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KEW LIFE<br />
Issue <strong>107</strong><br />
July 2022<br />
The Newsletter of Kew Green Preparatory School<br />
<br />
SPORTS DAY FEVER AT KEW GREEN<br />
On Friday, 1 st July, the whole school made their way out onto the green <strong>for</strong> our sports day. Our team’s first event was the Javelin. Although we<br />
lacked confidence at this event, we all tried our best and got a few more points than we expected. Next up was the long jump. Max and<br />
Edward got our team’s joint highest score of 1.65m. Then we had the cricket bowling station. Our year 5s and 6s did brilliantly in this event<br />
and we moved on to the 400m full of confidence as we had some great runners! After that was the shot put. Edward was our best shot putter<br />
but most managed to achieve a high score on this event. Next up was the triple jump. The year 3s in our team were incredible at this event!<br />
Finally, we had the 60m s<strong>print</strong>. Everyone ran their legs off but the Year 4s deserve a special mention as they were rapid! As we gathered<br />
around the results table, we waited in anticipation to hear the winning scores. We really did not expect much but when we heard the winning<br />
team announced by Mr Harrington, it was us! We had won by just 7 points! We were all so happy and proud of each other, we couldn’t stop<br />
smiling when we went to collect our medals and the school trophy! Well done again to everyone in the red team <strong>for</strong> an amazing ef<strong>for</strong>t on the<br />
day! Max M & Amy B Year 6
PIRATES LIFE FOR RECEPTION<br />
The Reception children loved learning about pirates and the pirate’s way of life this last term. The children went to the Polka Theatre to watch<br />
the play ‘The Pirate, the Princess and the Platypus’. It is about a princess who wants to be a pirate and a pirate who wants to be a princess. Their<br />
friend, the platypus, is a confident and witty character who made us laugh from beginning to end. The moral of the story was lovely, and it goes<br />
along with what children have been learning this year. ‘It is good to be different and we can all be whoever we want to be’. On our return, some<br />
children shared the things they liked about the play. They loved the songs and dances. They also liked that the characters could be whatever<br />
they wanted, a princess or a pirate, as well as how the characters worked together to build a boat. A few of them also mentioned funny parts<br />
such as the different animal names the platypus kept being called and the time when the pirate got its foot stuck in a wooden box when<br />
climbing through a window to save the princess. All in all, it was a great success and closure to a fantastic topic. The Reception Team<br />
BUTTERFLY SEASON<br />
<br />
IN YEAR 5<br />
Year 5 have been looking at the metamorphosis of<br />
caterpillars into butterflies. When the caterpillars<br />
first arrived, they were thin like threads and in tiny<br />
pots. The caterpillars grew rapidly to about 2cm<br />
and became thickly covered in fur and spikes.<br />
They slowly lumbered to the top of the pot where<br />
they hung in a J shape. In no time, they had<br />
trans<strong>for</strong>med into chrysalises. Shortly afterwards,<br />
we put these in a large net enclosure. As soon as<br />
one turned into a butterfly, we put sugar water,<br />
fruit and leaves inside. After they had all<br />
trans<strong>for</strong>med, it was time to release them into the<br />
wild. It was harder than we thought as they<br />
wouldn’t come out and so we had to encourage<br />
them by moving the net or fishing them out. As<br />
the butterflies began to swoop out, we made up<br />
names <strong>for</strong> them such as Justin Bieber and cheered<br />
when they flew up into the air. One even landed<br />
on Tilly’s face! Some of them weren’t so lucky. One<br />
fell out of a tree and another’s wings didn’t grow<br />
properly but most survived. By Tilly and Milla-Jane
PETER PAN PRODUCTION SOARS<br />
Second turn on the right and straight round the green led you to Neverland on Thursday 23 rd June. Lost boys, pirates, Bohemians and, of<br />
course, all the classic Darlings, Tink and Peter Pan exploded onto the marquee stage with gusto. The children surpassed expectations and blew<br />
us all away with, not only their amazing per<strong>for</strong>mances on the night, but their resilience, energy and collaboration when working on the<br />
production. Each character brought a unique element to the show and we were delighted to see so many shine on the night. Singing, dancing<br />
and acting with purpose, they entertained their audiences in both the dress rehearsal and the final per<strong>for</strong>mance. We are incredibly proud of<br />
you and hope to see some of you up on stage again soon. Mr Reed
FRENCH DONATION TO HELP THE WORLD<br />
If you had to leave home tonight in a hurry because your life was in danger which three things, would you take with you? After many innovative<br />
suggestions from the children, our special guest speaker, Josh Rosenthal from Doctors without borders or Les Médecins Sans Frontières, told<br />
the children that it boiled down to these essentials; - water, shelter and healthcare. Josh explained that the mission of Les Médecins Sans<br />
