigations involve
being given a statement and proving
whether or not it is true; solving a
problem where you need to think
of a useful strategy; decide how
to set it out; or consider ‘what will
happen if…?’. In Year One, we love
getting our hands on equipment. As
we have been busy learning about
tens numbers, these ten frames and
double sided counters really came
in handy. They let us see how tens
numbers are made. Now we know
that when we have built a ten, we start
building another one with ones. It’s
simple!
What does kindess mean to sport?
P.E.
Children and staff have been working
hard to sprinkle kindness. Sportsmanship,
teamwork, and celebrating progress, are
some ways in which we show kindness in
sport. Children have identified wishes and
stars in gymnastic, while helping every
child make progress. They are the first
to congratulate each other on successes
wather that means scoring a goal, getting
an intercept, winning a medal, receiving
sports award or moving up to the pot of
gold. Keep sprinkling that kindness RPPS!
Why is it important to explain
your strategies?
US Maths
Here’s an example of excellent use of
explanation to reinforce our learning and
strategies. We must be able to explain
and identify errors when they occur as
this helps us check our work regurarly.
Equally, it is important to be kind to
ourselves, to give ourselves time to work
things out, and to find the right words to
construct articulate arguments.

Issue 179 | Autumn Term | 2021 | The Newsletter of Ravenscourt Park Preparatory School
PARKLIFE reflects our school’s ethos. Therefore, it is a collaborative project in its entirety. We would like to say thank you to all
our teaching and non-teaching staff for the effort that they put in to write, edit, and deliver this project on time every half-term.
Ravenscourt Park Preparatory School
16 Ravenscourt Avenue
London
W6 0SL
W: www.rpps.co.uk E: office@rpps.co.uk T: 020 8846 9153
@RPPSlondon