Kew Life Newsletter Autumn Term 2022 - Kew Green Prep School

Christmas time arrives at Kew
Lower School Nativity
The festive season at Kew Green was launched in style
with the Year 1 and Year 2 performance of ‘Baubles!’
They fully immersed themselves into their characters,
delivering their lines with confidence and their singing
was excellent. All the pupils rose to the challenge of the
ambitious plot line and scripts, and performed to a high
standard. Well done!

Bringing History to life
Year 1 visit St Paul’s Cathedral
Do you know how many stairs it takes to reach the top of the
Stone Gallery at St.Paul’s Cathedral? Year 1 certainly do! The Year
1 pupils walked up all 378 stairs in November as part of their
History topic for this term, The Great Fire of London. The pupils
thoroughly enjoyed the workshop, learning more about what
happened in 1666 and bringing their topic to life. They also
embraced all opportunities to dress up as some key historical
figures as they explored the cathedral floor. A day to remember.
Immersive habitats
Year 2 visit to the Natural History Museum
Year 2 had a fantastic trip to The Natural History Museum as part of their
Science curriculum where they have been learning about different habitats on
earth. The pupils loved exploring all the different exhibitions and
particular highlights include: the earthquake
stimulation; coming face-to-face with dinosaurs in
the prehistoric exhibition; and standing underneath
the skeleton of the biggest mammal alive – the
blue whale. The afternoon workshop focused
on ocean habitats and what we can do to
preserve and protect our oceans. It was
immersive and engaging, and the pupils
enjoyed their own virtual submarine trip to
explore the different features found in the ocean
habitat, alongside the animals that live there.
Digging up the past
Year 3 visit to Butser Ancient Farm
Linking to their study of Romans this term, Year 3 visited Butser Ancient Farm and, as you can see from the
photos, had a brilliant trip. They learnt new facts and experienced the life of those they can only read about
in books through role play opportunities. The pupils were engrossed in the thought-provoking talks which
focused on the Roman ‘way of life’ and how they survived with very different resources and conditions to us
today. A particular highlight was when the pupils experienced how the Romans went to the bathroom!

Launching into the past
Year 4 visit to the RAF museum
If Year 4 didn’t love learning about World War 2 enough, our
wonderful trip to the RAF museum certainly sparked their curiosity
even further. We launched the day with a look around the hangars
filled with real-life aircraft – many of which had taken part in battles
throughout history. The children fully embraced the opportunity to
get up close to the planes to appreciate their impressive size and
structure. Seeing the Messerschmitt and the Spitfire in person really
brought their WW2 topic to life and the children loved hearing
about the incredible bravery and achievements of the RAF’s men
and women. A favourite part of the day was when the children tried
on original uniform worn by RAF personnel during WW2.
Participating in a funny and informative workshop about the Blitz
and the Home Front, they learned how to cope in blackout, the role
of an ARP Warden and what to do in an air raid. We’re sure that not
only did this trip help to inspire the next generation of RAF
personnel, but scientists, designers and engineers too.
Did Year 5 really see Pinocchio?
Lottie in 5G recounts the Year 5 trip to see Pinocchio
Stand up, speak out, be kind
Kew Green champion Anti-bullying week in
all year groups
In support of Anti-bullying week, we focused on the importance of
kindness alongside empowering our pupils with their own voice. All
pupils eagerly engaged in various workshops which championed
wellbeing, kindness and strategies to support positive relationships.
Reception – Year 4 particularly enjoyed a theatrical performance
involving puppets which explored a variety of situations which could
arise and equipped our pupils with the knowledge and skills in how to
best handle them.

Let’s get creative with paint
Year 6 explore Basqualat printing in Art
Jo Veevers, a practicing print and ceramics artist, was proud
of our Year 6 pupils’ final pieces of work in her workshop.
They worked with a variety of media to emulate the rich,
layered work of Basquiat. First, creating texture with collage
newsprint upon which they sketched their chosen skulls,
crowns or line work. On top of this, oil pastels were used and
a wax relief effect was utilized with ink. Wooden sticks and ink
were used by some pupils to create a border, initials and
further line work. Finally, a small printing press was used for
the addition of beautiful gold crown and skills, another motif
of Basquiat’s work. The final pieces show how the pupils
excelled when provided with the opportunity in this
workshop to explore a freer way of being creative.
An excellent start to school
Reception embrace all areas of school life, learning and challenge
Exploration, curiosity, creativity, confidence define our Reception pupils. Additionally,
their growth mindset and compassion for each other must be celebrated. Reception
have embraced all the learning and enrichment opportunities this term and their
progress from the start of term, across all areas of learning and including
independence, is excellent. There is a love for reading and stories along with some
eager mathematicians in our Early Years. Importantly, our Reception pupils never
shy away from a challenge and they have formed positive relationships
with all their peers and teachers. They have already achieved so
much, both within the environment and when part of Prep
school events and in their specialist lessons. After a
successful first term, we are certain it will be a successful and
happy year for them at Kew Green!