Frontières was to provide humanitarian help and healthcare to all people. They pride themselves in being independent, impartial and neutral.<br />
Many of the children couldn’t comprehend how he could go into conflict zones unarmed. Josh explained that the only protection they had<br />
was their MSF armband and although it was<br />
dangerous, rarely did people target any of the<br />
humanitarian workers. The children were so impressed<br />
by the way Les Médecins Sans Frontières do not take<br />
sides in wars. Josh showed pictures of a village in<br />
South Sudan where there were fighting factions. Here<br />
they had set up field hospitals and treated sick people<br />
who would otherwise have had no healthcare. He<br />
played voice recordings of women singing in a<br />
maternity ward and conversations between the people<br />
and the helpers. The children thought that working <strong>for</strong><br />
the charity looked ‘cool’ and challenging and they<br />
liked the idea of travelling around the globe on<br />
exciting missions helping people. If they intend to do<br />
that in the future, they will need two languages – the<br />
vital ones being English and French. Josh handed<br />
around some beautiful, beaded jewellery that he was<br />
given by some of the tribesmen as tokens of their<br />
appreciation. As a token of our appreciation, using<br />
money from the French Fayre, we gave a generous<br />
donation to this worthy humanitarian charity with the<br />
French name. Madame Thorpe-Woods<br />
<br />
HOME IS WHERE THE FUN IS<br />
It is easy to <strong>for</strong>get how lucky we are to have one of the world’s most well-known rivers right on our doorstep. As we discovered on our<br />
incredibly exciting Thames Explorers trip, the Thames is not only full of history, mystery, and a place of boundless adventure, it is very much a<br />
part of what makes us Londoners! We learned about (the amazingly named) Joseph Bazalgette (pronounced Baziljet!) and his trans<strong>for</strong>mative<br />
sewerage system and how city planners need to balance environmental factors with the needs of London’s citizens. We also measured the<br />
speed of the river and learned about tides and water pollution. As soon as low tide was upon us, we eagerly squelched out onto the riverbed<br />
to discover leeches, crabs, fish and even a few historical artefacts! Socks did not stay clean and dry <strong>for</strong> long! What a joy to be 8 years old,<br />
stomping around in muddy water and discovering all sorts of creep-crawlies while the warn sun shone down from a cloudless sky! “This is the<br />
best day of my life” – Orlando 3G. “Can we come down here every day?” – Myla 3K. “What’s the point of wearing wellies when you go stand in<br />
waist deep in water!” – Mr Searle and Miss Powell
START YOUR ENGINES…<br />
Last term 8 Year 5 children embarked on the second part of the ‘Formula One in Schools’ journey. The task this time was to create a car to take<br />
part in a Regional Competition which will be shown live on YouTube later in the year. We now had to design an improved, faster car…The<br />
children worked on three elements of the project; the portfolio, a verbal presentation and making a newly designed body shell <strong>for</strong> the car. Both<br />
teams (Serpents of Doom and Dogs of Flame) came up with a new team logo, adapted from earlier designs from projects last year. They also<br />
designed a new front wing and a curved aerodynamic body. The last element of the project included making a 5-minute verbal presentation<br />
where the children had to take one of the project elements (initial ideas, design development, manufacturing, testing and team graphics) to<br />
talk about. The children had to present <strong>for</strong> one minute each and worked on their confidence and delivery through collaboration. We look<br />
<strong>for</strong>ward to the Regional Competition later in the year! Well done to Freddie, Jasmin, David and Alva <strong>for</strong> the Dogs of Flame; to Idris, Amelia,<br />
Emilia and Sebastian <strong>for</strong> the Serpents of Doom. Let the race begin! Mr Bennett<br />
<br />
SWIM SQUAD SUCCESS<br />
Swim squad have been really dedicated this past term and have started to show their true grit and determination in the galas we have<br />
entered this term. We took ten swimmers from Years 4, 5 and 6 to represent Kew Green in the Richmond Borough gala gaining 3 first places,<br />
4 second places and 5 third places in the heats! Particular mention should go to the girls’ mixed free style relay <strong>for</strong> winning their heat and<br />
achieving bronze in the final, and the boys’ medley relay – they caught up an entire length to come second in their heat! At the London<br />
Schools North gala, we showed our competitive spirit with high standards too. Max T came first in the 25m boy’s butterfly. All our swimmers<br />
gave an excellent account of themselves. The Harrodian Gala was an exciting spectacle, swum in the idyllic outdoor pool at the Harrodian<br />
School, on one of the hottest afternoons of the school year! Children from Year 2 to Year 6 took part including a 12 x 1 length Squadron Relay<br />
