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I hope this newsletter finds you well and enjoying the arrival of spring! As we delve into the excitement of March, we have had a plethora of enriching activities lined up for our boys this week, ensuring both fun and learning go hand in hand.

📖 World Book Day: Reading is always a much loved pastime for boys and staff at Homefield, but in recognition of World Book Day on 7th April, we had a week long festival of literary levity! Boys enjoyed ERIC (everyone reading in class) sessions throughout the week, our musicians explored storytelling through melody, our Year 8s told spooky Victorian Gothic tales, and of course, we all dressed up as our favourite characters! Our World Book Day collection also raised £293.26 in aid of the Children's Trust, Tadworth.

🥧 Pi Day Extravaganza: March 14th is a special day for maths enthusiasts everywhere—it's Pi Day! At Homefield , we celebrated this mathematical marvel with a variety of engaging activities for our boys. From Pi-themed puzzles to a pie-eating contest (with delicious pies, of course!), there was something for everyone to enjoy while exploring the fascinating world of mathematics. Be sure to ask your son about their Pi Day adventures!

🔬 Science Week Spectacular: I am sure the planetarium ignited curiosity and sparked wonder on Monday as we embarked on a journey through Science Week. This celebration featured hands-on experiments, captivating demonstrations, sport, competitions and live BBC sessions designed to inspire a love for science in our boys. From exploring the mysteries of the universe to diving into the wonders of the natural world, Science Week was an unforgettable experience for all involved.

🚀 STEAM Day Exploration: Today we were thrilled to host our annual STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) Day—an event that combines innovation, creativity, and critical thinking to foster a holistic approach to learning. Boys had the opportunity to participate in a wide range of STEAM-related activities, including coding challenges, engineering challenges, art projects, and much more. It's a day dedicated to exploring the intersection of disciplines and unleashing the boundless potential of our boys' imaginations.

An enormous thank you to the staff for putting these days on and also to you for your continued support. Here's to a month brimming with discovery, excitement, and boundless possibilities!

Sam Naismith

Head

Art & DT: A very busy time in Art and DT. Year 1 are working on their Paul Klee inspired project, Year 2 are looking at self portraits and Year 3 are starting to think about 3D optical art sculptures. Year 4 are cutting their picture frames, Year 5 are learning about cutting finger joints for their bento boxes and Year 6 will be making their maze layouts. Year 7 have been getting messy with charcoal and pastel portraits and Year 8 will be starting to think about their eco-house designs.

Computing: The boys have been exploring a range of theoretical and practical computing methods recently. They are all looking forward to some special themed days for STEAM and some technical activities related to Pi day.

English: Year 3 have been writing their own stories about aliens coming to Homefield! Year 4 have been exploring Jaques monologue 'All the World's a Stage' by Shakespeare. Year 5 have been continuing their work on advertisements by writing a comparative essay of two adverts and designing their own. Year 6 have been exploring and experimenting with propaganda, bias and agenda across a range of text types. Year 7 have been exploring how Malvolio is presented by Shakespeare in 'Twelfth Night'. Year 8 have been exploring the three rhetorical appeals of pathos, logos and ethos in order to take their persuasive writing to the next level.

French: Year 5 have been busy learning about how to order food and express an opinion about what they like and dislike in their diet, using the classic game of Battleships to practice their pronunciation and accent. This revision of their speaking skills will be particularly useful for the upcoming French Poetry Recital after the Easter holidays. Year 4 have been working on describing animals and sharing details about their pets whilst Year 2 have been learning about the rooms and furniture around their house, drawing maps and putting together sentences to describe the layout of each room.

Geography: The boys have been learning lots of exciting topics over the last few weeks. The boys have produced some excellent work during their geography lessons. Year 3 have been learning all about environment and sustainability with a focus on our school environment. They were very excited to interview Mr Crawford to see how environmentally friendly our school is. Year 4 have been continuing to study transport with a focus on road safety and sustainable ways to travel. Year 5 have been learning about developing and developed countries with a focus on factors that indicate how developed a country is. Year 6 have been learning about rainfall and how air pressure effects the weather. Year 7 have been looking at urban development and ways we can encourage cities to be more sustainable. Finally, Year 8 have been reinforcing their knowledge on weather and climate. They have been focusing on both the human and physical factors that affect climate.

History: In history we have been studying hidden heroes in Year 5. The brave exploits of Bela Hazan and Charity Adams Earley, fascinated the children in the week leading up to and following International Women’s Day. The boys especially enjoyed designing memorials to Bela Hazan. It was a challenge to consider how best to memorialise such a brave woman who tackled so many challenges in her life.