Ending the term with musical festivity
Upper School shine in their end of term Christmas concert
It has been a very full term in all things music. We were treated to
some lovely solo performances in our music assemblies. The
children have been practising hard for their Christmas
performances, filling the school with festive singing! Alongside the
Reception and Lower School Nativities, Upper School Choir gave a
stirling rendition of their songs at Kew Sparkle in the beautifully
decked village of Kew. To round off the year, we celebrated in style
in our annual Upper School Christmas concert. From blasts of
trumpet and cymbal crashes in Senior Band to wassailing in parent
staff choir, complete with guitar group and songs from all the
children, it was certainly an energetic performance representative
of the busyness of this term! Well done all.
Cross country champions
Upper School pupils show determination at the cross-country
Towards the end of Autumn Term,
Upper School competed in the
annual cross-country race against
RPPS. It was a challenging race and,
despite the nerves at the start, all the
Kew Green pupils were determined to
do their best and eager to achieve.
Kew Green were the overall winners of
the cross-country by 22 points,
securing six gold medals, one silver
medal and four bronze medals.

We will remember them
The whole-school come together to mark Remembrance
In the days preceding Remembrance Day, Kew Green pupils discussed various aspects of the Great War,
from how it started to what life was like in the trenches. This learning charged the Remembrance Service
with an extra element of empathy and gravitas. We all listened reflectively to traditional readings and
trumpets before observing the minute of silence at 11am, as the striking, poetry-laden poppies that
adorned the school, fluttered gently in the wind.
Primary Maths Challenge success
Year 4 – Year 6 achieve excellence in Maths
We are a school of Maths superstars! This term, 84 pupils from Year 4 – Year 6 took part in the Primary
Maths Challenge (PMC). The PMC is set each year by the Mathematical Association and it is fiercely
competitive. All pupils who entered from Kew Green received certificates, including fourteen gold
certificates, twenty silver certificates and thirty-four bronze certificates. Seven pupils from Kew Green have
made it through to the national finals. Well done to all our mathematicians – a brilliant set of results!

Poetry doesn’t have to be just on paper
The Upper School Choral Poetry competition dazzled the judges this term
Are you ready to be inspired?
An insight into our independent writing opportunities at Kew Green
All pupils in Upper School entered the highly-anticipated
Choral Poetry competition this term. It was full of creativity,
energy and our pupils certainly didn’t shy away from the more
challenging poems. The choice of poems ranged from the dark
and foreboding ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’ by
Robert Frost, to the more humorous, ‘Let it Snow’, by Sammy
Cahn; from the rap, ‘Windy Work’, by Max Fatchen to the
ridiculous tongue-twister, ‘Whether the Weather.’ It was
impressive to see both Charlotte Bronte and Robert Louis
Stevenson performed with flare and reflective of an in-depth
understanding of each narrative. Although a fiercely difficult
competition to judge, the overall winners were Ms Bennett’s
Year 6 class with ‘The Rainy Day’ by Henry Wadsworth
Longfellow.
Extended piece of writing by Florence in Year 3 Haiku written by Hebe and Sophia in Year 4
And finally…
We have ended this Autumn Term full of festive joy and celebration. It has been a busy but
positive first term, awash with enrichment, instilling of key values, strong academic progress and
achievement, alongside excellence in our performing arts, sports and music. We have hosted
valuable parent workshops and provided a wealth of opportunity for our pupils to give back to
the wider community through our various charity events. Looking ahead to the Spring Term, we
wish our Year 6 pupils all the best as they complete their 11+ exams and start to receive their
results. We look forward to celebrating their results in the Spring Term edition. On behalf of all
the staff and pupils at Kew Green, I wish you a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year.