Displaying items by tag: PrePrep
Summer Half Term Activity Week
Foundation
Pre-Prep
Prep
Cedar & Birch Trip to Bletchley Park
Cedar and Birch visited Bletchley Park as part of their learning on World War Two this term. This visit offered the opportunity to explore the impact Bletchley Park had on supporting the war effort along with the work of the people involved. A very knowledgeable guide showed us the beautiful mansion, bought by the Government of the time, in order to create a centre for breaking the German Code. Our children walked around the park and explored the mansion with all of its rooms and witnessed first hand original artefacts, such as typewriters and telephones used at the time along with the Bombe machine created by Alan Turing. The workshop offered a variety of opportunities in order to understand the concept of breaking codes, just as in the past. Our children rose to the challenge and were complimented by the staff for their mathematical agility as well as the infectious interest shown. They learnt about the life and routines of people who worked at the park and understood the importance of keeping their work secret. We concluded the day with a tour of the Museum and gained a stamp on our Bletchley Park Identity Card!
Larch & Rowan Trip to Milton Keynes Museum
Larch and Rowan had a super visit to Milton Keynes Museum. The trip to the museum supported the work that we have been doing in History- Houses and Victorians. Guided by members of staff from The Grove and museum, Larch and Rowan explored a Victorian classroom, a Victorian street and rooms in a Victorian house.
The children needed to grate the soap, they used the tub and washing dolly to clean some clothes and then pass it through the mangle. In the main house the children were very impressed with the entertainment options in the front parlour. They loved operating the pianola with their feet and enjoyed a game of puff billiards.
Cedar & Birch Trip to the Roald Dahl Museum
On a dreary day in November, Cedar and Birch set off for a Trip to the Roald Dahl Museum in Aylesbury and enriched their learning by attending two well organised workshops in which they experienced the wonderfully scrumptious world of this amazingly inspiring author. The morning workshop consisted in hands-on activities in the Gallery, our children showed scrumdiddlyumptios excitement throughout, where they explored Fantastic Mr Fox's Den, Mrs Trunchbull's Library contained a huge surprise as children discovered the terrible Chokie Room...we were totally sure that we heard a noise coming from it! We tried on a selection of costumes and the favourite was the one worn by Oscar who took on the part of Charlie, owner of the Chocolate Factory and Lola who got to impersonate Augustus Gloop!! Cedar and Birch also managed to shrink just like Mike TV, and to the delight of the adults...they resume their physical features only after being gobbled up by the Enormous Crocodile. In the afternoon we had a lesson on the interesting life of Roald Dahl and learnt that he had been a very brave RAF pilot during World War 2. This was followed by a very creative workshop based on Matilda so we created tripolicious bags using our creative skills as well as a myriad of sequins, felt shapes and fabric pens. The results were truly glumptious along with being enthused and keen to take up creative writing.
Ms Casiraghi
House Day - History Figures
Pre-Prep
The children in Foundation and Pre-prep had a great time on History Day. They arrived at school very excited and in some amazing costumes. The children all spent the day working in their Hobby Groups instead of their class, this gave them a chance to work in a different group.
The Foundation children made some medieval jewellery with Miss Wood, some medieval biscuits with Mrs Jovic, royal crowns with Miss Ascough and castle construction with Mrs Maulkerson.
Meanwhile the children In Pre-Prep made medieval coin purses with Mrs Okuwadigbo, created Egyptian hieroglyphics with Mrs Vass, Plasticine fossils with Miss Casiraghi and decoupage castles with myself.
The children really enjoyed the range of activities and learnt lots of interesting historical facts. It was a great end to a busy first half-term.
Prep
In History Day the children were asked to recreate a war between two neighboring territories separated by natural boundaries. They were asked to consider the origins of the conflict and how to respond once peace was lost. We recreated several battles with progressively difficult scenarios. This included border defenses moving closer to the front line, enemy infiltration and more powerful weapons, so their strategies had to adapt to the new circumstances. To finish we had a discussion on the impact war had had on the lives of those affected, in both parties. The children really enjoyed the activity and put a huge amount of thought and energy into it.
Larch & Rowan Trip to the MK Discovery Centre
On arrival, our tour leader, Stephen, commented that The Grove Independent children were likely to be the smartest children who had visited the Milton Keynes City Discovery Centre! We began in a lecture theatre watching a slide show of photographs exploring historical images of Milton Keynes and London. Milton Keynes’ history can be traced back to the Stone Age! We studied huge maps and heard all about the great plans for Milton Keynes over 50 years ago. We then embarked on our field trip around Stony Stratford. Carrying clipboards, we stopped at a medieval inn, a Georgian house and some Victorian terraces to complete fact sheets. We were proud of how the children conducted themselves along Stony Stratford High Street showing their manners to all they passed. Next we visited a library and found out how books used to be borrowed. Finally, we practised our navigational skills back at the Discovery Centre. A wonderful fact-filled day!
Miss McCall
The Grove Gymnastics Festival 2018
On Wednesday 13th June, all of the Gymnastics Club had a very exciting day showcasing all their hard work from over the past year. Since April, all our club gymnasts have been focusing on the Grove Independent School Awards Scheme. This scheme has challenged our children to attempt new skills and perfect already learned skills to perform and gain an award depending on their level. All children worked really hard in their sessions and also during the two assessment weeks we had before the actual event. Considering the amount of time the gymnasts had to practice, especially our two lunchtime clubs who only get half an hour a week to perfect routines. The gymnasts were ready for their showcase of their gymnastics routines and parents were very proud of what their children had achieved. Overall, the gymnasts all performed to the best of their abilities, and were very proud of their achievements. Well Done
Mrs Paris
Lunchtime Concert, May 2018
In this May’s concert the tables were turned!
Instead of the musical items sprinkled through with a few Speech and Drama performances the opposite was true. Many of the children had their LAMDA exams this weekend and were able to show off their favourite poems before the day. Twenty Speech & Drama pupils brought their best to the party so to speak, so it will be impossible to mention all of them.
We loved the slobbering, belching alien that Kiaan Fesharaki invited, Eleanor Yeoman’s vulture was a lot of fun and Patrick Kingsman’s Big Fat Budgie was very lazy! Their performances were engaging and full of imagination.
Giovanna Opoku, Siya Patel and Elisa Illingworth won our hearts with their very expressive and dramatic performances. Their poems were ‘Ballet Lesson’, ‘The Falling Star’ and ‘Shadow Collector’ respectively.
The musical offerings were equally enjoyable. Vera Padhiar played her cello confidently for the first time in a concert, Lillian Goodman’s ‘Dinosaur’s Bedtime March’ was so well played that I felt sure there was a sleepy dino in the hall with us and Oyindamola Omotosho played the left hand tune in her piano piece ‘Mysterious Procession’ very clearly.
A big thank you goes to all forty children who took part and performed so well.
Keep practising!
Mrs Hodges