to finish. It was a great competitive experience <strong>for</strong> all the children involved. I think I shouted myself hoarse. Our last outing was a pupils v<br />
parents and teachers gala. Nine children from Years 5 and 6 swam against Mr Ward, Ms Chandler and several parents. It was a great way to<br />
start a Wednesday morning. There were individual events in all four strokes and an 8 x 33m Squadron relay to end with. Thank you to the<br />
brave parents who volunteered to take part and particular thanks to the Year 6 swimmers <strong>for</strong> their commitment to school swimming. This<br />
year, many children have achieved personal best times (PBs) and Max T (5K) has spectacularly broken 3 very long-standing school records.<br />
Well done swimmers! Keep practising during the Summer holidays. Mr Ward and Ms Chandler
MATHS MANIA<br />
Maths is always high profile and it was great to be able to indulge even further <strong>for</strong><br />
London Maths Week! To celebrate we held two competitions. First was London Rocks,<br />
with Times Tables Rock Stars. 125 children took up the Times Table Challenge, which<br />
was amazing! Well done Rockstars! They achieved some very impressive scores and<br />
all received certificates and prizes in assembly. We mustn’t <strong>for</strong>get that knowing our<br />
tables is the corner stone <strong>for</strong> almost every aspect of maths! Second, we took on the<br />
London Maths week Challenge. This was similar to our Friday Maths Challenge and<br />
Puzzle but contained several challenges <strong>for</strong> each group from Reception through to<br />
Year 6. Children from each year group entered showing fantastic problem solving<br />
skills. Well done to all who took part! <br />
We have also entered the ‘First Maths Challenge’ recently. It is just like the Primary<br />
Maths Challenge, taken by Years 5 and 6 children each November, but this challenge<br />
is <strong>for</strong> Year 3 and 4 children each June. This year, gold certificates were awarded to:<br />
Penri P C, Charlie B, Ella T J in Year 4. An excellent per<strong>for</strong>mance and well done to all<br />
who took part! Sarah Chandler <br />
OUR BUDDING WRITERS<br />
Earlier this year, some students in Years 4 and 5 entered the Wimbledon Book Fest Young Writers’ Competition, in which they had to write a<br />
story or a poem on the theme of trees. Amazingly, we had five winners – either being Commended or Highly Commended <strong>for</strong> their beautiful<br />
poetry. Please find their poems below. <br />
My tree is my soul, <br />
My tree is my life, <br />
Until you came to this world, <br />
I was exiled from my dreams, <br />
But then I found you, <br />
I was saved from a life of misery, <br />
A life without hope, without light, <br />
A life not worth loving, <br />
When you rose from the ground, <br />
We became like brothers, <br />
Our voices were ripped from our bodies, <br />
But our love spoke <strong>for</strong> us, <br />
Remember that day, <br />
When we first met, <br />
When my sadness crumbled away, <br />
Do you remember that day? <br />
Love by Amelia WM<br />
The winds whipped on the day we first met,<br />
You were bare, cold and shivering.<br />
The howling storm snapping your majestic branches,<br />
My heart beating faster when I stood beneath you.<br />
Your beautiful leaves were blown away,<br />
Your bark crumbled like my heart when I couldn’t look at you.<br />
Your voice was silenced when you were stripped down to the bone,<br />
And you stood, melancholy and miserable <br />
When you had once been so mighty and proud. The tree by Alva<br />
The redwood stretches into the sky<br />
further than I can see.<br />
Branches shaped like reaching arms<br />
which are holding on to me.<br />
<br />
All the other tiny trees<br />
are bowing be<strong>for</strong>e their leader,<br />
<strong>for</strong> the redwood dominates all it sees<br />
and the redwood sees the world. Redwood by Ben<br />
AND FINALLY…<br />
What an excellent half term that was and a fabulous end to another successful Kew Green year. It felt like the first proper summer term in a<br />
long time and I am glad that, <strong>for</strong> my last summer at Kew, we could host the full breadth of sporting events, <strong>for</strong>mal occasions, per<strong>for</strong>mances<br />
and productions that help to celebrate everyone’s <strong>for</strong>ward journey be it moving up a year group, to senior school, or even on to new<br />
ventures. I must acknowledge all those, past and present, who have committed themselves to making Kew Green such a special place of<br />
learning. For the vast majority of children, parents and staff, Kew Green will be an eternal and positive reference point throughout the years<br />
to come. For me, my years here will be highlighted by much fondness and laughter, great characters and a myriad of situations that are<br />
beyond explanation unless you could witness them yourself. Therein lies the excitement of working with the best people in the world …<br />
children! So, it is a final farewell from me. I wish everyone the best of luck <strong>for</strong> the coming year and truly hope that you have a wonderful<br />
summer of sunshine, freedom and laughter. Until our paths cross again … Jem Peck, editor<br />
www.kgps.co.uk