Issue

one

Prep 8 Field Trip

connect

in this issue >>>

Michaelmas Term 2012

Introducing the new ‘Hatherop Castle

Connect’.

Biology and Geography up close

Prep 8 Field Trip

Charity update

Prep 3 and 4 Bushcraft

Prep 6 Leadership Challenge

Prep 1 are keeping it local

Extra Curricular

Welcome to the new ‘Hatherop Castle

Connect’. We will be publishing this for all

parents at the start of each term to highlight

the events of the previous term in greater

detail that what you will see in the normal

newsletters.

Please get in touch with the school office if

there is anything new you would like to see in

the different editions.

For more current and up to date news about

school events, you can refer to the school

website and the school Twitter

account, @hatheropcastle.

A termly review from Hatherop Castle School

HATHEROP CASTLE

The annual Prep 8 field trip to St Issy,

Cornwall took place early in October.

Studying habitats and adaptations of animals

for biology, looking at sea formations and

completing a tourism study for their Common

Entrance Geography project the children and

staff knew it would be a busy but enjoyable

trip.

On the Friday they visited the Eden Project to

look at biodiversity of plants and how leaves

are adapted for the different climates they

live in. The workshop on “Jungle

Connections” really showed how

much we rely on plants and the

work on Fair Trade revealed just

how much we take advantage of

workers in Africa and how much

profit the chocolate companies

and the retailers make. Saturday

was spent at Polzeath beach

where the children developed several new

skills, learning how to draw a cross section of

a rock pool, carry out a transect study and

how to work out populations using a quadrat.

The children caught some amazing creatures

which they then studied. In the evening they

had an informative and enjoyable visit to the

Blue Reef aquarium in Newquay

On Sunday they studied estuaries and cycled

to Padstow, stopping at the bird hide, the

slate quarry and the various coves along the

way. In Padstow the children conducted

pedestrian surveys and got answers to their

tourism questionnaires. On Monday the

children surfed in the morning and in the

afternoon they attempted the cliff walk to

study heathland and cliff plants as well as the

geographical features of caves, arches, stacks,

stumps and the amazing blow hole at

Trevone bay. Unfortunately after about three

miles a very thick sea mist rolled in and so

the party had to take the inland path.

They visited Rough Tor, which is the second

highest peak on Bodmin Moor, on the final

day. They found the sundew, the only

carnivorous plant indigenous to the

British Isles and walked up to the

Bronze Age settlement patterns. All of

this was done in torrential rain and

when a typical moor fog descended

from the top of the tor they beat a

hasty retreat for the mini-bus! Finally

they visited Boscastle as it is one of the case

studies for geography.

The children returned to school on Tuesday

evening tired but having done a lot of very

useful work.

“We all had a

productive and

happy time.

Everyone got

along well and

were great

Prep 2 Legoland

bushcraft >>>

Prep 3 and 4 go into the wild

Prep 2 visited Legoland as part of their

science topic ‘Simple Machines’. The

children had both a fun and educational

trip.

They started their day with a computer

based workshop creating Lego models

using cogs and gears. The programmed the

models to move and dance in various

ways.

This was followed by time to explore the

park!

charity >>>

The Harvest Festival service taken by the

Kindergarten and Pre-Prep children saw

the children thinking about others both

near and far.

All the children

brought in delicious

cakes, homemade

bread and goodies that

were given over in

church to be taken later to elderly people

living in the local area.

The theme of the service looked further

afield to Africa and after the service the

children donned their wellies and set off

on a sponsored walk to raise money for

Farm Africa. The children had filled

wellies with sponsorship money and this

together with a retiring

collection after the

service meant that the

school could donate to

this deserving charity.

The children in the Prep school supported

a local initiative harnessing the

fundraising for Send a Cow, from the

primary age schools in the area under the

auspices the vicar, Craig Bishop. Their

service looked at what different amounts

of money could provide for a family as

the charity also provides other farm

animals such as chickens and goats as

well as cows.

We were able to donate a large amount to

the pot for this charity and so a cow or

two should very soon be installed in a

new home!

Prep 3 and 4 both went off on their

Bushcraft adventures this term. Prep 4

went for an overnight stay and Prep 3

went just for the day to Cornbury Park.

When they arrived at the camp, which

was set up in the forest; there was a

parachute suspended between the trees

with a large camp fire.

The children learnt different ways to

make fires and then split into two tribes to

make separate fires and cook lunch. After

lunch they made up tribal names and Prep

4 made up tribal dances which they

performed to each other.

Prep 4 then went on a wilderness walk

where they learnt all about our

surroundings – why fungus grows in

certain places and why a woodpecker will

only use certain trees.

Prep 3 had a great time cooking fresh

trout and eating chocolate bananas over

the camp fire. Afterwards the children

played some team building games.

Prep 4 enjoyed hot chocolate and

marshmallows over their camp fire before

settling down in their tents for the night.

Although Prep 4 didn't get a lot of sleep

due to midnight feasts and early morning

singing, the children all had a wonderful

time and went home tired but happy.