Maths: It's been a busy fortnight of examinations, and enrichment opportunities in the Upper School Maths department. Our boys have studied really hard and this has paid dividends in their academic achievements. There is a buzz of excitement in the air as we draw ever closer to celebrating Pi Day on Thursday 14th of March. The climax of day will be the Inter House Maths Challenge scheduled later in the afternoon. Our boys are ecstatic about this event and look forward to supporting and cheering on their Houses. Which House will be victorious? By tomorrow afternoon, the whole school will find out!

P.E. & Games: It's been a busy two weeks of hockey fixtures. Year 6 played against Chinthurst and Sarvesh was the star player with 5 goals! All Year 5 boys played against their Cranmore counterparts while all of Year 4 took on Hawthorns. Next week, Years 4, 6, 7 and 8 will play Kingswood House, and Year 3 will take on Willington. Away from hockey fixtures, Year 4-8 have been 'in training' for the upcoming annual House Cross Country races, and Reception and Year 1 boys have enjoyed developing their basketball skills. The Year 1 & 2 booster swimming sessions have been a great success, with the boys making great progress with their front crawl, backstroke and overall water confidence. Year 5 & 6 have the annual House Swimming Gala to look forward to on 26th March!

Science: Year 3 have been fascinated learning about different types of rocks through investigation work and using keys to identify unknown rocks. Year 4 have concluded their sound topic with a string telephone investigation and learning about the human ear. Year 5 are continuing with their carousel of topics including energy, forces and cells. Year 6 are really enjoying the practical work in their acids and alkalis topics including reacting metals with acids. Year 7 have either been learning about atomic structure and diffusion, or have just started the health and disease topic, and finally Year 8 have been investigating pressure and hydraulics!

STEAM: It has been a busy week in STEAM. Year 1 have been testing which materials they will use to make polytunnels with later in the term while Year 2 have continued their Crest Awards and Year 3 are enjoying planning and selecting materials to make their model fairgrounds. Year 4 have enjoyed starting to use Bloxels, to make their own computer games using Pixel Art and have designed and animated their own sprites. Year 5 have been coding Lego robots and Year 6 have embarked on a cross-curricular link with PE as they make their own model fitness circuits from materials of their choice.

In Reception, we have continued to learn about different habitats by becoming world explorers! In Literacy we have written fact files about the features of animals and what they need in order to survive. Our Maths topic has been exploring weight and mass and we have investigated which objects are heavy and light and been able to make comparisons.

In Year 1, we have continued with our measurement topic by learning about weight. We were so impressed with the use of scales in the homework task and the boys have made some delicious tasting banana bread! In English, we have been working hard on our SPaG skills (spelling, punctuation and grammar) by learning about singular and plural words and how to change the end sound correctly. Our PSHE topic has been learning about financial literacy with a focus on what we use money for and how to use it when we are older.

In Year 2, we started a Maths topic on money. We have focused on solving word problems and compared amounts of money using vocabulary and symbols such as greater than or less than. In English we have focused on personification techniques within the context of writing character descriptions. In History, we have explored the significance of David Attenborough's exploratory endeavors by examining the challenges and insights he encountered throughout his journeys.

Reception: Shrey for always being so considerate and such a kind hearted boy, Oliver for really demonstrating what it means to be a Homefield boy and looking after a boy during a taster day, Luke for always being so kind, and Robbie for being so passionate and really showing a love for reading when sharing his book during World Book Day.

Year 1: Andrew and Ali for showing increasing confidence in swimming lessons.

Year 2: Idris and Ryan for fantastic effort during our swimming lessons over the last few weeks.

Year 3: Ivaan for his hard work and growing confidence in class discussions, John for his hard work and dedication to his English work, Aiden for his diligence in completing all work set and wanting to challenge himself, and Aarya for always listening carefully in lessons and making valuable contributions.

Year 4: Ethan for being a wonderful role model to Year 4 with his manners, positiveness and can do attitude, Yusuf for his fantastic contributions and persistent hard work across all lessons, Charles and Kenon for their wonderful dedication and delivery of lines in the Year 4 assembly.

Year 5: Dhanesh for being helpful and enthusiastic in the Year 5 assembly, taking an active role despite being new to the school, and Ansel for putting in tremendous effort with his travel ambassador role. He is always really eager, reliable and enthusiastic about job roles and gives his all.

Year 6: Jeremy has shown a really helpful attitude and good manners. His kindness towards other boys has not gone unnoticed, and Iain for being extremely helpful and organised for the Year 6 parent assembly, taking on a lot of responsibility throughout.

Year 7: Kaiyan for helping after school every day to help us celebrate book week, and all our Year 7 librarians who have continued reading to Lower School and promoting the library.

Year 8: Tobi and Denis for their help on the pupil panel, some excellent questions for our visitor - well done boys!

