Page 7 - Abberley Adventures Oct 2022

ABBERLEY ADVENTURES
7
Chapel
We have had several lovely Chapel services so far this term. Mr Metcalf from Malvern College came and spoke to Years 3 to 5 about Jesus calming the Storm and this involved all children, staff and parents re-enacting a storm with lots of whooshes, booms and clapping! The choir sang beautifully and the Palace Children’s wild- flower arrangements were really beautiful.
Our Harvest Service was very special with singing from the Chapel Choir and moving poems and readings by senior pupils. The chapel was decorated with apples and Old Man’s Beard from the grounds and it looked gorgeous.
For our recent senior service we were visited by Rev Dr Rich Johnson from All Saints, Worcester. He gave a very interactive talk about forgiveness involving hot air balloon engineers and science experiments! As always, the choir were a treat to listen to and the congregation was also in excellent voice!
We look forward to a busy next half of term with a Remembrance Service and, of course, our carol services in our Chapel and at Witley Court Church.
Pre-Prep Round Up
In our Nursery classes, our topic this half of term has been Farms, Harvest, and Autumn. The children have enjoyed Autumn sensory activities on the finger gym tray, exploring the apples, conkers, and acorns and they have been filling and emptying containers with a variety of materials. We have made the most of the lovely warm weather by going on walks around the grounds collecting Autumn treasures and climbing on the apparatus in the Adventure Playground and enjoying stories on the Clock Tower bank.
Some of the younger Nursery children have shown an interest in musical instruments and they have had lots of fun singing and dancing to a variety of songs. Our older Nursery pupils have been very busy learning about 2D shapes, circles, rectangles, triangles and squares. We have been on shape-hunts around the school, played lots of games, learnt songs, decorated the scarecrows on our display with an assortment of shapes and used shape-cutters in our cooking.
Our Reception children this half of term have been focusing on books and reading. Learning a sound a day, the children have blended, segmented and written letters and learned ‘tricky words’ through song. They are enjoying reading their own books for the first time and are keen to show off their new writing skills. Sorting, pattern-making, working with 2D shapes and understanding numbers to 5 has been the Maths focus this term. Time spent in the role play veterinary centre has proved popular and been an opportunity to use these newly acquired reading, writing and number skills.
Our pupils in Key Stage 1 have had an industrious and exciting half term as well. Year 1 have made a great start to their topic ‘Our Wonderful World’. They have made their own globes, used atlases to find facts and learned the names of the continents and oceans. They have also explored where in the world different animals live and have enjoyed writing creatively, describing animals and retelling stories. Year 2 have been learning about seaside holidays of the past. They made working lighthouses after studying electricity and learning how to make a circuit.
The first half of term was rounded off nicely with a harvest-inspired trip to Noverton Farm where the children fed the animals, learned about life processes and explored the vegetable patch, bringing home an enormous orange pumpkin each.
Pre-prep Clubs this term have been varied and active and the children have enjoyed participating in arts and crafts, outdoor games and other activities. Our Harvest Assembly was a great success and family members enjoyed visiting the children back in their classroom afterwards, where they were able to see work in books and displayed on the walls. Our Open Afternoon was also well attended, and Nursery children made pumpkin soup from the fresh harvest produce which we served to the visitors.
Goodbye to Vicki Austen.
It is always sad when key members of staff leave us and move on to pastures new. Vicki Austen, our Head of English, will be leaving us at the end of this term to start a new role at Wigmore School Academy Trust. Vicki will be teaching English and Drama as well as taking on a key pastoral role. Vicki’s sons, Alex and Josh, are at the school already and it makes sense for her and for her family for her to make the move. Vicki has contributed so much to English, to the Library, to LAMDA and to so many other areas of school life. She has been a superb Head of Year 5 and 6 and she has made her mark as a kind, caring and energetic influence around the school. She will be sorely missed. We wish her well and we hope that she will stay in touch!
Lucy Bandtock has been appointed to replace Vicki. Lucy is currently Head of Years 3 to 7 at an international school in Switzerland. She has a daughter at Malvern College and another starting soon and so wants to relocate to this part of the UK. Before moving to Switzerland, she was Head of English at Moor Park and prior to this she was Head of English and Head of Boarding at Hereford Cathedral Junior School. Lucy brings with her a great deal of teaching experience and she comes to us
with glowing reports from those who she has worked with in the past. She will be playing a full part in school life including extra-curricular activities and Games. We look forward to welcoming Lucy to Abberley Hall for the start of 2023.