KEWLIFE 108 October 2022

KEW LIFE
October 2022
A BRAND NEW JOURNEY STARTS AT KEW GREEN
Kew Green Nursery opened its doors to eleven families on the 5th of September 2022. We now have fifteen families who are part of the Nursery,
with the Nursery growing weekly. Our aim is to deliver the very best in Early Years education and care to all children. We encourage our children to
spend lots of time in our outdoor area, which was specifically designed to cater for all the children in our age group. Our theme for this term was
‘Amazing Me’ and we delivered a range of engaging activities and challenges to provide opportunities for the children to get to know themselves
and their new friends. As part of this focus, we talked about how and why we are all special and unique. Furthermore, we enjoyed a joint Science
Week theme with the Prep School. The first of many joint themed weeks to enrich and deepen the learning in our Early Years. We participated in
science experiments each day which enabled us to develop our enquiring minds. The half-term ended with us coming together as a whole school
to celebrate Harvest at St Anne’s Church together with the parents. We welcome all prospective parents who have children aged between 2 and 4
to book a tour of Kew Green Nursery!
“ This October edition of Kew Life will provide you with an insight into some of the significant highlights and key
areas of focus from our successful first half of term at Kew Green Preparatory School. The Autumn Term in a
London Prep school always marks the final phase of 11+ preparation for our Year 6 pupils. We are so proud of
their development, dedication, and achievements so far. Importantly, they have maintained their enthusiasm
and love for school life and learning. Set within our 11+ curriculum, we have enjoyed and embraced a wide
range of learning opportunities within our busy calendar. Year 4 have performed impressively in class
assemblies; we launched of the Upper School book clubs to support our more able readers, and class trips have
been a definite highlight for many. Our school choirs for Lower and Upper school have started with great
enthusiasm and we look forward to the various performances after half-term. The sports teams have also had a
wonderful start to the year, with our first couple of wins in both netball and football amidst a busy fixture list. A
huge congratulations to all the teams! The blossoming engineers in the school
won four awards in F1 National Schools competition which is an excellent achievement in what was a widely
entered and competitive competition. We finish this half of term with our Harvest Festival celebrations at
St.Anne’s Church, giving thanks and giving back to our community with our whole-school food bank donations.
Wishing you all an enjoyable half-term.” - Mrs Sasha Davies, Headteacher

11+ PROCESS IS NOTHING TO FEAR
The Year 6 Autumn Term: a time which can cause fear across London. Traditionally, it is the final term before the 11+ exams. However, as assessment dates
have crept forward over the last couple of years, it is now the term in a large percentage of pupils take their exams. Nevertheless, with excellent preparation
and practice alongside strong pastoral care and positive mindsets, there really is nothing to fear. At KGPS, all pupils have a practice Maths and English
paper once a week, with results analysed, discussed and with effective feedback given to support progress and outcomes. Preparation and confidence
with exam technique is further developed in the twice-weekly after-school study skills sessions in Maths and English for our Year 6 pupils. So far this term,
we have held one of the two mock exam sessions in St Anne’s Church, with the second taking place in January to revive and re-focus pupils post-Christmas
holidays. In English, alongside regular past paper practice and consolidation opportunities in comprehension, creative writing, writing for a practical
purpose and spelling, punctuation and grammar, each English set continues to read a core text. Reading is the best form of revision and preparation for
exams as it expands the students’ vocabulary, knowledge of
spelling and punctuation, and provides them with ideas for
creative writing and structure and gives them experience of a
variety of texts for comprehensions. In Maths, the 11+ curriculum
has been completed and the Autumn Term focuses on
consolidation and, as in English, fine-tuning exam technique. It is a
time when pupils focus on applying their knowledge and skills to
solve different types of word problems and engage in high order
thinking puzzles and challenges, reflective of the end of paper
questions in Maths. To support high aspirations and achievement
in Maths at KGPS, pupils in Year 5 and Year 6 enter the Primary
Maths Challenge; the weekly Lower School and Upper School
Maths Challenge is met with huge engagement and excitement
each week; and all pupils are part of the Times Table Rockstar and
enjoy taking part in the London Rocks times table challenge at the
end of the Autumn Term. The Autumn Term prioritises time to go
through specific topics and areas in Maths, English and Reasoning
which require further consolidation. Through consolidation
opportunities, more experience with different types of questions
and championing the growth-mindset, the higher the self-esteem
and the better equipped our pupils are to tackle new and
challenging questions.
In addition to exam practice and consolidation opportunities in Maths, English and Reasoning, all Year 6 pupils receive a weekly interview practice session
with the Headteacher, Mrs Davies. The 11+ interview process compliments the three C's of curiosity, creativity and confidence which underpin what we are
aiming to achieve at KGPS. Alongside their academic learning, our pupils maintain and celebrate their passions and interests outside of the 11+ areas of
focus. They can talk articulately and with confidence about who they are and their hobbies, eager to share their knowledge and able to participate in
insightful conversations and debates. At KGPS, through our championing of curious and creative mindsets, our pupils can confidently explore abstract
questions; they are able to think 'outside of the box'; they are unafraid to predict the unexpected; and they are unafraid to take educational risks, asking
bigger and better questions as part of their answers. Each Year 6 pupil enters their November – January 11+ exams with the knowledge and skill-set
required to achieve. They have the full support of the school behind them, reflected in the lengthy and glowing school references and when the time
comes for an interview, they are able to shine and stand out because of who they are.
Huge congratulations to our Year 6 cohort of 2021/2022 on achieving excellent 11+ offers. Below is a list of some of the Senior school offers achieved at Kew
Green Preparatory School.
CO-EDUCATIONAL GIRLS BOYS
Latymer Upper School
Emanuel School
Kingston Grammar School
Ibstock Place School
Epsom College
St.John’s School, Leatherhead
Kew House School
Harrodian
Radnor House
St. Benedict’s School
Claremont Fan Court School
Godolphin & Latymer
Putney High School
Wimbledon High School
Surbiton High School
Lady Eleanor Holles School
Notting Hill & Ealing High School
Francis Holland, Sloane Square
Francis Holland, Regents Park
St. Paul’s Girls’ School
St James’s Girls’ School
City of London for Girls
King’s College Wimbledon
Hampton School
Westminster School
Reed’s School
St Paul’s School