A double dose of giving

Prep 6 children complete the Leadership Challenge...

Storybox Theatre visit

On Thursday 8 November, 15 Prep Schools pitted their wits and en-

ergies against each other in the annual Cheltenham College 2012

Prep 6 Leadership Challenge.

Each team took part in a round

robin style tournament with

activities including shuttlecock

challenge, unexploded bombs, tent

challenge, catch phrase, spider's

web, copy cats, the

ladder, amazing poncho and many

more. The children's mental ability

was stretched, having to memorise

objects after only having seen them

for 30 seconds, working out how to

remove bombs from a roped circle

without touching the ground and

making phrases out of random

letters and words. The physical

challenges also required mental

effort and teamwork, from

directing members of the team

through a maze blindfolded to

passing through a spider's web

without touching the sides. The

HCS representatives - Lois Melik,

Stanley Floyd, Isabella Wilkinson,

Toby Archard, Freddie Shepherd,

Jack Bowers, Jack Tolchard and

Luke Dale-Henderson - did their

very best and managed to win two

or three of the challenges.

Great fun was had by all though,

with the day topped and tailed by a

very well-received lunch and

afternoon tea in Cheltenham

College's Dining Hall.

Well done to all involved!

A visit to see Harry Potter

Today was Percy Bear’s 5th birthday and to

finish our Teddy Bear topic this term we had

a birthday party for Percy. In preparation

the children had iced cakes, made

decorations and written invitations to their

teddies.

Everyone was very excited, including Percy,

when they entered the party room.

Percy loved the cards all the children had

made for him and Mrs. Riley helped Percy

open his present – a chocolate teddy!

We had a birthday cake for Percy with 5

candles and he only needed a little help to

blow them out.

We finished the party with some fun games

– pass the parcel and musical statues.

Transition celebrate

Storybox 2012 production was called ‘The

Sun, the Moon and Half a Chicken’. It was

made up of three separate traditional tales

and was as usual, expertly performed by

Rod Burnett and enjoyed by all year groups.

The first tale was based on an Aesop’s

Fable, the second telling the Spanish story

of how a chicken got to be a weather vane

on the top of a church and the last told of a

king who wanted to touch the moon. All of

the tales had a strong moral theme.

boarding >>>

On Sunday 11th November the boarders, with Mrs “E” and Michelle, spent a

mesmerising day at the Warner Brother studios. It was truly a magical experience.

The film sets in their entirety are life size and just as you witness in the Harry

Potter films. As a non fan I had my concerns

about going but from an artistic point of view I

was astonished by the high quality which was

paid to detail, down to the fact that 6,000

wand boxes had been painted and customised

individually! If you have an opportunity to

take your child, I would thoroughly

recommend it.

in the next issue >>>

Middle School Production

Literacy Day

Theme Week Focus

Clubs Round Up

Prep 1 have been keeping it local this half term using all sorts of re-

sources from the local community to supplement the curriculum.

extra curricular >>>

Prep 1 are keeping it local

In its first term, the new Pre Prep

lesson judoka (judo students) have

thoroughly enjoyed the experience

and the challenges. They have

learnt how to Ukemi, break-falls

(how to land safely) which will

always be a continuing and vital

weekly aspect to their training,

basic Dojo etiquette (rules and

manners) how to Rei (bow),

respect, look after, Kumi-Kata

(how to grip or hold) their training

partners. As part of the weekly

sessions the children play a variety

of judo games selected to promote

balance, strength, core stability and

confidence.

We are delighted that we have been

able to re-establish Judo into our

pre-prep sports programme at

Hatherop Castle. It has proved an

absolute success with both boys

and girls from Reception to Prep 2,

whilst also continuing for children

higher up the school each week.

Reception Space Day 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 we have lift off!

That’s how the day started for the children

in the Reception classes recently. Experience

days regularly feature as part of the active

learning approach in their Reception year.

The space day was no exception as children

were encouraged to imagine, re-create and

question that it would be like to travel in

space. Their next journey will be off to the

desert. Was that a camel passing by?

We had a fantastic trip to the Cotswold Wildlife Park, just a few minutes drive

away, where we learned all about animal senses and carried out a people study

to find out how people use the park. We also hunted for amenities and decided

that the Cotswold Wildlife Park cater very well for their customers!

This term’s art board, which will be displayed in the main school corridor ready

for Open Morning on 17th October, has been inspired by our extensive school

grounds and has the title ‘Woodland’. We had great fun collecting leaves for

printing and doing some bark rubbing from the huge variety of trees we have,

all the time enjoying and appreciating our beautiful surroundings.

Finally we had a visit from local optician, Mrs. Rachel Bath, who came to talk

to Prep 1 about eyes; their structure,

how we see and how to care for one of

our most vital sense organs. We also

learned some fascinating facts, did

you know that the animal with the

largest eyes is a type of squid and they

are the size of a football! Thanks to

Mrs. Bath we now have an optician’s

corner and the children are having

great fun supplementing their Science

curriculum with some role play!

Pre-Prep enjoying judo