Trees, trees and more trees

Even though it isn’t quite December the festive season has most definitely begun at the Prep School. Last Saturday, The Friends of Brentwood School held their annual Christmas Fayre and there was an excellent number of parents and pupils moving through the halls playing festive games and listening to our Junior Choir singing Deck the Hall and Jingle Bell Rock. The efforts of our Brentwood parents to build a supportive community and to fundraise for the pupils is marvellous and we are deeply grateful.

You may have even spotted one or two very small Wise Men or a donkey, some sheep and a camel or two wandering around EYFS (Foundation and Reception years) this week. That’s right, the nativity performances have begun. The children as always brought the Christmas spirit to life with the stories of the birth of Jesus and yes, more festive singing. There is nothing quite like listening to children sing to transform even the coldest of days. But we can ponder more on that next week once we have had the joys of our Carol Service.

This week we were able to unite Tree Week and the arrival of our Christmas Trees, ready to be adorned for December. All form groups in EYFS and Key Stage 1 have a British bird name and these bird names are embraced by the pupils as part of their school identity. The smallness of the birds chosen resonates with how we feel about the smallness of our youngest pupils; they are starting to explore whilst needing greater guidance and protection.

Capitalising on Tree Week we chose now to introduce tree names to all Key Stage 2 Forms. All the trees selected are found in Britain today with some being from the ancient British woodlands and others that were introduced from another country that settled alongside. The diversity of our pupil and staff population is very important to us and we wanted this diversity to be celebrated in the form names. We have Pines and Palms standing together alongside Maples, Cedars and Alders. The progression from birds to trees represents the continuity and development of our community from 3 years old to 11 years old. It also fits with our expectations of the pupils as they grow into members of our community who are now able to champion the younger pupils, to offer encouragement and advice, whilst they themselves continue growing. Much like the networks trees can create, our pupils learn how to look after themselves and their peers around them.

On Saturday 23rd November, three pupils from Year 5 – Ava, Joshua and Max – represented Brentwood Prep in a Science Exhibition hosted by the Senior School. Many schools from the local area attended, bringing with them a vast array of exciting and interesting projects. The children were set the task of completing an inquiry which would contribute to one of the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Ava completed an inquiry about the effectiveness of different methods of water filtration; Joshua’s inquiry investigated the rate at which sea ice and land ice melts and the effect this has on rising sea levels; and Max investigated the effects various pollutants have on the acidity of water. All three pupils presented their findings and discussed their work in a sophisticated and engaging manner, demonstrating an impressive amount of scientific knowledge. A huge congratulations to Ava, Joshua and Max for being outstanding representatives for our school and an additional congratulations to Max, who won the prize for ‘Scientific Process’ –  one of only five awards chosen from forty-three projects in total – a huge achievement!

Also this week, I had the pleasure of presenting Elliot M in Year 6 a Head of Prep award. Mrs Romhany, our Director of Music nominated him due to his commitment to all of his rehearsals, choir, orchestra and other ensembles. Mrs Romhany also tells me that he is always helping out at the beginning and end of rehearsals – without being asked and not doing it to be noticed. Elliot’s positive approach has inspired others to do the same.

Wishing you all a lovely weekend and the start of Advent,

Alice Goodfellow