SCIENCE
WEEK
TAKES OFF
Kew Green took to the skies this September for our
Science Week with a fun-filled week of science
exploration in all year groups, focused on the
theme of ‘flight’. We started the week with a visit
from Ian B Dunne who explored the history of flight
with us and the science behind why some animals
can fly and why humans can’t. Throughout the
week each year group undertook a different flightthemed
STEM challenge, from ‘Flying Mice’ in Year
1 to ‘Straw Rockets’ in Year 5 and 6. There were also
flight-themed workshops for each year group
where they deepened their knowledge and
understanding of the history of flight in greater
detail. Our pupils even had a visit from a real-life
pilot who inspired them with his tales of jetting
across the world (top picture).
Science Week took a competitive turn towards the
end of the week with Lower and Upper School
competing in the first KGPS paper aeroplane
competition (bottom left picture). Finally, we
finished the week with a fantastic Science dress-up
day. The school was filled with everything from
scientific discoveries, planets, famous scientists and
even elements from the periodic table.
COMPUTING
For this half of term, our pupils have been focusing on creating their own
3D video games. They have explored the elements of level design,
game mechanics and coding to create stunning 3D video games. All
pupils have enjoyed playing and adding to their 3D video games at
home, developing their skills of digital literacy, with some now inspired to
create 3D video games as a profession. The greater goal for this topic is
to allow our pupils to understand the elements to the video games they
play at home and use this knowledge to create their own to share with
each other, instead of simply consuming whichever game is trending on
the app store. After the half term break, our students will be creating
video adverts for the games they have made, along with costings and a
PowerPoint presentation to encourage their entrepreneurial skills.
FRENCH
We welcomed Miss Rosie Heath to KGPS as our new Head of Modern
Foreign Languages. Our pupils have been busy learning a variety of
topics, using a range of resources and activities to develop a love for
languages, deepen their understanding and improve their confidence
with spoken French. C'etait tres amusant!
Miss Heath is designing a new Spanish curriculum for KGPS, ready to
launch in September 2023. Muchas gracias por seguirnos. Volveremos
con esta newsletter en diciembre!
Reception (RK) reading the poem ‘Deux petits oiseaux’. After reading the
poem, the class created wonderful finger puppets below they all had a
short conversation, in pairs, using their finger puppets.

MUSIC FESTIVAL INSPIRES ALL
The pupils at Kew Green are busy at work in their Music lessons already, with singing and playing of instruments and performance present and
encouraged across the the school whether it be in class music lessons, choir, instrumental lessons or assemblies. Congratulations to our solo performers
who played in our assemblies, and also to all the children for a rousing rendition of 'All Things' as part of our Harvest Festival songs at St.Anne's Church.
The Upper School Choir enjoyed jazzing it up when they attended the Prep School Choir event at Epsom College where we joined five other local
schools, creating a 250 pupil choir, complete with scat singing, trumpet imitations and groovy waltzes. After half-term, we look forward to our annual
Upper School Choir performance at Kew Sparkle; theYear 1 and 2 Christmas play and Upper School Carol Concert.
FIXING UP FOR
THE FUTURE
It’s been a busy first half of term for all the children at KGPS in their
sport. At the start of a new school year, it’s essential to start with high
expectations, blowing away the summer cobwebs and aiming high!
Our swimming lessons from Year 2 – Year 6 have begun with lots of
excitement and we have started the term with high participation in
our school Swim Squad who train on Wednesday at 7:30am which
has been brilliant to see. Specialist PE & Games lessons, additional
training sessions, extra-curricular sports clubs and fixtures have all
been geared towards helping our teams progress and be ‘match
ready’. Each year group should be proud of all they have achieved
so far, with all pupils showing excellent commitment,
communication and teamwork. Although gearing up for some key
competitions and fixtures after half-term, we have played several
fixtures in both netball and football, already achieving excellent
results and starting the season off with great momentum! It is clear
how hard all the pupils are working, both for their own
achievement, but also for each other as a team. We are very proud!
In addition to the netball and football this term, we have had a great
start to our gymnastics lessons at Osterley, where pupils have been
showing off their balance, agility and core strength. They have learnt
to work effectively in small groups, performing to a high standard as
a team during sequence displays.
www.kgps.co.uk