Great work from Lachlan who produced this chalk and charcoal drawing of his own eye!

It's been a busy two weeks of hockey fixtures. Year 6 played against Chinthurst and Sarvesh was the star player with 5 goals! All Year 5 boys played against their Cranmore counterparts while all of Year 4 took on Hawthorns. Next week, Years 4, 6, 7 and 8 will play Kingswood House, and Year 3 will take on Willington. Away from hockey fixtures, Year 4-8 have been 'in training' for the upcoming annual House Cross Country races, and Reception and Year 1 boys have enjoyed developing their basketball skills. The Year 1 & 2 booster swimming sessions have been a great success, with the boys making great progress with their front crawl, backstroke and overall water confidence. Year 5 & 6 have the annual House Swimming Gala to look forward to on 26th March!

Interested in playing cricket this summer - click link below to join All Stars or Dynamos cricket programme at your local cricket club!

Miss Wilson is running the London Marathon for the Blue Cross on April 21st!

Boys who would like to donate to this fantastic cause and support Miss Wilson are invited to join in with our 'Wear Something Blue Day' on Friday 19th April. In exchange for a suggested minimum donation of £2 towards Miss Wilson's fundraising, boys may swap one item of their school uniform for something blue, e.g. blue socks, a blue tie, blue shirt etc.

"As well as rehoming pets, the Blue Cross carry out invaluable work by providing free veterinary treatment for those who can’t afford it, and pet bereavement support for owners. There is also currently a Blue Cross Ukraine Pet Welfare Fund supporting pets in need. I was inspired to do this by my love of animals, in particular, my gorgeous (and mischievous!) dog Enzo. Thank you for your support on Wear Something Blue Day!" ~ Ms Wilson

We are holding a fundraiser for the charity on Monday 25th March – Wednesday 27th March. We are asking for a small donation (the equivalent to the cost of a book), Miss Bruton will then order brand new Usborne books with the donations and supply the charity with hopefully lots of books. By ordering through Miss Bruton, it will also mean that the charity will get another 60% free books on top of our donation (An Usborne Rep perk!). Please bring in a small cash donation and ask your son to give the money to their form tutor who will pass it on. Thank you for your generosity!

About the Children’s Book Project

Across London and the UK 1 in 4 disadvantaged children owns fewer than 10 books, whilst 1 in 8 has none at all. This has an impact not only on these children’s academic outcomes but also on their wellbeing, emotional development and sense of themselves as a reader.

The Children’s Book Project directly tackles this ‘book gap’ and gifts donated books to targeted communities across the Capital. Over 500 schools, community groups and women’s groups nationwide put on book gifting events at which children are invited to choose a book to take home and keep.

Our Eco Club (Planet Protectors) are doing a Big Battery Hunt and would like all Homefield families to join in and bring their dead batteries to school to be counted and recycled. https://www.bigbatteryhunt.co.uk/

So please have a root around in those cluttered drawers where rusting pennies, broken pencils and dead batteries live - to help us in our Big Battery Hunt 2024!

Many thanks to everyone who joined us at the Book Fair last week. It was a remarkable success and we're excited to share the news that our sales amounted to an impressive £1070.00, providing us with nearly £550.00 to invest in new books.

The deadline for submitting entries for the 'shelfie' competition is rapidly approaching. If you haven't already submitted your entry, please do so before Wednesday 20th March, as we'll be announcing the results during Friday's assembly.

Save the date for an upcoming event – an Author Visit by Margaret Bateson-Hill on April 19th! Keep an eye out for more updates.

With the school closing for the Easter break at 1.00pm on the 27th March, we have put in place provision to assist with parental logistics.

We will be offering free childcare services from 1:00pm to 4:00pm for families in need of coverage. From 4.00pm -- 6.00pm Orchard Childcare have agreed to provide their usual wrap around service for parents.

If you would like your son to be included in the free provision, please email Sheran Harmes at: sharmes@homefieldprep.school by close of day on the 15th March. Please ensure that your son is registered with Orchard Childcare and notify them separately, should you require their services on this day.

All boys will be provided with lunch. Homeward minibuses will leave school at 1.15pm for those boys taking advantage of the early departure. However, please be aware that there will be no minibus service available at the end of day (4.00pm).

As we navigate the hustle and bustle of school drop-offs, it's crucial to remember that safety is our utmost priority. Recently, there have been a few close calls with cyclist and pedestrians as parents have been exiting the school driveway. These incidents serve as important reminders of the importance of being vigilant and cautious as we enter and exit the school premises. Please could we encourage everyone to exercise patience, awareness, and consideration for others in sharing our space.

Homefield Preparatory School

Western Road, Sutton, Surrey, SM1 2TE

+44 020 8642 0965

administration@homefieldprep.school